Nintendo Switch Lite!

Nintendo Switch Lite - Pink

Just got my hands on a Nintendo Switch Lite.  It's the pink version.  My first impressions is that its considerably lighter than the original, so I guess the name Switch Lite is apropos.  If you have small hands, it will feel good holding it for an extended period of time.  One thing I wish Nintendo would have done is made the sides rounded much like the PS Vita.  The traditional square'ish sides like all previous Nintendo handhelds makes holding it more difficult and uncomfortable for some.  After playing it for a while, I do notice the battery life is longer than the original and that's one of the selling points of the Lite.  Plus your hand doesn't get tired holding the device since the weight is reduced over the original.

Nintendo Switch Lite - Pink (bottom view)

The Lite comes with the console itself and the charging cable.  That's all.  In terms of the construction, its very solidly built much like the original.  I do like the fact they have the D-pad instead of the four buttons on the left side.  All the other buttons remains the same over the original.  A lot of people complained about the original not having a D-pad but I get it.  It's made so that you can just the joycon for a second controller.  So if you turn each joycons to the side, you would have an identical button and analog stick layout.  But since the Lite doesn't have detachable joycons, there's no problem to put the traditional D-pad on there.  Overall, its a nice handheld to have if you want portability/battery life over screen size/joycons.  That's what it comes down to.

Nintendo Switch Lite - Pink (rear view)

Nintendo Switch Lite - Pink ( top view)

Nintendo Switch Lite vs Original

Pro's

• Lighter, smaller size.
• Easier portability
• Cheaper price at MSRP of $199.
• Longer battery life.
• D-pad controller.

Con's

• Cannot play on TV due to lack of a dock.
• No detachable joycons.
• Smaller screen
• Will need to buy seperate joycons and charger for games that require joycons.

Review: TEAC TN-280BT turntable

The TEAC TN-280BT is a low/mid tier level turntable.  They are known for their audio equipment around the world.  For me, I was introduced to the TEAC brand back in the 90's with their 3.5" floppy drives.  As far as floppy drives goes back then, it was TEAC first, then all other brands.  The TN-280BT retails for $350 upon release but newer models have came out and the price has come down since its been discontinued.  I was able to find a good deal and got this one on a closeout price at $179.  The build quality of this is much better than the newly released turntables that cost $99 with the same features thus the higher cost.

TEAC TN-280BT Box

Purchase here

The TN-280BT is an all manual belt driven turntable.  It also has built in Bluetooth so that you can stream the audio to your headphones wirelessly.  I probably wouldn't use it because bluetooth audio sucks. It's also got a phono pre-amp so you don't have to buy a seperate pre-amp if you have a newer AV receiver that doesn't have the phono connection.  The dark walnut color is good but I would have preferred a lighter wood grain.  There is also a black version as well for the contemporary look.  It's sturdy weight at 10lbs gives the sense of high quality and stability when your record is playing.


Unfortunately, after unpacking the device and plugging it in, this device failed to spin.  I can see the motor pulley try to spin as I can see it twitch every 4-5 seconds but no dice.  I will have to return this unit.  Bummer.  I would have been nice to see this player in action.

TEAC TN-280BT Unpacked

TEAC TN-280BT Contents

Pros:

• Cost.  As of now, you can get it at the closeout price of $179.
• Sturdy weight.
• Built-in phono pre-amp.
• 33.3 and 45 rpm.
• Cue lever
• Anti-skate control

Cons:

• Wow and flutter is advertised at 0.20%.  Others at this prices has it under .20%.
• Power cable and audio cable supplies are a bit short.

How to check what VM are components in your VxRail cluster.

Run the query command below from the command line in the VxRail Manager to see what VM's are a VxRail component that it manages.

psql -U postgres marvin -c "select * from virtual_machine"

It will output a list of VM.  Probably should note that not to make any changes on these VM's without going through VxRail Manager.


Note:  This command was tested on VxRail 4.5.x and 4.7.x

Create folders from a text file in Powershell with modified date.

$folders = import-csv C:\mycsvfile.csv
cd myfolder

foreach ($f in $folders)
{
     mkdir $f.name
     $path = "C:\myfolder\"+$f.name
     $temp = Get-Item $path
     $temp.LastWriteTime = $f.configvalue
}

Note:  the csv file has to have a column called 'name' to powershell to identify the column.

New Pearl Jam album arrives in the mail!

  

Vinyl and CD

Just got it in the mail today.  I had this pre-ordered a month in advance and it came after a week after the release.  The album packaging and artwork has always been carefully thought out on every Pearl Jam album.  Gigaton is no different.  The vinyl is a gatefold design with a booklet of pictures and liner notes.  The CD has the same content just a smaller design.  On both of them, the font of the name and the EKG design on the cover is embossed.  The vinyl is a 2 LP version and music on 3 sides.   The 4th side is left empty with some word etching that say "In The Midst Of The 6th".  After doing some research, there are several different types of etching so yours might be different.



More of my comments on the album itself here.
Pearl Jam's new album: Gigaton!

Inside Vinyl Gatefold

Outside Vinyl Cover Art Unfolded