This entry is probably going to be a little shorter than most I've written, but it has a degree of urgency to it.
I currently have a couple of friends and at least one relative that are considering new computers. Sunday, I went to Best Buy to see what they had, and here's what I discovered. Samsung doesn't just make phones that people don't want. They also make computers that people don't want. If you want a new super powerful laptop, you stand to directly benefit from this.
Showing posts with label Gadgets. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gadgets. Show all posts
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
GADGETS: How to Choose a MacBook Pro
A week or so ago, someone I follow re-tweeted a message from @autumnbuck, and it was hilarious so I started following her too. She quickly followed me back and there was some mutual excitement over being new nerdfriends. Then, a few days later, she tweeted something about it being time for her to buy a new computer, and I leaped into action.
She needed to record her band, which threw up a giant glowing sign: GET A MAC! But at the time, I didn't know much about choosing a Mac, mostly because I assumed if you were getting one, you had tons of disposable income, and would just go with their Cadillac model. I have since done some research into choosing a MacBook Pro, and found that there are a lot more options and choices to make than I previously thought.
She needed to record her band, which threw up a giant glowing sign: GET A MAC! But at the time, I didn't know much about choosing a Mac, mostly because I assumed if you were getting one, you had tons of disposable income, and would just go with their Cadillac model. I have since done some research into choosing a MacBook Pro, and found that there are a lot more options and choices to make than I previously thought.
(Not actually a Mac... The sticker is surprisingly effective hipster-camouflage.)
Monday, March 22, 2010
GADGETS: Choosing a Laptop over a Netbook
A few articles ago I wrote about what to look for in a Netbook. Recently, it occurred to me that some people might actually need a laptop for the reasons I outlined previously.
The main reason to buy a laptop instead of a netbook is because you want to do some hard core multi-tasking or play games. Your laptop will probably be your desktop replacement. Laptops, while not the preferred venue for the most advanced games out there, will still run most of games pretty well. This is at least in part because of the similarities in PC and Xbox architecture. The relatively simple port makes it economical for companies to write PC games that will also play on an xbox (which is a few years old) and expand their market. Additionally, it's kind of a bad idea to limit their customer base to the narrow group of people with outrageously expensive computers.
I will say, I'm a PC. I am still a fan of Apple's portable gadgets, and if I had unlimited financial resources, or was really into video production, I might get a Macbook Air or Macbook Pro. I'm not a Mac hater. They make beautiful gear that's easy to use and incredibly reliable. However, for the purposes of this article, I'm going to go ahead and not recommend an Apple laptop. Macs multi-task well if productivity is your thing, but nobody writes games for Mac OS. Also, you pay a lot for Apple. This is partly because they have fairly unreasonable hardware standards and your computer will never have driver issues, but also partly for the symbol on the case. Also, if you're looking for a Mac laptop, you have three choices, and you really can't go that wrong. So you really don't need any advice.
Shopping for a PC, there are three key items to consider: Price, Power and Style.
PRICE: Price range is important, but doesn't require too much advising. You're going to need to spend a bit more than you would on a netbook. It could be as little as double or as much as 3-4 times. I would budget around $1200 or so. Less than that, and you might not be getting something better than a netbook, and more than that, you're just spending money on marginal increases in power.
POWER: This is the single most important factor in your laptop purchase. You're buying a laptop instead of a netbook. You need to make sure it's actually more powerful than a netbook. To this end, I'm going to briefly discuss how CPUs work, and how Windows 7 differs from previous versions. You need a basic understanding of this to help you make an informed purchase, so bear with me for a couple of paragraphs.
Think of each piece of software you want to run as a liquid, and think of your CPU as a cup. Many modern computers have multi-core CPUs. Think of these as having more than one cup where your operating system can pour programs. Under Windows XP and Vista, multi-core CPUs were not used effectively. It was like holding one cup above the other, and waiting for the first cup to fill until programs spill over. In practice, this rarely ever happened. Windows 7 is considerably smarter. Under a heavy load, Win7 will pour programs into different cups to help distribute the load and make your multi-core CPU do a lot more work.
It is for this reason that you want to make sure your laptop has a multi-core CPU. Even if its clock speed is similar to a netbook, with two or more cores operating under Win7, it will be considerably faster at multi-tasking. Stay away from any CPU that says "Celeron". It's decade-old technology, which is why it's really cheap. They have multi-core versions, but you're better off getting a more modern CPU. I would also stay away from any CORE 2 CPUs. While they are dual core, they're affordable again because they're slightly outdated. What you want to look for is the new Core i3, i5 or i7 models. The i3 and i5 have 2 cores, so they'll be considerably faster than any netbook, and the i7 can have up to 4 cores, which will blow away a lot of desktop machines. You're probably best off going with an i3, as the price of the others scales up faster than their capabilities. If the computer you're using is more than a couple of years old, it will be a huge upgrade in speed, while still being affordable. If you're used to an i3, you might not even notice the speed increase on an i7 anyway.
Another advantage of the iX series of processors is that they're all 64 bit, so you can get even more out of Win7. Most users probably won't really notice because there's not a lot of 64 bit software out there right now, but there will likely be a lot more soon, and this is a long overdue upgrade.
Another super important thing to look for is a dedicated video card. On the label, it will say something like ATI or nVIDIA on a separate line. If the label doesn't specifically mention it, keep looking for another option. Drawing pictures on your screen takes a lot of math. Netbooks do all of this math with their already-limited CPU and ram. If you're buying a laptop, make sure it has a fancy mobile video card in it. It will have its own dedicated video ram and another processor to help carry the picture-drawing load. This is important for everything. Multi-tasking, YouTube, gaming. Literally everything your computer does. I cannot stress this enough. Make sure it has a dedicated video card. If you're still not sure, ask a salesman or a Nerd Sherpa.
STYLE: I'm generally a function over form kind of guy, but let's face it. You're buying a portable computer. It's portable. You want it to look cool, because people will see it, and inducing gadget-envy is every nerd's responsibility. Sony does an especially good job at this, but you're going to pay a little more for the VAIO stamp than for a similarly-powered Dell or Gateway. However, Best Buy seems to have fairly uniform pricing based on the unit's capabilities with only limited brand name variance, so definitely let the design of the machine play a part in your decision.
As with any computer, there are a number of other considerations. Hard drive space isn't generally too limited in modern laptops. Your hard drive is going to be relatively huge, and with external drives, it's super easy to expand. Any laptop is going to have plenty of USB ports, and again you can expand with external hubs. RAM is the last thing I would worry about when making your choice. While RAM is super important, if you chose an i3-XXXm processor with a dedicated video card as I've advised above, the machine most likely already comes with plenty of RAM. If you're nervous about it, look for 4gb. More than that is kind of overkill and while less slides you down into Netbook range, it probably won't kill you if the rest of the specs are acceptable. Battery life may be of concern to you, but remember. This thing is going to be a beast. It's going to suck down battery like mad. You're mostly going to use it plugged in. Still, if mobility is of concern, just about any laptop battery will let you watch a DVD before it dies.
Lastly, don't forget stickers! They're important for laptops too. Gadget envy!
As usual, if you require any personal sherping for your laptop purchase, drop me a line! I can help.
@nerdsherpa, purveyor of portable computing.
The main reason to buy a laptop instead of a netbook is because you want to do some hard core multi-tasking or play games. Your laptop will probably be your desktop replacement. Laptops, while not the preferred venue for the most advanced games out there, will still run most of games pretty well. This is at least in part because of the similarities in PC and Xbox architecture. The relatively simple port makes it economical for companies to write PC games that will also play on an xbox (which is a few years old) and expand their market. Additionally, it's kind of a bad idea to limit their customer base to the narrow group of people with outrageously expensive computers.
I will say, I'm a PC. I am still a fan of Apple's portable gadgets, and if I had unlimited financial resources, or was really into video production, I might get a Macbook Air or Macbook Pro. I'm not a Mac hater. They make beautiful gear that's easy to use and incredibly reliable. However, for the purposes of this article, I'm going to go ahead and not recommend an Apple laptop. Macs multi-task well if productivity is your thing, but nobody writes games for Mac OS. Also, you pay a lot for Apple. This is partly because they have fairly unreasonable hardware standards and your computer will never have driver issues, but also partly for the symbol on the case. Also, if you're looking for a Mac laptop, you have three choices, and you really can't go that wrong. So you really don't need any advice.
Shopping for a PC, there are three key items to consider: Price, Power and Style.
PRICE: Price range is important, but doesn't require too much advising. You're going to need to spend a bit more than you would on a netbook. It could be as little as double or as much as 3-4 times. I would budget around $1200 or so. Less than that, and you might not be getting something better than a netbook, and more than that, you're just spending money on marginal increases in power.
POWER: This is the single most important factor in your laptop purchase. You're buying a laptop instead of a netbook. You need to make sure it's actually more powerful than a netbook. To this end, I'm going to briefly discuss how CPUs work, and how Windows 7 differs from previous versions. You need a basic understanding of this to help you make an informed purchase, so bear with me for a couple of paragraphs.
Think of each piece of software you want to run as a liquid, and think of your CPU as a cup. Many modern computers have multi-core CPUs. Think of these as having more than one cup where your operating system can pour programs. Under Windows XP and Vista, multi-core CPUs were not used effectively. It was like holding one cup above the other, and waiting for the first cup to fill until programs spill over. In practice, this rarely ever happened. Windows 7 is considerably smarter. Under a heavy load, Win7 will pour programs into different cups to help distribute the load and make your multi-core CPU do a lot more work.
It is for this reason that you want to make sure your laptop has a multi-core CPU. Even if its clock speed is similar to a netbook, with two or more cores operating under Win7, it will be considerably faster at multi-tasking. Stay away from any CPU that says "Celeron". It's decade-old technology, which is why it's really cheap. They have multi-core versions, but you're better off getting a more modern CPU. I would also stay away from any CORE 2 CPUs. While they are dual core, they're affordable again because they're slightly outdated. What you want to look for is the new Core i3, i5 or i7 models. The i3 and i5 have 2 cores, so they'll be considerably faster than any netbook, and the i7 can have up to 4 cores, which will blow away a lot of desktop machines. You're probably best off going with an i3, as the price of the others scales up faster than their capabilities. If the computer you're using is more than a couple of years old, it will be a huge upgrade in speed, while still being affordable. If you're used to an i3, you might not even notice the speed increase on an i7 anyway.
Another advantage of the iX series of processors is that they're all 64 bit, so you can get even more out of Win7. Most users probably won't really notice because there's not a lot of 64 bit software out there right now, but there will likely be a lot more soon, and this is a long overdue upgrade.
Another super important thing to look for is a dedicated video card. On the label, it will say something like ATI or nVIDIA on a separate line. If the label doesn't specifically mention it, keep looking for another option. Drawing pictures on your screen takes a lot of math. Netbooks do all of this math with their already-limited CPU and ram. If you're buying a laptop, make sure it has a fancy mobile video card in it. It will have its own dedicated video ram and another processor to help carry the picture-drawing load. This is important for everything. Multi-tasking, YouTube, gaming. Literally everything your computer does. I cannot stress this enough. Make sure it has a dedicated video card. If you're still not sure, ask a salesman or a Nerd Sherpa.
STYLE: I'm generally a function over form kind of guy, but let's face it. You're buying a portable computer. It's portable. You want it to look cool, because people will see it, and inducing gadget-envy is every nerd's responsibility. Sony does an especially good job at this, but you're going to pay a little more for the VAIO stamp than for a similarly-powered Dell or Gateway. However, Best Buy seems to have fairly uniform pricing based on the unit's capabilities with only limited brand name variance, so definitely let the design of the machine play a part in your decision.
As with any computer, there are a number of other considerations. Hard drive space isn't generally too limited in modern laptops. Your hard drive is going to be relatively huge, and with external drives, it's super easy to expand. Any laptop is going to have plenty of USB ports, and again you can expand with external hubs. RAM is the last thing I would worry about when making your choice. While RAM is super important, if you chose an i3-XXXm processor with a dedicated video card as I've advised above, the machine most likely already comes with plenty of RAM. If you're nervous about it, look for 4gb. More than that is kind of overkill and while less slides you down into Netbook range, it probably won't kill you if the rest of the specs are acceptable. Battery life may be of concern to you, but remember. This thing is going to be a beast. It's going to suck down battery like mad. You're mostly going to use it plugged in. Still, if mobility is of concern, just about any laptop battery will let you watch a DVD before it dies.
Lastly, don't forget stickers! They're important for laptops too. Gadget envy!
As usual, if you require any personal sherping for your laptop purchase, drop me a line! I can help.
@nerdsherpa, purveyor of portable computing.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
GADGETS: How the iPad could force you to shower.
This week was iPad pre-order day, and among all of the hoopla, I happened to catch this post on Ars Technica. Behold, in only two months Apple took user feedback from people who got to handle their pre-release iPads, and put a solution in place for a rotation lock.
Their solution? Change the hardware mute switch to a hardware rotation lock switch.
So, yes. They took constructive criticism, and banged out a rapid response to consumer desire. Unfortunately, the method by which they accomplished this kludge represents the worst possible failure of Apple's organizational and management structure.
Who thought of this idea? It's an awful awful idea. They need to start thinking along the lines of the iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad all basically being the same device, and the hardware tilt-lock switch screams "three teams that don't communicate!" at me. I'm not only complaining, though. Look, I have a constructive idea for what they should have done instead of a hardware solution.
Put rotation lock in the operating system.
Let the iPad launch fly with a mute switch. Tell people, hey, we know it doesn't tilt-lock yet. We hear you. We're fixing it across the entire iDevice line. Then release a new version of the OS for iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad that includes a software managed tilt-lock. Here's how it should have worked. You multi-touch any two adjacent corners of your iDevice screen. Now that edge is locked to be the bottom until you release it by multi-touching those corners again, or multi-touch another pair of corners, making those the bottom.
I recognize this modification would also require a line in the Setup options to enable or disable tilt-lock, and probably some API changes, to allow apps to ignore tilt-lock for whatever reason. But what people would rather have than an awful kludge is something clever and useful. I hate it when I try to use my iPhone laying down. I wish I had a tilt-lock on it. I'm sure iPod touch users feel the same way. Doesn't Apple want the iBook store to be awesome for their entire touchscreen iDevice line? Some people just aren't going to buy an iPad. But those people could still buy iBooks. Seriously, Apple. Think things through, guys. The iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad are all awesome, and fill slightly different needs, but at their core they're the same device. Also, while I'm on the subject, why the crap are the analog switches on the opposite side from the iPhone? What's wrong with you guys?
Now that I have that out of the way, here are some things they got right and my thoughts on whether or not you should buy an iPad.
Power management. This is something that Apple gets right, and seemingly nobody else in the consumer electronics business has grasped yet. Apple mobile devices manage batter power so much more effectively than any other company, I can hardly understand it. Battery power is EVERYTHING to your mobile device. It's something Apple picked up on when they first put out the iPod, and they've been consistently getting it right ever since.
User interface. The interface is super stylish and awesome, and from Dillinger's desk in TRON to every control surface in Star Trek: The Next Generation, I continue to wonder why more devices aren't being made with super-magic on-the-fly formattable touch screen interfaces.
Are you a mass-transit commuter? Do you spend an hour or so of down time on a bus or train? If yes, the iPad 3G is probably a handy gadget for you to have. Read a book, browse the web, watch a movie, write stuff for work... All on a thing that weighs a pound, and is super awesome and nifty. There's even already a case for it available from Apple that folds out into a triangle so it's oriented on your lap for typing.
Are you a business traveler? You probably need a netbook. The iPad is not intended to replace a laptop, and it can't do everything you want to do on a laptop. It probably should have been intended to replace a laptop, but alas, Apple sells those too.
Do you like to read a lot? The iPad is a little less convenient to carry around than a Kindle, and you probably already own a Kindle. Also, the Kindle's magic etch-a-sketch ink consumes next to zero battery life. You can read a Kindle almost forever on one charge. The iPad's battery lasts +/-10 hours. Don't get me wrong, 10 hours is an amazing feat of power consumption for an iPad. It's just considerably less than forever. Super iPad also costs almost three times as much as a Kindle, and doesn't come with a free global wireless access to its book downloading service.
Are you an Apple fanboy and/or do you love awesome gadgets and have some disposable income? Definitely get one. iPad 2.0 needs your help and financing to be a billion times better than iPad 1.0. Your technolust will do literally every nerd on the planet a favor, because iPad 2.0 is going to be the most amazing thing anyone has ever conceived. iPad 2.0 (and likely that generation of iPhone) will have 2 cameras, one on screen-side for video conferencing and one on the back for augmented reality. iPad 2.0 will have a repulsively huge solid state hard drive, and a couple of USB ports. iPad 2.0 will realize it needs to replace a laptop, and not be an extra unnecessary device. And let me jump back a second. iPad 2.0's cellular phone hardware will replace your home phone, and with a you-facing camera and screen, iPad 2.0 and that generation of iPhone could make video phone calls a reality. That thing that's existed in science fiction forever could finally catch on, and the next generation of iDevice could be what makes it happen.
Get ready to shower daily!
iNerdsherpa
Their solution? Change the hardware mute switch to a hardware rotation lock switch.
So, yes. They took constructive criticism, and banged out a rapid response to consumer desire. Unfortunately, the method by which they accomplished this kludge represents the worst possible failure of Apple's organizational and management structure.
Who thought of this idea? It's an awful awful idea. They need to start thinking along the lines of the iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad all basically being the same device, and the hardware tilt-lock switch screams "three teams that don't communicate!" at me. I'm not only complaining, though. Look, I have a constructive idea for what they should have done instead of a hardware solution.
Put rotation lock in the operating system.
Let the iPad launch fly with a mute switch. Tell people, hey, we know it doesn't tilt-lock yet. We hear you. We're fixing it across the entire iDevice line. Then release a new version of the OS for iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad that includes a software managed tilt-lock. Here's how it should have worked. You multi-touch any two adjacent corners of your iDevice screen. Now that edge is locked to be the bottom until you release it by multi-touching those corners again, or multi-touch another pair of corners, making those the bottom.
I recognize this modification would also require a line in the Setup options to enable or disable tilt-lock, and probably some API changes, to allow apps to ignore tilt-lock for whatever reason. But what people would rather have than an awful kludge is something clever and useful. I hate it when I try to use my iPhone laying down. I wish I had a tilt-lock on it. I'm sure iPod touch users feel the same way. Doesn't Apple want the iBook store to be awesome for their entire touchscreen iDevice line? Some people just aren't going to buy an iPad. But those people could still buy iBooks. Seriously, Apple. Think things through, guys. The iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad are all awesome, and fill slightly different needs, but at their core they're the same device. Also, while I'm on the subject, why the crap are the analog switches on the opposite side from the iPhone? What's wrong with you guys?
Now that I have that out of the way, here are some things they got right and my thoughts on whether or not you should buy an iPad.
Power management. This is something that Apple gets right, and seemingly nobody else in the consumer electronics business has grasped yet. Apple mobile devices manage batter power so much more effectively than any other company, I can hardly understand it. Battery power is EVERYTHING to your mobile device. It's something Apple picked up on when they first put out the iPod, and they've been consistently getting it right ever since.
User interface. The interface is super stylish and awesome, and from Dillinger's desk in TRON to every control surface in Star Trek: The Next Generation, I continue to wonder why more devices aren't being made with super-magic on-the-fly formattable touch screen interfaces.
Are you a mass-transit commuter? Do you spend an hour or so of down time on a bus or train? If yes, the iPad 3G is probably a handy gadget for you to have. Read a book, browse the web, watch a movie, write stuff for work... All on a thing that weighs a pound, and is super awesome and nifty. There's even already a case for it available from Apple that folds out into a triangle so it's oriented on your lap for typing.
Are you a business traveler? You probably need a netbook. The iPad is not intended to replace a laptop, and it can't do everything you want to do on a laptop. It probably should have been intended to replace a laptop, but alas, Apple sells those too.
Do you like to read a lot? The iPad is a little less convenient to carry around than a Kindle, and you probably already own a Kindle. Also, the Kindle's magic etch-a-sketch ink consumes next to zero battery life. You can read a Kindle almost forever on one charge. The iPad's battery lasts +/-10 hours. Don't get me wrong, 10 hours is an amazing feat of power consumption for an iPad. It's just considerably less than forever. Super iPad also costs almost three times as much as a Kindle, and doesn't come with a free global wireless access to its book downloading service.
Are you an Apple fanboy and/or do you love awesome gadgets and have some disposable income? Definitely get one. iPad 2.0 needs your help and financing to be a billion times better than iPad 1.0. Your technolust will do literally every nerd on the planet a favor, because iPad 2.0 is going to be the most amazing thing anyone has ever conceived. iPad 2.0 (and likely that generation of iPhone) will have 2 cameras, one on screen-side for video conferencing and one on the back for augmented reality. iPad 2.0 will have a repulsively huge solid state hard drive, and a couple of USB ports. iPad 2.0 will realize it needs to replace a laptop, and not be an extra unnecessary device. And let me jump back a second. iPad 2.0's cellular phone hardware will replace your home phone, and with a you-facing camera and screen, iPad 2.0 and that generation of iPhone could make video phone calls a reality. That thing that's existed in science fiction forever could finally catch on, and the next generation of iDevice could be what makes it happen.
Get ready to shower daily!
iNerdsherpa
Friday, February 26, 2010
GADGETS: How to choose a netbook
Nerds and many other people can find a small portable computer to be extremely useful. Last Saturday, Jenny from Reed (strangely not on twitter) posted something on her facebook page seeking guidance on a netbook purchase. I leaped into action, and posted her some advice. This made me think that there might be others out there in need of netbook advice.
To your left is a picture of my netbook. It's not actually a netbook, mind you, because I bought it in 2006, for roughly 10 times what they currently cost. However, it has something no current netbook offers: a built in optical drive. Yes, I can play and burn CDs and DVDs on my netbook. Also, it has a button on it that boots it directly to CD/DVD playback mode without powering up anything else. It's good for battery power. Plus, it has a James Bond fingerprint scanner, which is pretty excellent when I'm out at a place with wifi, and I have to get up to refill my drink. My laptop is a Sony, but when I got the iPhone, I thought it would be cute to throw the sticker on it and represent. Stickers are an important addition to any laptop. When people see you in the world with your laptop, stickers help them to know you're awesome. Also present, the Evangelion sticker on the top left, my friends' band bottom left, and nerdy t-shirt headquarters, Jinx on the bottom right. I'm entertaining candidates to go diagonally in the open space. Maybe I'll find something good next time I see They Might Be Giants.
Now, there are a few things you should know before you go to pick out your netbook. Price is a consideration, but netbooks are pretty uniform in cost these days, roughly around $300. Hard drive space is something else to think about. You're generally going to see models with either 160gb or 250gb. Unless your price tag is pinned to the sub-$300 range, it's probably worth it to splurge the extra $50 for the extra hard drive space. As far as CPU, you have two basic options right now. The Intel Atom n270 and the Atom n450. Now, without going into all of the technical details, you can break it down like this: both processors are physically around the size of a quarter, and have pretty similar speeds. The main thing the n450 brings to the table is battery life, and a tiny bit of processing speed. If you're really into using your netbook without external power, the n450 may be worth the little extra money. I personally mostly use mine plugged in unless the four tables with power outlets are all taken when I get to Panera, and when I've had to use it on a bus or train or plane, the battery power is enough to watch at least one movie.
Will it be your only computer? If the answer is yes, you should probably think about spending a little more money and getting a full fledged laptop. Netbooks don't really multi-task effectively. Sure, you can run MS Office, or Firefox, or watch a movie from the hard drive... But you can't really do more than any one of those things at a time. Also, you're definitely not going to be playing any recently released games on your netbook. Also, do you travel much, or like sitting in coffee shops? Then a netbook is a really solid decision. Another tip is don't buy your netbook online. Go to Best Buy or the consumer electronics store of your choice and handle one. Put your fingers on the keyboard and type a bit. Make sure it's comfortable for you. It's going to be strange at first, because the strike depth of the keys is incredibly shallow. But as long as there's room for your hands, and the buttons are far enough apart for you to hit one at a time, you're probably okay. Also, feel the bottom of it. Is it super hot sitting idle in Best Buy? All that heat is generated by electrons sliding through molecules of gold, and those electrons come from the battery. So if it's super hot while not doing much of anything, it may be spending too much battery power on friction. Also, hot keyboards aren't comfortable typing surfaces.
One last thing to consider is this. If the netbook is going to be your second computer, you should think about getting a small external hard drive. Mine is a MyPassport from WD. It draws power over the USB, so you only have one cord to worry about, and it will operate off your computer. As you can see, it fits in the palm of your hand, and weighs almost nothing, so if you have a messenger bag or something to tote your netbook around, the drive will easily fit in a pocket of the bag, and you won't even notice it's there. Of course, if you already have a decent sized iPod, you can just enable disk mode, and use it as your external hard drive. Either way, it will be pleasant to have an external memory device to transfer files quickly between your two computers. I also keep my entire music and photo library backed up on mine, just in case. While you're at it, if the netbook is going to be your only computer, you may want to explore an external USB-powered CD/DVD device. Otherwise, you're not going to be able to watch movies unless you download digital copies to your hard drive. Again, make sure it's USB-powered, so you only have to worry about one more cord. I will say that the only time I really use the optical drive on my netbook is when I want to watch a DVD, and sometimes I'll burn a CD for a someone. Those two uses aren't that frequent though, so think about the last time you put a disc in your computer before spending the extra cash.
If you need someone to hold your hand while you pick out a netbook or any computer hardware, I'm here for you. Just throw me a tweet, email or message on facebook, or leave me a comment here and I'll leap into action as soon as I get it. And sure, I have a super awesome desktop, with a repulsively massive amount of monitor space, and a quad core nehalem cpu, but here I am on my couch, blogging from my netbook.
Last piece of advice! This may seem like common sense, but don't put your new computer away hot. Shut it down and let it cool off before you stick it in your bag of choice. You don't want it to be hot in an enclosed space.
@nerdsherpa, purveyor of portable awesomeness.
Will it be your only computer? If the answer is yes, you should probably think about spending a little more money and getting a full fledged laptop. Netbooks don't really multi-task effectively. Sure, you can run MS Office, or Firefox, or watch a movie from the hard drive... But you can't really do more than any one of those things at a time. Also, you're definitely not going to be playing any recently released games on your netbook. Also, do you travel much, or like sitting in coffee shops? Then a netbook is a really solid decision. Another tip is don't buy your netbook online. Go to Best Buy or the consumer electronics store of your choice and handle one. Put your fingers on the keyboard and type a bit. Make sure it's comfortable for you. It's going to be strange at first, because the strike depth of the keys is incredibly shallow. But as long as there's room for your hands, and the buttons are far enough apart for you to hit one at a time, you're probably okay. Also, feel the bottom of it. Is it super hot sitting idle in Best Buy? All that heat is generated by electrons sliding through molecules of gold, and those electrons come from the battery. So if it's super hot while not doing much of anything, it may be spending too much battery power on friction. Also, hot keyboards aren't comfortable typing surfaces.
If you need someone to hold your hand while you pick out a netbook or any computer hardware, I'm here for you. Just throw me a tweet, email or message on facebook, or leave me a comment here and I'll leap into action as soon as I get it. And sure, I have a super awesome desktop, with a repulsively massive amount of monitor space, and a quad core nehalem cpu, but here I am on my couch, blogging from my netbook.
Last piece of advice! This may seem like common sense, but don't put your new computer away hot. Shut it down and let it cool off before you stick it in your bag of choice. You don't want it to be hot in an enclosed space.
@nerdsherpa, purveyor of portable awesomeness.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
GADGETS: My guide to Windows 7
In December of 2008, the time had come for me to upgrade my computer. My previous machine, an Alienware Aurora, was the first computer I ever bought. Before that, I had only ever built them myself out of components. When I got that one, I had a spiffy job, with comparatively low expenses and high disposable income. I got it specifically to blow away the system requirements of Half-Life 2, and it did so admirably. But time marches on, and when you add up the 2-3 years since I built the computer before that, and the 5-6 years the Aurora continued to kick ass, I had been out of the computer manufacturing business for almost a decade. Thus, a little over a year ago, I felt it was high time I jumped back in.
I consulted with my friend Tadd, who is an incredible PC resource, and got a ton of advice from him. About the only piece of advice of his I didn't take was not to get dual video cards. I was excited to have a cutting edge machine, and I was way too attached to the dual video card thing to accept his advice, so I went with a pair of ATI 4800 series cards. Beautiful card I got, too. I don't remember the manufacturer, but they didn't do that thing most ATI cards do: encase the heat sink in plastic. I get that they want to focus airflow across it in a certain way, but essentially all they're doing is building a little box to store dust. I also picked up one of the new Intel i7 series chips, the Nehalem, I think it was called. Something wierd like that. 2.67 gigs of quad core power. This computer, even a year later, is still a beast. And now, that Win7 is out there, it actually has a chance of using the other 3 cores that XP never really tapped.
And this was my long term plan when I built the machine. Knowing Win7 was on the horizon, I figured buying a quad core that XP couldn't use would basically be getting myself a brand new computer in a year when the new OS hit the market. I felt it was a sensible investment, especially since the march of CPU speed increases has slowed down in the past couple of years.
Now Win7 has been out for a few months, long enough for me to get past the Is-it-Vista? stage. A few of my friends got it running on their machines, and they love it. So I decided this week that I was ready. I went out, picked up a new external drive to back everything up, and got a copy of the Home Premium Upgrade. At first the guy at Best Buy didn't think I could use the upgrade, he thought I had to buy a full version. He was wrong. The issue is that there's no direct upgrade path from XP to 7. This is Microsoft being a jerk to people who (wisely or luckily) avoided jumping on the grenade of Vista, nothing more. So, you have to do like three more steps to install it and follow the directions on a card they include in the box. Really, they're shooting themselves in the foot, because probably most people who had to upgrade from XP to 7 needed to call tech support.
Myself included.
Having backed everything up, I went into BIOS to change my boot device priority (here is where most XP users trying to upgrade would begin to have problems and call Tech Support... STEP 1 of the process.) from HDD to optical drive. I've been fiddling with BIOS since the late 80s, so not a big deal. Boom, the system boots from the DVD, and I use the custom install button. I delete my partition and create a new one (Goodbye old data!). And click for it to install. I starts cooking. In like 10 minutes, it says it's finished, and just needs to restart. I will say this: a fresh install of Win7 is FAST. So it restarts, almost makes it to an operating system, and then my screen goes black.
I've done the whole upgrade your Microsoft Operating System dance before. At one of my previous jobs, I made the horrible mistake of trusting Microsoft and upgrading all of my work computers to WinME. It took me two days to get those machines back to 98 so that our office network would function again.
So, I didn't panic. I figured it was just a hiccup, and I decided to just start over, since everything was so fast from start to the point where it stopped working. And I duplicated results. In troubleshooting, being able to duplicate an issue is a good thing. It means there's definitely a cause that you can isolate. However, as there are an extremely limited number of options in the Win7 setup, there wasn't really anything I could be doing wrong. Fearful of it being a hardware incompatibility issue, I knew I had to resort to the Tech Support phone number.
Guess what! After almost three hours on the phone with tech support, we worked out that it was... Wait for it... My Crossfire video card setup had returned to bite me in the ass. Although there is a Win7 Catalyst driver, the Win7 setup has no idea what to do with dual video cards, so it responds, quite naturally, by crapping the bed. Now, for those of you out there waiting to upgrade from XP to 7, with multiple linked video cards, this is what you need to know: After the restart fails, if you restart again, and bypass the DVD, it will go to a BOOTMGR screen, asking you if you want to try to load Windows 7 or an "Earlier Version of Windows", which... Well, I never tried, but I'm pretty sure I had nuked that earlier version when I deleted my partition. I'm pretty sure that option wouldn't have done anything. (Anyone remember ABORT, RETRY, FAIL?) Regardless, neither of those options is correct. Instead, you need to hit F8. Yeah, I think it says somewhere on the screen that you can hit F8 for more options, but it's not super obvious. Then you need to select "Low Resolution (640x480) Mode". It'll disable one of your video cards and load up with a bare bones driver, and the first thing Win7 will do is connect to the internet, download the latest driver, and spasm in a terrifying manner for a few moments while it figures out the score. Then, all of the sudden, your one working monitor will black out, and both will come back on, and after a few seconds of panic, you will be able to fiddle with the extended desktop and monitor layout options, like you used to.
Took almost three hours for the tech guy to help me figure that out. Good thing MS outsourced that job... Otherwise, the tech guy's hourly salary would have cost more than the copy of Win7 that I bought. Oh, or they could have just made a direct upgrade path from XP to Win7. Probably would have saved them money to be cool. Good job, MS! Spend a ton of cash on being jerks!
The good news is, once I spent an afternoon sorting out my installation, the OS is great. It's fast, has some neat features, and I'm sure it's wonderful in a number of behind-the-scenes ways. I do wish it had some support for doing neat things with multiple monitors. Maybe it does, and I just haven't figured them out yet. For example, I would like, if I'm watching a movie fullscreen on Monitor 1, for Monitors 2 and 3 to be able to go to screensaver, so I don't have to obsess over what new tweets or facebook updates are happening on my browser window. It might already be able to do this, mind you, and I just haven't figured it out. If I do, you'll be the first to know.
Then, after I did the XP-Win7 upgrade, the next day, my friend Kate brought her laptop over, and we upgraded hers from Vista to Win7. This process was much simpler, especially since her laptop came with a free upgrade, because she bought it just before Win7 hit the market. She took my advice back then, and got a dual core CPU so that a few months later when Win7 came out, it would be like getting a bonus faster computer. Toshiba made this upgrade process super easy by including a special software package to upgrade all of their hardware-specific software at the same time as doing the Win7 install. This install went super super smoothly. Took us most of the afternoon, but we were playing Rock Band while it did it, so no biggie. Not a single hitch at any point in the process. So, if you were unlucky and got stuck with Vista, at least Microsoft has thrown you a bone and made it incredibly simple to get Win7 running on your machine.
Anyway, if you're running XP or Vista, you should do yourself a favor and upgrade to Win7, especially if you have a multi-core CPU. Don't buy a full version! The upgrade disc is all you need. The process is pretty simple, and the most time consuming part (assuming you don't have any difficult-to-solve high-end hardware problems) is copying your important files to an external hard drive at 480mb/s.
My name is @nerdsherpa, and I'm a PC.
I consulted with my friend Tadd, who is an incredible PC resource, and got a ton of advice from him. About the only piece of advice of his I didn't take was not to get dual video cards. I was excited to have a cutting edge machine, and I was way too attached to the dual video card thing to accept his advice, so I went with a pair of ATI 4800 series cards. Beautiful card I got, too. I don't remember the manufacturer, but they didn't do that thing most ATI cards do: encase the heat sink in plastic. I get that they want to focus airflow across it in a certain way, but essentially all they're doing is building a little box to store dust. I also picked up one of the new Intel i7 series chips, the Nehalem, I think it was called. Something wierd like that. 2.67 gigs of quad core power. This computer, even a year later, is still a beast. And now, that Win7 is out there, it actually has a chance of using the other 3 cores that XP never really tapped.
And this was my long term plan when I built the machine. Knowing Win7 was on the horizon, I figured buying a quad core that XP couldn't use would basically be getting myself a brand new computer in a year when the new OS hit the market. I felt it was a sensible investment, especially since the march of CPU speed increases has slowed down in the past couple of years.
Now Win7 has been out for a few months, long enough for me to get past the Is-it-Vista? stage. A few of my friends got it running on their machines, and they love it. So I decided this week that I was ready. I went out, picked up a new external drive to back everything up, and got a copy of the Home Premium Upgrade. At first the guy at Best Buy didn't think I could use the upgrade, he thought I had to buy a full version. He was wrong. The issue is that there's no direct upgrade path from XP to 7. This is Microsoft being a jerk to people who (wisely or luckily) avoided jumping on the grenade of Vista, nothing more. So, you have to do like three more steps to install it and follow the directions on a card they include in the box. Really, they're shooting themselves in the foot, because probably most people who had to upgrade from XP to 7 needed to call tech support.
Myself included.
Having backed everything up, I went into BIOS to change my boot device priority (here is where most XP users trying to upgrade would begin to have problems and call Tech Support... STEP 1 of the process.) from HDD to optical drive. I've been fiddling with BIOS since the late 80s, so not a big deal. Boom, the system boots from the DVD, and I use the custom install button. I delete my partition and create a new one (Goodbye old data!). And click for it to install. I starts cooking. In like 10 minutes, it says it's finished, and just needs to restart. I will say this: a fresh install of Win7 is FAST. So it restarts, almost makes it to an operating system, and then my screen goes black.
I've done the whole upgrade your Microsoft Operating System dance before. At one of my previous jobs, I made the horrible mistake of trusting Microsoft and upgrading all of my work computers to WinME. It took me two days to get those machines back to 98 so that our office network would function again.
So, I didn't panic. I figured it was just a hiccup, and I decided to just start over, since everything was so fast from start to the point where it stopped working. And I duplicated results. In troubleshooting, being able to duplicate an issue is a good thing. It means there's definitely a cause that you can isolate. However, as there are an extremely limited number of options in the Win7 setup, there wasn't really anything I could be doing wrong. Fearful of it being a hardware incompatibility issue, I knew I had to resort to the Tech Support phone number.
Guess what! After almost three hours on the phone with tech support, we worked out that it was... Wait for it... My Crossfire video card setup had returned to bite me in the ass. Although there is a Win7 Catalyst driver, the Win7 setup has no idea what to do with dual video cards, so it responds, quite naturally, by crapping the bed. Now, for those of you out there waiting to upgrade from XP to 7, with multiple linked video cards, this is what you need to know: After the restart fails, if you restart again, and bypass the DVD, it will go to a BOOTMGR screen, asking you if you want to try to load Windows 7 or an "Earlier Version of Windows", which... Well, I never tried, but I'm pretty sure I had nuked that earlier version when I deleted my partition. I'm pretty sure that option wouldn't have done anything. (Anyone remember ABORT, RETRY, FAIL?) Regardless, neither of those options is correct. Instead, you need to hit F8. Yeah, I think it says somewhere on the screen that you can hit F8 for more options, but it's not super obvious. Then you need to select "Low Resolution (640x480) Mode". It'll disable one of your video cards and load up with a bare bones driver, and the first thing Win7 will do is connect to the internet, download the latest driver, and spasm in a terrifying manner for a few moments while it figures out the score. Then, all of the sudden, your one working monitor will black out, and both will come back on, and after a few seconds of panic, you will be able to fiddle with the extended desktop and monitor layout options, like you used to.
Took almost three hours for the tech guy to help me figure that out. Good thing MS outsourced that job... Otherwise, the tech guy's hourly salary would have cost more than the copy of Win7 that I bought. Oh, or they could have just made a direct upgrade path from XP to Win7. Probably would have saved them money to be cool. Good job, MS! Spend a ton of cash on being jerks!
The good news is, once I spent an afternoon sorting out my installation, the OS is great. It's fast, has some neat features, and I'm sure it's wonderful in a number of behind-the-scenes ways. I do wish it had some support for doing neat things with multiple monitors. Maybe it does, and I just haven't figured them out yet. For example, I would like, if I'm watching a movie fullscreen on Monitor 1, for Monitors 2 and 3 to be able to go to screensaver, so I don't have to obsess over what new tweets or facebook updates are happening on my browser window. It might already be able to do this, mind you, and I just haven't figured it out. If I do, you'll be the first to know.
Then, after I did the XP-Win7 upgrade, the next day, my friend Kate brought her laptop over, and we upgraded hers from Vista to Win7. This process was much simpler, especially since her laptop came with a free upgrade, because she bought it just before Win7 hit the market. She took my advice back then, and got a dual core CPU so that a few months later when Win7 came out, it would be like getting a bonus faster computer. Toshiba made this upgrade process super easy by including a special software package to upgrade all of their hardware-specific software at the same time as doing the Win7 install. This install went super super smoothly. Took us most of the afternoon, but we were playing Rock Band while it did it, so no biggie. Not a single hitch at any point in the process. So, if you were unlucky and got stuck with Vista, at least Microsoft has thrown you a bone and made it incredibly simple to get Win7 running on your machine.
Anyway, if you're running XP or Vista, you should do yourself a favor and upgrade to Win7, especially if you have a multi-core CPU. Don't buy a full version! The upgrade disc is all you need. The process is pretty simple, and the most time consuming part (assuming you don't have any difficult-to-solve high-end hardware problems) is copying your important files to an external hard drive at 480mb/s.
My name is @nerdsherpa, and I'm a PC.
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