I've just ordered a Asus Eee PC 1005PED. :D
I seems like I've have to wait about 2 weeks to get it but it is hopefully worth it. I was actually looking at an older and cheaper model, went to a retail barn to see one for real and then saw this one...
Better keyboard (it feels better anyway) and better memory, processor and battery life.
Comes with Windows7 starter.
I've been meaning to buy a new laptop for almost a year but not found one that I really liked. I do like my old HP pavilion laptop and I'm not happy to give it up since it been such a workhorse for 5 years! But the processor isn't fast enough for the new generation of programs and the RAM is too small etc.etc.
I've looked at the new HP pavilions laptops, but I've come to realise that what I really need is something small I can bring with me to work (spending hours in a ticket booth at late nights is boring and right now I could use it at work too) plus a regular desktop PC for the photo editing and drawing.
Step 1 was to get the netbook. :)
I'll tell you more when it has arrived.
I hope you got a fair price for it. ;)
---
I recently bought a Toshiba T115D-S1125 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834114801) and I'm quite happy about it, significantly faster than an Atom and with a decent videocard. Nice, portable and now my son wants to keep it. :o
Hope you enjoy it when it arrives.
I've had an ASUS eee 1000HE for about 18 months.
I love it. Yours is faster and better.
Yum!
To be honest I feel a bit like a small kid...
"I want my toy NOW!"
However I have to wait 12 more days... :tantrum:
;) ;D
Ah, 12 more days until I get back my Lenovo netbook that someone seems to have laid her grubby little paws on. ;) ;)
Call Dustin and tell them to speed things up then! ;D
:whip: ;D
I haz a new toy!!! :YaY:
It has finally arrived and right now I'm trying to make it look and behave as MY computer.
I'm not entierly successful, yet...
The Windows 7 starter OS is driving me bonkers, no suprise there, that happens almost every time I encounter a new OS... It's far less heartfailur inducing than Vista though.
Lindorm can now get his netbook back and I won't nip it from his bag while his soundly asleep. ;D
I get back on how it works when I've kicked out the junk files it came with and filled it with my junk!
:D
Hooray! Enjoy!
Quote from: Darlica on September 10, 2010, 06:44:32 PM
I haz a new toy!!! :YaY:
It has finally arrived and right now I'm trying to make it look and behave as MY computer.
I'm not entierly successful, yet...
The Windows 7 starter OS is driving me bonkers, no suprise there, that happens almost every time I encounter a new OS... It's far less heartfailur inducing than Vista though.
Lindorm can now get his netbook back and I won't nip it from his bag while his soundly asleep. ;D
I get back on how it works when I've kicked out the junk files it came with and filled it with my junk!
:D
Lest your frustration-factor get too deep, I would like to point out the following table to you, so you can see which features are disabled by Micr$uck in starter.
The most notable missing feature, is you cannot change the wallpaper in Starter, as far as I know...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_7_editions#Comparison_chart (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_7_editions#Comparison_chart)
You will note that "Starter" is at the left, and is mostly "no" with respect to the various "can I do
thus?" questions....
:)
Obviously, Micro$uck wants you to use the "instant upgrade"
extortion feature, and pay even more $$ to Redmund....
---------
In truth, I suspect you won't notice all that much-- as a netbook is a deliberately limited device, and as you have demonstrated clear-headed thinking in the past, we may presume you were well aware of that, beforehand.
I think you'll like Win7, once you get over the initial "dammit! where did Micro$uck move that widget to
this time?" period..
;D
Edit: Ooooh, I wuz wrongz about Windoze.... with a bit'o third party finagling, you can change the wallpaper.
Here: http://www.instructables.com/id/Windows-7-Starter-Easy-way-to-change-wallpaper/ (http://www.instructables.com/id/Windows-7-Starter-Easy-way-to-change-wallpaper/)
Here's another, a bit more clear: http://www.techspot.com/guides/264-change-wallpaper-on-windows-7-starter/ (http://www.techspot.com/guides/264-change-wallpaper-on-windows-7-starter/)
And, according to this post here (http://www.sevenforums.com/customization/43398-how-change-desktop-wallpaper-windows-7-starter.html#post436098), you can use Opera to surf to an image, then change wallpaper
Quote
My domain policy prevents changing wallpaper but i am able to change it with Opera browser (http://www.opera.com/). Open image in Opera, right click, Use Image on Desktop.
Only problem is that after every reboot wallpaper is reverted but Opera have speed dial and number 12 is reserved for wallpaper
Bob: :-*
Did you know that in particular was driving me crazy?
I've bought it so it's mine, If it's mine I should be able to at least modify the looks dammit!
That or Windoze gets kicked out and Ubunto has a new follower...
Limited device or not, it has bigger brainz and slightly more muscles than my current big laptop computer...
Quote from: Darlica on September 11, 2010, 04:53:43 AM
Bob: :-*
Did you know that in particular was driving me crazy?
I've bought it so it's mine, If it's mine I should be able to at least modify the looks dammit!
That or Windoze gets kicked out and Ubunto has a new follower...
Limited device or not, it has bigger brainz and slightly more muscles than my current big laptop computer...
I suspect it is an issue with any number of Starter-Ed purchasers. :)
You may be interested to note, that if you do manage to hack it, and install your own wallpaper? It's a violation of your EULA... !
Seriously-- they specifically mention it in there...
But, there's any number of hacks/fixes on the intertubes, so f&*k micro$uck, I say... Balmer can kiss my grits.
:ROFL:
Quote from: Darlica on September 11, 2010, 04:53:43 AM
That or Windoze gets kicked out and Ubunto has a new follower...
There's no need to kick it out, you can install Ubuntu on the same disk and it will coexist with windows with no problem. Or you can make an Ubuntu USB drive and run it without touching your hard disk.
See, I won't be hacking it, I'm too lazy and unskilled for that kind of stuff, I'm just adding another program albeit a very small one that will run continuously...
I might have to upgrade to home premium anyway, if I can't run an external DVD on this setting. :fit:
I want to throw Windoze out... I'm not a friend of them deciding so for me much and then charging me for not being able to chose...
WTF old windows 3.1 let you change the background on the desktop!
That said at the moment I don't know how well Ubunto will work together with some program I need for work, jumping two OS isn't what I wan't to do, also I don't see the reason of letting Windoze wasting space if I'm not using it...
I have to learn more, and I'd like to be better informed when I make them than I was when I got stuck with this starter edition... Not that I had any choice once I had decided I wanted this particular Eee PC.
I like the machine it seems very nice but had I known this I might have bought a Lenovo with XP instated...
UPDATE:
I'm making my self at home in the computer. So far we get along pretty well...
I can warmly recommend the http://www.techspot.com/guides/264-change-wallpaper-on-windows-7-starter/ (http://www.techspot.com/guides/264-change-wallpaper-on-windows-7-starter/) workaround, very easy to use with a very nice result.
I is considerably cheaper (free) and eats much less processor power than a upgrade to Home Premium... :P
I found that I can use a external DVD player and pretty much everything else I might need...
I'm not able to run two screens which might be a problem if I use it at work displaying powerpoint presentations but that's a minor problem.
:)
Quote from: Darlica on September 16, 2010, 08:12:58 PM
UPDATE:
I'm making my self at home in the computer. So far we get along pretty well...
I can warmly recommend the http://www.techspot.com/guides/264-change-wallpaper-on-windows-7-starter/ (http://www.techspot.com/guides/264-change-wallpaper-on-windows-7-starter/) workaround, very easy to use with a very nice result.
I is considerably cheaper (free) and eats much less processor power than a upgrade to Home Premium... :P
I found that I can use a external DVD player and pretty much everything else I might need...
I'm not able to run two screens which might be a problem if I use it at work displaying powerpoint presentations but that's a minor problem.
:)
Not having 2 screens? There's a simple fix: set your device to output mode, disabling it's built-in screen. Then direct the output to the projector. Then, on a 3rd (borrowed) screen, take the pass-through port from the projector into this, 3rd screen. (You'll need 2 video cables, instead of the usual one, and a 2nd monitor).
Viola!
You have your cake, and may eat it as you like: windows only "sees" the single screen, as output from your device.
If you cannot get the 2nd monitor? You can work it from just the projector's screen image, but it's a tad more difficult; you'll have to have your back to your audience, and so, you'll need to project your voice a bit more..
-----
I used to give annual presentations back in DOS days, and towards the end, we switched to modern projectors. What I used initially, were LCD screens with no backs, and an overhead projector... no, really!
An overhead projector is a gizmo (in case you're too young) that lets you project transparencies onto a movie screen behind you (or in front, if your back's to your audience). These are old, old school, and have been around since the 50's. (The nineteen-fifties... I'm not that old.)
Sometime in the late 80's, some clever person invented this screen thingy, that sits on top of the venerable projector. It's an LCD screen configured to the CGA screens of that day, only without a back on it-- you can see through the screen part. Aka, transparent...
Gotta know - is even Q too young for overheads? These were still in use when I was in post-secondary...
I's not a major issue anyway but I would be *ahem* rather angry if I had indeed bought a laptop with this set-up.
Sometimes I miss the overheads especially when I have to sit through a powerpoint presentation choke full of unmotivated animations.
:fit: :nono: :explode:
Quote from: Darlica on September 17, 2010, 09:10:44 PM
I's not a major issue anyway but I would be *ahem* rather angry if I had indeed bought a laptop with this set-up.
Sometimes I miss the overheads especially when I have to sit through a powerpoint presentation choke full of unmotivated animations.
:fit: :nono: :explode:
I think what's worse: is a powerpoint, where the font changes with each and every slide...
... you soon loose track of what's being shown, and start anticipating, 'which font will be next?' ...
Very unprofessional, yet I've seen this mistake on slides produced by people who truly should know better.
Another is the 'change the background with each slide to something cute'... again, it becomes a guessing game, and the content is ignored.
But the worst of all?
Miss-matched or clashing colors for the text... or *shudder* a rainbow effect within single words....
:puke:
We used to call that the 'ransom note' style of desktop publishing.
I tend to be rather minimalist with powerpoint (this also means to use it as little as possible ;))
Animations? Anathema!
Colours? Anathema!
Backgrounds? Anathema!
If I have to use it, I try to turn it into just the equivalent of an overhead.
I also expect it not to work on the computer I will have to use for the presentation or that projector and computer will refuse to cooperate, if I use my own.
Quote from: The Meromorph on September 18, 2010, 03:10:49 AM
We used to call that the 'ransom note' style of desktop publishing.
Beautiful! Very apt description.
Quote from: Swatopluk on September 18, 2010, 07:46:05 AM
I tend to be rather minimalist with powerpoint (this also means to use it as little as possible ;))
Animations? Anathema!
Colours? Anathema!
Backgrounds? Anathema!
If I have to use it, I try to turn it into just the equivalent of an overhead.
I also expect it not to work on the computer I will have to use for the presentation or that projector and computer will refuse to cooperate, if I use my own.
You and me agree-- I pick a pleasing font/color/solid backdrop and stick with that.
No pictures unless they actually do add informational content.
As for the last? I always took two computers, one as backup.... it was rare when I couldn't get at least
one of them working right. In fact, I don't think that happened-- I always managed to get one or the other working with recalcitrant (rented) equipment the presentation facility provided.
But you did remind me of this: I never could fine-tune the timing of music with Microsuck's power-point crapware. So I wrote my own, for a sing-along slide show.
Once, back in the days before MP3's, sing-along-slides were all the rage with kids, and initially, we all used actual slide projectors, with hand-crafted slides that contained the lyrics for the kids to sing along to.
Naturally, I was always tapped to operate the infernal slide projector, with someone else's notions of when and how to break up the song's rhythm. I was able, so I complied, but I hated the miss-matched technologies.
So I wrote my own software-- I piggy-backed onto power-point, first I created within powerpoint, the lyrics and photos (to add flair-- this was fun, not informational) in the exact sequence I wanted. Then, painfully, one at a time, I saved the resultant images to a folder. Next I would start my software in "training mode", and go through, playing the song, and clicking when I wished the next photo to advance. This usually took several tries to fine-tune the timing, but my software recorded the exact time a photo should be displayed in relation to the start of the song, ignoring the status of the previous photo.
Contrast with power-point, which does allow timed display, but it's always relative timing-- so if you have a slow computer, the timing is seriously off by the end. Sometimes as many as 3 or 4 slides off. With my software, only concerned with the start of a slide's presentation relative to the
beginning of the song, no matter how slow a pc is, the slides were always rock-solid in sinc with the music.
I never did do anything with that software, except using it in seminars I used to be a part of... I wonder if I still have it somewhere or other?
Aaaaah nostalgia....
As for now I don't run the presentations from my own computer as only accredited computers are allowed on the work "core" Intranet and my private net book, of cause, isn't such a beast. ;)
I can access the "outer" work Intranet, even editing some stuff from any computer, I do it more or less daily form home. But the core one, where I have a catalogue in my name is only accessible from the company computers.
That said when I'm holding a course I keep copies of updated material on at least three different places, the classroom computer, a USB memory stick and in a folder on the Intranet.
I'm a sucker for multiple redundancy. :D
A non functioning classroom computer or projector would cause some trouble but by now I know where to go or who to call if I need a back up one. On the other hand, if the network or our back-end server for the PDA system goes down I'm smoked, as I need live connections to both of these during the course to show the functions of the system.