IPR : First Blood Part Two

I've been interested in the Sub Compact segment of the computer market before there was even the term "Netbook". It really started with the Apple Newton, then there was the libretto, then my interest resurfaced again years later when a director at my old job got a Sony C1 Picture book. I knew given enough time they would be the next "big" thing, no pun intended. My first hands on encounter with an ultraportable computer was the OQO Model 2. It was less than satisfying to say the least. But I did think it had its uses and its strong points. Never the less Im not shocked to hear that the company is entering the light. Its too bad when good ideas die and sometimes its worse when they partially succeed.

IPR : The Next Generation

Ive been wanting to try Windows 7 for a while, I kept hearing how great it was and everything but honestly I didn't buy it. I love my Wind more and more, but the real Albatross so far has been XP. Don't get me wrong, its not a total piece of shit. It ran *fine*, and unfortunately fine means good enough. At first it felt awesome, but as I used it more it got that slow windows feeling. Things taking a little longer every time to load. So when I saw jkOnTheRun's article about Windows 7 on the Wind. I figured it was time to jump. I had my Ubuntu partition and that was great but I need windows way too often at work to switch back and forth just to do small things. So I spent a few hours trying to put Windows 7 dvd image onto my thumb drive with my mac... which is futile to say the least. I just launched it from the XP side and it took about 25min, and update and a reboot later and all the drivers were set. it was honestly the easiest x86-os install Ive ever dealt with. A little spooky because installing the beta of this os is easier than XP. Honestly so far Im stoked. I mean its been a few days now so Im reserving judgement for a while. Also I'm not sure I buy the Linux will/will not crush Windows 7 on netbooks argument, I think the numbers one vs the other will stay about the same. I think most of that is just fanboys shouting to hear the echo.

Market adjustment

So usually I don't directly comment or respond to news articles I read. I think this article dances around the obvious factor Laptops are outpacing Desktops and Netbooks coming into their own. I think it has to do with the price and availability of broadband connectivity, more specifically wireless connectivity. I think this entire shift is driven by the resource, not the other way around. Starbucks had wireless in its locations before most, and since they did Laptop users flocked to them. I suspect this is the reason for the large smug clouds around Starbucks. Now that entire cities are either going wireless, or at the very least flirting with the idea, there is a REASON to carry around an extra 3 to 12lbs of shit with you everywhere. Sure the cost of laptops has dipped to fit nearly every budget, even mine. But I dont think that was a solid factor until there was something to do. And honestly I think thats where the rubber meets the road. That and asking computer salesmen in Taipei and "analysts" is just a shithouse way to operate. Salesmen sell things with high profit margins, and in a extremely crowded, completely connected city of course a laptop is more popular. And honestly most market analysts cant find their asses with both hands.

I do agree gamers and savvy users choose to build their own desktop rather than buy a brand for home use. But I also think too many businesses are getting swept up and buy laptops when desktops are a better choice. Portability is only useful when you need it, otherwise its a liability.

http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE50601320090107

I have 2 Boots

So over the weekend I put Ubuntu on my Wind. It honestly went suspiciously smoothly. I went for Pho with my friends, went to my buddies house, bummed a usb stick from the other. Loaded Ubuntu onto the stick with unetbootin... which was awesomely easy. Booted it, installed it, the only sticking point being to setup wireless. Last night I setup my data partition to mount on boot and a few other tweaks and its hot fire.

Oh and Photobook.app takes backwards shots :P

The littlest computer named Wind

Ive had my computer for a little over a week now and so far, its f'n sweet. Its snappy and easy to use. The screen is very nice and bright. I was most worried about the keyboard since I never got to try typing on one. Honestly its great. I would say so if it wasn't. My right pinky finds the "." very easy, but the double quote as it turns out is a tad hard for man hands :) My only real complaint is that I tap the touch pad too easily/often when Im typing and mess myself up. And really thats just a habit because I usually leave tap off, but I like to use it on this machine.
Newegg was super easy to deal with and the computer and my accessories came right on time. I got a Logitech Nano mouse and even thats worked out great. Overall this has been an extremely positive experience and honestly I was expecting a tad more drama. In fact I did this post on it.
The Obligitory Netbook on Macbook shot. But the funny part is I took this with my Macbook Pro.

Inverse Penis Relation : My First Taste

This is yet another post about Netbook/sub-laptop/ULPC/Etc... With a twist. Ive been interested in these for a while... But this is the first time I was actualy serious about buying one. I set these little goals for stuff like this. When it was my LCD TV is was 42", 1080p, and 1000$, when those conditions were met I would buy one, and I did. This time it was the Netbook. When I could get 10" screen, 1gb ram, 80gb+ HD, less than 400$ I would consider buying. I hoped the prices were around there this holiday so first I went around and shopped in person. I tried to find every one I could in person. I went to Frys and played with the Lenovo s10, Acer Aspire One, and the ASUS EEEPC. The Lenovo won, but not hands down. For starters the mouse buttons were in the right spots under the track pad, and it felt solid like my t42. The EEEPC felt cheap like a toy. But the Aspire onewas a serious close second, even with the weird button placement and was the right price. I looked at the HP 2133 and Dell mini 9 at the campus bookstore. I wasn't impressed. The HP's screen was too small, and I just didn't like the disk selection of the Dell. The only ones that I was considering that I couldnt get my hands on were the MSI Wind and the Samsung NC10.

So since I wasnt stoked on the ones I could get to, I decided to just take the plunge based on the price and reviews. I bought a Netbook on the first.

Now since this is December you might think I mean 12/1/08 ; but I don't. I mean the first Monday after "Black Friday"... "Cyber Monday". What the fuck is this! Ive worked in IT since 98 and Ive never heard of "Cyber Monday", its a made up shopping day like Secretaries day and Valentines... just kidding I love fake outrage. Actually it was pretty sweet, I was shopping the "Black Friday" sales for a netbook and it turns out "Cyber Monday" is a much better day for computer related items... I found some decent prices on Amazon, but as we all know I cant do that again, its not fair to my family, friends, and most importantly me. I went to Newegg and found a MSI Wind for 299$ after rebate. Not too shabby. And as it turns out the machine I ended up getting was a "Black Friday" sale that ran or was extended through "Cyber Monday"

IPR : The Revenge

So now, in what can only be categorized as a series, this is my 2 hour review of the OQO Model 2.

I just got this from a coworker to test for work. Before I got it i watched a YouTube review and a Cnet.co.uk review, just to get familiar with some of the features. The good points first, its a on time with what I expected and runs XP very well. Its sized like a "hymnbook", though the first thing that sprung to my mind was a std hard drive, and is decently light with the normal battery. The screen is bright, clear, and the resolution is nice for web pages, and full computer use. The touch scrollers are a great feature. The bad... the keyboard is slightly larger than my blackberry, which is to say not big enough for man hands to thumb type on and just big enough to force man hands to reach to type, and really the keys are still small enough to cause mash typing. Also the "qwerty" keyboard is not "standard". The enter key isn't in the normal position, give or take right of the L key, and is under the mouse nipple where the standard click button should be. And the position is taken for the "Rotate" button, which is pretty fair to say a useless feature, unless reading a very long PDF... The mouse key is in a convenient location for the left thumb but I would prefer the option of one handed mousing and left just holding the machine for support or typing. For me its nearly impossible to retrain my thumbs for this layout. The extended battery makes it just heavy enough to be awkwardly balanced and irritating to use. The little heat vents makes my hands uncomfortable and hot. The little antennae feels flimsy, I nearly broke it the first time I touched it, and it spins in place yet is keyed to fit into the body so I have to spin and fiddle with the plastic end to store it. The OQO Model 2 is too big to fit in my pocket yet too small to justify taking my backpack... And oddly enough its noisy. Honestly I would prefer using my Gameboy as a data entry device.Anyways, short version : I wouldn't buy the OQO Model 2 with my own money, I wouldn't buy it with my employers money, and I haven't done anything one this I couldn't do with my crackberry. Other than this post. :)

5/7-8:30am
I edited and added to this post with the OQO on its dock, its pretty nice setup if I were a mobile salesperson or tech, like a Direct TV Technician, or a Cop. Someone who just needs access to a working machine that can be tossed in a briefcase or bag. It has a nice car charger, and when you get to a desk setting it in the dock puts the Lenovo dock to shame. When using it on its dock it really feels like I'm using a decent computer. AND I can use my M$ mouse and Natural keyboard... thats full of win for me.

I couldn't be bothered trying out the HDMI at home on my TV but I guess that would have worked fine.

IPR : Redux

Last week at a meeting at work, I was placed on the sub-laptop "team". It was weird because I didn't even know that we were looking into it formally for work, so that was a nice surprise. Our basic tenants for choice are, low price, XP/Vista capable. Which is nice. Basically one of the guys had seen this link on Engadget, and we're really using it as a map of whats available. After looking around and really the Asus Eee 701 pc is not ideal. I think if I had my druthers I think the Dreambook Light IL1 looks pretty nice, but the HP 2133, with the larger screen, and nice price point of 599$ for the version that I think would fit our "professional" needs perfectly, the Express card slot, built in wireless, and itsa nice and cheap. Its sweet like candy, and hot like fire. So, I guess that makes it RedHots.

Heres some vids I found on Hong Kong Phooey: a tech junkie from Hong Kong blog.

The Inverse Penis Relation

I'm a bit of a nerd but the computer gadget rarely grabs my attention. When someone creates a coffee pot that makes a more perfect cup of coffee, or an autonomous robot vacuum cleaner, rarely does it get more than the casual "huh, thats kinda neat" from me. I've just never had a mind for that level of granularity in my products. I almost never shop for a minute improvement, of a product that I own, if it already performs well. My Dyson vacuum is the exception its unbelievable. Nor have I really been anal about any sort of esoteric detail. Audiophiles piss me off when they refuse to listen to CD's, and Overclockers will go out of their way to buy a cheap CPU, then spend money to watercool it to make it perform better. I've flirted with overclocking, I've created a subwoofer enclosure. But the multiple tweaks for the minuscule gains have never felt worth it. They call it a hobby but I call it a fetish. Spending time and money to make the ordinary item, extraordinary, has never held much allure for me.

One area withstanding, Sub-Laptops. I call it the "Inverse Penis Relation". The theory of the IPR is that as certain products reach "palm size" or "as big as my hand" the more desirable they become. Cell phones went through this in the late 80's early 90's, television remotes, external hard disk recently, and of course in laptops you cant get too thin, too small, too light. This market that is finally making a splash here in the states and it is really exciting to me. In some meetings and conference's Ive been to, too often do I have laptop envy. I met a Korean lady with a TINY laptop, it was brand new, and glistened. Built in camera, high res, large (for its size) screen, full keyboard. Ive been quietly watching the OLPC develop with high hopes of it sparking an interest in large companies to release a tiny sub 500$ laptop for me to run Linux on... I think the Asus eeepc is winning this leg of the race but I don't know if it will be the one I buy. Unless everything else is way more expensive.