well, today i was finally cleaning up my laptop and decided i’d try to setup the media sharing components again.  i currently have my ps3 connected via a gigabit wired connection and my laptop using 802.11N so speed connection speeds should not be an issue with HD content streaming.  it seemed that when i had my ps3 connected via wifi i had some media server disconnect issues (however that may have been related to my older router too, currently using an apple airport extreme base w/nas).

my laptop is currently running windows 7 rc build as its main os due to the fact that win 7 lets you use and record clearQAM channels (that alone convinced me to stay with win7). however, i did not remember having any luck playing my tv shows from my ps3 via the media center sharing.  mp4 files worked fine but tv shows always gave me the usual cannot play back file error.

i have no idea what update added this feature but kudos to microsoft on that feature!!  this not only lets me use my PS3 as a media center extender but also any other pc can playback files via DLNA client. (i am assuming this since i have not tested).  keep reading for more details and the video demo.

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life, htpc, news, laptop, windows7, hp, ps3, hd, gaming, windows, opinion, console, culture, pc | No Comments »

PROs:

• awesome battery life, the best so far (about 4-5hours in real world; rated at 6hrs)
• nice 10″ display,
• solid build feel
• normal hdd, memory card slots, normal lan and vga ports
• pinch zooming touchpad (can do pinch gesture in IE and zoom in and out)

CONs:

• small touchpad
• perhaps a little heavier than dell/hp netbooks (but also makes it feel sturdier built)

Overall: definitely a good netbook and i give it a 9/10.

i liked how long the battery lasted on it and how the keyboard had pitched keys (angled at edges and more space between keys than the dell and hp flush keys). 

vga and lan ports also handy and gives it an edge over the other netbooks that opted to use proprietary adapters. however the smaller touchpad is a bit annoying and the only main negative

for full specs, check out Samsung’s official page over here:

review, laptop, netbook, culture, geek, windows, opinion, handheld, general gadgets | 5 Comments »

PROs:

• very nice keyboard, and key layout
• larger touchpad
• nice display
• decent sound for a netbook
• good battery life
• large normal harddrive
• hdmi output for hooking up to hdtvs

CONs:

• touchpad buttons are actually built into touchpad (takes a while to get used to)
• glossy display hard to see in direct sunlight (but this is normal for glossy displays)
• normal harddrive so is suspectible to jars/dropping (unlike ssd based netbooks)
• Function keys require using the FN button to use (again a minor complaint)
• no VGA-output (can’t hook up to most normal computer monitors)

Overall: seamonkey gives a thumbs up to it: 8/10

another good netbook w/a good keyboard layout and larger touchpad area.  initially the touchpad left and right click buttons were hard to get used to since its built into the touchpad itself. however the clicking tactile feedback for them makes it easier to adjust.

the biggest con to the dell mini10 is its lack of a vga out connector for an external monitor; however instead it does have an HDMI output to allow it to hook up to most new hdtvs.

Nice that it uses a normal harddrive and in turn has tons more space for applications.  This netbook falls nicely into the 10″ netbook genre with the most common features that seem to define this area: atom cpu, nearly full keyboards, 2 to 3 usb, hdd or ssd (larger for hdd), webcam, memorycard reader.  One defining feature is the hdmi out but this does again come at the cost of a vga out. 

review, netbook, culture, opinion, windows, hardware | 5 Comments »

well, i finally broke down and decided to upgrade my vista ultimate installation to windows 7 rc.  i thought i’d help out microsoft and send my installation logs (option when you install) and also do a straight upgrade from Vista Ultimate vs doing a clean install (which i would normally do).

the upgrade went almost too easy and i already found a reason to love Windows 7 and Media Center.  ClearQAM support!  Keep reading for the rest of my initial impressions and see windows 7 media center w/some ClearQAM in action!

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laptop, fanboy, blu-ray, hp, windows7, htpc, launch, opinion, windows, mobile, geek, hd, hardware | No Comments »

well, as my tweets may tell; i’ve decided to redo my os setup on my HP DV6700T laptop. for a little while i was trying (not very hard) to sell my hp laptop since i was using my air or wind more when on the go.  however after realizing the costs of a macbook pro and how much i prob would get for my hp i decided on keeping my hp and in turn relook into hackintoshing it.

last year i tried using a kalyway osx86 distro/installer and had pretty good success except for no builtin wifi, shaddy shutdown/audio issues (you either get working shutdown and no audio, or audio and having to hard power down laptop; doh!) which are two big negatives if your trying to use it as your main os.

however this time i decided i’d try to use a newer distro/installer, iDeneb 1.4 (it also was patched to 10.5.6; another thing that usually broke my setup was updating!).

keep reading for my thoughts, list of working items, tips and a video demo.

update! sd/mmc/ms card reader working (see below)

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osx86, guides, laptop, hp, msi wind, fanboy, culture, hardware, mac, opinion, modding, geek, apple | 3 Comments »

yea.  i am one of those geeks.  the type that gets or builds a new pc/laptop/netbook and then tries to cram as many operating systems on it as i can.

at one point in my life i recall having a multiboot setup of 5 different os’s. recently i’ve triple booted my msi wind w/3 os’s and my macbook air w/a mere dual boot…

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osx86, tablet pc, ubuntu, life, laptop, msi wind, windows7, netbook, wind, fanboy, geek, linux, hardware, mac, apple, windows, vista, modding, mobile, opinion, pc | 2 Comments »

well, i admit that the first few times using OS X Leopard (on a hackintoshed pc or the macbook air) was kind of frustrating originally.

being a windows poweruser/geek, i have become accustomed to installshield guides and registry hacking to get my settings and programs running.  however with OS X, installing applications is almost too easy.  just open and drag the app to the Applications folder.  wait? thats all?

yes, simplicity can be a beautiful thing.  this simplicity is shown throughout the whole operating system and applications. in this part 2 i will detail my personal experiences with OS X and the software side of things. again, this is probably a pretty boring read for any OS X hardcore users or power users.  Read the rest of this entry »

culture, blogging, life, geek, mobile, mac, hardware, opinion, apple | 1 Comment »

well, at work i’m kind of the netbook guru so in turn i get my hands on the demo units we get.  today, my boss stopped by and handed me a nice fun gift to play with this weekend: a sony vaio p (usa version, 1.3ghz cpu and 60gb pata drive, gps, wifi, wlan, webcam)

so far its an amazing piece of hardware and so tiny!

anywho, i hope to post a full review next week after i get a chance to take it for a full spin. until then, i thought i’d tease you with a few comparison pictures w/my macbook air and msi wind.

eee, msi wind, wind, netbook, fanboy, blogging, hardware, vista, geek, culture, mac | No Comments »

well, up to now i’ve yet to really use OS X Leopard (yes, i know OS TEN, hehe) on true mac hardware (closest was my G5 and G4 towers i previously had).

however, Q was looking to upgrade to the this year’s revision of the air and in turn sell his rev A, macbook air.  me being the sucker and gadget whore i am took him up on his offer and in turn have now converted to using my air as my main on-the-go laptop.

and well… os x leopard and mac hardware are a pretty good pair. i take that back, an amazing duo!  and yes, the kool-aid tastes pretty sweet.  keep reading for the first gulp and video of me opening up my air.

(this will be a multi-post blog)

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life, blogging, review, laptop, netbook, culture, opinion, apple, mac, hardware, windows, general gadgets | 3 Comments »

well, i am one of those rockband junkies. i have the full setup (previous Rockband instruments) for my PS3.  with Rockband 2, Harmonix updated most of the instruments except for the microphone.  Drums got wireless options, guitars (which already were wireless from day 1) already were, but what about the microphones?

we’ve been promised the wireless setup and kits by varous third-parties such as logitech and for the xbox360 owners, promised Rockband support for the LIPS wireless mic (but still no patch has been released).  lets change that! after doing some digging, i found out what you really need to get a wireless mic setup.

keep reading for the full details!

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x360, rock band, ps3, geek, modding, gaming | 8 Comments »