Eeep! The MSI Wind is Finally Available Locally!

Well, its official: The much awaited MSI Wind ulpc is now available locally at PC Corner! Initial pricing ranges from Php 24K (around $535) for a "bare" unit with no OS and it goes up to Php32K (around $710) for one that has Windows XP preinstalled among other add-ins.


Although the Wind is priced around Php10K more than the entry-level Eee PC, the Wind has the upper hand in terms of processor (Intel Atom), keyboard/trackpad size, and storage. If I'm in the market for a laptop, I wouldn't think twice before getting this baby over the HP2133(mininote) but I would have to reserve final judgement until Acer and Dell comes out with their own entry to the ulpc niche.

Woopra Rocks!

Tried the analytics web application called Woopra and I loved it! It gives a real-time view of the web visitors that goes to websites/blogs. Above is a screenshot of *this* blog where someone from Canada is reading a post on Doom.

Intallation of the Woopra app is quick and easy but its not intantly visible on my Eee. I had to download and install another app to make everything viewable (more on this app later).

My DIY Twitter Client via FireFox

When I XP-fied my Eee PC, one of the things I *avoid* doing is install non-essential apps to it to preserve my 1Gb+ free storage. To do this, I used PortableApps from the external SD card but not all the things I want to use are available as a portable application... one of them is a Twitter application.

Anyway, having tried using the mobile version of Twitter on my iPhone, I tried adding a new sidebar panel on FireFox Portable with the url http://m.twitter.com/ and it worked! Now I uninstalled Twhirl and Adobe Air and is now using my twitter sidebar most of the time.


ADDENDUM:
There is a question in the comments section on how I "detached" my sidebar from Firefox. I did it by installing a Firefox add-on called EZ-Sidebar.

My Eee PC has VD!

Well, VD, in this case means Virtual Desktop (gotcha!).

When I went "Philistine" and installed Windows XP on my Eee, one of the things I missed was the virtual desktop that was built in to Eee's bundled Xandros Linux. Well, when I downloaded TweakUI Powertoy from Microsoft, I noticed an application called "Virtual Desktop Manager". I downloaded it (its quite small) and installed it. At first I was sort of lost on how to use it -- it turns out that you'll have to do a right-click on the Windows Taskbar and choose the virtual desktop manager from the toolbar submenu.

Anyway, I was able to activate it and it seems to work well.

Now I can organize my running apps more efficiently and I also have an additional eye-candy which I can show my non-geek friends.

Via OpenBook: If At First You Don't Succeed

When Asus announced their popular Eee PC, Via Technologies followed suit with their own NanoBook reference design. Despite their similarities, the Eee PC succeeded while the NanoBook came out as a"2nd rate trying hard copycat" and the dismal reviews for Via's "baby" did not help at all.

Now, it looks like Via wants to have a second shot at the niche created by the Eee PC by releasing the OpenBook reference design website. This new design's specs are quite impressive on paper and should they pull this off at the current $400 price of similarly designed computers, Via may have a winner here.

Here's hoping...

CDisplayEx on Eee

I was a a bit bored and decided to read some comicbooks... on my Eee. I used CDisplayEx and the reading experience is pretty good!

My Eee PC on SP3

I just applied Windows XP Service Pack 3 on my XP-fied Eee PC. My free space was down to 1.5+ Gb from around 2 Gb. No worries because the SP3 uninstall files now weighs in at around 220+ Mb and once I see that my system is stable, I'll let CCleaner remove it so I'd still have ample space on my Eee.

I downloaded the SP3 file manually and applied it by double-clicking the file. I opted to do the download-and-install method because I heard that it is among the safest way of applying the patch.

So far, my Eee PC seems stable enough. The hacks I installed before SP3 are all working flawlessly and if I do not encounter any problems until Wednesday, I'll clean up my SSD to free up precious disk space.

NetBook Remix: Ubuntu for ULPCs!

It looks like the niche we are in, the ULPC (Ultra Low-cost PC) niche, will have our own Ubuntu distro called "NetBook Remix". Here's what Mark Shuttleworth, founder of Canonical, has to say about it when asked by The Guardian, if he will be coming out with a special Ubuntu version for the small laptops we love:

We're announcing it in the first week of June. It's called the Netbook Remix. We're working with Intel, which produces chips custom-made for this sector.

So that's it, straight from the horse's mouth. Can't wait for June!

Here's the link to the complete interview.

The Redfox Wizbook [Know Thy Eee-nemy]

The ULPC (Ultra Low-cost PC) niche is indeed getting crowded as more and more manufacturers enter the niche and here's one of the latest entries: the 10-inch screen Redfox Wizbook. Running a 500 Mhz AMD LX800 processor, this *may* be a bit slower than the Eee PC *BUT* this baby costs only Php19,000 (around $450) making it worthy of a second look.

There is a smaller Wizbook (Wizbook 800) that has an 8-inch screen and has an LX700 processor running at 400 Mhz. Priced competetively at Php 16,000 (around $ 380), this is a direct competitor of the original Eee PC 701.

Separated at Birth?

Snagged this controversial photo from engadget. See anything suspiciously suspicious?

Taking The WinXP Plunge... Again

After holding out for a looooong time, I finally took the plunge and installed Windows XP on my Eee PC! I'm actually posting this from my spanking brand new(?) OS! My first attempt was not up to par because it rendered my Eee PC mute (no sounds).

Anyway, I was able to finally make everything work now and so far so good! To save on the disk space I did not install any major applications on Windows, opting instead for the Portable Apps suite. Installed as portable apps are OpenOffice.Org, FireFox, 7-zip, GAIM, uTorrent, and few more. I am using portable apps not only to save disk space but also to prevent my Windows XP registry from being borked before its time. Now, almost all my programs (except for a 3rd party firewall app Ashampoo) are running off my 2GB SD Card. To "fix" the low resolution screen of the Eee PC, I also installed Astray+ *after* updating the graphics drivers as recommended here.

Even with Windows XP, the Eee PC is still not "able" enough to function as a primary PC and it will still act as my secondary, take-along computer. So far, I have not seen any obvious advantage of using Windows XP over the bundled Xandros Linux except that my Eee PC is now more vulnerable to 99% of the malware out in the wild.

I wonder how long I can tolerate using this before going back to Xandros?

Blue H1: A Philippines-only Eee Competitor?

Blue Digital Systems

It got the attention of Engadget and it also got mine.  The Blue H1 has a rather decent specs is said to have a better battery life than the Eee PC considering its larger 40 GB hard drive.  It is reported to run Linpus, a distro that I'm not too familiar with.

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Blame it on the iPhone!

I know... I know...

I haven't been updating this blog for a while now.  Well, you guys can blame it on the Apple iPhone!  I just got one from a friend (which I have to remember to pay :) ) and its been keeping me busy these past few days.

Add to that the week-long training that I'm slated to take between May 21 to 25.

To my 4 loyal readers, my apologies.  I will try to update this blog as soon as the inspiation hits.

In the meantime... I'll continue playing with my new phone :)

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MSI's 8.9- to 10-inch "Wind" [Know They Eee-nemy]

MSI's 8.9- to 10-inch Wind breaks in Q2 for less than $500 - Engadget

The ultraportable pc niche is really starting to get scorching hot as more and more PC manufacturers announce their own version of small laptops.  This is really good news because it offers users with a wealth of inexpensive ultraportable computing choices.  Together with cheap broadband access, the introduction of these types of machines may indeed help in bridging the digital divide.

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The Cloudbook Has Landed! [Know Thy Eee-nemy]

The Eee PC's first serious competition will soon be available locally -- end of April 2008 to be exact. I chanced upon this juicy piece of information through an email I received earlier today. The distributor will be "Advance Microsystems Corp." a local company and they can be found online at http://n1smartbook.com/ -- too bad their website doesn't show the Cloudbook... yet.. The local Cloudbook will have an SRP of Php 19,999, the same SRP of the Eee PC when it was first iintroduced locally.

Will this pose a serious threat to the Eee?

I'd love to hear some comments from my readers :)

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Test Driving SafePup

Out of boredom, I tried to install SafePup from a seldomly-used flashdrive I have and I must say that I'm a bit impressed with the performance of the diminutive Linux distro.  SafePup is a variant of Puppy Linux, one of the so-called minimalist Linux distribution.  The whole SafePup system occupies a little less than 65MB of my unused 128MB flash drive.

Making SafePup boot from a flashdrive is as easy as formatting the flashdrive using FAT as its filesystem and simply copying the SsafePup files into it.  Then to use it, simply press the Esc button while the Eee is booting up and choose the flashdrive in the boot up routine.

SafePup seems quick and robust and may well be  a worthy alternative to the bundled Xandrox Linux.

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Dell to Release its own Eee PC Competitor [Know Thy Eee-nemy]

CNN reports that Compal, one of the large contract manufacturers for Dell says that they are manufacturing yet another 8.9" ultra portable laptop that Dell intends to sell by June of this year.  Reported to retail for less than $499 (around Php 20,000+), this will definitely be another Eee PC competitor.

This niche is really starting to get interesting considering that HP has already released their own 8.9" model (the Mini-Note) and other manufacturers are also coming out with their own version of the ultra-small laptop.  I sure hope that the industry sustains this thrust because these types of computers are highly instrumental in truly bridging the digital divide.

The "powers that be" at Asus should start patting themselves at the back for starting this trend.

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F9 to the Rescue!

An Eee PC user that often tinker with his computer would know how invaluable the F9 key is in restoring the Eee PC to its factory default. By pressing the F9 key while booting up, one can wipe out everything in the Eee PC and return it to its factory fresh condition.

I often used the F9 key to restore my Eee PC each time I bork my system but today I found another use for it. Last night, I spent a lot of time reading using the built-in ebook reader of the Eee PC. When I realized that it was time to sleep, I promptly turned off my Eee but it got sort of stuck in the shutdown window. So I forced it to turn off by performing a long-press of the power button.

This morning, I turned on my Eee PC but it just boots up to a black screen! Thinking that the system simply "slept", I pressed the power button to wake it up but upon pressing it, the Eee shuts down immediately. I tried to start my system twice and the same thing happened! Thinking that I messed up my Eee, I thought of wiping out my system and starting again fresh. But instead of restoring my Eee to factory default, I decided to use the option to check the disks.

After a few seconds of checking, my Eee restarted normally! This saved me a lot of time tweaking and reinstalling my apps. So there, if you think you messed up your configuration, don't wipe out your system just yet, maybe a simple disk check can breathe new life into your Eee -- saving you time in reinstalling and re-tweaking.

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HP's 2133: Great Hardware, Crappy OS

PC World - HP's 2133: A Tiny Laptop an Adult Can Really Use

If we are to take this review seriously, it seems like the HP2133 is a worthy adversary for the Eee PC in terms of hardware specs but the praises ends there. It seems like its preloaded Microsoft Vista is acting like a millstone around the HP2133's neck causing this little wonder to slow down and not perform at its peak,.

Too bad, it certainly looks really good but at almost double the price, I'll take an Eee PC anytime... for now...

UPDATE: Hours after posting, it seems like the 2133 is now available in the U.S. with an SRP of $499 (around Php21,000) for the base model, its higher spec'ed sibling will retail at around $749 (around Php 31,000). See more details here and here. It is now oficially known as the "HP Mini-Note".

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Fix for Eee PC's "Out of the Box" SAMBA Vulnerability

There was a buzz on the 'net about the Eee PC's "out of the box" vulnerability through SAMBA. As a stop-gap measure, I simply uninstalled SAMBA from my Eee because I have no need to access any Windows box. I did this by typing the command "sudo apt-get remove samba" from the console.

A few days ago, I was looking for things to install through Synaptic (by typing "sudo synaptic" at the console window) and I saw this.



So I promptly installed it and now I can breathe a bit easier.

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