Damn Laptops !

I am looking for a laptop replacement for my 'aged' TX1000 tablet. I am buying an Intel system this time (tx1000 is AMD based) because Intel's run cooler on compact laptops (the ones under 14") and perform better with better energy efficiency. So... it's been 3 days now going thru ALL major brands and i CAN'T FIND A GOOD LAPTOP under 14" !!!
My Requests is DDR3 RAM, HDMI port, eSATA port, webcam, N wifi, bluetooth and FOR GOD'S SAKE ... I DON'T want the laptop running on a GREEN processor with 'just ok' performance !
Almost all new laptops under 14" carry those ultra low voltage cpu's (green) that score around '1000' in passmarks tests. A typical CPU (not an ultra low voltage) scores around 1600 in same tests. That is 60% more !
Also, i want a decent mid-range graphics card, and not an Intel Chipset graphics set. Something like nvidia G230 or an ATI equivalent.

To sum it up, i need DDR3 ram, Proper CPU (like P8600 or T6600), and an avarage graphics card. And guess what... it's impossible to find one !!!
Technology is far behind my needs !



The best i found is a DATED asus laptop. Amazing specifications for it's time (2007). It's ASUS F6VE series, and the specs are:

Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T9550 (2.66GHz, 6MB L2, 1066MHz FSB)

13.3" WXGA Glossy LCD (1280x800, 16:10)

ATI Mobility Radeon 4570 with 512MB GDDR2 VRAM

Atheros AR928X 802.11n + Bluetooth 2.0

4GB DDR2 800 SDRAM (2GB x 2)

Great CPU, Great GPU chipset, N wifi, but DDR2 ram in GPU and system :\

I'll have to wait until the customers worldwide start complains about the ultra low voltage performance levels. Hopefuly i7's will come into the 13" scene. Or at least 14" laptops !

And yes, i know that DDR3 is not much better if your bus is running on lower speed, but i am not buying a System with RAM that's going to be obsolete anytime soon.

As long as tx1000 works (i have a problem with it's usb's) i'll stick with it or i'll jump to the chunky 15.6-ish ones...

Trance is good but ...

Where has the swing been hiding from me all those years ??? I declare 100% Swing lover ! The Key to opening the swing world is the Sing-Sing-Sing as performed by Billy May Orchestra. Since then, i am digging deeper and deeper in it ! At the point i have swing everywhere ! In car - at home - at fingers (on Sax). It's totally uplifting !

Office 2007 and gCDEmu on linux

Today i managed to install -easily- the Microsoft Office 2007, including the SP2 upgrade on my Linux machine because i had some picture resizing problems in OpenOffice beta. The OpenOffice 3.2 starts significally faster than 3.1 (1/3rd of time).
Also i found an alternative to daemon tools after some searching. It's named gCDEmu and it mounted even a nero image without any problems.
Installation of Office 2007 on linux took me way too less time that it does when i install it on Superior Systems running Windows ! I didn't expect that since linux it's not it's native environment. I used Crossover (a more advanced version of Wine). I also tried mediacoder 64bit but it won't run in my 64bit ubuntu. I'll have to try with mediacoder 32bit which will of course be more combatible since the x64 mc was in beta.

White Christmas !

Ερώτηση: Δηλαδή τα Χριστούγεννα είναι η αγοραπωλησία αντικειμένων ?

Οσο πιο πολλά δώρα πάρεις τόσο πιο όμορφα τα Χριστούγεννα?

Μήπως οι μεγαλύτερες προσδοκίες απ'τή περίοδο των Χριστουγέννων (πέρα απ'το να πάρεις δωράκια) είναι το να'χεις κλείσει σε κλαμπάκι 3 βδομάδες πρίν για να'χεις κάπου να βγείς μαζί με τη παρεούλα σου στις παραμονές των χριστουγέννων και της πρωτοχρονιάς πληρώνοντας διπλά/τριπλά και βάλε για μια σπιθαμή τόπο και ενα μπάχαλο απο καλοντυμένα γκομενάκια που προσπαθούν να επιβάλουν την 'υπεροχή' τους μήπως βρεθεί κανείς τις γιορτινές αυτές ημέρες να τους πετάξει τα μάτια απ'εξω και να τις βγάλει απ'τη μιζέρια της μοναξιάς/μονοτονίας που βιώνουν ?

Μήπως Χριστούγεννα είναι το να κλειστείς σε ενα υπερπολυτελές ξενοδοχείο για να πηδάς με στυλ, χλαπακιάζοντας τον άβακα στο μπουφέ στα διαλήμματα που θα κάνεις?

Τί ακριβώς γιορτάζουμε πλέον στα Χριστούγεννα ??? Γιατί δεν τα μετονομάζουμε σε κάτι αλλο μιας που ο Χριστός δεν υπάρχει πουθενά ? Και εις ανώτερα ! Καλά γαμήσια και καλά κέρδη σε όλους ! Είθε αυτές τις γιορτές να τις περάσετε σούπερ στα κλάμπ και στα μπουζούκια ! Και γιατί οχι? κανα πηδηματάκι στις 'after hours' να φέρει τη χαρά και νόημα στις γιορτές ! Πως το λένε οι 'άλλοι' ? The Christmas Spirit ? αυτό ! όπως το αντιλαμβάνεται κανείς.

Και μην παραλείψετε να δείτε τις όμορφες Χριστουγενιάτικες ιστοριούλες με δωράκια, στολιδάκια, φωτάκια, σκυλάκια, γατάκια και οτιδήποτε άλλο τρυφερούλικο στην TV. Αλιώς καήκατε ! Δεν θα 'καταλάβετε' Χριστούγεννα πάλι και θα διερωτάστε τι πήγε στραβά !

Στη φώτο ποζάρει ο σύγχρονος 'ήρωας' των Χριστουγέννων ! Χοντρούλλης, κοκκινούλης και καλοταϊσμένος! κομμένος ραμμένος στα μέτρα της coca-cola!

Ας τρέξουμε όλοι μαζί στα καταστήματα για να αγοράσουμε 'Χριστούγεννα' ! Merry Christmas to everyone ! Ho - ho - ho !

N900 vs I-Phone

Well... i found this interesting comparison between the linux-based Nokia N900 phone versus Tomato's... sorry... Apple's I-Phone 3GS
Have a look at the comparison here
Note that there are very interesting comments on the article by some readers:
"The iPhone is just an iPod Touch with some smart-phone features. Great for girls and dumbs that can’t use a real platform. Now go and play with your Fart App. =)"  I can't angry more with him :)
and some failed attempts by tomato minded people to prove that N900 features are useless: "13. FM tranmitter? PASS. Most cars come with an AUX in jack now, and that is much better." Mercy ! If you had FM-transmitter (that is: transmit MP3's from your mobile phone to an FM station on your car radio) on your junk-phone you would be talking all day long about it !

Distance is not a limit !

Yestarday i repaired a laptop located in Brazil (a migrated client) just like if i was there :)
It's amazing what you can do thru the internet to help people. It was my most distant repair so far.
However, going back to my post title, certainly distance is a limit considering certain things (look @ the picture) :p

From Thunderbird to... Alpha-Bird ! (Shredder)

I just tried it out (still in alpha). It's the successor to Mozilla Thunderbird, the 'alternative' to Microsoft's 'look-out' (outlook). I just fell in love with it in the very first minutes. I am refering to Shredder version 3.1a1pre. Dare to try it ! It's FREE :) I'll put it down to a stress test since i'll be using it as default email client from now on. Just for the record i've been using the Thunderbird 2.0.0.23 so far. And of course, running on linux for boundary-free computing :) If you are using ubuntu, just add this repository to your synaptic: ppa:ubuntu-mozilla-daily/ppa and you'll get the daily build of thunderbird and firefox.