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Up:Down Ratio...

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Whenever I feel like I haven’t downloaded anything for a while I go on a search with anime and tv shows to see what I am missing and I go for it.

Right now I’m Downloading:

  • Eye Shield 21
  • Naruto
  • Bleach
  • Studio 60
  • Jericho

I’m uploading a ton, and I just leave them open to make sure my ratio with the private torrents get better. The amount of media I have for new tv shows which I have stored up to watch later is aroun 96 GB, and for anime its 149 GB (and growing). With the tv shows its simple, but with the anime shows its hard to keep up since there are a lot of new good shows coming out every month or two, and I don’t want to miss any.

HP Laptop Lineup...

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It seems HP has revamped its whole line up of laptops with the Santa Rosa platform.

Pavilion Laptop:

  • dv2000, dv6000, dv9000
  • 14.1 inch, 15.4 inch, 17 inch (all widescreens)
  • Core 2 Duo
  • Nvidia Graphics 8400M
  • built-in cameras (optional)
  • Wifi 802.11n (on some models)
  • $999, $949, $1199

These are going to be released over the summer starting in July and their prices seem reasonable for the items you are getting.

Link: Engadget

Review: Sony 2 GB Mirco Tiny Vault...

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This is one of the smallest 2 GB memory stick I have seen on the market. I have been using a huge flash drive to carry around with me in my brief case to transfer files at work and other things if needed. I wanted something smaller that I can carry with me every where but those USB key chain type memory seemed slightly bulky for me.

When I found this little piece of memory, I thought it would fit my needs perfectly.

The memory stick is a little thicker then a credit card, it comes with a small rubber pouch which can be used. The pouch itself keeps it protected and doesn’t let it fall out at all. I have been using it for the past few weeks and I am very impressed with it. I use to transfer media files for myself, and documents and important things for work between computers.

It has worked with XP, Vista, and OS X without any issues which really surprised me. One thing I kepted in mind is that when they come this thin they have to sacrifice something and for this memory stick it was speed. Comparison to a normal sized memory stick it is a bit on the slower side but its not that bad. The other part which is slightly annoying is the green color, the 1 GB comes in a nice blue, I wish they had other colors to choose from or something less flashy, but for $50 I’m very happy with it.

Link: Amazon

Rating:
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Sony Bumps its Laptop Line – TZ, F...

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It seems Sony has gone through and revamped their whole line at this point, they are all using the Santa Rosa except for the TZ Series. This is a good line up which has godo performance put into them, and this is probably the best technology before getting computers with SSD Drives. If you are looking for a laptop these would be the specifications you are looking for. SSD drives are going to improve at an exponential rate, and they will drop in price so you are better off waiting for those drives, but these laptops pack a punch.
TZ Series:

  • 11.1 inch
  • unltraportable
  • 9 hour battery
  • 80 – 100 GB HD
  • 1 – 2 GB Ram

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FZ:

  • Santa Rosa
  • Blu Ray
  • Core 2 Duo
  • 802.11n
  • 15.4 inch
  • XBrite Widescreen Display (Outputs HD Movies)
  • HDMI out
  • USB 2.0
  • NVidias GeForce 8400M (DirectX 10)
  • Express Card
  • Memory Stick
  • $1400 – $2000 depending on choices

AR

  • Core 2 Duo
  • 17,8 XBrite Screen
  • 802.11n
  • NVidia GeForce 8400M
  • Built-in Webcam
  • HDMI out
  • Blu Ray -R
  • Digital TV Tuner
  • CableCARD Slot

SZ

  • 13.3 inch
  • Sprint EV-DO
  • XBrite Screen
  • Carbon Fiber Frame
  • X3100 graphices and NVidia GeForce 8400M

Link: Engadget 1
Link: Engadget 2
Link: Engadget 3

Vista Project II...

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So I have installed the OS but there is a lot of tweaking and things to work on. And after fooling around with the machine I realized there were other driver problems that I had to deal with.

Driver Issues:

  • Ethernet port (Not Recognized)
  • Sound Card (Not Recognized)
  • Linksys Wireless-G Adapter (Wasn’t Recognized even after downloading the Vista driver)

Driver Update:

  • Nvidia GeForce 7800 GT (Driver Updated)

My machine was only displaying at 1024 by 768 but after the driver update I was able to get to 1600 by 1200 which is just beautiful, and I updated the Linksys driver and after finding it, it worked flawlessly.

I have to say that I am enjoying playing around with the OS and messing around with the settings, they are taking a different approach to how things work yet you feel there is some similarity. There are some improvements, but my system isn’t the highest system and it isn’t low but you do feel its a bit on the heavy side.

Computer Stats:

  • Pentium 4 3.4 GHz
  • 2 GB Ram
  • GeForce 7800 GT
  • 74 GB 10K Raptor
  • 160 GB 7.2K WD

I completely formated the machine, but I forgot about the second hard drive so I had to format it in the Device Manager, but it was a bit different then the usual way but still familiar. Also the help files are more helpful then before which is good, since I’m always looking for different tools. Overall I think its a good OS but still needs some work regarding driver support and the way things work. I don’t think I am even scratching the surface of this OS and there still a lot to mess around with.

I installed a few more gadgets for the side bar and I installed Firefox 2.0 and a couple of plugins. I will be getting Office 2007 to install later next week. I will continue messing around with it.

Pending issues:

  • Ethernet Port
  • Sound Card
OWC Mercuryâ„¢ Elite-AL Pro Storage...

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This is the new storage from OWC and they have a wide selection of products which can satisfy your needs and the different type of connections. It is compatile with Apple OS X and Windows XP Pro with different types of connections such as USB 2.0, Firewire 400, Firewire 800, and eSATA. Its got shock protection and this rugged aluminum enclosure which allows it to be stackable.

Prices range from 109.99 for the 80 GB up to 599.99 for the 1 TB. The image below gives a better description of the features and sizes which you could choose from.

Link: OWC
Link: Engadget

Ubuntu on Dells...

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It seems that Ubuntu has picked up some steam this past couple of weeks, and they may be introducing specific consumer laptops and desktops with Ubuntu pre-loaded. This has been their choice because I think even Michael Dell uses it on his current laptop. Its nice seeing manufacturers giving consumers choices, I just hope they keep going on this track and offer more things with Ubuntu.

Link: Engadget

Starting Vista Project – Installat...

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So I have this machine which I’m turning into the test subject. I got my hands on the Vista Enterprise Edition so it has all the bangs and whistles.

My plan:

  • Clean install of Vista, so starting from scratch, I don’t want to go with an upgrade.
  • I have all the drivers if they are needed

Time:

  • Overall from start to finish it took about 1 hour and 45 minutes, I had 4 discs for the install.

Installation:

  • The questions are very basic and very simple

After Finishing:

  • I didn’t have time to play around with it but I ran into one issue.
    • My audio card on the motherboard wasn’t recognized by Vista so I don’t have any sound, I’m going to have to look for some dirvers for the hardware, but its not even showing up so I’m sure how to go about it.
  • It also didn’t recognize the Linksys Wireless adapter so I need to find the driver for that.

Recommendations:

  • If you currently have XP on the machine you should run the Windows Vista Hardware verifier which tells you if there is going to be any issues with your PC, it told me about my sound card which is integrated into the motherboard but I thought it would sort itself out, so I should have noted it. It also mentioned the Linksys Wireless Adapter.
  • Do a clean install so you don’t face any other issues which you may with a upgrade install of Vista

It recognized my Nvidia 7800 GT graphics card as well as the DVD burner, HDs, and all other peripherals. I have to admit it does look good, and I’m looking forward to tinkering around with it a bit and tweaking a few things.

Buffalo WZR2-G300N...

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Buffalo has come out with a new N router which is packing the normal features for a decent price. Buffalo AOSSTM, a four port 10/100 switch, WPA2, NAT, SPI firewall, and the normal features on a router. The one thing that sticks out for this router is the $100 price, which is great for a 802.11n router. I was hoping that it would have a four port Gigabit switch but for $100 I can’t really complain.

Link: Engadget

HTC Shift...

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This very portable pc or highend phone from HTC will be realeased in Q3 of 2007 and its packed with so many features you can’t help but want it. I can’t believe they packed all that technolgoy into something so small. This is a replacement for a laptop of you really want something mobile.

  • QWERTY style keyboard
  • Tri-band UMTS/HSDPA
  • Quad-Band GSM/GPRS/EDGE
  • Bluetooth 2.0
  • Wi-Fi
  • 7-inch widescreen touch display
  • 30GB hard drive
  • Windows Vista

Link: UnCrate

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