Tag: Personal

Setting up New Notebook Computer with Windows 7 I mean Ubuntu I mean Windows 7

Post author By George
Post date February 1, 2010
1 Comment on Setting up New Notebook Computer with Windows 7 I mean Ubuntu I mean Windows 7

Well I finally received my new notebook on Tuesday January 26. I wanted to use my bootable BartPE USB jump drive to image the HDD before starting the first boot into Windows 7. Unfortunately I didn’t have the correct drivers in the BartPE image for the NIC or the AHCI controller. Even with this small issue, I enjoyed the nice color contrast on the 15.6″ widescreen at 1920×1080 with the glossy display. I’ve seen displays exactly like mine at retail stores. Usually the displays are all gunked up with fingerprints and grime from shoppers.

I like the simple look of the case – flat black all around except for the small silver Sager logo centered on the lid. There are only 2 stickers by the keyboard (HDMI and Intel Corei7) which does not give the computer a junked up look. The chiclet keyboard, which has a number pad on the right) took no time to get use to. Also there is little give in the center with normal pressure.

I booted into Windows 7 Ultimate and completed the mini setup wizard. I am happy to report no bloatware installed. Just the following applications:

Microsoft Office 2007 Standard 25 day trial (removed since I already own a copy of Office 2007 Professional)
Fingerprint reader
Blue-Ray player

Windows 7 recognized my wireless network and I installed the 64bit drivers for my HP 2605dn Color Laserjet network printer. Test pages printed without problems so now it was time to customize the screen by installing the Star Wars and Pittsburgh Steelers Desktop Themes I made awhile ago.

On Wednesday I installed Ubuntu 9.10 64bit – removing Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit. Ubuntu recognized everything except for the Nvidia card, but the Hardware Detection manager found the correct drivers for me and suggested which one to install. Desktop effects and Compiz were enabled and finally have the cool 3D spinning cube, wobble windows, and all the special effects I could want on my notebook. To finish up I installed the latest codecs for my multimedia files, Flash for Firefox and Virtualbox OSE. But soon I started to have some problems.

VirtualBox OSE installed correctly. I created a vm, installed Windows 7 and rebooted the vm as needed. The performance was extremely slow. WHAT?? This is a Core i7 with 6GB of 1333MHz RAM and a high-end Nvidia card with 1GB of dedicated RAM. After shutting down the vm I verified I had my settings correct and tried agin. Booting into the vm was extremely painful. I do not have this issue at work on my Intel P4 3.4GHz with 2GB of RAM. Since it was late I went to sleep to figure out what to do tomorrow. When I got home from work the next day I booted the system and logged into Facebook to catch up with some friends. While I was playing Farmville the session rebooted. That was strange. So I logged in again and went back to Facebook and the session rebooted again. After logging in a third time I googled for a reason Ubuntu 9.10 64bit would randomly reboot the session. Within three minutes it rebooted my session again.

Now I am extreamly upset with the system. I fired off an e-mail to a buddy of mine, reinstalled my Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit CD and rebooted. I spent the next several hours rebulding my PC. Windows 7 installed within 20 minutes, spent the next 30 minutes running the drivers CD (the user interface was awesome – good job to the folks who designed it), and the rest of the time spent installing Office 2007 Professional, Thunderbird 3 (with all the addons I like), Firefox 3.6, Filezilla 3.3.1, Quicktime, VLC, Google Earth, Picasa, Skype, Trillian 4.1, and a few other applications.

I really wanted to run Ubuntu on my new notebook, but the 64bit seems too unstable. Maybe I should have installed the 32bit version instead. Either way, I am happy now with Windows 7. I might at a later date install Ubuntu 10.04 or Linux Mint 9 on a second partition and have a dual-boot system.

I purchased Star Trek on Blu-Ray over the weekend and enjoyed watching the movie. The picture looked great but the sound from the computer speakers was difficult to hear with the fans running. I was able to connect the computer to my HDMI input for the TV, but the audio was not available. I might be missing a setting for HDMI.

I have two issues with this notebook – battery and bluetooth. For the battery you will get one hour out of it. You will not be playing games, watching a movie, or reading at the local coffee shop unless you have p power outlet near by. A two-hour battery should be the bare minimum for any notebook in my opinion. Everytime the computer sleeps or reboots the bluetooth is off. There is no option to leave it on in the Phoenix BIOS. I don’t think any notebook PC I’ve ever used from HP, IBM, or Dell had bluetooth off with each boot.

I also purchased a Swiss Gear IBEX backpack to carry the computer and other stuff. The bag is made of good materials and holds everything well. I did read about a few people having problems with the zippers. Out of the two bags at the store, only one had zippers that moved easily.

Besides these few issues with the hardware (battery life and bluetooth), I really like this computer. It is fast, Windows 7 works great, Ubuntu 9.10 64bit worked well the first day (maybe a different distro for me in the future), cool options available, and a sweet screen as well.

Sager NP8690

Screen raised

Chiclet keyboard

DVI, e-sata, USB, audio input/output and express card

Power, HDMI, GB NIC, 2 USB, lock

DVD / Blu-Ray, card reader, 1394 firewire, USB, and modem

Screen closed with power supply

Tags Home_PC, Personal, Sager, Thunderbird, Ubuntu, Windows 7, xoticpc

Personal

Saw Avatar in 3-D

Yesterday my family and I went and saw Avatar in 3-D. I was completely amazed by the quality of the special effects. I remember watching the 3-D television movies back in the 80’s and having to wear the red / blue tinted cardboard glasses. Before the movie, they advertised almost all the previews in3-D. Looks like it will be a great summer to unwind with a few movies.

Tags Personal

Home PC Personal Ubuntu Windows 7

New Notebook Ordered

Yesterday I ordered my new notebook from Xoticpc.com. I was originally going to purchase the Serval Professional from Sysytem76.com, but I wanted to look to see if there was a better PC or if it was on sale. I soon learned Clevo manufactures the notebook I wanted and provides this notebook to retailers who re-brand the units as their own. So I searched the Internet for W860CU (one of the models Clevo builds) and started reading posts about their products and posts about different resellers who deal with them.

So I checked out several on-line retailers and discovered that I can get the same notebook PC (from what I can tell by looking at pictures) with more options than what System76 offered. So I customized the PC (see below) and compared to what I was going to order from System76. The price difference, $1.00 US. Like most of us, I want the best value I can get for my money. System76 just didn’t offer me everything I wanted: Blue-ray player, 3 year labor warranty, and upgraded thermal compound.

There was an option to purchase the PC with no OS, but I wanted to purchase Windows 7 from Newegg at a later date. Now I can have either a dual boot system or create a VM from within Ubuntu.

When the PC arrives, I plan on backing up the HDD first then wiping it our for Ubutnu 9.10. I will install Windows 7 Ultimate as a VM. As I stated before I am really starting to like Windows 7 at work. I have the Enterprise version installed on three PC and found it to be reliable.

15.6” FHD 16:9 LED Backlit Wide screen (1920×1080) Super Clear Glare Type Screen
Standard Dead Pixel Policy
Intel® Core™ i7-820QM, 1.73-3.06GHz, (45nm, 8MB L3 cache)
IC Diamond Thermal Compound – CPU + GPU
nVidia GeForce GTX 280M 1,024MB PCI-Express GDDR3 DX10 (User Upgradeable)
6,144MB DDR3 1333MHz Dual Channel Memory (2 SODIMMS) (Requires Vista 64-Bit to utilize Full 4GB)
Standard Finish
2X Blue-Ray Read/8X DVDRW Super Multi Combo Drive
320GB 7200RPM (Serial-ATA II 300 – 16MB Cache)
Internal 7-in-1 Card Reader (MS/MS Pro/MS Duo/MS Pro Duo/SD/Mini-SD/MMC/RS)
Internal Bluetooth + EDR
Built-in Intel® PRO/Wireless 5300 802.11 a/g/n Wi-Fi Link
Built in 2.0 Megapixel Camera
Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio – Included
Basic Black Business Case – Included
11.1V Smart Li-Polymer battery pack 3800mAh, 42.18Wh
Integrated Fingerprint Reader
Windows 7 Ultimate 64-Bit Installed (64&32-Bit CD Included) w/ Drivers & Utilities CD’s
3 Year Labor* 1 Year Parts Warranty Lifetime -24/7 DOMESTIC Based- Toll Free Telephone Tech Support (Labor Warranty through Xotic PC)
Includes FREE Shipping Both Ways for Warranty Repairs

UPDATE:

I just received an e-mail that my PC has shipped.

Tags Home_PC, Personal, Ubuntu, Windows 7

Christmas Personal Wii

Band Hero / Lego Rock Band for Wii

Post author By George
Post date December 28, 2009
No Comments on Band Hero / Lego Rock Band for Wii

For Christmas, my family received from “Santa” Band Hero and Lego Rock Band for the Wii. Of course the kids were excited about reciving these gifts Christmas morning. While breakfast was cooking, I hooked everything up and made sure Band Hero was working.

My son and I spent hours playing Band Hero taking turns between the guitar and drums. I tried the mic to see if worked. I swear I heard the Wii complain about my lack of singing skills. I guess that’s OK, because I know I don’t have a voice for singing.

Today I wanted to try Lego Rock Band for the Wii. The guitar was working well but I problems with the drums. I could not get the red drum to work at all. The red drum is the snare drum and is also the back or cancel button for the game. Without it, it is impossible for Lego Rock Band to work correctly.

I checked the Internet to see if others were having problems with the red drum like too. It turns out the drum set will work (minus the orange cymbal) as long as you have the Wii remote installed correctly into the drum system. I thought, “I have it installed correctly. How else would I be able to play drums on Band Hero already.” The key for me was to remove the wrist strap from the remote before installing it into the drum system. Now I can play the drums on Lego Rock Band with no problems.

I created a Lego character and formed a band called Chicken Wizards (random name the game picked for me.) I played 2 gigs, and several practice sessions with the drums and guitar. It’s a lot of fun and before I knew it, it was after 2:00PM and I’ve still haven’t started my chores.

I would recommend both games for anyone with some music skills. If you are lacking in musical talent, just set the instrument for Beginner and you can still join in the fun. For New Year’s I we are having some family and friends over. I’m sure the new Wii games will be a big hit.

While I was writing this post, my son was sitting down here in the game room singing Mr. Roboto by Styx.

Tags Christmas, Personal, Wii

Personal

Post author By George
Post date August 24, 2009
No Comments on

This weekend the Cole Brothers Circus was in our area. I took the family to the 1:30 PM show on Sunday. The last time we went was August 2006. We were able to get free tickets for the kids with 2 adult ticket purchases. Getting there took no time – glad I took the Subaru Outback since everyone had to park in the grass field. After all the rain we had from Hurricane Bill it was going to be pretty wet and muddy.

Our seats this year put us next to the entrance of the animals when the arrived and left the ring. The best shows for us to see from our viewpoint; the Toprasta Troupe from Columbia performing the three-tier 7 man pyramid on the high wire, the elephants, jugglers, acrobats, Aerial Ballet on Streaming Silks, and the dogs and pony review. The rest of the shows were in the center ring; 3 motorcycles in the Globe of Death, other acrobats, clowns, camels, and dancers.

It was very hot and humid “under the big top” for everyone – except for the camels. We enjoyed our circus treats and took some pictures of the family and attractions. Most of the pictures didn’t turn out as well as I would like, but a few are attached at the end of this post.

Leaving the circus was as painful as leaving a Catholic Church on Easter Sunday. One thing I like about my Outback – it has a timer for letting you know how long you’ve been behind the wheel driving (or in our case sitting in the field waiting). We did not get onto the road until 29 minutes after starting the car. The problem – poor traffic management and a few cars stuck in the mud.

American flag hanging from the big top

Tags Personal

Personal

Historic Cold Spring Village

Post author By George
Post date July 14, 2009
No Comments on Historic Cold Spring Village

During our family vacation to Avalon NJ, we stopped at Historic Cold Spring Village in Cape May, NJ. After going through the Welcome Center, the children went for a horse drawn wagon ride. Everyone got a change to pet Levi the horse and feed the sheep.

From there we walked the village and toured the Marshville Schoolhouse (the tour guide for the schoolhouse was fantastic…lots of information and very enthusiastic) , the Pottery Shop where we saw a demonstration on how to make a bowl, checked out the Dennisville Inn, walked through the Lewis Corson Gandy Barn, enjoyed a nice presentation at the Spicer Leaming House on cooking and baking (the instructor was making a wineberry cake during her presentation), and bought candy and other items at the Village Store. They had a demonstration at the David Taylor Shop on basket weaving, and the leather-smith was making belts to be sold at the Village Store.

Unfortunately many of the buildings were not open (my father wanted to see the John Finley Blacksmith shop, but he was not in) or the guides were out for lunch. Since I was planning on grilling bratwurst, hamburgers, and hotdogs for dinner, we decided not to stop for dinner at The Grange Restaurant.

Tags Personal

Personal

How to Replace the Cabin Air Filter in a 2007 Subaru Outback

Post author By George
Post date July 13, 2009
39 Comments on How to Replace the Cabin Air Filter in a 2007 Subaru Outback

Well after getting back from vacation in Avalon, NJ, I had plenty of work to do. One task was to replace the engine air filter and the cabin air filter in my 2007 Subaru Outback Sedan. I was able to purchase the new filter for $28.00 at the local auto parts store. The procedure should take about 15 minutes to complete (longer if your taking pictures of the process.) Please note I am not an auto mechanic. This post is more for my records than anything. Subaru states the cabin air filter should be replaced yearly. The filter in my car is 2 years old. It should look pretty nasty.

Open the glove-box and remove everything. The filter is behind the glove-box.
Open the passenger side door and remove the right end cover. This piece pulls off. I held onto the back while prying off the top and front.
Unhook the small retracting cable and using a small Phillips head screwdriver, remove the screw which the glove-box door hinges on. Careful, the clip which the screw is inserted is cheap plastic, no pressure is needed. I was able to get the screw part way out and then pop out the pushpin clip.
You need to pop out the two plastic “gliders” from the grooves on each side of the glove-box door. One they are out, the glove-box door should be free.
Remove the three screws on the right side of the glove-box compartment.
Remove the box which holds the owners manual.
Remove the three screws which holds an “L” shaped metal bracket. The bracket helps keep the air filter in place and remember, the bracket is braced against three alignment stops.
Pull up the piece of fabric.
Pull the carrier out by pushing the four clips (one on each side) towards the center. For me it kept hanging up on the right side. I had to force the opening a little. Once the four clips cleared the beginning of the opening, the rest slid out with no problems.
Once the filter is out and you see how nasty it looks, just replace it with the new filter you purchased.
Follow the steps in reverse order and you should have everything back the way it should be.

On Monday July 13th I called the local Subaru dealer to see how much they would charge to replace the cabin air filter… the service desk representative said $90.00! Glad I did this one on my own.

Tags Personal, Subaru

Personal

Be Happy at your Job

Today I was mowing the lawn before heading out with my family for a day of fun. When I finished mowing the front, I heard this home improvement contractor complaining about my neighbor; “Yes Mrs D…Yes Mrs. D.” Then he asked me; “Do you have an extra bullet?” Of course I looked at him and said no.

All I could think while putting my mower away was that guy is a jerk. He was doing a nice job with power washing the cement walls for the foundation, filling in all the cracks, and painting with a tinted waterproof paint. It was looking really good that I though about asking him for a quote, but after listening to him complain, I’ll look around for someone else.

If you don’t like your job, find another line of work. Don’t complain about your customers, you never know if you next potential customer is observing you or your work.

Tags Personal