intelguy

Asus+Toshiba? Probably not

2009-11-20T22:37:00Z

Recently a report from a Chinese website that Asus is contemplating acquisition of Toshiba has attracted a lot of attention. One thing for sure, it will benefit the consumers but the question is that will Toshiba sell it notebook division? Personally, I think it is a mission impossible for asus to acquire Toshiba. After Toshiba has set a goal to achieve a worldwide notebook market share of 15% in 2010, it has done very well and has climbed the fourth place of PC markets. Toshiba's current ODM partners...(read more)

Netbooks

2009-10-12T23:50:00Z

W hat is a netbook? It is very simple to define as CNET called netbooks "nothing more than smaller, cheaper notebooks." But there is also something else to be noted such as processors used in netbook lineups. Whether the earlier Intel Celeron M or latter Atom processor, these processors are only capable of some basic computing even comparing with old Intel Pentium D processors. We often treat Intel Pentium processor as castrated Intel core Duo, most of times; it comes with low frequency and smaller...(read more)

To spend your money wisely

2009-09-11T20:52:00Z

After years of pursuit of happiness in the IT industry, I finally come to the conclusion that there is really no need to care about hardware with full enthusiasm. Maybe we still remember the first time we got a new PC and even did not know how to power it on. Then maybe we got our first Smartphone, and found out that the smart phone was not smart at all especially the Windows CE. Apple’s Iphone, RIM’s palm and Google’s Android jumped on the bandwagon, Symbian and Window Mobile has suffered a lot...(read more)

A life without Internet

2009-08-17T15:10:00Z

A life without Internet --What is the use of a laptop without internet connection? Here is a very funny episode from South Park It's just Gone. http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/166182 Can you imagine a world without Internet? I am just trying my level best to figure it out. I ended the contract with my ISP and started my life without internet a month ago (work hour will not be included, can't work without internet :-)) Day 1 wow, life is so good even without internet and the world won't change...(read more)

Some facts about a new build or upgrade

2009-07-17T17:06:00Z

Maybe you are plugging away at your brand new build list and can’t decide whether to go with Intel core i7 or not. Or you are going to put some new stuffs in your 4 year old machine and wanna make it a little bit faster and just can’t decide which upgrade will be your best bet. No, I am not going to tell you what to do. Actually, I can tell you a good place to go, Eggxpert..com, and there are the best Eggs and they are doing their best to walk you through out. What I am trying to do is to tell you...(read more)

Bing or Google? Does It Really Matter?

2009-06-12T18:49:00Z

Recently, Microsoft rolled out its search engine "Bing".it is the latest attempt to make up ground on Google in the rapidly expanding search business. It is a redesigned windows live search which fails at the competition in their last knockout, at least lost the market share like its IE. If you missed its demo or some ads. Bing sports intuitive new technology, which claims to stand a better chance of finding what its users really want. So will Bing find what you really want? Another brand new search...(read more)

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket

2009-05-16T14:38:00Z

Online Storage: Don’t put all your eggs in one basket Recently, more and more guys move to online storage.” You’ll never have to worry that a computer crash or virus will destroy all your files because they will always be safe 'n' sound up on Xdrive" then AOL online storage business kicked the bucket. So do you think the online storage business is a good business model? Moreover, do you think you online storage is really safe? I am a big fan of Google documents and Microsoft skyDrive, with the later...(read more)

Laptop Hunters

2009-04-09T20:35:00Z

Recently, Microsoft launched a new series of ads called Laptop Hunters.In case that you don't know about it, here is a link from MS:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/watchtheads/ You can also watch more Microsoft ads.(I like Alexa one, a very cute girl)
So are you one of them? okay, I'd like to share my experience with all of you regarding laptop hunting. let's cut to the chase, I am a PC, so I go straight to PC(no comments like ""I’m just not cool enough to be a Mac person or I am a PC because I am Picky" )

In this economic downturn, Job hunters should be more popular but we can never stop buying new stuffs.
okay.

Budget laptop( or just for daily use, Internet email etc)
For this purpose,I'd say that any notebooks available at the markets will serve you very well. So Eee PC and Eee PC knockoffs will be a good option if you don't really care about the 8.9" or 10" LCD size. If you really want a notebook(not netbook) with a "real" processor, Here are some good deals for you:
TOSHIBA Satellite Pro S300-EZ1511 NoteBook Intel Pentium dual-core T3400(2.16GHz) 15.4" Wide XGA 1GB Memory DDR2 800 120GB HDD 5400rpm DVD Super Multi Intel GMA 4500M(Comes with a 2 year manufacturer warranty)
My advice: buy another stick of RAM, or you will have to tolerate the annoying start time and poweroff time. If you don't wanna mess it up with RAM upgrade you can get this one:
Gateway T-6345U NoteBook Intel Pentium dual-core T3400(2.16GHz) 14.1" Wide XGA 2GB Memory DDR2 667 250GB HDD 5400rpm DVD Super Multi Intel GMA X3100
For daily use, the GMA 4500 won't make much sense, Intel GMA X3100 will be more than enough, with this IGP, you could even play some light games.Moreover, the Gateway notebook comes with Windows vista home premium,it should be better than the Basic one.

If you have a little more bucks at disposal. I'd recommend youIntel® Centrino® Processor or Intel® Centrino® 2 Processor platform which are designed to provide longer battery life. With the more powerful processor, it will give you faster experience while mutiltasking. you can also get better 3D performance with a dedicated video card.

Acer Aspire AS6930-6942 NoteBook Intel Core 2 Duo T6400(2.00GHz) 16" Wide XGA 4GB Memory DDR2 667 250GB HDD DVD Super Multi NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GS - Retail

Acer Aspire AS6930-6073 NoteBook Intel Core 2 Duo P8600(2.40GHz) 16" Wide XGA 4GB Memory 320GB HDD DVD Super Multi NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GS - Retail

And if you aim for gaming laptop,There are several notebooks with 9800 M GS, So check this out. especially, the MSI one, it is really great bang for your bucks.

If you are a hardcore gamer, IMO, a desktop will be better. but you insist on buy a laptop. Okay, I'd say Alienware will be nice. or this Asus one will be cool.

You can also take the portability, battery life or any other factors into consideration. put aside the better technologies developed by chip makers or laptop vendors, the long batter life can only be achieved by sacrificing better performance. (IGP etc). PS. Acer announced Timeline series which promises 8-10 hours of battery life in tiny, light form factors. I' will keep a tab on it.

For portability, again, netbooks will be nice choice. you can also choose some of sleek stuffs from top vendors designed for people looking for the ultimate in no-compromise portability or who travel and work on the move. Here are some you may consider: Dell XPS or Adamo ,Toshiba Portégé series.

So if you know any other good deals, just let's know.

What is your take on online discussion?

2009-03-13T17:23:00Z

Do you trust online reviews?like Tom's hardware? and some other websites? Do you think there is any value in online discussion or debate? like Eggxpert.com?
I am always a big fan of Online forums, I could even spend a day long surfing the internet to obtain the info I need, thanks to Google's excellent search engine. the online sources provide me the very information I am looking for. so, any question, any time, if you hop on the information superhighway, Don't forget about your friend Google. but here comes to the problem, Google can provide you the info you are looking for, some of them are invaluable. But Google can't guarantee all the links it provides are 100% correct. Moreover, it is not his duty to double check “only in the state does info have a rational existence". yup, it is a piece of cake to find a reviews of certain hardware software. but who is responsible for reviewing these review websites?
to believe or not to believe, that is the question. the same conundrum comes to e-business. If you buy something from Newegg.com. there are some factors might get your attention, Reviews should be one of them. Is there any consumer value on customer reviews? probably yes. most of time, we can get some useful information concerning product specs, accessories or compatibility. sometimes the answer is no. Some guys can rate the products without having them or using them,they have good or bad feelings for a certain brand. For me, I used an Acer laptop and it served me very well in the past few years, it might result in my conclusion that Acer laptop rocks and you can't be wrong if you get one. then I moved to Toshiba,this time I am unlucky. Within 1 year warranty time, the laptop acted up on me several times. then I finally find out that it had a crappy motherboard. in this scenario, Toshiba might give me a bad impression.to be frankly, each vendors make some lemons. each hardware has its failure rate. but one unhappy relationship with a certain brand might affect your point of view of this brand for a long time. you might give it some bad reviews or something like this. in this case, we might take reviews with a grain of salt. (a side note, Acer and Toshiba are both my favorite brands, the example here is radical and intentional, so you can change Acer with Toshiba or any other brands. :-))
last not the least. what if some guys who is sales representative of a certain brand? of course, All the things he can only recommend are the products he sells. to be worsen, in his world, other brands are always pieces of junk. Do you wanna live in a world of make-believe?

Dual boot？Why?

2009-02-27T16:10:00Z

I used to be a big fan of dual boot,but after being pleased with dual boot for a while,I totally changed my idea. Dual Boot? Are you kidding me? No more.
Why are you using two OSes on a single PC? Do you wanna your two OSes work at the same time? do you wanna expand your OS knowledge or just for fun? Maybe you need certain application on a single OS to do something that can't be done on the other OS. or maybe you just wanna experience something new without having to spent more bucks on a new PC. that is a good idea. all good ideas. But here I will tell you why I don't use dual boot anymore.
Basically, there is one main reason that change my idea. About 2 weeks ago, I installed Ubuntu 8.10, the latest version of Ubuntu. with Wubi, I finished the installation without any hassle. I used Ubuntu 8.04 about 3 months, so the new version was nothing new to me and of course I had to go to update the new OS. 275 updates were waiting for me. then after spending about 2 days updating, the new installed Ubuntu became the completely new OS. "your OS has been updated". I installed everything I needed. then I went back to Windows Vista to do something can only be done through Windows. ( quite a lot of applications can only run on Windows, I have to admit and to be frank, I totally familiar with the windows interface, and I was not feeling very good while I was using the counterpart applications on Linux. ) after loading into the vista, OMG. I'm back. what was waiting for me? updates. within these two days, the FireFox had updated to 3.xx and the windows automatic update was busy updating. it is annoying.

This problem is worsen while those people who spend a lot more time working with one OS than the other, and this means that every time you turn to the less-used OS, you have to be patient.

Another problem i encountered was that I was fed up by switching between two OSes. after a while, I lose the interest for another OS. so maybe I don't need it any longer.

then I finally find the solution. there are VMware and Virtual PC. so why bother messing up with the dual boot? I can run whatever OS I wanna give it a shot within Windows. it is much safer and easier. I can do whatever I wanna do within windows without have to power on and power off.

Moreover. to install VMvare is a piece of cake, it takes little time to finish.

Of course you have to update in the Vmware or Virtual PC. but it will be much easier and the OSes can work at the same time.

Those are the reasons why I don't wanna dual boot any more.

Do you really need dual boot? think for a while before you do it.

2009

2009-02-06T14:56:00Z

How time flies. I have been joining this community for almost 1 year. Surprisingly, I have posted 3000 plus posts. What a spammer! Okay I have to put these 3000 posts in this way: 1000 for spamming, 1000 posts asking for help and 1000 posts offering help. So thank you guys for answering my boring questions patiently and tolerating my endless spams.

Okay, it is our tradition to sum up the last year’s achievement (I don’t think I have achieved any) and have some anticipations of something new in the year of 2009. For most of companies, it was a hard year in this global economy meltdown, and the turmoil is not over so we have to suffer. But for most of PC users, it was still a great year to remember and some good techs are very exciting. I don't think I can put into words how many good staffs were unveiled in the year 2008. And still more to come in 2009. For a lot of guys, they got an Eee PC netbook or knockoffs. Others like me finally found out the smart phone was a better option but I am planning to get a netbook if the Nvidia Ion is available earlier this year. For all the computer geeks, they enjoy better products with reasonable prices. Intel’s C2D processors are still competitive thus the Intel core i7 begins selling like hot cakes. AMD is fighting back with its Phenom X II 940. Moreover, HD 4800 series have always enjoyed performance/price ratio which result in Nvidia’s prices drop in all its lineups. All these fierce competitions benefit us consumers. Software wise, Windows 7 is the most eagerly awaited operating system and the beta version is still the hot topic. Some Linux distributions like Ubuntu and OpenSUSE have also release their latest versions which are also great. Isn’t it a great for 2008? Well, in the coming 2009, the window 7 will be officially released and the Ion platform will wipe the floor with Intel 945G chipset. Some Android OS smartphones will be available. And smart phone made by Toshiba uses 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor in its TG01. AMD/ATI might unveil its 4900 series or 5000 series……more and more, better and better. Is there any better fact than this?

For me, it is time to dream.

Netbook or Smartphone?

2008-12-27T14:32:00Z

This should be an interesting topic. But it sounds stupid for some guys. Can you use your Smartphone to play Crysis? The answer is obviously not and of course, the netbook will not be capable of doing so either. So here comes the next question, if the netbook can’t be as entertaining as notebook (but you still can watch some videos or surfing the internet) why not buy a Smartphone? As you all know, some Smartphone like iPhone is rather good at video or audio. And the G1 is rather internet friendly. Will the Smartphone grab the market share of netbooks? Yup, at least, Steven Jobs and Google think so. No, at least Asus and Acer agree to disagree. Both of them have set higher anticipation of the new netbooks. These beautiful staffs are selling like hot cakes. It even helps Acer to replaced Dell as the world's number-2 notebook computer maker. But other vendors will not take that granted and all of them are plugging away at their own stuffs. Moreover, Acer has added 3G on its netbook and I think more and more vendors will follow this. A larger LCD and full sized keyboard will make it more appealing. Except for the basic internet surfing, netbooks are capable of doing more than Smartpones can do. With the Nvidia’s INO platform is officially announced, the netbooks even have the ability to compete against Notebooks. The Ino netbooks with 9400G video card will be playing 1080p movies. In this shootout, netbooks have slightly advantages, but for thing for sure, the netbook will never replace smartpones. You will never see a guy holding a netbook on the street to make phone calls. But you will see a lot of guys use the Smartphones to surf internet or to upload videos. The smartpones are trying their best to catch up with the netbooks. iPhone,G1,and coming G2 are the qualified competitors.

Another thing we should take into account is price point. For me, $400 is a barrier. At $399 I’m interested in one of these devices as a second laptop or something to have around the house. Above that price my interest wanes dramatically. I’d rather spent $200 getting a Smartphone.

So it seems that the answer is obvious and the question is silly. The netbook will never replace the notebook or the Smartphone. But it is the right device to be available at the market with the rational price range. For those who are only searching for a device for the internet surfing, emails and some basic daily use. The Smartphone will be not bad. But with some bucks more, the netbook will be better. The same function as Smartphone but with larger LCD and full sized keyboard, netbook will be an alternate.

But one thing for sure, the Smartphones are trying to catch up with netbooks. iPone, and G1 show us their quality. The year of 2009 will be a great year for smartphones although Mobile Phone Market Poise for Slowdown in 2009.

I’m Old Fashioned

2008-12-12T13:58:00Z

After the release of Intel core i7, I am outdated. The new processor with the memory controller is nothing new but the X58 motherboards with DDR3 slots are something new for me, although some P45 motherboards have shipped with DDR3 slots. The only reason I know nothing about DDR3 is that I am the guy who stuck with DDR 2 memory and enjoys the price/performance ratio. I know how dual channel works but I know nothing about tri-channel. A computer with 3GB or 6GB memory is very interesting. Maybe it is easier to choose between 32bit and 64bit OS. But there is some memory comes with 2x2GB, so does that mean they are not working at tri-channel? Or they are working as dual channel? These are interesting to know for me.

As we can predict so far, I will have to use ddr3 sticks if I wanna enjoy the advanced tech. and I am really interested in Intel core i7. Although my E8400 will not be outdated like myself in the near future but I do wanna get a Christmas gift like core i7+X58 with both Crossfire and SLI. Wow, what a platform. So it is time to Google around (not goof around) and do some homework and try my best to a guy know something about everything before my next upgrade. Hopefully don’t mess up by the ddr3 memory.

Aside from DDR3 memory, the core i7 is quite new for me although it seems that all the tech it applied is nothing new at all. But after read some reviews of core i7. it finally drives me to make up mind to go with Quad core. Maybe it will take years for games to take full advantage of the 3rd or 4th core. But the turbo tech is interesting. Intel was plugging away at the power consumption. With the enhanced Speedstep and the new Turbo boost technology, Core i7 consumes less power in idle mode due to more aggressive power-efficient modes and its ability to disconnect cores from the power supply line. That is so cool. I can’t wait for it any longer. Come on.

Moreover, in the earlier or anytime in the coming 2009, I do wanna give Windows 7 a shot. The reason why I dump vista is that it really gets in my hair. The BSOD, the weird freezes up, the unexpected crashes, OMG, I am doubt if the God will stand vista any longer. Lol

Anyway, try my best to be updated.

Long time no Blog

2008-10-18T22:23:00Z

I was busy upgrading my computer and it is time to upgrade my Blog. To upgrade hardware is always a pleasant process. I have just added 1GB more memory into my lappy. Wow, vista is finally speeding up. Thanks for the Kinston memory for its great compatibility. But to upgrade the software like Vista SP1 is not always a good experience. Not everybody wanna waste 2 or 3 hours to upgrade vista SP1 without any noticeable improvement. However, it seems that to upgrade blogs is always a nice thing to do whether it is in the right time or the wrong topics. Sometimes I started a new topic and talked it out of hat. That was so bad. Anyway, finally I am back and starting blog again.

After pursuit of high tech, I finally find out that I don’t need upgrade anymore. Yup, my rig is not the high end but it is almost overkilled. I use my rig for daily work but it can reach 40 ftp in some picky games. Wow, do I really need that much? Do I really need upgrade? When we buy the new tech products, maybe we don’t need them, but we just wanna give them a shot. And the sweetest thing is that the components have become dirty cheap, so we pay the bill without hesitate. ;-) It always reminds me of the famous sentence: it is the best time of the year and it is the worst time of the year.

I told myself I don’t need anything more in the next few moths but I can’t help thinking of new Intel i7 and sometimes curious about the next 32nm video card. Maybe I don’t care whether Nvidia or ATI to be the king of the next generation video card but do wanna know more details about how powerful it will be. And I do hope the Windows 7 can be better. I can’t stand vista any longer. Lol.

Nowadays the new technology is growing extremely fast and the influence that have in our lives is bigger. I am obsessed with the Internet and PC. I don’t think I can live in a world without them but I do hope all of us could live in a world without walls and fences. But we do need windows and gates. of course it is always my great pleasure to be in this fabulous community. I like it!

Stack up and Mess up

2008-09-01T23:15:00Z

It is a truth that universally acknowledged a man in possession of a single core must in want of a dual core or quad core processor. Breath, you are not alone. To pursuit the latest tech is our nature. And of course we are never satisfied. After dual core and quad core, we wanna six cores or eight cores. Moreover, we expect more from our pc and we try our best to squeeze the last drop of juice out of the rig. After the dual channel, the mem could run neck and neck with CPU. We still add more mem with higher speed although the RAM did not give us a hefty performance at all. 4GB memory seems to be a standard for any new rig. When I managed to add more memory to build dual channel, a guru (sort of) also told me some interesting combinations to be dual channel. Okay, it is my pleasure to share with you guys if you have 3GB or 1.5GB memory?

------------------------socket A DIMM 0     512MB

------------------------socket A DIMM 1     512MB --------------à dual channel :D

------------------------socket B DIMM 0     1GB

------------------------socket B DIMM 1

You can also combine dual channel with single channel via flex mode:

------------------------socket A DIMM 0     512MB --------------------------------à

------------------------socket A DIMM 1                      512GB---------- Dual channel

------------------------socket B DIMM 0     1GB ----------------à remaining 512 single channel

------------------------socket B DIMM 1

Sorry for the talking out of hat, ill move on.

The real bottleneck of a system might be HDDs, so after the HDDs are dirty cheap, we have another great idea, we tweak 2, 4 or even more HDDs in our rig. Buddy, you are right. To RAID is as popular as SLI and crossfire. But one thing for sure, in accordance with the evolve of the technologies, the price of these components are really compelling. I bought my second HDD with no hesitate, and of course ill raid. To speed up your system, go directly to stripping or RAID 0. For the sake of safety, Mirroring is always your best bet. And the wise solution is always a balance of multi consideration. RAID0+1 or RAID0 1 is up to grade. Don’t be upset by the fact that you motherboard does not come with a "R" ICH chipset, you can also buy a highpoint raid controller. or any other brands you trust.The same with video card, if you don't own a motherboard supporting SLI or Crossfire, it will be fine. You can buy a card with two GPUs build-in. such as 9800GX2, HD 4870X2, but to make sure that you do have a powerful PSU. Life is full of options indeed. do enjoy the colorful life.

It is so interesting to goof around and read some news. To put more staffs together is our philosophy. We are trying to put more and more in the case and all of them are power hogs. A HD 4870X2 will consume 260 W, wow, that is cool. Maybe in the winter, we get another source of heat. To stack up is cool, but don't mess them up.

Enjoy your building. enjoy your upgrade or enjoy your messed up. lol

sorry,gtg bye "yawn"