Lifestyles with Internet and Electronics

The top Linux distribution UBUNTU has just released its latest desktop edition Ubuntu 8.10 late October of this year. However, before we begin discussing this newest addition of Ubuntu editions, let's take a short review on how my Ubuntu 8.04.1 performed on my laptop.

First of all, I have installed Ubuntu 8.04.1 on an ACER Aspire4520 with an AMD Turion x2 (1.9GHz) processor, 2GB of RAM, and an Nvidia nforce 630M chipset. Before installing Ubuntu 8.04.1, I tried the CD as a Live User so as to test the initial compatibility of 8.04.1 to my laptop. After the CD has loaded, I observed that my screen resolution wasn't maximized (something like 800 x 600) and that my screen seemed so dim (minimum brightness). I then manually adjusted the screen brightness then there was enough light. Also, when I tried connecting to the internet wirelessly, I found out that the built-in Atheros Wifi wasn't recognized at that point.

After exploring the Live CD, I fully installed Ubuntu 8.04.1 to see if there are improvements to my initial observations, and fortunately there were. My screen resolution was now adjusted to 1024 x 800 after I configured the restricted NVIDIA settings, but the screen brightness still needed to be adjusted manually (it really annoys me). And the wifi issue? It took me almost a half day just to find the right configuration in web (acknowledgments goes to those blogs that posted about that same problem).

There. Ubuntu 8.04.1 was successfully installed on my laptop. Aside from those problems mentioned above, this edition of Ubuntu ran pretty well.


Appearance: 7/10
Speed: 8/10
Windows compatibilty: 5/10
Virus security: 9/10

Overall: 7.25

Wow. It's been a while since I last posted in my blog, I can't imagine how much I miss writing. Well, for the past few months, I've been silenced in blogging as I tried concentrating on matters quite more important.. So much for that, I want to begin my comeback with ULTRA MOBILE PERSONAL COMPUTERS or simply UMPC.

For the past months, this has been the hotest topic in mobile computers. Who in his right techie mind can get away with these super small and compact notebooks? No one. It has simply conquered the mobile computer industry with a touch of style and a few pounds ofconvenience. These machines are the most suited student and traveler companion. Not boasting its humble power, the UMPC's geared to mobility like no other laptops have ever engaged before. This is why they are the most talked about topic in the computer world today. But the question is, which UMPC is for you?
Let's begin with the one that really started it all, the Asus EeePC. Its been a year now since Asus launched this UMPC in the market, and there are already a lot of improvements since their first model. Unlike the first generation Eee PC (700-series), the 900-series and the 1000-series EeePC answered its predecessors critics. The 900-series now has a legitimate 8.9-inch display while the 1000-series has a bigger 10-inch display. Now that's a lot compared to the previous 7-inch EeePC. Also, the newer EeePC now has an Intel Atom 1.6Ghz processor, which is a lot better than the the previous Intel Celeron. Another improvement is the slightly bigger keyboard, but I think it is still relatively smaller compared to other UMPCs out in the market. Wireless LAN, webcam, USB, Ethernet are still the standard, though the newer ones now has a 2.5-inch hard drive as compared to the smaller capacity Solid State Drive (SSD) of the older versions.

Well, the improvements of the EeePC really made a strong hold in the top position in the UMPC competition. With this as the barometer of the other UMPC's, I really can't deny that the Asus EeePC is the most popular netbook available in the market.




Coming up next: HP Mininote, Acer Aspire One, and MSI Wind.

Following their biggest hit on the world of technology, Apple Inc. now introduces the world's thinnest computer notebook ever built for users like us. Apple CEO Steve Jobs boasts the product's features during its press release in San Francisco, California.



With a 13.3-inch display, a built-in iSight camera, and a backlit "full-sized" keyboard, MacBook Air is less than an inch thick, 0.76 inches at its beefiest and just 0.16 inches at its thinnest to be exact. The new computer runs on an Intel Core 2 Duo with 1.6Ghz clockspeed. MacBook Air, which weighs only 3 pounds, also features a 1.8-inch 80GB hard disk drive, with an optional upgrade of a 64GB flash-based solid state drive, and a multitouch Liquid Crystal Display that allows you to expand your photos by just a two-fingered gesture, similar to the Apple iPhone.



This another Apple innovation however, does not have a built-in internal optical media drive. But according to Jobs, Mac users should not worry because they can download their favorite movies and music through the internet, and install new software via an optical drive of a separate PC or Mac. Furthermore, the company now finalizes its Movie Rental service on iTunes Store. This means that users can now rent movies online and watch them over their computers, but with an high-speed internet connection of course. Apple is partnering with 20th Century Fox, Warner Brothers, Walt Disney, Paramount, Universal and Sony on the service, which will work on Macs, Windows-based machines, iPhones, iPods or Apple TV set-top boxes and will be available late February 2008.



references:

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/TECH/01/15/apple.macworld.ap/index.html

http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSN1552527120080116

http://www.toptechnews.com/story.xhtml?story_id=10000BCL6M30&page=1