Popmonkeys.com – Asus Eee PC, Canon, Computers, Gadgets

A user in the www.eeeuser.com forum discovered that the Asus Eee PC 1000HE keyboard is compatible with the Asus Eee PC 1000H.  The keyboard on the 1000HE is radically different than the 1000H.

Asus Eee PC 1000HE Keyboard

The keyboard is more comfortable to type on, 92% of a full size keyboard, the right shift key is fixed, and flex seems to be corrected.  To clarify, flex is when the keyboard appears to be springy when pressed down.  The 1000HE keyboard is sold out at the moment.  At $15, it’s very affordable.  It’s currently sold out at the moment.  As soon as it’s back in stock, you bet I’ll order one and post a review/how-to.

Yes, I have a new Dell Vostro 420.  But Dell managed to screw up my computer.  Dell Hell is still alive and well.  I’ll dedicate a seperate post about my “situation”.

The system is outfitted with an Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 running at 3 GHz with 12MB of L2 cache.  Now, compared with an Intel Pentium D 820, this CPU is fast.  Start up takes less than 2 minutes, installing Office 2003 took less than 5 minutes, and running multiple resource intensive application is no sweat.  The quad core is prefect for me because I tend to do many things at once.  I wished my work laptop was can keep up with me.

Overall, I’m very impressed by the Core 2 Quad Q9650.  Yes, I agree that this CPU is a big overkill for my needs.  But hey, you never know when you might need some crazy computing power.  Overclocking is not something on my list to do.  I’ve already paired it with 4GB of memory and a 1TB Western Digital Caviar Black drive.  I might upgrade the heat sink and fan with something better.  I think Dell used the stock assembly.

When I purchased the system, I did consider the Intel Core i7.  However, manufacturers were charging a premium for it.  Ideally, the Intel Core i7 would be the way to go at this point.  I went with the Q9650 because I had a crazy deal on this tower.  I think I only paid a total of $300 after you factor out the price of the 24 inch Dell Ultrasharp LCD.

The Nintendo DS lite is one of my favorite gadgets because it provides many hours of entertainment in a small compact device.  Games are fun and more importantly, non habit forming.

The recent release of the Nintendo DSI has me wondering if it’s worth upgrading.

The screen is bigger, 2 cameras, and an SD card slot.

It has a game store similar to the Wii where you can pay to download old games.  Other than that, there isn’t anything that makes me wanting to go out and get one.

But if you’re looking for a new mobile gaming device, I highly recommend getting the Nintendo DSI.  It’s available at Amazon.com for $170.  Click Here.

I can always use an external hard drive.  Who can say no to more storage right?  However, my Mac Mini really doesn’t need 1TB worth of storage.  My PC does.  It could use an extra 1TB.  Out of the box, the drive was not recognized by Windows because it has been formatted for Mac.  In order to get this drive PC friendly, you’ll need a Mac’s help.  Disclaimer – Follow these instructions at your own risk.  Popmonkeys.com is not responsible if anything happens to electronics.

1. Plug the drive into the Mac.
2. Open up Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.
3. IMPORTANT – make sure to highlight only the Seagate FreeAgent drive.  You could accidentally format your hard drive if you make a mistake.
4. Navigate over to the Erase tab.  The drive should be in the Journal Format.
5. Click on the drop down and select MS-Dos.  This should format the drive to FAT 32.
6. Click Erase and follow the on screen instructions.

1TB should take a while to format depending on your Mac.  My Mac Mini is pretty lightweight, so it took about half an hour.  The drive will shut itself off when it’s done formatting.  After that, the drive should work work with the PC and Mac.

I just realized that I bought something completely opposite of a nettop.  A nettop is a netbook but in a desktop form.  They are normally very small PC that can handle your everyday computing needs such as surfing the web, emails, browsing, instant messaging, and light tasks.  Acer is the first PC manufacturer to release a system that utilizes the Nvidia ION GPU.

Specs:

Intel Atom N230 1.6GHz
Up to 4GB of RAM
Up to 250 GB Hard Drive
4 in 1 card reader
HDMI/VGA out
6 USB ports
Nvidia ION GPU

The new Nvidia ION based chipset unlocks more for the lightweight Atom CPU.  Nvidia’s ION chipset instantly makes any nettop capable of outputing 1080p video (Blu-ray).  ION is also DirectX 10 capable meaning you can play some demanding games without the need for a high powered system.  The Acer Aspire Revo is estimated to be priced around $300.  I’m thinking more like $400 – $450.

For most people, this little PC is enough machine for them.  It’s perfect for parents who just emails and children who surfs the web with the occasional game play.  However, for power users (games, video rendering, photo editing, etc), this little capable PC still lacks raw power.  That’s why I bought myself a new Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 system.  If the PC is not a major part of your life, sure, the Acer Aspire Revo is perfect.  It’s small, efficient, and gets the job done…eventually.

I’ve been busy lately.  But something that caught my eye was people leaving spam on popmonkeys.com.  One of the recent comments advertised electronic and computer cables.  I won’t name the site.  However, I will name my preferred store for cables, especially high quality HDMI cables.  Go to www.monoprice.com.

Also, I’m working on a new template for the site.  Hopefully it will vastly improve load time.  I promise I won’t load the site up with a bunch of ads.  Those unbiased and real life reviews will still get churned out.