The Technicist

Windows 7 beta 1 - netbook install guide

With all the news about Windows 7 beta 1 leaking onto the torrent trackers, I figured it was time to writeup a Windows 7 netbook install guide. I've just installed beta 1 on my HP Mini (deleted the old build 6956 partition), and after I come back, will update you on how it runs.

What you need
netbook
Windows 7 beta 1 DVD image (Google search it)
minimum 4GB USB drive (I used a 120GB Western Digital Passport)
optional: a second flash drive to run GParted

To prepare the bootable USB drive

Plug the drive into your computer.

Right-click on a link to “My Computer” and select the “Manage” menu option to enter the Computer Management application. In the left menu pane of Computer Management, under the “Storage” title, select the “Disk Management” tool. 

Select the USB drive, right click, and select the “Shrink Volume” option. Shrink the volume by at least 3000 MB, though to be on the safe side, I recommend 5000 to 10000 MB.

  

(Click images for full size)

Right click the unallocated volume and select “Format”. For formatting options, you can have the volume named presumably anything you want, but it MUST have a FAT32 file system, and unless you have time to spare, check the Quick Format box. Once the volume has been made, right click it and select “Mark partition as Active”.

Mount the Windows 7 DVD image using Daemon Tools or your DVD imaging program of choice, and copy all of the DVD files to your new volume. While the 2.45 GB of files are copying, go get yourself a coffee.

Partitioning the Hard Drive

Download the latest LiveUSB release of GParted partition manager, and create a bootable USB using these steps. I highly recommend using the LiveUSB Helper application, as it makes things very easy. I loaded GParted onto a spare 512MB flash drive that I had lying around, so that I can keep it to use on any of my machines instead of having to use a LiveCD.

Installing Windows

Now, plug your USB drive into the netbook, and turn it on. When it reaches the boot screen, have it boot from the USB drive. (Pressing F9 on the HP Mini gives you a menu to select bootable drives from, other netbooks are similar, or you can enter the BIOS and change the boot order manually so that it boots to the USB drive.)

Wait for the Windows files to load and for it to get to the Windows 7 install screen. Hit the big “Install Now” button to get to the “Collecting Information” stage. Click yes to all the legal bull, select Custom install (presuming you want to dual boot….I don’t recommend using a beta Microsoft OS as the primary operating system), then select the partition or unallocated space you want to install to. Hit enter, sit back, and wait for it to finish installing. In the mean time, don’t unplug anything. After its done, voila, you have a dual booting netbook running Windows 7 beta 1. Pretty simple, no?

3 netbooks, 1 nerd

Between the downward spiral of the economy and the major increase in notebook sales, in the span of 18 months, the netbook category has essentially risen from foretold legend of $300 laptops to a small niche for those wanting a secondary computer, before exploding into the mainstream behind the strength of such models as the EEE 900, and more recently, the Acer Aspire One and MSI Wind. Not content to let the niche computer companies have all the fun, HP released its contender, the Mini 1000, to the fray earlier this year. Can the smaller Taiwanese manufacturers hold off the global powerhouse? Read on to find out.

Having recently taken the title of best selling netbook of all time, Acer’s Aspire One doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon, with a mid-life refresh adding a few new SKUs, including a 16GB solid state disk, and two new colours, pink and brown, to go along with the previous black, blue, and white. Our configuration is the most popular one, the cheapest configuration with a mechanical hard drive (120GB, in this case), to go along with the Atom processor, 8.9” WSVGA screen and 3 cell battery.

With its Mini 1000, HP mostly stuck to the conventional mainstream route with their Mini 1000, focusing on the 10” screen size and having a hard drive, but there are some significant differences. HP went for a smaller, 1.8” sized hard drive, which limits capacity and rotational speed to 4200RPM, while the other two netbooks have 2.5” 5400RPM drives, so while the hard drive is slower, we will see how this effects the HP in regular use. We have the HP, which starts at the same $349 the other two are configured to, with two options – the 10” Infinity Brightview screen and the 60GB hard drive, which raise the price to $449.

And now to these two, we add the venerable MSI Wind. The first major update to the netbook paradigm since the original Asus EEE 701, the Wind has set the standard for all new netbooks since its release early this year, since it was the first netbook to combine the Intel Atom mobile chip, a truly usable keyboard, and a 10” screen for a reasonable price. We are testing the base model, which features identical specs to our Aspire One – 1.6GHz Atom, 120GB hard drive, and a 3 cell battery – at an identical $349 price tag.

On paper, the three netbooks are about as evenly matched in terms of performance and features as can be expected, but how do they stack up in real life usage?

New additions to The Technicist team!

Since school started again in fall, you might have noticed that my posting rate went way down and I was unable to keep the blog regularly updated. As my workload is rising in the next two quarters, I thought it was probably a good idea to bring a couple of my trusted friends onto The Technicist team to help me keep the blog current, so that even if one of us is busy, somebody is always posting about the latest developments in mobile technology. Granted, its unfair to say "additions to the team", as it can only be called a team after the additions and before now, its been pretty much a one man show. So, without further ado, let me introduce Fara and JM, the two new editors at large!

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Fara Ehteshamy: Hi, I'm Fara. I'm a law student from Sweden, home of pretty girls, nice technology and polar bears. Not really, though, since they all died when global warming hit. I like girls, cars and technology, in that order. And music. I looooove music. Presently, I am the owner of 2 laptops (an Asus F8Sa and a Powerbook G4 12"), 2 phones that I use (LG Viewty and Nokia N95-8gb; I have many others lying in drawers), an awesome mp3-player/earphone combo (Cowon iAudio X5 and Shure SE420), a DS, a Palm (Tungsten T3), and countless other gadgets.

I'm looking forward to two things in technology right now: Windows 7 and the Cowon S9. On the other hand, I dislike fanboys, Steve Jobs, and almost any car built by one of the big three. I'm fairly fluent in geek as well, at least understanding it. However I don't take too kindly on people who write in leet-speak.

Jon-Michael Noe: Hello, I’m Jon-Michael, better known as JM. I’m a Corporate Management/Accounting/Finance-Economics major from California. I’m actually pretty boring, but here it goes. My main interest is the corporate business world, politics, stock market, investment/banking, and technology. I’m an avid listener of music, and if you ever caught me walking down the street, I’d more than likely have my headphones in listening to something off my iPhone. I’m partial to mobile technology, but enjoy reading and playing with all forms.

Currently, I’m looking forward to WiMAX, LTE, Intel’s i7 processors, Windows 7, and other countless new gadgets in development/planning. I’m big on a ‘paper-less’ world. Not because I’m a conservationist, but see it aiding us in time saved that it would save companies billions. I’m also a firm believer that technology is a massive, massive benefit to society. Hmm, looking back, this isn’t nearly as interesting as Fara’s intro. Oh well. Told you I was kinda boring!

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If you'll all remember, JM was the one who wrote up the iPhone 3G review for me back in July of last year after selling me his old iPhone 1.0 that I'm still using.
Now general updates and whats forthcoming I'm planning to post in the near future: a Windows 7 Install guide for netbooks, the netbook comparison test featuring the Acer Aspire One, MSI Wind, and HP Mini 1000 I have been working on for the past couple of weeks, along with a short take on the iRiver LPlayer, a digital audio player that I've been using for the past month. I'm going on vacation after Christmas, so for a few days most of the posting will be done by JM and Fara (though I think he's on vacation as well...). I'll post what I can from my iPhone, but that may be a bit sketchy since I don't know what kind of wireless networks I can get.

Thats about it from me, and I hope you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

~ Vivek - The Technicist

Windows 7 on the Mini 1000!

I installed the latest build (Build 6956) of Windows 7 Ultimate onto my HP Mini 1000 test unit, just to see how well the next-gen Windows platform would work on the low-on-computing-power netbooks. I was pretty impressed actually - installation took under an hour, and most of the hardware drivers were found by the OS itself, so nearly everything relevant - gpu, wifi, touchpad, audio - worked. Unfortunately, the stuff that didn't have built in drivers - webcam, touchpad enhancements, etc - didn't have immediately obvious fixes for them either. HP's driver website was absolutely no help, as the only non-working thing they had drivers for was the Synaptics touchpad enhancements, and the installer didn't have a Win7-compatible profile, so no go there. Thankfully, the only thing I lose by sticking to the generic touchpad driver is the side scroll area, so its ok. Arrow keys are more precise anyways. I'll probably look harder for working drivers and such tomorrow/later today.

In actual use, its actually pretty smooth. Granted, with decent hardware, Windows 7 would likely run significantly better, but from what I can see, it doesn't have much of an increase in sysreqs from Vista. The base memory footprint has stayed the same as before, at roughly 600MB (so its usually taking 60-70% of the netbook's memory), and the CPU idle speed of the Atom processor is in the teens, with spikes up to 55% periodically. Not so great, but again, looking at the hardware I've got, I can't expect much better. Interestingly, I managed to keep music playing in the background while browsing the web and didn't notice a big slowdown from what I am used to in XP. This is a very good sign. However, due to the higher CPU idle speed and greater use of memory, I'd expect the battery life to sink from the already mediocre 2.6 hours to right around 1.8 or 2 hours of runtime.

Lastly, I know I've forgotten pics, but my camera has run out of battery, so I've left it for charge. I'll get pics up when I wake up (sometime in the afternoon, probably) and I'll probably get an install guide written to post as well. I've got another project up my sleeve, too...it involves the letters O, S, and X. We'll see if I can get Apple's vaunted OS X Leopard booting on the Mini. We know its been done on the Wind many times, but I really want to try to get it working on the Mini, since its a better overall netbook in my opinion.

UPDATE: I know, its not the afternoon anymore, but pics are pics nonetheless. Click after the break to view them.

T-Mobile Dash Black - Hands on

So I made it down to the T-Mobile store today to check out the new black  Dash (I had other stuff to do in the area as well, so its not like I blew time just to check out the newly painted Dash), and I must say, it does look quite dashing (ok, ok, I'm done) in the new black colour. Unfortunately, the lovely brushed aluminum front is gone, replaced by a solid feeling plastic, but in return, the keyboard feels better and more spaced out, even if the layout looks identical. And the blue number keys are pretty. The back is pretty much the same as before, which is good, since the rubbery backside feels great in hand.
 

Now, for the bad part. There is nothing in the way of hardware upgrades, absolutely nothing, not even a 2MP camera. Same old 200MHz TI OMAP850 processor, same paltry 64MB RAM, same 2.4" screen (not a bad thing), same EDGE/WiFi, same outdated 1.3MP camera. Only new things here are Windows Mobile 6.1, which is at least an upgrade over WinMo6, and the new colour scheme, which is also nice, but nothing really noteworthy to see here. No 3G, no new processor, no RAM upgrades, no better camera. So, while it is better than before, the new Dash isn't much as far as updates go. While the price hasn't changed from the previous $99 price (upgrade or new subscription), considering what you can get for around that price (BlackBerry 8120, 8320, and 8820 from T-Mobile, Moto Q9, BlackJack II, or refurb HTC Tilt from AT&T, etc) or slightly more (T-Mobile G1 for $180, iPhone 3G for $200), its pretty clear that the Dash will not cut it anymore, and needs to be replaced very soon with something significantly more competent. How about the HTC S740 as the new WinMo-based smartphone, to replace both the Dash and the similarly aging HTC-based Wing?

(PS, sorry for the poor pics, I didn't get a chance to preview the pictures before I left the store, and the lighting conditions were not nearly optimal. Also, my camera sucks and I need a DSLR.)

Refreshed T-Mobile Dash in Black

Engadget and Boy Genius Report posted last night about a refreshed TMobile Dash, with a black colour scheme and potentially 3G. Intrigued, I called my local T-Mobile store for some details, and it seems that they recieved the new units just yesterday, and aren't sure if they can tell anybody about them yet. Nonetheless, since I asked specifically for the black Dash, I was told that it was essentially the same as the old Dash, save for the colour scheme, Windows Mobile 6.1, and an updated camera (presumably a 2 Megapixel unit, as the orignal Dash had a 1.3MP camera). It is retains the same $99 upgrade price ($299 retail) as the old Dash, so its not a bad thing, but unfortunately, there isn't anything interesting like 3G or the like. As far as connectivity goes, its just the same old EDGE and WiFi for data. Which is fine by me, since I'm going on WiFi only on my iPhone and haven't noticed a problem yet.

If I can get out of this god forsaken snow (more than a foot! In Seattle! How does that even work?) I'll get down to the T-Mob store to take some pics. I must say, even in the lone blurry pic, the Dash rocks the black colour scheme well, and its bound to look even more fetching in person.

Dell Adamo thirteen

Engadget is reporting that Dell will be unveiling a new ultrathin notebook some time in the near future. Relevant quote from the article: "It seems that the brand name "Adamo" is registered to the computer-maker with a site to match, and somehow the fashion blog (!?) Uptownlife.net came up with this gem: "Rumor has it that Dell is coming out with a computer called Adamo that will rival the MacBook Air." How they came up with that is anyone's guess, but apparently the look on Tatelman's face when asked about it was enough to convince at least one journalist that this is a done deal."

Based on a google search of Dell's website for the keyword "adamo", we see numerous results for the "Adamo thirteen", meaning that the Adamo is in all likelihood a notebook with a 13" screen, understandable considering that it is meant to be a lower priced competitor to the MacBook Air (and its similarly costly rivals, the Voodoo Envy 133 and the Lenovo X301). The accessories listed include DisplayPort to DVI/VGA adapters and slot loading DVD-RW and Blu-Ray drives, indicating that the Adamo thirteen has a DisplayPort as the only video out and, unlike the MacBook Air and Envy 133, has a built in slot loading optical drive, with Blu-ray as an available option.    

An engadget commenter points out that MSI could be manufacturing the Adamo, saying
"1. MSI wins Dell notebook orders - April 2008
2. MSI chief refers to a new 13.3" affordable Ultra-portable at CES 2009, says people will be "shocked".
3. Dell laptop rumors surface as to a 13.3" affordable ultra-portable."
However, I must say, the affordable 13" notebook being debuted at CES09 is MSI's own 13" U300 ultraportable, not a Dell product. Nor is it likely that they are using the same design, as Dell's designs are almost always proprietary (exception being the Samsung Q25-based Latitude X1 from a few years ago).

So what we know thus far is that the Adamo will be extremely thin (and light) and will feature a 13" screen (probably LED backlit), DisplayPort video out, and a slot loading optical drive. Simple conjecture also posits Intel's newest line of processors, potentially the small form factor Montevina chips, along with Intel Integrated graphics chip, but we shall see what Dell has in store for us at CES.

http://adamobydell.com/

Apple netbook - just make your own

While people have been porting OS X to PCs, and even netbooks, for quite some time, especially since the release of OS X 10.5 Leopard, Dan Cohen of Gear Diary put together a pretty good walkthrough for installing OS X on the MSI Wind. It doesn't seem to hard, which raises an interesting question....why not do this with the new HP Mini 1000? I can see why it wouldn't work with the older Mini-Note, due to the Via processing architecture and SiS graphics, but the Mini 1000 has the same Intel integrated graphics as the Wind and the older MacBook, and considering the Mini 1000's similarity to other Apple portables (slim, glossy screen overlay, same hinge design, lack of ports), what would be so difficult about creating an Apple netbook of your own with the HP Mini hardware? I have an HP Mini 1000 sitting here next to me. Hmm.....

HP Magic Giveaway on JKotr

James and Kevin have their HP Magic Giveaway contest up on jkontherun, and it really looks fun - four PCs are being given away in this prize package, including a TouchSmart PC, Mini 1000 netbook, Pavilion dv4 notebook, and HDX18 gaming/workstation/media center/huge notebook, along with a variety of accessories to go with. Requirements are pretty simple, just post a comment with your best mobile tip and you're in. No guarantees on winning though, for that $6000 package of sheer technological lust....

I picked up a dv4 for my cousin last month, and let me tell you, it is a very high quality piece of kit. Not the fastest notebook out there, but one of the best combinations of style, performance, and quality for the money on the market today. The Mini 1000 netbook is another sweet little device, which I personally think blows away most of the rest of the netbook class at the moment (save for the higher end pricetag...) and the TouchSmart is a revolution in the all-in-one PC class, as it is the first product to feature such a well implemented touchscreen. I can't personally vouch for the HDX, but based on what I've seen from the rest of the HP line, I can imagine how good it will be....and massive.

HP is giving away a lot of good products this year - you should enter to win. It'll only take a minute, and could net you $6000 worth of computers for the holidays. Good luck!

My winter break setup

From Right to Left: Sony VAIO FJ270, Apple iMac 17", HP Mini 1000, MSI Wind, Sony HS-95 19" monitor, Acer Aspire One, Asus W7S, MSI GX600...

So, I had the iMac up in my room again for some setup work, and I needed to do my annual winter reformat of my mother's Sony, along with bumping up the RAM with a spare 512MB stick I had sitting in my room, and my desk was arranged such that I couldn't resist taking a picture of my (no longer) current desk set up.

Since then, the Sony and iMac have both gone back to their respective places, and the Asus has taken the place of the iMac as a stationary unit, as it is hooked up to the Sony 19" monitor, 1TB external hard drive, surround sound system, external mouse [using the Logitech VX Revo, one of the greatest mice I have ever used] and power at all times...making movement difficult. The MSI is sitting around mostly idlly, due to its recent instability (possibly failing motherboard? MSI is getting a call tomorrow, and I'm not going to be pleasant about it, as their support website is nothing short of awful) and the fact that, at the end of the day, its just not a very good laptop. For mobile use, I'm cycling between the 3 netbooks, but I keep coming back to one of them. More on those in a later post. 

A note on the 19" Sony LCD I have. It is quite possibly one of the best desktop monitors I've ever used, really, between it and the LCD in the iMac, I doubt one could find a better casual use desktop monitor. Both have excellent quality, and resolutions that are pretty easy on the eyes, yet provide good screen real estate, and feature the matte screen finish that is disappearing so quickly not only on notebook screens, but also on desktops, which I personally think is senseless. All desktop monitors should be matte - glossy DT screens will just catch all manner of light and reflect like crazy. If I wanted a mirror, I'd buy one...Special mentions - Apple with their new glass Cinema Displays and the HP monitors with the glossy black finish around the edge, are both especially guilty culprits. Anyhow, back to the topic we started with - if I had to pick between the iMac and the Sony monitor, I'd probably go with the Sony, since the 5:4 resolution with the 1024 vertical lines is more useful than the widescreen 1440x900 of the iMac, though the iMac does have a brighter backlight, and slightly more accurate colours.

And now for the biggest problem with having to provide power to 3 notebooks, 3 netbooks, a desktop, a monitor, two hard drives, and a stereo system:

Sadly, thats only half of them, though, to be fair, its the power bar with the laptops connected - the power bar with the desktop and accessories is far cleaner.