As I wrote in a previous post I recently replaced my Lenovo T43p with a new Acer Aspire Timeline 3810T. This laptop is arguably the most impressive piece of technology I've purchased in the last 12 months.
In all honesty, my T43's demise was not a "surprise" event. I knew it was reaching an end-of-life event because the battery was getting weaker and the onboard fan kept getting noisier and noisier. I spent almost 10 months researching a replacement. I had2 major requirements for my replacement laptop. First, it had to be light. My T43 had been 4.5 pounds but with power supply and accessories my bag always felt closer to 8 or 9 pounds. Second, try as I might (I even added the super-extendo 9-cell battery) I could never get more than 2.5 to 3 hours of battery life. This of course meant I had to carry my power supply, which of course made my bag heavier.
First, my 3810T is light. It weighs in at 3.25 pounds. Second, the battery lasts for 8+ hours. I've taken the laptop out for an entire workday and brought it home with 2 hours of battery life still showing. And I paid extra to get the model with the Intel Core 2 Duo processor, so this laptop is no slouch. It gets up and boogies when the workload requires. Now let's be clear, this is not a gaming machine. Nor is it a video editing monster. But if you're looking for a good stable, lightweight, long battery life laptop this just may be your next laptop.
Aside from a few very minor issues I'm giving my this laptop 5 full stars. On the plus side it has a Core 2 Duo CPU, a 500 GB hard drive, and 4 GB of RAM. On the minus side, the keys on the mouse are a tiny bit hard to press. But not so much as to be really annoying. And the laptop itself does have a very well made feel to it. All in all I'd say it would be a good choice for most business users.
I'll blog again after a few months to let you all know how we get on. :-)
Welcome to 2010 ...
Thursday, February 4, 2010
I took the plunge ...
After 5 glorious years and many miles and smiles (and some frowns too), my good old friend Mr. Lenovo T43p laptop finally started throwing serious errors a couple weeks back. So I was forced to replace my old friend with a new Acer Aspire Timeline 3810T.
This laptop of course came with Windows 7 64-bit. Yes, OK, it came with Home Premium and I Anytime Upgraded to Ultimate. Still ... I've done it. I took the plunge. Here I am running Windows 7 as my primary OS on my main system. And you know what? It wasn't all that big of a deal. To date I've only found 2 programs that won't run under Windows 7. My IPSec VPN software (Netgear's ProSafe VPN Client) and my SSL-VPN client (from Netgear's FVS336G).
But even that wasn't such a big deal. I found 2 replacements for my IPSec VPN; Shrew Software VPN (open source) and TheGreenBow VPN (traditional). The SSL-VPN issue was averted by implementing my SonicWALL SSL-VPN 200 appliance which is Windows 7 64-bit and IE 8 compatible. But just to be safe I still installed XP Mode under Windows 7 Ultimate. And once installed I installed & implemented the failed Netgear VPN's, which now run fine in their native XP environment.
Out of all the features of Windows 7 (and there are many), XP Compatibility Mode is arguably the best. It allows you to install applications that just can't or won't run under Windows 7 in the familiar XP Pro environment. XP Mode runs a streamlined copy of XP Professional under Windows 7 inside a streamlined version of Virtual PC. And it's not totally without it's own unique issues (like software licensing). But in total it's been a fairly painless operation. Much less painful than trying to recover necessary files from a totally dead laptop. :-)
Welcome to 2010 ...
This laptop of course came with Windows 7 64-bit. Yes, OK, it came with Home Premium and I Anytime Upgraded to Ultimate. Still ... I've done it. I took the plunge. Here I am running Windows 7 as my primary OS on my main system. And you know what? It wasn't all that big of a deal. To date I've only found 2 programs that won't run under Windows 7. My IPSec VPN software (Netgear's ProSafe VPN Client) and my SSL-VPN client (from Netgear's FVS336G).
But even that wasn't such a big deal. I found 2 replacements for my IPSec VPN; Shrew Software VPN (open source) and TheGreenBow VPN (traditional). The SSL-VPN issue was averted by implementing my SonicWALL SSL-VPN 200 appliance which is Windows 7 64-bit and IE 8 compatible. But just to be safe I still installed XP Mode under Windows 7 Ultimate. And once installed I installed & implemented the failed Netgear VPN's, which now run fine in their native XP environment.
Out of all the features of Windows 7 (and there are many), XP Compatibility Mode is arguably the best. It allows you to install applications that just can't or won't run under Windows 7 in the familiar XP Pro environment. XP Mode runs a streamlined copy of XP Professional under Windows 7 inside a streamlined version of Virtual PC. And it's not totally without it's own unique issues (like software licensing). But in total it's been a fairly painless operation. Much less painful than trying to recover necessary files from a totally dead laptop. :-)
Welcome to 2010 ...
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
What's all this then ...
One of my favorite comedy troops, Monty Python's Flying Circus, used to use that line quite a bit. And it seems strangely appropriate to use it here to talk about Microsoft Windows 7.
By now Windows 7 has been widely available at mail-order and retail outlets for quite some time. I've been playing with the pre-release beta and the final shipping copies for some time now as well. And I thought it was time to come out of my self-imposed cave and give you all some feedback on this new desktop OS from Microsoft.
First, I wouldn't say Windows 7 is revolutionary ... more like it's evolutionary. For those of you familiar with the much maligned Vista, you'll find Windows 7 a very similar place. For those of you coming from the much beloved Windows XP you'll find things a little different. Icons and standard folders aren't in the same place anymore. And those familiar Control Panel icons are mostly gone. But the good news it's all still there, with a little digging.
Windows 7 is a much more stable OS than prior Windows iterations have been. And since Vista has blazed the trail there are 64-bit drivers for most every reasonable device today. Plus Windows 7 adds 'XP Compatibility Mode' to it's arsenal. This allows you to run any app that can't run under 7 to run in a virtual machine in a true XP environment. This feature, however, is only available to user who purchase Windows 7 Professional or higher. Home Premium users are excluded. (sorry)
With Windows 7 Microsoft has also done something very interesting called Anytime Upgrade. This new feature allows you to start off with, say Home Premium, decide you need a Professional feature (like the aforementioned XP Mode), and just click through a window input your credit card info and almost immediately be upgraded to the new level of 7 you'd like.
After having played with all the versions available except Enterprise, I must say this Windows is robust and stable. Vista users will see a 30% increase in speed just by going to 7! And I have yet to find an app that won't run in 64-bit more, which I greatly prefer since it gives the user access to up to 16GB of RAM.
Overall I'd say Microsoft has scored a winner. I'll post back more as time goes on to update my experience ...
Welcome to 2010 ...
By now Windows 7 has been widely available at mail-order and retail outlets for quite some time. I've been playing with the pre-release beta and the final shipping copies for some time now as well. And I thought it was time to come out of my self-imposed cave and give you all some feedback on this new desktop OS from Microsoft.
First, I wouldn't say Windows 7 is revolutionary ... more like it's evolutionary. For those of you familiar with the much maligned Vista, you'll find Windows 7 a very similar place. For those of you coming from the much beloved Windows XP you'll find things a little different. Icons and standard folders aren't in the same place anymore. And those familiar Control Panel icons are mostly gone. But the good news it's all still there, with a little digging.
Windows 7 is a much more stable OS than prior Windows iterations have been. And since Vista has blazed the trail there are 64-bit drivers for most every reasonable device today. Plus Windows 7 adds 'XP Compatibility Mode' to it's arsenal. This allows you to run any app that can't run under 7 to run in a virtual machine in a true XP environment. This feature, however, is only available to user who purchase Windows 7 Professional or higher. Home Premium users are excluded. (sorry)
With Windows 7 Microsoft has also done something very interesting called Anytime Upgrade. This new feature allows you to start off with, say Home Premium, decide you need a Professional feature (like the aforementioned XP Mode), and just click through a window input your credit card info and almost immediately be upgraded to the new level of 7 you'd like.
After having played with all the versions available except Enterprise, I must say this Windows is robust and stable. Vista users will see a 30% increase in speed just by going to 7! And I have yet to find an app that won't run in 64-bit more, which I greatly prefer since it gives the user access to up to 16GB of RAM.
Overall I'd say Microsoft has scored a winner. I'll post back more as time goes on to update my experience ...
Welcome to 2010 ...
Saturday, June 20, 2009
NAS Conversion Update
In reviewing my blog I see I promised an update on my progress with the Netgear ReadyNAS Duo. It's been several weeks now and the Duo has perform beyond my expectations. The system has performed flawlessly and even survived one power outage where it was able to shut itself down by monitoring the UPS attached to it. Impressive.
I have recently begun to use it's "web browser interface" features to allow friends and family members to download pictures and home movies.
I'd mark this down in the "win" column.
I have recently begun to use it's "web browser interface" features to allow friends and family members to download pictures and home movies.
I'd mark this down in the "win" column.
Home Network Security
I've had a recent run on home users who are asking for my help to secure their home networks. In this day and age that is actually much easier than at any time before. There are several things you can do, even if you consider yourself to be "technically challenged", to protect yourself and the users on your home network from harm.
The first line of defense is a good hardware firewall. I am still surprised when I find users connecting their PC directly to the cable or DSL modem provided by their ISP. There are several really good products available. I myself have always been a fan of Netgear products, not to say they're perfect. Linksys is also a good choice, as is Trendnet. I have not had a good track record with D-Link wireless firewalls. Not to say they are bad, rather they are more difficult to set up and maintain than other brands (IMHO). Linksys products can be modified with un-approved firmware from dd-wrt to allow the firewall to offer more advanced features unavailable under the standard Linksys firmware. Use of dd-wrt firmware should only be attempted by the experienced technician, however.
The second line of defense may come as a shock ... don't use the ISP's DNS settings. Instead I recommend using the free service OpenDNS (http://www.opendns.com/). By default it automatically protects you against most known spyware and virus worms. And if you take the time to set up an account and follow their posted instructions you can also use it as a way to prevent users on your network from accessing porn, illegal downloads, peer-to-peer sharing sites, etc. The thing I like about it the most is I make those changes in OpenDNS and they automatically extend to any and all "users" on my network, even if a friend brings a laptop onto my network. Check it out.
Lastly, I also do not recommend you use the ISP's e-mail service. I strongly advocate using Google's Gmail for 3 very important reasons. First, it's free. Second, Google recently purchased Postini arguably the number one anti-spam service on the internet. And all your Gmail is Postini filtered (for free). Lastly, Gmail has programs for many smartphones (such as BlackBerry and iPhone) to allow you to receive and send Gmail right on your smartphone (for free). Did I mention all this was free? Check it out.
From my experience, user's who adopt these 3 simple policies have a much more secure home network and find themselves free from many of the "risks" we read about in the press periodically. These steps are simple, easy to implement and help to make your home network a safe and secure place for your family to work and play.
Enjoy the future.
The first line of defense is a good hardware firewall. I am still surprised when I find users connecting their PC directly to the cable or DSL modem provided by their ISP. There are several really good products available. I myself have always been a fan of Netgear products, not to say they're perfect. Linksys is also a good choice, as is Trendnet. I have not had a good track record with D-Link wireless firewalls. Not to say they are bad, rather they are more difficult to set up and maintain than other brands (IMHO). Linksys products can be modified with un-approved firmware from dd-wrt to allow the firewall to offer more advanced features unavailable under the standard Linksys firmware. Use of dd-wrt firmware should only be attempted by the experienced technician, however.
The second line of defense may come as a shock ... don't use the ISP's DNS settings. Instead I recommend using the free service OpenDNS (http://www.opendns.com/). By default it automatically protects you against most known spyware and virus worms. And if you take the time to set up an account and follow their posted instructions you can also use it as a way to prevent users on your network from accessing porn, illegal downloads, peer-to-peer sharing sites, etc. The thing I like about it the most is I make those changes in OpenDNS and they automatically extend to any and all "users" on my network, even if a friend brings a laptop onto my network. Check it out.
Lastly, I also do not recommend you use the ISP's e-mail service. I strongly advocate using Google's Gmail for 3 very important reasons. First, it's free. Second, Google recently purchased Postini arguably the number one anti-spam service on the internet. And all your Gmail is Postini filtered (for free). Lastly, Gmail has programs for many smartphones (such as BlackBerry and iPhone) to allow you to receive and send Gmail right on your smartphone (for free). Did I mention all this was free? Check it out.
From my experience, user's who adopt these 3 simple policies have a much more secure home network and find themselves free from many of the "risks" we read about in the press periodically. These steps are simple, easy to implement and help to make your home network a safe and secure place for your family to work and play.
Enjoy the future.
Monday, June 1, 2009
College Preparations Begin
Wow. The last few weeks has been littered with graduation parties. I guess that's what happens when you have friends with kids, right? Thankfully we have a couple more years until our next one is ready for the jump to college (whew).
As some of you may know, I am a Microsoft Registered Partner. In that capacity I received notice of a deal for college students that is just too good to pass up. The Microsoft Office 2007 Ultimate Steal promotion, the details of which are at this URL:
http://www.microsoft.com/student/discounts/theultimatesteal-us/default.aspx
In a nutshell your college student can get Microsoft Office 2007 Ultimate for $60. Check the URL for details, limitations and restrictions. Enjoy the summer. ;-)
As some of you may know, I am a Microsoft Registered Partner. In that capacity I received notice of a deal for college students that is just too good to pass up. The Microsoft Office 2007 Ultimate Steal promotion, the details of which are at this URL:
http://www.microsoft.com/student/discounts/theultimatesteal-us/default.aspx
In a nutshell your college student can get Microsoft Office 2007 Ultimate for $60. Check the URL for details, limitations and restrictions. Enjoy the summer. ;-)
Friday, May 29, 2009
NAS Conversion
After over 2 years of faithful service I finally retired my D-Link DNS-323 and replaced it with a Netgear ReadyNAS Duo. Not because I was necessarily dissatisfied with my DNS-323. More because I felt like I'd outgrown it.
The ReadyNAS offers the option to upgrade from the two slot Duo to the multi-slot NV+. Plus the ReadyNAS offered features the DNS-323 didn't have (without "tweaking the system"). One that I think will be truly useful is the option to connect an external USB hard drive to one of the three USB ports on the Duo and back up the NAS's contents for safe keeping (presumably off site). Another cool feature allows the ReadyNAS to be set up to allow users to browse the ReadyNAS via a web browser.
I also like that the ReadyNAS is running a true RAID 1 (ReadyNAS calls it XRAID). The DNS-323 has very limited integrity checking on the RAID which concerned me greatly after one of my drives dropped offline. The front panel LED's clearly showed it was offline, but the system maintained it wasn't. Further investigation proved the LED's were right, so out goes the DNS-323.
The conversion process was fairly straightforward. I pulled the "failed" drive from the DNS-323, wiped it clean and inserted it into the ReadyNAS Duo. The ReadyNAS detected the drive, formatted it and set it up for normal use. I then matched the settings from my DNS-323 and set about copying the files from one to the other. The whole process took about 24 hours. Not back for 300 some odd gigabytes of data.
So today the ReadyNAS takes it's place as my main NAS with twin Seagate 1 TB drives in RAID 1. I look forward to the experience ...
The ReadyNAS offers the option to upgrade from the two slot Duo to the multi-slot NV+. Plus the ReadyNAS offered features the DNS-323 didn't have (without "tweaking the system"). One that I think will be truly useful is the option to connect an external USB hard drive to one of the three USB ports on the Duo and back up the NAS's contents for safe keeping (presumably off site). Another cool feature allows the ReadyNAS to be set up to allow users to browse the ReadyNAS via a web browser.
I also like that the ReadyNAS is running a true RAID 1 (ReadyNAS calls it XRAID). The DNS-323 has very limited integrity checking on the RAID which concerned me greatly after one of my drives dropped offline. The front panel LED's clearly showed it was offline, but the system maintained it wasn't. Further investigation proved the LED's were right, so out goes the DNS-323.
The conversion process was fairly straightforward. I pulled the "failed" drive from the DNS-323, wiped it clean and inserted it into the ReadyNAS Duo. The ReadyNAS detected the drive, formatted it and set it up for normal use. I then matched the settings from my DNS-323 and set about copying the files from one to the other. The whole process took about 24 hours. Not back for 300 some odd gigabytes of data.
So today the ReadyNAS takes it's place as my main NAS with twin Seagate 1 TB drives in RAID 1. I look forward to the experience ...
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