After a long wait, ordering on 8/27/08 and finally receiving it 9/25/08 (wow, almost as bad as the Dell XPS M1330!), I finally have the wonderful machine that is the Lenovo IdeaPad U330.  Preliminary thoughts after using it for about 2 hours?  Neat features, very responsive, I hate the placement of the Fn key, and awesome screen. 1 day? Great screen, very cool facial recognition webcam, awesome screen, bad battery life, nice keyboard, quite responsive, quiet, and I don’t like vista.  Seeing as how I just received this laptop, this will be a somewhat simple, initial review.  It will take a few days to do full battery testing, performance metrics, etc etc, but I will post updates to this page as I go along, and post a final review in a new post once it’s complete!

Continue reading ‘Lenovo IdeaPad U330 Initial Hands On Review’ »

So no sooner had I bought and brought home my Acer Aspire One,  I was able to get in on an order for some Dell Inspiron Mini 9’s!  Well, the other night they finally arrived and here I am to give you my review!  What do I think in a one liner?  Compared to the other netbooks currently available, it’s about the same as the rest except it gets a BIT better battery life, I don’t like the keyboard, but love the easy access for upgrades. 

Lets start off with the specs of the system reviewed:

• Intel Atom processor N270, 1.6GHz, 533Mhz512K L2 Cache
• 512MB,DDR2,533MHZ,1 DIMM
• 8.9 inch Wide Screen WSVGA (1024×600) LED Backlit - Glossy
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) 950
• 16GB Solid State Drive (mini-card Module/PATA)
• Windows XP Home Edition
• Integrated 1.3M Pixel Webcam
• 32WHr 4-cell Battery
• Bluetooth 2.1 module
• Memory card slot (SD, MS/Pro, MMC)
• 3 x USB
• Weight:  2lbs 5oz (with 4 cell)

Continue reading ‘Dell Inspiron Mini 9 Usage Review’ »

Also coming soon, is my review of the Lenovo Ipad S10 — another netbook, only this one is a 10.2″ one (to compete with the asus eeepc 1000h and the like). Just got the shipping confirmation yesterday, so look for the review in the upcoming days!

(as always, have something you want to know? Tell me about it in the comments!)

Ah, the sweet new trend of netbooks! Just received my Dell Inspiron Mini 9 the other night, and am in the process of writing up the review. My initial thoughts? It’s about on par with the other mini laptops I’ve used (Acer Aspire One, EEE PC, Fujitsu P7120, etc). When compared with the Aspire One specifically (at least so far), the battery life is a bit better, the keyboard layout is awful, the webcam is much better in low light, and ssd performance is a bit better (basically the same) than the aao’s hard drive.

Here’s the specs of the Mini 9 I am reviewing:

• Inspiron 910 Intel Atom processor N270, 1.6GHz, 533Mhz512K L2 Cache
• Obsidian Black Color with Gloss Finish
• 512MB,DDR2,533MHZ,1 DIMM
• 8.9 inch Wide Screen WSVGA TLLCD
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) 950
• 16GB Solid State Drive (mini-card Module/PATA)
• Genuine Windows XP Home Edition
• Wireless 802.11g Mini Card
• Integrated 1.3M Pixel Webcam
• 32WHr 4-cell Battery
• Bluetooth 2.1 module via USB I/F (Option)

Stay tuned for the complete review to be finished in the next couple days. Have anything specific you want to see in the review? game play footage, performance tests, etc? Let me know in the comments!

(The full review will be linked here, or just check back at the homepage)

update 9/24/08: Here is the full review! http://www.jrin.net/2008_09_25/dell-inspiron-mini-9-actual-usage-review

I just got my shipping confirmation for the new Lenovo U330 13.3″ laptop! It’s should arrive on Thursday, but depending on if they leave it at my door, I probably won’t be able to pick it up till Friday, so stay tuned this weekend! (I will post a link on this post to the review once it’s up, or of course simply check back at the home page)

Update 9/25/08 11:22p:

Initial hands on review posted!! http://www.jrin.net/2008_09_26/lenovo-ideapad-u330-initial-hands-on-review

Update 9/26/08 4:30p:

I pick it up on the way home from work today. Keep a lookout tonight for an initial hands on review!

Update 9/25/08 7:20p:

UPS tried to deliver today, but I wasn’t home. I called them up, and they told me I could drive to the UPS center and pick it up tonight! I drove there, and was told that the truck from my area won’t be there until 8:00p…. They closed at 7:00p…… Ugh. Well, I will be posting my initial review tomorrow night!

The Lenovo U330 I ordered will have the following specifications:

• Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor P7350 ( 2GHz 1GHz 3MB )
• Windows Vista Home Premium
• 13.3 WXGA LED Backlight TFT 1280×800
• ATI Radeon HD 3450 256MB (ATI M82SCE 256MB)
• 3 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1066MHz
• 320GB 9mm 5400RPM
• DVD Recordable w/ X6 Ultrabase
• HDMI, WiFi (802.11a/g/n), Bluetooth, 10/100 Ethernet (boo, no gigabit)
• 0.9″ Thick

One thing I’m really looking forward to checking out is that it’s supposed to be able to switch from the dedicated video card, to the integrated (x3100?) video, to save battery life. If this ends up being light enough, I may end up getting rid of my Acer Aspire One!

Have anything in particular you want to see reviewed? Game play? Specific performance tests? Let me know in the comments!

I recently moved to the Baltimore/Washington area and have opted to use the trains to get to and from work, so I was looking for a ultra portable laptop to take with me on my commute.  At the time, I had a Dell Latitude D630 and though it’s weighs about 5 pounds, I wanted something much lighter - which is when I came across the Acer Aspire One.   I just started a new job, so money was tight, and this was the cheapest ‘netbook’ available that had the new Atom processor and XP (plus it was carried locally by Best Buy, so not having to wait for shipping), so I decided to give it a go:

Here are the specs of the machine reviewed:

• Intel Atom N270 1.6Ghz 533mhz fsb 512mb cache
• 1gb ddr2-667 (512mb soldiered, 512mb removable/upgradeable, though difficult)
• 8.9" WSVGA (1024×600), CrystalBrite (glossy), LED Backlit screen
• 120GB 5400rpm SATA hard drive (1.8")
• Intel integrated 950 graphics
• Built in 0.3mp (vga) webcam with mic
• 2 Memory card slots
  • 1 SDHC
  • 1 5-in-1 (SD, MMC, Reduced Size MMC, MS/MS Pro, & xD)
• 3 usb 2.0 ports
• Built in 802.11b/g wifi (atheros invilink)
• 2.2 pounds, 1.1" thick
• Windows XP Home

Continue reading ‘Acer Aspire One - Actual Usage Review (XP, 120gb, 3 cell)’ »

Taken at the Inner Harbor in Baltimore, MD

Having the ATT Tilt now for a few months, I was getting a bit anxious for HTC’s new devices to come out and the other day I finally got one — the HTC Touch Diamond!   The HTC Diamond is among HTC’s newest lines of pocket pc phone devices (along with the Touch Pro coming out later this summer) and these phones just keep getting better.   At a quick glance, here are some of it’s ‘major’ features and specs:

• 2.8" Touch Screen
• 528 MHz Processor (qualcomm msm7201a)
• VGA (640×480) Resolution
• 3.2 Auto focus camera and VGA Front facing camera
• 4gb Internal Storage (but no external memory card slot)
• Integrated GPS
• Tri-Band GSM/GPRS/EDGE (900/1800/1900 MHz)
• HSDPA/WCDMA 900/2100MHz
• 256mb Rom, 192mb DDR SDRAM
• Bluetooth 2.0 w/EDR and 802.11b/g Wifi
• FM Radio (with RDS)

Update 7/21/08 — Looks like those who have US that have the diamond are able to get the 850mhz band working (gsm/edge) — perhaps, soon, even US 3g!  check out more at:  http://www.wmexperts.com/articles/new_diamond_rom_enables_850_ed.html .

Continue reading ‘HTC Touch Diamond - Actual Usage Review’ »

Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico

Taken among the tops of a rain forest in Puerto Rico