Then…(for the Spanish version, click here)
Ten years ago, my sister gave me an iBook (Apple), a laptop without Wi-Fi or Bluetooth capability and full of compatibility problems with Windows applications (Excel never worked liked it should have and the Apple store was charging me more than the price of a new one to get it fixed). After that, I never took the iBook seriously and parked it in some corner of the house to gather dust. Since then I’ve been strictly a desktop model user.
Three years ago, I decided to check out the ‘triple-play’ (TV, phone calls, Internet) package of one of the biggest ISPs in Spain. The techs came to the house and changed my PC’s 1MB ADSL modem with a 3MB wireless router and a TV decoder. After that, everything went downhill fast! I experienced constant connectivity problems, and the times I could connect to the Internet, the speeds were waaay below those advertised. I was constantly calling tech support (which, incidentally, were not free calls at all as they had me believe) for some kind of explanation, but none was forthcoming. I tried everything short of signing up with a new service provider, something I regret not doing sooner. In the end, the techs gave up and washed their hands off the whole incident saying the problem lay with my PC since their dashboard gauges were all showing positive results. The problem, according to the tech, was my computer was too old; I needed to get myself a new one.
Like an idiot, I believed them and marched straight out to buy myself a new desktop PC, a system I still use at home. After more than 700 euros and an additional six months of extremely bad or absolutely no service from the same provider (they never did figure out the cause of my poor connectivity), I decided to call it quits and angrily gave these guys the pink slip for having wasted my time. I changed my service provider and hooked up with a company that offered 20MB bandwidth and free local calls (no TV).
Thanks to that wireless experience that had me wired to tech support at all times, I decided to forego venturing into wireless products other than my cell phone. That is, until now.
…and now
A few weeks ago I was given the opportunity to buy a laptop at a bargain basement price. In addition, a manufacturer offered to let me try out a wireless Access Point (AP) which I could keep in exchange for a write up. As a technology journalist, these are the few perks of the trade we enjoy. So, I thought, why not? I’ll document the whole process in a blog.
And this blog is it: what I did, how I did it, and why I did it.
1. The laptop
Ten years ago, my sister gave me an iBook (Apple), a laptop without Wi-Fi or Bluetooth capability and full of compatibility problems with Windows applications (Excel never worked liked it should have and the Apple store was charging me more than the price of a new one to get it fixed). After that, I never took the iBook seriously and parked it in some corner of the house to gather dust. Since then I’ve been strictly a desktop model user.
Three years ago, I decided to check out the ‘triple-play’ (TV, phone calls, Internet) package of one of the biggest ISPs in Spain. The techs came to the house and changed my PC’s 1MB ADSL modem with a 3MB wireless router and a TV decoder. After that, everything went downhill fast! I experienced constant connectivity problems, and the times I could connect to the Internet, the speeds were waaay below those advertised. I was constantly calling tech support (which, incidentally, were not free calls at all as they had me believe) for some kind of explanation, but none was forthcoming. I tried everything short of signing up with a new service provider, something I regret not doing sooner. In the end, the techs gave up and washed their hands off the whole incident saying the problem lay with my PC since their dashboard gauges were all showing positive results. The problem, according to the tech, was my computer was too old; I needed to get myself a new one.
Like an idiot, I believed them and marched straight out to buy myself a new desktop PC, a system I still use at home. After more than 700 euros and an additional six months of extremely bad or absolutely no service from the same provider (they never did figure out the cause of my poor connectivity), I decided to call it quits and angrily gave these guys the pink slip for having wasted my time. I changed my service provider and hooked up with a company that offered 20MB bandwidth and free local calls (no TV).
Thanks to that wireless experience that had me wired to tech support at all times, I decided to forego venturing into wireless products other than my cell phone. That is, until now.
…and now
A few weeks ago I was given the opportunity to buy a laptop at a bargain basement price. In addition, a manufacturer offered to let me try out a wireless Access Point (AP) which I could keep in exchange for a write up. As a technology journalist, these are the few perks of the trade we enjoy. So, I thought, why not? I’ll document the whole process in a blog.
And this blog is it: what I did, how I did it, and why I did it.
1. The laptop
With so many different makes and models to choose from, the decisive question always reverts to ‘What use will I make of my laptop?’ And depending on the answer, you can narrow down your options. I wanted an all-in-one (professional, personal and entertainment) robust laptop with the latest wireless technologies at a price within my budget, between 600 and 900 euros. My other requirement was that it be small and light enough for road warrior duty. As a journalist, I get to travel around quite a bit and I wanted something light and easy to lug around. If on top of that I could find something that would be the envy of the office, then so much the better.
I finally opted for an HP Pavilion dv3550es (Pavilion dv3z in the US) with the 64-bit version of Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 (very quick), 2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo dual-core processor (quicker even), 4GB of DDR2 RAM (you can never have enough RAM), 13.3” WXGA 1280x800 resolution Brite View wide screen monitor (very sharp), Nvidia GeForce 9300M GS graphics card (for gaming power), 320GB SATA HDD (I would have wished for 500GB, at least), Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, integrated webcam and mike, Altec Lansing speakers, remote control, biometric digital reader, 5-in-1 memory card reader, with HDMI output (easy connect to your HD flat screen TV) and other doo-dads. Total weight: 1.87 kilos or approximately 4 pounds.
On the inside, the Pavilion includes a 60 day license of Norton Internet Security 2009, a 90 day license of Microsoft Office 2007 Home Edition, Microsoft Works (the cheap, unlimited-use version of Office), Windows Mail (the Works version of Outlook Express), Adobe Reader 5.0, and HP MediaSmart and HP ProtectSmart, a media center management application and hard disk protector, respectively.
This laptop looks very cool both inside and out. It has a nice bronze finish metal carcass (I don’t know that it’s titanium) and a thin profile footprint.
The only thing bad I have to say about it is the keyboard. The keys, like the frame are bronzed metallic with a smooth touch and solid feel unlike the cheap, jerky plastic keys on most of today’s laptops. However, the markings are in black which makes the keys hard to distinguish in dim light conditions. Were it not for this oversight on HP’s part, I would have given this Pavilion an A+ on everything from looks to size to performance to price. As it is, the best I can do is give it an A-.
2. Access Point configuration procedure
I finally opted for an HP Pavilion dv3550es (Pavilion dv3z in the US) with the 64-bit version of Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 (very quick), 2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo dual-core processor (quicker even), 4GB of DDR2 RAM (you can never have enough RAM), 13.3” WXGA 1280x800 resolution Brite View wide screen monitor (very sharp), Nvidia GeForce 9300M GS graphics card (for gaming power), 320GB SATA HDD (I would have wished for 500GB, at least), Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, integrated webcam and mike, Altec Lansing speakers, remote control, biometric digital reader, 5-in-1 memory card reader, with HDMI output (easy connect to your HD flat screen TV) and other doo-dads. Total weight: 1.87 kilos or approximately 4 pounds.
On the inside, the Pavilion includes a 60 day license of Norton Internet Security 2009, a 90 day license of Microsoft Office 2007 Home Edition, Microsoft Works (the cheap, unlimited-use version of Office), Windows Mail (the Works version of Outlook Express), Adobe Reader 5.0, and HP MediaSmart and HP ProtectSmart, a media center management application and hard disk protector, respectively.
This laptop looks very cool both inside and out. It has a nice bronze finish metal carcass (I don’t know that it’s titanium) and a thin profile footprint.
The only thing bad I have to say about it is the keyboard. The keys, like the frame are bronzed metallic with a smooth touch and solid feel unlike the cheap, jerky plastic keys on most of today’s laptops. However, the markings are in black which makes the keys hard to distinguish in dim light conditions. Were it not for this oversight on HP’s part, I would have given this Pavilion an A+ on everything from looks to size to performance to price. As it is, the best I can do is give it an A-.
2. Access Point configuration procedure
After creating the user accounts and configuring the biometric reader, the first step in the life of any computer is configuring Internet access. For me, this was the moment of truth as my past experiences had made me rather cynical and apprehensive.
SMC Networks manufactures a whole line of Internet access devices from routers to Access Points. They gave me a choice between a router and an Access Point, and after relating my previous experiences, they suggested I try their easy-to-configure SMCWEB-N wireless Access Point (AP) with the new ‘draft N’ standard of the 802.11 wireless communications protocol. The AP also includes the ‘b’ and ‘g’ standards.
SMC Networks manufactures a whole line of Internet access devices from routers to Access Points. They gave me a choice between a router and an Access Point, and after relating my previous experiences, they suggested I try their easy-to-configure SMCWEB-N wireless Access Point (AP) with the new ‘draft N’ standard of the 802.11 wireless communications protocol. The AP also includes the ‘b’ and ‘g’ standards.
According to the quick installation guide, the only thing the user has to do is connect the laptop (via Ethernet cable provided) to the LAN1 port on the rear of the AP, start Internet Explorer, and type http://192.168.2.2 on the address bar. I’m one of those guys who makes it a point to get by with the least amount of effort. In other words, I never read the instruction manual. Usually, I make do with the quick installation guide.
alright, now get the image (was dumbfounded earlier as deleted this first part of your blog )...nice maquina y fuerte, mabilis at love the 13.3" monitor though am downsizing from this 15.4" to a 12.1" as want it to fit into my leather attache sans the paper folders of times gone by and the extra laptop bag...and way back read a feature in Fortune Magazine of Bill Gates going paperless in his office desk ie three 25" monitors and a laptop for out of office meetings...yes, no paper piles on his desk. Nice blog Rompemaquina and as commented earlier, great for one who complicates simple things like learning to use tech machines...and use a Nok E90 for emails on the road and addition to books read when get into bed as get to continue catching up on unread-no-time email or surf myself to sleep. Finally discovered a blog that will address my eagerness to learn what i always thought too complicated IT toys that, understood well, can make work more organized and faster ( poor secretaries ) and at the same time really make, as author/columnist Thomas Friedman wrote in his NYTIMES Bestseller " The World is Flat". Wonder what Columbus has to say about that. Grazzi
ReplyDeleteWow! Your Laptop's sweet! That could even run the most demanding games of today.
ReplyDeleteI've got 2 laptops now, one's personal with core 2 duo and only 2 gig RAM and built in video card, the other one is what my office gave me, a lenovo T61 with Centrino VPro and 3 gig RAM. Both run developer applications (different Visual Studio versions), and an SQL database developer edition. I could say that I am quite contented with how the 2 works, even when I do regression testing on my developed applications. I could imagine how faster it could even be running on your machine. =)