Anthony's FRESH PLASTIC

CTRL + T = No new tabs for me...

nobody@vox.com(Ant UK) — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 13:56:10 +0100

I love opening new tabs when surfing the interwebs. The invention of tabbed browsing has to be up there with the discovery of fire and the invention of the wheel. My own "discovery" of the CTRL + T keyboard shortcut was a landmark development - not for mankind, but for me.

Oh well, my days of using CTRL + T on the laptop I'm currently typing this on are over (it's a Toshiba A200-1YO for what it's worth, running Vista, urgh!).

Why? Well, I foolishly decided to install ASUS's software for their MyCinema U3000 mini (catchy, huh?) digital TV dongle. Previously I'd only been using the TV stick on my Linux-flavoured Eee PC (completely different software required for that so completely different set of problems). Why would TV software affect my browsing experience? It's to do with my keyboard shortcut of choice - now when I do CTRL + T the TV software starts up instead of a new tab opening... argh!

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Eee PC 900s can now be bought for well under £300

nobody@vox.com(Ant UK) — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 14:46:57 +0100

The Eee PC 900 is now better value for money in the UK than it was when I bought mine little nearly two months ago. Seeing as it had only just come out then, am I annoyed? You betcha! Everyone expects prices of computers to continuously drop, but not that much, that quick!

The price drop is just the icing on the cake though. My Eee has a stuck pixel and that rubbish battery (buyers now are more likely to be aware of this). I won't even go into ASUS's treatment of their UK customers!

Oh well, it's still a nice little number and those extra inches really do make a difference.

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Eee PC 901 out June 3rd, priced at £325, where?

nobody@vox.com(Ant UK) — Fri, 16 May 2008 12:26:25 +0100

According to DigiTimes the latest Eee PC, the 901, will be coming out on the 3rd of June. It'll be priced at $650 (£325) or below - but where? I seriously doubt it'll be that price in the UK. With the added features/benefits (including Atom processor and Bluetooth) I'd imagine a premium on the 900 (which retails at around £330 in the UK)

The DigiTimes article also mentions that the Linux version will have more software applications added to it. Hopefully the likes of Miro and Google Earth as they are two of my favourites and really showcase how competent the previous Eees are.

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Digital TV on an Eee PC... 900: Big screen action!

nobody@vox.com(Ant UK) — Wed, 14 May 2008 21:43:06 +0100

Previously on Fresh Plastic... Anthony had an Eee PC 701, a USB digital TV receiver and posted an article showing the two working together. Meanwhile the Eee PC decided to split, the USB dongle lay dorment and ultra tiny laptop TV seemed a long forgotten memory.

Well, those days are long gone and I now have an Eee PC 900 and she ain't going anywhere (fingers crossed). She has a much bigger screen but housed in almost the same sized case (although she's a tad bit heavier, psst - don't tell her that!) So I introduced her to the digital TV dongle and, after a lot of matchmaking, they got it together!

Getting them working together really was a hard task. ASUS has made it even more difficult than before. A lot of head scratching, a lot of Googling, a lot of reading and re-reading of the forum posts on eeeuser.com and a hell of a lot of trial and error. Got there in the end though - check out the pics below...

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ASUS making a serious Eee-push in the UK market?

nobody@vox.com(Ant UK) — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 19:57:48 +0100

Looks like ASUS have been putting some of the money they've been making with their uber-successful Eee PC into their UK web presence.

Check out: EASY TO LEARN . EASY TO WORK . EASY TO PLAY . EASY TO WIN

Yes, that's right, easy-to-win! But no more details other than a countdown timer. The page title also includes "Easy to share" - they clearly haven't tried sending files from one Eee PC to another! Click on the "about" and you're see that they're also bragging about it being easy to carry.

Hopefully I can win one as I'm jonesing for a laptop since my Eee left me...

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Comparing the size of one's dongles...

nobody@vox.com(Ant UK) — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 01:33:51 +0100

Here's two dongles, USB dongles to be a bit more precise. These dongles are primarily designed for laptops but can be used on desktops too. The dongle on top is for digital TV, the dongle down below is for mobile broadband. Because of the size at the sides, trying to insert each into adjacent sockets might be a squeeze (certainly on the Eee PC).

Broadband and digital TV - side-by-side dongle comparison

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HP's Mini-Note "Eee killer" and what I said last night, I had no idea! Really.

nobody@vox.com(Ant UK) — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 15:31:15 +0100

Check out this earlier post, one that I made last night: HP as well. So they dont just make printers! I joked about the reasons for why the folks at HP (and previous to that, Dell) were visiting my blog. Maybe they're gonna launch a rival to the Eee I quipped. Why did I come to that conclusion? Simple, my blog rarely has any mention of anything "desktop" (or printer related!) but has a lot to do with the Eee or Nokia.

When I awoke this morning and checked Google News (in my best news announcer voice... More cheapskateians get their news from Google than from any other source*!) I was surprised to see a bundle of stories regarding HP's er, "Eee Killer", the Mini-Note. I had no idea! Really. I haven't been following any of the Eee's rivals that closely - other than the usual candidates (Classmate, OLPC, Elonex One etc.) I've gotta whole bunch of news articles, press releases and blog posts to catch up with methinks! It is kinda difficult now that I no longer have my Eee PC, so what d'ya say HP? Fancy giving this blogger a unit to trial? You know you'll get full warts and all from me but if the device is as good as what I've been reading so far today, then you have nothing to worry about!

Oh, and HP? When I had my Eee PC and was using it in public I had a queue of people coming up to me and asking me about it. All, and I mean ALL were impressed including one of the ~~stewardesses~~, sorry, female flight attendants who already had a more fully featured, and expensive, Sony VAIO. People of all ages, colours, geeks, non-geeks, they all wanted to know more. I've never had so many complete strangers come up to me before in my life! And you know what? Most of them left me with the impression that they were gonna get themselves one ASAP (good luck, I told them!) and that was after me listing the negatives as well as the positives of the tiny wonder. If the Mini-Note is really that much better I won't have much bad to say about it, will I?

For good measure I'll add that, not one person approached me regarding the Nokia N95 8GB I had. I didn't even garner a sneaky glimpser! And the Eee got way more attention than my sister's iPhone when we went brandishing that around town weeks before it was released in the UK.

Here's a round of the stories about the HP Mini-Note I've been reading today: IT Wire - 'Note to HP: The Mini-Note PC rocks!' / Reg Hardware - 'Asus avoids Atom to get next Eee PC out early?' / Reg Hardware - 'HP launches Linux-loaded Eee PC rival' / Mobile Computer - 'HP guns for the Eee PC with the ultra-stylish Mini-Note 2133' / AP - 'HP Unveils Small Laptop for Schoolkids' / InfoSync World - 'Hands-on with the HP 2133 Mini-Note PC' (as you can probably tell I'm really excited about the news and, maybe, when my insurance comes through I'll be going for the Mini-Note instead of a replacement Eee PC.

*I know it's an aggregator and not a source and yes, only Americans will get that reference but they do make up the majority of my readership!)

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Day 7 without a laptop...

nobody@vox.com(Ant UK) — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 16:41:03 +0000

She's smiling 'cos she still has hers...

I've been laptop-less (sounds like some crazy beach somewhere, but I digress...) for a week now. Seeing as my first and only laptop was the ASUS Eee PC and that I've only had it since early December it's strange how I've become so attached to it.

There are so many things that just can't be done on a mobile phone no matter how expensive or feature packed it is. The Nokia N95 8GB I currently have on loan is great but it can't replace a cheap laptop. As much as people complain about both the small display and keyboard on the Eee, they're almost as useful, practical and convenient as those found on a 'proper' computer.

You can do lots on a high-end phone and the portability factor can't be beat. But general surfing, emailing, blogging - they all take much longer to do and the process can be fraught with difficulties. Some websites don't display properly or have missing functionality with phone browsers, the VOX site a prime example. Using the built-in Nokia browser the VOX website detects that I'm using a phone and sends me to their mobile

Day 7: Without!

version. VOX mobile just isn't as good as normal VOX and I have no way to tell the site I want the full version (this is unlike Google who let you choose between 'Mobile' and 'Classic'). Going to the VOX site on Opera Mini (a 3rd party browser that's really worth checking out if you haven't done so already) is at first glance a better experience. You get the full site like you would on a normal computer, but... you can't log in! I had to do quite a bit of fiddling around and setting changing to be able to click on the log in "button"). Once logged in via Opera Mini you can't actually post so it's kinda pointless!

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Eee's WiFi connection problem. Problem no more...

nobody@vox.com(Ant UK) — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 20:46:26 +0000

Last night I stumbled upon the solution to a problem that's been plaguing many Eee PC users of late...

The problem? When setting up WiFi the Eee complains about the format that the key is in (the hex/ASCII issue!)

The solution? Ignore the Eee's complaint and then select '4' from the drop down menu to the right. Connect/reconnect and all will hopefully be well. Maybe it won't work for you, maybe it will - who knows?

I have no idea why it worked for me but it did. Funny thing is I was able to connect to the same router before Xmas without any problems whatsoever. Maybe something was added along the way that the Eee didn't like?

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Random thoughts on Eee. Eee's are good? Eee's are good!

nobody@vox.com(Ant UK) — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 15:52:31 +0000

I like my Eee. It's got its quirks (both good and bad) but on the whole I'm happy with it. Still, whether you like this laptop or not is wholly based on what you want it for and where you're going to use it. Just because I like it doesn't mean you will!

Out-of-the-box it's a little too basic for me (that's when it's in 'Easy Mode') so it's a good job there's the 'Full Desktop (Advanced) Mode'. The trouble is the 'full' mode isn't an easy thing to switch to, at least not for the first time. In fact, out-of-the-box there's not a great deal you can change but I guess that's the idea.

Fortunately there's an excellent resource out there that does what the manufacturer ASUS ought to, and more: Eee User

If it wasn't for Eee User I wouldn't be able to use Opera, watch a whole bunch of videos, hook up my phone as a modem nor get Adobe Reader and Firefox working again!

I haven't really gone in to the details of what I've used the Eee for and why I like it, I'll try to go other these things soon. The thing is, there's plenty of stuff out there already about this dinky laptop and I don't want to go over much covered ground. A couple of things I will say now though are that video playback is great on the device. It doesn't struggle with DivX and once you figure out how-to, it does a good job of "ipod" video (H.264 MP4). I've even managed to playback some HD stuff from Apple and although it struggles it does make a fairly good attempt at playback (not really watchable though!)

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