The Beanster Blog

NAS4Free on Wind U123H, the old clunker stopped charging this morning. Remember NetBooks? Yeah, those cheap Intel ATOM driven mini-notebooks... Well I still have one lying around, an MSI Wind U123H. I upgraded it from Windows 7 to 10 during the free period, but since it is about 9 yo hardware it isn't running so well. I've decided to re-purpose the Wind into a NAS or Networked Attached Storage. I want to use it as a Network Backup location for both Time Machine and Windows Backup, and maybe explore Media Server functions as well. Basically, I just felt the hardware was just gathering dust and wanted to do something more. I took out the 240Gb Toshiba 5400rpm with Windows 10, and plunked in the 500Gb Seagate Momentus 5400rpm that I had lying around. I was able to finally get it installed in a USB, early this morning around 1 AM. I decided it was time to shutdown the machine and call it a night. So this morning I noticed that the MSI Wind wasn't charging, I tried ...

In a fit of clumsyness (?) I jammed my hand with the car door in the morning and in the evening I somehow managed to slip and do an elbow drop and shove move to wreck both hinges of my Wind and to put a dent in the chasis. With my weight I was also able to break the battery lock.  It still turns on but now I cannot move it in use because the battery will drop out. Some of the keys are also tough to press. I still haven't brought it to the shop but I suspect it would be better to get a new system rather than having it repaired. Stupidity and butter fingers aren't covered with warranty. This definitely craps on my tech roadmap and what little budget I have stashed for gadgets … Come to think of it this netbook is not even 6 months old! I could hunker down and add a usb keyboard (I am pretty sure I have one at home) to get over the keyboard issues but honestly once you know there is a dent, ding, scratch or issue with your device you never look at it the same way. I am still...

Finally was able to swing by GSC to get the 6 cell battery for my Wind. I’ve slapped it on and am currently charging it. Of course it adds a bit of weight and bulk to my lil machine but hey if it gives me more than 1:45 of uptime I’m all for it. As an added bonus it elevates the Wind’s rear a bit which not only gives it a nice tilt for typing but also better airflow. Even with the 6 cell this baby is not heavy at all. Thanks to manong valet of Chili’s who recognized me and let me park at Chili’s while I was going around for the 2nd time to look for parking.

Engadget is reporting that Taiwan based MSI is developing their second gust for their Wind line of notebooks... The U91 and U120 might get the Atom 330 [dual core], HSDPA [woot], and Vista [meh!]. I hope it doesn't come out too soon because I just got my Wind! Ha! -- Click HERE for Engadget's story.

If you follow my humble blog then you'd know that I haven't had a personal computer at home since late October 2007, when I sold my SONY VAIO UX280P. Well that has all change last week when I finally decided to get myself an MSI Wind U100. I've owned quite a few notebooks in the past few years 2 of them MSI so I wasn't unfamiliar with the brand at all. I actually recommend it to people who are on a budget but still want relatively good quality [a Taiwan brand is better than the China brands like APEX ]. Here's a rundown on the notebooks I've owned: -- MSI M645 - 15.4 inch - 2005 MSI S262 - 12.1 inch - 2006 SONY VAIO UX280P - 4.5inch - 2007 MSI Wind U100 - 10inch -- Let's go thru the specifications of the Wind: Intel® Atom™ N270 Processor 1.6Ghz Intel® 945GSE+ICH7M Chipset 10in Widescreen LED Backlit 1024x600 2Gb RAM 160Gb 5400RPM HDD WiFi 802.11b+g Bluetooth 2.0 EDR Graphics Card Output (15-pin, D-Sub) X 1 USB2.0 Port X 3 Mic-in Port X 1/L...

So far I am liking my 1st day with the Wind :D It's running Windows XP Home SP3 out of the box. The heart of the device is Intel's N270 [aka ATOM] 1.6Ghz processor which runs the OS without hiccup so far. Remember though that my system has 2Gb of RAM and 160Gb HDD. A note on the HDD: mine came with 3 partitions -- 40 OS / 110 Storage / 10 Hidden for OS. I like the fact that it is not the anemic SSDs which are usually loaded in some mini/netbooks. The notebook also has WiFi and Bluetooth, a card reader, and a webcam. The power brick is tiny as well. I'd like to say that the build quality on this MSI is really really nice. The screen is bright and crisp. Typing on the keyboard is comfortable and not really a strain for me. If I do have a complaint it would be the single unit design of the key bellow the track pad. It is really hard to press and register a click. One can easily add a usb mouse, rf or bt mouse though. Overall I am not missing the media drive at the moment, ...

I have been blabbering on about getting a notebook for quite awhile now today I finally broke down and decided to get an MSI Wind U100 in Empire Black. I shot my friend Danny of ACENET an SMS and he said that a unit with 2Gb of RAM and 160Gb of HDD space is available. That actually has double the memory and capacity of the model on MSI's site... NICE! It's running XP Home which is fine by me. I'll be swinging by V-Mall after work so I can get my mitts on my new toy er...  tool. I've already filled my Pirate Nero 4Gb drive with some installers of essential apps the rest I'll just get off the net. I'll be sure to share my experiences with the wind right here on the Beanster Blog so check back soon.

Being the resident geek among my friends I get a lot of tech support questions and requests. I'm not bothered though I enjoy figuring these things out. I also don't mind teaching people how to use their PC, mobile, gadget as long as they are willing to listen and learn. Sharing knowledge is much more fun than acquiring it. Much like Doraemon who tries to help Nobita (fortunately I don't mess up as much as my fave robot cat from the future.) -- I've finished with Aileen's Dihya's palm Treo 750 last night did some application installs and registry tweaking. -- Got 2 more jobs lined up for this week: 1. Diagnose Camille's palm Treo 750 - no earpiece volume. 2. Diagnose Chutball's home desktop - slow system / possible viri. -- Damn working with 750s again. I miss my Treo 750 although I know I am better off with my TyTN2 because it has WiFi and I don't have my own PC at home. I also appreciate the tilt screen much more, I hope when the time (or urge) come...

Ever since I sold of my UMPC [Sony VAIO UX280P] I have been PC less at home. It's been about 9 months. I've been surviving with my office desktop and my trusty HTC TyTN II. So far the experience has been utterly bearable to say the least. Let's breakdown what I do on a PC: Email Blogging/Social Networking Docs/Spreadsheets Games Music PIM Photo Editing Banking Instant Messaging My office desktop now houses all my files because my ext HDD enclosure [or cable] is bonking out. So I use my XP box at the office and I sync my TyTN II to the box for PIM, music, files, and of course apps. I've decided to try and separate work from play and have set my 3 work emails on the outlook desktop 2 POP and 1 IMAP. My HTC TyTN2 is my primary computing device at home. I've got my 5 personal emails syncing via IMAP [yes I have 5 active emails]. I have IM+ for instant messaging. PIE w/ SPB PocketPlus PIE tabs. Pocket Outlook for PIM. Of course I have tons of games installed. Using my PD...

White colour 12.1” screen Intel core 2 duo, Centrino duo 1.83ghz 1gb ddr ram 100gb Hard drive 5-in-1 memory card/stick reader Dvd-r/rw combo cdrom Bluetooth PAN network adapter Intel ®/ wireless 3945ABG network connection Realtek RTL8168/8111 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet NIC Extended battery -- Genuine Windows XP Pro McAfee Anti-Virus valid til Jan 2008 -- PhP 45,000.00 [slightly used] -- You may sms me or drop me an email if interested.

Got a new notebook for my youngest sister. It's an MSI Megabook S245. Here are the specs: -- 14" 1280 x 800 Screen Intel Pentium M 1.60GHz Intel 915GM Intel PRO/Wireless 2915ABG 512Mb RAM NVIDIA GeForce Go 6200 80Gb HDD Bluetooth Combo drive -- Just right for a university student :-) I'm hoping it'll help in her studies. -- I'm finished installing XP Home and essentials apps, updating XP to get neccessary patches/security fixes and what not. Hopefully these finish up soon I want to be able to give it to her tomorrow for her 1st day back to school.

Got a new notebook yesterday it is a MSI s262-v1 , I got the black one [mas maangas e and it matches my Exec]. -- So far I'm done loading my apps na, and all my data is intact ah the beauty of DVD-R/W discs and Partitioned HDDs hehehe. -- It is smaller than my previous notebook MSI M645, it doesn't have a dedicated GPU, but I wanted something smaller and lighter and ever since Shoty poured Iced Tea on the 645 I was not really happy with it anymore. Anyway here are some specs of my new baby: -- Intel® Centrino Core Duo T2300 YONAH 1.66GHz 667MHz 2MB L2 Cache Intel® 945GM Chipset + ICH7-M Intel® PRO/Wireless 3945ABG [802.11a/b/g] 512 Mb DDR2 RAM -> Change to 1024Gb DDR2 RAM 60 GB HDD -> Changed to 100Gb HDD Bluetooth 12.1" TFT WXGA [1280 x 800] Firewire x1 LAN x1 56K Modem x1 USB 2.0 x3 Cardreader [SD/MMC/MS] x1 PCMCIA x1 8 Cell Li-Ion Battery [5hrs uptime] 1.9 kg [Yesssss!!!!] Magnesium Alloy Microsoft XP Home SP2 -- Since I am a geek a 60GB HDD and 512Mb DDR2 RAM do...