New toys

madelaide

Premium Member

« on: August 22, 2008, 15:49 »

#link

After having suffered months with my old PC, I got a new one today. Not top of the line, but with very good specs, including a huge HD for storing photos. I haven't installed it yet though, I have to clean my desktop area first

I also got myself another very neat toy: an Asus Eee PC, from which I'm typing right now. Ok, a 7" screen is tiny, but this thing is so light!

I'm happy. Grin

Regards,
Adelaide


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leaf

Premium Member

« Reply #1 on: August 22, 2008, 15:53 »

#link

cool - very fun.

Let us know how the Eee PC works. Sounds like it would make for a good travel computer for email, surfing and downloading pics onto an external drive.


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zymmetricaldotcom

« Reply #2 on: August 22, 2008, 16:10 »

#link

If it's got Vista installed, be sure to disable the Search Indexing Service first thing - otherwise it'll be spinning your hard disks all the time, checking for things like if that old spreadsheet from 1992 has changed yet or not.

This really hits you where it counts for disk-swapping based apps like Photoshop, especially if you haven't installed every last RAM chip from Taiwan.

http://www.tweakvista.com/VistaPerformanceTweaks.aspx is a decent quickie guide for some things you can do.


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Bateleur

« Reply #3 on: August 22, 2008, 16:37 »

#link

Hey, wow! I've been looking at the Asus Eee.

In fact I actually bought one a few weeks ago but had to take it back. I bought it in French-speaking Switzerland, it had the Swiss-French keys on the keyboard (QWERTZ) but the OS was set to the Swiss German keyboard (AZERTY). I couldn't tell what keys did what!

I couldn't fix it, I took it back to the shop and they couldn't fix it either. The only thing they could suggest was I bought an external CD drive and loaded the keyboard file from a CD they gave me.

No way. I was going on a trip the next day and didn't have time, which was why I bought the thing.

Moral of that story .... get your equipment well before you go.

I still wish it had worked and I'd had it with me. So light. Let us know how you get on.


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Fran

« Reply #4 on: August 22, 2008, 17:49 »

#link

Quote from: zymmetrical on August 22, 2008, 16:10

This really hits you where it counts for disk-swapping based apps like Photoshop, especially if you haven't installed every last RAM chip from Taiwan.

Don't believe the (negative) hype. The indexing service runs only when there's no disk access and the PC is idleing: it's designed to not steal CPU cycles or HD bandwidth to running tasks. In less techie words it doesnt really matter if it's on when you are using photoshop.


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zymmetricaldotcom

« Reply #5 on: August 22, 2008, 18:35 »

#link

As a MS-oriented systems engineer starting from the 90s, and as a practical person in general, I can say that, if you never use the Windows search (as I do not), then disabling any service that checks up on your file system contents on a regular basis is a good thing.

She may be on XP for all we know, I just thought i'd offer one tip that calmed down my HD's immediately after my first experience with vista. I do have a 'Windows Vista Secrets' book that is currently collecting dust very efficiently - most of the 'tweaking' concepts follow common sense, like this example.


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lobby

« Reply #6 on: August 22, 2008, 19:38 »

#link

Quote from: madelaide on August 22, 2008, 15:49

Regards,
Adelaide

i wish you to go to 4"


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DanP68

« Reply #7 on: August 22, 2008, 20:12 »

#link

Sounds like a fun new Adelaide. My new toy is a 1D MarkIIn, which I assume is considerably heavier than your toy.


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melastmohican

« Reply #8 on: August 23, 2008, 02:35 »

#link

I thought Eee is Linux machine???


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melastmohican

« Reply #9 on: August 23, 2008, 02:36 »

#link

BTW this is my new toy: EF 50mm F/1.4 USM


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Bateleur

« Reply #10 on: August 23, 2008, 02:58 »

#link

Quote from: melastmohican on August 23, 2008, 02:35

I thought Eee is Linux machine???

You can choose to have Windows or Linux. With Linux you get a load more disk space.


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Fran

« Reply #11 on: August 23, 2008, 03:56 »

#link

Quote from: zymmetrical on August 22, 2008, 18:35

Mate, I work at Microsoft as a Software Engineer. Trust me on this. I'm not even close to be a photographer, I'm just a programmer! Cheesy

Even if you never use it, it practically makes no difference to the performance of the system due to the way it was designed. But that noise is annoying as hell!


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zymmetricaldotcom

« Reply #12 on: August 23, 2008, 06:17 »

#link

Lol well yeah, theres one good reason - the whir,whir,whir of disks spinning is a basic workplace irritation.

I won't get into a heated MS discussion on a photo forum (and especially before i'm done my first coffee), since if you are an active MS employee than chances are i'd end up eating my hat. Grin

Removing bells and whistles is always a good idea, starting with anything blinking, whirring, or flashing.

Maria, congratulations and may the pixels flow freely.


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Phil

« Reply #13 on: August 23, 2008, 09:01 »

#link

Quote from: melastmohican on August 23, 2008, 02:36

BTW this is my new toy: EF 50mm F/1.4 USM

you bought a "nonac"?? wow! Cheesy


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takestock

« Reply #14 on: August 23, 2008, 13:44 »

#link

Enjoy Madelaide!
Could do with some upgrading myself ( I mean the PC)


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madelaide

Premium Member

« Reply #15 on: August 23, 2008, 16:45 »

#link

Hey guys,

I've just set up the PC, this thing flies!!!! Intel Core 2 Duo E8200, Intel DQ35JOE mobo, 4GB 800Hz RAM, 500GB SATA-2 HD. The keyboard seems to have a problem with the C, but it may be just a matter of getting used to it.

Still a long way to go installing all software. (sigh) But then I will be able to resume uploading!

I've just found out that my old dot-matrix printer is officially obsolete: these new mobos do not come with that old connetor, as they suppose we have a USB printer. Ok, I can't even remember the last time I used this printer, but now I have to use my office's PC to transfer some old backups from zip-disks (as I should do that also in my office's backups).

About the Eee PC, mine is Linux version and set for the Brazilian market: everything comes in Portuguese and the keyboard is of our standard (a QWERTY with special characters). A colleague from work changed the memory card and installed Windows. He wasn't too satisfied with the change and was going to redo the installation another way. For the purpose of the Eee PC for me, Linux is ok. I only need a lightweight companion for travelling (though I don't plan to use it on vacation travels) and even using my time when commuting to/from work.

Yes, this keyboard has a problem with the C. Angry