Well, along with my new Dell 1330 laptop is the Samsung 320GB.  As you can figure, this is a high-capacity hard drive.  This thing also includes a free-fall sensor, which protects it from me accidentally dropping it or something.  With my experience so far with my older laptop, I’ve dropped it once in 4 years.  Even then, it was padded inside of a slipcover, inside of my cushioned bag.  Of course, like most laptop hard drives today, it is 5400RPM, 8MB of cache and uses a 1.5Gbps SATA interface. (more…)

320gb samsung · hard drive click · hm320ij · samsung loud clicking

Before I get into my rant, let me tell you what my background is.  I have used Windows since 3.11 for Workgroups.  After 3.11, I went to 95, then to XP.  I skipped 98, ME, and 2000, but they are similar enough to XP and 95 that I don’t think I missed much.

On the Linux side, I started with Mandrake, then Fedora Core, then Slackware.  Since my preferred flavor of linux is Slack, I used it for about 2 years on my laptop computer.  Since then, I have also been managing a Centos and a Debian server. (more…)

linux · linux vs windows · microsoft windows · windows vs linux

I am the webmaster of WSU’s ACM Chapter.  Since past webpages for our ACM site has been done by hand in HTML, it is hard to update or add information.  It is even harder to teach a future webmaster the ropes, and what will eventually happens it that it gets neglected.  It is for also many other reasons that the ACM Club at our school isn’t doing so well, but that’s information for another post.  Since I am the "official" webmaster for our new website, I have decided that it is a lot wiser to use some sort of CMS (Content Management System).  Due to a variety of reasons, I’ve opted to use Drupal. (more…)

drupal · drupal code · drupal subpages · php · php code for drupal · web development

Wow, my first 22" LCD screen!  This thing is huge!  I am currently using it as an external monitor to my Dell M1330., and I have to say, it does help with productivity.  I have it running at its native resolution of 1680×1050, nothing less.  Naturally, I’ve "split" the screen into two, each half containing an instance of Firefox, my browser of choice. (more…)

22" monitors · Dell LCD Monitors · e228fp

I have taken picture, but I haven’t had the time to post them up yet for my initial thoughts.  Of course, I will give more pictures and reactions later, but with the amount of time I have spent so far with this laptop, I have a few minor complaints for it.  Of course, with the complaints I have, I’ll try to get some pictures up so you can see what I mean too, you can see what I mean below.  I would like to preface all of these complaints with how much I actually love this M1330.  The keyboard feels slightly stiff but nice, and it is fast!!

First complaint is that the top of my LED screen looks kind of washed out.  As you can see on the left, it seems like the backlight is showing through, so along the top of the screen, it’s lighter than usual.  It looks like that of old LCD monitors near the corners where the color looks like they’re washed out.  I know I’m a bad picture taker, but in reality, the screen is black (not blue) and the line at the top is dark gray. (more…)

bad · broken laptop · dell · m1330

So, my M1330 was "shipped" on the 23rd of this month.  I put shipped in quotes because it says "Shipment Acknowledged" on DHL’s website for 2 days.  unexpectedly, on Friday the 25th, I got 5 notifications from DHL, since I signed up for email notification, saying that my package was In Transit, Processed, Depart, and a whole host of other status changes, all within a 4 hour period.  Talk about tracking eh?  Nothing was updated on their system for 2 days, and then it all gets updated all at once.  This was another WTF moment! (more…)

bad delivery · dell m1330 · dhl · laptop

I finally have the time to write about this topic.  I am finally getting myself a new laptop.  I currently have an Inspiron 700m and am wanting a new laptop.  I spent about a week’s worth of researching for another portable laptop and I have finally decided on the Dell XPS M1330.  Reasons for getting the M1330?  Here are my criteria:

Portability:  I love portable laptops.  I am a CS student at WSU, and if you’ve been to this campus, it’s rather hilly and large.  I sometimes have to walk across campus, and I do not like to carry something heavy.  On top of textbooks (if I buy them…and need to read them…and bring them to school), I don’t want to lug a 5lb+ machine around.  That’s the weight of two decently sized textbooks.  I see my fellow students lugging around those 17" laptops around, and my back aches for them.  That’s exactly why I don’t see them carry it around that often, thus defeating the purpose of having a laptop. (more…)

dell m1330 · xps m1330