Musings on the MagSafe

Apple is at the forefront of design, wouldn’t you agree? It seems the designers over at Cupertino know just what the user needs, and this evolves based on lessons learned from past mistakes and successes. And apparently, each incarnation of Apple laptops is better than the previous one in many respects, not just a re-packaging and a processor upgrade as with most other notebook manufacturers.

And I’ve come to believe that the MagSafe adaptor is one of those nifty little innovations that actually mean a big thing in my book. Why? I’ve actually tripped on my laptop’s power cord more than twice in my lifetime and twice have I actually had some things fall on the floor because the adaptor plug stubbornly stuck to the laptop’s socket.

The first time, it was my mug. The second time around, it was my trusty ThinkPad flying three feet off the table onto the floor. Talk about accidents! Luckily, the ThinkPad survived with only a few surface scratches and a weakened hinge. Nothing broken, nothing cracked, no data lost. If it weren’t a ThinkPad, the damage would’ve probably been worse, I tell myself.

When Apple introduced the MacBook Pro earlier this year, I was happy that they considered the MagSafe power adaptor as one of the highlights the new laptops offered. I guess the old-style large adaptor plugs Apple used in its Notebooks were prone to the same problems as just any notebook. Trip on them, and you’ll be sending something flying a few feet onto the floor. Apparently, the MagSafe was designed so that any such abrupt pulling would only lead to the adaptor being unplugged from the computer, since magnets hold it in place, and not friction, and the thing is not plugged in deeply inside the socket, even pulls from different angles won’t cause your laptop to budge.

Cool, huh?

I thought all other manufacturers would go the way of the MacBook Pro. This was just the logical step to take in the evolution of laptop design.

Still, I’m not seeing this development even in the latest of laptop models. Patent issues, perhaps? Or does everyone else have a big inventory of plug-type AC adaptors to dispose of. Whatever the reason, I’m hoping laptop manufacturers wake up to the reality that accidents happen, and that any way to minimize damages would be very much welcome.

MagSafe-type adaptors are now at the top of my laptop design/feature wishlist.

When You Get a Lemon

When purchasing expensive hardware, it’s a rule of thumb to make sure you get good warranty. Dave was much thankful for this, as his ThinkPad T43 exhibited dead pixels a few weeks into purchase, and he got a replacement. The RMA is suppoesd to be as easy as shipping the unit back to the manufacturer and getting a replacement (or repair, if RMA has lapsed, but still covered by service warranty) a few weeks after. But what happens when you get a lemon and your manufacturer refuses to acknowledge the defect? Worse, what if your computer dies a few weeks or even days after warranty has lapsed? Even worse, what if you read hundreds of similar complaints on the Web about the same thing happen to the exact same computer?

Class action suit anyone?
(more…)

My Laptop History

I have been interested in the developments of laptops for as long as I can remember, but my real passion for them started when my mother’s work gave her a company laptop. This was only around ten years ago now, which honestly shows how young I am. It was not a very good laptop, but I got to play with it and I really enjoyed it. It was too heavy to be all that portable in my opinion, but the idea of portability. Moving computer power from place to place. Being able to use a computer in a park. The battery life on her laptop was dismal as well, so taking it to the park was no a reality either, but again, the idea of it was amazing.

Before my current laptop, I have only ever owned one other laptop, and it was not something you could just carry around from place to place, as its screen was broken, and the laptop was in Chinese. It was a Pentium II around three hundred megahertz, slower than many of today’s smartphones. It was running Windows 95. The screen was busted, but I could hook it up to a 15 inch CRT monitor that I had sitting around, and this was my first laptop. I enjoyed toying with it, and seeing how long the battery could last. I tinkered with it, to see what made it tick, and ultimately destroyed the thing as I pulled it apart.

The next laptop I got some experience with was my cousin’s machine. A Compaq from about two years ago now. A pretty nice machine. I got all excited about it, when I started playing with Netstumber. This was my first real wireless internet experience. We were at a gas station, and I remembered that we did not let my family know we were making a two hour drive to come visit them, a day earlier than they thought we would, so I noticed an open access point, opened my e-mail and sent them all an e-mail before my cousin was finished filling up the gas for the car.

Finally, I was able to get my own laptop. I had wanted one for a while, but I never had the funds, and when I bought my machine, I still did not have any money, but it became a need for the blogging that I do. I had a very short list of companies I would trust with my money, and since it was before the whole Intel processor in Apple computers thing, I got myself a nice Lenovo (IBM) ThinkPad T43. I am very happy with this machine, though there are still some bugs to be worked out with its power saving mode and whatnot. It’s performance beats the pants off any other laptop I have ever tried, and I can say without a doubt, other than the Core Duo and Core 2 Duo machines that are out there now, this one is one of the best.

While my laptop history is much shorter than most, I have watched on the sidelines as the industry went from being only for the elite business person, to weighing ten pounds for not much performance, to being able to fulfill just about any need or niche. I am excited to see how things progress from here, as we see everything from small 7 inch screen, almost palm sized, laptops to 20 inch screen multimedia machines that you can barely call portable.

Fingerprint Reader, Just a Gimmick

At first I thought that the integrated fingerprint reader in my IBM ThinkPad T43 was really neat, and it is still one of the “cooler” gadgets on my laptop, but really, for day to day use, it is a bit of a gimmick. It is something to show off, but it does not provide the best experience in practical use.

The fingerprint reader is often unable to determine if my fingerprint is correct, and so that means swiping my finger upwards of three times before it realizes who I am. Add on to that the time it takes to realize that it might not have been me who swiped my finger across, the process takes longer than typing in a normal sized password.

I think the usefulness of such a technology in laptops would have to be implimented better. I would like to have it set up with all my accounts online, so that if I go to a login form, I don’t have to type in my username and password, I just swipe my finger again, and it puts all that information in there. It could also be especially helpful if it could fill out registration fields and deal with other such trivial things.

Currently, I have it set up as my default login screen for Windows XP, but I could set it to show immediately after booting up. I think this would be a much more secure way of using the fingerprint reader, but again, having it recognize my finger takes a few attempts.

I do have to admit to finding another small use for the fingerprint reader. I have added one of my fiance’s fingers to the software, so that she can access the only profile on the laptop via her finger, without her having to remember one of my crazy alpha-numeric passwords. Thus saving her frustration, though again, it can be hit-or-miss with recognizing her fingers as well.

Has the fingerprint reader been useful? A little. Does it save me time or effort? Not really. An interesting little gadget, but maybe not something I would get if I had to do it again, as it is just one more thing that could eventually break.

Cleaning Your Laptop’s Touchpad

One of the things I miss about using a ThinkPad is the TrackPoint. Yes, here I am again dwelling on those rubbery nubs that come standard with all ThinkPads (sadly, not with all the Lenovo-branded laptops, though, even if they’re practically made by the same company). However, since I’ve already replaced my trusty old ThinkPad with a Compaq V2000, I had to get used to using a touchpad. And guess what? I realized that touchpads aren’t as easy to maintain in terms of cleanliness compared to trackpoint nubs, especially for one who tends to have sweaty and sometimes oily fingers.

I can hear you saying “yuck,” but let’s face it, not all palms and fingertips are built the same and touchpads do tend to get dirty. Touchpads may be the de facto standard in laptop pointing devices, and many are more accustomed to them than rubber nubs. But because of the touchpad’s being essentially supposed to be a smooth surface for your fingers to glide on effortlessly, they tend to suffer from the following problems after some time.

• Sticky surfaces. This usually happens if you’re fond of eating while using your computer. Sometimes food residue or even beverages get to lodge themselves on your touchpad. Imagine spilling a few drops of coffee on your touchpad. That sure would be a sticky situation.
• Oily residue. Okay, this is icky, but many laptop users have sweaty and possibly oily palms and fingertips. It’s a fact of life. Let’s live with it.

Whatever these are, the imperfections on touchpad surfaces can lead to inefficient cursor control and even possible hardware damange. Sticky surfaces would mean slow and clumsy cursor movement. Oily residue on the touchpad surface would strip off the touchpad finish after some time, and this would eventually lead into a very slippery or sticky touchpad surface. At the very least your touchpad would no longer have a uniform texture.

Cleaning Your Touchpad

Yahoo Tech recommends using an alcohol solution or diluted window cleaning solution.

Carefully clean finger oils and dirt from your laptop’s touchpad with a damp cloth; you can also add a small amount - less than 50 percent of the solution - of isopropyl alcohol.

Vinegarbook.co.uk says use vinegar. Okay, I’m not for smelly laptops, but I guess the acid in vinegar does dissolve some dirt and grime. Just make sure you don’t use too much, as you might damage the touchpad membrane.

If you work with a laptop PC then you may well find that the finger touch control pad quickly becomes unresponsive, sticky or un-smooth. When the laptop is switched off, just dampen a kitchen towel with a little vinegar and wipe all around the control pad.

You can also use a simple lens-cleaning cloth both on the LCD and the touchpad. These are usually soft and non-abrasive and good for general laptop cleaning. For dust or debris wedged into the touchpad edges, you can try compressed air sprays.

Lenovo 3000 C100 Review

The Lenovo 3000 C100 is the first notebook series to use the Lenovo name since taking over IBM’s ThinkPad business, and while they learned a thing or two from the ThinkPad, the 3000 is not a ThinkPad.

Laptop Magazine takes a look at the Lenovo 3000 C100 series, and headlines it with saying “The first Lenovo-branded notebook looks bland but offers plenty of bang for the buck.”

Fans of ThinkPad notebooks will be happy with Lenovo’s decision to carry over the legendary ThinkPad keyboard but may be disappointed by the lack of a trackpoint mouse pointer. Instead, the system utilizes a responsive two-button touchpad controller with four-way scrolling.

The C100 is more than capable of handling everyday office and multimedia applications and notched a MobileMark 2005 score of 203, which is about average for this class of processor. More impressive is the C100’s battery life; it lasted 5 hours and 2 minutes with the Wi-Fi turned on.

In the end the C100 only managed a three out of five, the weak integrated graphics, lack of configuration options, and boring design lets down what could have been a great machine.

Inventure Laptop Backpack from Samsonite

Having recently bought a V2000-series Compaq, which is smaller relative to my old fullsized 14-incher ThinkPad, I thought I’d also be better off getting myself a portable carrying case. I’ not fond of carrying around my laptop in those shoulder-type leather or nylon bags that come deafult with the package. Instead, I make it a point to get myself backpacks for easier transporting, and so it wouldn’t be too obvious that I’m carrying around a notebook computer (see my article on preventing laptop theft).

For carrying around my laptop and all the junk that I usually bring with me, I have a medium-sized Echolac laptop backpack. But it’s still heavy and quite bulky, especially with the junk I tend to carry along with me (which includes cables, coin purses, keys, notebooks, some extra shirts for emergencies, a small umbrella, documents, my toothbrush, and all that).

So yesterday evening, I finally got to buy that small-ish backpack I’d been eyeing for some time now. It’s the Inventure ICT Backpack A4 039 (pictured above) from Samsonite. It’s your basic one-zipper laptop case that’s designed to carry your laptop and only the most necessary of accessories (that is your AC adaptor and perhaps some cables and USB peripherals).

The backpack is designed to accommodate small/thin 14-inch laptops and of course smaller-sized ones such as 12-inchers and, of course, sub-notebooks. The V2000 initially didn’t fit as well as expected, because while it’s a 14-incher, it’s in widescreen format, so it’s as long as a 15-inch laptop would normally be. But a little adjustment does the trick and my laptop fits although there’s not much allowance in terms of play.

Inside

Inside the Inventure is your basic laptop case fare. You have the laptop pouch itself, which is padded but not as thickly as with larger ICT cases. The pouch is still suspended inside the backpack’s body, though, so that’s good for added protection, especially when you’re setting down the case bottom-part down. There’s a document holder, which is expandable by adjusting the velcro straps. Then there are two pouches that can hold PC cards or other accessories (such as my card-reader, which is the bluish thing you see on the photo).

On the front part of the internals are a set of businesscard holders and loops for holding pens/pencils. There’s also a mesh-type pouch where you can put in all those small articles you’d rather not lose elsewhere in the case. I keep my USB flash drive and earphones here. For those who like listening to music while on the move, the case has a small hole for earphone wires.

How it fares

• Protection. I’d say the Inventure gets a 6 out of 10 for protection, as it’s the padding is not as thick as I’d personally be comfortable with. Also, since the Compaq V2000 just fits the bag snugly lengthwise without any allowance, I wouldn’t want the top part of the case to hit something hard. If I were using a 12-inch laptop, I’d probably rate the backpack higher by two points.
• Comfort.I give the backpack a 8 out of 10 for comfort. It’s light and comfortable enough. My only gripe is that the shoulder straps aren’t made of that sweat-resistant material that lets your skin breathe (which my Echolac backpack has). The part that goes to your back actuall has this feature, but the shoulder straps have this velvety material that’s soft but can get hot with prolonged use.
• Portability. The saving grace in terms of comfort would be the fact that that the case is so light and that I’m not tempted to carry around all my junk. So my back’s saved from all the aches and pains associated with carrying heavy backpacks. In this area, I give the backpack a 10 out of 10.

Overall, I give the Inventure an 8 out of 10. Average in terms of protection. Not so perfect in terms of comfort. Perfect in terms of portability.

Optical Drive, Do You Really Need One?

Almost every day I read reviews on notebooks, and tablet PC’s and they lose points for not having an included optical drive. Sometimes they are even reduced half a point or more for not including a DVD burner, which I think is a little rediculous, despite how prevalent they are in regular computers.

So the question I want to talk about today is, do you really need an optical drive in your laptop?

Wireless Prevalence
As wireless gets more prevalent, being able to get online is getting easier and easier, though in most places it still costs a fair bit. With longer distance wireless technologies coming out, I believe optical drives will be of less and less use. If I can connect to a high speed Internet connection and download the applications I need, then what use is an optical drive?

Burning Discs
Currently, the only thing I use my optical drive for in my ThinkPad is to play the occassional movie. The only time I have used it to burn anything as of yet is to burn the restore disks that the ThinkPad does not come with. Had it come with restore CD’s, I would not have used the burning properties at all as of yet.

Multimedia
Being able to watch movies on the laptop is really the only thing I have used the optical drive for, but with hard drive sizes continuing to grow, even for laptops, I see no reason why many movies and whatnot can’t be played right from the hard drive thanks to many of the virtual drive programs and whatnot that there are.

I, myself, have watched many episodes of my favourite online cartoon, CTRL+ALT+DEL The Animated Series on my laptop. I transferred them all from my computer’s shared folder onto my laptop.

Conclusion
I do see that there are still some needs for optical drives, but I don’t think that laptops without an optical drive should be docked points in ratings, unless it is made for multimedia. You can function perfectly well without an optical drive. It might make some things a little less convenient, but you can easily manage without one, and had I the money, I would replace my optical drive with a battery that fits in its place.

Does Your Laptop Get You the Nod?

Kathy Sierra writes over at Creating Passionate Users writes on how some gadgets evoke the nod, or that ever-familiar sign that another person is into what you’re also interested in, or that people find your gadgets cool and worthy of praise.

Sit in a cafe with a Mac PowerBook, and chances are you’ll get The Nod–that acknowledging, approving, knowing, we’re-special look. MINI Cooper owners give each other The Nod at intersections. Display GNOME on your ThinkPad and you’ll get The Nod. But run Windows on your Dell and you won’t. (Never confuse the “I feel your pain” look with The Nod.)

Yes, a PowerBook (or now, a MacBook Pro) will certainly evoke that nod, even from non-Mac enthusiasts. It’s simply cool. A ThinkPad would certainly evoke such a nod, too. I’m of the opinion that there are only a few laptops or laptop brands in this world that have that certain X factor, or the cult following in terms of fans and dedicated user-bases. Mac Books and Thinkpads share that honor.

So, what emotions does your laptop evoke? Is it of awe? Is it of admiration? Or is it of pity (or at least that look that seems to say “how generic”)?

I’ve yet to use my new Presario V2000 in public, and I hope it’s cool enough to merit good attention. My ThinkPad seemed to evoke the Nod in its heyday.

Toshiba Portégé M400 Review

Laptop Magazine reviewed the Toshiba Portégé M400, a tablet PC with an optical drive. I am not a fan of tablets, but I think as technology gets better and better they will come into their own more and more.

While the Lenovo X41 ThinkPad tablet remains the best convertible available in the sub–four-pound class, the Toshiba Portégé M400 is as good a hybrid as you’ll find with a built-in optical drive. Toshiba delivers a strong laptop that will sometimes be used in tablet mode, but we expected a little more out of the company in terms of tablet ergonomics.

At 4.5 pounds, the M400 is very travel friendly. It’s 1.5-inches thick, but it feels solid.

The M400 earns itself a four out of five thanks to its excellent speed and strong stylus performance, but if you want something thin and light, you will have to look elsewhere as the M400 is a little thick.

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