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I waited and waited and waited. It’s finally paid off. Last week I received my HP Mini 5101 in the mail after a nice 12% code from HP. Shipping, Tax and all - total $518
This is exactly the netbook I was waiting for. The biggest feature and most important to me after owning several previous netbooks - HD Screen (1366 x 768) + 2GB of RAM
Now this doesn’t have a solid state drive, but it’s still fast and doesn’t run hot. Plus when the solid state drives come down in price, Ill upgrade then.
One last thing before I start. If you’re expecting the battery life to exceed 8 hours, forget it. While the 6 cell battery doesn’t stick out much and feel more ergonomic the best battery life I have got at max efficiency was 5.5 hours.
Now here goes the fun part. When I was shopping I was debating between the Mini 110 XP and Mini 5101. The adult in me loves the 5101's professional and sleek styling. The kid in me wanted the Broadcom Crystal HD Card in the 110. And just like that it came to me - why not do both?
So I found the Broadcom BCM970012 Crystal HD Decoder Mini PCI-e Card on EBay - http://cgi.ebay.com/BroadCom-BCM970012-Mini-PCI-e-HD-Decoder-Chipset-4-UMPC_W0QQitemZ390069263974QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item5ad1f09e66&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14
After reviewing the service manual for the 5101 - http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/DocumentIndex.jsp?contentType=SupportManual&lang=en&cc=us&docIndexId=64179&taskId=101&prodTypeId=321957&prodSeriesId=3973865
I embarked on my journey to try and upgrade the 5101 with the crystal HD card.
At the time I started this, my 5101 was loaded with Windows 7 RTM. It runs beautifully and uses all the Vista drivers from the HP site. (The only one it didn’t detect was the WLAN card)
You will also need the drivers for the Broadcom HD decoder from the HP site - but grab them from the HP Mini 110 model Vista drivers. http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareDownloadIndex?softwareitem=ob-71961-1&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&product=3996346&os=2093&lang=en
Grab the ArcSoft Media Player from the XP drivers from the same machine (HP Mini 110) - http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareDownloadIndex?softwareitem=ob-71067-1&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&lang=en&os=228&product=3996346
Basically follow the service manual to remove the top cover and keyboard. I put the Broadcom HD card in the WWAN slot considering I won’t ever use that port. After installing it, put the Mini 5101 back together, installed the driver, installed the software to play the movies and I was watching an MKV 720p file without skipping a beat.
WARNING: The right palm rest will get very warm. So far it doesn’t seem to have impacted anything, but like any mod - USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. :)
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So as you have read on my virtualization blog already I’m an experimenter (yes it’s a word) of Netbooks. (And lately I don’t seem to talk too much about virtualization.) I love the concept however I am going to give you my buying guide and I hope to save you some time and money, not to mention how best to use your netbook.
Here is my ideal candidate for a netbook:
- 10.1 Screen or smaller
- 1366 x 768 resolution
- 3 (preferably 4) USB ports
- HDMI Port (optional, but huge bonus)
- 2GB RAM (We can debate this as a necessity all day long, but its so cheap, why not have it?)
- At least 1 multi-card reader slot (supports SDHC)
- No Moving Parts – (No fans, no platter hard drives)
- 8 Hour battery life
- Under $500
- Tablet Functionality
- Best available netbook processor at the time
Will this ever happen? If it does it won’t be any time soon. I get kind of analytical about decisions like this so I make a scorecard with a weighting system. Your criteria may differ. If you look at the above list, last year you would be saying, “Yeah right, good luck”. However this year maybe not. There are several netbooks with some of the above features, but not a single one with ALL of the above features. I’m sorry but anything over $500 and 12” screen is a notebook.
For example:
Gigabyte T1028
· Netbook
· Tablet
· http://www.umpcportal.com/2009/04/test-gigabyte-touchnote-t1028m-10%E2%80%9D-touchscreen-netbook
Dell Mini 10
· 1366 x 768
· HDMI Port
· ONLY 1GB RAM (Are you kidding me?)
· http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/laptop-inspiron-10?c=us&cs=19&l=en&ref=lthp&s=dhs
Acer Aspire One 751h
· 11.6 Screen
· 2GB RAM
· 6 Cell battery
· Low end processor?
HP Mini Note 2140
· So close, Just too expensive
http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF25a/321957-321957-64295-3841267-3955550-3872994.html
So I continue on my quest for the perfect netbook. Rumor has it the Dell Mini 10 will have 2GB RAM soon enough. So I may go with that as my netbook. That is really the only thing I am missing out of the current Mini 10. As I see new models that come close or something worth noting I will mention it.
PS – A must have for any netbook owner is this Eagletec USB flash drive. Its tiny and its awesome. No I don’t make a commission or anything, I bought one and it’s the coolest little thumb drive I leave permanently plugged in.
http://usb.brando.com.hk/eagletec-usb-nano-flash-drive_p00892c041d15.html
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If you've ever read any of my blogs, you know I am HUGE fan of Live Mesh. (mesh.live.com) Like many of you I have several pieces of equipment I use. (Laptops, Desktops, Servers etc.) Well now I have it on my mobile phone as well. Ill give you a little preview of hos I use mesh.
Here is my folder structure:
- Docs - (Synced with laptops, server and desktop) Awesome for netbook statelessness and server based documentation)
- WorkingSet - (Project Reports, status reports, receipts etc.)
- Technical - (Duh. White Papers, Techdocs etc.)
- Personal - (My Microsoft Money file for example)
- OneNote - By using OneNote from this folder I have my notes from my netbook or laptop anywhere I need them!
- EBooks - I read a lot.
- Favorites - I use this to sync my favorites without using the Live toolbar. Sorry on a netbook toolbars take valuable screen real estate.
- ServerStuff - I use this in case I am browsing the web and find a script or something I want to keep and or try. That way its always on my server when I need it.
- Mobile Pictures - My favorite new feature, but not for what you think. I use my phone now to take pictures of whiteboards after meetings (legally of course) and than can stick the picture in my OneNote notebook for later. Well and quick pictures of my 2 year old twins as well.
- Twin Pics - Any pictures my wife or I upload to this folder of our twins get automatically delivered to the several family members across the country we have invited to this folder so they can have pics of the kids anytime they want. Also keeping it off flickr gets rid of having to be tech support for logins etc.
So there is how I use Mesh, I will add more as time goes by. But if you have an XP notebook and are not using mesh today - get it now!
I promise my next blog entry will be all about virtualization.
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Well almost 30 days later to the day, I have in my hands a new Dell Mini 9. Here are the specs:
Base Dell Mini 9 Plus:
2GB DDR2-800 PC2-6400 SODIMM
Runcore 64GB SSD (according to specs several times faster than the factory installed disk and has mini usb port on SSD)
Webcam, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, etc.
Total Cost: $508 not including sales tax and shipping.
How was this low cost achieved you might ask? Well Cyber Monday helped and basically I bought the Dell base as the cheapest configuration possible. Then I bought the 2GB DIMM on EBay and used an EBay coupon code to get a discount on the SSD as well. It could have even been cheaper if I went with the refurb but I wasn't ready to risk it yet. Although I am bit irritated that if you go to Dells website as of today you can order the 64GB SSD and 2GB DIMM but only if you pick the Ubuntu OS. That's very unfortunate.
For the last week I have been running Windows Vista Ultimate (for the games) with Office 2007 Ultimate and it could not be working better. I would even venture to say it runs as fast as my Lenovo T61P with 8GB of RAM and Vista x64 Enterprise. One glitch or thing to be aware of I haven't attempted to figure out yet is running certain codec's for video will take a few seconds (15 - 40 sec.) so sync the audio and video of a video file. Once it syncs up it run windowed and full screen without missing a beat. As a side note I don't see that issue on XP.
Also I have been asked how do you install the OS on your Mini 9. Well very simply put I use a USB Flash Drive. (8GB to be exact, though would work with 4GB) Here are the steps below:
If running Vista run CMD.EXE as Administrator (Right Click "Run as Administrator")
diskpart
select disk # (# is the disk you are working with)
clean
create partition primary
select partition 1
active
format fs=fat32
assign
exit
Then
xcopy d:\*.* /s/e/f e:\ (d:\ being the location of the CD and e:\ being your flash drive)
But WAIT there's more!
As of tonight I am now running Windows 7 Beta. (Currently available on MSDN, TechNet etc.) How did I install it without a CD. Exact same way as above. I just extracted the DVD ISO to the flash drive that was already formatted for Vista and 15 minutes later I have Windows 7 running on my Dell Mini 9.
First thoughts. WOW! Not a wow as a techy but as an end user. There are a bunch of cool little tools that make my Mini 9 even more useful for meetings and note taking. As for the Windows Experience Index :
Processor: 2.2
Memory (RAM): 4.4
Graphics: 2.3
Gaming Graphics: 3.0
Primary Hard Disk: 5.8
Remember that little video glitch I mentioned earlier. Gone under Windows 7. Video is clean and sharp and perfectly sync'ed up.
If you have any questions drop me an email. However here on out we are back to focusing on Virtualization.
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So in a funny twist of fate I ordered another Dell Mini 9 on Cyber Monday. This time I did it right though. I ordered it with the bare minimum - 512MB of RAM and 4GB SSD. Why did I do that you ask? Very Simply I found a vendor that carries 64GB SSD that has a faster performance than the 32GB you can buy now. (Yes you can get a 32GB SSD instead of the 16GB as the largest when it first launched.) So basically my new stripped down Mini 9 was less than $300. Ill be back to update more after I install Vista on that 64GB SSD. Merry Christmas to me!
PS - I know I should be writing about virtualization and I will I have some great posts keyed up. But I think I may make one more off topic post about my new travel toy - Sony PRS-700. My new EReader :)
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*** This topic has nothing to do with virtualization ***
Like most of you I travel quite a bit. When I am at the airport or on the plane I have to have something to do. Its just how I work. So lately I have been looking for an affordable UMPC (Ultra Mobile PC) for around $500 that I could upgrade to 2GB of RAM. So I was looking at a used Samsung Q1 Ultra (used of course). Then Dell came out with this Dell Mini 9. Which is a 9" screen laptop (no tablet - which is what I was looking for.)
However when I went to order one the price was right but the equipment was all wrong. Max RAM you could buy was 1GB, Max solid state disk was 16GB but it does have an embedded webcam, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, video out, 3 USB ports, 4 hour max battery single SD slot and you could only get XP Home or Ubuntu on it. No offense but I would like to be able to pronounce the name of my OS if its on my system. So when I had this all configured I was so close yet so far. But I decided to risk it anyways in hope that I could upgrade the components when it gets here.
Well I am happy to say - Yes you can!
- I upgraded 1GB of RAM to 2GB. (I think I may just try 4GB just for kicks)
- I created a USB drive that I could install Vista enterprise from and I did. I am happy to report all drivers worked although not all of them off Dells site.
- I am going to order a 32GB SSD drive (not here yet but will update when I get it)
So with MS Office 2007 Enterprise (No Access, Pub, InfoPath or extras), Vista Enterprise SP1, and all the other misc software (Antivirus etc)I need I have just under 3GB of space left on a 16GB SSD. I don't have much room left for files, movies, music etc. However that's what the 16GB SD card is for. I think I am going to try and strip out some Vista stuff just to see how small I can get it.
I am surprised to say that this system rocks. I think I can do without a tablet now. The keyboard design is the most intelligent I have seen. All the function keys are the blue Fn keys and the keyboard is pretty close to real life. The first test will be the flight home this week. Ill update more as I use the device.
**** Update as of 10/20/2008 ****
Some of the questions Ive received have been about which RAM to get - 2GB DDR2-800 PC2-6400 200 PIN SODIMM was what I purchased that worked fine.
Also as for the SSD Drive upgrade there is a 32GB that will be available soon, however it was on the expensive side.
Lastly I have sold my Dell Mini 9. While yes it was a great little device. I had an epiphany on the flight back last week. While the device is great, it still falls very short of my needs. I need a device that has the same form factor battery life and functionality. I need a few more things though. It needs to be a tablet. I was hoping to replace my Ebook reader device and its the one thing I cannot do with a netbook. I would have also like to have one more SD slot on the device as well. get rid of a USB if you have to but to add more storage without anything protruding from the netbook would be sweet. So for now I will go back to waiting and I guess carry my Zune as my music, video, and game device and Ill probably get the new Sony Reader so I dont have to carry all my books with me....*sigh*
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Anybody and everybody can write about virtualization technology. However you will see that quite a few of my posts are about the aspect of virtualization consulting. Not to get all Zen (not to be confused with Xen) but let’s face it virtualization isn’t easy. It has just as many cultural impacts as it does technological. Needless to say the paradigm shift is more of a state of mind than a technology rollout. So I have put some of the things I make sure to educate and overcome in any virtualization engagement. So here are some of the pitfalls of virtualization adoption and strategy.
(In no particular order)
- Religious Battles – Avoid the Linux vs. Windows or Linux vs. Unix or even the Windows vs. Everyone battles. Choose your platforms based on needs and standards that can be created. Be aware of the virtualization ecosystem. The ecosystem is more important than the hypervisor itself.
- Procurement & Business Changes – How many times has a business owner came and said, “I need 6 servers for my new app by tomorrow.” After you are done laughing on the inside, putting on a sympathectic look and saying, “It takes 6 – 12 weeks to get a server racked and stacked in the datacenter.” Take a look on how that conversation should go. Train the business they don’t need servers. They need resources. They need memory, processing power, network bandwidth and storage. Then always (when applicable) virtualize first. Offer to say I can get you a physical server and storage for X thousands of dollars with a 3 year lease or I can get you virtual assets that we can bill month to month based on utilization and scale up or down depending on when you need to scale up or down. See what they say then….
- Myopic Virtualization Strategy – Server Consolidation is where virtualization begins – not ends. Remember the 5 facets of virtualization (Server, Desktop, Application, Presentation and Management)
- Physical Cost Recovery Models – Modify your internal cost recovery models for virtual assets. Use real numbers and resource based cost recovery. Use a base building block as a cost unit and go from there. For example a 1CPU x 1GB VM is a great base block.
- Physical Asset Based Security – Virtualization opens some new security challenges. But don’t forget it also solves some too.
- Stagnant Support Programs – Use virtualization to support virtualization. Use snapshots, have a support VM farm for troubleshooting. (Just don’t do snapshots with domain controllers)
- Virtualization Paranoia – I can’t remember how many times I’ve heard that some app won’t be supported on a virtual platform. There are only two reasons that statement can be true. First pure performance. If a VM needs 128GB of RAM and 32 Cores - Dont virtualize it! Second some hardware requirement. Today at least you cannot virtualize something that requires a specific PCI card for example.
- HA / DR Strategies – First HA and DR are different. (But that a whole other blog entry) Secondarily Offline VMs, VM Libraries and many other things can be used to create more supportable and cost effective high availability or disaster recovery scenarios. Don’t forget business continuity either!
- Over-Virtualization – Anyone that says VIRTUALIZE EVERYTHING is WRONG. Not everything should be virtualized. Virtualization is NOT a silver bullet. Virtualization coupled with a great ecosystem, proper operational processes, and organization constructs can be.
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Being that I get this question all the time I figure why not make it my first blog post. So I have a screensaver that I have had for a very long time. (Fully Licensed). I used to work in a pet store when I was a kid so I get nostalgic about pets and aquariums. Since I don't really have the time or am home enough to have a full blown aquarium I run one in my screensaver.
Picture Here: 
Where did I get it? Here - www.serenescreen.com
How did I make the crystal have a logo...Just take your favorite logo and convert it to a bitmap. Yes a good old MSPaint bitmap.
Here is the HowTo: http://www.serenescreen.com/support/faq.php?productid=3#faq8_1330
I want to keep my first post light :)
