I was looking for a nicely priced, portable laptop. I eventually found the Dell Inspiron 11z. The specs were not too good, but not too shabby. This can be fixed with a couple cheap upgrades however.

Specs of the Dell Inspiron 11z:

- Intel Core i3 330UM 1.2 Ghz Processor
- 2GB Memory
- 250GB HDD
- WiFi AND WiMAX

Since this laptop has two memory slots, I added a 4GB memory module, totaling 6GB of memory. I also ended up picking up a Intel 320 160GB SSD to put into the laptop to hopefully make the laptop faster since this laptop's Achilles heel is the processor.

Overall rating 8/10

What I liked about the laptop:
- It has a butt load of ports for a 11.6" laptop. It has 3 USB Ports which one is an always on USB port for charging devices, an ethernet port, HDMI port, SD Card Reader, Mic AND Headphone Jack, as well as a VGA Port. Not very many laptops this size has such a broad range of connectivity.
- The speakers are phenomenal for a laptop this size. The best speakers I have probably heard were on a Dell Inspiron 14R, and these are not as loud, but probably just as good.
- The original hard drive with this laptop was actually decently quick, even though it had run of the mill specs.
- Having 2 DIMM slots is nice, and gives you the ability to upgrade the laptop to a total of 8GB.
- The hard drive is easily accessible. Removing the keyboard, and a few additional screws gives you access to the hard drive.
- The webcam is quite nice, just like other Dells that are currently out in the market.
- The keyboard is quite nice. It's not Lenovo Thinkpad nice, but it has a nice, sturdy feel when typing.

What I didn't like about the laptop:

- The processor is a little on the slow side, and is soldered on the motherboard so you are stuck with a Core i3 330UM. For most people however, it will be perfectly fine.
- The battery life is very average. I probably can only squeeze 3.5 maybe 4 hours of usage out of this laptop.
- The glossy lid attracts fingerprints quite easily, and scratches quite easily as well. This is the same design as many other Dell models.
- It would have been nice to have a larger touch pad.

The Dell Inspiron 11z is one of better laptops I have used, and can be a heavy contender if it is refreshed with a 3rd generation Core i3, or even better, a Core i5 processor. With a newer and better processor, this laptop would be very quick, and with its current 6 cell battery could have a 10 hour or better battery life. Is anyone at Dell listening?

Thanks for looking ! Feel free to ask any questions.

So I just got my new work computer on Tuesday... a brand spanking new ASUS Zenbook Prime !

The configuration of my Zenbook Prime is:

- Intel Core i5 3317 Processor
- 4GB Memory
- 128GB SSD
- 13" 1600x900 LCD

Yes, that's right... Since I'm in Taiwan right now, I can't get a FHD IPS LCD with i5 Zenbook Prime.

The only Zenbook Prime / UX32VD Zenbook that has a FHD IPS LCD is the i7 version and it costs around $1670 !!!!! The icing on the cake is all other UX32VD Zenbooks and Zenbook Prime models except the one I have and the top end i7 version are all 720p 1366x768 resolution screens. So... basically most of the newer Zenbook / Prime models in Taiwan have inferior LCDs compared to the previous generation.

The best part of this whole crappy situation is that the configuration that I have was advertised by ASUS as having a FHD IPS screen in the original brochure, but ended up only having a 1600x900 screen.

Anyways, enough ranting. Let's get down to the nitty gritty about this new laptop.

Overall Rating: 7.7/10

What I liked about the laptop:

- It's sooooo thin ! It's not much bigger than a 8.5" x 11" piece of paper.
- Battery life so far has been quite good. I can quite easily get 5 hours, possibly even 6 hours with normal use.
- It has a overall nice high quality feel.
- The backlit keyboard is a nice touch to the laptop.
- The charger is nice and small, making it easy to carry around.
- For the size of the laptop, the speaker are very nice.
- It's very nicely packaged, and includes accessories such as a sleeve, a pouch for accessories such as the USB to Ethernet Adapter and VGA adapter. It's very similar packaging to their Transformer tablet, and is definitely a nice touch to the overall notebook buying experience.
- The multi touch gestures are quite nice, and ASUS includes a tutorial on how to use them. Definitely a nice touch if you like using gestures.

What I didn't like about the laptop:
- The keys on the keyboard do not have a very sturdy feel to it. When typing, there is some play while typing, and is probably similar to the Inspiron 14z that I use at home.
- So many dongles ! Yes, I know that the laptop is very thin, and isn't thick enough for a VGA port, Ethernet port, or possibly a HDMI port, but it's a nuisance to carry around these dongles and can easily get lost or damaged. I'm sure for most people this isn't a problem however. I can live with the VGA port and USB to Ethernet adapter, but it definitely would have been nice to have a full size HDMI connector, and maybe a third USB port.
- The area around the touch pad has some flex if you push on it a little bit. For normal use it's fine, but just something I noticed as I was using the laptop.
- The touch pad is VERY annoying. It tends to jump quite easily when I am typing and accidentally hit the touch pad. I have tried changing settings and installing different drivers as mentioned on various webpages, but I still can't get used to the touch pad.
- A lot of bloatware is loaded on it. I would recommend using a program like PC Decrapifier, or better yet, reloading Windows if you have the time to do so.

I already kind of knew that there would be some things I would not like about this ultra book since most ultra portables or ultra books will have to compromise on certain things. Considering the size and portability of this laptop, I think ASUS has done a good job.

Thanks for looking, and feel free to ask any questions !

So I have owned a Dell Inspiron 14z for about a month, and here's a quick rundown on the likes and dislikes of this particular laptop.

The configuration I purchased: 

- Intel Core i3 - 2350M / 4GB / 500GB Seagate (Upgraded to 160GB Intel SSD)

Overall rating: 7/10

What I like about the laptop:

- Decently long battery life

- Loads of ports

- Being able to use adjust volume, brightness, and whatnot without having the press the function key. (Dell has this feature on quite a few of their laptops)

- It's pretty freaking fast if you replace the crappy hard drive with a faster one, especially an SSD.

- Size is good for a 14" laptop. It's definitely a much better size than the Dell Inspiron 14R I used to own.

- Ease of access for upgrading memory or HDD. There is only one screw holding the access cover  on the laptop.

- The webcam has much better video quality than other laptops, and  looks good when using Skype, or Google Talk. 

- What is also nice about this laptop is the CPU can be replaced unlike many of the newer laptops.

What I didn't care for about this laptop:

- The keys feel rather flimsy compared to the Dell 11z I have been using for a while. Although there doesn't seem to be much keyboard flex, the keys don't feel stable enough while typing.

- My laptop came with a 500GB Seagate HDD, and it was VERY slow. It actually booted slower than my Dell 11z with a low voltage Core i3, and it was definitely due to the HDD. 

- The battery sticks out the bottom. In today's day and age, I feel like it's unacceptable to have a battery stick out the back or the bottom of the laptop especially when a 6 cell battery is the norm these days.

- The port covers I think are retarded and should be taken out. It has no functionality whatsoever and gets in the way. 

- The speakers are not as good or as loud as my Dell 11z or 14R. 

At around $500 with tax, this is one of the better laptops in this price range to consider. 

If you are not as worried about size and battery life, I would however recommend the Dell Inspiron 14R instead.

Thanks for reading, and feel free to ask any questions !

Motorola Milestone XT720 MMS Settings

So after searching around and messing with my phone for hours, I finally figured out how to send and receive picture messages. I still can't believe Motorola can't get this right from the get go...

You will need two APNs:

The first one should be configured like this:

APN: epc.tmobile.com

MCC:310

MNC:260

APN type: either blank or type in default

Everything else needs to be blank.

Create a second APN by hitting the menu button and hit new APN.

Name: I called mine mms, but you can call it whatever you want to call it.

APN: epc.tmobile.com

MMSC: http://mms.msg.eng.t-mobile.com/mms/wapenc

MCC:310

MNC:260

APN type: mms

After that, you should be good to go.

Not too hard right?

Failure at line 12: copy_dir package:system system:

I installed Axura rom for my Captivate, but I also wanted to try Cognition rom. I booted into clockwork recovery mod and tried loading Cognition, but I got the Failure at line 12: copy_dir package:system system: error.

Luckily, I was able to reboot into Axura without any issues. After doing a quick google search, I noticed a lot of people having this problem, but without a solution to the problem.

The reason for this is because Axura applies a lag fix and repartitions the phone, so all you need to do is disable the lag fix and you're good to go !

I hope this helps anyone who is experiencing the same problem.

Mr Poopie's Blog

Probably one of the best deals I have gotten in a while :)

Alex