MSI Wind still here… OSX, Crunchbang, & Windows 7

SO…  I did not take back the MSI Wind.  My friend Jed and my wife talked me out of it.  Jed’s argument was “Why?”.  Then my wife said, “It’s only 350 bux”.

I decided to play with it some more and install some OS’s on it….. Read more

MSI Wind gets returned and my issues with “netbooks”

I picked up an MSI Wind yesterday. These are one of those sub $500 “netbooks”. It’s going back this morning. I just don’t think these devices are ready for my regular use. Don’t get me wrong. It’s a great little device. I can see where for some people that it will be useful.

Let me start by talking about what I want a “netbook” or a smaller form factor portable computer. My main computer is a Macbook Pro 17″ and while for the size of it, it’s fairly light and quick to turn on and set up, at times, I don’t like pulling out such a beast for quick and dirty things I want to do. I am looking for a device that I can take with me almost anywhere, be fairly non-obtrusive, and be my quick window to the net. The MSI Wind was to be this device for me, NOT!

Again, spec wise it’s fair, I would go so far to say even better than fair. However, for me, it’s missing two key elements, touch screen capabilities and at least 1280×720 (or 800) resolution. For the technology we have today, these two elements MUST be in a small form factor PC or “netbook” for me.

The MSI Wind has a decent screen with 1024×600 resolution. I thought I could deal with this. With so many laptops with 1280×800+ screen resolutions, I do not believe GUI designers have set things up to accommodate the 600 pixel high space. It gets really frustrating when you can’t hit a dialog in something you are trying to do quickly. (remember, one of the purposes of having the machine)

The second thing is touch screen. It lacks one. It should have one. All “netbooks” should have some sort of touch capability on the screen. Again, for speed and ease of use. If there are kits showing up on e-bay for touch screen kits for these devices from $50 to $150, it should not be difficult to include one in the manufacturing process.

Sure, I know I can tweak the device to work with the resolution and add a touch screen. My point is, we have the technology and the ability to make devices at low cost that we don’t have to settle for. With my myriad of life projects going on and other hobbies, I don’t have time to mess with a machine to get these things in it. I want to buy an off the shelf product and just go. (well, maybe some minor mods, like putting OSX on it LOL)

The deal breaker on the Wind and most “netbooks” for me at the moment is the screen resolution. If this thing just had 1280×720/800 minimum, I’d be all over it.

Where oh where can I get one of these: Gigabyte M912V

Picked up MSI Wind More to come

I picked up an MSI Wind today.  I needed a more portable solution than my Macbook Pro 17″.   (I still plan to get the unibody one when it comes out)  I still plan to get a Vaio P-Series at some point, you just can’t beat the screen res and size of that thing.

I started playing around with it, am working on putting OSX on it.  I was going to go the MSIWindOSX86.iso method but I like clean installs.  So, I am working on methodology that allows me to do full vanilla updates etc.

If it doesn’t frustrate the hell out of me, I’ll do a write up and video on what I did

If it doesn’t work well enough, linux baby!

HowTo – Install Boxee XBMC on Apple TV

This video and write up will explain how to install Boxee and XBMC on to your Apple TV for Mac/OSX users. We may do a video at some point on how to do this from a Windows or Linux based operating system. But at this time, we are mainly Mac and will show you how to do this.

Hardware used in this HowTo:

Computer and OS: Macbook Pro 17″ running Mac OSX 10.5.6
Apple TV: 40GB with version 2.3
USB Drive: PNY 2GB Attache “High-Speed”

Plug in the USB Drive you will use into a free USB port. Read more

Sony VAIO P Series Quick Preview

Today, Trazoc and I went into a Sony Style store at Ceasar’s Palace to get a quick preview of the P series netbook from Sony.   This is a straight upload of the quick video I took. (Was not sure if it was ok to shoot in the store LOL)

It was a bit larger than I expected.  However, it still is a pretty insane device.  I played around a bit with the “instant on” feature that brought up the PSP/PS3 like media bar, it was not “instant” but it was fast.  It’s definitely running a version of Linux in this mode.  When I brought up the web, it had the good ol’ x-windows X and then clearly an X version of FireFox.  One other note about the media bar, the interface was not as clean aesthetically and font wise as I have come to expect from Sony products.

It seemed slightly sluggish with Vista running on it.  I did not get the full specs of the one I was playing with.  It did not feel like it was running with the SSD drive.

All in all, it was a nice machine. I am not sure now if I am going to RUSH out and get one, we’ll have to see what the final product is like when it’s released.  It might be something worth waiting until the second generation for.

It’s thicker than a Macbook Air.  Just FYI.

Axiotron Announces the ModBook Pro

Talk about getting a graphic chubby!

For quite awhile I’ve seen the Modbook as a very tantalizing device, but I couldn’t see it as something that could be my sole computer. Sure, I would be able to draw and design directly on the screen, but if I needed to type something, I’d have to drag out an external keyboard. (Right now I have the reverse situation going with my Macbook and an external Wacom tablet) This device, however, is said to support the pen AND touch capabilities. Of course I’d have to see if this thing has a touch keyboard and how well it types, but it would be very sweet if it did.

About the only other caveats I have are the fact that this isn’t an official Apple product and therefore would have some hoops to leap through for maintainence and repairs. Axiotron has made a lot of noise about how they have The Woz in their employ now, but unless he’s doing all the repairs himself at a very fast pace, it doesn’t assuage my concerns much. This second is the price tag. Five thousand is a hefty price for something I’d be carrying around with me everywhere and therefore prone to gravity and the elements. Then I’d have to go with one of Joe’s Sony netbooks.

SONY UNVEILS WORLD’S LIGHTEST 8-INCH NOTEBOOK

WOW!  This gave me a CHUBBY!

I have not been huge on this whole “netbook” craze.  But, I have to admit this device looks insane!

The highlights:

• 1600 x 768, LED backlit 8-inch ultra-wide display (diagonal)
• weighs just 1.4 pounds and is small enough to slip into a jacket pocket
• built-in wireless WAN 3G Mobile Broadband, 802.11n wi-fi and Bluetooth
• real-time GPS functionality
• pricing starts at about $900
• available in February

Some of the Technical Specifications:

• Intel Processor @ 1.33 Ghz
• 2GB RAM
• 128 GB SSD
• 8″ XBRITE-ECO Display @ 1600×768
• Mobile Intel GMA500 Graphics
• 2 USB, 1 Memory Stick Duo, 1 SD
• Windows Vista Home Premium

It’s OS is Vista.  Not a big fan, but for the functionality, we can forgive them if it works well.  The screen resolution alone on this thing is incredible. Read more

Welcome to the new TechnoChubby.com

Welcome to the new Techno Chubby site.   We were having some issues with the old site and decided to simplify our site and switched to an easier to read format.

We believe that you will like our new direction.  The new format should be all good within the next few days!

We will still be giving you “All things tech that give us wood!”

Once we get this new framework stabilized, we will import some of the posts from the old site into this one.