Fanboi's lament - falling out of love with the iPad
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From: Jeff Liebermann on 16 Jun 2010 19:20 On Wed, 16 Jun 2010 10:10:40 -0700, John Navas <jncl1(a)navasgroup.com> wrote: >On Sun, 30 May 2010 21:35:00 -0700, in ><jhb60618si8psis3eg6doa60rbs4i5cniu(a)4ax.com>, Jeff Liebermann ><jeffl(a)cruzio.com> wrote: > >>On Sun, 30 May 2010 10:45:39 -0700, John Navas >><jnspam1(a)navasgroup.com> wrote: > >>>1. The excellent 10" LED-backed screen on the Acer Aspire One I'm using >>>to type this is clear and sharp (ClearType enabled and properly >>>configured). >> >>There were 3 different models of the Aspire One. I've owned all three >>in various screen configurations (8.9", 10.1" and 11.6"). As I >>vaguely recall, the 8.9 and 10.1" models were 1024x600 pixels, while >>the 11.6" model is 1366x768. The 8.9" model was difficult to see. I >>was constantly scrolling vertically in order to see documents and >>applications. Google Earth would complain every time I started it >>that the screen was too small. It was. > >Google Earth does complain, but the complaint can easily be turned off, >and it otherwise runs fine on this Acer Aspire One. ( Will you take my >word for that, or must I post screen shots to persuade you? ;) Google earth complains Your screen resolution is currently too low. Please adjust it to 1024x768 or above and then restart Google Earth. On mine, this message appears every time I start Google Earth. As you indicate, it "runs fine" if you don't mind closing any one of the sidebars on the left (Search, Places, or Layers) and vertically scrolling up and down the screen every time I want to see the status bar. I would call this running not quite so fine. >>The 11.6" model is much >>better and more visible. > >The vertical real estate difference is only about 13%. I personally >don't find that significant enough to carry around the larger size. I've gotten used to it for text applications. However anything with heavy use of graphics, such as Google Earth, mapping display, cartography, Picassa, various photo viewers such as Irfanview, path profile calcs, CAD, antenna design, etc, requires substantial amounts of up and down scrolling. At 1024x600, it's really a PITA. At 1024x768, it's still irritating. If the screen were 1024x768, or 1366x768, I would not complain (much). Of course, when I really need the big screen, I just plug in an external monitor. Oddly, the Acer give me a gigantic desktop by default (which appears every time I boot) which has to be manually adjusted to a lower resolution as the icons and text is far too tiny. Incidentally, I tried rotating the Acer display by 90 degrees (for reading eBooks), but couldn't find a utility that would do it. It's built into the eePC and works well for vertical reading. >>The 16:9 aspect ratio is worthless, except >>that it fixes the shrunken keyboard problem. > >I find the extra width quite handy for running multiple windows, and for >applications like Photoshop that benefit from the extra width. I beg to differ. I would gladly trade some vertical real estate on the screen for the alleged benefits of having more stuff to the sides. However, I do agree. Floating toolbars and sidebars are a good use of the extra space. >In fact >it proved handy enough that when I bought my ThinkPad T61p, I broke with >past practice and went for the 15.4" widescreen model, and I've been >quite happy with that choice. For once (only once) we agree. That's about the "right size" for a laptop screen. However, that's a 1920x1200 screen, which has more than enough dots to make even me happy. A replacement panel probably costs more than an entire Netbook. Incidentally, I was at Radio Shock in Scotts Valley on Monday. They had several Netbooks for $250/$275. >>I could barely type on >>the 8.9" model and had to resort to 2 finger typing. The 10.1" and >>11.6" models are better, but still a challenge. > >Although not as good as the exceptional keyboard in my ThinkPad T61p, >the Acer Aspire One keyboard is otherwise very good, on par with most >notebooks. My only real complaint is the key assignments for Home and >End, but that's easily fixed with a keyboard remapper. I can get used to almost anything. In fact, I do, switching keyboards all day long at various customers. I don't have particularly large hands. However, the 8.9" model was just too cramped to be able to type at my usual 25 mistakes per minute. I found myself typing with two fingers all the time. The neighbors 15 year old daughter, has absolutely no problems typing on hers. I could probably make it work with gloves that have pointed finger tips, but that's a bit much. >>The only one I have >>left runs some strange version of Linux. It's good enough for email >>and web browsing which is also how I would mostly use an iPad. When I >>compared screens, this laptop was one of those I compared. I thought >>it stunk when I tried to play a video. > >This one does an excellent job of playing MPEG4 video with VLC media >player for Windows. ( Will you take my word for that, or must I post >screen shots to persuade you? ;) I switched from Winamp to VLC and have been living happily ever after. Great program. No need for a screen shot although I'm curious if your desktop is as messy as mine. For the curious: <http://802.11junk.com/jeffl/crud/desktop.jpg> (300K) 1280x1024. >Your problem may be Linux or the media player. It's Linux. It's a weird Linux mutation. I'm trying to figure out how to cram in Ubuntu. There's a Netbook version that's suppose to be coming out fairly soon. Meanwhile, it's good for checking email and a bit of web browsing. >>More crudely, the >>iPad is best used in conjunction with a desktop (running iTunes). > >I consider that a big limitation. (Likewise for the iPhone.) Yep. At first, it didn't seem to be much of a problem, but it's really becoming a major irritation. The iPad and my iPod Touch really do need a PC or Mac to make them happy. >This Acer Aspire One gets 7+ hours of normal computing on the extended >battery, which I think is quite remarkable. What size battery do you have? I tested one with 2200ma-hr and 4400ma-hr batteries. Neither came even close to 7+ hours of active use. I could probably just leave it sit going in an out of battery save mode, but that's not a real test. There are some specs on the web for battery life testing, but I didn't use them. I just pounded on the keyboard and moved the mouse around until the battery alarm complained. About 3.5 hrs on the big battery at best. If I let it go to snooze ocassionally, it might have gone to 5 hrs, but no more. >You may not have power management configured correctly. I find that to >be the cause of many (most?) complaints about battery life. My ThinkPad >T61p, for example, gets roughly double the battery life using a proper >power profile as compared to the default power profile. That's possible. I run it with the display running full brightness when NOT in battery save, and blanked when in battery save. The hard disk snoozes after 15 minutes of idle, which for this test, is never. Your 7+ hours doesn't make much sense to me if I can't use it during much of that time, or the CPU is running at half speed. gotta run... more later, maybe... -- # Jeff Liebermann 150 Felker St #D Santa Cruz CA 95060 # 831-336-2558 # http://802.11junk.com jeffl(a)cruzio.com # http://www.LearnByDestroying.com AE6KS
From: John Navas on 16 Jun 2010 19:44 On Wed, 16 Jun 2010 16:20:33 -0700, in <p0li16til9jtff90r1fkbugco9ona9e3p3(a)4ax.com>, Jeff Liebermann <jeffl(a)cruzio.com> wrote: >On Wed, 16 Jun 2010 10:10:40 -0700, John Navas <jncl1(a)navasgroup.com> >wrote: >>Google Earth does complain, but the complaint can easily be turned off, >>and it otherwise runs fine on this Acer Aspire One. ( Will you take my >>word for that, or must I post screen shots to persuade you? ;) > >Google earth complains > Your screen resolution is currently too low. Please adjust > it to 1024x768 or above and then restart Google Earth. >On mine, this message appears every time I start Google Earth. The message can be turned off. >As you >indicate, it "runs fine" if you don't mind closing any one of the >sidebars on the left (Search, Places, or Layers) and vertically >scrolling up and down the screen every time I want to see the status >bar. I would call this running not quite so fine. I don't have that problem. >Incidentally, I was at Radio Shock >in Scotts Valley on Monday. They had several Netbooks for $250/$275. Interesting, but I avoid Rat Shack whenever possible. >>This one does an excellent job of playing MPEG4 video with VLC media >>player for Windows. ( Will you take my word for that, or must I post >>screen shots to persuade you? ;) > >I switched from Winamp to VLC and have been living happily ever after. >Great program. No need for a screen shot although I'm curious if your >desktop is as messy as mine. Except when working on something complicated, I usually only have 2-4 icons on my desktop. >>This Acer Aspire One gets 7+ hours of normal computing on the extended >>battery, which I think is quite remarkable. > >What size battery do you have? Six-cell � 5200mAh There's also: Six-cell � 5800mAh >I tested one with 2200ma-hr and >4400ma-hr batteries. Neither came even close to 7+ hours of active >use. I could probably just leave it sit going in an out of battery >save mode, but that's not a real test. There are some specs on the >web for battery life testing, but I didn't use them. I just pounded >on the keyboard and moved the mouse around until the battery alarm >complained. About 3.5 hrs on the big battery at best. If I let it go >to snooze ocassionally, it might have gone to 5 hrs, but no more. You have a wimpier battery than I do, and Linux may be part of your problem. >>You may not have power management configured correctly. I find that to >>be the cause of many (most?) complaints about battery life. My ThinkPad >>T61p, for example, gets roughly double the battery life using a proper >>power profile as compared to the default power profile. > >That's possible. I run it with the display running full brightness >when NOT in battery save, and blanked when in battery save. The hard >disk snoozes after 15 minutes of idle, which for this test, is never. >Your 7+ hours doesn't make much sense to me if I can't use it during >much of that time, or the CPU is running at half speed. Runs fine for me. -- Best regards, John If the iPhone and iPad are really so impressive, then why do iFans keep making excuses for them?
From: John Navas on 17 Jun 2010 01:36 On Wed, 16 Jun 2010 16:20:33 -0700, in <p0li16til9jtff90r1fkbugco9ona9e3p3(a)4ax.com>, Jeff Liebermann <jeffl(a)cruzio.com> wrote: >On Wed, 16 Jun 2010 10:10:40 -0700, John Navas <jncl1(a)navasgroup.com> >wrote: >>You may not have power management configured correctly. I find that to >>be the cause of many (most?) complaints about battery life. My ThinkPad >>T61p, for example, gets roughly double the battery life using a proper >>power profile as compared to the default power profile. >That's possible. I run it with the display running full brightness >when NOT in battery save, and blanked when in battery save. The hard >disk snoozes after 15 minutes of idle, which for this test, is never. >Your 7+ hours doesn't make much sense to me if I can't use it during >much of that time, or the CPU is running at half speed. Hard disk consumes relatively little power. What consume the most power other than display backlight are CPU and GPU. I normally have my CPU set to Adaptive, even when on mains power, because it works so well to give me performance when I need it and save power (and fan noise) when I don't. This also engages power saving on the GPU. -- Best regards, John If the iPhone and iPad are really so impressive, then why do iFans keep making excuses for them?
From: John Navas on 17 Jun 2010 09:59 On Wed, 16 Jun 2010 16:44:01 -0700, in <lfni16di8fkqf5irvcrbal38m37sigl7ff(a)4ax.com>, John Navas <jncl1(a)navasgroup.com> wrote: >On Wed, 16 Jun 2010 16:20:33 -0700, in ><p0li16til9jtff90r1fkbugco9ona9e3p3(a)4ax.com>, Jeff Liebermann ><jeffl(a)cruzio.com> wrote: >>As you >>indicate, it "runs fine" if you don't mind closing any one of the >>sidebars on the left (Search, Places, or Layers) and vertically >>scrolling up and down the screen every time I want to see the status >>bar. I would call this running not quite so fine. > >I don't have that problem. Google Earth 5.2 at 1024x600: <http://i46.tinypic.com/2jffvag.png> -- Best regards, John If the iPhone and iPad are really so impressive, then why do iFans keep making excuses for them?
From: John Navas on 17 Jun 2010 11:11
On Wed, 16 Jun 2010 16:20:33 -0700, in <p0li16til9jtff90r1fkbugco9ona9e3p3(a)4ax.com>, Jeff Liebermann <jeffl(a)cruzio.com> wrote: >On Wed, 16 Jun 2010 10:10:40 -0700, John Navas <jncl1(a)navasgroup.com> >wrote: >>In fact >>it proved handy enough that when I bought my ThinkPad T61p, I broke with >>past practice and went for the 15.4" widescreen model, and I've been >>quite happy with that choice. > >For once (only once) we agree. That's about the "right size" for a >laptop screen. However, that's a 1920x1200 screen, which has more >than enough dots to make even me happy. I got the 1680x1050 (128 dpi) screen. Although not as high res as the 1920x1200 (147 dpi) screen, I think it has a bit better display quality, is less hassle to set up for proper font sizes, and puts less strain on the GPU* and battery, while still higher in res than typical 90-100 dpi screens. * NVIDIA Quadro FX 570M, which delivers remarkably good (near-desktop) 2D & 3D graphics performance. >A replacement panel probably >costs more than an entire Netbook. Not necessarily -- I've seen affordable display panel prices on eBay. >... I'm curious if your >desktop is as messy as mine. For the curious: ><http://802.11junk.com/jeffl/crud/desktop.jpg> (300K) >1280x1024. My T61p desktop: <http://i46.tinypic.com/2pt9m5t.jpg> -- Best regards, John <http:/navasgroup.com> "Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment." -Will Rogers |