The Keyboard is Here

Last week I mentioned that I got the Asus Transformer Prime Android tablet but the keyboard was still stuck in my Aramex’s mailbox back in the States. Yesterday, it arrived and I hooked the keyboard to the tablet which was a easy process and gained some extra functionality.

The device looks great as I mentioned in my tablet post, it is wonderfully built and designed, the keyboard dock fits perfectly into the overall design. Asus did an excellent job.

I still think that the software is a bit lagging. Android ICS 4.0 was just released but also to take into consideration that the physical keyboard form factor isn’t standard. So we’ll se if the developers make use of it.

I still have to test it out thoroughly before passing final judgment, that might take a couple of weeks.

The Asus EeePad Transformer Prime

I managed to get one of those elusive Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime more than a week ago but was too lazy/busy to even get it out of the box and play around with it.

As soon as I read that ICS upgrade was made available for the Transformer Prime (it ships with Honeycomb 3.2) I decided its time to test it out.

Asus did a great job with the Transformer Prime continuing what they did with the Asus Transformer. But this time around they made a much sleeker device. Weighing just 586 grams lighter compared to the iPad 2′s 601 grams (not that you’ll notice it) and is a hair thinner, The transformer prime is a great piece of hardware.

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Macbook Pro SSD Upgrade

After having the problem with my SSD in my PC build a few weeks ago and having to order a new one. I kept experimenting with my “faulty” SSD and see if I missed something. After playing around with it for a few days  discovered that it ran fine as a data drive (opposed to a boot disk). So I thought I might as well try sticking it in my Macbook Pro.

I’ve opened up every computer I’ve owned but still I had to research the matter before diving into it. After a quick read it was confirmed that it was pretty straight forward and that I had all the tools necessary for the job.

After unscrewing the bottom of the Macbook Pro (I have the unibody 2010 edition) and popping it open, you can see the HDD in the bottom right secured by a latch. removing the latch and the SATA connector completely releases the HDD. And from there its just a matter of replacing the HDD and putting everything back together.

There are a number of benefits to having a SSD such as:

• Speed: boot time is 18 seconds from pressing the power button to read use and having 3 programs running (Pixelmator, Safari and MarsEdit).
• Silent: Because SSD has no moving pars it is virtually silent and also there is no vibrations.
• Slightly better battery life.

The 2 major and only disadvantages that SSD have in my opening are price and capacity. but in time we “should” get there.

This is the first day of using the MBP after the upgrade so I’ll be watching if it acts up.

What a 5MB Hard Drive Looked Like in 1956

In September 1956 IBM launched the 305 RAMAC, the first ‘SUPER’ computer with a hard disk drive (HDD). The HDD weighed over a ton and stored a ‘whopping’ 5 MB of data.

Via The Next Web

Samsung 830 SSD: Take 2

So I just got my new SSD that is supposed to replace the defective one I had already installed in my latest PC setup. I really hope that the problem was with the previous drive and nothing else. I should have the new drive installed later today.

PC Build Problem 2: Faulty SSD

I hit another problem during my PC Assembly, this time it is more critical. After installing windows and downloading all the latest drivers I kept getting the blue screen of death “BSOD”. I had no idea why at first, so I started troubleshooting. Rechecked all cable connections and then started downloading the Windows updates one by one, just to make sure its not a driver problem. This took a long while as you would imagine but the problem resurfaced again when I left my PC on overnight. I decided to restart in safe mode and let it run. It ran for a few hours then Windows just freezes and hangs which leads to another BSOD. Another format/reinstallation of windows letting windows run for a few hours and it crashes again. confirming that its a hardware problem. So I am currently waiting for my replacement drive but in the meantime running Windows on a regular HDD. The couple of days that windows ran on SSD were great and I am really hating the magnetic hard drives at the moment.

PC Build Problem One: Wrong CPU Cooler/Fan

I should be done with my PC assembly by now but I have been a little busy lately. As I was putting the build together I noticed that my CPU cooler/fan was for a different socket. My current motherboard is a 1155 socket and the cooler is for 1156 among others. I don’t know how I missed this when I was ordering.

I have to put up with the stock fan for now and hold off on overclocking until I find/order a new replacement.

Yet Another PC Assembly

It has been more than 2 years since I last put together my own PC build. WIth the amount of gaming that I’m doing on the PC I thought I should upgrade to enjoy the games even more.

I initially wanted to upgrade my existing PC but the CPU upgrade path was out of the question. So I had to buy a new motherboard to accommodate the new processor. I should tryout an SSD as my boot/OS disk for better performance. And of course a new graphic card. I also wanted a new case with USB 3.0 support and more room inside and better cooling solutions. Wanted also to replace my Razer Mamba mouse, its a great mouse but after playing for a few hours non-stop and the battery runs out, you get screwed. So I decided to get the Cyborg R.A.T. 9 wireless mouse that come  with 2 batteries. After looking at all of that I was only short of RAM and a power supply and I would have a fully functioning PC. I got 16GB of RAM bundle for almost $100. but decided to stay with my power supply and get a new less powerful one for my old build.

Part List:

• Intel CPU core i7 2700K 3.5Ghz (Link)
• Asus Republic of Gamers Maximus IV Extreme-Z motherboard (Link)
• EVGA GTX 570 superclocked GPU (Link)
• 4x4GB (16GB) GSkill 1600 RAM (Link)
• Samsung 830 series SSD 128GB (Link)
• Cyborg R.A.T 9 wireless mouse (Link)
• Thermaltake Chasar MK-I case (bought from Kuwait for KD85) (Link)

Now I just have to have time to put it all together.

The Kindle Fire

Yesterday the Aramex guy delivered a package that contained Amazon’s new Kindle Fire tablet. The design is very familiar if you ever seen a Blackberry Playbook. I think the 7″ screen size is just about right for a tablet, either for reading or watching video.

When I first turned on the device and without putting in any information except for my wifi password. The device automatically synced to my account. It looks like that Amazon ships the devices with credentials pre-loaded.

The device lacks any google app like Gmail and the standard Android Market. But Amazon’s android store has a good selection of apps.

Also worth mentioning that the Kindle Fire’s web browser (Amazon Silk Browser) routes traffic via amazon servers. That bypasses the local blocking methods used to block websites. So getting onto Collage Humor’s webpage was easy, but I had a difficulty playing back videos.

The Kindle Fire costs around KD60, too bad its you have to have a US based credit card to actually start using the app store or a proxy to use the vide service. It looks like a very good tablet to playback youtube videos and some casual gaming for my kids.

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Really Hating Customs At The Moment

I’ve been waiting for the rest of my PC components to arrive so that I can really enjoy the gaming frenzy that is currently going on. But my packages have been piling up in customs since before eid and they are still there 4 working days later. I am really frustrated.