Delay in Windows XP Service Pack 3

As shown, the availability of Windows XP SP3 to non-subscribers has been changed from 4/29 to soon. But the update date stated as April 23, 2008 is incorrect as I have just checked online yesterday.

Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 3

According to Microsoft, Windows XP SP3 will be available to non-subscribers today. But I am unable to find it after clicking on the Microsoft Download Center. The related download is only Windows XP Service Pack 3 Overview.

Comparing Celeron M with Pentium Dual-Core Processor

Model/Processor Number	353	T2330
Processor	Celeron M ULV	Pentium Dual-Core
L2 Cache	512KB	1MB
Clock Speed	900MHz	1.6GHz
Front Side Bus (FSB)	400MHz	533MHz
Intel 64	No	Yes
Architecture	90nm	65nm
Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology	No	Yes
Execute Disable Bit	No	Yes

Best Value Intel Pentium Dual-Core Notebook in Singapore

Compaq Presario C744TU - S$809 with GST

1. Intel Pentium Dual-Core T2330 (1.6GHz)
   
2. 2GB RAM
3. 160GB HDD
4. 15.4" TFT Display
5. Intel GMA X3100
   
6. Intel Pro/Wireless 3945 802.11 a/b/g
   
7. DVDRW Super Multi
8. Windows Vista Home Basic

Drivers

1. XP (incomplete)
   
2. Vista 32-bit
3. Vista 64-bit

Comparing Airis KIRA 740 with Norhtec Gecko

Model	Airis KIRA 740	Norhtec Gecko
Display	7" 1024x768	7" 800x480
CPU & Chipset	VIA C7-M 1GHz VIA VX800U	VIA C7-M 1GHz VIA VX800U
Operating System	Windows XP	Linpus Linux Lite
Storage	40GB HDD	40GB HDD
USB ports	2	2
WLAN	Yes	Yes
RAM	1GB DDR2	1GB DDR2
Battery	4.5 hours	2 cell
Webcam	Yes	-
Availability	Mid May 2008 France	May 2008 Thailand
Others	card reader 1.1kg	VGA out 3-in-1 card reader
Price	349 Euro	US$397

Personal Computer World June 2008

Features

1. Get a grip on Vista
2. Off-road sat navs

Cover CD (Free Paid Full Version)

1. Magix Movie Edit 14 silver
2. East-Tec Backup 2007
3. WISE-FTP 3
4. Likno Web Button Maker

1-abc.net Surf Trail Washer 2.02

This software is available on the DVD of APC Magazine May 2008. I installed it on Windows Vista. It supports either Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox to delete history, cookies and typed URLs. But, when I start Automatic Washer, an error appeared in a foreign language as shown even though the language selection is English. After restart, you still need to minimize the software to systray manually. The option to start Manual Washer automatically after a period of x days is there but cannot be saved permanently.

Australian APC Magazine May 2008

Features

1. HDTV Wars : LCDs catch Plasmas
2. Inside Internet Explorer 8.0

Cover DVD (Free Paid Full Version)

1. 1-abc.net Surf Trail Washer 2.02 (Windows XP/Vista)
2. Softland Backup4all 3.10 (Windows XP/2003)
   

Deep Blue H1 Mobile PC

Deep Blue H1 Mobile PC is similar to Norhtec Gecko and Pioneer DreamBook Light IL1 but available in Philippines at Php 16,995. The specifications are as follows:

1. VIA Esther 1.0GHz processor
2. 1GB DDR2 memory
3. 7" TFT WXGA (800x480)
4. 40GB harddisk
   
5. Built-in speakers
6. 2 x USB 2.0, 10/100Mbps LAN, 802.11b/g, 1.2kg, card reader, web camera
7. Up to 4.5 hours battery life
8. Linux OS (Win XP Home optional - drivers available)

PC Pro June 2008

Features

1. Farewell Bill Gates
2. Build a future-proof PC for £200
3. Hack it yourself

Cover DVD (Free Paid Full Version)

1. Encyclopædia Britannica 2008

Computer Shopper June 2008

Features

1. Cut Your Power Bill By £100!
2. Build A Better Website
3. Vista Secrets - Part 1
   

Cover DVD (Free Paid Full Version)

1. Paragon Hard Disk Manager 8.5
2. Hacker Tracker
   

Intel Atom Processor - Silverthorne vs Diamondville

Codename	Silverthorne	Diamondville
Usage	MID/UMPC	Classmate PC/Netbook
Core	Single (45nm) Optimized first for low-power then low-cost Intel Virtualization Demand based switching	Single (45nm) Optimized first for low-cost then low-power
Models	Z500 - 800MHz Z510 - 1.1GHz Z520 - 1.333GHz* Z530 - 1.6GHz* Z540 - 1.866GHz*	N270*
Products	Sharp Willcom D4 BenQ	Next Eee PC MSI Wind ECS G10IL
* Supports Hyper-Threading

Intel Atom or Via C7-M ULV

According to Extreme Tech, "a 2-GHz Atom will be roughly equivalent to the original 1-GHz Dothan (Pentium M) CPU".
Laptoping also reported that "Atom at 1.6GHz is a little bit faster than the old Intel Pentium III-M “Tualatin” at 1.13GHz, but slower than the laptop-use Intel Celeron M “Dothan-512″ at 900MHz, utilized in the Asus Eee PC".
Also, Uberpulse mentioned from a video interview that Silverthorne/Atom is half the performance of the Celeron.
Benchmarks from Notebookreview indicate in terms of CPU performance, Celeron M ULV at 900MHz > Via C7-M ULV at 1.2GHz > Celeron M ULV at 630MHz.
Is Via C7-M ULV at 1.2GHz faster than Intel Atom at 1.6GHz?

Shipping Delay for HP 2133 Mini-Note PC

Looks like HP 2133 Mini-Note PC is following the trend of Asus Eee PC and Everex Cloudbook with numerous delays in shipping. The ship date has slipped from 22 April to 30 April and now to 1 May 2008.
Also, the picture shown is wrong. HP 2133 Mini-Note PC does not swivel. They can't seem to get their act together.
Well, now it seems that Asus will be ahead of HP with their launch of Eee PC 900 another 8.9" competitor. But, don't count on it.

Windows Vista Drivers for HP 2133 Mini-Note PC

The ship date for HP 2133 Mini-Note PC in US has been changed repeatedly from 15 April to 16 April and now to 22 April 2008. Availability for Asia Pacific will be end of April 2008. However, the drivers for Windows Vista Business and Home Basic have been released. But, drivers for SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 are still unavailable. Not sure whether HP will include a recovery CD for the SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop. Hopefully, they will learn from Everex who eventually released a recovery ISO download image for gOS on Cloudbook after complaints from customers.

gOS Rocket G 2.0

In my previous post, I managed to browse the Internet using the live CD of gOS Rocket Beta on my Eee PC and Compaq TC1000. But the new release gOS Rocket G 2.0 behaves differently after burning the ISO image to a DVD.
In Eee PC, I can assign the wired network with a static ip and DNS addresses but there is no Internet connectivity. In Compaq TC1000, the row of icons at the bottom is missing and I am unable to assign the wired network with a static ip address even though the wired and wireless adapters are detected. Not sure whether it has to do with the interface because this new version runs Gnome whereas the beta version runs Enlightenment. In fact, Everex Cloudbook also runs Gnome in their gOS OS.

Running Out Disk Space After Windows Update on Eee PC

Previously, I managed to install Windows Vista Home Basic on my Eee PC with 4GB SSD using vlite. After installation, I still have at least 900MB of free space. But after Windows update as shown, the free space becomes almost zero and I have to reduce the size of paging file size for virtual memory from the recommended 753MB to 256MB.

PC Answers May 2008

Features

1. Firefox 3 : Your Ultimate Guide
2. Wi-Fi Hotspots

Cover DVD (Free Full Paid Version)

1. Paragon Disk Wiper 7.0 Personal Edition
2. Dekart Password Carrier
3. Ashampoo Office 2006
   

ACPI Error on Eee PC with Windows Vista

I encountered this error last night but I can still use my Eee PC running Windows Vista. It lasted 2 hours 30 minutes after a full charge with no wifi, brightness at 1 bar and high performance power plan. Previously, without this error, no wifi, brightness at 1 bar and power saver power plan, it lasted 2 hours 15 minutes. This seems strange. Running Windows XP also lasts 2 hours 15 minutes. Since Windows Vista does not provide better power management, I suspect that the ACPI XP driver is not working properly so I remove the driver.
After removal, the system tray icon to change resolution to 800x600 is also removed. Also, Fn+F3 & Fn+F4 to adjust brightness will not show a visual indicator but it still works. Fn+F7 (mute), Fn+F8 (decrease) & Fn+F9 (increase) volume do not work but you can still adjust through the volume icon at the system tray.

VIA VX700, VX800 & VX800U Chipset

Everex Cloudbook and Zyrex Ubud use VIA VX700 which supports 400/533MHz FSB. This is an older chipset.
HP 2133 Mini-Note PC supports 800MHz FSB with video/graphics Via Chrome 9 UMA which is in fact VIA VX800. Both Pioneer DreamBook Light IL1 and Norhtec Gecko use VIA VX800U (ultra low voltage). What are the differences between the two new chipsets?
The answers can be found in this article. Let me highlight the differences. VX800 supports gigabit Ethernet 10/100/1000, Front Side Bus speed of 400/800MHz, 250MHz clock speed for integrated 2D/3D video processor, SATA 2.0 and 1 x 4-lane and 2 x 1-lane PCI Express ports. On the other hand, VX800U supports 10/100 Ethernet, Front Side Bus speed of 400MHz and 166MHz clock speed for integrated 2D/3D video processor.
Thus, VX800 is faster but uses more power than VX800U. However, both chipsets are fully Windows Vista compliant.

Vulnerability in Operating Systems and Browsers

According to Secunia, we can compare the vulnerability of the following operating systems and browsers:

1. Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition - Unpatched 14% (26 of 190 Secunia advisories)
2. Microsoft Windows XP Professional - Unpatched 14% (29 of 208 Secunia advisories)
   
3. Microsoft Windows Vista - Unpatched 7% (2 of 29 Secunia advisories)
4. Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.x - Unpatched 17% (22 of 126 Secunia advisories)
5. Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.x - Unpatched 33% (8 of 24 Secunia advisories)
6. Mozilla Firefox 1.x - Unpatched 7% (3 of 45 Secunia advisories)
7. Mozilla Firefox 2.0.x - Unpatched 18% (4 of 22 Secunia advisories)
8. Opera 9.x - Unpatched 0% (0 of 13 Secunia advisories)
9. OperaUSB 9.x - Unpatched 0% (0 of 0 Secunia advisories)

It is no surprise that Microsoft Windows Vista is the most secure among Windows OS but it is shocking that Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.x is less vulnerable than Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.x and Mozilla Firefox 1.x is also less vulnerable than Mozilla Firefox 2.0.x. In fact, OperaUSB 9.x is the most secure web browser. However, Mozilla Firefox Portable is not tested.

Australian PC User May 2008

Features

1. Burning Breakthrough
2. Storage Superguide

Cover DVD (Free Paid Full Version)

1. PC User DVD Plus 2008
2. Ashampoo WinOptimizer 4
3. Iconmedia Website X5 Smart Edition

Intel Pentium Dual-Core vs Celeron Processor

If you look at Intel website comparing the leading processors, Pentium Dual-Core and Celeron found on budget laptops are sadly missing. Laptops with either Pentium Dual-Core or Celeron are suitable as desktop replacement running Windows Vista. You don't need the Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology which the other processors offer since the laptops will be used as desktops. So, what are the differences between the budget processors?
Pentium Dual-Core has two processors which in actual fact may not be utilized by most software applications. They may have different clock speed, L2 cache and Front Side Bus speed but both support Intel 64 and Execute Disable Bit. You can choose one with at least 1GHz and mobile Intel 945PM/945GM/945GMS and 943/940GML Express Chipset using 512MB of system memory or greater to support Vista.

PC Tools Desktop Maestro 2.0

You can get a 1-year licence from the CD of Personal Computer World April 2008 or download a trial from PC Tools. The trial won't expire but the differences are that you won't be to able to clean plugins, custom items or free space. It works on Windows Vista with Internet Explorer 7, Firefox 2.0, Mozilla, Netscape & Opera browsers.
You can schedule the Privacy Guardian to start when Windows starts but you still need to click Run Scan in Vista which is annoying since Vista is supported.
An improvement will be to run Privacy Guardian automatically when the browsers are closed.

PC Pro May 2008

Features

1. Life inside the cave
2. Was it Google who won it?
3. Online banks exposed
   

Cover DVD (Free Paid Full Version)

1. Paragon Software Drive Copy 8.5
2. Naturalgrafix ImageIron
3. Ashampoo Photo Commander 5
   

USB Flash Drive Driver Issue with Windows Vista

On my Eee PC running Windows Vista, I encountered the problem that Windows needs to install driver software for my USB flash drive. It happened on all USB flash drives except Toshiba Transmemory 4GB. Since I know that from Windows XP onwards, there is no need to install any additional driver to access any USB flash drive, I suspected something else.
After checking, I found that when Windows has problem identifying drivers, it stores them in C:\windows\inf\INFCACHE.1. This file can be corrupted and deleting it actually solves the problem without even rebooting. But you have edit its file permission to grant Full control to the Users group. This can be done by right clicking the file and selecting Properties.

Canon PIXMA iP1300 Inkjet Printer

I purchased this color printer recently. It includes a color cartridge (41) and you need to buy the black cartridge (40) separately. But it can print with only the color cartridge installed unlike other printers. If you remove the color cartridge and install only a black cartridge, it won't print. With both black and color cartridges installed, you can choose to print using the black cartridge only by going to the printer properties -> Maintenance -> Ink Cartridge Settings and select Black Only. This helps to save the color cartridge for color printing.

Australian PC Authority May 2008

Features

1. 100 XP & Vista Expert Tips
2. Vista Service Pack 1

Cover DVD (Free Paid Full Version)

1. Avira AntiVir Personal Edition Premium
2. Ashampoo Multimedia Pack 1

Comparing Pioneer DreamBook Light IL1 with Norhtec Gecko UMPC

Model	Pioneer DreamBook Light IL1	Norhtec Gecko
Display	7" 800x480	7" 800x480
CPU & Chipset	VIA C7-M 1GHz VIA VX800U	VIA C7-M 1GHz VIA VX800U
Operating System	Ubuntu Linux Windows XP Windows Vista	Linpus Linux Lite
Storage	40GB HDD	1/2/4GB SSD 40GB HDD
USB ports	2	2
WLAN	Optional	●
RAM	512MB/1GB DDR2	256MB - 1GB DDR2
Battery	6 cell	2/4/6 cell
Webcam	Optional 0.3MP	-
Launch	April 2008 Australia	Coming Soon Thailand
Others	VGA out 3-in-1 card reader 244 x 172 x 28.5 (mm) 1.1kg	VGA out 3-in-1 card reader
Price	from AUD$499	from US$300