Australian PC World Summer 2008

Features

1. 39 exceptional sites
2. AMD's new Phenom CPU

Cover DVD (Free Paid Version)

1. Paragon Drive Copy 8.0 SE
2. QuarkXPress 5
   

HD Tune on Eee PC

I ran HD Tune 2.54 on my Eee PC. The results are as shown.

In terms of transfer rate, the internal SSD is the fastest followed by SanDisk U3 Cruzer Micro and SanDisk microSD.

In terms of access time, the internal SSD is the fastest, followed by SanDisk microSD and SanDisk U3 Cruzer Micro.

CPU-Z on Eee PC

I ran cpu-z on my Eee PC. The results are as shown.

Atheros Configuration Service ACS Error

I encounter this error whenever I resume from standby on my Eee PC. After checking online, I found it is related to Atheros Configuration Service.
It gives access to single sign on and a mechanism to communicate with the supplicant for security negotiation.
As I prefer to use Windows to configure my wireless network settings, I have disabled ACU from startup. To remove the error, I have stopped this service from running and changed the startup from automatic to manual.

Xandros Linux vs Windows XP Home Edition on Eee PC

Pros - Xandros Linux

1. Can run pre-installed diagnostics test to check system health on hardware
2. Takes 5 minutes to restore image for system recovery
   

Cons - Xandros Linux

1. Difficult to configure third party software such as firewall
2. SMPlayer can be configured with libdvdcss2 to play DVD but there are black bars at the top and bottom of screen and volume is too soft even at maximum.
   

Pros - Windows XP Home Edition

1. Easier to install third party software such as AVS DVD player to play DVD or firewall for protection. Aspect ratio can be changed in AVS DVD player such that no black bars will appear at the top and bottom of screen.
   
2. Shows percentage of charging status
3. Has more free disk space available with default installation
   

Cons - Windows XP Home Edition

1. Need to purchase a separate license
2. Takes longer time to do fresh installation or restore image from backup
   

Eee PC 4G (701)

I bought two Eee PC 4G (701) for testing - one white (7A) and the other black (7B).






The white Eee PC is pre-loaded with BIOS 0204 and Rev 1.1 image (2007.10.07_04.33) whereas the black Eee PC is pre-loaded with BIOS 0401 and Rev 1.3 image (2007.10.19_13.01). The first thing I tested was internet browsing. My home Wifi network is encrypted using WPA2 Personal with AES/TKIP. I have no issues connecting to the internet using both Eee PCs except that you can't use any space in your passphrase. Both Eee PCs can reconnect to the wireless network automatically after shutdown or restart.
I chose the black Eee PC with the latest BIOS to install Windows XP Home Edition SP2 with an external DVD drive. During installation, I deleted all existing 4 partitions and formated the SSD with FAT32. It went smoothly and finished after 40 minutes.
I encountered problem with the white Eee PC. Sometimes, the touchpad is not working. In the end, I decided to update to the latest BIOS and latest image from the DVD of the black Eee PC. I am surprised that the restore took only 5 minutes.
I tested booting both Eee PCs at the same time. The white Eee PC running default Xandros Linux boots up faster but takes longer to get connected to the wireless network. So, in the end, both took almost the same time from startup to getting connected to the Internet.

East-Tec Eraser Lite Build 8.5.1.110

I installed this software from the DVD of APC September 2007. It can be used to

1. protect your computer and Internet privacy
   
2. erase previously "deleted" files beyond recovery
3. erase specific files and folders beyond recovery

The East-Tec Eraser Lite edition can clean Windows & Browsers only whereas East-Tec Eraser 2007 can clean Windows, Browsers, Applications, Peer2Peer, News and Email Readers and Custom. It supports all browsers - Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Opera. The differences between the two versions are as shown.