Monday, August 15, 2011

SpeedLink Styx laser mouse

I got a new laser mouse. It was pretty cheap. The brand is SpeedLink. The hardware part seems good but the driver is unusable. They said that the mouse has 5 programmable buttons but after a while it loses the function assigned to the buttons So, the 'programmable' buttons are not that programmable. I will wait 48 hours to see if the support will give me a solution to this problem else I will send it back right away.

Also 70% of the weight is distributed on the back of the mouse. When you list it you have to grip it really well else it will flip in your hand.

Pros:
  • Cheap
  • High DPI
  • Cable is soft/flexible but resistant
Cons
  • Driver issues (renders the buttons inoperable)
  • Uneven weight
  • Extremely heavy for a mouse without batteries
I will go back to my old mouse for the moment. 

__________________

Update November 2012

The left button started to age. Sometimes it fails to click normally.

    Tuesday, August 9, 2011

    Using 4GB on 32 bits Windows systems (for noobs)

    Probably you already know that Windows 32 bits will use only (about) 3 GB of RAM even if you have more than that installed in your computer.

    PAE (Physical Address Extension) allows you to enable your computer to use up to 4GB of RAM. So, all your have to do is to enable PAE on your system. Note that PAE is automatically enabled if:
    • your server has hot-add memory ability (ability to add more memory without shutting down the server !!)
    • data execution prevention (DEP) is enabled
    If the computer does not support hardware-enabled DEP or is not configured for hot-add memory devices in memory ranges beyond 4 GB, PAE must be explicitly enabled.


    To enable PAE:


    Windows Vista/Windows 7

    Use the following BCDEdit /set command to set the pae boot entry option:

    bcdedit /set [{ID}] pae ForceEnable

    IF DEP is enabled, PAE cannot be disabled. Use the following BCDEdit /set commands to disable both DEP and PAE:
    bcdedit /set [{ID}] nx AlwaysOff
    bcdedit /set [{ID}] pae ForceDisable
    Note that under Windows 7, PAE should be enabled by default - but there could be also cases when it isn't. So, better enable it manually - "just in case".


    Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP/2000

    To enable PAE, use the /PAE switch in the Boot.ini file. To disable PAE, use the /NOPAE switch. To disable DEP, use the /EXECUTE switch.

    ----------------

    I did some investigations to see if there is any way to clearly see if PAE is enabled or not. It seems there is no way to do it.
    :(

    Sunday, August 7, 2011

    Archos PC Tablets - Comparison table -

     


    Archos 70b eReader
    Arnova 7 Internet
    Archos 7 Home Tablet
    Archos 70 Home
    Archos 70 Internet Tablet
    Arnova 10
    Hardware






    Processor
    RK2818 cpu
    probably RK2818
    2008?  /  ARM 600 MHz
    ARM 9 @ 660 MHz
     ARM Cortex A8 @ 1 GHz

    Processing power (million instructions / sec)
    Not specified
    Not specified

     800 DMIPS
     2400 DMIPS  

    RAM
    256 MB
    Not specified




    Flash Capacity
    4GB
    4GB or 8GB
    8Gb
    8Gb
    8Gb

    Disk Capacity
    0
    0

    0
    250 Gb

    Screen






    Screen type
    Resistive
    Resistive

    Resistive
    Capacitive multitouch

    Screen size

    7"
    7"


    10"
    Resolution
    800 x 480 pixels
    800x480 (some web sites say 800x600)
    800 x 480 pixels
    ?
    ?

    Graphic Coprocessor



    3D OpenGL 1.0
    3D OpenGL 2.0

    3D Graphics Games




    3D Games








    OS
    Android   2.1 (Eclair)
    Android 2.2 Froyo
    ANDROID 2.1 Éclair
    Android   2.1 (Eclair)
    Android   2.2 (Froyo)

    Dual boot

    ?

    No
    Yes

    Other Applications
    Book library, Web browser, e-mail, Alarm clock, Weather forecast, Appslib

    • Aldiko, Ebuddy, Wikipedia, Avecomics, HubKap, Deezer, Mewbox, Raging Thunderlite (a 3D car demo game), WordNewspaper, Touiteur, Fring








    WiFi
    Fast b/g WiFi
    WLAN 802.11 b/g bis 54 MBits
    IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g
    b/g
    WiFi (802.11 b/g/n)

    Bluetooth

    no

    No
    Bluetooth 2.1 EDR

    3G Tethering

    no

    No
    Yes

    Multimedia






    Multimedia formats



    Standard Android Applications
    Specially built Archos Multimedia Apps for music, video, coverflows, photo slideshows...

    Compatible Video format
    MPEG-4 AVI, MPG
    • MPEG-42 – 30 fps / 2.5 Mbps.

    - MPEG-4 – 30 fps / 2.5 Mbps.
    - MPEG-4 - HD up to 720p



     H.264 up to 720p resolution – 30 fps / 5 Mbps.
    - H.264 up to 720p resolution – 30 fps / 2.5 Mbps.
    H.264 HD up to 720p


    RM, RMVB
    Realvideo™ up to 720p resolution – 30 fps / 2.5 Mbps
    - Realvideo™ up to 720p resolution – 30 fps / 2.5 Mbps
    RM, RMVB


    FLV


    ?
    FLV


     DAT, VOB


    ?
    N/A


    MKV, MOV (up to HD 720p)


    ?
    MKV, MOV



    With the above codecs, the device can play video files with the following extensions: .avi, .mp4, .mkv, .mov, and .flv
    With the above codecs, the device can play video files with the following extensions: .AVI, .MP4, MKV, MOV and FLV
    Codecs allowing video files with the following extensions: AVI, MP4, MKV, MOV, MPG, PS, TS, VOB, FLV, RM, RMVB, ASF, 3GP

    Compatible Audio format
    WAV
    WAV

    WAV
    WAV (PCM/ADPCM)


    N/A


    APE
    P3 CBR & VBR


    OGG
    OGG

    OGG
    OGG Vorbis


    FLAC
    FLAC

    FLAC
    FLAC


    MP3
    MP3

    ?
    MP3






    AAC, AAC+ 5.1, 0ptional: AC3 5.1

    Subtitles
    N/A



    .srt, .ssa, .smi, .sub

    Photo formats
    JPEG, BMP


    JPEG, BMP, PNG, GIF
    JPEG, BMP, PNG, GIF

    Text format
    TXT, PDF, EPUB, PDB, FB2, HTML, RTF, MOBI (Adobe DRM PDF and EPUB supported)


    ?
    Not specified

    Photo Frame
    N/A


    Local pictures only
    3D animated Photo Frame with abitily to display pictures from Facebook, Flickr and Picassa directly through WiFi

    Supported Subtitles
    N/A


    None
    .srt, .ssa, .smi, .sub

    Adobe Flash compatibility



     No
    Yes - Flash 10

    Multimedia options






    Web Cam
    No


    No
    Yes

    HDMI output
    No


    No
    HDMI output5 (Mini HDMI / HDMI cable sold separately)
    Speakers
    Built-in
    ARNOVA 7, Standard USB cable (micro B/A), power adapter, User Guide, legal and safety notice.
    Built-in

    Mic

    Built-in


    Built-in

    Android on TV
    No
    no

    No
    Yes

    Peripherics






    Battery Charging
    3 hours
    Not specified

    Compatible Micro SDHC
    Not specified

    Battery video playback

    7 hours


    7 hours

    Battery music playback

    Not specified


    36 hours

    Battery internet access
    8 hours
    10 hours

    No
    10 hours

    Peripherals USB host mouse, keyboard
    USB 2.0 High Speed
    Not specified


    Optional - via USB host adaptor

    Interfaces

    USB 2.0


    USB 2.0: Mass Storage Class (MSC)

    SD
    SDHC (full size)
    Not specified


    Micro SD (SDHC compatible) on flash version


    Not specified


    USB Host: Mass Storage Class (MSC) (adapter micro B/A sold separately)
    Size/others






    Weight
    370 grams


    380 gr
    300 gr

    Thickness
    190 mm x 130 mm x 11.2 mm

    12 mm
    10 mm

    Accelerometer
    Not specified
    Yes

    No
    Yes








    Package content
    ARCHOS 70b eReader Player, AC/DC Power Charger, USB Cable Mini B / A, earphones, user guide
    Archos ARNOVA 7 4GB Internet Tablet · Standart USB Kabel · Power Adapter · Handbuch und Sicherheitshinweise

    ARCHOS 70 internet tablet, earphones, Standard USB cable, Quick Start Guide (QSG), legal and safety notice, power charger.
    Home page

    Firmware updates
    http://wiki.archosfans.com/index.php?title=Archos_70b_eReader



    Notes
    Note that the Archos 70 eReader (no b in the name) is a different device that is not running Android. The 70HT edition has ony 128MB RAM



    Buy now
    129 euro amazon

    EUR 169,00 Amazon.de