Tag: Microsoft

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Vista PC Reviewed: Gateway GT5408 Desktop

This Gateway® GT5408 Desktop is one of three Vista PC’s I worked on shortly after Windows Vista was released. The other two are Gateway® GT5404 Desktop and HP Pavilion Slimline s7700n PC.

Specifications
Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E4300 dual-core Processor 64-bit processor with Intel® EM64T Technology (1.80GHz, 800MHz FSB, 2MB L2 Cache)
Operating System: Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium
Chipset: Intel® 945G DH Chipset(Viiv™)
Memory: 1024MB dual-channel DDR2 Memory (2 x 512MB), 533MHz (PC4200). Expandable to 4GB (2x2048MB) 667MHz (PC5300)
Video: Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950 with up to 224MB Shared Video Memory – VGA port
Audio: 8-Channel (7.1) High Definition Audio
Hard Drive: 320GB SATA II (7200rpm, 8MB cache)10
Optical Drives: 16x multiformat dual-layer DVD±RW drive
15-in-1 Digital Media Manager™ (Memory Card Reader)
56K ITU V.92 ready fax/modem (RJ-11 port)
Intel® 10/100 Mbps Ethernet LAN (RJ-45 port)
6 USB 2.0 Ports (2 in front, 4 in back)
2 IEEE 1394 port “FireWire” (1 in front, 1 in back)
1 Parallel Port, 1 Serial Port
2 PS/2 Ports (Keyboard and Mouse)
5 Audio (Rear): Front/Headphone (Stereo), Rear (Stereo), Center/Sub, Microphone, Line-in/Side (Stereo), plus S/PDIF Optical
2 Audio (Front): Microphone, Front/Headphone (Stereo)
1 PCI-E x16, 1 PCI-E x1, 2 PCI

Out of the box, Gateway GT5408 Desktop is somewhat an adequate performer. It does have an Intel Core 2 Duo Processor for nice performance potential. It comes with 1GB of RAM (2x512MB) and an integrated Intel GMA 950 with up to 224MB shared video memory. That leaves 800MB of RAM to the system. Booting Windows Vista on this PC is a little bit painful. Right of the bat Windows Vista is using 700MB-900MB of RAM and settles around 500MB.

To increase the performance of this computer, consider upgrading the Memory to at least 2GB and/or installing a decent Video Card with minimum of dedicated 128MB of video RAM.

This computer comes with an optical mouse and a USB-powered stereo speaker. The mouse is nice enough to use. The speaker lacks low frequency and sounds terrible when it comes to music.

GT5408 CPUz 01 GT5408 CPUz 02 GT5408 CPUz 03

…….to be updated

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Microsoft Releases Windows Server 2003 & Windows XP x64 Service Pack 2

In lieu of Patch Tuesday, Microsoft releases Service Pack 2 for 64-bit Windows XP and Windows Server 2003.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/windowsserver/sp2/overview.mspx 

Windows Server 2003 x86 (32-bit) Service Pack 2
WindowsServer2003-KB914961-SP2-x86-ENU.exe – 372.0 MB

Windows Server 2003 x64 (64-bit) and Windows XP x64 (64-bit) Service Pack 2
WindowsServer2003.WindowsXP-KB914961-SP2-x64-ENU.exe – 350.9 MB

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Vista PC Reviewed: HP Pavilion Slimline s7700n PC

This HP Pavilion Slimline s7700n PC is actually the second PC with Windows Vista pre-installed that I worked on. The first one was Gateway® GT5404 Desktop.

UPDATE: Download and install the latest nVidia GeForce driver to enable higher resolution display. I tested it with Samsung SyncMaster 940MW at 1440×900 resolution.
http://www.nvidia.com/content/drivers/drivers.asp

HP Pavilion Slimline PC is roughly one-third the size of a mid-tower PC. Previously it was equipped with Intel Celeron, AMD Sempron, and AMD Athlon 64 Processor. HP Pavilion Slimline s7700n PC is equipped with AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ dual-core processor.

Product specifications:

  • AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ dual-core processor (2GHz)
  • 250GB Serial ATA hard drive
  • 1GB DDR2 PC4200 RAM (2x512MB); Supports up to 2x1GB
  • Multi-format/dual-layer LightScribe DVD drive
  • 5 USB, 1 FireWire, 1 VGA, 1 headphone, 1 microphone, 1 S/PDIF out, 2 PS/2, 9-in-1 memory card reader
  • 54g Wi-Fi LAN (802.11b/g)
  • 10/100 Ethernet
  • Integrated nVidia GeForce 6150 LE video card with 128MB dedicated memory and TurboCache
  • 1 PCI slot
  • 56K bps data/fax modem (occupying the PCI slot)
  • Windows Vista Home Premium

It is a great Windows XP machine, but it is a little sluggish running Windows Vista. I eventually upgraded the RAM to 2GB (2x1GB) and it’s been running a lot better.

Windows Vista uses around 800MB of RAM right after it finishes booting up. The computer was unusable for the first few minutes when it has only 1GB of RAM. After Windows Vista settles down it uses around 500MB of RAM; that’s before having an anti-virus software installed. It is imperative to have a minimum of 2GB of RAM on this machine if you want to run Vista comfortably.

This computer is equipped with nVidia GeForce 6150 LE video card with 128MB dedicated memory. It also takes 191MB from the sytem RAM. It has one VGA port, no DVI. It has no problem driving a 22-inch flat panel at 1680×1050 resolution. It has one PCI slot available, so theoretically a PCI graphic card can be added. Unfortunately it will only accommodate cards with shorter bracket. At this point there is no option to adjust the amount of system RAM shared by the graphic card. There is no such option in the BIOS or in nVidia control panel.
Continue reading “Vista PC Reviewed: HP Pavilion Slimline s7700n PC”

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Review: Slingbox Pro (Part 1)

Watching live TV on the computer has never been easier thanks to Slingbox. I first heard of Slingbox roughly two years ago. Such device was still new and somewhat pricey. Sony even had their own version of such device which is now called “LocationFree® TV Box”. In the eyes of many Slingbox was one of the first in this particular industry. Sling Media (the manufacturers of Slingbox) introduced its new line of Slingbox on September 28th, 2006. They introduced Slingbox Pro, Slingbox AV, and Slingbox Tuner; the succesors of the original Slingbox.

A friend asked my help to set up his new Slingbox pro. He wanted to connect the Slingbox pro to his HDTV receiver, but unfortunately the Slingbox HDTV adapter was back-ordered. We decied to connect the Slingbox Pro to a standard cable TV for the time being. The installation was easy and we watched TV on a Macbook Pro shortly after within the local area network.

So far it has been a pleasant experience

to be continued…….

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Apple Updates iTunes and QuickTime

Apple releases updates to iTunes and QuickTime.

iTunes 7.1 adds support for the Apple TV and also supports a new full screen Cover Flow and improved sorting options.
QuickTime 7.1.5 delivers numerous bug fixes and addresses critical security issues.

http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/

iTunes 7.1 and QuickTime 7.1.5 are available for Mac OS X (10.3.9 & 10.4.8) and Windows 2000 (SP4)/XP (SP2)

Continue reading “Apple Updates iTunes and QuickTime”

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VMware Fusion Beta 2 for Mac is Released

VMware releases Fusion Beta 2 for Intel-Macs.
http://www.vmware.com/products/beta/fusion/

VMware Fusion Beta requires Serial Number, it can be obtained through the download page.

Fusion Beta – VMware-Fusion-e.x.p-41385.dmg
Beta Version | 3/1/07 | Build 41385 | 120 MB
(md5sum: f19458ff927cd2573eaa5ccc5c4c183a)

From VMware:

  • What’s new in Beta 2
  • Experimental 3D graphics: DirectX 8.1 support
  • Rollback
  • Windows Vista Support
  • Improved networking support
  • Improved ability to add virtual hardware

VMware Fusion for Mac Release notes
http://www.vmware.com/products/beta/fusion/releasenotes_fusion.html