Google Offline

I have been using the new GMail offline functionality for the last few days. It gives you the ability to not only keep using your saved mail online, but to copy it to any specific machine(s) and from thence forward, it will keep a copy on the local machine. It really works well and I look forward to having a copy of former message, along with all the normal search functionality locally, without having to go online. It makes this a LOT more useful.

My New Favorite Machine

My Lenovo S10 now has 2.5GB of RAM, of which 2 GB is usable to the OS. The HD has been upgraded to a 7200 RPM 250 GB model. An additional power supply is on order, as well as a 6-cell battery, to replace the 3-cell one that comes standard. This should dramatically increase the use time. The only piece that I still need to figure out is a compatible WiFi assembly to “N”. It exists in the Lenovo world. I just have to find the right one.

Lenovo S10 Rebuilt and Running Windows 7

While the S10 was running fine with Windows XP Home Edition, there are certain things not present in that version of the OS, especially around networking and shares. For that reason, I had determined that I was going to eventually update the OS.

As I reviewed my hardware, I determined that I had an (essentially) unused 250 GB 2.5” SATA in a USB case. I removed the drive with XP installed and swapped in the empty drive. Hooking up an external USB Sony DVD Burner that I have for just this purpose, I installed 32-bit Windows 7 to a freshly partitioned disk. Wow! 15 minutes later, I had the OS installed and ready to go. I attached the previous XP disk via USB, moved the drivers and other compatible files over. The only driver I needed to load was the Power/Keys Manager, and I was ready to rock and roll.

Did I mention that I had removed the accessible 512 MB memory module and swapped in a 1 GB module that I had available, for a machine max total of 1.5 GB? This machine is VERY impressive in performance and while the battery isn’t spectacular, it should vastly improve when the 6-cell battery arrives.

I am very pleased. Windows 7 is every bit as responsive (if not more so that XP), AND I get this gorgeous UI!

Lenovo IdeaPad S10

This entry is coming via Live Writer on my new Lenovo IdeaPad S10. I have also installed the Phoenix multi-boot Hyper partition on this machine (the Atom processor can’t support simultaneous partitions; it’s one or the other). I will also attempt to post from that partition. The boot time is quite good: about 15 seconds or less.

HP TX2510us Running Windows 7

When I received access to Windows 7 Beta 1 last Thursday, I decided to give Windows 7 at try, as I had heard so many good things about its Tablet capabilities. Scratching my head about whether to install a fresh HD or to do an upgrade, I finally opted for the latter.

The upgrade from Vista Ultimate x64 went very smoothly, although it took some 2.5 hours, most of which was spent backing up and restoring my programs, all of which was done automatically.

My system ran fine, and all the programs worked, etc. Things started to unravel when I attempted to ink or touch. Touch was gone and could not be re-enabled, and inking was almost impossible, as the cursor would back and forth about 1/3 of an inch 3 or 4 times a second.

Additionally, I discovered that even though the screen would auto-rotate when I moved it, the pen stayed in the mode it was in when booted up. Not good!

So, after sleeping on it, I decided to reinstall, over the top of my existing installation, wiping out the current OS, but preserving my file system so that I would not have to move some 100GB of files back to the machine.

This time, it took about 15 minutes to accomplish and was stellar from the start! I installed the HP extensions for keys, etc. and this machine has be a joy to use! I have run into a couple of minor cosmetic quirks with Windows 7, but the stability and performance has been spectacular. I am very impressed! More to follow in the coming days…