The Unauthorised Autobiography of Marc Holmes

 
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November 17, 2009

More Media Center: Dual Hauppauge 4000 DVB-S2 Cards

In the latest - and hopefully final - part of the Media Center saga, I've also pushed a second Hauppauge WinTV-HVR4000 card into the machine so I get the multi-channel recording from the satellite channels I can receive (a la Sky+).

Phew - just in time for Sky Player to become available in Media Center. What? Gah...

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November 17, 2009

Asus EEE 1101HA

I bought a replacement netbook recently: my old MSI Wind didn't really have the battery life I wanted but it worked fine otherwise.

Picking a netbook should be fairly straightforward as the specs are all the same but I was particularly attracted to the EEE 1101HA because of the advertised battery life and 1366x768 (11.6") resolution. The resolution makes Outlook (and some other apps) that bit more usable.

So I picked one up. Nice machine - and it indeed has a great battery life. The 'seashell' design means it's perfect for carrying around. But it runs a Z series Atom processor so it's a bit underpowered and sluggish at times.

I read somewhere (can't find it since) that the Z series can only recognise 1GB of RAM so I was a bit peeved, but turns out it can take 2GB.
So, happy to report that this piece of Crucial RAM has saved the day, and turned the 1101HA into a lovely little machine.

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July 29, 2009

Shiny New Samsung 24" Monitor

OK, it's a lousy photo - but it's a great monitor. Firstly, Dabs did a great job of delivering this yesterday when I only put the order in the evening before (and didn't select "super-next-day-delivery-please" option).

My previous monitor set-up has been 3x19" monitors (1280x1024) using the ATI X1300 and X1800 GFX cards on my machine. The multiple monitors thing works very well for separating activities: so email/comms on one, work on two, internet/reading on three - but it means that there's not that much space per monitor. This new beast runs at 1900x1200 and is fabulously clear, no dead pixels - lots more space for Visual Studio. The X1800 card is coping with the resolution too.

Now, the first thing I thought was: "Hmm, there's room for two of those bad boys on there..."

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