No Love for the HP2133 Mininote

Maybe I should have called this post, I Hate Closed Hardware instead.

When I attended Linuxfest NorthWest 2008 I stood before the HP booth and fondled the HP 2133 Mininote. A bit larger and heaver than the EeePC that was in my bag at the time (running Ubuntu Gutsy, thank you very much), but with more of everything (CPU, drive, resolution). It was perfect for my summer of traveling, I convinced myself.

So I ordered one.

In fact I ordered the KX870AT version - yes, the one with Microsoft Windows Vista pre-installed. Simply because I wanted better hardware than what was available for the SLED version - I had no intentions of using Vista on this device (beyond giving it a test).

It arrives, the box is so nice and light - opening it, I love the feel of the hardware, from the keyboard to the brushed metal case. I plug it in and turn it on - thus begins my 5 hour introduction to Vista on the Mininote. There must be some tie at HP, or perhaps a lawyer from MS, that forces this operating system on this hardware - because I can not imagine any technical person alive willing to live with the pain of watching this device crawl with Vista installed (public execution is too good for this person).

Part of my pain was trying to create recovery discs - there simply was no way to do it from the device. The instructions that came with the device, online at HP, were all stating the same thing - use an application that was not installed on the device. I must have fucked up right? A Google later, discovered I wasn't alone - far from it. No problem, I call HP Support. Now I have no beef with the people I talked too at HP Support - but the woman that I finally got wanted me to burn a windows backup and did not seem to understand my request for recovery discs instead. I got a little grumpy (those that know me are shocked right?) and told her just to ship the recovery discs and I'll pay for it - well she did ship them, no charge and I received 3 business days later (seemed she did understand the difference from a backup and a recovery disk after all).

Okay, scrub Vista off this device (spouting shit all the while about the guy who should be shot for making the decision to pair the two together) - lets get back into Linux. I had such high hopes.

I did a little research, seems you have to tweak Ubuntu Hardy to get it installed - no problem. Right? No joy, no graphics acceleration or it craps out something else - have to hack to get the earphone to work and for the life of me I can't figure out why network manager can see the wireless networks but can't connect.

Okay, I'm moaning in pain at this point.

So I don't want SLED, why not see if OpenSuse 10.3 will do just as well - ha, fat chance. Maybe version 11 that comes out in 12 days (from now) - you would think they would incorporate the drivers and configuration right? Geez, I hope so. I will try it again later - after the pain ebbs away.

What the hell is the devices' problem anyways? I blame the closed source, the VIA Chrome 9 (yes they just released open drivers - maybe I have early adapter syndrome) and the Broadcom wireless (someone firebomb their offices for me please).

Anyways, I'm a little bitter about the whole thing - I lost a weekend to this device and its still not to a base level that I'm happy with. I placed it on my shelf and there it sits - having to remind myself that this is what happens when you buy out of lust rather than love.

My recommendation is to stay away from this device, all models - but if you really love the outer shell like I did, to wait to see if the distros better support it or HP makes better decisions on hardware. I've my EeePC, as claustrophobic as the screen and keyboard feel - I'll use it over the Mininote any day.

Where is Vista at the Office?

A year ago I purchased a single volumn license of MS Windows Vista and decided that we, the company I work with, was not ready for migrating to this new version any time soon.

Over that year I've kept my ear to the ground, regionally I mean, speaking with other IT leaders in my area - the larger, well established, vendors - what are others doing with Vista in the workspace? Across the board, without exception, not a single medium to large company that I've spoken with has upgraded to Microsoft's latest Windows offering.

Makes you step back and think about the larger picture.

My Day to Day Computing

I've been asked a couple times what do I use for hardware and operating systems on any given day. Those that know me would not be surprised that the answer is not a little one.

I use two laptops every day: an Apple MacBook Pro with OSX Leopard and a Zareason MegaLap with Ubuntu Linux. I have been trying to move much of my day to day work to OSX, so the Linux laptop is there for the things that I haven't gotten migrated as yet.

For desktops I have a HP workstation at the office running Microsoft Windows XP Professional. At home I have a self-built (very cool) Windows XP Professional desktop (mostly for games) and a Intel Apple iMac.

But if anyone asks next week, I'm sure the answers will be different.

Review: Lenovo ThinkPad X60

As a long time Thinkpad user, my vendor convinced me to try the Lenovo ThnkPad X60 Tablet out (I didn't make it very hard for him).

The short and dirty specifications are:

• Intel Core Duo processor L2500 1.83
  
• 80 GB hard drive
  
• Gigabit ethernet
• Bluetooth
• Intel Pro/Wireless 3945ABG
• 12.1" screen at 1400x1050x32 resolution
• 2 GB RAM
  

The first thing that I notice is the weight - not even 4 pounds, easy to hold in a single hand. And portability, for me, is crucial. The next thing I notice is the size, this guy is small. Nice so far.

It has the standard Lenovo buttons, thumbpad reader, and a few new things. For one is the swival that allows the LCD to spin and close backwards - leaving the screen up like a thick book. Another button allows you to spin the screen contents around to the four arcs, choosing how you want to use your tablet when it is open like this. I have to use an external USB DVD/CD drive - no space inside - I don't mind.

I haven't even turned it on and I like it.

Windows XP comes up (ah well, nothing is perfect right!), I go through the usual questions, fingerprint authentication, etc. All good. I'm left with a ThinkPad laptop. I then spin the screen around and try out using the pen, which gets some getting used too! This is a different operating system than I'm used to with Windows, a few extras show up and I realize (ya, I know, I'm clueless) I am using Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005. The Input Panel is nice, intuitive.


Okay, so I get bored easy. I've that single corporate license of Windows Vista Business laying around and I read (somewhere) that the tablet features are now incorporated into this version of their latest desktop OS. Out goes XP, in goes Vista.

Installing the Lenovo software was easy, just install the ThinkAdvantage System Update. I picked and chose what I wanted (I think the Lenovo ThinkPads come with too much crap anyways). It ran better than my previous foray into Vista and it is still running (okay, its been only 3 days, but that is 1 more than my previous attempt).

The tablet features on Vista are marginally better than XP but overall slower.

I am going to give it a try for the next while - Vista on this tablet (if only to see how the un-enlightened live).

Two Days with Vista

As many MS Windows users know, after a period of use you will need to reinstall your operating system. This happened to me at work - where I was running Microsoft Windows XP Professional. Being the little dweeb that I am, I thought to give this Vista thing a try - the designate test dummy for our corporation.

Microsoft Windows Vista is the newly released product from the Windows operating system line. I purchased the eOpen Business edition of the product - creating my own CD from the official ISO then using the eOpen license number.

Installation went very smooth on my Pentium 4 3.00 GHz 2GB RAM desktop. Post installation I had to manually track down and install the sound and firewire drivers - thankfully the Vista version existed. Manually added my desktop to our corporate domain (Windows 2000 AD) - global policies were enacted, login script ran. I'm in!

This is where the fun begins right?

The colours - more gawd-awful pastels that I can't stand. Next is the 3D effects - they are okay but nothing coming close to what I have with my Beryl (or Compiz) desktop. I don't really need eye candy - this is a work machine after all - so I configure the computer for Best Performance which effectively turns off all the toys. There is a noticeable increase in performance with all this garbage off. Didn't like the Windows Sidebar and Gadgets - just not customizable enough for me what I'm used too in Linux - so they are gone as well.

Fine - so now I need some applications. Can't install Microsoft SQL Server (client or server), sorry - won't work on Vista until next service pack. Okay, so everything else goes on - no troubles. The applications themselves seem to start slowly, archives painfully slow (30-90 seconds in some cases) - once running they seem to be okay to use. Every time IE starts it overrides my default brower, this pisses me off (and reminds me of the pain back in the early-mid 90's). Even as a member of the domain administrator group I am unable to change some functionality on the local machine - this must be customizable, and I don't bother looking. My legitimate music CD fails to play - looking into this it appears Microsoft was nice enough to put DRM shit directly into the OS (which is much much worse that most users will ever realize). My time is limited and the changes just browsing network files is different enough that I loose patience - I can't blame anyone else but myself.

In theory, I agree for the need to retool Vista. Security right? Wrong, DRM takes precedent when there is a conflict - that makes no sense at all. New innovative technology? I don't see anything but incremental changes to what our corporation uses already. So what about all that great eye-candy? Big deal - ask any Linux desktop user to see the desktop they have been using for the last year. And what is all this shit about Vista Content Protection hardware? Is anyone else getting scared - Vista is causing the markets other hardware costs to increase! But what is this about some users seeing upwards of triple the bandwidth usage?

There are a host of good things - don't get me wrong. Piles of great stuff in the AD itself should make every company look at reasons to upgrade. But is it enough? I barely even looked at Vista and it gave me a bad taste. I use Windows because I have to and I'm lucky enough to enjoy a Linux desktop because I prefer it.

Two days later I sat back and looked at my system and thought this is just stupid and on a day away from the office, asked a Junior System Administrator to re-install XP Pro back onto my system. I was worried about being forced to move to Vista (pre-installs, etc) but guess we should be good for 2 more years on Windows XP.

Just long enough to convert all our desktops to Linux.

Vista Released, Does Anyone Care?

I have been pondering the release of Microsoft Vista. November 30 2006, Microsoft announced the availability of Vista for businesses (and broadly available on January 30 2007). The excitement (at least in the trash tech media) leading up to the initial release was in full swing. All the gears were in motion for another industry sweeping product from Microsoft.

So what happened?

Was there any release parties in November or December? Not in my area. It certainly didn't explode on that date like fireworks on Canada Day.

And where is all the excitement? The majority of the tech magazines are focusing on if you should upgrade, how little this release has changed from the prior, why it costs more, how stable will it really be and of course is it worth it?

Oh certainly, looking at Microsoft Vista, there are some great things within for any business. But I know upgrading is not high on my corporate agenda - maybe in 18 months or maybe not.

Microsoft MVLS and OEM

Before I start, I warn you I'm cranky!

Okay, our company has a small host of IBM workstations which come with Microsoft OEM software. Some of the products installed are based on our corporate Volume Licensing (MVLS) purchases.

Lets look at the two in general, high level terms (as I understand them as a end-user with purchasing power):

• OEM - comes bundled with your new hardware. Licensed only for that specific hardware. It is not tracked at Microsoft. Generally cheaper than MVLS.
• MVLS - purchased in bulk. Can be moved to other hardware if removed from another (can be transported). Tracked at Microsoft eOpen website (the site fucking sucks btw). Generally more expensive than OEM.

With our mixed licensed software environment - it is hell to track the stuff. Is the license transportable? Do I need more licenses or simply how many licenses do we have? (I know there are 3rd party tools out there to help - but strangely, nothing from Microsoft... I asked)

Talking to my vendor of choice, I was looking to change to a MVLS-only solution. No more OEM.

Great idea right? A little more expensive, but all my software is tracked at eOpen. If I have 100 licenses, I don't have to track those against specific hardware, just make sure you don't go over 100. Costs are a little higher but acceptable. I think this is the way to go.

Except, try and buy a desktop or workstation without some OEM software bundled! Microsoft lost the 2002 Anti-Trust case brought to them by the US DOJ didn't they? Who do I bitch at - the hardware vendors or Microsoft?

I spoke with a friend who works for a shop with the responsibility of over a thousand machines. How do they do it? Well, it seems they buy bulk hardware, be it HP or IBM, then purchase a MVLS package (meaning a bundle of VL software). Get this, they still pay for the OEM licenses for the machines! With the bulk pricing of the hardware, they guess they are still saving some money overall.

Where I work, we are either too small (or too smart!) to double up on our licenses.

Why can't I buy, and willingly spend more for the software mind you, on none OEM hardware? Hello, IBM... HP... anyone listening? I know Microsoft isn't.

I'm just bitter.