[RAMChYLD]

I want to buy my 5.1 cordless headphones today. Not sure if I can...

[cpd2009]

Only execute a full low-level hard drive format when absolutely necessary.

Case in point: Wendell is still in the process of having his hard drive reformatted completely. The entire process takes about 20 hours!! Two more hours left to go as of this post.

I started the low-level format at 10:30 or 11pm last night.

[Blackberry Bun]

Sunday, and not going to watch Avenger. The queue will be too overwhelming.

[cpd2009]

Sunday, and not going to watch Avenger. The queue will be too overwhelming.

Are people already starting to line up at the theaters?

[cpd2009]

Well, whaddya' know?

There exists an Android x86 port to the AMD Brazos platform. Wendell has an E-350, which is a part of the Brazos family.

Now I want to test the LiveCD of Android 3.2 x86!

EDIT: Well, it works, but it can't connect to the internet at all. Doesn't detect Wendell's wireless card. It seemed to recognize the battery though, and the screen animations were alright if not a little choppy.

[Blackberry Bun]

Are people already starting to line up at the theaters?

I arrived at the cinema 30 mins before it was open, and there are already people queuing in front of the front door. The cinema has 8 studios and 5 of them are Avengers.

I went there to walk around the mall, anyway. Avenger can wait for another 2 weeks.

[Stella Grapes]

I'm still alive!

I hope the new member posts. I've been interested in The Chipmunks recently myself, albeit more interested in the older versions than the current version.

[cpd2009]

Yes..it's early, but I'm excited.

Today's the day Greta arrives.

Some of the things I'll do when Greta arrives is to test various things Wendell wasn't good at, such as Webkinz. I'll also run the Unigine Heaven DX11 Benchmark, which is rather intense. Wendell could barely run it unless if settings were low, and the OpenGL benchmark froze him up completely.

I'm also interested and somewhat worried about the GPU setup. It's part of this setup called "Optimus", which is supposed to save on battery life and only activate the NVIDIA GPU when required. Turns out, there are issues with this, and games sometimes end up using the integrated GPU instead of the NVIDIA one. I hope this isn't the case with Greta, but just to be safe, I won't mess around with the stock drivers from NVIDIA's website and stick with the Gateway ones.

I'm also interested in the software DVD that HSN thrown in. It's basically the preinstalled bloatware that is not preinstalled, but rather on a separate DVD so you can pick and choose what you want. And all the software on the DVD is not crippled demo versions...they are all full version. Out of the 21 titles on the DVD, I'm interested in Stuffit Deluxe, Easy Video Editor 3, and Corel Office. It also comes with a whole bunch of Diner Dash type games too. I'm sure there are others on the DVD I'll be interested in, but seriously, Quicken WillMaker? My Perfect Wedding Planner?!
Here is the entire list as quoted from HSN...

Cook N Recipe Organizer
Corel Office
Digital Scrapbook Artist 2
Easy Video Editor 3
Family Tree Heritage Platinum 8
Logo Design Studio
My Perfect Wedding Planner
NovaBackup Professional 12
Photo Plus Essentials
Printmaster Platinum 2012
Quicken Willmaker Plus 2012
Resume Maker Professional 17 Deluxe
Stuffit Deluxe
Typing Instructor Platinum 21
Hoyle Card Games 2012
Wedding Dash
Wedding Dash 2
Diner Dash
Diner Dash 2
Fitness Dash
Parking Dash
Diaper Dash
Doggie Dash
Hotel Dash
Dairy Dash
Cooking Dash
Fashion Dash

So many "Dash" games. I never played Diner Dash, but I know of it. Now I have a chance to play it.

[cpd2009]

Greta has arrived.

Full review of the computer coming later today, but I'll tell you this right away.... MUCH faster than Wendell ever was. Webkinz is PERFECT!

[cpd2009]

Does Greta (or this line of Gateway laptops in particular) live up to the marketing hype that HSN presented on air? Well, I have the answers...


Let's try this again.... by cpd2005, on Flickr

For the most part, yes, with a few reservations. The Gateway guy's description of the GPU was full of marketing fluff, but Greta does indeed have 1gb dedicated video memory. What he failed to mention is that NVIDIA Optimus technology...basically, whenever you aren't running a game and just browsing the web or viewing Youtube, the Intel IGP is used. But, whenever you run a game that uses GPU (be it casual games or 3D stuff), the NVIDIA GeForce takes that load off the IGP, and improves graphic performance. It also ends up saving on battery power since the GeFore GPU isn't always active.

Peformance? It's above and beyond what Wendell can do. The Geforce 610m is an entry level GPU, but it scored around a 117 benchmark in the "Video Card Stability Test" program. Wendell only had a benchmark in the 60s. Overall speed is greater than Wendell, further proving Wendell is just a netbook disguised as a full laptop. As mentioned earlier, Webkinz runs perfectly, just as fast as Lilly. Overall Flash performance is much improved overall. And this is an entry level Intel Pentium Dual-Core here!

The build quality of the laptop is much improved too. I always thought Wendell felt a little cheaply built.The plastic case seemed thin, and whenever you would type on an uneven surface, there would be this annoying rattling sound coming from the CPU cooler whenever you typed. It was annoying to say the least.

I'm happy with Greta, and I shall now have an improved mobile computing experience because of her.

Now...let me analyze the HSN bits...

The HSN on-air presentation also had a demo of the GPU capability using the MS HTML5 Fishbowl demo. However, I was able to pick up on some inconsistencies that cause it to be marketing fluff. Yes, I do get a full 60fps with 100 fish in the bowl like on air, but IE9 by default is preset to use the IGP. :lol: Makes me wonder how much faster it will go when I do set IE9 to use the GeForce....

They compared this particular model with another Gateway model side by side, claiming that the other laptop on air is identical to the one on sale, with the slower Gateway having an IGP...but I looked closely, and I could barely make out an AMD Vision logo on the slower laptop. More marketing nonsense.

So, despite all this marketing fluff, why did I end up buying it? I researched the components myself, mainly the GeForce GPU and the Intel processor. The GeForce benchmarks were somewhat better than the RadeonHD 6310 in Wendell, and the PassMark of the Intel B960 was much much higher than the AMD E-350. The AMD E-350 only has a 727 PassMark, and the B960 has a 2090 PassMark.

Another factor that led to my decision is, of course, Wendell's slowness and inability to withstand the load of Adobe Flash. And one non-essential factor too....the white case color. :p MacBooks aren't the only laptops to come in white now. (and new MacBooks only come in aluminum now)

So yeah, I saw beyond the typical advertising gimmicks that lead people to buy stuff like this, and made an informed decision. I didn't just buy it on impulse, but I almost did a few weeks ago.