Updates on my Asus 1000H

So as you may have noticed, I posted away tons of posts from my previous “blog” in order to keep them here. Now of course, an update is a must, if you did read all of them. So here’s what happened after my long hiatus from posting updates about my lappie:

For starters let’s begin with my lappie’s “Bucket List”. Here’s the bucket list, with the ones I’ve already got slapped on my lappie crossed out (with a little footnote on each):

• Upgrade stock RAM from 1GB to 2GB. Yes this baby still works like a charm
• Upgrade stock HD from 160GB to 500GB. This is quite memorable to me, since I upgraded my HD and opened my laptop myself. Now with 500GB on my lappie, I’ve got me a mini-multimedia center on the go!!
• Upgrade stock 1000H battery (Upto 6 hours) to 1000HE battery (Upto 9 hours). I believe the 1000HE battery is compatible with 1000H and vice versa.
• Buy a screenprotector (I know, I know).
• Customize it’s look by buying a laptop skin.
• Get a new netbook sleeve that’s customized.
• Get a set of cleaning tools (USB powered vacuum cleaner for the keyboard, and LCD cleaner). Got them from CDR-King.
• Get a portable adapter for the office (so I don’t have to take it’s own adapter all the time).
• Upgrade OS to Windows 7 Home Edition Final Retail version. Well, let’s just say I got me an OEM copy of Windows 7 Ultimate Retail Version.
• Giving my laptop a name.

So there you have it. Well as for giving my lappie a name, man that’s a tough one. I’m definitely not giving up yet, maybe one of these days.

I’ve yet to find a very good screen protector, that’s why I still haven’t got one. As for the battery, I’m having a tough time finding one really. I just hope that by next year, I’ll be able to find one.

Oh and yeah, other updates include my computer’s newest performance rating. As you may remember when I first updated my lappie, I got this score:

And now, after updating some stuff under the hood of my lappie, I got this new performance rating:

There’s some notable improvement on the graphics as well as on the Primary Hard disk side of things. Both Processor & my RAM are still on the same score, but its really nice that my lappie’s rating went up a notch. Upgrading FTW!!

Well that’s about it I guess. Until next time!! XD

Memoirs of my Asus 1000H part 5

Aug 07, 2009

First off, here’s a new update on my lappie after getting its initial upgrade. After a day at work, and multitasking on my laptop: listening to mp3s, browsing stuff online, watching on youtube, downloading stuff, and watching videos every now and then, I just realized that my laptop’s processor was running on UNDERCLOCKED or on “Power Saving Mode” (meaning the processor is running more slower than it’s supposed speed) all those times. And I actually thought my laptop was on OVERCLOCK or “Super Performance mode” (meaning the processor is running more faster than it’s supposed speed), because everything was running SO SMOOTHLY!! The 2GB RAM upgrade was worth it!!

I know this sounds pathetic, but I’ve finally fulfilled one of my dreams. It’s to surf online on a mall with free WiFi access. I know its really pathetic, but I’m serious. I’ve always wanted to do it, and being able to finally do it here as I eat my dinner at the mall; typing my blog post as we speak.

You see, I kinda grew up being abit envious of those people who can go online anywhere coz they have a laptop (which is one of the reasons why I’ve always wanted to own one). Now that I finally got my lappie, I’m able to surf online.

I get those curious stares and I must admit, I love the attention my lappie is getting. I mean I can’t blame them if my lappie is really that sexy in black. Neways gotta go and finish my food. Chiao!!

 

Aug 07, 2009

I know this has been running for quite awhile, but I still haven’t named my lappie just yet.

It’s been days really…

It may seem like its a joke by now, I STILL can’t find a suitable name (or maybe I’m just picky) for my lappie. But I did make some progress though. I was able to find candidate names (the best I saw so far) for my lappie and they are:

• Elita - Think Elite + Lita. Since my lappie does look elite.
• Ai - Comes from the term A.I. or Artificial Intelligence (which I think my lappie has in a way). It also means “love” in japanese.
• Andrea - I think this was from a name of a female cyborg on one show I can’t remember what the title was.
• Eva - The first female. Fitting for my first laptop.
• Andromeda - Just sounds okay. Also based on one of those scifi shows on cable I think.
• Galatea - from the myth of Pygmalion & Galatea. Galatea is supposedly the inspiration for cyborg females that are in turn due to men’s deepest desires for the “perfect woman”.

I’m still pondering on a name that will suit my lappie. I know its really pathetic by now, but I’m really determined in giving my lappie the name it deserves. We’ve been thru alot for almost 4 months by now, and my lappie didn’t complain at all. It still works as hard as I expected it to be, and has been a very reliable partner for me. To think my lappie has lasted this long considering the amount of work I put it thru, I’m simply amazed. I even brag about it to my friends who often ask me about my lappie.

And for all that, I can’t even name her…

I’ve been browsing thru alot of potential names, and it just doesn’t seem to click. I feel that my lappie deserves a better name worthy of it. I hope that within the year, I’ll finally be able to give my lappie her name; a name worthy of her.

Memoirs of my Asus 1000H part 4

Jul 31, 2009

Yep, finally got my moneyz!! XD

And I’m really happy seeing that its more than I expected it to be. Very nice. So I’ll definitely be getting my lappie its much needed upgrade. After that I’ll be on the hunt for a 500GB HD next.

On a sidenote, I just realized that naming your property (ie. gadgets, tools, etc.) isn’t exactly a new fad. It’s been done way back. And when I say way back, its like around 1000 years ago. I believe the Japanese name their swords, and engrave the names of their swords near its hilt. They believe that their swords aren’t just objects/weapons, they are also beings with spirits of their own that they have to attune as well. Thus the term “becoming one with the sword”. Now makes me want to consider naming my laptop again seriously. I guess I’ll be googling alot for names from now on.

On a sad note, my sister’s laptop (a 14″ brick laptop that’s like 4 years old) was finally laid to rest. It died out yesterday. I tried my best to revive him and gave the laptop a good rundown just to see if there’s anything I can do to bring it back to life. Sadly, it died out. After 4 years of faithful servitude to my sister, I guess its time it was given its due rest. The scene kinda hit me… what if it was MY laptop? Just the thought of it makes me really sad. I really hope that my lappie would live out for more than 2 years and reach 4 years. I know that its kinda cheezy, but seriously, I’ve come to accept my laptop’s strengths and weaknesses and I still love it to bits. I can still remember my very first gadget that I owned; a Nintendo Gameboy, and that thing lasted me 8 whole years before it died out on me. I hope me and my lappie last as long as that… I really hope so.

 

Aug 02, 2009

After waiting for months, my lappie finally had its much deserved upgrade.

I’ve had my faithful lappie for almost 4 months now, and even though its running on stock RAM of just 1GB, it performed really well. And that’s taking into consideration that I do use my lappie for multimedia+work+internet+anything in between.

So after 4 months of faithful service, I decided to “treat” my lappie and give her a much needed boost on the memory department. I met up with my girl at McDo, and then we headed off to Parksquare. My lappie apparently uses a DDR2 - 667 type of memory. From how I understand it, my ASUS 1000H can only go upto 2GB for the RAM upgrade. Not bad in my opinion, since that’s literally double the speed of the stock RAM that came with my lappie and it performed just fine.

Now I first went to the shop where I bought my lappie; which I’ll just name as P.L.

I noticed the guy whom I bought my lappie isn’t there anymore. The one I met was a grumpy old guy who wasn’t exactly nice at all. His face has “Give me your money” written all over it, unlike the previous guy whom I bought my lappie from who was nice, accommodating and gave me a great deal with my lappie. But nonetheless, I tried anyway and asked how much. P1900 including labor. He was really trying his best to pretend to be nice and all, but he cannot hide his disgust and irritation when I told him “Thanks, I’ll just be checking for other shops for their prices.” I was definitely disturbed by the new guy. Unlike the old attendant who was nice enough to tell me when I told him that I’ll check prices from other shops “You know what sir, here’s what I can do for you. If you find a better deal in other stores, we will try to match them and give you an even better deal. How’s about that?” Man now that’s what I call great customer experience.

So after that I went from store to store and tried to search for a better deal. And I found one… which I’ll name T.H.

At first I was kinda hesitant. I mean new store, new faces, etc. But the attendant who was there reminded me of the guy whom I bought my lappie from; nice, courteous and very accommodating. Add the fact that she’s a very pretty lady (hope my GF didn’t notice I was looking alot). She answered alot of my questions about the memory stick I was planning to buy. Great thing about her, was despite the fact I told her “I’ll look around and see other shops’ prices” she was nice enough to say, “That’s fine sir, I understand.” I mean she didn’t promise me any great deals or anything, but she was very nice even though she knew there’s no assurance I’d buy. So I guess she’s really lucky that I came back to her store and bought the RAM from them because among the shops I checked out, they are the cheapest. I only paid P1500 and that’s including labor cost. That’s a P400 savings overall. Sweet!

And for the first time, by lappie’s protective shell underneath was taken out. And there, my lappie was bare in front of me as I can see her insides (RAM, Harddrive, Network card, Motherboard, etc). I’ll be honest, I was very afraid in letting someone else open up my lappie. But I just trusted the technician and went on with the operation. I was there all the time along with my GF at my lappie’s side. I simply refuse on leaving my lappie behind as someone else is tinkering with her insides. I mean who knows what they would do if I leave it there without me to supervise the whole operation?

Neways the whole thing was very quick, and it didn’t even take an hour or two. All it took was just around 15 mins atleast. The operation was a complete success, as my lappie booted up without a hitch. I was very glad that they’re really nice and I ended up buying my Epson TX100 3-in-1 scanner+printer there as well.

After a rather bumpy ride home, I set out to see just how much of an improvement my lappie went thru after the operation. I can definitely say there is some noticeable improvement. Here’s some of the things I’ve noticed outright:

• Booting up Windows 7 was definitely faster. Took around less than 12 secs (will test it again to make sure) compared to around 25 secs on the original 1GB RAM
• Youtube videos in HD no longer stutter like before in the 1GB RAM. Very nice indeed.
• MKV (Matroska) video files; you know those file formats commonly used on anime videos, also runs smoother overall with barely any lag at all while I was watching a particular video that actually lagged on my 1GB RAM before. I like.
• Booting up software is also significantly faster (tested opening Adobe Photoshop & Microsoft Office programs).

So just to be sure I’m just not fooling myself, I used Windows 7’s own performance measurement tool called “Windows Experience Index”. This handy tool simply “grades” or “evaluates” your PC and tells you just how fast or slow your PC is. Originally, my laptop had the following result:

So as you can see, at 1GB if memory, it still gave decent scores. Not perfect, but still decent. Now that I have 2GB, I checked again how my lappie did. And here’s the result:

As you can see in the result, even Windows seems to have noticed the slight improvement as well on different aspects of my lappie; namely the Processor (which actually surprised me since I never changed my processor), Memory (obviously since I upgraded my RAM), and Graphics (since my lappie is using a Mobile Intel 945GM Express chipset which shares its video memory with the RAM). I definitely am loving the improved speed of my lappie. Well I’ll be doing more testing tomorrow, coz I’m really tired and sleepy. Can’t wait to test out more stuff my lappie. XD

Memoirs of my Asus 1000H part 3

Jul 24, 2009

Just finished a busy shift, and well had alot of stuff done which is great. Bad news is that I STILL have work to do tomorrow for a friend. It’s a sideline thingie. Well anyway, ever since I got Windows 7 RC for my lappie, there are some stuff that doesn’t work like before. I mean most of the utilities and programs that came with my ASUS 1000h is designed with Windows XP in mind, so I don’t blame ASUS really. Good thing there’s alot of great tutorials online to help me go about in tweaking stuff and making my other utilities work in Windows 7.

After making most of my programs run under Windows 7, I decided to finally upgrade my BIOS from version 1902 to the latest one. I’ve tried to download the firmware off the ASUS Update Utility, but for some reasons its having a hard time doing so. So I just decided to simply download the BIOS file straight from ASUS’s website and then updated my BIOS using the downloaded file. I would admit I kinda felt my heart skip a beat because I’m really nervous in updating my BIOS (since I’m no PC expert). Surprisingly it was kind of easy to do using the utility. I believe it only took a few minutes to update the firmware. At first it kept on showing the BIOS page (you know the part where you have to press a key to run the setup of your BIOS settings, etc). After a few reboots everthing went back to normal. Windows 7 booted up properly again, and surprisingly it feels more faster after I updated the BIOS. I’ll be keeping a close eye on my newly updated lappie and hopefully that BIOS update really improved my lappie’s performance and not ruin it. *crossing my fingers my lappie wouldn’t die out on me after the BIOS update*

Jul 29, 2009

Neways, if you guys remember the last time I updated my BIOS right? Well I’m proud to say there was some improvement. I did notice that my lappie does boot up slightly faster now, and there has been some improvement in terms of multitasking. I kinda like the fact that my lappie turns on more quicker now than before. This week I’ll be having my paycheck, and I simply can’t wait to upgrade my lappie’s RAM and bump it to 2GB. I’ll be posting my observations here once I got my lappie upgraded. ^___^

As payday slowly gets near, I’m thinking of adding a few new stuff in my lappie’s “Bucket List”. The stuff added will be in bold letters:

• Upgrade stock RAM from 1GB to 2GB.
• Upgrade stock HD from 160GB to 500GB (hopefully).
• Upgrade stock 1000H battery (Upto 6 hours) to 1000HE battery (Upto 9 hours). I believe the 1000HE battery is compatible with 1000H and vice versa.
• Buy a screenprotector (I know, I know).
• Customize it’s look by buying a laptop skin.
• Get a new netbook sleeve that’s customized.
• Get a set of cleaning tools (USB powered vacuum cleaner for the keyboard, and LCD cleaner).
• Get a portable adapter for the office (so I don’t have to take it’s own adapter all the time).
• Upgrade OS to Windows 7 Home Edition Final Retail version.
• Giving my laptop a name.

Adding more energy juice into my laptop is definitely a must. Can’t wait to get my lappie upgraded to 2GB RAM!! XD Well it’s kinda ironic that my lappie has been a very faithful partner for me, but I haven’t even thought of a decent name to give. The thought actually came up in my mind long before, but I guess I never got around doing it. I’m not even sure what’s the perfect name for my lappie. I definitely hold my lappie a special place in my heart, due to sentimental reasons being my very first laptop. I can’t even imagine upgrading anytime soon, despite its misgivings that my friends point out. I’ve come to accept my laptop for its strengths and weaknesses and I couldn’t have asked for more. I guess its just right that I christen my laptop with a name that will give my laptop justice. What do you guys think? What name can you give my laptop?

Memoirs of my Asus 1000H part 2

Jul 23, 2009

Well first off, thanks for those who were kind enough to post their comments. Much appreciated. I would like to apologize if my writing style is not really that “stylistic”, coz when I write, I’m simply saying it as it is. But then again, this isn’t about my writing style. This blog is a documentation or the so-called memoir of my 1000h.

BTW, here’s a pic of my lappie:

Now, it’s been roughly 3 months since I bought my 1000h, and this thing has been a tough netbook so far. One actually asked me how’s my experience with my 1000h, and like I promised, I would share my experience with it here. You see, the moment I got home with this netbook after buying it, I immediately ran my very own “stress test” for a week (since the pc shop from which I bought this thing only has 1 week outright replacement as warranty just incase anything happens) so I took advantage of it and went crazy with the thing. My philosophy was, if this laptop would survive my one week of “stress test” then I’m pretty confident it would work alright. Besides, if it dies out on me, I can always have it replaced outright anyway. Hehehe. Well here’s my one week “stress test” regimen that my netbook survived:

• Ran 1000h virtually non-stop for atleast 4 days straight without shutting it down. It’s literally on all the time (downloading stuff, etc) for the duration of 5 days. It was noticeably warm, but not dangerously hot that I’d be afraid it would explode. Also keep in mind, I did this on April where the weather was still considerably hot.
• Ran my netbook inside an FX that’s on the road, while I’m on my way to my GF’s place. I just transferred some mp3s to my PSP and actually tried a few stuff. I actually had alot of people looking surprised. Good thing I didn’t get in trouble. Hehehehe!!
• Placed my netbook on a bag and actually commuted along with it. Ran on the streets, Jeepneys, tricycles, MRT rides, FX cabs. This laptop has braced some serious commuting stress tests in my opinion.
• Multitasked like hell. I really tried to push this netbook to its limit. I learned that while it’s not a multitasking monster, it performed quite suitably. To date, it can run atleast 3 - 4 different programs without it hanging up.
• Tested the so-called “long battery life” by running the laptop on max settings (Super-Performance mode on, WiFi on, Bluetooth on, max brightness and max volume) and I actually got a decent 4-5 hours on this one. Pretty impressive.

Now I know this sounds a little lame for a “stress test” but considering I only have a week to do all that, its pretty impressive. But now after 3 months, I’ll add up my laptop’s experiences here. Here’s the additional stuff my lappie endured during the course of 3 months.

• Remember the bad weather just a few days ago? Me and my laptop actually braved the hard rain that time everyday I went to the office. There was even a time the flood was really high on my place, and I tried my best to keep my laptop dry, but with the water way up to my waist, there’s little I can do to save my laptop from getting wet. Well it did get partially wet (moist even), and surprisingly after a few days later its still chugging along just fine. No signs for parts getting busted or anything.
• Remember in my stress test where I would virtually leave my laptop on for atleast 4 days? Well I still do that even upto this day. In the morning, bring my laptop to work where its on all the time (acting as my second PC) and in the evening at home, its used by my dad to play C&C Generals, and then I’d download stuff whole night long after. It barely experiences a whole day where it’s turned off. This netbook is one resilient workhorse, which I like.
• Remember my stint of running my netbook on an FX? Now add a tricycle cab and a jeep to that list. Bumpy rides galore, but my netbook still worked like a charm and barely even hanged up. Very very reliable indeed.
• My bag where my laptop usually is placed when I go to work, accidentally fell atleast 2 1/2 feet above the ground. Now I was really worried after that happened coz as you can remember I can only get the outright replacement after 1 week right? It’s been months since I’ve bought my netbook and I thought its done for. However to my surprise, my netbook is still chugging and barely even showed signs that it’s parts has been busted.

Man, to think my netbook endured all that means this thing is really built to last. Very great product ASUS!! I plan on sticking with my baby for a year or 2 before I even think about upgrading. Seriously. I love my ASUS 1000h that much!! It’s a very reliable and rugged piece of machine, despite its elegant design. It’s a tough piece of machine that I love since I’m a very rugged user. I’m already thinking of naming my lappie, but I’m really not finding any names to suit my baby, since this one’s both tough and elegant at the same time.

Now for the so-called bucket list. You see I just recently watched the film “The Bucket List” starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. Now to date, my lappie has the following upgrades:

• OS has been upgraded from Windows XP Home Edition (one that came along with my laptop preinstalled) to Windows 7 RC.
• Bought it a 160GB Western Digital external HD (for storing those digital goodies my netbook downloaded).
• Also bought it a Samsung external DVD-Writer (for only 3000K!! WIN!!).

Now ofcourse, since me and my lappie would be spending alot more time, I decided to give it a “Bucket List” of its own. Here’s the list:

• Upgrade stock RAM from 1GB to 2GB.
• Upgrade stock HD from 160GB to 500GB (hopefully).
• Buy a screenprotector (I know, I know).
• Customize it’s look by buying a laptop skin.
• Get a new netbook sleeve that’s customized.
• Get a set of cleaning tools (USB powered vacuum cleaner for the keyboard, and LCD cleaner).
• Get a portable adapter for the office (so I don’t have to take it’s own adapter all the time).
• Upgrade OS to Windows 7 Home Edition Final Retail version.

There you go! I’m planning on getting the RAM upgrade once my salary comes in next week. So that’s one down. Hopefully I get my lappie everything on the Bucket List before the end of the year. Hehehehe!!

Memoirs of my Asus 1000H part 1

This is just a copy paste of all the posts I made on an online “blogging contest” I participated. I just wanted to add it here since I don’t want to lose it, and this is also a recollection of my memories with my beloved netbook (which also happens to be my very first laptop). Oh and yeah, I’m currently using Windows Live Writer.

 

Jul 20, 2009

I’ve always wanted to create a blog post about my ASUS 1000h for the longest time. I wanted to share to the world my first hand experiences with my ASUS 1000h and now after a few months later, I’m finally given a chance to write my laptop’s (or netbook rather) story here on this blog.

As you’ve read in the title, yes, this is my very first laptop. An ASUS 1000h.

I’ve always wanted to have a laptop of my own ever since I was in college, but I never really had much money back then to buy one myself. After finishing my studies and graduated in college, I started to look for work. And at that time, I’ve dreamed of owning a laptop once more. To make the long story short, it took me 3 years to finally own one, and after much research into laptops, I’ve finally decided to pick an ASUS 1000h.

Unlike most people who just buy laptops just for the heck of it, I’m really quite picky when it comes to buying one. Because of my rugged lifestyle, I needed a laptop that’s:

• Not that heavy or bulky. Imagine bringing a laptop that’s as heavy as a brick everyday to work, definitely not good.
• Has good battery life. I’m not content with a battery life of just 2 hours tops. I need atleast 3-4 hours battery life just incase of emergencies.
• Very durable construction. Like I said, I have a very rugged lifestyle, and I need a tough and durable laptop that I can bring on commutes without fear or its parts getting busted while I’m on the road.
• Great screen that has alot of room and is decently sized.
• Keyboard that’s not small. I do type alot, so I need a comfortable keyboard.
• A decently powered laptop that can run most of my applications without any fuss.

Ultimately my 3 candidates were: MSI Wind, Acer Aspire One, and ASUS 1000h.

MSI Wind was great. Has good battery life, and its definitely not heavy at all. It’s almost the same specs of ASUS 1000h and its cheaper than 1000h at around 16K. Problem is I fear its body and the hinge aren’t upto par. I mean the mere fact that the hinge wobbles as I tested it makes me fear that it may not last that long considering my rugged lifestyle.

Acer Aspire One was definitely something I reconsidered buying. Great keyboard and great price ar around 15k. Problem was, the monitor, the battery life, and the durability are very questionable. I used to love Acer laptops (since my GF has one and its been great so far) but the Acer Aspire One was definitely not great in my opinion. Underpowered, lesser HD capacity, battery life that’s under 2 hours and flimsy body. Yeah its cheaper, but I’m looking for a laptop that’s gonna serve me in the long run.

And last but not that least; the ASUS 1000h.

Yeah I know this may sound like I’m praising it too much, but seriously, this baby is one helluva machine. Packed with a processor that’s bumped to 1.8GHz, a roomy 160GB HD, keyboard that’s very comfortable to type in (except for the right shift key which can take time to get used to), and screen size that’s quite decent. Add in the battery life that’s more than impressive. At maxed out settings (LCD, processor bumped up, WiFi turned on) I still get an impressive 5 hours out of it. Only downside I believe would be the fact that among the 3 its the heaviest, but comparing it to other bigger laptops sized at around 14″, this one is definitely lighter. I can just get it on my backpack and go on commutes without worrying since its study enough to withstand punishment. After I’ve considered all these things in mind, I opted to buy this baby.

Thus on April 14, 2009, I became a proud owner of an ASUS 1000h.