Informal battery test of Dell 11z Netbook

After fully charging my Dell 11z Netbook (with a 3-cell stock battery) I ran it on battery power with full screen brightness and the WiFi Adapter card continuously activated. Below is a graph showing the elapsed time verses the reported time:

So with these “extreme” settings I can get about 2.5 hours of use from the 11z on battery power. Now, I probably would get more battery time if I reduced the screen brightness a few notches and/or didn’t use the WiFi adapter, so I’ll need to do a bit more testing to see what I can get.

Automated software installation utility

I’ve solved my problem with having to install all my favorite applications twice on my Dell 11z netbook (once under the existing Vista OS and a 2nd time under Windows 7 when I do a clean install in about 10 days from now). It’s a wonderful automatic installer application called Ninite, which completely automates the installation process of several different applications. I describe this utility on my main tech blog site, so you can get more details from there.

Dell 11z: First impressions – Part 2

Now that I’ve gotten the whole Windows 7 OS issue off my chest (see previous posting), I’ll give you my quick review of the Dell 11z hardware.  Note, that I’ve only used the 11z for about 2 hours so this will be less of a review and more of a comparison with the Acer AO751h 11.6″ Netbook that I examined a few weeks ago.

First, the 11z is a very nice looking netbook. It looks like a regular Dell laptop, very clean lines and nothing outrageous or fancy (which is a good thing). I do like the fact that the keyboard is nearly full-sized (92% of normal), and being a touch typist I can very comfortably type on it. I don’t think anyone will complain about the keys being too close or too small with the 11z. The keys themselves seemed a little “clicky” when I first started typing on it, noticeably different from my Dell Precision work laptop. At first it sort of bugged me, but after typing on it for a while, I began to get use to it. So, I don’t think the keyboard springiness will be an issue for me.

The only light indicator on the 11z is for power, so you don’t have any indication of disk drive activity or if the caps key is on or off. There is, however, a small utility running in the background that pop up a small bubble window that says “CAPS LOCK: OFF” or “CAP LOCK: ON” when you hit the caps key, and that seems to be sufficient.

So far as ports, the 11z has three USB ports, a power adapter port, headphone and microphone jack, SD/MMC Card slot, CAT5 Network Jack, and a HDMI video port. Absent is a VGA port, which means I can’t use the 11z as-is with video projection machines. I’ll probably need an HDMI-VGA adapter (if such a thing exists).

The touch pad seems to work ok, although I’m primarily using a wireless mouse with the 11z. As such, I’m tying up one of the three USB ports with the Logitech Nano Receiver.

The netbook itself is very compact and easy to carry around. It’s reasonably thin, and lends itself to be toted along on trips to the coffeeshop over bulkier laptops.

The best feature of the 11z is the beautiful high-resolution screen. It measures 11.6 inches diagonally and is wide-screen format, and is extremely clear and bright. Since you spend most of your time staring at the screen, having a crisp display is very important.

Dell 11z: First impressions – Part I

I finally got my Dell Inspirion 11z laptop (or netbook, by my standards) and here’s my quick review.

First, I was disappointed that my 11z didn’t have the Windows 7 OS pre-installed as advertised on the Dell web site when I ordered it. From what I can remember, Dell stated any machines shipped after Oct 22nd (release date for Windows 7) will have the Windows 7 OS pre-installed. This was for machines that were eligible for the free Win 7 upgrade (which my 11z was), but my machine arrived with Windows Vista installed instead.

As such, I promptly called Dell post-sales customer support to get some answers. When I voiced my complaint to the Dell support rep, he kept telling me that I needed to go to the Dell Windows 7 upgrade web page and register for the upgrade to be sent to me via delivery mail. He never confirmed or denied that my machine should or shouldn’t have had the Windows 7 pre-installed as Dell advertised a few weeks ago. Since there wasn’t much he could do to help me, I hung up and tried to register on the Dell Windows 7 upgrade site as he suggested. Unfortunately, the all-important Service Tag number (located on the bottom of my 11z) wasn’t registered in the Dell database and as such my 11z couldn’t be verified for the upgrade!

So I put in another call to Dell support asking about this issue. When I asked about the Windows 7 OS pre-installed issue again, the support rep stated I was mistaken on what I read on their web site. Now, I might have been mistaken, but most likely not since that was the main reason why I ordered the Dell 11z. I knew that I wanted Windows 7 installed, because I didn’t want the hassle of installing Windows 7 over Vista and then having to reinstall all my applications. I’m kicking myself for not saving a screenshot of that Dell advertisement, but then again there’s not much Dell can do about correcting that issue at this moment. The scuttlebutt on the different user forums is that Dell didn’t have their OEM Win 7 DVDs ready in time, so that is why they didn’t ship their PC and laptops with Win 7 pre-installed. I can certainly believe those rumors, as that would explain why I didn’t get my 11z with Win 7.

As such, my only recourse was to jump through the hoops and order the Win 7 upgrade from Dell’s site. So I registered for the Win 7 upgrade for both my Dell 11z and my son’s  Inspiron 15 (which I bought him two months ago) and now it’s a waiting game. Will it take a few days, a week, two weeks, a month…. to arrive? I don’t know.

What I do know, is that this experience was a bad start in my initial evaluation of my new Dell 11z. Instead of being excited about using and exploring my new netbook, I’m utterly disappointed that I’ll need to wait until the Win 7 DVD arrives from Dell before I can really use it. The reason being, I don’t want to install all my files and applications under the Vista OS and have to reinstall everything again shortly after I install Windows 7. Of course, I could do an in-place installation which would preserve my files an applications, but I’ve always had issues with doing that, and a clean install is really the most trouble-free method of upgrading the OS (in my opinion).

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Update: I registered for the Win 7 Upgrade from Dell this afternoon, and the estimated shipping date is Nov 7th. So it will be about 10 days or so before I can get Win 7 installed on my Dell 11z netbook and really start using it.

 

My Dell 11z has shipped…

I got notice that my Dell 11z has shipped, and I should be receiving it this Weds. In preparation, I already have my neoprene slip cover and external USB Slim CD-ROM drive ready to go. I’m crossing my fingers that it arrives undamaged and free of defects.

Once it arrives, I plan to tweak the Windows 7 OS for better performance, then begin installing my standard suite of applications (e.g., Office 2007, Java, Eclipse IDE, Visual Studio 2005, FireFox, Paint.net, Palm WebOS SDK, Windows Mobile SDK, Safari Browser, Apache Server, Notepad++, and more).

After using the 11z for a bit, I’ll post my initial impressions. I’ll also run some basic battery tests and will present my findings in some upcoming posting.

Cloud Computing… revisited

When I first looked at the Dell Mini 9 several months ago, I also looked into cloud computing for file synchronization and storage. Netbooks and cloud computing sort of go hand-in-hand, since we’re talking about using a very portable computer as a secondary machine which can easily be connected to the Internet. Since it’s been about 7 months since I last looked at the cloud computing offerings, I quickly reviewed the current status of three file syncing/storage utilities: (1) DropBox, (2) SkyDrive, and (3) LiveMesh.

DropBox appears to have not changed, still allowing only 2 GB of file storage for their free service. SkyDrive also remained unchanged with 25 GB of storage, but you still can’t upload folders of files or large single files. My favorite of these three is LiveMesh by Microsoft. I’ve been using it since I began my first evaluation and it continues to work very well. I really like the seemless integration with my Windows Vista desktop PC, where any files in a designated “LiveMesh” folder automatically get synced between the machines I’ve specified. I can also access these same files on the Internet via any web browser, as they are stored on Microsoft’s file servers as well.

Although LiveMesh has a limit of 5 GB of online file storage, there is no limit for file syncing between your “ring” of machines. So you can sync 50 GB of files between your various PCs and laptops using LiveMesh, but you can only store 5 GB of data on Microsoft Servers in the cloud.

So for me, it seems that LiveMesh is the winner for file syncing between my machines. Unfortunately, I often forget I have it running on my systems (since it is so silent and unobtrusive) so I don’t make a lot of use of it. But maybe that will change when I get my Dell 11z.

External CD-ROM for my Dell 11z

In preparation for receiving my Dell 11z, I’ve been planning what software and programs I would install on my new netbook. In most cases, I can download the relatively small installation files directly from the Interent via a WiFi connection. However, I do have some applications (such as Microsoft Office 2007 and MS Visual Studio 2005) which I need to install via a CD-ROM drive. Since the Dell 11z doesn’t have a CD Drive, I’ll need to find an alternative way of installing these CD-based applications.

One method, is to share my CD-ROM drive on my home desktop PC and access it from my Dell 11z via a network connection. Not the fastest method of installation, and I may even have a few hiccups if the network connection flakes out. Another alternative is to rip the contents of the CD to disk as an iso file, copy it to a USB drive, then mount it on the Dell 11z using mounting software (such as VirtualClone). Since that would be a hassle to do with more than one CD, I decided to search for an external USB CD-ROM drive for doing my software installation.

In search the Internet, it seems that cheapest external DVD drive I could find costs between $40 and $50 US, which is a bit pricey for me. I did find a few CD-ROM drives (note, “CD” not “DVD”) that would work for $11 US, so I decided to order one from Amazon.com since they were fairly cheap. The total cost came to $17.46 US with shipping, and it is due to arrive a few days before my Dell 11z in a few weeks.

Since this is a CD-ROM drive, I won’t be able to watch DVDs or install software that is burned to a DVD, but in most cases software is distributed as CDs not DVDs.

Maximizing your viewable web page space in FireFox

Personally, FireFox is my favorite web browser because of all the nice add-on plugins that are available. My favorite is Adblock Plus which stops popup ads from appearing when you web browse. There’s also Morning Coffee, CoolPreviews, Download Statusbar, and WeatherBug that I’ve loaded in my FireFox version.

The only bad thing about FireFox, is that it is “top heavy”, requiring a good deal of vertical space at the top of it’s application window for the menubar, icons, bookmark toolbar, and window tabs. Since screen real estate is a premium on the smaller Netbook screens, using FireFox in its default configuration isn’t really suitable for Netbooks. However, you can customize FireFox with custom themes and addon plugins to help reduce all this clutter.

Dell Netbook 6-cell battery is ridiculously big!

When I put in my order for the Dell Inspiron 11z Netbook, I contemplated getting the 6-cell battery since it advertises 8+ hours of life over the 3 hours for the standard 3-cell battery. However, I decided to just go with the 3-cell since 3 hours is probably enough for me to go without charging it. I’m glad I didn’t get the 6-cell battery, because it is humongously large and hideous!

It sticks out the bottom like a big wart on this sleek and elegant system. What’s the deal with that? If I had a choice, I would rather it protruded straight out the back than down like it is currently designed. Apparently this is the same battery used in the Dell Mini 10 also.

With a price tag of $150 US, I’ll go looking for a power outlet every 3 hours than pay that amount for the giant wart battery!

An extra 3-cell battery is going for $130 on the Dell web site, but since it is the same battery as used on the Dell Mini 10 you can get one for $43 on eBay.com. Carrying two small batteries has got to be a better deal  than one giant battery that makes the 11z or Mini 10 look so junky!

Bluetooth Mouse — Which model to get?

I’ve avoided getting a Bluetooth mouse in the past because of intermittent connection issues. The mouse “goes to sleep” if you don’t move it after 10 seconds and then takes 1-2 seconds to wake up again. That would certainly frustrate me. But the reason why I ordered my Dell 11z with the bluetooth module is so I can use a bluetooth mouse and keep all of my USB ports free. I also don’t want to have an RF dongle sticking out the side of my netbook while it’s on my lap and accidently break it off or damage the USB port. Even with the very small and slim Logitech RF receivers, I’d rather not have a dongle receiver if possible. Thus, my search for a good Bluetooth mouse.

In doing a online search on Amazon.com, Newegg.com, and Dell.com, it seems that a lot of user feedback and comments indicate that most bluetooth mice are prone to the “sleep-and-wake” delay issue. I like the looks and cost of the Dell bluetooth mouse, but I’m hesitant to getting it because of the reported sleep-wake delay. The same goes for the Microsoft and Logitech mice as reported by users.

Now I understand that I have to take these user comments with a grain of salt because I don’t know how they’ve configured their computer systems or if their particular mouse is defective. So I’m asking for recommendations on bluetooth mice. If you have one that works without such sleep-wake issues, please let me know!