The Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse 4000

For my Dell 11z, I was using a Logitech laser mouse because the small USB Nano receiver had such a small profile which allowed me to keep it inserted in a USB port permanently. I didn’t have to worry about breaking it off or damaging the 11z’s USB port as you would with the typical USB mouse receivers (which are about 1-inch in length). Unfortunately for me, my Labrador puppy got a hold of my Logitech mouse and chewed it to bits. Thus, I was on a search for a replacement mouse.

Now, I could have bought an identical Logitech mouse as I was using, but I wanted to find something that was a little bit smaller and easier to travel with. While on a business trip to Phoenix, I stopped in at a Target Store and found a good looking mouse made my Microsoft called the Wireless Mobile Mouse 4000 (a good high-tech name!). It was slightly smaller than my previous Logitech mouse and also came with a low-profile nano USB receiver. So, I decided to give it a try and purchased it for $29.99 US.

After using it for a few days, I really like. It’s very lightweight, runs on one AA battery, and is advertised to work on several different surfaces (e.g., granite table top, carpet, wood, etc). It also is suppose to have a 10 month battery life, and has a convenient on/off switch on the bottom of the device.

The precision of the mouse is pretty good, and the scroll wheel is silent. Of course, it comes with the two standard mouse buttons, a center button (the clickable scroll wheel), a left-side button and the scroll wheel can tilt left and right.

So, I think I found a perfect mouse to use with my Dell 11z. Now, if it was only dog proof I’d be all set!

Wireless broadband speed test with the Dell 11z

For my work laptop I have a Verizon Wireless USB Broadband adapter which I can use to connect to the Internet using a cellular connection. Its come in handy when I’m at a remote location (say, in my car on the side of the road or in a small airport) and I want to check my email or look up an airline flight schedule. With all the available free WiFi these days, I’ve had to use this cellular adapter less and less often in my travels.

As a kick, I decided to test out the Verizon broadband adapter with my Dell 11z Netbook. So I loaded the Verizon Wireless Manager software, then inserted the USB device to make a wireless cellular connection. The web browser response time was reasonable, seeming much faster than a standard 56k Modem (remember those?). For an unofficial speed test, I went to www.speedtest.net and ran a test connecting to a local server in the Seattle area. Below is what the results were using the cellular wireless adapter on my Dell 11z:

I guess “Cellco Partnership” is the name of the cell tower service provider that Verizon is using in my area. As you can see, the download and upload speeds aren’t tremendously fast, but acceptable. I was able to attain 0.69 Mbps download, and 0.33 Mbps upload.

In comparison, here’s what I was able to get using my home desktop PC connected via a Comcast high-speed cable connection:

Here, I’m getting 25.52 Mbps download and 7.44 Mbps upload speeds which is great. I can remember not too long ago getting 1 Mbps download speed from a cable connection (and being happy with that), so the 25.52 Mbps isn’t something I can complain about!

WiFi is great, but in a pinch a cellular wireless connection isn’t too bad.

Netbook accessories are huge!

I’m using a Logitech V450 Nano wireless mouse with my Dell 11z Netbook, since the USB transceiver is so small and unobtrusive. I leave it permanently connected to a USB port in the 11z and just forget about it. However, with the 11z netbook being so small and thin, it makes my Logitech mouse seem huge! I’ve got the thin netbook in one hand (carrying it like a thin book), and my mouse in my other hand which feels like I’m carrying a rock. I know there’s probably smaller mice I can get, but most of them have a much larger USB dongle transceiver. My other option is to get a Bluetooth Mouse (with no dongle), but I’ve read that these mice often have a slight delay since they need to be woken up after a period of inactivity. Nothing is perfect, I guess.

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.

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.

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!

Back into the Dell Netbook World…

It’s been a long time since I made my last posting on this blog. I had returned my Dell Mini 9 for a few different reasons and left the Netbook world for quite a while. Since then, Dell came out with a Mini 10, 12, and now an 11z.

Recently, I was shopping at my local Costco store and saw the Acer 751h Netbook machine. I ended up buying this 11.6″ screen model and wrote up a review on my general Tech Blog site. After doing more researching on the web, I discovered that the Dell Inspiron 11z might give me more features and functionality than the Acer Netbook that I purchased. As such, I returned the Acer to Costco and ordered the 11z online. It’s due to arrive on Oct 27th, so I’ll certainly post my initial comments and impressions after it arrives.

Now, I have to say that the Acer Netbook is a fine machine, sporting the same 1366 x768 hi-resolution WLED screen as the Dell 11z. It’s a well built Netbook, with just two deficiences when compared to the 11z: (1) The Atom Z520 CPU is a bit slow compared to the Celeron processor in the 11z, (2) The minimal graphics memory in the Acer Netbook is noticable when dragging application windows around on the screen (the background takes a few seconds to refresh). I also wanted a WiFi-N wireless adapter card and built-in Bluetooth (for a wireless mouse). Getting a free upgrade to Windows 7 from Dell was also a good thing. So the Acer Netbook is a great machine for the $290 price from Costco, but I felt paying a bit more for the Dell 11z was worth it.

Even though Dell doesn’t classify the Inspiron 11z as a “Netbook”, we all know it is! So I may be back in the Netbook world again, and this blog site may be more active in a few weeks.

Accessories Received from DealExtreme.com

The online store at www.dealextreme.com seems to have some really good deals on computer accessories and hardware, especially slip covers and cases that fit the available Netbook computers. Since the prices were so low, I decided to purchase three slip cover cases that would fit a Dell Mini 9. The total price for the three different covers was $14.00 US, and the shipping was free. Now, the products were being shipped from Hong Kong, so I was expecting some long delivery times (not the usual 3-day FedEx Air that we’re all so use to). But, for the low cost of the products I was willing to wait. So to let everyone know, I got two of the covers about 3-weeks after I had ordered them online. The third cover was out-of-stock at the time of the order, but they shipped it separately once they replenished their stock a week later.

FYI, the two covers that I did receive do look of high quality, so I certainly would order from www.dealextreme.com again for such low-priced items. Unfortunately, I no longer own my Dell Mini 9 so I don’t have an immediate need for these covers. When I have some time, I’ll probably make them available on one of the popular Dell Mini Forums (along with the 16 GB SDHC card and 2 GB RAM Module that I order).

Lessons Learned…

So what have I learned from my brief experience with the Dell Mini 9 Netbook?

I’ve learned that keyboard size and key placement should be a big consideration for touch typists who are looking for a Netbook system. A 10″ system might be the threshold for such users, but you’ll need to test out the Netbook to see first hand.

Also, the screen resolution is a factor for effectively viewing web pages. The current standard of 600 pixels for vertical screen height is too small for viewing modern day web pages. A pixel size of 800 would probably be the minimum (however, most Netbooks don’t go above the 600 pixel threshold).

The Intel Atom CPU seems to do a good job for running applications in Windows XP and Windows 7 Beta OSes. Having 1 GB of RAM seemed sufficient, but 2 GB would be better when running multiple applications simultaneously.

The use of a Solid State Disk (SSD) Drive was a rather pleasant experience, since it allowed for a silent running system. The access speed of a SSD was perfectly acceptable, and having only 16 GB for the OS and files wasn’t a big issue since files could be stored on a SDHC card.

Having the Dell Mini 9 also allowed me to investigate using Windows 7 Beta as a future Operating System. I was pleasantly surprised to find Win7 runs quite well on a Netbook computer, with no issues regarding hardware drivers, etc. It worked out so well, I just might install Win7 on my Latitude D610 laptop just for grins. So, it seems that Win7 can run effectively on low-powered processor with just 1 GB of memory and slower storage drives.

Aside from the Netbook aspects, I also learned a lot about the world of online file syncing and storage which was quite valuable. Microsoft Live Mesh is a wonderful file syncing application with remote desktop connection capability. Other online services such as SkyDrive and Zoho are also useful for online file storage and document management. With these utilities, files can be synced and accessed from multiple PCs and hopefully smartphone devices in the near future.

So I can’t say that the time I’ve invested in learning about Netbooks and waiting for my Dell Mini 9 to arrive was wasted, as I’ve gained knowledge that I can use for my everyday activities.

It might be that later this year or next year that the 10″ or 11″ Netbook models will have everything I need to jump back into the Netbook scene again… but until then good luck to those enjoying their Dell Mini 9s!

The Great Netbook Experiment is Over

I’m afraid my first foray into the world of Netbooks is over. After spending a day working with my new Dell Mini 9 Netbook, I’ve decided to return it. It’s a really nice machine, but it had some major deficienices that were a deal breaker for me. So here are my comments regarding the Mini 9:

Positive Attributes - The Dell Mini 9 is a well constructed mini-laptop with the fit-n-finish that I expected from Dell. It has a nice clear, crisp screen and ran silently (no fans or whirling hard drive). The battery life was great, and the integrated WiFi connected to my home network effortlessly. I also installed Windows 7 Beta (slimmed down) on the 16 GB SSD drive and it ran surprisingly well with just 1 GB of RAM memory. The Intel Atom CPU seemed to do just fine in running the different applications I tested (FireFox, OpenOffice, XAMPP Server, Thunderbird Email Client, etc).

Negative Attributes – There were two big issues that I could not overcome: The first, was the small keyboard size and misplacement of critical keys. I’m a touch typist (albeit, not the fastest), and the small keyboard just felt too cramped for me to type emails and blog entries. In addition, certain keys such as the single and double quote characters as well as the hyphen key were not located in the same place as a standard keyboard. Also, the period key was significantly smaller than the other letter keys which caused me to accidentally press one of its adjacent keys. For the hunt-n-peck two finger typist this wouldn’t be such a problem, but for a touch typist such as I it is a big problem.

The second big issue is the 1024×600 screen resolution, specifically the 600 pixel vertical height. For most of the web pages I visited, I immediately needed to scroll vertically to read the actual content on the page (since most pages have big headers or banners at the top of their pages). It was just too frustrating to have to scroll vertically immediately on every page I visited. I should have know this by examining the screen resolution specs for the Dell Mini 9 before purchasing it, however, you really don’t feel the effects until you actually experience it yourself with real-life use.

So because of these to big issues, I’m returning my Dell Mini 9 to Costco for a full refund (fortunately, Costco offers a 90-day return on laptops, no questions asked).

So then I thought, “What are my requirements for a suitable Netbook that would meet my needs?” So here’s what I came up with:

• Small, lightweight, and portable
• Long battery life (3-4 hours) on a single charge
• High resolution screen (1024×800 pixels minimum)
• Large keyboard with standard key placement (92% standard size?)
• Solid State Disk (SSD) drive for reliability and silent operation
• CPU that is fast enough to run Windows XP/Vista/7 (Intel Atom processor?)
• Memory upgradable to 2 GB RAM
• SDHC card slot for storing files (since SSD drive may be limited in size)
• Integrated WiFi (with good range)
• USB ports (3 minimum)
• VGA video output (standard on nearly all laptops)
• Headphone jack
• Network Port

Now, the actual size of the Netbook would be determined by a usable keyboard size, which seems to fall in the 10″ screen range. Additionally, since my eyesight is still pretty good for reading small print, I could go with a high resolution screen (1280×1024 or higher if available) to compensate for the small screen size.

With a current review of available Netbooks on the market, it seems that not one of them will meet my wish list. There are some that seem to satisfy my keyboard requirement (Hp Mini 1000, Dell Mini 10/12), but not enough of my other requirements. Also, there’s a price consideration, as to satisfy my wish list the cost of a Netbook could rise to the level of a traditional laptop, which in my case would negate the justification for purchasing it.

So for now, I’m back to using my Dell Latitude D610 (14″ 1400×1050 screen) which isn’t the most portable and has a 1-hour battery life, but I’ll keep my eye out for the next incarnation of the Netbook machines.