#6 Obsess much? Undervolting... Rivalling Jedi for my new religion.

My poor old Tabatha, that is, TC1100, has a 50kmWh battery, which can now only charge to 27kmWh, which means that the battery is 5 years old, was free, and is now 50% poked. To combat this, I am faced with several options:

1. Do nothing. Free, but not very satisfying.
2. Buy a new battery. Very expensive and very satisfying. But remember this platform was supposed to be a cheap-or-free, so not the best option.
3. Reduce the voltage load use of the processor, so it uses less power per cycle: Undervolting.

First of all, webetiquette requires I thank the Mobile PC Wiki crew for this article, which pointed me towards the Flipfire article, which is awesome. Running Windows7, the only program which had a slight problem was the RMClock, which doesn't install unless in compatibility mode, but thanks to Windows7 you just click 'Give it a try' and it works... ANYWAY, I digress.

If you follow the instructions in this article you really can't go wrong. The only thing is, you can't really guarantee great results. Nevertheless, I managed a 0.15v reduction at the highest multiplier, and a 0.25v reduction at idle. Not massive gains, but I may get another 20min or so from the battery now, which is 20min for free, no matter what.

What I really think is impressive is that you can use RMClock to underclock your cpu on purpose so you can essentially turn your 2.2ghz beast into a PIII 1000 if you want, which will definitely have benefits for laptop and netbook users who do not need all their processing power all the time - for example when browsing the web. Nice.

This blog was brought to you by MacBook Pro, cos you can't blog when you are purposefully BSODing your PC...

#5 Spinning the Black Circle

So, I'm not really sure if it qualifies or not, but it's my blog right? But recently I have been getting really stuck in to my old records. There's something really great about records, apart from the fact that I have some awesome albums.

My favourite trick, unplug the amp after lowering the needle, stick your head right up close to the needle: YOU CAN HEAR THE MUSIC! THERE'S NO AMP BUT YOU CAN HEAR THE MUSIC!

Ok, so apart from that, what about the negatives: lower fidelity reproduction, scratches, crackley dusty noises, having to turn it over half way through, having to buy new needles all the time. I could go on...

Well, I have given this question some thought, in various states of mind, and come up with the following definitive answer: the reason vinyl is still great even considering all the negatives is, It's big, and black, and round, and cool. That's it. End of argument.

#4 Windows 7

Well, it works! Windows 7 on a 5 year old Tablet PC and it actually works well - much better than XP tablet edition seemed to, which is odd, given that this machine was pretty much built to run that OS, and an OS that was built to work on much better machines works better. Wow, that sentence had bad grammar! But you get my drift. Windows 7 actually works well on a 5 year old, Pentium M 1.1GHz, with 1GB memory.

So far I have watched DVD, listened to music, taught it to recognise my handwriting, which is a feat some people struggle with, surfed the net over Ethernet (haven't tested the wifi yet) connected to my phone with bluetooth (but only for the remote control application), and customized the hardware buttons (something that wasn't possible the XP Tablet Edition). When the RC expires in March next year, I will actually consider paying money to keep this OS operating on my antiquated computer system. Lets just say that again slowly. I will consider paying money for windows. I have never had to do this before. But Windows7 may change all that... Probably not, but maybe.

Which brings me to my next point. Compared to XP, I'm all about 7. But compared to Mac OSX, there's no contest. Actually, that's like beating up little kids:

• I'm running a machine which was built in 2004, at which time XP was the peak of windows history. These days, you need a veritable super computer just to run the aero-glass interface (which poor old Tabatha the tablet can't run, btw).
• Mac OSX only runs on new macs. New macs are all nice, well-spec'd, rather attractive computers. The whole experience is infinitely more pleasing than any windows computer out there.

So, it's kind of like taking a VW beetle, pimping the interior, and then racing it against a Porsche. It'll look better, be more comfortable to drive, and the little things like the orange soda dispenser will all work, but you're still going to get pwned.

Still, there is something deeply satisfying to the used-pc clepto in me: Tabatha cost me nothing. They were throwing them away at work, no HDD, no power supply, and no stylus. I took it home, plugged in a PS, threw in an old hdd and it went first time. Now I have a useful, albeit old, tablet PC that functions very well. And now it is running the latest version of windows, which was also free, as it is the RC.

Tabatha was originally going to be an 'open-source' play thing. I would use anything I can on it, as long as I wasn't supposed to pay for it. No pirated software, no legal versions of anything that cost money, it was supposed to be all free, all the time. Now, I am considering paying money for windows. That speaks volumes for 7, but it makes me think twice about actually writing that down. I mean, really, paying retail for a Microsoft product? Really? REALLY?!

#3 Installing Windows 7 on a TC1100

So I decided to take the plunge. Here's a little research.

Google Search

Under volting

Ram Upgrade Photos

Drives & Tweaks

Not that you're interested but I'll keep you updated with my progress.

Oh yes. & I did this on the TC1100 as proof it actually runs!

#1 Obsess much?

Something The Beautiful Belle, often, no, always struggles to comprehend is my never-ending fascination with ever-so-slightly out-dated technology. Today I realised, and let her (TBB) know, it's never, ever, going to change.

Don't get me wrong, I like new technology too, I just can't afford to buy all the new technology I would like to afford. For example, I recently bought an Apple MacBook Pro. I am desperately in love with this particular piece of hardware, in fact, I think that the MacBook Pro is the laptop computer equivalent of soft-core pornography (I'll probably regret writing that... ). I particularly like how the new Mac OSX Snow Leopard solves the age old Windows vs Mac dilemna: If you were ever wondering if you should buy a Mac or stick with Windows, you can now just buy a Mac, install Windows on a partition and you have the best of both worlds, whenever you like, and all on a very, very good looking piece of hardware.

However, I am typing this blog, not on my new MBP, not on my less-than-two-years-old iMac (26", 2.4GHz C2D, the one before this one), but on my second-hand-in-2005, HP Compaq nx7000. Which, if you were too lazy to click the link, is a Pentium M, 1.4GHz, with 64mb shared graphics, and (recently upgraded to) 1.5GB of 333MHz (old, slow) RAM. On this machine I have had three installs of Windows, a new hard drive, and several Linux installs on Live CDs, small partitions, and most recently, Live USB (with persistant storage!).

I also own a 1.1GHz Compaq TC1100 Tablet PC, and an iPAQ rz1710, and these, along with the nx7000, are maintained in Windows update, virus-free, firewalled, connected, networked, etc etc. So, what does that make me? An advertisement for Hewlett Packard from 2004? A freak? Or just unwilling to let go? Or maybe, I just want to experience all these technological gadgets, and am willing to accept the fact that I will always be about 2 years behind the times.

The worst part is, as I realised to TBB's horror today, that it is never going to change. That sooner or later, I am going to own a room full of old computers, all networked together, controlling the motorised blinds in the living room, and dangerously close to becoming self-aware. It is inevitable. Like the Borg, resistance is futile. It is going to happen.

I just have to wait until next year's inorganic collection to get a Core 2 Duo PC off the street and I'm all set...