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I just received my Amazon Kindle2 and I already love it. In the week leading up to the much anticipated arrival I searched for cool tips and tricks . I was not disappointed. In addition to being the best book reader I have ever seen (better then my palm pilot) the kindle sports a wireless network that while slow lets you browse anywhere on the web, oh and did I mention it’s FREE. The Kindle2 also has an excellent battery life (less when the wireless is on) and the ability to send documents to it via e-mail. In addition to all of this sweetness Kindle2 can read not only the books on Amazon but text files and any Mobipocket book. This ability expands the number of books available into hundreds of thousands maybe even millions. Overall the kindle is a great purchase and addition to any geeks ToyChest

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Dear Asus,

I have found that the EeePC is an awesome product. I have purchased two of them and helped many other people make the decision to buy one. I also look forward to the release of the EeeTV. As an ASUS consumer and advocate I would like to share my views on the use and function of the Linux operating system on the Eee line of pc’s.

The decision to go with Linux was a great move. There are not enough manufacturers supporting Linux to the extent that ASUS has. I would, as a Linux user like to see ASUS extend support beyond the Xandros operating system. I am not a linux purest who thinks that ASUS must release the source code for all the software that makes the Eee Pc a great little machine. What I would like to see is precompiled packages that can be plugged into the most popular of Linux distributions like SUSE, Debian, Ubuntu, Mandriva and Fedora. I would also like to see full synaptic support to Xandros Repositories and full desktop support.

ASUS one of the reasons that you have done so well and had so much success is that you gave users more options with your Eee Pc’s. Linux users have been very excited at the prospect of having such a neat little computer with Linux support. The same Linux users that have helped ASUS succeed prefer operating systems and computers that offer freedom. It is up to you to foster that good will by understanding the Linux consumer and his philosophy. The Linux user will work around obsticles that hamper his or her computer operating experience, but they will praise and avidly support the company who makes that job easier. With so many compact computers popping up in the market these days, your early out of the chute advantage may dwindle. It would make good sense to build stronger relationships with those users who support ASUS.

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I have had the responsibility of working a bunch of different operating systems lately, which prompted me to reflect on which operating systems I use and why.

For my own use I prefer Linux because it is stable, secure, powerful and free. Linux gives me the ability to work with just about any file and not deal with proprietary BS or DRM. I try to find Linux equivalents to all the Windows software that I would want to run and many times I find software that just works better. Linux has come a long way in the past 8 yrs that I have been using it and it can be used as a viable desktop replacement however, I personally need to resort to the command more than I would like and probably more than many users could tolerate.

I made a pledge to my wife that next time we bought her a new computer that we would get here a MAC. I chose to get her a MAC because it is stable, secure, powerful and offers a greater chance of hardware support for printers and external devices. She has had a very good experience with her MAC and the only complaint that I really have about it is the cost. MAC’s are expensive and the software tends too be expensive.

We do have a windows machine which we keep around because of the greater variety of low cost commercial software available. It is sometimes necessary to pay for software in order to get things done. I have used Windows machines for about 15yrs so I am fairly adept at getting them to do what I want, and I have tons of software that I have accumulated over the years. The problem with windows is that they in general lack stability. Blue screens of death and rebooting is not what I consider fun. I know that the new Windows Vista is out and some people think it is great, but the few times the I have had to work on it I have found it to be a resource hogging pain in the butt.

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With the release of the new Eee PCs has come larger solid state hard drives. Previously it was unfeasible to dual boot these UMPCs due to the lack of space, but now it is possible for the Eee 901 & 1000. Unfortunately, these models have two solid state disks (one small & fast for the system, one larger & slower for the user data), so the process can be confusing.

I prefer Linux over Windows XP, so I prefer to have Linux on the faster disk even though it is smaller. I have also found that I can install everything I need for the Linux system in 4GB if I keep my data elsewhere (the Eee 1000 has an 8GB system disk, so this is not an issue). With this in mind, I decided to use the 4G system disk, formatted as Ext2, for Ubuntu and the 12GB data disk, formatted as FAT32, for Windows XP and my user data storage. I am also using a 16GB SDHC card for additional storage.

Since Windows XP does not allow installation to a secondary hard disk without writing to the first disk, a few additional (sometimes lengthy) steps must be taken to optimize the dual boot setup. So, the general steps to dual boot the system are as follows:

1. Format both drives
2. Install Windows XP to the first drive
3. Image a duplicate of the first drive to the second drive
4. Expand the second drive partition to full potential
5. Format first drive
6. Install Linux to the first drive

Installing Windows
To start, insert the Windows XP installation disc into an external CD drive attached to the Eee PC. The Eee PC can boot from an external drive by pressing ESC during the ASUS splash screen. When the Windows XP installation menu has started, provided a backup of any user data is made, all partitions should be erased and a new partition on the first hard disk should be made. This partition should be the full size of the first disk. Instruct the installation of Windows XP onto that partition and indicate it should be formatted with FAT32 (quick). Follow the instructions to complete the installation of Windows XP.

Move Windows Installation
Once the Windows XP installation is complete, insert a copy of Ubuntu-Eee into the external CD drive. Boot from this disc into a live session to perform the move of Windows XP. For this process, I chose to use the “dd” command included in Linux for imaging the drive. There are several other methods available, but this is a simple method for the size of the drive. With a few commands, the master boot record (MBR) and the Windows XP partition can be duplicated to the second drive. This duplication method is an exact duplicate of the entire partition, so the process can take a long time (approximately 50 minutes).

Start by opening a terminal from “Applications > Accessories > Terminal.” The first command executed will take just a couple seconds to duplicate the MBR. Provided a backup of all essential data on the second disk has been made, issue this command in the terminal:

sudo dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/sdb bs=512 count=1

This command will duplicate the MBR from the first disk to the second, which includes the Windows bootloader and the partition size. For safe measure, I formatted the partition created on the second disk with FAT32 using the Partition Editor in “System > Administration.” In order to format that partition, select “/dev/sdb” from the drop-down menu in the upper-right corner. Next, right-click on the partition labeled “/dev/sdb1″ and choose “Format to > fat32.”

Now, the long process of duplicating the partition with Windows must be completed. Issue the following command, in terminal, to do that:

sudo dd if=/dev/sda1 of=/dev/sdb1

Once that command has completed, it is a good idea to format the first disk to Ext2 in the Partition Editor. I have 2GB of RAM in my Eee 901, so I chose to not establish a swap partition.

Installing Ubuntu-Eee
To complete the dual boot configuration, start the install of Ubuntu-Eee. When prompted to partition the disks, I always choose to manually configure. From there, edit the partition on /dev/sda to use the Ext2 partition type, formatted, and mounted at “/” Next, I editted the partition on /dev/sdb to use the fat32 partition type, not formatted, and mounted at “/media/winxp”

Once the installation of Ubuntu has completed, upon restart, the option to boot into Windows XP or Ubuntu should be given by the GRUB menu. Congratulations, the Eee PC is now dual booted.

Currently, Ubuntu-Eee does not work 100% upon install on the Eee 901, but there are a few work-arounds. I have tested these and will be posting my findings on these soon.

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Released on July 8th? Think again.

So, it seems that no party wants to take responsibility for the delays of the Eee PCs. I would like to have the new Eee 901 in hand, but I am not desperate. What I dislike most about this situation is that no information is being provided to those of us who made pre-orders. Seriously, this is 2008: Worldwide communication should not be complicated.

I have made a few calls to find the status even though no one wants to help. I started with Amazon, hoping that they might have stock and working on getting the products shipped. I don’t think I could have gotten a more dry, pre-fabricated answer. No matter how I phrased the questions, all I could get out of the rep was basically, “When you receive an email, it will have information on shipping and arrival.” Wow, I didn’t realize Amazon forwarded me to the “Captain Obvious” department…

Next, I gave a call to Asus after seeing many stories floating around the internet about production delays, customs delays, or deals with Microsoft. After being transferred everywhere, I finally was able to talk to the notebook sales department. It seems the Eee 901 and 1000 series are delayed due to production issues. The rep told me they are estimating another week of delay and hoping for an availability date of July 23rd.

If you decide to call, be sure to mention you are interested in the Linux version, because they will automatically assume that you want the Windows version…

Even though I don’t like the wait, it is better knowing not to expect it before July 23rd. If only I could request one even with the software bugs, because it won’t have Xandros long for me. Bring on the Ubuntu Netbook Remix!

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