Running HD content from my Wind to my HDTV (video)

so lately there's been news that nvidia is trying to get its mits into the netbook craze by creating a mobile 'netbook' gpu for hd content.  of course, this won't help any of those who have current netbooks and in turn will most likely add more cost to the devices (which in a way defeats the idea of the netbooks original function; cheap and portable internet bigger than a MID and more feature rich).

personally, i believe that the current machines can run HD Content w/o a problem. the only real thing most of  the netbooks need is a quick boost of ram to 2gb and you should be fine running 720p content in vista media center.

i personally convert my dvds to 720p mp4 files that work on my ps3 and in media center/zune player.  these playback fine on my msi wind and fine on my hdtv via vga from my wind.

however, i can see the benefit of adding more gpu options; it would make the netbook into a portable hd streamer/server.  think about it; put in a 500gb sata drive, up the ram to 2gb, add-on a usb ota hdtv tuner and throw on vista ultimate or home premium and you got a pretty portable hd media center. :)  i have yet to try recording hdtv on my wind due to my card being an expresscard tuner (hp hdtv tuner).anywho, to tie you over until they release a netbook w/the new nvidia gpu here's my MSI Wind running 720p video to my HDTV.

[youtube C5XLppmXmkA]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5XLppmXmkA

Demos: Windows 7 beta build 7000 on a Dell Latitude XT Tablet

well, i work with Dell Latitude XT tablets each day (its really a love/hate relationship; in that i love to hate them, haha!).

with all of this Windows 7 beta buzz in the air i thought i'd throw up one of our Dell XT tablets w/thelatest windows 7 beta build 7000 running.

enjoy!

[youtube hioUYiWlHNQ]

passing more wind: vista origami experience 2.0 and my touchscreen wind (video)

ok, i promise i'll stop posting msi wind touchscreen stuff soon. however, until then here is a quick video demo of the Origami Experience 2.0 add-on to Vista running on my touchscreen wind. (download it from ms here )

imo, the origami experience 2.0 is a great step towards a more user friendly netbook experience (given it has a touchscreen), the browser alone is much improved over anything to date that runs on windows for such a device (makes it feel like the iphone's safari)

enjoy!

[youtube Mp21JySw6dA]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mp21JySw6dA

a new year, a new cpu! desktop upgrade time.

happy 2009! hopefully a year of rebirth for our nation and each of us!

i started this new year off by scoring a few decent deals on a few upgrades to my desktop rig.  last year i didn't really upgrade too much since i moved gaming platforms back to consoles (PS3 and late wii) and in a way burned myself out of upgrades/system building the year prior (went through about 8 cases, 6 mobos, 4 vid cards in one year).  however the super low costs of memory and 3ghz dual core processors really got my upgrade-sense a twitching.  in addition, i have fully transitioned all my machines from XP to Vista and actually am enjoying it over XP (vista's not that bad people, get over it!)

soapbox: updating factory vehicle GPS navigation maps, the costs

yes, i am among the 'lacks a sense of direction' types when it comes to driving in new places and in turn have a navigation system in my car.

i went the factory option since 1) it was covered under warranty 2) very seemless integration and a good system 3) gave me a SD card reader via a pc card slot

at the time the  benefits outweighed the negatives (cost was only negative at time).  they have for some time, however this year i decided to update my maps for my navigation system and thus this post.  more ranting after the jump.

MSI Wind Hoda touchscreen kit install notes/video

previously on my blog; i had posted about my solderless touchscreen kit i installed on my msi wind.  as promised, i am following up with a more detailed notes on installing and a few videos i took of myself doing the install.

the hoda touchscreen kit was made by fidohub.com and being sold on ebay or directly through their website; also there is an ongoing forum thread over at msiwind.net on this particular kit which me and quite a few other users have posted notes on the installation.

this isn't true step-by-step guide/video but more of a general overview of what you will need to do and a few quirks i ran into while installing.

keep reading for the full post with videos and a demo in osx and vista.

msi wind + solderless touchscreen kit = project time!

well, to my geeky delight  i arrived at work today and had a little surprise awaiting me at my desk: my msiwind solderless touchscreen kit!!!



i ordered the kit from ebay after seeing it being posted on the front page over at msiwind.net ( a direct link to Hoda's page is here )

the biggest selling point of this touchscreen kit is the fact that it is solderless and also adds additional internal usb connections for other possible mods (ie integration of a gps dongle or perhaps even an internal 3G card?).

so, how hard was it to install? was it worth it? lets find out! keep reading for the setup notes and a video.

my geeky december thoughts, follow-ups, projects...

well, its been a few weeks since my last post again and i thought i'd check in as the holidays approach ever faster.  its been a while since i've blogged about my previous laptop purchase, HP DV6700T CTO so i thought i'd do a quick recap/followup on it.

also, thought i'd drop a few notes about some upcoming projects i have in the works (most of them involving my new fav netbook, msi wind).

my msi wind and osx audio workaround (plantronics audio 480)

(thanks Q for the skin!)

if you have a msi wind and are running OSX Leopard on it, you probably have found out that yes the speakers work but the mic and headphone jacks do not.

as of right now, there is no software workaround known and most likely never will be (joel in the comments pointed me to this thread at msiwind.net on getting headphone working natively! no mic though ). 

so, what do you do if you still want to be able to use headphones and a mic?  do what i did, get an OSX compatible usb audio device; keep reading for a quick demo of the Plantronics Audio 480 System (newegg link approx $50)!

my video MP4 tagging and zune tip!

MP4 video files are the new mp3 of video or so it seems.  my psp, iphone and ps3 all use these type of files while numerous other devices do too (appletv, xbox360, cellphones, ipods, zunes, etc).

After finally deciding to upgrade my PS3's harddrive (again) to a 500GB drive, i decided to start tagging my mp4 movies.  i've been using the Zune software and iTunes as my main music/video players lately.  so by instinct i updated all of the metadata for my mp4 videos in the zune software.

later that day, i came back and imported a tagged file into iTunes and did not get any of the metadata transferred over.  i then started looking into other apps to do this; however after doing some digging in the zune software found the problem or quirk.

when you update metadata in the Zune software player, the player itself will have to recreate the mp4 file w/the tag info for it to properly tag. so if you tag about 70 some movies like me; you have to wait quite sometime for all 70 files to get the metat data updated.  i found this by going to my movie folders and seeing a mp4DC.tmp file that kept growing and then resetting and would eventually be identical in size to my mp4 files.

i believe that the zune player is updating the container which in turn houses the metadata info so it has to offload the video while it does this (?? i'm guessing here).  So just be sure to leave Zune open after updating metadata! 

this also will expain why your pc may seem like its working really hard after you imported your full mp4 library into the zune software. (noticed it on my wind and was worried my harddrive was about to die).

HowTo: multibooting XP, OSX and Linux (tips and video) on a MSI Wind

well, after struggling with a bad dimm of memory in my MSI Wind; i am back on the Wind booting path. :) 

previously i had setup my MSI Wind to triple boot XP, Vista and OSX Leopard however i've been receiving quite a few remarks and comments on my triple booting video about 'why no linux?' on the Wind. 

So, today's post will be for the Linux/Ubuntu fans out there that want to see how the Wind performs w/Ubuntu 8 on it.  in this post, i hope to highlight some tips and a general plan of attack on doing a triple boot setup of OSX, XP, and Ubuntu on the Wind (concepts are applicable to other netbooks/laptops/computers).

keep reading for the video and details!

my iPhone 'must-have' apps list (app store and cydia)

well, i admit it.  i love my iphone.  don't let my sony ericsson comrades know or my fellow blackberry addicts!

i received my first gen iPhone from my tech-rx bossman Q, about two months ago now and haven't looked back since.  at first, i thought i'd get bored with it or annoyed at not having a physical keyboard.  however its two months later and i'm still using my iPhone as my main phone.

sure, its not a perfect phone (no picture messaging, copy/paste, no video recording, meh-camera quality), but its pretty close given the proper applications.  So, what applications (official App Store and unofficial Cydia) do i have on my iPhone? i thought you'd never ask!  keep reading for my must-have list!

MSI Wind and Triple Booting, Round 2. XP, OSX Leopard, and Ubuntu (video)

well, this week has been a busy week of MSI Wind installs and videos.  i thought i'd follow up my previous MSI Wind triple boot video w/my latest one.

this time around i decided to skip Vista and instead use Ubuntu 8 as my third OS (XP and OSX Leopard of course being the other two).  here is a quick video of my first boots to each OS.  check back on the weekend for a quick run-through on how to triple boot your MSI Wind.  keep reading for the embedded video.

I've got a fever... msi wind hdd and memory upgrades (video)

yes, i admit it. i now am in love with my MSI Wind netbook.  so far it seems to have met all of my  mobile computing/commuting needs: small, fast, affordable, upgradable.  for $550, you get a pretty nice piece of hardware: 1.6ghz Atom, 1Gb DDR2, 80GB HDD, BT, Webcam/Mic, SDHC reader, 3 usb, nearly full keyboard.

nonetheless if your like me, your prob thinking 'hey, i could use more space and memory' and 'warranties are for wussies'; hit the jump for the howto vid. :)

my msi wind, osx leo and vmware fusion demo (video)

well, a few weeks back i posted a video on triple booting my MSI Wind with XP Prof (nlited), Vista Ultimate Ed, and OSX Leopard (10.5.2) and have noticed people have been looking for more info and videos on OSX running on it. 

this weekend i decided i'd record a quick video of my msi windmacbook and how garageband and vmware fusion runs on it(Unity works!).  my wind again does have a 250gb hdd, dell truemobile wifi card, 2gb total memory and voided warranty. ;)  read more and view the full post for the video, enjoy!