Notebook Wars

HP renews battery recall program for laptops as of May 19, 2010

If you have or had an HP or Compaq computer, there is a small possibility that your laptop may be affected by the voluntary battery recall, and as a result of it, you will receive a brand new battery for FREE from HP itself. To see if your laptop qualifies for this, be sure to check the HP website with all the details about this new battery replacement program.

Included are HP Pavillion, Compaq Presario, HP Compaq, and HP laptops. Model numbers and battery bar codes are listed there and from there you can click on the "Validate your Battery" link and follow the instructions!

Clearance bin: Affordable briefcase bag for HP G71-340us

I mentioned earlier, the Targus XL (TXL617) backpack is a good match for the HP G71-340us, but if you are planning short trips without the need to bring all sorts of extras and accessories, one traditional briefcase-style bag may be available in the clearance section at Staples. It is a LugIt model, with SKU 922015 which is currently not shown at Staples.com. It was on clearance for around $23 when I found it.

HP G71-340us fits very nicely inside the Targus XL (TXL617) backpack

The box from the internets came with the Targus XL (TXL617) backpack! So far, this is a great fit for the HP G71-340us! The G71 gets "swollowed" by the bacpack. When you put it in the padded laptop section (the one furthest back as you are facing the front of the backpack), the top of the laptop is 3.5" inches frop the zipper at the top when the zipper is resting, and 4.5" inches from the top if you pull up the zipper to its max position. It is about 1/2 an inch above the inside sub-padding, but the other side of that section is also fully padded and about 3+ inches above the laptop top.

In terms of width, the G71-340us fits right in, with one full inch to spare. You can fit a standard 12-inch ruler sideways (about 1-inch wide). It seems to be a nice fit.

The bag itself doesn't look as scarily-big as one may think - at least when it only has the laptop inside and nothing else :) It has plenty of sections and sub-sections and sub-pockets to put all sorts of things in it.

More updates in the next few days
I haven't yet filled up the bag with all the usual accessories and taken it out for "real-world use". I will update this post with my findings after I use it in the real world!

If you use this or any other bags and want to share your experience, please feel free to leave a comment or send an email.

New Updates
February 10: After about a week of regular use, the bag has exceeded expectations in terms of doing what it is supposed to do. Even though it's long, it doesn't bloat if you put basic computer accessories like laptop chiller, AC adapter, mouse, mousepad, paper-notebook, and things like that... One nitpick is that because the actual handle is heavy, it may "fall" into the bag when you close it. But this is not really a serious complaint :)

February 4: One nice thing about the bag is that it looks very generic from the outside, so it decreases the chances of it becoming the target of thieves and other evil-doers. No designer names like Kenneth Cole or loud Swiss logos. Just good old Targus. It also doesn't look as big as it is when it's not loaded up with stuff.

HP G71-340us review

We have an on-going user review of the HP G71-340us laptop. This reference page tracks all the different parts of the review. As new posts are created, they will be added to the list. You can also check the latest updates by following the HP G71-340 category pages.

First Impressions
* Day #1 impressions on usability
* Initial Windows Experience score
* Initial boot
* Unboxing - text-style

Software
* Favorite free software I installed

Accessories
* Finding a backpack is not easy

Maintenance
* Creating the Recovery Discs
* Running the first Windows Update
* Getting rid of the pre-installed crap

Reference Material
* Manuals, reviews and more at the Reference page.

Finding a backpack that fits the HP G71-340 is not easy

One of the problems of getting laptops with big screens, even one like the HP G71-340us which is more modest than most 17-inch laptops in terms of size, is finding a backpack that is a good fit.

I tried to squeeze it in all my backpacks and laptop cases, but none of them are good fits. So the quest for a laptop backpack that fits has began. One thing to note when shopping for these bags is not to trust just the backpack name. Just because it says "17-inch backpack" it doesn't necessarily mean it is a good fit. You have to look for the measurements of the actual padded area for the laptop, and make sure it is larger than the actual size of your laptop.

This is more so the case for briefcase-type bags, since you can't stretch them. With backpack bags, you do have some breathing room on top, but you don't really want to squeeze the laptop in the backpack either - it defeats the purpose of protection.

According to a current HP G71-340 user at Amazon, the Targus TXL617 17 XL is a good fit.

I am still looking into backpacks online, but I may give that one a try. One of my backpacks is a Targus model (for 15-inch laptops) and it exceeded expectations.

If any of you have any other suggestions, please leave a comment! Thanks!

Free software to load on the HP G71-340us (or any other laptop)

One of the things to do when getting a new computer is to install software you want or need but be careful not to go overboard and fill it up with crapware just because they are free and "sounded good at the time" :) These are the free software I am loading on my HP G71-340us (on-going review), and every computer I use...

Browsers
If you are a heavy multi-tasker, or visit different types of websites, it is a good idea to have at least three different browsers on your computer. I highly recommend Firefox (3.7 apppears to be handling heavy multi-tasking better than 3.6), Chrome and Opera. Each has its pluses and minuses, so use them accordingly.

For example, you could use one browser for serious stuff (paying bills, online shopping, work-related things), and another browser for browsing for fun and entertainment.

If you have more than 10 browser tabs or windows open, it is a good idea to use Flashblock. While some Flash developers are efficient, there are a lot more out of control Flash apps, and you don't want that crap to be stealing your CPU cycles and bandwidth, and leaking browser memory.

My opinion is to avoid Internet Exploder (comes pre-installed) like the plague. I only use IE when a website works only on IE. Also, if you have a website or blog, it is a good idea to load it in IE to check how it looks, especially if you make changes to the template or user-interface. Other than that, I see no reason to use IE.

Other free software I like
You can't beat Open Office for the typical productivity applications, no matter what. It is free and awesome, and relatively lightweight when you compare it to the Microsoft Bloatoffice :)

Next up, FoxIt Software's PDF reader. Again, this loads blazingly fast compared to Adobe's Reader. Free too :)

If you don't have a favorite multimedia player application, something like the VLC media player can be handy. It is small and plays lots of media formats.

If you need to do really quick and real fast photo-editing, like cropping and resizing, you can't beat IrfanView. Super-fast, relatively simply, and gets the job done!

You can get all these for free at the software makers websites or from a reliable download service like CNet's download.com.

PS: This is not intended to be a comprehensive list, just my favorite free software that I load on every computer I use.

Engadget reviews Thinkpad Edge 13 and plays with name

Engadget has reviewed the Lenovo Thinkpad Edge 13 laptop, and they took it upon themselves to work the name into the review. As you can see, a number of the pictures in the review have the laptop on the "edge" of things :)

The Edge (no relation to U2 (I think)), tries to offer a slim and lightweight ultraportable at a more reasonable price, meaning that it is more affordable to more people. It uses Intel 's CULV processors and lasted about five hours in their test.

With so many laptops and netbooks in this segment, it is becoming even more paiful to make a purchase decision. Buy them all?

Lenovo U1 Hybrid blends laptop with tablet computer with dual-brains

With the waves of netbooks and laptops and tablets out there, it was only a matter of time because hybridization happended. And Lenovo just did this with the brand new IdeaPad U1 hybrid. It is a typical 11.6" netbook thing, but, you can actually detach the display. Detached, the display serves as a stand-alone tablet. Then, you just click it back into this shell, and you have a traditional computer again!

But this is not the same "brain". It is essentially two separate computer conjoined with wireless technology. The computer itself runs on a typical U4100 Core2 Duo processor, and the tablet has its own ARM chip that runs a lightweight Linux. Smart? Yes. Practical? Will it catch on? Well, only time will tell... The opening price is $1000, so you certainly have to pay a premium for the bonus geekiness this provides :)

More details at the WSJ, and PC Magazine.

Running the first Windows Update on the HP G71-340us

Time to run the first Windows Update. This is the cumulative update since the machine was "boxed". It found 22 important updates and 5 optional updates, totaling 133.5MB. That would have been scary on a dial-up modem! It ended up installing 21 of them, and deeming one of them unnecessary.

After the obligatory update-reboot, I initiated another Update check, since these can get staggered when there are many updates. And sure enough, the second Update check found 5 important updates totaling 11.9 MB. I installed those and they did not require a reboot. Feeling generous, I even installed the optional updates - a reboot was necessary :)

Then I did another Windows Update check (the third one), this one found no new updates, so the initial Window Update is now officially completed :)

I personally get annoyed by the automated Windows Update because (especially on a laptop) it seems to always wants to take-over the computer or reboot when you are in a hurry or when you are in the middle of doing things. So I turn it off and check for updates on my own terms. Microsoft recommends against doing this.

Getting rid of the pre-installed crap

Time to start cleaning house and getting rid of the gazillions of pre-installed stuff on the computer. I started this process using PC Decrapifier version 2.1.0, and created a restore point when prompted.

Here is what it found when I ran it, selecting "New Computer" when prompted:

I selected them all, except for the Sidebar (gadgets are fun!). After executing that, a second screen came up showing more installed software. Here are the ones I did not install on my own...

Pre-installed software on the HP G71-340us
* Adobe AIR and Flash Player 10 AX, Acrobat Reader (FoxIT Reader is much faster!)
* Cyberlink YouCam and DVD Suite
* PowerGo, LabelPrint, PowerDirector
* Norton Internet Security (GO AWAY BLOATWARE!), Online Backup
* HP Games, DVD Play, Support and Wireless Assistants, Smart Web Printing
* HP Setup, Advisor, User Guides, Customer Experience Enhancements
* Microsoft Silverlight, Works, Live crap (Essentials, Upload tool, Sign-in assistant)
* Microsoft LiveSync, Powerpoint viewer (2007), Compatibility Pack for Office (2007)
* Microsoft Live Search Toolbar, SQL Server 2005 compact edition
* muvee Reveal
* Lightscribe System software
* Realtek Ethernet driver, USB 2.0 reader
* IDT Audio

For now, I selected the immediate removal of the Norton Bloatware Crapware :) The rest will be revisited at a later time. I selected "Norton Complete Uninstall". The uninstall took about 2 minutes and then it required (yes, W7 is still Windows) a complete reboot.

Following the reboot, the list of running processes in Task Manager was smaller. Thank you PC Decrapifier. Just for good measure, I rerun it to see if anything else sneaked in or refused to go away. There were no surprises.

After doing one more "cleansing" reboot (remember, this is still Windows), the boot time was nicely improved, taking a short time (I did not measure it) from logging-on to getting control of the screen. Of course the hard disk light never stops blinking with today's bloperating systems, but that's a story for a different blog.

This is just the first stage of tweaking and cleaning house. More coming up :)