october 19, 2009
So, I'm trading in my hp mini 1010nr netbook for a Toshiba NB205-N210 (as part of the consolidation, my eMachines D620 is going too). There were a few driving issues with the hp mini 1010nr that made me give it up -- don't get me wrong, it is a great little machine, but the geek in me had these issues:
- The 8GB SSD drive was fine for Windows XP (full install of XP left around 3GB left). If I switched over the Linux, I would have 5-6GB of space left. That is not too bad. But, the drive is connected to the board via a ZIF connector. And there are not many ZIF-type SSD drives out there on the market -- and those that are out there are damned expensive. Also, I could rip out the SSD drive tray and the "HP Mobile Drive" and drop in less expensive 1.8" ZIF PATA HDD, but that is still a pretty expensive upgrade. The problem with Windows is that if I wanted to install a more modern Windows, I could not -- Vista and Windows 7 both require 15GB to install. Why not go with Linux then? Lets move to the next point:
- I hate Broadcom. I will never buy a machine with a Broadcom wireless adapter again. Sure, the Broadcom 4312 adapter works great with Windows XP, but the second you try to use it with Linux, it all falls apart. Support for the 4312 adapter can be done one of two ways. First, with ndiswrapper, which requires hacking around with the Windows driver to make it work in Linux. Bah! The second is to use Broadcom's sorry excuse of an OSS driver: STA. STA is not updated frequently and it has a binary blob inside -- and because of the binary blob, some "pure OSS" distros like Fedora do not include STA by default. Then there is the issue that if it is in a distro, it is usually only half working because the driver itself sucks (signal bars don't work, can't connect to hidden SSIDs, etc). Trying to use the STA driver in Ubuntu 9.10 beta is a pain in the ass because of the move away from restricted-modules and into the use of dkms. Also, I believe with Ubuntu 9.10 there are really only two restricted modules left: One for the soft modems and one for Broadcom.
- 8.9" of screen space. It did not seem so bad when I started using the hp mini, but after awhile, I realized 8.9" is actually really small. It works, but it is small. Does the 1.2" difference between a 8.9" and 10.1" screen make that much difference? Yes (think about the 1.3" difference between a 14.1" screen and a 15.4" screen).
- The battery life is actually pretty good on the hp mini 1010nr -- topping out at around three hours on a three-cell battery. There is a six-cell battery available, but it costs $99 -- about half the cost of the machine itself! Yeesh.
- VGA out. Or lack there of without an adapter. Sometimes, it is nice to use an external display, I just don't want to pay extra.
The storage and wireless situation really pushed me over the edge.
If I were to stick with Windows XP, then this machine would be a fine machine. Sure, the build quality is good (but not great as there is some overall creakiness to the chassis). The keyboard is fantabulous, very large, very easy to type on. And there are little touches that made me feel like HP took the time to think things out (I liked the LED that is right next to the where the power connector goes so that I know quickly if I have my power adapter plugged in).
Anyways, the hp mini 1010nr is on Ebay right now. Hopefully it will fetch a good price. The Toshiba is working great. I plopped in a 2GB SO-DIMM and replaced the 160GB 5400rpm drive with a 320GB 7200rpm drive from the eMachines D620. Linux works great on the machine because it has an Atheros AR9285 card inside (advertised by Toshiba as 802.11b/g, but is surprisingly an 802.11b/g/draft-n). The ath9k module for Linux is fantastic -- it is built into Linux kernels 2.6.29 or higher (so Fedora 11 and Ubuntu 9.10 beta support it out of the box).
Oh, and it helps that the Toshiba gets nine hours of run time out of the included six-cell battery. And it has a full-sized keyboard. To top it all off, the build quality of the Toshiba feels a lot better than the hp mini 1010nr (no creaks). Why not get a full-sized or a ultraportable notebook instead? I found that between the 14" eMachines and the hp mini, I was always choosing the hp mini when I had to take a machine with me. The small size of a netbook makes a difference for me, and if it has a full-sized keyboard, I can live with the smaller screen.
On a sidenote, I just want to mention how I wish Ubuntu would release when it is done instead of "rush, rush, lets get it out because it is the end of our six-month release cycle". Sure, don't do it in a snail's pace like Debian, but maybe take some time to squash out some usability bugs before releasing. Here is how absurd it sometimes feels based on the hp mini 1010nr:
- Ubuntu 8.04LTS everything works.
- Ubuntu 8.10, sleep is an issue. Sometimes bringing the netbook out of sleep results in the netbook literally screaming "beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!" until it is turned off via the power switch.
- Ubuntu 9.04, sleep works. Sound doesn't. Sound requires mucking around with Volume settings -- turning on an INPUT in order to get OUTPUT working. Huh? The volume settings are not saved through reboots or shutdowns. Wifi works. Graphics (Intel) run seriously slow because of new drivers.
- Ubuntu 9.10 beta, sleep works. Sound works. Wifi doesn't. Getting wifi to work requires adding the CDROM back as a repository, then installing a driver package (and all pre-requisites). Graphics work.
Come on guys! What is going on? If Canonical and the people behind Ubuntu want Ubuntu to "just work" and to also take on Mac OS X and Windows, they have to make it so that these silly issues do not pop up.
Oh, did I mention that I hate Broadcom?
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