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Extending your laptop - Pt. II | Larry Larsen | Channel 10

system — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 13:51:09 GMT

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Extending your laptop - Pt. II | Larry Larsen | Channel 10

system — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 19:55:21 GMT

Pingback from Extending your laptop - Pt. II | Larry Larsen | Channel 10

Re: Get the most from your laptop

sarahintampa — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 21:17:33 GMT

Awesome post! That is some very cool stuff.

That "8" logo looks sweet on your H.D., too!

Re: Get the most from your laptop

deddeer — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 02:23:56 GMT

An interesting article, to be sure. But, by the time you've configured your laptop with high-end video (ok, mid-end with a 55 watt limitation) and sound, you could have setup a pretty decent desktop gaming system.

I find that the needs are different between a business computer and a gaming computer. I have three kids ages 14 - 20. Each of them have laptops (Dell E1505, 2GHz dual-core, 80GB 7200 RPM disk, 2GB RAM and nVidia or Radeon video upgrades, about $1,400 each). They are fine for many games, including some of the MMORPG's. But I also have a Compaq Presario w/2.2GHz dual-core, 2GB RAM, 250GB 7200RPM HDD and a high-end Radeon card (and replacement power supply) and 20" LCD. All total, this system cost $1,000 and is a much better platform for high-end games at a lower price.

Also, the software configuration needs for a gaming computer are usually different than a daily-use system. Backup software, anti-virus/spyware, and various utilities are great productivity boosters on your daily-use system, but steal CPU cycles and memory from games. So I always configure dual-boot on these systems where one image is XP with all the utilities and customization add-ons for daily use, and another smaller XP image that is only the bare essentials for anti-virus and, of course, the games. Everyone has learned (some the hard way) to avoid putting games on their "normal" boot image and to never surf the web, use IM or download anything on their "gaming" partition.

This arrangement has saved me days of troubleshooting and listening to complaints about slow performance or problems.

Re:

Larry — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 16:56:34 GMT

The radio shark is worthless without a computer running its software. It doesn't have a speaker, and yes, you could connect your Bose to your laptop and play back the radio programs you record.

In my setup, I'm going to connect the Radio Shark to my Windows Home Server so my always-on server is also responsible for recording my desired airwaves. That way I'll be able to grab the audio from anywhere in the world by logging into it from abroad.

Sure, just send your mailing address to larryla (at) microsoft.com and I'll send you some stickers.

Re:

Googleman81 — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 12:15:31 GMT

ok the radio shark 2 looks amazing, i am just 2 steps away from buying it, which can be converted into 2 questions. will i be able to listen to my pandora station outside the usa with it, or does it recognize my laptop´s ip and does it have a built in speaker or can i run it through my laptop´s soundcard to my bose wave radio cd (no add intended)?

oh, ahem, can i have some channel 10 stickers too, please?

Re:

Larry — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 04:36:31 GMT

That's why I went with stuff that's small and doesn't require a power cable plugged into the wall (except the PCE-E enclosure). For the most part you could just unplug and go.

I'm pretty happy with my Vaio TZ right now (supplementing the two external monitors for one big one) so I'm not using most of these. I did just pick up a Griffin Radio Shark 2 this week, I'll probably write about that soon.

Sure, send me your mailing address in an email and I'll send you some stickers.

Re: Get the most from your laptop

Arztek — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 04:25:40 GMT

Awesome stuff, Larry...but let me ask you this...

Once you've stuck all those extra peripherals on your desk to compensate for the lack of power your laptop has, you've lost about as much space as you would have had with a desktop box in the first place.

Wouldn't it just be easier to stick a tower underneath your desk to begin with?

Also, can I get some Channel 10 stickers?

Re:

Larry — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 04:13:50 GMT

Sure, send your mailing address to larryla (at) microsoft and I'll send you some Channel 8 stickers.

Re: Get the most from your laptop

mcampbell — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 03:20:58 GMT

Good article. Lots of useful things, I've never seen before. Also, are C8 stickers available?