Posted 04/14/2009 at 09:43:19pm

The MSI Wind has a Turbo Mode. On this machine, it allows the user to overclock by an amount set in the BIOS. The amounts a person can pick from are 8%, 16%, and 24%. I suspect this new MSI machine will have something similar.

Posted 12/18/2008 at 09:56:43am

I don't mind the reduced warranty. But I completely mind Seagate's marketing BS. The quote listed above from the FAQ is nonsensical jibberish. Notice how this warranty reduction is listed as an "opportunity to offer our customers" something. Yeah, right. And what the hell does "better align to the requirements of our partners and customers" even mean? That their partners and customers have been clamoring for shorter warranties?

It would be refreshing to read the truth for a change. Here is my revised version of what the FAQ entry should say:

We're changing our warranty terms because times are tight, and we're simply losing money offering five-year warranties. Most other hard drive manufacturers offers three-year warranties on OEM and lower-end drives, so we're going that route, too.

Honest, straight-foward, rational, no BS. That's a company I want to do business with.

Posted 11/24/2008 at 12:18:48am

If you don't trust Google with your information, you can still download and use a variant of Chrome if you're interested. SRWare also had misgivings about Google's collection and retention policies, so it released what it calls Iron, which is Chrome without the Google information-collection aspects of the browser. SRWare was able to strip these items out because Google provides access to the browser's source code. If you're interested in downloading Iron, visit http://www.srware.net/en/software_srware_iron.php.

Posted 11/19/2008 at 12:42:16am

The multi-touch idea is neat. But I've been burned by HP notebook computers before. My current HP notebook had problems from the moment I took it out of the box, and HP support never did fix the machine properly. It's too bad that a more trustworthy manufacturer isn't coming out with this technology because it sounds interesting. Perhaps when Windows 7 comes out, and native multi-touch support is offered as part of the OS, more companies will create notebooks with multi-touch capabilities.

Posted 11/15/2008 at 01:09:05am

The BBB idea is good advice. I've had a problem with mail-in rebates only once. It was on a Soyo motherboard. I contacted two places: the place of purchase (Micro Center) and the California State Attorney General's office. Because Micro Center carried the product, it was responsible for the rebate ultimately and paid the rebate amount. (As a result, I'm very loyal to Micro Center, by the way.) The CA AG's office also added my complaint to the long list of complaints against Soyo, and I got a letter about the state taking legal action. It's true that the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

Posted 11/15/2008 at 01:00:07am

The MSI Wind already has LED backlighting. The screen is absolutely bright and vivid. It's a complete joy to look at.