Linux Mint 7 On The Samsung N310 – Review And ‘How To’

I was running the original XP for a bit, it does work well and the boot times were reasonable. But it’s still Windows, which means its still pretty lame and it will never cease to frustrate me with it’s tendency to inefficiency. Since this is a netbook I don’t need it to be able to run my heavy-hitter Windows only programs, and it couldn’t anyway. So i believe Windows is a pointless OS for this situation.

The first on my quest to alternate operating systems was Linux Mint 7.

I can’t remember why I chose this as my first option. But the important thing is that I did, and now I can tell you about it in a half-assed review/how-to. I torrented the .iso file (if you don’t know what an .iso is, use google) and used the the beautifully simple CD2USB to make the USB act like a boot CD. When the computer is starting up, press F2 to get into the BIOS, change the boot sequence to read from the USB drive before the hard drive, save changes and exit.
Restart the computer with the USB stick in a port, you will see a number of options when Mint boots, you can even run the OS off the USB drive if you like but I went straight for the install. I also didn’t bother making a partition – I really wanted to get rid of Windows – so I let Mint take over the whole hard drive.
It took less than 30 minutes and was very simple to do. The only user input for the installation was for simple things like usernames, passwords, language, keyboard, etc.

The above shows the login screen, which takes about 40-45 seconds to get to after pressing the ‘on’ button (longer than I expected). After login there is still another 10 seconds of loading and waiting until everything is ready. The user interface looks quite nice and operation is quite logical. The programs took longer than I thought to load, and it seemed quite laggy when too much stuff was open. Even with the correct native resolution selected I still felt that it didn’t quite looks right on a small screen. Mostly all the hardware worked though, which was a surprise. The wireless internet worked great and remembered my network password and signed in automatically. Screen brightness control is another issue, I didn’t take much time to try and mess with this, but you can’t control it. Most of the other hotkeys worked, but there is an editor in the control settings if you wish to change them. Another surprise was the the bluetooth worked out of the box, I managed to connect my phone with ease in the wizard.
When i tried to make skype call i realized that my internal microphone wasn’t working, which sucked.

I’m not convinced that this is the OS of my choice, but i will continue to tweak and work with it. Any new discoveries will be updated in this post.

*update: I used the VGA out and it worked well

*update: I was getting some strange feedback from the mic when a headphone jack was plugged in, I haven’t bothered to get mic control working as I’m not fully sold on this OS, great package though.

NU Dolphin Touch – Waterproof MP3 Player Review

There is a few choices out there for underwater MP3 players; more than I would have thought and there is even cases for iPods, of course.  However, size was the main deciding factor for me, and this kit caught my eye because it appeared that it was designed by someone who gave a damn about style and function.

This is my second Nu Dolphin Touch, the first one had some firmware issues and the touch buttons stopped working. I bought it from Advanced MP3 Players retailer through Amazon, who were very reasonable to deal with during the warranty issue and had a great price to boot.

First off, the unit is very obviously Taiwanese (based on the engrish used on the box and in the instruction manuals) but it actually works quite well. One could criticize that menu/functions are a little complicated – which is very true – but it’s only because the screen is so small, 96 x 24 pixels to be precise.  And the screen is so small because the unit itself is so small – like chapstick tube spec – 66.4mm long and 21mm in diameter. But you can use it underwater! I think you get the point..

The reason I purchased this was for my swim training, I usually swim at least 2 km a day and boredom sets in very early. Now i can listen to sweet beats, audiobooks, or FM radio. It sounds really good too, all frequencies seem to be represented with some strong bass. There is an equalizer as well if you really want to fuss about. The touch buttons actually work even when wet, and the ‘enter/play/pause/lock/unlock’ button on the end is easy to find when its strapped to your goggles on the back of your head.

Overall this is a great little unit, slightly buggy at times and it takes some practice to master the navigation. But it works for what i want it too, swimming, and staying out of my way. If you are doing anything else – like surfing – you should look elsewhere.

The 411:

1.Plays MP3/WMA files

2.FM stereo radio(87.5~108MHz)

3.Build-in180mAh/3.7V rechargeable battery (rated at 6hrs – optimistically i think)

4.Dimensions: 66.4*21*21mm

5.Accessory: Waterproof earphone/USB cable/ Clip / Fastening bands / Armband /Cleaning cloth/High-End stereo earphone/ User manual disc

6.Memory capability: 4GB (it also comes in an 8gb model, which is probably a waste because i don’t think the battery would last anywhere near that, and you probably couldn’t swim that far if it did)

Samsung N310 / ‘Go’ – How to upgrade to 2GB of RAM

This is very simple to do, and yes it is probably very similar to many other netbooks/notebooks. However I failed to find any other guides on how to do it so I decided to take some photos when I did mine

The n310.

You will need:

- a small Phillips screwdriver

- a small flat screwdriver

- a 2GB stick of DDRII notebook RAM (800 MHz)

The RAM.

First locate the memory hatch on the bottom of your netbook (make sure the computer is shut down, not in sleep or suspend mode.)

Unscrew the fastener holding the hatch in place, power tools are a must for this (just joking – but seriously – use a screwdriver.)

Use a flat screw driver or your finger to pop the hatch, this should come without much force.

Look! RAM!

Push the clips outward to release the RAM, it should pop up.

After it pops up, it should slide out easily.

Insert the new stick of RAM the same way the other one came out (it will only fit in one way because of the notch.)

Push it down until both clips snap in.

Snap the hatch back in place, screw in the fastener (gently) and turn on the computer.

Congratulations, it should read a pimpn 1.99 GB @ 798 MHz.