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Comment on Meenee MNB737 13.3 inch Laptop (Black) , 320 GB hard drive , 2 GB RAM , Bluetooth , webcam, wifi, Ubuntu Christmas Sale by Matt

Matt — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 18:50:43 +0000

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

Pros and Cons, 19 July 2011

This review is from: Meenee MNB737 13.3 inch Laptop (Black) , 320 GB hard drive , 2 GB RAM , Bluetooth , webcam, wifi, Ubuntu

Pros: Lightweight, neat, good looking, long battery, quick shipping

Cons: Touch pad not recognised by Ubuntu 11.04 (means doesn't turn off while typing), Windows logo on command key instead of Ubuntu logo, fan makes slight noise at times.

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Comment on Meenee MNB737 13.3 inch Laptop (Black) , 320 GB hard drive , 2 GB RAM , Bluetooth , webcam, wifi, Ubuntu Christmas Sale by T. Nicholson

T. Nicholson — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:53:35 +0000

33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

Envy of everyone. Serious computing for a very reasonable price., 16 Feb 2011

T. Nicholson (UK) -

This review is from: Meenee MNB737 13.3 inch Laptop (Black) , 320 GB hard drive , 2 GB RAM , Bluetooth , webcam, wifi, Ubuntu

This is a wonderful looking netbook. It really does look the part and instantly catches the eye. I have never known a new netbook cause so much interest around the office - There are a few jealous people at my work now wondering why they paid so much more for their clunky Laptops that take forever to boot and just get slower and slower by the day! The fact this machine is not burdened by Windows has far more benefits than disadvantages. At the price Amazon are charging, this is a real bargain. I really cannot recommend it enough.

It is perfectly usable strait out of the box, but if you really want it to rock, upgrade it from the Netbook version of Ubuntu to the full blown desktop version. It can be downloaded free from ubuntu.com and takes absolutely no IT knowledge whatsoever to install. All you need is access to a USB stick and the ability to follow a few very basic instructions. Why the full version of Ubuntu was not installed by default is beyond me! The machine is perfectly capable of taking it and the upgrade turns it from a good netbook to a full blown laptop that will do it all and then some. Doing this upgrade is far better than installing something like Windows 7, as that will just make the poor machine run like a dog and you'll end up loosing far more than you gain. Unless you need to run a dedicated program that is not available for Linux there is absolutely no point whatsoever in taking such a backwards step.

Ubuntu desktop, Is a truly awesome operating system, especially if you have been using Windows in the past, it is all so snappy and all those horrible popups and patronising messages just vanish. No need for slow and expensive internet security software either! In my experience, most Ubuntu converts can't understand why everyone does not do it, I suspect it is just a case of stick with what you know, however bad it is.

The machine comes installed with the full open office suit (which will open and create Excel, Word and Power point documents), the Firefox web browser along with a handful of other useful applications such as e-mail, social networking and the like. In addition to those, there are thousands of other applications available for download at the touch of a button such as Adobe Reader, Gimp (A photoshop like graphics program that is totally underrated), the acclaimed Thunderbird email client and loads of multi media players and editing software. In fact there is pretty much an application for everything and it is all available directly from the Ubuntu Software Centre free of charge - Welcome to the wonderful world of Ubuntu. I even have the full blown BBC iPlayer installed and it runs like a dream. Great for catching up on missed TV!

Shamefully, one application that is not available is the Kindle reader. This is particually ironic because the Kindle itself runs on Linux! I have complained to Amazon a number of times about this, and I hope others will too!

Well worth all 5 stars.

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Comment on Meenee MNB737 13.3 inch Laptop (Black) , 320 GB hard drive , 2 GB RAM , Bluetooth , webcam, wifi, Ubuntu Christmas Sale by Stephen Bathgate "iceolate"

Stephen Bathgate "iceolate" — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:58:28 +0000

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

injecting objectivity, 12 April 2011

Stephen Bathgate "iceolate" -

This review is from: Meenee MNB737 13.3 inch Laptop (Black) , 320 GB hard drive , 2 GB RAM , Bluetooth , webcam, wifi, Ubuntu

There were a few reviews of this product and given they were rather polarised I thought I would write something about my experience of the meenee.

I purchased the meenee as part of a 'research' project into off the shelf linux computing. Unlike many laptop computers, the meenee is available with Ubuntu Linux sparing the licensing fee associated with windows operating systems.

The hardware was reviewed comprehensively on a link from the Clausoft website (the meenee manufacturer), I think it is fair to say the machine is much as one would expect for a netbook in terms of processing power (i.e. at the slower end of things) but it has a very attractive screen size and is very light weight. The number of ports is limited and the usb ports were all upside down compared to my other laptops :) A neat feature is that some of the ports are covered by a sliding case so do not panic if you initially think only 1 usb port is available. The battery will last around 2 hours, there seems to be a rule of thumb that ubuntu will usually run for less time than windows (around 30 mins according to some commentators). In common with some other notebooks I'm running at the moment, the touchpad is easy to brush when typing, so some users may benefit from a usb mouse and the disabling of the touchpad altogether.

When booted for the first time I realised I didn't have a password - although it is obvious its meenee when rereading the product description - its the type of info that could easily be printed onto a sheet of A4 paper just so the uninitiated don't fall at the first hurdle. There are no ubuntu manuals supplied though there are books like 'Using Ubuntu Linux' by Babani Computer Books that will cover some of the basics though usually of older versions. Alternatively there is a wealth of help via online forums, etc, if you know what to ask for.

Then there is the issue of when the computer is started, the user is faced with Ubuntu 10.10 Netbook edition. This version of the Ubuntu operating system is clearly experimental, for example the only way to graphically navigate/manipulate the file system was to enter the bin (via the icon on the left hand vertical app launcher) and navigate out of the bin into the rest of the file system, not very intuitive, so I recommend that once the folder browser is in a more appropriate directory, you add it onto the app launcher for ease of use in the future.

There are some lovely features associated with new unity interface, I like for example the way workspaces are handled, but overall I'd rather have a fully functional baseline system. Returning to gripes one of the first things I tried to do was watch a film with the default video player, unfortunately it crashed and I found bugs already reported against it on atom based systems. I think installing VLC for video playback solved this.

Unity is also a little quirky in the way it handles application menus, so I was left with the impression that the operating system software was still requiring minor bug fixes to improve the user experience.

The other application software seemed to work fine, no problems, that included open office and rhythmbox music player. I was also able to enjoy oolite, a remake of the old elite space trading game from the 1980s via the stacks of free software available in the ubuntu software centre.

Overall my impression was that the machine is underpowered for the operating system, a battery life of 2-2.5 hours limits mobile computing and unfortunately the machine lacks the power to function as a desktop replacement. The choice of operating system is debatable too, other suppliers have notably avoided installing ubuntu 10.10 netbook edition, presumably due to some of the issues noted here. Note those comments do not apply to ubuntu 10.10 desktop(notebook) edition, which I have yet to evaluate on the meenee hardware.

So if your requirements are modest and you are willing to learn about linux the meenee is a place to start. Although the meenee looks like a slick laptop, it has more in common with a netbook in terms of processing power.

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Comment on AsRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 Motherboard, Socket 1155, PCI-Express 3.0, DDR3, USB 3.0, HDMI, 7.1 HD Audio, ASRock Instant Boot Buy Now by R. Pasha

R. Pasha — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:50:18 +0000

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

great mobo for the price.., 17 Oct 2011

R. Pasha (London, UK) -

This review is from: AsRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 Motherboard, Socket 1155, PCI-Express 3.0, DDR3, USB 3.0, HDMI, 7.1 HD Audio, ASRock Instant Boot (Accessory)

bought this motherboard along with a i5 2500k after doing a lot of research and i am glad i made the right choice in the end.
This motherboard has all the features compared to the more high-end and expensive motherboards out there.
The design of this mother board is well though out with enough space between the cpu socket and memory slots to place a generous sized cooler (i am using a hyper 212+ along with G.Skill ripjaws 8GB 1600mhz memory sticks and there is plenty of room to spare).
It supports crossfire/SLI at 8x8 speed which is big plus incase i want to add another card in the future.
Asrock UEFI bios is also very convenient and can be operated by a mouse. All the normal and advanced overclocking settings are there for both casual and die-hard overclocking fan. I myself have plans to overclock my 2500k in the future but at the moment i am well satisfied with its performance.
In the past i have used Asus, MSI and Gigabyte motherbaords but this one tops them all in terms of quality, performance and pricing. Finally i would like to mentions that it supports next generation PCI 3.0 interface and Intel's next IVY bridge CPU lineup.
Highly recommended.

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Comment on Startech.com 3.5 inch Silicone Hard Drive Protector Sleeve with Connector Cap Christmas Sale by arch

arch — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 12:56:02 +0000

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

Not bad for what it is, 17 Feb 2011

arch (uk) -

This review is from: Startech.com 3.5 inch Silicone Hard Drive Protector Sleeve with Connector Cap (Personal Computers)

These are not too bad. They are designed with parts of the HD exposed and the top cap comes off completely. I'd guess that this is so you can insert the disk into a docking station without taking the whole case off and the heat can get away effectively. It will easily protect against the odd bump or knock so if you need your HD on the move, this should do fine.

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Comment on Lenovo Ideapad S205 11.6 inch Laptop (AMD E350, RAM 2GB, HDD 250GB, Windows 7 Home Premium) – Black Online by mjmoney

mjmoney — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 12:13:54 +0000

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

Superb quality for the price, 1 July 2011

mjmoney -

This review is from: Lenovo Ideapad S205 11.6 inch Laptop (AMD E350, RAM 2GB, HDD 250GB, Windows 7 Home Premium) - Black (Personal Computers)

I have had this netbook for about 2 weeks and the performance is great. I choose to upgrade to the full 8GB of RAM as it was cheap to do and I also benefitted with an additional 2GB on my other work laptop as a result!

There is a fair amount of "bloatware" on - as you would expect, and I am not far of completing a fresh install of win7 Premium with Norton 360 as my preferred AV.

In terms of build quality, I can't fault it. The keyboard is really nice both in terms of design and feel. The screen angle isn't too bad and as I mainly use in the home I've not really suffered any glare. A small netbook that happily runs Oblivion at medium quality is no mean feat (and that's still with all the bloatware).

So - my recommendation to anyone considering buying an 11" netbook is for a great price is to give this serious consideration. Its great value for the money, runs perfectly well, includes premium out the box and not the poorer "starter" cousin on most netbooks in this price range and feels/looks great.

A very happy customer!

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Comment on Lenovo Ideapad S205 11.6 inch Laptop (AMD E350, RAM 2GB, HDD 250GB, Windows 7 Home Premium) – Black Online by DefectiveStoat

DefectiveStoat — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 11:17:07 +0000

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

Really Impressed., 21 July 2011

DefectiveStoat (East Anglia, England) -

This review is from: Lenovo Ideapad S205 11.6 inch Laptop (AMD E350, RAM 2GB, HDD 250GB, Windows 7 Home Premium) - Black (Personal Computers)

Bought to replace a two year old Atom Netbook- wouldn't play HD, and Flash videos would simply kill it. You would have to wait for minutes to close a tab with an errant flash video! I was looking towards an Asus U36 for £700 but just could not justify it when I don't game heavily and just want a small computer that cna run flash videos. Then I saw this- and ordered straight away.

This laptop wwill play 720p Youtube and will have a great bash at 1080p Youtube. A little bit stuttery at times but acceptable! Flash videos do not slow to a crawl. Snappy in use. I installed Portal and it runs silky smooth- better than I recall the XBox 360 version running- I am stupidly impressed that I can do some light gaming on this machine.

Bloatware isn't too bad. Just McCaffe Trial and some Lenovo junk. You cna disable the HDD shock protection and also adjust it- I've turned it off, never ha d aproblem before with other laptops. I noticed the screen brightens itself, but this is the 'Varia-Brightness' function in the Catalyst Control Centre, accessible through the start menu, named 'CCC'. Word of advice with any computer- Run> MSCONFIG, disable everything you don't need. Normally you just need antivirus, touchpad driver. Thats it.

Keyboard is fantastic with no flex, it is 98% full size but I can type on it fine. Screen is bright and sharp as hell. The high resolution almost makes text TOO small but a fiddle with the cleartype rendering seems to have made it comfortable for me. The screen's brightness uniformity is not great though. Black screen, the bottom is almost towards white. Not noticable when you have colours on the screen but perhaps an issue for perfectionists. Don't care at this price!

It has bluetooth, too. Very light, overall a nice size. Glossy lid is a fingerprint magnet. Construction feels really solid and it looks quite stylish. Even the bottom vents are a pattern, rather than just 'slats'. Battery has lasted me about three hours with some installing programs, running a few minutes of portal, and general faffing about. Less then my netbook but good enough in my opinion. The battery does not sit flush with the bottom of the machine, and instead, it bumps out a bit. Which means that when the machine rests in a flat surface, it tilts towards you a little bit.

I am really impressed with this machine. I am speed typing on it, and after a day of ownership, I am very very impressed. For the price, this is golden. The keyboard is beautiful, the screen is good it can run some games, it is an excellent size, it is quiet, and it looks stylish. Recommended.

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Comment on Etc Mach-3 Bicycle Computer – 10 Functions Christmas Sale by Mr. G. R. Walker

Mr. G. R. Walker — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 10:28:03 +0000

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

bike computer, 15 Nov 2011

Mr. G. R. Walker -

This review is from: Etc Mach-3 Bicycle Computer - 10 Functions (Sports)

basic but functional, mine has been through the wash twice and is still going at this price if it gets knocked off on a welsh mountain it isnt gonna break the bank. second one now other is on said welsh mountain! .easy to fit and use

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Comment on Lenovo Ideapad S205 11.6 inch Laptop (AMD E350, RAM 2GB, HDD 250GB, Windows 7 Home Premium) – Black Online by Oliver! "Tea house warrior"

Oliver! "Tea house warrior" — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 10:25:09 +0000

43 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

A new breed of notebooks are out, 2 May 2011

Oliver! "Tea house warrior" (Saltaire, West Yorkshire, UK) -

This review is from: Lenovo Ideapad S205 11.6 inch Laptop (AMD E350, RAM 2GB, HDD 250GB, Windows 7 Home Premium) - Black (Personal Computers)

This is one of the first notebooks to come with long-anticipated AMD Fusion chips. I was waiting for them for quite some time, as I could not make myself buy an Atom netbook, even as they were becoming dirt-cheap. This particular model has a dual-core 1.6Ghz E350 CPU/GPU with AMD Radeon HD 6310M video card (integrated with CPU). Overall this CPU/GPU combination is amazingly powerful, most games are absolutely playable, HD Video running smoothly, and normal tasks like Web browsing, emails, office documents editing performed very fast. In fact Word starts almost instantly, in less than 1 second. Overall PC startup time is less than a minute inc login which is pretty impresive for Windows netbook.

Considering it's still the size/price of a typical (good) netbook we are talking here it's just amazing. In fact the specs of this machine are better than of my desktop (which is not new I admit).

The build quality is exceptional, with sleek design, quality almost full-size keyboard (I think letter keys are full-size, they only fiddled with arrows and enter buttons). Keyboard is the best around - I tried dozens of note/netbooks at PC World and other shops to compare (as I am going to use it for a lot of typing). Even more expensive models like Sony VAIO have inferior keyboards. Trackpad could be larger but it's OK. Glossy cover is a finger-print magnet (it is very hard to find matte cover on a netbook) but thanks to patterned design it's not so visible. Go off easily as well.

I was a bit conserned about glossy display but in fact it's not so bad as I mostly use it at the evening in a dimmed room so it's brighter than matte display and not so much reflective. Colours and contrast are very punchy, good for video/tv watching. Now having used it for some time I am not sure I would swap it for a matte screen.

It comes with Windows 7 Premium 64bit installed, which is much better than Starter edition, and you can upgrade memory up to 8GB, which will boost performance even further (if you really want to). Not too many extra software installed which is good, as most got deleted right away.

I think it is a perfect on-the-road netebook, light, stylish, with great battery life, and exceptionally fast.

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Comment on Etc Mach-3 Bicycle Computer – 10 Functions Christmas Sale by I. Aitken

I. Aitken — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 09:48:45 +0000

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

cycle computer, 19 July 2010

I. Aitken (Scotland) -

This review is from: Etc Mach-3 Bicycle Computer - 10 Functions (Sports)

fast delivery, easy to fit and set up, nice clear screen, does everything it says it will ... nice wee bit if kit!! very happy with it.

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