My new machine is a beast!

I've been waiting a long time for a new development machine. With founding my own company I've finally been able to allow myself to buy one. There are still a few things missing as I wait for updated Hardware (like a graphics card, hey nVidia hurry up!!). But apart from that it's super fast, perfect for development. All in all I'm quite satisfied with the hardware so far. I'm mostly running Windows 10 Pro but occasionally ArchLinux as well.

Hardware Overview:

• Intel Core i7-8700K
• Asus TUF Z370-PRO Gaming
• G.Skill DDR4 32GB PC 3866 CL18 RAM
• Watercooled using a CoolerMaster MasterLiquid Pro 240
•  In Win 101C Midi-Tower
• 1TB Samsung 960 PRO SSD
• About 25% Overclocked
• Dell U2718Q Monitor 27" 4k display
• Das Keyboard 4 Professional
• Logitech MX Master 2S
• Sennheiser PXC 550 for amazing sound

My workplace power machine!

My new company Enaweg

With February I officially founded my own company! It is called Enaweg and creates software on demand among other things. This has been a busy time, planning for almost two years, reading lots of business stuff, calculating costs, getting enough financing going to start, talking to banks aso.

Also long time no post here! :( A lot has changed since 2013. I married a wonderful woman, become a father twice, first a girl then a boy! Furthermore, I travelled some parts of the world (Cuba, USA, Mexico, Island, Italy, North Germany, England, Ireland, Portugal). And there is even more, like I bought a house with a nice garden and am self-renovating it, almost finished with that! Also got a Surface Pro and bought a new powerful desktop system for work, newest stuff, watercooled. Maybe I find time to post more about some of that stuff. And I'm now converted from using Ubuntu to Arch which is awesome!

Anyways, nice to post again after way to many years, and check out ENAWEG!

Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition

I kinda like the XPS 13. Good hardware and looks nice. I just checked the Dell site and found the same with Windows 8. It looks to me like its exactly the same hardware, just different OS. So what's the difference in price then?

The Ubuntu one costs 1049 EUR and has a 50 EUR discount which puts it at 999 EUR. The same one with Windows 8 costs 1169 EUR and has a 120 EUR discount which puts it at a 1049 EUR price-point. So it's 50 EUR cheaper to buy the Ubuntu one. But somehow the Windows version has 70 EUR more discount. Which would make the Ubuntu version 120 EUR cheaper. I can buy a Windows 8 OEM version here for 80 EUR. So without the discounts it would even be cheaper to buy the Ubuntu version and a Windows 8 copy.

Additionally you wouldn't have all the preinstalled crap on your machine. The last two Dell laptops I reinstalled even before booting them once. Anyway I really like the XPS 13. Especially with this shiny full HD display.

Ubuntu UDS R - Keynote

like the stage, looking good. Good things to happen in the next cycle but a lot of it on the back side. Which isn't a bad thing at all.

Google Nexus 10

Nexus 10 available November 13th starting at $399; hands-on photos and video | The Verge: "EASILY THE BEST-FEELING AND BEST-PERFORMING 10-INCH ANDROID TABLET WE'VE SEEN"

sexy, sexy thing that Nexus 10 Tablet. Wonder when I'll be able to buy it over here.

The Three Pillars of Nokia Strategy

Communities Dominate Brands: The Three Pillars of Nokia Strategy - Have All Failed. Why Nokia Must Fire CEO Elop Now

poor Nokia. Shame as they still make great hardware ... should have stayed with MeeGo and the working old strategy.

Galaxy S III Mini

Samsung officially launches the Galaxy S III Mini with a 4-inch display, 1GHz processor | The Verge

finally someone releases a decently sized phone that looks ok .. can't seem to find a new phone I actually want. All are just too big.

Intel and AMD: New chips Win8 exclusive

The Linux-Proof Processor that Nobody Wants:

"Microsoft must be paying both manufacturers a lot for this. However, AMD is not saying the chip won't run Linux, and is indeed preparing Linux support, though not for Android."

yeah, will be interesting to watch how this turns out for intel.

Still love my HTC HD2!

My HTC HD2 is just a great phone. Everything runs on it, and its still pretty "current" software wise. The hardware is slowly getting old still, need to think about what to buy next soon.

And it's always good to read things like this:

HTC HD2 gets unofficial Android 4.1 Jelly Bean port, becomes the Phone That Would Not Die - Engadget

on your way to work on the very device they write about. (Only with Android 4.0.3 at the time). And others buy more current devices and don't event get an update to it.

OUYA - A Video Game Console

OUYA: A New Kind of Video Game Console by OUYA — Kickstarter

This looks very interesting. Potentially a cheap, good looking device to play around with. I'm sure that it will be possible to run something like Ubuntu on it as well. This will make a great little desktop like that. Potentially also a good media box.

Selling my lovely Dell Inspiron Mini 10v

I'm selling my lovely Dell Mini 10v Netbook. (I have a blue cover, not black) As I have an other laptop now I don't use it anymore. Besides some small test installations. I still love it, its a great little netbook. The hardware is a bit dated already but for normal tasks it works well. Great for Skype calls, Youtube, Websurfing, writing documents and similar stuff. Not so good for playing games or HD Videos.

Specs:

• Intel Atom N270 (1.6 Ghz) CPU
• 1 GB of DDR2 RAM
• 10.1 inch with a 1024 X 576 resolution
• 160 GB 5400 RPM 2.5 inch hard drive
• 1.3 megapixel Webcam
• 802.11b/g WiFi card (not sure about n, need to check)
• SD Card reader
• Windows XP (I run the latest Ubuntu 12.04 on it, works great, Windows 7 works great too)
• has no Fan! completely silent ..

I took good care of it and it has no obvious signs of usage. (no scratches or anything like that) The keyboard is very nice. I bought it for ~320 EUR and I would like to have 180 EUR for it. Also, it does work well as a Hackintosh.

Update:
- Wikipedia EN

Like the idea: Nexus Q

I like the social streaming aspect of this little device. I hope they extend the usability of this outside of the Android eco-system. I want my friends with their iPhones, WP7's aso. to be able to control this just as well.  I'm confident that at least a web interface will be around somehow. Still, I would prefer a good native app. If I'll buy the Nexus 7, this sure will be a nice addition for the living room.

Google Nexus Tablet as Android Alarm

Google Nexus tablet reportedly shows its pre-rendered face, packing Android 4.1 and a $199 price -- Engadget
this would be really nice. Cheap enough to just buy as a toy. I really don't see a good reason for me to have a tablet. They just aren't useful enough at the moment. I'm sure that will change with time. I hope they offer a decent looking stand/docking station with it. Then I would have one use for it at least, as a fancy alarm clock. I do want to buy some internet radio/usb storage playing alarm anyways. (The iHome iC50 would be a nice alternative for that)

Why is Linux not competitive on desktop?

ah yes, that's slowly changing. Too slow for my taste. But if you want, you can buy PCs and Laptops preinstalled with Linux nowadays. Still far from going down the road to a computer shop and pick one up. We get there further down the road ...

Logitech Linux support

Performance Mouse MX (and others) Linux support - Logitech Forums

I recently purchased a new Logitech Performance Mouse MX. Basic mouse functionality does work fine under Ubuntu. But special hardware things like changing the DPI doesn't work under Linux. Otherwise, I love my new mouse. The hardware is great, and Packaging is awesome.

So if you happen to use Linux and have Logitech Hardware leave a note so Logitech does know that users are out there.

Dell XT3 - Linux

After installing windows for my job I also installed the soon to be released Ubuntu 12.04. I didn't expect it to go too well as Windows took me a long time to install and nothing worked out of the box there. Windows was quite a pain to get up and running with all the hardware this nice laptop comes with.

I have to say that I'm pleasantly surprised as with Ubuntu everything worked out of the box. At least everything I tried and used. So far I didn't use the Fingerprint reader as well as the SD card slot. I wonder why Dell doesn't offer the Latitude XT3 preinstalled with Ubuntu.

The only minor problem so far is that not all special key functions work correctly. But all the important ones and most of the not so important ones work just fine. The multitouch trackpad does even work better with Ubuntu as two finger scrolling in windows is something you need to get used to. It does work as expected in Ubuntu and has somehow a small input lag with Windows. It's rather annoying as its hard to scroll anywhere with that.

It starts up to the login screen in 10 seconds, which is half of what Windows 7 uses. On my desktop at home I have autologin active as I'm the only one using it. As the laptop is mobile and can be stolen more easily I login every time. Also I encrypted my home folder which requires you to login as this would defy the purpose if you autologin. After login it takes about two seconds to a fully working and usable desktop. It's pretty damn fast with Ubuntu 12.04. And looks beautifully at that. A co-worker of mine was quite astonished at the speed and look of Ubuntu. I think he would like to have his Windows/Mac box be a Windows/Ubuntu/Mac box now.

I did draw a bit with the screen being capable of pen input. It's really nice to see what you draw directly under your pen. The overall experience is better (mostly faster, more responsive) on my Bamboo Fun Tablet. Besides that the tablet has more features. But for rough sketches, quick diagrams or annotating something its nice to have.

Overall I'm pretty satisfied with how Ubuntu performs on this nice Dell Latitude XT3 laptop. Besides a few minor things there isn't any real deal breaker here.

Dell XT3 - Windows

As I use the XT3 mostly at work (and for work) I'm in Windows a lot. I have high hopes for Windows 8 on the XT3 as it has a nice Touch-Screen. But for now Windows 7 is what I have to use.

Right after I got it I did a clean install of the Windows 7 (+SP1) version that came with it. After the installation almost nothing works out of the box on this Laptop. Luckily it also comes with a separate drivers disc with dozens of drivers on it. Did I mention that the XT3 doesn't have a DVD drive but comes with discs for all the software? Funny ...

Installation of Windows (+all updates) and Drivers took me about 3-4 hours (constant restarting :/ ). After that, I installed all the software I usually need for work like MS Office, Visual Studio and Expression Studio. All went pretty well and after about 8+ hours I was done with a basic installation. Right now it boots in about 20 seconds to the login screen. This feels pretty fast compared to my old work PC which used like 5 minutes.

As mentioned in my last post about the hardware I did get it to a point where the graphics did start to lag a bit while dragging things around. Sandy Bridge processors aren't known for great graphics. So this laptop isn't good for playing games. But that's not what I use it for anyway. All in all I'm pretty satisfied with it so far, it's a good, fast machine to code on ...

Hardware: Dell Latitude XT3

Recently I got a Dell Latitude XT3 for work. So far it seems well build and I kind of like the simple design. It's light enough to carry around and has a big enough display to code with. Also the Multi-Touch Screen is handy for me as I do a lot of touch development (MS Surface, WinTouch, Mobile as well as hopefully soon Win8/WinRT).

Positive Parts:

• Tablet convertible and Pen/Touch usage.
• Fast SSD is great and likely from all choosable options the most important one.
• Layout of all Ports. As with my old Dell-Netbook the layout is very usage oriented. Ports are where you expect/need them to be. 
• Build in Bluetooth and SD card port are always handy to have.
• I like the Keyboard. It feels good and has all the keys on the right places.
• The hardware feels very robust and it's still light enough to carry around with you.
• Even under stress (got the i5 version) the fans are very silent.
• Hardware seems to work fine in both Windows and Linux.

Negative Parts:

• The lock to hold the display while its closed/in tablet mode seems a bit hit and miss. It doesn't lock well and often I have to try is multiple times to event get it to lock. 
• The Intel GPU is a bit on the "light" side. For a Sandy Bridge CPU this is normal. And for future Intel GPUs this will likely not be a problem anymore. It's still well usable but I get it to the point where I feel that it's not keeping up. Especially of course if you plug-in an external monitor. Ivy Bridge will improve a lot in this area.

I think the Notebook fits well for my work. And it lets me work from home/university/everywhere I got internet access. More on the software side later ...

Kill All Proprietary Drivers For Good

[Phoronix] Qualcomm Calls To "Kill All Proprietary Drivers For Good"

! ... likely too awesome to get real anytime soon ...

Need A Hardware Upgrade

So, I decided that I need some hardware upgrades. I really didn't buy much in 2011, so it's time to replace some old stuff and extend some of the not so old stuff. As hardware selection is a complex thing with lots of things to consider I put together a small list. Maybe someone has a similar taste in hardware and finds it handy. So here it is:

1. My main PC needs a second monitor. I like to use (and have one now) a 16:10, 23"+ and IPS panel monitor. I've decided that I want this baby here: HP ZR2440w (my current one is a HP LP2475w)
2. Also I want to replace my main mobile phone (an HTC HD2 running Android) with something new. This is a hard choice as I love the Nokia N9 but want to have an Android phone as well. I think the N9 would be the right phone for me. Maybe I'm just gonna keep the HD2 for Android development.
3. Thinking of buying a tablet. Lots of them are coming out this year. I guess I'll likely wait till later in the year to decide what I want. The Spark may be a nice one for me to play around with. But maybe I'm waiting for something better and bigger. Who knows ..
4. I'm still looking for a good hardware solution to wake me up in the morning. I like to wake up to some nice music. Sonos offers some nice things I would like but is rather expensive.
5. Looking into digital cameras. Want something better than my mobile phone cam (which is horrible). Would love a Sony NEX-7 but its rather expensive for my taste (and from Sony). So I guess I'm going with a Panasonic DMC GX1 for now. The H-PS14042E lense (or a similar) would be nice if it happens to fit. Maybe I make that my birthday present :).
6. And finally I need to replace my aging Netbook (can't play those HD videos). It's an old Dell Mini 10 and I'm not sure what I want to replace it with. Maybe that's gonna be replaced by a tablet. 

I'll see what I'm actually going to buy. Nice new things to play around with this year. The first and most important thing will be the second monitor as its just so nice to work with that. The rest is more for toying around with anyways :) ...