Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2 review

So finally it was christmas, and I was to unpack my main gift this year. From Bjorn - To Bjorn.

For those of you who didn't read the blog below, this is a Lenovo Ideapad S10-2 netbook. I ordered mine with a N280 processor instead of the standard N270 processor, which gives a 0.06GHz increase in speed to 1.66GHz. The FSB (Front Side Bus) speed is also increased from 533MHz to 667MHz. If this will give any noticeable difference in daily life is doubtful, but I chose to do this to get the most up to date specs. The other specifications are pretty similar to most other netbooks; a 160GB hard drive (Western Digital) and 1GB of RAM in one single SODIMM slot. According to crucial.com, the maximum possible RAM is upgrade is to 2GB, probably limited by the chipset. On the outside we find the standard 3 USB ports, a VGA port, a RJ45 network port, SD card reader and headphone/microphone jacks. The 3rd USB port is really nice, as you can end up using 2 of them for mouse and keyboard if you use the netbook for a office desk setup.

When it comes to computing resources, it's interesting to see that the S10-2 is almost on par with my Thinkpad T43 (2005 generation) laptop. The T43 has a 1.75 GHz processor and 2GB of RAM, so I see no real difference in performance between the T43 and the S10-2 on the few lighter applications I have run on the S10-2 so far. In comparison, a similar Thinkpad from today's range (T500) can run a 3.06GHz Core2 Duo /1066MHz FSB processor and have 8GB of RAM. Which leaves any netbook in the dust when it comes to pure power. But the point is actually to see the netbook for what it is. Not as a replacement for a full size laptop, but as a tool for those who want something small and portable. So no use in complaining about a small screen and keyboard, and a lack of processing power: That's the trade off for the compact size and the portability!

The Lenovo S10-2.

At first glance, out of the box, the build quality of the S10-2 seems to be good, and the good and slim design is pretty similar to the Samsung N110. Otherwise the lid gives a good smooth feel when you open it, and the Lenovo doesn't seem to have any noticeable flexing when it's opened or carried around by it's edges. Even though I try to avoid doing that. I have never liked the glossy surface on the cases, and even less the glossy screens. But that's the way most netbooks/laptops seen to have gone. The colors and the picture quality seems to be pretty good, but visibility in bright light and sunlight seems to be a little limited.

The 6 cell battery peeks a bit out below the base, so it raises the back of the S10-2 a bit. It also creates a "handle" that most people would grab to carry the netbook around, but I don't think the battery attachment is actually designed for holding the netbook's weight in the long run. The downside is that the big battery makes it hard to fit the S10-2 in it's carrying sleeve, and all in all Samsung seem to have succeeded better in making a compact sized 6 cell battery. The battery life also seems to be a little bit down compared to the Samsung, but I have not made specific measurements on this.

Side view. VGA, USB and headphone/microphone jacks.
Notice how the battery lifts the back.

The accessibility to internal parts on the S10-2 is excellent with two covers underneath. One small cover for the SODIMM slot, and a big one for the HDD and the two Mini PCI slots. One Mini PCI slot is free, and what seems to be a slot for a SIM card is located behind the battery, so there is a possibility to install a mini PCI mobile 3G card here. The Samsung only has a single small cover for the SODIMM slot, so a removal of the HDD requires a dismantling of the netbook.

The underside of the S10-2. Notice two covers that give access to the
HDD and the two Mini PCI slots (left) and the SODIMM slot (right)

The S10-2 key's don't give as good a feedback as the Samsung, and they seem to be slightly harder to hit correctly. The reason can be that the top of the S10-2 keys is slightly smaller, because of more beveled edges, and sligthly more space in between the keys. However, I think it's also an issue of me being used to the Samsung after using it for almost 3 months. The S10-2's touchpad has a lot of settings, and after narrowing the scroll zones around the edge, it works pretty well. Compared to a Dell Inspiron Mini that I tested, it seems like the Dell has the biggest and best keys of these 3 netbooks, but the worst touchpad solution. Dell includes the left/right click buttons in the bottom corners of the touchpad, and that causes the cursor to jump off the target most times I try to click. Both Lenovo and Samsung use separate buttons.

The S10-2's bootup is quick (Which it should be on a clean install) and XP SP3 has no big surprises for us. The 1st bootup gave me the option of installing certain software, but I decided to wait until I knew what I actually needed. Unfortunately this setup was available only on 1st bootup, so I had to locate these .exe files in the "First bootup" folder and install the applications I wanted from there. The harddrive had a 30GB D: partition, containing only 1 GB of Lenovo drivers, which I found to be a waste of space. So a quick deal with Easus Partition Manager, put 25GB back into the C: partition where I need the space. A hidden partition, with recovery possibilites from a One-Key recovery button, is also there. Anyway, I chose to create a Clonezilla image, so a new HDD can be reset to day 1 state.

The pleasant surprise comes with the Quick Start. By pressing the Quick Start button, the S10-2 loads a Linux based Quick Start mini OS that allow you to run a browser, Skype and a few other nice applications. I often put the Samsung to sleep to avoid the XP bootup, but the S10-2 can be turned all the way off to save battery power, and I can still have quick access.

This YouTube video shows how the S10-2 boots
to Quick Start in less than 10 seconds.

So the Lenovo S10-2 was a good experience. I am still debating who is the best; the Samsung or the Lenovo. The keys and the slightly lower battery life are drawbacks for the Lenovo. On the other hand, the Quick Start and the service accessibility are pleasant surprises. The Samsung scores good on most things, but on the other hand, there are no real highlights that creates any kind of enthusiasm.. So all in all this comes down to what your preference is. If you get a good deal on a Samsung, go for that. But if the price is the same and you see the Quick Start and the easy component access as things you like, go for the S10-2.

I am used to the IBM, later Lenovo products, and have good experiences with them. So it felt natural for me to stick with Lenovo. And I think that Lenovo managed to make an overall good product here, with some nice features, but no really big drawbacks. That makes this into a tool I will probably use for years to come.

Source for all pictures in this review: http://www.notebookreview.com/

The tale of the HP Pavilion

Last Friday, my in-laws neighbour Alexa called my wife and complained that she was having some problems with her desktop computer. The were stripes across the screen, so she couldn't see anything, and she asked Jenn if we could take a look at it. Jenn promised her that we should look into it, and Alexa dropped the computer off at out house later that evening.

In the back of my mind, I thought that this sounded like either a bad monitor, and bad cable, or worst case: a graphics card gone bad. So I decided to make an attempt, and felt pretty confident that I could fix this. The computer had both a ATI Radeon AGP card and an onboard VGA. 1st test revealed a really bad picture, so the ATI card got taken out. The second test, with the monitor connected to the onboard VGA showed a perfect picture. To make sure it was a card issue and not the AGP interface, I tested with a similar ATI Radeon card we had lying around. That gave a perfect picture too, so this was pretty obvious: The ATI card had gone bad.

While the computer was running anyway, I ran some other checks and tuneups, just to be nice. After a while I noticed that Windows had an update ready, and surprisingly this was XP SP3. For some reason this computer hadn't had this update done yet, so I let it start. The update made the CPU run high, and I could hear the CPU fan come on at full blast. It ran like this for almost 20 mins, then I suddenly smelled burned plastic. I got a bit confused, and while I was trying to locate where the smell came from, the computer shut down. In the middle of the SP3 install. Ouch..

I soon found that the smell came from the power supply, and it was so hot that I couldn't touch it. I also found that the cooling fan inside the supply was stuck, so the reason for the fault was obvious. I opened up the power supply and put a new fan in, but the power supply never came to life anymore. The fan had probably been stuck for a while, but I put more stress to the system with high temperature, fans running, power consumption etc. than had been done for a while. I had never had a computer shut down in the middle of a SP3 update process before, so I wasn't even sure if the OS would work at all after that. How inconvenient.. How do you explain to someone that their computer only had a minor issue, easy to fix, until I tried to fix it. Then it broke, and now you need to reinstall your OS and all your applications.

After some thinking, I took the power supply out of one of our spare computers and plugged it on. The HP computer ran POST, and I was very relieved to see the Windows XP screen. XP apparently sensed that the update had been aborted, and ran a roll back process that took quite a while. After one more reboot, XP was fine, and I could do the SP3 update all over again.

I was very relieved about this, and could happily make a phonecall to the owner and describe what was wrong, and tell that I needed to buy a new power supply to make the computer work properly again. When I mentioned the supply failure, the 0wner said that the computer had shut down a couple of times because it was "too hot". So the supply had overheated before as well, but apparently I killed it for good. A new and identical power supply was bought at RJM, and I fitted it in the computer. The owner was happy to be able to keep her computer one more year, and I was happy to have gotten a new experience.

More space

With a 60GB / 7200 hard drive, my Thinkpad T43 didn't have an amazing storage capacity by today's standards. The XP install and my applications, took up closer to 30Gb, so with the bare basics, I ended up with a 50% filled up HDD. With all my private files stored there, I would have exceeded the recommended 75% limit. So I chose to keep all my mp3 files, videos and pictures on an external Seagate USB drive. The Seagate is slim and is USB powered, so it was easy to bring along and connect when I was on the go.

Still, I kept running into annoying issues. The T43 has only 2 USB ports, so when I used an external keyboard and a mouse, I couldn't use the drive. I also like to have my files backed up, so I had to copy them onto a second external drive as well, instead of just keeping them on my local drive and backed up on one external drive. So a bigger hard drive in the T43 would be very convenient for me.

Luckily I consulted my friends at forum.thinkpads.com, and it turned out that a bigger hard drive in the T43 wasn't as straight-forward as you would think. As opposed to the older T40/41/42 laptops, the T43 has a chipset with Serial ATA interfaces, but a SATA / PATA bridge chip is used to make this work with older Parallel ATA drives. (Or simply ATA drives, as this was refered to in the old days) This was a stepstone in the transition to SATA drives: Chipsets with SATA interfaces were developed, but IBM did for some reason chose to stick with the PATA drives. I read somewhere they were afraid of running out of SATA drives if they were to implement them in the T43, but I don't know if that's true.

A Thinkpad hard drive. Basically a small box, with magnetic plates turning at 7200 rpm inside it.

This causes some problems. Whether it's due to special requirements for the SATA / PATA bridge, or if IBM simply chose to do it this way is unknown to me. But the T43 doesn't accept other than IBM approved hard drives. The use of non-proprietary drives causes the laptop to give a 2010 error and loud beeps at POST. By using the latest BIOS update, the BIOS can be set to bypass the error and continue booting, but you have introduced an error to the system. Everything will work like it's supposed to in other ways, but I wasn't interested in doing this.

Another option could be to buy a hard drive adapter for the UltraBay. This is the bay where the optical reader is located, but this can also be used for a secondary hard drive or a secondary battery. Because this runs from a pure PATA IDE interface, you can basically put any drive in here and it will work with no error. But I wasn't interested in sacrificing my CD-R unit, so that was out of the question. So I was left with the option of getting an IBM approved hard drive, which are limited to 120GB in size and actually hard to find these days since they are not manufactured anymore.

Luckily there are people on the forum that runs their own little Thinkpad business, and I got a message from Brad, who had a brand new 100GB / 7200 rpm Lenovo labeled drive to sell me. The price wasn't too bad, and this gave me exactly what I was looking for. The drive was paid by check, and arrived a couple of days later. Still in a sealed bag inside a sealed box. So definitely never used. To be able to use the drive straight away, I booted up from a Clonezilla cd and put an image of my existing drive onto the Seagate drive. Then I installed my new hard drive and put the image back on the new drive. And it worked! Since the image was an exact copy of the old drive, the C: was still only 60GB. So I had to download an application to extend my partition to 100GB. Then I was ready to go. And what a relief to just open Windows Explorer and browse my pictures and mp3's without attaching the external drive. And thanks to Brad for the help!

The world of Netbooks

Over the years we have seen that the evolution of technology has allowed us to put more and more electronics into very small units. Cell phones of today, compared to what they were 20 years ago is probably the best example. Laptops have also been subject to extensive development. From the expensive and bulky plastic boxes of the 90's, to the very affordable and light laptops we can buy today. After it became an important issue to stay connected to the internet, the wireless 802.11 technology gave the laptops a new important advantage: You could still move around with no cable connected. Their performance has also caught up with the stationary computers. So unless you are an advanced user who needs slots for multiple extension cards, run RAID or have other complex setups, a laptop will usually do the job for you. And the laptop gives you the benefit of being able to bring your computer along, with your files and applications, to either work, a vacation or simply over to your parents house to show them your new pictures.

A couple of years ago the whole concept of portable computing was then taken a step further with Asus' Eee PC. The term Netbook was created, and this lightweight ultraportable little "computer" became a hit. Even though it had limited resources compared to a full size laptop, people loved the level of portability this little computer offered. Soon most other laptop manufacturers rushed into the netbook world as well, and created their own little netbooks. Varying in sizes from 7 to 10", but with fairly similar performance and storage capacity.

The Asus EeePC

I really didn't pay much notice to this whole thing. I already had a couple of laptops in addition to my stationary computers, so I felt that I was portable enough as I was. I once looked at one of my friends' Eee PC, but this white little plastic thing reminded me more of a kids toy than a computer. This Eee PC didn't even boot up, so it was a disappointing first experience. Then, a couple of months ago, Jenn brought home a Samsung N110 netbook from work. The next two days we went to a conference, and we brought the little Samsung along and used it all day. It even stayed with us during the weekend, so I got a chance to explore it and use it for basics like checking email, browsing and typing.

The Samsung N110, the netbook that opened my eyes for netbooks.

I soon realized that I enjoyed using this little thing, and the netbook also revealed some limitations of my full size laptop that I hadn't put much thoughts into earlier. First of all was the size and the weight. I could just carry the Samsung around the house by one hand and put it where ever I wanted. It even goes on the inside of my jacket. My laptop, an IBM Thinkpad T43, is light for its size, but still twice the weight. So in order to avoid applying too much twisting and bending forces to it, I usually carry it around using both hands. (Read the blog below "Too much information" to see the reason why) So the IBM is usually never moved around much. It stays docked, and it's only removed when I need to bring it somewhere out and away from the house. I have never spent much time with the laptop in my lap either, as I find this way of working and typing to be slightly uncomfortable. But that was a totally different experience with the smaller and lighter netbook.

When I have been on the move, the Blackberry 8310 phone has been my main way of checking email and do light browsing. With a QWERTY keyboard and a big screen, this phone works well enough for this purpose. But as soon as I want to do something more, like writing a lot of text, up/downloading files, or display large websites, the phone comes short. So I see the netbook as the device that I can bring along to fill this hole. It's capable of doing browsing and other useful tasks that are to difficult to do with the phone, but on the other hand not something I would consider bringing the IBM along to do.

The netbook's number two benefit is the battery life. I have never had laptops with more than 1.5 to 2 hours of battery life. This means that in any meeting, any conference, I need to bring the AC adapter along and find a place with access to a power outlet. Otherwise I risk running out of battery and lose access to my notes and my documents. I can fit an extended life battery, but that adds a lot more weight, and makes the IBM so big that it probably no longer fits in my laptop bag. And some laptops don't even have the possiblity of adding a bigger battery. This wasn't any concern with the Samsung netbook. The 6 cell battery gave 7 hours of battery life, so the whole day could be spent on battery power. In addition, it had a built in camera. That is a feature I love, as an external web cam and its cable is a hassle if you need to move around with the camera installed.

So I have now decided to order a netbook. Jenn has 200$ off deal on Dell netbooks, but unfortunately I didn't like the Dell that much. So I chose to go with Lenovo (former IBM), a brand that I am familiar with. (Yes, I know that IBM sold the laptop division to Lenovo, and that the IBM laptops are gone for good. But luckily Lenovo kept IBM's good design and hopefully they will also keep IBM's awesome build quality)

The Lenovo S10-2. Fairly similar design as the Samsung N110. But as a Lenovo/IBM fan, I like to think that Samsung copied the Lenovo and not the opposite.

Some people might say that I am a fool for letting down an offer for getting 200$ off of a Dell netbook. But nothing makes me more annoyed then a product I am not satisfied with, and 200$ isn't going to break me. The Lenovo has the same Intel Atom N270 processor as the Dell and the Samsung, but I upgraded my specs on my order to the N280 one. The increase in speed from 1.60 to 1.66 Ghz might not give any other noticeable result than increased power consumption, but I chose to do so. I also added Bluetooth and ordered a sleeve to carry it in. The notebook will probably be here in 9-10 days, but I am actually considering letting this be a christmas gift for my self. I am not sure if I can stand the exitement for 3 weeks, and keep my self from unpacking it, but we will see. I will definately be back here with a review of the Lenovo and to share my experiences as I step into the netbook world.

Written by Bjorn Sveigdalen

NWELC and Bjorn goes Web 2.0

The last two days, Jenn and I have been attending the NWELC 2009 (Northwest eLearning Conference) at Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa. Jenn works as technical support and Blackboard admin at IDLA (Idaho Digital Learning Academy), so she is attending this confernece because it is related to her job. So this should really have little or no interest for me.

I have been doing some voulenteer work for IDLA though, and I have a general interest for computer and IT, so I decided to come along with her to the conference. And the funny thing is that it turned out that I DO have some interest in this. During this conference we have seen how new technology is incorporated in learning, and we have even seen how online virtual games are used. I had no idea that learning is taken to these levels, and I found it to be slightly silly but also fascinating to see our instructor being in an online environment with several of the attendees present in the room at the same time as he was talking to us in person. Imagine students doing scientific experiments in this virtual environment. That surely puts less limitations to what can be done, compared to students doing experiments with things that can be toxic or even catch fire and explode.

The most striking session though, was one that included refernces to Web 2.0. I didn't know the exact meaning of this and did a quick search for "Web 2.0". I expected to maybe find a development tool like .net or a web page creating application, but I realized that this is a term for the "new" internet. And it turned out that there is also a Web 1.0. So what is this, and what kind of improvment is Web 2.0 over Web 1.0? Hasn't the internet always been the same? Different types of html brought to us over a http protocol?

The session didn't give me any answer to that, but the things I picked up during the session, added to the things I know form before and my own experience, gave me something to think about. I started looking back to the early days like 10-12 years ago when I had my first experiences with the internet. Back then I had a dial up 56K connection, and the internet was something that was made by people out there. The funny thing is though, I had such an interest in my car that I decided to create a website about it. So I got a copy of FrontPage, and created pages with history, pictures and specifications about these kind of cars. Then I contacted a friend of mine, and he provided a domain and server space for me through his company. Then he gave me login details and an adress to a ftp server, and I downloaded a ftp client and managed to upload my files. I still remember the feeling when I opened up IE, typed the adress to my index page and browsed my page for the first time. Wow, I was on the internet! I am still a little bit surprised that I managed to pull of this project, but back then I had an unlimited amount of time to spend on this, including the entire nights during the weekends. In additon, I had a huge interest in computers.

This was basicly Web 1.0. The content had to be made by people with the skills to create and upload their stuff, using special tools and applications. Once it was there, it was static content for other people to display and read only. Nothing more. Well, after a while, I added a guestbook to my page. Other people could leave feedback and to some extent put content into my page. I believe that must have been the first signs of what we know as Web 2.0.

Today, things have changed a little bit. If I wish to create a website today, the only thing I need is Google Applications. Or something similar. There I have all the tools and everythig I need to create a website quickly and upload it. When done, I would of course post links to my Facebook account, and maybe even Twitter about it. Maybe I don't need a website at all. Some pictures and comments on Facebook would probably do the same, and people could leave feedback directly on each picture. Not to mention a blog.. Wow, that would be even better. I can add both pictures and videos like I did in the blogs below about my motorbike.

So while listening to the discussion about Web 2.0, it suddenly dawned to me what Web 2.0 really is. And how things have changed since I did my first attempts to become one of the important guys creating content on the internet that I could push down to other people.

Sadly I didn't continue developing my website, because I sold the car, and my friend could no longer provide proper server space for my stuff. What is left of it can be found at www.evo500.no. But after being moved to a private server with no room for pictures, there is very little to see of my Web 1.0 project now.

Written by Bjorn Sveigdalen

Bike videos

After posting the last blog, I got some questions about the two bikes I compared there: The Buell X1 Lightning and the Suzuki GSX-R 750. So I did a quick search on Youtube, and I found out that a video clip says more than words. At least when it comes to describing what these two bikes sounds like. So I decided to embed 3 video clips just for fun, to share with you what this is about.

The first one is a 2000 Buell X1 Lightning. This bike looks identical to mine, and it sounds similar too. I am sorry that the filming is done in such a bad way, but the sound quality is good. Notice the sound from the fuel injection pump building pressure when the kill switch is turned on. Then you can notice how the entire bike is shaking and vibrating when it's started up. This is two large pistons, moving relatively slow.



Now, let's litsen to a 1991 Suzuki GSX-R 750. This particular bike is blue/white instead of red/white like mine was, but otherwise it seems to have the same exhaust and the same sound. Notice how smooth the idle is, and the scream from the exhaust when it's revved. This is four small pistons moving at a crazy speed.



Then at last, let me show you how fast my GSX-R really was when you could use the entire rev span. This guy has taken his 1990 GSX-R 750 to the race track, doing quarter mile racing. Notice the flames from the exhaust when he's shifting gear. According to the text, it's racing a Yamaha R1, and the GSX-R won. That should not be possible, but in the hands of a skilled rider it might be faster. It was a really fast bike anyway, and it almost scared me sometimes.. This sound brings back good memories. :-)

Buell X1 Lightning

(Note: From the 15th of October 2009, Harley Davidson decided to stop the production of Buell motorcycles. First of all I feel sorry for Erik Buell, the guy who dedicated his life to creating his own special motorcycle. But I also feel sorry when I see the innovative engineering that Buell brought into the motorcycle world. And with the new Helical V-Twin engine, Buell finally had the engine that made the bikes go really fast.)

So, last week I became the owner of a motorbike again. I have always loved riding motorbikes, and I have really missed my old GSX-R 750 (Scroll down and see blog from 11th of April) But this time it wasn't all for fun, and I also had some financial aspects to consider. After I moved to the US, I have had no job, so a motorbike can be a cheap alternative to owning a car. It takes me where I want and if it turns out that I get a job and I need something to drive to work every day, I will have the income to buy a car anyway.

This time the choice fell on a '99 Buell X1 Lightning. And this is basicly a sport bike with a tuned up Harley Davidson Sportster engine in it. The founder of Buell, Erik Buell, broke out from HD in the early 80's, and started his own business. Harley Davidson motors, fitted in his own racing inspired frame and setup. Many people see this bike as a thing that falls between two chairs: Too sporty to be a cruiser, but not fast enough to be a real sport bike. Probably a good choice for HD enthusiasts who want a sport bike, and at the same time want be true to the brand.

So what is this bike like? I have one, so lets find out.

My Buell X1 Lightning, bought October 2009

When the Buell is started up, you can feel that there are some huge moving parts underneath you. The bike is shaking and vibrating, and those who are not familiar with HD or Buell, are probably not quite sure if this is right, or if it's misfiring. When it's time to start moving, you discover that there is enough torque to just let the bike go without using the throttle. Well, almost.. 1st gear has such a high ratio that you still need some cooperation between the throttle and clutch to avoid jumping like a rabbit. But be careful - too much throttle and the bike starts off way too fast. Before you get used to the Buell, starting from a red light at an intersection and taking a right or left turn directly can be challenging because you can end up going a little too fast. And if you brake, the bike starts shaking and jumping again.

But as soon as you are on the move, things feel a little bit better. If you keep the revs above 2500, the engine runs much smoother and has almost no vibrations at all. The torque rockets you off from almost any pace in any gear, and at full throttle you feel that you hit the rev limiter immediately. The gears ratios seems to be matched just fine, and as soon as one gear is empty, the next one clunks in perfectly and you are off again. And from there everything is just fun. In have yet not challenged the bike as much as I would like, but from what I can feel so far, I have every confidence that the bike will do what I want it to do, when I want. The Buell can probably go faster through a bend than I will ever dare to try. However, it doesn't feel as razor sharp and "nervous" as the GSX-R, but it's not a R bike, and to some extent I am happy that it isn't. The riding position is more up right and way better, and it feels like I can ride it for hours without becoming too tired.

When the time comes for stopping there are no bad surprises either. The front brake works fine with only moderate force on the handle, and stopping can be done very fast if you need to. It's not as good as the GSX-R brakes, but that bike had double front discs, and once again - it's no R-bike we're talking about here. The rear brake requiers quite a lot pedal pressure to work, but that's a set up I am comfortable with. In my eyes, the rear brake should only be used as a supplement to the front brake, and a rear brake that is too powerful can be dangerous for a unskilled rider. So after the ride is done, I am left with the impression that this is a really fun bike. The small drawbacks like the too high 1st gear and the shaking and vibrations from idle and up to 2500 rpm aside, this is a good setup and I really like it. Compared to the GSX-R, it lacks some horsepower and acceleration, even though it feels powerful enough.

But hey... Enough power, but not enough horsepower? How can that be? For those of you who are interested, I am going to tell you a little bit more about it. The Buell's engine has a way bigger displacement than the comparable sport bikes in the 1000 cc bracket, and with its 1200 cc, the Buell engine is almost the size of a small car engine. And the torque isn't that bad, with 108 Nm / 79.7 ft.lbs. That's the same amount of torque as the Yamaha R1 from the same year, but the Buell's 100 hp is way down compared to the R1's 150 hp. As the bike I have driven the most before the Buell, was the GSX-R 750, I would like to use that bike as a comparison to show you what is going on here. The 1999 model of the GSX-R 750 has only 82 Nm / 60.5 ft.lbs of torque coming from it's 750 cc engine, while the horsepower is up to 134, and makes this bike into a rocket. The 0-60 mph time is 1.1 seconds faster that then Buell (1 second makes a big difference in a race) and the top speed is blistering 164 mph, 30 more than the Buell. Well, torque is important, but when it comes to making things happen fast, it's only half the truth. A static force can be enormous, but no actual work is done if we don't have a movement. And the formula for calculating work (In our case: power from an engine) is Force (torque) x Time (for an engine: number of rotations, or RPM) = Work (The amount of work the engine can do, horsepower) Or to be exact:

Power = Torque x rpm
5252

So since the Buell's torque is as high as it is, there must be something else missing. Yes, lets look at the engine speed where the maximum power output is rated. And here is a significant difference. The Buell gives its maximum power at 6200 rpm, while the GSX-R doesn't back off before 12 000 rpm. Even though the GSX-R's torque is lower, the rpm is so high that it gives a very high power output. And it's not only the power that makes the bike fast. With a 11 000 rpm rev span available, the GSX-R can stay in the same low gear for a longer time than the Buell that has only 5300 rpm available. A lower gear always improves acceleration, as you might remember from when you are using your bicycle. You don't go very fast in a low gear, but your feet can work easily and you gain speed quickly. The acceleration is also improved when the rpm is high. Why that is, is a complicated formula that I am not quite familiar with my self, and won't go into here.

But back to the simple things. Erik Buell and his mates tuned the HD Sportster motor from 70 to 100 hp before they put it into the Buell. So why didn't they make it rev to 12 000 rpm too? Then he could easily had 150-160 hp and cracked both the GSX-R and probably also the R1 from the same year. Truth is, the engine could not handle it due to it's construction. It has two large pistons, each of 600 cc, almost as big as the entire GSX-R engine. It's an old construction that was never meant for reving fast, and it's a lot of mass moving in there. The GSX-R engine is a four cylinder engine, with four relatively small pistons. 12 000 rpm (200 revolutions pr. second!) put such an extreme stress on the moving parts that lots of work has been put into making every little part as light as possible. And the engine also needs to be tuned in such a way, performance vise, that the torque doesn't drop off at the top. This will to some extent make the low speed torque suffer, so a high reving engine usually won't make the best of itself unless we give it some rpm to work with. However, that was more of a problem in the carburettor era. Fuel injection and modern technology has to a large extent cured this problem. But to make the GSX-R go really fast, you still need to shift down a couple of times. While the Buell works almost from idle, and downshifts are usually not nescessary. On the freeway, it revs at 2500-3000 rpm and power is available without any need to shift down.

So is the Buell a bike I would recommend anyone else to buy? I am usually very careful with recommending anything. People's tastes are so different that I find it best to give good descriptions and make people do their own choices. If you are a fan of Harley in the first place, and want a sportier bike, you will probably go right with the Buell. But if you are a speed freak, and used to the screaming acceleration from a high reving engine, you will probably feel something is missing when you ride the Buell. It might work for you (It does for me) but I would take it for a test ride first. And if it turns out you are willing to live with the low reving engine, and sacrifice some top end power and speed, I can assure you that the bike it self gives just as good riding experience as any other bike.

Written by Bjorn Sveigdalen

Too much information

Today I just wanted to share some thoughts on how you sometimes are better off without other peoples' advices. How advices and too much information can be disturbing and cause more confusion than they actually help you. And I am also including some computer stuff. Come on, you know me. :-)

My story with laptops goes back to a 1995 model IBM Thinkpad 360Cs. I actually started out with two separate ones that I got from my old boss. One had a broken chassi and the other one had a broken harddisk drive. So with some mixing of parts I ended up with a workin' one. It isn't good for much these days, but I boot it up some times, including tonight. So the text for this blog is actually created in WordPad for Win 95 on this 360Cs laptop, and saved on a floppy. Just because I can. :-)

The good old 360Cs

So in 2001/2002 my boss bought a pair of Thinkpad T30's for us and I got one of them. I used this laptop as my personal laptop until I quit at the dairy last fall, then I had to return it. Over the years I used it, I had no problems at all, and I really liked this compact little laptop. After I returned it, I needed a new one, so I found a used Thinkpad T43p online. This is a bigger sized and newer laptop, and with a 1.75GHz Centrino / RAM upgraded to 2Gb, it has the resources I need. The only thing I miss is a DVD burner. All my IBM laptops have worked without a single problem, and these laptops seem to be solid built, reliable and durable.

The Thinkpad T43. The T42 looks similar.

The latest purchase when it comes to laptops is a T42. I ordered it a couple of days ago, but I have still not recieved it. The purpose of this laptop is to leave it behind here in Norway for my mom, with Skype, Google Talk and LogMeIn installed. And we are now getting closer to what this blog is about. At this point I joined an online discussion forum for Thinkpad owners to get some general advices. The first thing I see in the section for T4x series Thinkpads are several postings regarding a "GPU issue". And it turns out that the entire T4x range seems to have a problem with the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit). The GPU is soldered onto the motherboard, and over time the soldering breaks up, causing the graphics to go black and leaving the laptop useless. The cure is to replace the mobo, or have someone "reflowing" it. This is a cure that fixes the problem in most cases, but it requiers the mobo or even the entire laptop to be shipped to the UK.

A typical ATI GPU unit.

After I started digging into this issue, it turned out that my T43 is less prone to suffer from these failures, because of improved soldering techniques. So that's relaxing. But the T42 I have ordered for my mom seems to be affected. And this made me wonder if I had done a bad deal buying the T42. I tried to ask a question regarding how common this problem really is. Is it a question of WHEN it will happen, rather than IF? One of the replies said that this forum is a technical advice forum, and that most people are there because they have problems with their Thinkpads. And that the members here are only a tiny fraction of all the Thinkpad owners around the world. Another member told me that his IT support friends was sick and tired of T4x's with GPU failures. And that this wasn't cured before IBM switched from ATI to Intel based GPU with the late T43 and the later T60 series laptops. A huge problem, according to him.

So how did it actually help me to know this? I am now much more aware of how I handle my laptop. Making sure it is never carried by its edges and generally avoiding having twisting forces applied to it. And selecting the Power Option "Balanced" instead of "Performance" which causes less heat. And if my graphics eventually should fail, I would know the reason. But how big of a disaster will it be? My computer interest and knowledge is above average, so I am able to dismantle my own laptop and replace the mobo. Unlike the average user, who will probably simply scrap his old T42 when it fails, and buy a new laptop.

This reminds me a little bit of a car forum I was a member of back in the days when I had my Opel Omega Evo 500. The six cylinder 24 valve engines used in these cars had a timing chain that could break. This was particularly a problem with the bi-turbo Lotus Omega engine and the Evo 500 race engine, but not so much on regular Omegas. The problem was that the discussion forum turned this into a huge issue. It came to the point where some guys at the forum had a special Heavy Duty chain specially manufactured and lots of people changed their chains. (I changed them in my Evo engine) On the high performance engines this probably had its purpose, but it is later proved that most regular engines survived for years and years with the stock chains. So lots of unnescessary worries were made for nothing...

The word for the day must be to deal with problems when they occour. Take pleasure from your car, laptop, whatever, without worrying what CAN happen. Know that forums and other sources of information are there to give you help when a problem occour, and that a cure for most things can be found. But be careful to actually go there and explore the list of possible faults. Enjoy today, use common sense about avoiding problems, but don't let the worries about what can happen destroy the pleasure and good use you hoped to get from the equipment you bought.

Written by Bjorn Sveigdalen

Meeting and old friend again

In early May last year, after I made serious plans of moving to the US, I advertised my motorbike and sold it. It was sold to a guy from Otta after only 2 days, but people kept on calling me for a long time afterward. And I was not surprised, as it was a really nice bike. It was repainted not long ago, it had some nice parts on it, and I had kept it very well.

The bike is a 1990 model Suzuki GSX-R 750, and it has a 112 hp engine that redlines at a screamin' 13 500 rpm. It already had a Vance & Hines exhaust system when I bought it and I fitted a steering damper and a two-way adjustable rear shock from a newer GSX-R 750. I also changed a lot of small parts that made the bike look very nice. After I sold it I realised I had some more parts for it, including the solo seat box and a set of spare keys, but I lost the new owners phone number, and I never got in touch with him again to offer to give him these parts.


The picture above is from my advertisement when I sold it.

So, earlier today a workmate called me and told me that he had seen my motorbike online for sale. I found the ad, and I decided to make a phone call in case the guy still had the bike and wanted the parts and tools I had for it. It turned out that the bike was not for sale after all, and I was invited over to him. So I drove down to Otta this afternoon, and I was really surprised when I got to see the bike again. It looked even better now than when I owned it. Spotless, and with a lot of new parts.

It turned out that the new owner had spent $10 000 (70 000 Nkr) on it! A friend of him had tested it and damaged the 2nd gear, so a complete new gearbox and the labour had cost him $3000. He also had the workshop fit sharper camshafts ($2000), bigger jets in the carburettors and a new $1500 Öhlins rear shock. And a LOT of other small things. So it was really nice to see my old bike being taken so well care of. The best thing is that he has decided to keep it. It is simply in a too good shape for him to sell it.. The picture below was taken today, and you can see the new custom sized license plate and the reservoir for the Öhlins shock.

The owner even allowed me to ride it today, and it was great fun. I already know how fast this bike is, so I had no intentions of exploring its limits. But once on the road I let it rev to 10 000 rpm on 2nd gear, a quick shift to 3rd, and further on til I hit almost 100mph. Then a quick brake back to 60. And the feeling was amazing.. :-) The new camshafts and the jets give an estimated output of 130 hp, and it was *definately* faster now. A lot more punch above 6-7000 rpm. And the new gearbox made the gearshifts better as well.

Before I left I was invited in for a coffee, and as a thanks for the parts I gave him, he gave me a framed picture of the bike. This is now hanging on my wall. As a memory of the most fun toy I have ever owned, and to remind me of the nice feeling I got when I got to see how well my old GSX-R has been taken care of. An insane amount of money has been spent on this bike during the years, but, well.. I guess that's what hobbies are for.. :-)

Technology and a long distance relationship.

Ever since I met Jenn different ways of communicating electronically has been an important part of our daily life. That is how we first got to know each other, and these days this is how we maintain our long distance relationship, and keep in touch on a daily basis as a husband and a wife.

When Jenn and I first met, we had contact for a while through email. That's how we got to know the basics about each other, and could make a decision we wanted to get to know each other better. The first kind of direct messaging / instant messaging service I used for having contact with Jenn was MSN. This is the "old" reliable messenger service, and except from some odd chat channels (IRC) this was the only messenger application I had from before. I had only used it for plain text messaging, but Jenn and I soon decided to try the webcam option. Jenn had a webcam, and I bought one too. The first time I used the cam, it felt weird to see her and know that she could see me too. It soon felt more natural, but we discovered that MSN wasn't optimized for this, as the video conversations cut out very often.

Then we decided to move on to Skype, that has a better way of dealing with the video transfers, and provides a much more stable connection. The longest period I have been in a call is 36 hours in a row, so no need to reconnect very often. Skype is quite demanding on the system resources, though. A Skype videocall usually uses 80-90% CPU, so a couple of other applications at the same time causes the CPU to run 100% all the time and slow down the computer a bit. Other demanding applications running at the same time has caused my ThinkPad T43 (Centriono 1.73GHz / 1Gb RAM) to lock up a couple of times. Later this weekend I will see how my home computer (Pentium 4 3.0GHz / 512Mb RAM) actually handles this.

At the same time as we moved on to Skype, we also decided to try Google Talk. Jenn was often on the move, and she had access to a mobile Google Talk application through her Blackberry 6300 mobile phone. She has an unlimited dataplan through AT&T, so this was free for her. Google Talk turned out to have a decent interface also for computer, so we gradually skipped MSN totally and chatted through Google Talk during the times Jenn was on the move or other things prevented us from making video calls through Skype. When I lived in the US last year, I had my own Blackberry 6310, and we could communicate through Google Talk from phone to computer or directly from phone to phone at all times. Google Talk now also offers a video call service that requiers less system resources than Skype. Only 50-60% CPU, which makes a difference.

So even though we have quite some options, some times (especially with me in Norway) the only thing working is regular phonecalls. My solution on how to make phonecalls at an almost decent price is actully once again Skype. Skype To Go is a service where you call a Skype To Go number, chose what foreign phone number you want to call, and Skype takes care of it. Unfortunately there is no Skype To Go number in Norway, so I have to call a number in Sweden. But calling Sweden is still cheaper than calling directly to the US.

Jenn has found another solution for caling from her side. Trough Scoot, a Blackberry compatible application for Skype is available, and since this uses the Blackberry data connection, this is free. You need Skype credit, but calling landlines is still very cheap.

So all in all, Skype is the application that has given us most opportunities, and it has even given us some memorable moments. The first time we heard each others voices was through Skype, with me saying the now famous words "Hello, can you hear me?" And after spending some nights on Skype, sharing wine and beer, talking and listening to each other music, I really realised I had found a very special friend in this amerian girl, and that I wanted to know her even better.

(Regular mail? Yes, we have tried that too. I send it, and after 7-8 days Jenn has it.. Instant letters.. Uhm..)