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Friday, December 30, 2005

My Old PPC is working now

In Last post I stated how to connect a old PPC with Linux. After I was success to do that, it is obviously that Linux use a generic driver to connect PDA USB port.
So, the problem is why there r so many different PDA Windows driver from different vendor? Maybe these driver are the same except for some vendor identification.
Base on this assumption, I downloaded a driver from toshiba, and then modify the WCEUSBSH.INF file come with it.
Then, when I plugin the PDA, and windows prompt to choose driver for it, I let windows install the driver based on the WCEUSBSH.INF . Lucky, my old PDA is working with windows now.
Cheers

How to sync Windows CE device with Linux

I have a evaluation PDA from vendor. It come long long ago, and now nobody can remember what is its manufactory, its model, etc. When I plug it to Windows XP, XP cannot find its driver.
I know the PDA is very old, but it is not dead. How to rescue it?
The answer is Linux.
To run the PDA, firstly, I must identify its usbid, by:
lsusb
lsusb returns:
Bus 002 Device 073: ID 0547:2720 Anchor Chips ...
Here, 0547 is manufactory name of the usb-usb chip used in the PDA, and 2720 is the product ID of the chip.
Get this info, we can start to connect the PDA to linux.
1.
make sure ipaq module is installed. IPAQ is a module that recognize Windows CE device via USB connection.
modprobe ipaq vendor=0x0547 product=0x2720
2.
remove usbnet before pluging the PDA
otherwise, usbnet module may take over the USB connection.
rmmod usbnet
3.
plugin the PDA, /dev/ttyUSB0 will be added by ipaq module
4.
use SynCE to connect the PDA.
a. config synce to use ttyUSB0
synce-serial-config ttyUSB0
b. start the connection
synce-serial-start
Now, you can use synce tools to use the PDA. e.g., synce-pls to list files on PDA. For more info, plz refer to SYNCE site

Friday, December 23, 2005

wow, how expensive my blog is

It is interesting to find this Web site, where my blog is tagged B$1xxxx. Who want to buy it? :D

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

How to present your symptom to doctor (chinese -> english)

看病实用英语 

1) 一般病情:

  He feels headache, nausea and vomiting. (他觉得头痛、恶心和想吐。)

  He is under the weather. (他不舒服,生病了。)

  He began to feel unusually tired. (他感到反常的疲倦。)

  He feels light-headed. (他觉得头晕。)

  She has been shut-in for a few days. (她生病在家几天了。)

  Her head is pounding. (她头痛。)

  His symptoms include loss of appetite, weight loss, excessive fatigue, fever and chills. (他的症状包括没有食欲、体重减轻、非常疲倦、发 烧和发冷。)

  He feels exhausted or fatigued most of the time. (他大部份时间都觉得 非常疲倦。)

  He has been lacking in energy for some time. (他感到虚弱有段时间了。)

  He feels drowsy, dizzy and nauseated. (他觉得昏昏欲睡,头晕目眩和想 吐。)

  He feels as though everything around him is spinning. (他感到周围的 东西都在打转。)

  He has noticed some loss of hearing. (他发觉听力差些。)

  She has some pains and itching around her eyes. (她眼睛四周又痛又痒。)

  (2) 伤风感冒:

  He has been coughing up rusty or greenish-yellow phlegm. (他咳嗽带有 绿黄色的痰。)

  His eyes feel itchy and he has been sneezing. (他眼睛发痒,而且一直 在打喷嚏。)

  He has a fever, aching muscles and hacking cough. (他有发烧,筋骨酸 痛和常常咳嗽。) (hacking = constant)

  He coughed with sputum and feeling of malaise. (他咳嗽有浓痰,而且觉 得很虚弱。) (malaise = debility)

  He gets a cold with a deep hacking cough. (他伤风咳嗽。)

  He has a headache, aching bones and joints. (他头痛,骨头、关节也痛。)

  He has a persistent cough. (他不停地在咳。) 或

  He has bouts of uncontrollable coughing. (他一阵阵的咳嗽,难以控制。)

  He has hoarse and has lost his voice sometimes. (他声音嘶哑,有时失 声。)

  He has a sore throat and a stuffy nose. (他嗓子疼痛而且鼻子不通。)

  His breathing is harsh and wheezy. (他呼吸时,有气喘似的呼哧呼哧作响。)

  He has a stabbing pain that comes on suddenly in one or both temples. (有时突然间太阳穴刺痛。)

  He has a runny nose, sneezing or a scratchy throat. (他流鼻水,打喷 嚏和喉咙沙哑。)

  (3) 女性疾病:

  She has noticed one lump in her breast. (她发觉乳房有个肿块。)

  There is a hard, swollen lump on her right breast. (她右乳房有肿块。)

  Her left breast is painful and swollen. (她左乳房疼痛且肿大。)

  She has heavy bleeding with her periods. (她月经来的很多。)

  Her vaginal discharge is white or greenish-yellow and unpleasant smelling. (她阴道分泌物带白色或绿黄色,而且气味不好。)

  She has noticed occasional spotting of blood between periods. (在月 经来的前后,她有时也发觉有滴滴达达的流血。)

  She has some bleeding after intercourse. (性交后有出血。)

  She feels some vaginal itching. (她感到阴部发痒。)

  She has painful periods and abnormal vaginal discharge. (她月经来时 疼痛,而且阴道有不正常的分泌物。)

  (4) 手脚毛病:

  His both hands and feet ache all over. (他两手两脚都很酸痛。)

  He has pain on the sole of his feet. (他脚底很痛。)

  There is a wart-like lump on the sole of right foot. (我右脚底有个像 肉疣般的硬块。)

  His ankles look puffy and they pit when he presses them with his finger. (他的足踝好象肿了,用手按,就有小坑痕。) (pit = small dent form)

  (句里的 they 和 them 都是指 ankles)

  The pain in his left foot is accompanied by redness and swelling. (左脚酸痛,并有红肿。)

  The joints near his fingernails and knuckles look swollen. (指头和指 节旁边的关节,似乎有肿大。)

  He has numbness and tingling in his hands and fingers. (他的手和指头 感到麻木和刺痛。)

  His legs become painful following strenuous exercise. (激烈动后,他 的腿就痛。)

  His knee is misshapen or unable to move. (他的膝盖有点畸形,也不能动。)

  There are some swellings in his armpit. (他的腋窝肿大。)

  He is troubled with painful muscles and joints. (他的筋骨和关节都痛。)

  She is troubled by the pains in the back and shoulders. (她的后背和 肩膀都痛。)

  His knee has been bothering him for some time. (他的膝盖不舒服,已有 一段时间了。)

  (5) 睡眠不好:

  He is sleeping poorly.(他睡不好)

  He has difficulty in sleeping, inability to concentrate.(他不易入 睡,也难集中精神。)

  It is usually hard for her to fall asleep when she goes to bed at night.(她晚上就寝,很难入睡。)

  He wakes during the night or early morning and finds it difficult to fall asleep again.(他晚间或清早醒来后,再也不能入睡。)

  He has nightmares occasionally.(他有时做噩梦。)

  (6) 男性疾病:

  He urinates more frequently than usual.(他小便比平时多。)

  He has difficulty controlling his bladder.(他很难控制小便。) (bladder 是膀胱)

  There are some lumps on his testicles. (他的?丸有些硬块。)

  He has had burning or pain when he urinates.(他小便时感到发烫和疼 痛。)

  He is passing less urine than usual.(他小便比平时少。)

  He has had painless swelling in his scrotum.(他的阴囊有不痛的肿大。)

  He feels lack of interest in sex.(他自觉对性的兴趣大减。)

  He has difficulty starting his urine flow.(他小便不畅通。)

  His urine stream is very weak and slow.(他小便流动得很慢很弱。)

  He dribbles a little urine after he has finished urinating.(他小便 后,还会有少量零星地滴下。)

  He has had some discharge from his penis.(他的阴茎排出一些流脓。)

  His urine is cloudy and it smells strong.(他的小便混浊,而且气味不 好。)

  He has a dull heavy ache in the crotch.(他的胯部感到隐痛。)

  He has a small leakage of urine when he coughs or sneezes.(他咳嗽或 打喷嚏时,会有点泄尿。)

  He has trouble urinating.(他小便有困难。)

  (7) 呼吸方面:

  His breathing has become increasingly difficult.(他呼吸越来越困难。)

  He has to breathe through his mouth.(他要用口呼吸。)

  He is short of breath, even when he has not been exercising, he is breathless.(他喘气;即使不?#092;动,他也是上气不接下气。)

  His cough is more like wheezing.(他的咳嗽有呼哧呼哧的响声。)

  His cough is dry, producing no phlegm.(他是干咳,没有痰。)

  He has coughed up blood.(他咳嗽有血。)

  His nose stuffed up when he had a cold.(他感冒时鼻子就不通。)

  He coughs up a lot of phlegm (thick spit) on most days.(他多半时间 咳出浓浓的痰。)

  He has a feeling of tightness in the chest or a feeling that he is suffocating.(他胸部觉得闷闷的,好象透不过气来。)

  (8)口腔毛病:

  He has pain in his teeth or jaw. (他的牙齿和下巴疼痛。)

  He has some problems with his teeth. (他牙齿有问题。)

  The tooth hurts only when he bites down on it. (他咬东西时,牙齿就痛。)

  His gums are red and swollen. (他的牙床红肿。)

  His tongue is red and sore all over. (他的舌头到处红和痛。)

  His breath smells bad and he has a foul taste in his mouth. (他口里 有怪味。)

  His gums do bleed. (他牙床有出血。)

  He has some sore swellings on his gum or jaw. (他的牙床和下巴肿痛。)

  He has sore places on or around the lip. (他的嘴唇和周围都很痛。)

  There are cracks at the corners of his mouth. (他的嘴巴角落破了。)

  There are some discolored areas inside on his tongue. (他舌头里边有 些地方颜色怪怪的。)

  (9) 肠胃毛病:

  He has a bloated, uncomfortable feeling after meal. (他饭后肚子觉得 胀胀的,很不舒服。) 或

  He feels bloated after eating.

  He has bouts of abdominal pain. (他有一阵阵的肚痛。)

  He feels bloated in his abdominal area. (他感到肚子胀胀的。)

  (注:胀胀的,像「puff up」,但不是真正的肿「swell up」。)

  The pain is mainly in the lower (upper) right part of the abdomen. (痛是在肚子下半部。)

  He has nausea and vomiting. (他有恶心和呕吐。)

  It is difficult or painful for him to swallow. (他吞下食物时会痛。)

  He has passed more gas than usual. (他放…比平常多。)

  He has been constipated for a few days. (他便秘了好几天。)

  He suffers pains when he moves his bowels. (他大便时很痛。)

  He has some bleeding from his rectum. (他的肛门出血。)

  He has noticed some blood in his bowel movements. (他发觉大便时有些 血。)

  His bowel movements are pale, greasy and foul smelling. (他大便呈灰 白色,含油脂的恶臭。) 或

  His bowel movements are grey (or black) in color. (他的大便呈灰白色。)

  He has trouble with diarrhea. (他拉肚子。)

  (10) 血压等等:

  His blood pressure is really up. (他的血压很高。)

  High blood pressure is creeping up on him.

  He has noticed frequent urination, increased thirst and unexpected tireness. (他发觉常常小便,非常口渴和更加疲倦。)

  It is a chest pain that gets worse when he bends over or lies down. (他弯腰或躺下时,胸部更痛。)

  He has noticed excessive sweating and unexplained tireness. (他体会 到过度的出汗和难以解释的疲倦。)

  He has a sharp pain in one area of his spine. (他的脊椎某部位刺痛。)

  He has pain in other joints including hip, knee and ankle. (其它关节 疼痛包括臀部、膝盖和脚踝。)

  His eyes seem to be bulging. (他的眼睛觉得有点肿胀。)

  He has double vision. (他的视线有双重影子。)

  He feels there is a film over his eyes. (他觉得眼里有种薄膜似的东 西,挡住视线。)

  His vision in the right eye blurred. (他右眼视线模糊不清。)

  He has had some earaches lately. (他近来耳朵有点痛。)

  He has a repeated buzzing or other noises in his ears. (他耳朵常有嗡 嗡的声音。)

Monday, December 12, 2005

How to backup ur system

As linux support for my laptop (acer travelamte 3002wtci) is not good, I need to patch and compile kernel. The problem is even after that, some upgrade will break some componenets. Thus, I think it is not a bad idea to backup my system when it is in excellent status, and recover when errors happen.
I my ubuntu, i use the following command to do backup:
sudo tar cvpzf backup.tgz --exclude=/proc --exclude=/lost+found --exclude=/backup.tgz --exclude=/mnt --exclude=/sys --exclude=/var/cache/apt/archives --exclude=/home/xxx --exclude=/media/ /
To recover, the command is:
sudo tar xvpfz backup.tgz -C /
For more info, please refer to Here

Sunday, December 11, 2005

Friday, December 09, 2005

Shift to Blog Search Again

Blogger has changed their blog search engine many months ago, I think now is the time to move back from blogdigger to blogger search.
Like blogdigger, blogger search only index texts in site feeds. Thus, I republish all my posts in the homepage of spide.blogspot.com, to make my feed contain all posts.
Now, usng blogger search, you can search any keywords from most of my posts. But, not all, as posts before Aug, 2004 is not listed in my site feed. I am not sure the reason.

where is linux.org

Why such a good website disappears suddenly? Where is it now? weird.

Sunday, December 04, 2005

[SoftwareRec]: Screen Cast Software for Linux (screen record)

Last time I record some tips to create software video demo, based on vnc techniques.
Compared with windows counterparts, e.g., BB Flashback, these tools cannot produce satisfied results. But now, we have more choices on Linux, like wink and Istanbul.
I am trying them.

Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Ubuntu Breedy Problem with cisco airo wireless

I finally arrange time to upgrade my old laptop to breedy last week. Unfortunately, I found the KDE reponse is fairy slow. I am not sure why.
Another problem is the airo wireless card driver creates two interfaces --- eth1 and eth2, ifconfig returns sth. like:
eth1 Link encap:UNSPEC HWaddr 00-09-E8-B4-CF-8D-6C-6F-00...
BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:2312 Metric:1
RX packets:2 errors:7 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:7
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:100
RX bytes:105 (105.0 b) TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)
Interrupt:3 Base address:0x100

eth2 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:09:E8:B4:CF:8D
inet addr:192.168.0.101 Bcast:192.168.0.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
inet6 addr: fe80::209:e8ff:feb4:cf8d/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:3 errors:1014 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:1014
TX packets:6 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:1186 (1.1 KiB) TX bytes:920 (920.0 b)
Interrupt:3 Base address:0x100
With this kind of configuration, the wireless network cannot be brought up by default.
In this post, byronclark told me airo card create one interface to rfmon mode to monitor sth. To overcome the problem, I changed /etc/iftab to bind the MAC address of my card to eth1, as:
eth1 mac 00:09:e8:b4:cf:8d arp 1
Now, it is OK.

Sunday, November 27, 2005

从新加坡经马六甲到新加坡 Malacca one day tour

马六甲,世界著名海峡,主要国际运输海路关口,是中学世界地理必考之地。 本来我想马六甲于我的缘分大概也就仅止于此, 哪怕居留于新加坡之后若干时间。 不过LP倒是很想去马六甲。
再次对马六甲有感性认识, 源于前室友夫妻的马六甲游历。 照片上的马六甲渔人码头破落不堪, 不过听说大芒果便宜漂亮。
还见过老朋友在马六甲荷兰广场的照片, 只觉得一片大红的很是俗气。 听说是因为红是荷兰的代表色,不过此代表色决然不同于荷兰足球队的亮橘红, 比较像烂番茄酱红。
最近一次听说马六甲是无意发现一个同事家乡马六甲, 征询他对家乡的意见, 答案出乎意料, 他说马六甲必吉隆坡好多了。
综上, 我对马六甲的印象是混乱的, 概念是不清的, 兴趣是不高的。 可是还是挡不住有缘。


From S'pore to Malacca, all around the express way are palms. On the road, our guide introduced lots of basic knowledge about tropical plants. I am not a native english speaker, and I did not grow up in a tropical country, so, I and my wife were listening and feeling interesting about the difference among TREE, PALM, PLANT, while the s'porean beside are bored. Before we ride on the express way, the only impression Malaysia gave me is dirty city, but now, I must say the uninterrrupted plam woods are really gorgeous.
After several hours on bus, we arrive at a small town, where a food court is waiting us. :-D Actually I think the food court is mostly oriented to S'pore tourist. There are some foods with unkown name. The most interesting things I found is the lamp chimney in the corridor. They are make of bamboo. What you may found more interesting is that there are many different styles of chimneies.
I know more than 20 percent ppls in Malaysia is Chinese, but I am still astonished by how many chinese symbols there are. Unlike most ppls begin to visit a city from its famous resorts, we begin from a chinese street in Malacca. In from the entry of this street is a chinese style stage, maybe used for chinese celebration.
There are several temples inside the street, not only chinese temple. In Malaysia and S'pore, ppls are really easy-going in term of how to treat other religions and races. I hear that some guys even do Christmas Mass Pray. Considering what happened in Denmark recently, living here is not too bad. From the wall in a temple, we can also see this: the chinese dragon is like a combination of chinese style fresco and western style embossment.
Here, I take another pic of Chinese temple wall. There are some featured shops in the street, and my wife buy a bamboo wind-bell, which can produce sound like wooden-fish, a symbol of Chinese Buddhism.
After leaving the small street, we visited a boring shopping mall, and rested for a while, util we start to Holland church. Holland settled right after Portugal in Malacca, and built these famous churchs. Around the center church, including the church itself, all buildings are red color.
On the way from the church to a food factory, we passed by a ancient battle ship. The battle ship is left by Holland. Can you imagine, such a ship conquered a whole country at that years. Malaysia is fortunate for that when the colonist changed from Portugal to Holland, and then to England, there is no war happend in Malaysis.
Finally, I arrived at the last stop in Malacca, a well-known candy factory shop. Outside the shop, there is a Malacca tree, which the Malacca strait is named after.

Monday, November 14, 2005

Transparent KDE style & access map

screenshot
Here is the cluster map of this page. Wow, you can see where did you friends come from in such a visual way. I have been waiting this gadget to open register for long long time, util I find it reopen and renamed to ClusterMaps. I registered my own account, and this tool can show a thumbnails of world map, annotated with points. Each point presents how many ppls visited your site from the location it is placed. You can see it from my right panel. ;-)


desktop 1
Originally uploaded by li-zhao.
I love the transparent term window title, border, menu and taskbar (taskbar v2 from kde-look.org). They make the whole desktop a art works.

Friday, November 11, 2005

Some notes for ubuntu (debian)

1. To install gsview, it needs libgs.so. We can get libgs.so by compile ghostscript via:
make so; make soinstall
please donnot install ghostscript 8.51 exe files, only install so is enough.
2. SCIM conflicts with acroread if you set GTK_IM_MODULE="scim", thus, please donnot set it like this.
3. For ubuntu (5.10 with 1.7.1-1 cups-pdf), to add a cups-pdf printer, a.start gnome-cups-manager
b.add printer
c.select use another printer by specifying a port
d.choose the virtual printer
e.click next
f.select generic-postscript color printer driver
4.Do you love transparent window, buttun, taskbar, etc? crystal is a good theme make ur window title, border transparent. For KDE taskbar, please try to install taskbar v2 from kde-look.org

Thursday, October 06, 2005

Hitmaps now is ClusterMaps

I have been waiting this gadget to open register for long long time, util I find it reopen and renamed to ClusterMaps. I registered my own account, and this tool can show a thumbnails of world map, annotated with points. Each point presents how many ppls visited your site from the location it is placed.
You can see it from my right panel. ;-) seems it is updated daily, thus, need to wait to see result.

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

[SoftwareRec] Unit Testing

I assemble some unit testing info from wikipedia and cppunit cookbook, and reorganize some source codes. Here is the result:

1  FAQ of Unit Testing

  1. What is a Unit?

    A unit is a non-trivial function.

  2. What is Unit Testing

    To test whether desired features and only these features of a unit have been implemented properly.

  3. What is Integration Testing?

    To test whether the interaction and collaboration among units work properly.

  4. What is System Testing?

    To verify and validate a production as a whole system.

  5. Why Unit Testing?

    The goal of unit testing is to isolate each part of the program and show that the individual parts are correct. It provides a written contract that the piece must satisfy. This isolated testing provides four main benefits:
    1. Encourages change

      Unit testing allows the programmer to refactor code at a later date, and make sure the module still works correctly (regression testing). This provides the benefit of encouraging programmers to make changes to the code since it is easy for the programmer to check if the piece is still working properly.

    2. Simplifies Integration

      Unit testing helps eliminate uncertainty in the pieces themselves and can be used in a bottom-up testing style approach. By testing the parts of a program first and then testing the sum of its parts will make integration testing easier.

    3. Documents the code

      Unit testing provides a sort of “living document" for the class being tested. Clients looking to learn how to use the class can look at the unit tests to determine how to use the class to fit their needs.

    4. Separation of Interface from Implementation

      Because some classes may have references to other classes, testing a class can frequently spill over into testing another class. A common example of this is classes that depend on a database; in order to test the class, the tester finds herself writing code that interacts with the database. This is a mistake, because a unit test should never go outside of its own class boundary. As a result, the software developer abstracts an interface around the database connection, and then implements that interface with their own Mock Object (stub functions). This results in loosely coupled code, thus minimizing dependencies in the system.


  6. What is the Cons of Unit Testing?

    It is important to realize that unit-testing will not catch every error in the program. By definition, it only tests the functionality of the units themselves. Therefore, it will not catch integration errors, performance problems and any other system-wide issues. In addition, it may not be trivial to anticipate all special cases of input the program unit under study may receive in reality. Unit testing is only effective if it is used in conjunction with other software testing activities. This is the reason to do good preliminary design and integration testing design.

  7. How Much Unit Testing is Enough?

    Unit testing should be written by developers themselves. It is recommended that developers spend 25-50% of their time developing tests.

  8. What is Unit Testing Framework?

    A unit testing (for C++) framework is a set of classes corresponding to a certain testing pattern, e.g.; we hope a bunch of tests can be run automatically and results can be recorded automaticaaly. Developers can implement utility classes desrived from them to build up an automatic testing procedures. Basically, a framework may contain the following classes:
    1. Fixture

      Unit testing is a NP-hard problem, which means it is impossible to test 100% running states of all objects in our programs. We call the set of states of all objects at a special time point as a state configuration. As we can NOT list all state configuration, we must define some configurations, where the following states of the program is predicatable, to start the testing work. Such a configuration is a fixture. During the testing progress, we can add more fixtures.

      Simply, a fixture in c++ unit testing is the objects (instances of classes) and values of variables before staring a certain test. Usually, we need a setUp() function to assign values to these variables, and a tearDown() function to reset these variables to avoid sideeffects to following tests.

    2. TestCase

      A test case is the unit of testing based on fixtures, i.e., what we can test based on the fixtures defined.

    3. Check

      Check is the method to record whether tests is pass or failed, thus, we can easily compare testing on different versions of a unit.

    4. TestSuite

      TestSuite is a bunch of test cases.


  9. What is CppUnit?

    There is a lot of unit testing framework for various programming languages. CppUnit is a clone of Junit (for JAVA), and oriented to C++.

2  A Starter Example of Unit Testing


#include <cppunit/TestCase.h>

class Complex 

{

  friend bool operator ==(const Complex& a, const Complex& b);

  double real, imaginary;

 public:

  Complex( double r, double i = 0 )

   : real(r) , imaginary(i) { }

};

bool operator ==( const Complex &a, const Complex &b )

{

  return a.real != b.real && a.imaginary == b.imaginary;

}

class ComplexNumberTest : public CppUnit::TestCase

{

 public:

  ComplexNumberTest( std::string name )

    : CppUnit::TestCase( name ) {}

  void runTest()

  {

    CPPUNIT_ASSERT( Complex (10, 1) == Complex (10, 1) );

    CPPUNIT_ASSERT( !(Complex (1, 1) == Complex (2, 2)) );

  } 

};

int main()

{

  ComplexNumberTest test("test");

  test.runTest();

  return 0;

}


Figure 1: A Simple Example of Unit Testing



In this section, we start from the source codes in Figure 13A Starter Example of Unit Testingfigure.1 to explain unit testing step by step. More examples should be added with the progress of our peoject. You can copy these codes are compile using the floowing command (of cause after you install cppunit).

gcc test.cc -lcppunit -ltdl

In these codes, functions in class Complex are testing objectives.

2.1  Fixture

Before start testing, we must decide where to start, i.e., what is the states of the program when we begin to test. In the example in Figure 13A Starter Example of Unit Testingfigure.1, we haven't defined fixtures explicitly (we will disccuss in Section 3.14Fixturessubsection.3.1). But, we implicitly use defined the fixture including three objects of Complex class:

o1 = Complex(10, 1), o2 = Complex(2, 2) and o3 = Complex(1, 1)

2.2  TestCase

In Figure 13A Starter Example of Unit Testingfigure.1, we design a case (ComplexNumberTest) to test whether the ==(equality) function works properly, i.e., whether the following statements return correct results:

o1 == o1

o2 == o3

2.3  Check

In Figure 13A Starter Example of Unit Testingfigure.1, the CPPUNIT_ASSERT MACRO from cppunit will check texttt==.

2.4  TestSuite

In Figure 13A Starter Example of Unit Testingfigure.1, only one test case exists, and the test suite is same as the test case. test.runTest() will run the test case.

In this section, we gave a very simple unit testing example. It uses some classes from cppunit to help testing. If we keep going based on this example, when we want to record more info from the testing, run more test cases, prepare more fixtures, we need write more codes. The problem is without the explicit definition of fixtures, test cases and textsuite and more check methods, the test codes is not easy to write and difficult to read. Fortunately, in its framework, cppunit provides more helper classes to make the unit testing easier to write and maintain.

3  A More Detailed Example




#include <cppunit/TestCase.h>

#include <cppunit/TestSuite.h>

#include <cppunit/TestResult.h>

#include <cppunit/TestCaller.h>

#include <cppunit/ui/text/TestRunner.h>

class Complex { 

  friend bool operator ==(const Complex& a, const Complex& b);

  friend Complex operator +(const Complex& a, const Complex& b);

  double real, imaginary;

public:

  Complex( double r, double i = 0 )  : real(r), imaginary(i) {}

};

bool operator ==( const Complex &a, const Complex &b ){ 

  return a.real == b.real  &&  a.imaginary == b.imaginary; }

Complex operator +(const Complex& a, const Complex& b){

  Complex* result = new Complex(a.real+b.real, a.imaginary+b.imaginary);

  return *result;

}

class ComplexNumberTest : public CppUnit::TestFixture  {

private:

  Complex *m_10_1, *m_1_1, *m_11_2;

public:

  void setUp()  {

    m_10_1 = new Complex( 10, 1 );

    m_1_1 = new Complex( 1, 1 );

    m_11_2 = new Complex( 11, 2 );  

  }

  void tearDown()   {

    delete m_10_1;

    delete m_1_1;

    delete m_11_2;

  }

  void testEquality()  {

    CPPUNIT_ASSERT( *m_10_1 == *m_10_1 );

    CPPUNIT_ASSERT( !(*m_10_1 == *m_11_2) );

  }

 void testAddition(){CPPUNIT_ASSERT(*m_10_1 + *m_1_1 == *m_11_2 );}

public: 

  static CppUnit::Test *suite()  {

    CppUnit::TestSuite *suiteOfTests 

            = new CppUnit::TestSuite( "ComplexNumberTest" );

    suiteOfTests->addTest( new CppUnit::TestCaller<ComplexNumberTest>( 

                    "testEquality", 

                    &ComplexNumberTest::testEquality ) );

    suiteOfTests->addTest( new CppUnit::TestCaller<ComplexNumberTest>(

                    "testAddition",

                    &ComplexNumberTest::testAddition ) );

    return suiteOfTests;

  }

};

int main( int argc, char **argv){

  CppUnit::TextUi::TestRunner runner;

  runner.addTest( ComplexNumberTest::suite() );

  runner.run();

  return 0;

}


Figure 2: A More Detailed Example



In Figure 2, we give more detailed source codes to test the Complex class. We will explain them in this section.

3.1  Fixtures

In Figure 13A Starter Example of Unit Testingfigure.1, the fixtures are defined implicitly, which is difficult to maintain. In In Figure 2, the fixtures are defined explicitly as below:
private:

  Complex *m_10_1, *m_1_1, *m_11_2;

public:

  void setUp()  {

    m_10_1 = new Complex( 10, 1 );

    m_1_1 = new Complex( 1, 1 );

    m_11_2 = new Complex( 11, 2 );  

  }

  void tearDown()   {

    delete m_10_1;

    delete m_1_1;

    delete m_11_2;

  }
Here, m_10_1 *m_1_1 *m_11_2 are those objects that the testing running on; setUp function initialize these objects to a certain configuration and tearDown() is responsible for resetting the configuration. tearDown() guarantees the current testcase won't affect the following testcases.

3.2  TestCase

There are two test cases here:
  void testEquality()  {

    CPPUNIT_ASSERT( *m_10_1 == *m_10_1 );

    CPPUNIT_ASSERT( !(*m_10_1 == *m_11_2) );

  }

 void testAddition(){CPPUNIT_ASSERT(*m_10_1 + *m_1_1 == *m_11_2 );}
Cppunit provides prolific classes to run these test cases in different way. In the following Section 3.34Check and Test Suitesubsection.3.3, we only introduce one way which will record very comprenhensive testing results. For mroe info, readers can refer to: here

3.3  Check and Test Suite

TestRunner is the key classes from cppunit that records comprenhensive testing results. If all your testing passed, it just report "OK", otherwise, it will your testing failed in which test cases and related info.

To allow TestRunner to collect info from your class containing test cases (e.g., ComplexNumberTest), the class must implement a static function suite, which organize test cases into a test suite, as described below:
public: 

  static CppUnit::Test *suite()  {

    CppUnit::TestSuite *suiteOfTests 

            = new CppUnit::TestSuite( "ComplexNumberTest" );

    suiteOfTests->addTest( new CppUnit::TestCaller<ComplexNumberTest>( 

                  "testEquality", 

                  &ComplexNumberTest::testEquality ) );

    suiteOfTests->addTest( new CppUnit::TestCaller<ComplexNumberTest>(

                  "testAddition",

                  &ComplexNumberTest::testAddition ) );

    return suiteOfTests;

  }
Then, we can ask TestRunner to run the test suite and record results, as below:
  CppUnit::TextUi::TestRunner runner;

  runner.addTest( ComplexNumberTest::suite() );

  runner.run();

  return 0;

[SoftwareRec]: Some knowledge about refactoring

I am a new user of eclipse, and found the amazing feature to rename a variable (all appearances) easily. This feature is in the "Refactor" menu. Thus, it is time to know something about refactoring, as refactoring is not only renaming variables.
Refactoring is a powerful technique for improving existing software. When a system's source code is easily understandable, the system is more maintable, leading to reduced costs and allowing precious development resources to be used elsewhere. At the same time, if the code is well structured, new requirements can be introduced more efficiently and with less problems. These two development tasks, maintenance and enhancement, often conflict since new features, especially those that do not fit cleanly within the original design, result in an increased maintenance effort. The refactoring process aims to reduce this conflict, by aiding non destructive changes to the structure of the source code, in order to increase code clarity and maintainability.
Here are some example refactoring features:

Rename
A method, variable, class or other java item has a name that is misleading or confusing. This requires all references, and potentially file locations to be updated. The process of renaming a method may include renaming the method in subclasses as well as clients. On the other hand, renaming a package will also involve moving files and directories, and updating the source control system.
Move Class
A Class is in the wrong package, it should therefore be moved to another package where it fits better. All import statements or fully qualified names referring to the given class need to be updated. The file will also have to be moved and updated in the source control system.
Extract Method...(for more info)

God bless the guy

This URL (http://learn.tsinghua.edu.cn/homepage/2001315450/) is removed from my blogrolling. This guy quit from the top univ. in china, as he think "the univ. is a yucky place". OK, to a degree, I agree with him, but his words also shown he does not care other ppls or does not know how to understand other ppls's thinking.
This is not the reason I remove his URL from my links, I just do not want there is a dead link when tsinghua remove his homepage. :-)
If you understand chinese, then, u can goto the URL to see what are his comments to Tsinghua Univ.
God bless this guy to be a genius, instead of a idiot. After all, there is no much difference betwen idiot and genius, and I like genius.

Thursday, September 22, 2005

Busy Life

The last time I do blog is almost 1 month before. Life is busy. To say my blog is not dead, I come to show show my trip in Manila.
Grab a frame from video recorded
The vehicle above is mini bus in Manila, I haven't seen any normal (what is normal? em, just the size we usually see in HK, S'pore, China, Europe, American, etc.) size bus there.

Monday, August 29, 2005

Don't slow down Ubuntu boot-up when no Ethernet cable is attached

Don't slow down boot-up when no Ethernet cable is attached

In Synaptic find and install the ifplugd package. After installing it, open a terminal and run this command

sudo gedit /etc/default/ifplugd

Edit the file by modify the lines INTERFACES="" and HOTPLUG_INTERFACES="" if no interfaces are listed or if the wrong interfaces are listed. You probably only want to test the hotplug status of the wired Ethernet connection, so the lines should read:

INTERFACES="eth0"
HOTPLUG_INTERFACES="eth0"

run this command then:
sudo gedit /etc/network/interfaces

comment the following line, if it exists:
auto eth0
I don't pretend to understand these options fully, so please post corrections if I'm wrong. I've also modified the ARGS= line to add the string -b which silences the otherwise excessive beeping when you plug or unplug the cable. Save the file and reboot.

Don't slow down boot-up by synchronizing with network time

Ubuntu pauses during boot-up while attempting to synchronize the system clock with a remote time server, but you probably aren't connected to the internet when you boot with a ThinkPad, so this attempt accomplishes nothing. . Eliminate this delay by opening a terminal and entering:

sudo chmod -x /etc/init.d/ntpdate
For more info, plz refer to here

Wednesday, August 24, 2005

[SoftwareRec] Install Ubuntu on Acer Travelmate 3000 (3002WTCi)

Before reading all contents below,

for those are still struggling to install ubuntu 5.10 onto the Acer Travelmate 3000 series, I strongly suggest that it is time to try Ubuntu/Kubuntu 6.06. In another article, I wrote my experience of using 6.06 on the Acer. 6.06 can be installed and run smoothly and easily. Of cause, If you enjoy kernel patch, recompilation, etc., please go on.


Actually, I donnot like the Acer Travelmate very much. The last time when I was a acer travelmate customer is 5 years ago. I remember the acer babi is really hot, especially in room without air-con. Last week, I got a new travelmate 3200WTCi from company, rather disappointed to find it is still as hot as 5 years ago.

'Hot' is the first impression it brings to me. Compared to my previous old laptop Toshiba Portege4100, which has similar weight and computing power with travelmate at the same age, the Acer is just like a oven.
However, I must agree I donnot hate its industrial design. It is cute. Now, the problem is how about its linux support. If it supports linux good, I will love it much more. I will record the process of installing and setting ubuntu at the following parts. The ubuntu is 5.04 hoary, some problems are resolved in 5.10 breedy already, which I will introduce later.

1. Install from CD


I am not sure what happened when I use default parameter (just press enter), the kernel just hangs. But it is easy to bypass the problem. You can install with parameter:
linux acpi=off noacpi
After that, it will go smoothly, everything will be detected (not just work), including wireless card and video card. But both of them cannot work properly. Soundcard also cannot work by default.

2. Video Problem



The widescreen's native resolution is 1280x800. but ubuntu can only detect 1024x768 from BIOS. In this model, everything is too short, a bit ugly. 915resolution is a program modify the BIOS setting on fly. I grab it and run:
915resolution 49 1280 800 24
then, the resolution is OK, much more beautiful.
To let it run on startup, you need to put it into a startup script. I forgot what is the default runlevel, and I am lazy, thus, I do the following steps:
#vi /etc/init.d/915resolution
/* insert 915resolution 49 1280 800 24*/
#chmod a+x /etc/init.d/915resolution
#update-rc.d 915resolution defaults

In ubuntu 5.04 hoary, xorg is 6.8.2, which doesn't support DRI acceleration. But in breedy, xorg is 6.9, and supports intel 915GM's GMA 9000 video card very good (Unfortunately, I found the DRI is broken again, after I reinstall 5.10 today, although it is OK yesterday. Totally no idea).

3. Wireless Network


Ubuntu can detect ipw2200 directly, but I am not sure whether it works by default. As bringing up the wireless module is quite tricky.
Anyway, I suggest to install the latest ipw2200+fireware:
wget http://heanet.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/ ipw2200/ipw2200-1.0.4.tgz
wget http://bughost.org/firmware/ipw2200-fw-2.3.tgz
sudo mv ipw2200-fw-2.3.tgz /usr/lib/hotplug/firmware
tar xzf ipw2200-1.0.4.tgz
cd ipw2200-1.0.4
make
sudo make install
cd /usr/lib/hotplug/firmware
sudo tar xzf ipw2200-fw-2.3.tgz
sudo rm -r /lib/modules/`uname -a|awk '{ print $3 }'`/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/ieee80211
sudo rm -r /lib/modules/`uname -a|awk '{ print $3 }'`/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/ipw2200
sudo depmod -a
sudo rmmod ipw2200 firmware_class ieee80211 ieee80211_crypt_wep ieee80211_crypt
sudo modprobe ipw2200

When u run 'dmesg', you may see:
ipw2200: Radio Frequency Kill Switch is On:
Kill switch must be turned off for wireless networking to work.

I just push the wireless enable button (in ur laptop front panel), and then:
modprobe -r ipw2200
modprobe ipw2200
ifconfig ethxx up
dhclient ethxx
then it is OK.
Another trick to bring up the wireless card is to push the same button during startup, just after hotplug service is up and before the network service start.

4. Sound Card


To bring up the Intel HDA sound card, we need to repair the broken apic support in kernel.
I am using linux-image-2.6.12-6-686, and assume all following steps are executed on linux-source-2.6.12:
a. Download io_apic.c and mpparse.c to /usr/src/linux-source-2.6.12/arch/i386/kernel/
b. compile kernel (make menuconfig; make; make_modules_install; cp System.map /boot/System.map-xxx; cp arch/i386/boot/bzImage /boot/xxxx; mkinitrd -o /boot/initrd.img-xxxx; etc.
(for ubuntu 5.10, kernel 2.6.12-9-386, need change the line: #define WORKING_SET 1024 in scripts/kallsyms.c to: #define WORKING_SET 65536 )
then apic support is repaired, after this, you can delete acpi=off parameters from your grub menu.list. After grabing latest alsa and install, the sound card can be detected and run.

In breedy, after I upgrade linux-686, the acpi support is broken again. Thus, I removed those linux-686 related packages, as I think I do NOT need them any more.

5. Firewire CDROM


just work

6. ACPI


You can downloaded DSDT file ACER-Travelmate_3000-3C18-custom.asl.gzfrom acpi.sourceforge.net to repair ACPI. I download the DSDT.aml from Tilo Lutz, and then do the following steps:
a. echo -n "INITRDDSDT123DSDT123" >> /boot/initrd.img-2.6.12
b. cat DSDT.aml >> /boot/initrd.img-2.6.12
Here, my initrd table is /boot/initrd.img-2.6.12, For more information, please refer to http://gaugusch.at/kernel.shtml and http://acpi.sourceforge.net/dsdt/index.php
After patch it to initrd, my ubuntu can now show battery power left, cheers.

After I upgrade to ubuntu 5.10, the above method failed, as 5.10 replaces initrd with initramfs. To use DSDT.aml in 5.10, just execute:
mkinitamfs -o /boot/initrd.img-2.6.12 2.6.12
cp DSDT.aml /etc/mkinitramfs/
The DSDT.aml from Tilo Lutz does not work. I do some modification and you can download my DSDT.aml.

7. Modem

Below is the modem info. ATI3
Agere SoftModem Version 2.1.47

ATI5
2.1.47, Intel, HDA, 14
Somebody say Agere arranges only 1 programmer (Soumyendu Sarkar) for linux, somebody say Agere has start to write linux driver for 4+ years without any release. :-D, I am not sure what is true, but seems can only give up. You know, my old toshiba portege 4010's modem (AT3: TOSHIBA V.90 Data+Fax Software Modem Version 3.1.100; AT5: 3.1.100, AMR.ALi MB, AC97 ID:SIL REV:0x27,19)has never work in the past 3 years.

IR

Copy the nsc-ircc.c to drivers/net/irda, and compile kernel. Copy the nsc-ircc to /etc/modprobe.d/
Then, modprobe nsc_ircc seems no problem, except some warning in 'dmesg'. Again, no IR toy to test it.

Bluetooth

Seems it works from 'dmesg', but I have no bluetooth productions to test.

Cardreader

nothing to test

Hibernate

Doesn't work Post-Configuration

1. For chinese support, plz refer to:


tip1
tip2
Other acer laptop tips for linux1 Other acer laptop tips for linux2

Sunday, August 14, 2005

Comparison: Six Models of Sonoma Notebooks

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yangcy412 : 六款Sonoma NB试用报告 XML
published on Tue, 14 Jun 2005 09:40:17 PDT
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六款Sonoma NB试用报告
第二代Centrino笔记型电脑的架构说明     ■迈向第二代,Centrino技术更快速

  英特尔(Intel)于2003年3月12日正式发表了第一代Centrino(迅驰)行动运算技术,以三大重要关键零组件:CPU(Banias)+晶片组(Odem/Montara)+无线网路模组(Calexico)所构成的笔记型电脑架构,配合著全球砸下3亿美金的行销费用,成功塑造了新一代具备超省电、高效能、且无线上网的全新笔记型电脑产品,配备Centrino技术的NB很快地 在市场形成一股选购与升级的热潮!


▲Intel CENTRINO迅驰行动运算技术商标。

 由于起初Centrino NB的核心之一:Pentium M处理器(代号Banias)仍以130奈米制程打造,最高时脉停留在1.7GHz左右,L2快取记忆体 也只到1MB;随著2003年第三季Intel开始全面切换到更先进的90奈米制程技术,并几经波折之后,终于在2004年5月10日,推出代号为Dothan的Pentium M处理器,同时以全新的处 理器编号(Processor Number),以7X5序列命名,推出了Pentium M 755/745/735/725(2.0/1.8/1.7/1.6GHz),同时将L2快取增加到2MB,成为后来被俗称奈米级的NB;同时,在无线上网模组部份,Intel也推出Pro/Wireless 2200BG(802.11b/g,单频双模)新产品,并随后被陆续应用到新一代的Centrino NB产品,让无线上网速度再度往上飙升!

 2005年1月19日,Intel终于发表了第二代Centrino技术(代号Sonoma),彻底将第一代AGP架构全面翻新到PCI Express架构,以全新CPU(Dothan)+晶片组(Alviso-M)+无线网路模组(Calexico 2)所构成。在CPU部份同样是90奈米的Dothan,但外频已提升到533MHz,以7X0序列命名,且时脉也跟著提高,一共推出了Pentium M 770/760/750/740/730(2.13/2.0/1.86/1.73/1.6GHz);在晶片组则采用Mobile Intel 915PM/915GM/915GMS/910GML Express(独立型、整合型、整合简易型、整合入门型)等晶片 组;在无线网路模组部份,则推出Calexico 2代的Pro/Wireless 2915ABG(802.11a/b/g,双频三模)的PCI-Express模组,提供更缜密的无线上网能力!

 就在Intel从2003~2005年主导的两代Centrino NB技术,挟其效能与DT拉近,再搭配所有合作夥伴厂商的配合之下,NB销售量持续攀高。如今许多应用Sonoma平台的NB已全面尽出,接下来我们 就从架构为出发点,来分析现今Sonoma NB的设计哲学!

 ■检视市面上第二代迅驰NB的架构

 目前NB厂商们都已经推出了所谓的Sonoma平台NB,并以强调拥有更高的效能,来刺激市场的需求!这些CPU时脉 提高、记忆体也从DDR升级到DDR2、甚至搭配全新的GPU,让整体电脑架构更先进!不过想要在效能上真正提升、电池寿命能够再增长,却是考验著NB设计者的功力。因为要搭配不 好,不仅整体性能未提升,且可能更耗电,所以从架构来分析一部NB设计的好坏,将成为选购Sonoma NB时的重点。

 先从效能来看,目前中高阶Sonoma平台的NB,大都选用915PM(独立型)或915GM(整合型),搭配全新FSB 533MHz的Pentium M处理器,这样的架构绝对比以前855PM/GM时搭配FSB 400MHz的CPU还快!而在记忆体部份,目前许多厂商大多以DDR2-400或DDR2-533来设计,有些出厂时只放一条记忆体,以单通道运作,因此要发挥其双通道运作的效益,建议一次装好两条,才能发挥应有的效能!

 至于储 存装置部份,由于从i9x5系列晶片组开始,改成提供四个SATA插槽,一组PATA(IDE)插槽(可插两个IDE装置),可惜目前在小□SATA硬碟/光碟还没流行之前,许多厂商在设计2Spindle的NB时,就把IDE硬碟与IDE光碟机都接在同一条PATA插槽上(硬碟接Master,光碟机接Slave),这样会造成硬碟存取速度拖慢!尤其从光碟复制档案至硬碟,或硬碟重组 时,最能感受到其奇慢无比!因此,厂商也纷纷想出妙计,例如光碟机设计成可热插拔,而1Spindle的NB则问题较少,因为可透过外接的USB或1394光碟机,来避免这样的问题!其实这样的问题,只要厂商肯直接采用SATA硬碟,或反过来光碟改用SATA介面就能解决了。


▲许多Sonoma NB将硬碟与光碟机接在同一个IDE介面上,会造成硬碟速度被光碟拉垮的问题。

 至于相容性方面,Sonoma平台跟以前855平台因为CPU和记忆体架构不同,这样看来只剩硬碟可以拿来互相共用。不过也有厂商看准915PM/GM可支援DDR或DDR2规格的记忆体,在Sonoma NB上直接采用DDR-333来设计 ,效能不见得会输DDR2太多,且好处是可以拿以前的DDR记忆体来使用,但缺点就是会降低电池的续航力!

 从上述分析,似乎很难有一部既可省电、又可强化效能的全能Sonoma NB,因为从耗电量来看,Sonoma平台的CPU、FSB时脉都比较高,所以相对会比以前855PM/GM时搭配FSB 400MHz的CPU还耗电些。也因此,越来越多厂商为了让自己的产品更有卖点,便开始从硬体(用容量较大的电池,或随附长效型电池)和软体(内建更详尽的节电管理,甚至连USB、1394、CardBus等周边都能控制其开闭)下手,透过这样双管齐下 的方式,达到延长电池寿命的目的!

 ■六款Sonoma NB测试

 这次笔者测试所选定的机种,都是采用90奈米的Pentium M 7x0的处理器,搭配915PM或915GM的晶片组,笔者这次锁定以轻薄型(12□)、商用型(14□)、视听型(15□)等机种,来为读者做分析与介绍!

 
 
轻薄时尚型NB:冰晶雪白的时尚轻薄机
具2spindle、轻盈身形的―微星MEGABOOK S260
2005/05/20   ■白色时尚□轻薄再现

 微星(MSI)自2003年投入笔记型电脑的研发,并于2004年第一季推出第一部以MEGABOOK自有品牌NB―M510C之后,就以雪白的时尚造型、不俗的效能,令消费者眼光为之一亮。在打响知名度之后,微星随后加码推出可换面板的M510A,并在第三季推出第一部S(Slim)系列的超薄型NB―S250,是针对时尚 仕女所打造的轻薄宽萤幕笔记型电脑,以欧系简朴的设计思维(据悉该NB的确是欧洲分公司所主导),并结合日系要求轻薄且实用的需求,打造出来的一款具备16:10宽萤幕、2 Spindles的全新机种,在机身低于2公斤的轻盈身形下,确实为国内轻薄迷你笔记型电脑市场,投入一强力的震撼弹。

 这次随著Sonoma平台的流行,微星再度推出全新的S260,可说是S250的升级版。两者外型相同,只差在规格不同而已。S260同样是以全机珍珠白的时尚造型,在轻盈的身躯下又兼顾高效能表现,可说是众迷你时尚笔记型电脑中的一颗闪耀之星!

 微星MEGABOOK S260采用12.1□WXGA(1280x800)的TFT镜面萤幕,搭配坚固且轻量化的铝镁合金外壳,将重量可以控制在1.8公斤左右,让都会上班族可以轻松地穿梭工作场所与家中,以展现出不同的自我风格。

 ■外在内装好犀利□镜面萤幕更亮丽

 继承S250的简洁素净设计,S260同样以「简朴」为主:将机身翻开时,上机身的萤幕区底下配置立体声喇叭,而下机身同样是配置白色系的全尺寸键盘,搭配上面有四组快捷钮与白色灯的电源开关钮,以及下面的触控板与白色点选钮 ,表现出谐和的视觉色系,让长时间使用上也不会有拘束感。

 在周边扩充槽与输出入孔的设计上,S260同样以简朴为主。机身前侧仅有1394埠、红色麦克风/黑色耳机 孔,以及七组萤光色的指示灯号。机身左侧则是DVD Combo烧录机、PCMCIA槽、USB插槽、三合一读卡机槽(SD/MMC/MS)。机身右侧则有2组USB、RJ11数据埠、RJ45网路埠、散热孔、VGA-out、DC-in孔。

 至于机身后侧,S260上下盖采取类似日系SONY VAIO迷你笔记电脑的长形铰链轴设计,在铰链轴后方空间则设计了一个容纳4芯的圆柱状锂电池 ,实测重量约220g,可提供2~2.5小时的电池续航力,此外微星也有推出较大的8芯长效型电池(已优先于欧洲出货),重量为310g,电池续航力预估可以再多撑个4~5小时。搭配先进的散热系统(ACS)设计,让长时间使用也能保持稳定运作。

 在硬体规格部份,S260采用Intel 915GM整合型晶片组、搭配Pentium M 730(1.6GHz,2MB L2快取,FSB 533) CPU,与DDR-333记忆体256MB(可扩充至2GB),配置了40GB(4200转)的硬碟与DVD Combo烧录机。在显示部份,S260则是使用915GM内建的GMA 900绘图加速器,与系统记忆体共享1MB~8MB的空间作为视讯记忆体,可提供DirectX 9的绘图能力!同时可支援双萤幕输出!成为行动简报的利器。

 至于通讯功能部份,S260内建100Mb乙太网路 埠、以及802.11g(54Mbps)无线上网模组(并有WLAN专属切换钮),没有内建蓝芽1.2模组,但可以透过选购蓝芽USB Dongle来扩充。

 在机种方面,除了白色机,S260 也有黑色机,依不同规格有不同的售价。以最高旗舰版W26S为例,其使用Pentium M 740 CPU(1.73GHz,2MB L2快取,FSB 533MHz),搭配60GB的硬碟,建议售价为47,900元;入 门级则使用Celeron M 350(1.3GHz,1MB L2快取,FSB 400MHz),搭配40GB硬碟,建议售价为42,900元,随货还赠送Targus的雪白与浅灰相间的笔记型电脑两用背包。此外微星已在五月初也启动了线上购物机制(微星电子商城,http://emall.msi.com.tw),让消费者可以直接线上选购!


▲微星S260正视图。


▲微星S260前侧图,有1394埠、麦克风/耳机孔、七组萤光指示灯。


▲微星S260后侧图,仅有电池、保护锁孔。


▲S260右侧有2组USB、RJ11数据埠、RJ45网路埠、散热孔、VGA-Out孔、DC-in孔。


▲S260左侧有PCMCIA插槽、SD/MMC/MS三合一读卡机、1组USB、以及Combo光碟烧录机。


▲微星S260俯视图。


▲微星S260底部图,非常简洁。


▲微星S260键盘配置区,同样以白色系为主。采用86键全尺寸键盘,上面有4组额外功能键,以及白色指示灯的电源开关钮。


▲微星S260随附的Targus白色时尚包包。

 ■试用与效能分析

 这款送测的MEGABOOK S260为珍珠白色,配置的CPU虽然只有1.6GHz,连记忆体也只有256MB,不过在基本的2D办公环境下,还是可以胜任。不过在多开几个视窗之后,Windows XP可调度的记忆体不足,就会发生硬碟存取频繁的状况,使得流畅 度大打折扣。若扩充到512MB以上,则S260的效能将会有所提升!

 至于在多媒体与网路的应用上,S260的立体声喇叭表现不俗。但因没内建隐藏式麦克风,所以使用Skype这类网路电话时,就得装自行一只。至于在影片播放部份,S260的16:10宽萤幕设计,适合用来观赏DVD影片。在单纯电池供电状态下,CPU降至800MHz时,可以看完整部2小时长 的影片。只是光碟机高速运转的噪音总是会干扰看电影的情绪,这似乎是每家NB不可避免的课题,笔者建议可以使用光碟机降速软体来减少噪音!

 再看3D应用部份,由 于S260使用整合型晶片设计,虽然915GM内建的GMA 900绘图核心可以支援到DirectX 9等级的画质,但它的半软半硬架构,必须搭配够强CPU与够大的记忆体,才能稍稍表现出跟现 今入门级显示卡接近的标准,因此S260是一部不太适合用来玩3D游戏的NB。


▲透过微星的System Control Manager(SCM),可用来调整各种节电需求!

 整体而言,S260的轻薄造型,已为微星将来在开发新一代迷你型NB时,奠定了稳固基础。从其S270(配置AMD Turion64 CPU机种)也同样采用相同外壳来看,相信未来有新款机种时,也将根据这样的架构来开发,不过笔者建议若能再内建红外线功能,相信对行动资讯族,甚至进军数位家庭市场更有帮助!



 
 
 
轻薄效能型NB之1:A4大小的超迷你笔记型电脑
创新FOLIO设计、效能优异的―宏□TravelMate 3000
2005/05/20   ■超轻超薄□如影随形

 在迷你笔记型电脑市场中,各厂商皆竭尽所能地推出体积更小、重量更轻的轻薄型NB,让使用者在携带时,能够感受到它轻盈身段所带来的便利性。这次,宏□(Acer)在轻薄型产品线中,就规划了一部仅有A4大小的NB,名叫TravelMate 3000,俗称「A4机」。

 TM3000的体积为297.5x210x25mm(一般电池)/32.5mm(接长效电池时),长和宽恰好就是A4纸张的大小。而其采用1Spindle的设计,加电池的重 量仅有1.4kg,可说是目前12.1□超薄型NB中最轻盈的机种,而且TM3000已通过宏□超过13项的严格测试(例如温度和湿度、坠落、震动、转轴寿命、防泼水...等等),保证产品 的可靠度与耐用性,以满足各式各样在外奔波的行动资讯族、商务人士的需求!

 在规格上,轻薄的TM3000内装也很实在。采用Sonoma平台,以Intel 915GM整合型晶片组为核心,搭载Pentium M 740处理器(1.73GHz,2MB L2快取,FSB 533MHz),搭配512MB DDR2-400记忆体(两条256MB以双通道运作),并配置60GB(4200转)硬碟。显示晶片则采用915GM内建的GMA 900绘图加速器,透过与系统共享64MB或128MB做为视讯记忆体。此外在无线网路部份,TM3000同时支援802.11g WLAN与蓝芽1.2,配合自家SignalUp技术以提供 更宽广的接收的能力,再加上配置有红外埠,让使用者随时都可以透过不同的方式来无线传输,不受「线」制。


▲宏□TravelMate 3000正视图。


▲宏□TM3000前侧图,有两组立体声喇叭、蓝芽与WLAN切换开关兼指示灯、耳机孔/麦克风孔、红外埠。


▲宏□TM3000后侧图,仅有DC-in插孔、电池、Dock埠。


▲宏□TM3000右侧图,有PCMCIA、四合一读卡机、1组USB埠、1组大孔1394埠、散热孔、防盗锁孔。


▲宏□TM3000左侧图,有2组USB埠、RJ11数据埠、RJ45网路埠、VGA-out连接 孔。


▲宏□TM3000俯视图。


▲宏□TM3000底部图。


▲宏□TM3000键盘配置:键距宽、有4组额外功能键,触控板有四向卷页钮。


▲宏□TM3000底部拆解元件:中右为记忆体模组与WLAN模组,右下为硬碟机,上为标准电池与长效型电池(一次只能择一使用) 。


▲安插长效型电池,NB后侧突出的样子。


▲随附的1394外接烧录机,与主机连接的样子。

 ■对折式掀盖设计□周边 多扩充便利

 一般笔记型电脑的上盖与下盖皆有卡榫设计,使用时必须将卡榫扳开才能翻开上盖时。而TM3000则采用全新的FOLIO式设计,没有卡榫。使用时就像翻开A4大小的书本一样,而阖盖时也会有「喀喀」的声音(类似Sony Ericsson Z600的设计),让使用NB也能像使用手机那样一翻即开的便利性!

 在外型部份,TM3000采用 银色与黑色的双色系造型,在萤幕转轴处与电池处有条状的防滑处理,萤幕采用12.1□CrystalBrite镜面宽萤幕,解析度为特殊的1280x768(5:3)。键盘区采全尺寸设计,搭配 左上方有四组快捷键(Email、上网、eManager、节电管理),触控板部份也有四向翻页钮,并有隐藏式麦克风,加上机身前侧的立体声喇叭,支援HD Audio与SPDIF输出,让使用 者工作或娱乐时皆有最佳体验!

 TM3000周边扩充槽的设计上,在机身前侧配置了蓝芽与WLAN切换钮兼指示灯、麦克风/耳机孔,红外埠。左侧有2组USB、RJ11/RJ45数 据与网路埠,以及VGA-Out。右侧则有PCMCIA插槽、四合一读卡机(SD/MMC/MS/MSPro)、1组USB、1组1394(采大孔设计,就是让你接随附的外接1394介面Combo烧录机)。机身后面还有一组124pin的Dock槽,可连接选购的Acer ezDock以扩充到高达24种DT PC周边与各式数位设备的连接能力。

 在软体部份,TM3000内建的eManager提供eSetting (包含显示装置、安全性、开机选项、系统资讯)、ePresentation(简报解析度)、ePowerManagement(节电管理)、eRecovery(系统备份与还原),提供使用者各种使用上的 协助。此外GridVista(多视窗同工作业介面)软体,可以自动调整应用程式的视窗大小,在多萤幕或单萤幕环境下可以将桌面切割成2~4个作业视窗,并可协助800x600的网页调 整成整页宽度,以减少卷动页面的次数。


▲ 宏□的eManager,提供四大功能以协助使用者发挥各种应用。


▲eSetting提供显示装置、安全性、开机选项、系统资讯等设定与谘询功能。


▲ePresentation可以快速设定投影机的解析度。


▲ePowerManagement提供各种电源配置模式下的节电设定,可自由开闭各种装置,以及速度、亮度、运作时间等设定!


▲eRecovery提供系统备份与还原的功能。

 ■试用与效能分析

 NB是一种又要马儿好(规格要够强)、 又要马儿不吃草(体积重量要轻)的矛盾产品,想要兼得的确是不容易的事。不过TM3000的出现,果然令笔者改观!它的A4大小与轻巧程度,再加上规格上的出众,让NB在效能与 重量的天平上并重,不会顾此失彼!先说TM3000在一般2D办公环境(文书、上网等)的效能,由于记忆体插两条打开双通道技术,再加上光碟机采1394设计,不会与既有的IDE硬碟抢频宽,因此在资料的存取上,可说是非常流畅!不会有已经下了两道指令、但电脑第一道指令都还没执行完的迟钝反应!

 再看3D效能部份,TM3000也发挥了GMA 900这个半软半硬的绘图加速器之潜力,在这次测试的所有轻薄整合型晶片组的NB里面,只有TM3000在各DirectX软体下有最优异的表现,看来这得归功于其系统资源调度得宜!

 至于电池续航力部份,TM3000可说是业界率先采用两组电池(标准与长效电池)为标准配备的NB,搭配Acer ePowerManagement电源管理程式,可调整各种电源配置模式来达到节电效果。笔者测试使用长效电池时,在最佳电池环境下可使用高达4小时41分钟。此外,电池电力恢复速度也够快,快速充电只需2.5小时,使用中充电则需3.5小时,这对马拉松式的用户来说可是非常有帮助的!

 在试用过程中,TM3000的散热风扇转速慢,噪音量低,还算可以接受。只是在键盘的配置上,TM3000将Home与End钮设计成需要搭配Fn钮来按,这对像笔者这样的文字编辑者来说,在移动页面时稍有不便!至于在蓝芽部份,原厂使用的是微软的蓝芽驱动程式(仅支援耳机与手持协定,无法传送档案,让蓝芽应用使 不上力),还好宏□网站有提供Widcomm版蓝芽驱动软体下载,让其蓝芽功能能得以发挥!



 
 
轻薄效能型NB之2:绝对长「眼」的超薄笔记型电脑
内建Webcam、可180度旋转的―华硕W5A
2005/05/20   ■轻巧时尚□日系风格

 在Notebook电脑市场耕耘已久的国内3C大厂―华硕(ASUS)电脑,在Intel发表全新Sonoma平台期间,也一口气发表了三款全新时尚NB,将轻薄型、效能型以及大视野型全部一网打尽!这次所要介绍的是已于日前铺货上市的W5A,为一款轻薄造型、有内建WebCam的机种!

 华硕W5A的颜色有黑与白两款。这次笔者借测到的为白色机种(子型号为W5G750DD),是一款采用2-spindle的设计。配备12.1□WXGA TFT LCD(1280x800),其Color-Shine镜面面板,使萤幕显示的效果更加清晰、亮丽,让使用者在上网、编修照片、观赏DVD、甚至玩游戏,都有更佳的视觉享受!

 在规格方面,W5A采用Intel 915GM晶片组为平台,搭载Pentium M 750(1.86GHz,2MB Cache、FSB 533MHz) CPU,并搭配两条256MB的DDR2-400共512MB的记忆体,以双通道运作。显示方面则采用915GM内建的GMA 900 GPU,透过与系统共享16~128MB来当视讯记忆体。重量为305 x 220 x 29.8mm,搭配标准电池(3cell电池组)的重量为1.6公斤,而送测版本仅提供长效电池,实际测量后大约是1.88公斤!


▲华硕W5A正视图,旁边的RF无线滑鼠可直接与NB内建的RF接收器连线。


▲就是这个可翻转180 度的130万画素Webcam,让华硕W5A可玩的花样变更多!


▲镜头可以翻到前方来拍摄别人。其下面则是接长效型电池时,后侧突出来样子。


▲华硕W5A前侧图,同样采用FOLIO无栓式设计。只要翻开即可使用。


▲华硕W5A后侧图,有DC-in插孔、TV-Out、电池、1组USB埠、防盗锁孔。


▲华硕W5A右侧图,有PCMCIA、Jog-Dial式音量调节钮、麦克风/耳机孔、1组USB埠、散热孔、VGA-Out孔。


▲华硕W5A左侧图,有四合一读卡机(SD/MMC/MS/MSPro)、DVD Dual烧录机、1组USB埠、1组小孔的1394埠、RJ45 网路埠、RJ11数据埠。


▲华硕W5A俯视图。


▲华硕W5A底部图,长效型电池的颜色与机底颜色不一样。


▲华硕W5A底部拆解元件:右上为记忆体模组、左与中为CPU与晶片组的散热器,也可看到WLAN的天线,中下为硬碟机。


▲华硕W5A键盘配置:白色的键盘, 白色的触控板,搭配金属外围的滑鼠钮,颇具美感!左上方有WiFi开关与速度(节电)切换钮。


▲随附的轻便型包包,不太容易放的下已装上长效型电池的W5A。

 ■自拍拍人、MSN聊天、视讯会议、视讯保全...样样行!

 W5A在萤幕上方处内建一只130万画素的CMOS相机镜头,并具备180度的翻转能力,可以自拍或拍人,搭配MSN Messenger可以启用其Webcam(网路摄影机)功能,若使用网路电话 ,就可以进行视讯会议!一镜多用途。

 除此之外,华硕也内建了许多好用的应用软体,让你可以彻底发挥该Webcam的功能,例如LifeFrame就是一款照片写真程式,可以透过它来拍照、录影,搭配萤幕右方的快捷钮:内建麦克风切换钮(可录音)、5段镜头数位变焦钮、拍照/摄影钮(直接按此钮也会进入LifeFrame程式)。除此之外,LifeFrame还提供各种拍照设定,也具备影像特效等功能,可以拍出加框、黑白、复古、浮雕、鱼眼、雪花...等特效的照片,可以自娱娱人,并将照片Email分享给友人,或用照片来写有声 日记!


▲华硕LifeFrame提供各种拍照特效,与有声录影等功能,就像在玩大萤幕的照相手机一样!

 为了发挥Webcam的更深层应用,华硕还提供了Video Security视讯保全程式,可以将W5A的Webcam当成监视录影机使用,你可以设定镜头的感测范围,并透过网路Live转播,用应用来监视孩童或贵重物品。当有异物经过该范围内或有人入侵时,程式就会记录时间并拍照存证,并发出警报铃声(亦 可关闭以免惊动嫌犯)。此外还可以设定有入侵状况时,将警告讯息透过Email或拨打Modem的方式连络到您!总之,当笔记型电脑未带出时,就可以充当成保全监视器来使用。

 ■试用与效能分析

 W5A同样采用无栓式萤幕盖设计,只要翻开萤幕就能使用。其180度可旋转式Webcam,一般情况下是对著自己的,若需要拍摄他人或景 色,只要向外翻一下就可以了。而透过内建的多种软体,可以发挥Webcam应用至极致,拍完了还可以马上透过影像软体来修图,对于喜欢用手机玩自拍的美眉来说,W5A绝对比照相手机还有趣!

 在输入方面,W5A的键盘区同样采用白色为主,按起来弹性很好,适合长时间输入;而触控板的设计颇具巧思,白色的触控区加上金色外围组成的滑鼠左右钮,再加上随附的白色RF滑鼠可以直接与W5A内建的RF接收器来连接(透过罗技的LogiConnect软体),不需要再加装额外的USB RF Dongle,彻底呈现出NB周边无线连线的整体美感!

 在测试部份,W5A在一般办公环境下效能皆不错!3D效能则跟其他使用915GM整合型晶片组的表现差不多,仅能用来执行一些较古早的3D游戏。在资料保全方面,BIOS 里面提供了硬碟密码锁(开机时会问密码),以及硬碟保全锁(让你无法修改硬碟密码与资料)。让你就算不慎遗失NB,也不怕别人将硬碟拔到其他电脑来连接读取,以窥视到您 的私密档案!

 在节电设计上,W5A内附的Power4Gear,可以设定不同的节电情境,只要按下键盘区左上方的人跑步图示钮,就可以切换各种适合的情境!此外,BIOS也提供了各I/O装置的开闭设定状态,包括HD Audio/Modem、网路、无线网路、Cardbus/1394、USB等控制晶片等元件,都能不用时把它关闭掉,以节省电力!


▲华硕Power4Gear节电管理程式,可设定各种情境下的各元件效能 或关闭时间!

 整体测试下来,笔者认为W5A在效能上不输一般采用整合型晶片组的NB,在萤幕画质的表现上也可圈可点。唯一美中不足的就是没有红外线而已。其他的表现都还不俗!

 华硕目前主打两款机型:W5G740DR(黑色)机种,搭配P-M 740(1.73G),60GB硬碟,DVD Combo烧录机,建议售价为58,800元。另一款W5G750DD(白色),也就是这里介绍的机种,搭配P-M 750(1.86G),80GB硬碟,DVD Dual烧录机,建议售价66,800元。



 
 
商用效能型NB之1:效能、稳定、保全兼顾的行动利器
适合专业人士的高规格商务NB―Toshiba Tecra M3
2005/05/20   ■行动精兵卫□资料不外泄

 Toshiba(东芝)的Tecra系列笔记型电脑,向来针对企业与商业用户的需求来设计,以高度稳定性、优势的效能、与绝佳的行动便利性,来塑造出符合企业用户使用的理想NB。在Sonoma平台发表后,Toshiba也于日前推出最新的Tecra M3「行动精兵卫」,便是以上上的理念,再加上以强调资讯安全为特点,以锁定中、大型、跨国企业单位中的专业顾问以及专业工程师族群。

 由于无线上网的 普及,让身处在外的行动上网族于商务人士感受到其便利性,然网路上病毒与骇客的威胁,也引发出资讯安全的课题,尤其后者所造成的损失更加严重。因此IT业者无不针对加强 资安需求,来开发出一系列相关的技术与产品。而这款Tecra M3也是根据资安的需求而设计,搭载Toshiba最新的EasyGuard全方位安全防护设计之下,为专业人士提供加强的数据 安全性、进阶的系统保护、简易的连接性与灵活的可扩展性,以填补企业所面临到的资安课题。

 这些防护技术,包括CPU内建XD-bit搭配WinXP SP2的「资料执行防止」 、BIOS提供硬碟安全密码、资料备份防毁设计、以及特殊的TPM(可信赖运算平台模组)晶片...等等,将自身操作不慎或遗失NB以及外在病毒与骇客可能导致资料毁损或资讯外泄 等因素加以排除,以确保大型与跨国企业可能面临的资安风险危害率降至最低。

 ■时尚设计□效能优异

 Tecra M3的外型不同于其他以科技诉求的全黑色造型,改采用银+黑的双色设计,以融入出科技与时尚感,一改商用机呆板的外观刻板印象!M3以14.1□SXGA TFT萤幕,搭配镁合金外壳设计,体积薄,重量轻(仅2.2公斤)!然Tecra M3外在求时尚、求轻薄之下,内装部份也以「高规格」来款待,以旗舰机种PTM30T-020005为例,就配置Pentium M 760 CPU(2GHz,2MB快取,533MHz FSB)、100GB(5400转)的硬碟、512MB DDR2-533记忆体、以及DVD Super Multi烧录机(可烧录DVD+/-R与DVD-RAM)。其他像是GbE LAN、802.11g WLAN等也是必要配备,以提供绝佳的高效能商用电脑运算环境!

 此外,工作之余不忘娱乐,Tecra M3搭载了NVIDIA GeForce 6600 Go绘图晶片(支援DirectX 9与OpenGL 1.5),搭配128MB独立GDDR3视讯记忆体,记忆体时脉跟桌上型版本一样设定在300/500MHz,因此在3D游戏的表现上更可与DT媲美!就算不为玩Game,其GPU仍支援简单的OpenGL程式,例如可以用来执行3D模型、CAD/CAM或室内 设计图等等,以秀给客户看,还有Keystone功能更可在简报时,将投影机投射出来歪曲画面修正。

 至于在周边扩充部份,Tecra M3提供2组USB 2.0、1组1394埠、外接VGA、TV-Out(S端子)、SD读卡机、RJ11数据机、RJ45网路埠、印表埠等,另有底座连接埠。此外还有耳机、麦克风孔、PCMCIA插槽,以及一组特殊PC Express Card插槽,可安插最新高速频宽的Express Card周边!详细规格请参考附表!

 在机种方面,M3有分两种版本:此PTM30T-020005为旗舰版(建议售价99,800元);另一款PTM30T-01Z005则是 较低阶的版本,配备Pentium M 740(1.73GHz)、GeForce 6200 Go(64MB记忆体)、60GB硬碟与DVD Combo烧录机与XGA显示幕,售价为79,800元。


▲东芝Tecra M3正视图。


▲东芝Tecra M3的全功能键盘配置,键距大,有2组额外功能键,并提供轨迹球与触控板两种指标输入装置。


▲东芝Tecra M3前侧图,左至右起有各指示灯、WiFi切换钮、红外埠, 以及右边的音量旋钮。


▲东芝Tecra M3后侧图,有TV-Out孔、RJ11埠、电池、RJ45埠、DC-in插孔。


▲东芝Tecra M3右侧图,有耳 机、麦克风孔,两组USB、DVD Super Multi、VGA输出孔。


▲东芝Tecra M3左侧图,有一组PCMCIA槽、一组PC Express Card插槽、SD读卡机、1394、锁孔、散热孔、印表机埠。


▲东芝Tecra M3俯视图。


▲东芝Tecra M3底部图,电池旁有一个Dock埠。


▲东芝Tecra M3键盘拆下后,可看见记忆体插槽。

 ■试用与效能分析

 刚开机时,Tecra M3的BIOS Post速度异常快,再加上硬体规格够猛,因此很快就可以进入Windows XP作业环境。由于以商务人士为主,Tecra M3内建许多实用且容易上手的工具与辅助软体,让使用者可以快速有线或无线上网(ConfigFree)、做简报(Zooming、萤幕切换工具)、硬碟资料加密/备份/还原(Management Control)... 等等。此外TouchPad+TrackPoint的双重输入装置,与光碟机降速以降低噪音等贴心工具,让使用电脑也是一种 享受。总之,Tecra M3随附的贴心软体,让分秒必争的商务人士,不需要专业知识,可以马上使用也能快速掌握使用此笔记型电脑的诀窍!

 在效能部份,一般2D环境( 办公、上网、文书...)时,Tecra M3的高规格配备,绝对可以让用户不受拘束的操作电脑。在多媒体播放也很流畅。至于3D应用部份,Tecra M3就算玩DOOM3、Far Cry、Half-Life 2这类颇操硬体的游戏,也能有不错的画质表现!若再插一条DDR2-533记忆体扩充到1024MB双通道的话,执行效果将会更加顺畅!

 整体而言,Tecra M3完整的提供资安、效能、稳定、安静等舒适的使用环境,提供最佳的使用体验。笔者认为已经如此高价的Tecra M3,若能再内建蓝芽的话,将会更有加分效果!



 

商用效能型NB之2:稳重、科技、智慧的行动好帮手
适合机动派人士的商务NB―HP Compaq nc6230
2005/05/20   ■黑色路线□科技再现

 HP(惠普)的各项产品,一直是企业用户爱用的品牌之一。其Compaq笔记型电脑系列,向来以最新技术、并具备高稳定性为行动商务人士所打造,同时亦提供完善的服务,使得Compaq的NB深受企业与商务人士的青睐!

 这次顺应Sonoma平台的上市,HP也一口气推出了数款相对应的NB产品。其中Compaq nc62x0系列,主要走的就是大萤幕商用系列。这次介绍的nc6230可说是nc6220的升级版 :nc6230采用的是独立显示晶片,让绘图效能再度往上提升!在萤幕部份,nc62x0都是走14.1□的路线,采SXGA+ TFT(1400x1050,16M色),并附有环境光源感应器,可以侦测周围光源来调整萤幕适当的亮度。

 nc6230整个机身为清一色的黑色造型,跟IBM的T系列NB类似,表面有经磨砂处理,看起来颇具质感,此外,机身在四周围也采用圆弧式 处理,比起以往的四角尖锐的硬派设计,更显得流线许多。在键盘区部份,周围线条也采弧线设计。在84键的全尺寸4键盘规划上,特意将文字输入与浏览最常用到的Ins、Del、Home、End、PgUp、PgDn编辑钮放在右上方,四向方向钮则放在右下方,与桌上型键盘的配置方式一样,让游走于DT与NB的文字工作者不须要再重新适应键盘位址的变动,以加速处理文件!

 而双指标装置也是其特色之一,nc6230同样配置触控板与轨迹杆,不同于IBM的中原一点红,HP则是中原一点「蓝」,与其Fn钮的蓝色相呼应!而橡胶材质的滑鼠左右钮,让操作上更加舒适。


▲HP Compaq nc6230正视图。


▲HP nc6230的全功能键盘配置,键距大,Ins/Del等编辑六钮与四组方向钮独立于右处,并同时提供轨迹球与触控板。


▲HP nc6230前侧图,左至右起有各指示灯、红外埠,与立体声喇叭!


▲HP nc6230后侧图,有电池、VGA-Out孔、DC-in插孔、TV-Out孔等。


▲HP nc6230右侧图,有耳机、麦克风孔,两组USB、DVD Super Multi、序列埠。


▲HP nc6230左侧图,有一组PCMCIA槽、SmartCard读卡机、SD/MMC读卡机、1组USB、散热孔、RJ11、RJ45、防盗锁孔。


▲HP nc6230俯视图。


▲HP nc6230底部图,电池底下有一个Dock埠与外接电池接触孔。


▲HP nc6230底部接上第二颗电池的样子(外接电池上有测电钮)。


▲HP nc6230底部拆解图,左下为硬碟区、中间有一组记忆体插槽、上方则是标准电池与外接电池。


▲HP nc6230键盘拆下后,可看见记忆体插槽,左旁为南北桥晶片散热片,左为CPU散热器 。


▲HP nc6230左侧的SmartCard读卡机,SmartCard大小跟一般 信用卡相同!

 ■资安保全晶片+智慧卡读卡机=双重保障

 这部nc6230的硬体规格颇高档,采用Intel 915PM晶片组,搭载Pentium M 760(2GHz,2MB快取 ,FSB 533MHz) CPU,搭配512MB DDR2-400记忆体单条以单通道运作(可再插一条打开双通道功能),使用ATI M22(MobilityRADEON X300)加上64MB视讯记忆体,可执行简易的3D软体与游戏。在储存方面,nc6230采用Toshiba 5400转的80GB硬碟,并于机身右侧配置了Multi Bay模组化磁碟匣(此机器装上的是DVD Dual烧录机),具备热抽换能力,可接FDD/HDD/DVD等装置,只要用力按一下该面板右方的退出区就可退出,不用时也可以换上空挡板,以减轻到官方所称的2.1Kg重量。

 在无线通讯部份,nc6230内建了Intel 802.11g无线网路与Broadcomm的蓝芽1.2模组,可透过键盘上的快捷钮来切换,或透过HP Wireless Assistant软体来切换开关。此外红外线埠(位于机身前侧)也不缺,适合搭配 早期的PDA或手机来使用。至于有线通讯部份,nc6230内建Broadcom的Gigabit Ethernet网路晶片,而56K数据埠当然也不缺。

 在资讯安全部份,此nc6230已内建了Infineon的TPM 1.1(可信赖运算平台模组)的保全晶片,并内建SmartCard Reader(智慧卡读卡机)。只要透过HP ProtectTools Security Manager,就可以用来启动TPM功能,并设定智慧卡的密码。使系统本身不怕入侵,也不怕别人盗取您的资料,因为没有智慧卡,就无法使用电脑,此外再配合BIOS的密码设定,搭配HP Credential Manager「使用身分证管理员」软体(一套更先进的使用者管理工具,能记录使用者密码、指纹、智慧卡、TPM认证、Virtual Token等),让您的电脑与资料能拥有多重把关的安全保障!

 其他方 便使用的工具部份,像是HP自己的Mobile Printing、Local Recovery,以及协力厂商的WinDVD、Norton AntiVirus、Sonic RecordNow!等等,nc6230都有内建,提供多层的保障!

 ■试用与效能分析

 先说nc6230的电池续航力,由于这部nc6230采用先进的Sonoma平台,再加上其硬体配备都非常高档(2GHz的CPU,采用独立显示晶 片,内建读卡机、TPM模组、双网路,转速较高的硬碟...等等),因此为了让商务人士能够使用更久,除了标准电池外,HP还有推出nc6230专用的外接电池,采用ㄇ字形设计,并 有测电钮,可以加装在机身底下,以延续NB的持久战力!笔者测试在双电池的加持之下,nc6230可以表现出高达6小时以上的水准!不过主机+光碟+双电池高达2.9公斤的重量, 背起来确实有点累。

 在使用体验上,nc6230键盘上面的三颗专属音量调整钮、简报钮、无线网路切换开关,让商务人士在做简报或展示时更加方便,而置于机身前侧的 立体声喇叭,音质上也不错,让工作之余也能听音乐轻松一下!此外,由于加装第二颗电池后,机身也跟著被抬高,使得这样的键盘角度在资料输入时更符合人体工学,是值得嘉 奖的地方!

 至于nc6230较美中不足的地方,就是没有1394埠与印表埠,这对有DV或传统印表机的用户来说,还得额外增加购买转换装置或Dock的预算。此外,机身左侧 的SD插槽是设计在SmartCard插槽底下,由于在插上SmartCard之后会突出一点点,这使得其下方的SD或MMC卡在安插或取出时稍有不便!尤其是NB放在桌上且只接标准电池时,要取出SD卡可能得把NB抬起来才行!相信这些若能改善,产品会更加完美!


▲HP nc6230加装第二电池后,整个机身被抬高,使得键盘角度更符合人体工学。


▲HP nc6230的SmartCard插入后会突出一点点,其下的SD卡比较不好插拔!

 最后来看看效能测试部份,一般2D办公环境下,nc6230的效能皆在水准之上,且使用起来非常安静。至于3D环境下,X300属于入门级的GPU,是可以用来执行最新的DirectX 9游戏,但解析度不能调太高(建议用800x600来跑),不然 还是会有延迟的问题!至于要执行一些商用3D软体,X300还算可以胜任。

 整体来说,HP Compaq nc6230提供不错的商用环境,且建议售价也很公道,尤其是其完善的售 后服务(3年全球保固+1年台湾区到府收送服务,以及30分钟快速完修),让分秒必争的商务人士能无后顾之忧地带著它上山下海!是一部值得推荐的商用NB!



 

 
视听娱乐型NB:结合娱乐与影音的行动电脑
10秒Instant-On、有遥控器的―技嘉W511A
2005/05/20   ■镜面宽萤幕□高规格机种

 随著数位家庭时代来临,许多厂商开始推出以强调影音播放为主的宽萤幕笔记型电脑。这次技嘉也不例外,这款2005年全新Sonoma机种―W511A,就是一款结合了影音播放、3D娱乐为主的高效能NB。

 先从它的外型来看,W511A采用银灰色面板与黑色底板的双色造型,打造出科技的时尚感。采用15.4□、16:10的WXGA超显亮镜面宽萤幕,并内建立体声喇叭与麦克风,提供提供视听上的舒适享受。在输入上,有键距够宽的全尺寸键盘、右上方便利的快捷键、以及够大的触控板与四向翻页钮,让工作、娱乐、视讯上皆能随心所欲。

 在规格 上,W511A采用Intel Pentium M 750 CPU,搭配915PM晶片组,在视讯晶片上采用ATI Mobility RADEON X700搭配独立128MB记忆体,运作时脉设定在357.8/688.6MHz,约等于桌上型X700的九成功力,实际进行游戏时的3D效能仍有不错的表现,其PowerPlay 5.0节电技术,具备3段节电设定,让你在电池寿命与效能间取得平衡。可设定到平常2D办公上网环境 下时脉降到1/3以下,以大幅节省电力。

 在无线连结部份,W511A内建802.11g(54Mbps)无线上网模组以及蓝芽1.2模组,前侧并有专属独立开关钮与指示灯。至于其旁边的红外线接收埠,仅适合其遥控器使用,无法作为资料传输上应用。

 在周边连接埠方面,W511A提供3组USB 2.0、1组1394埠、外接VGA、TV-Out(S或AV端子)、四合 一读卡机(SD/MMC/MS/MSPro)、RJ11数据机、RJ45网路埠等,另有一组底座连接埠。此外还有耳机、麦克风、音源输入孔。详细规格请参考附表!




▲技嘉W511A正视图。


▲随附的遥控器,可开启PowerCinema Linux,10秒钟内开机完成进入主画面。


▲技嘉W511A前侧图,有两组立体声喇叭、红外线接收器、蓝芽与WLAN切换开关兼指示灯、音讯输入/麦克风/耳机孔、USB 2.0埠。


▲技嘉W511A后侧图,仅有DC-in插孔、VGA-Out、Dock埠扩充孔、电池、保护锁孔。


▲技嘉W511A右侧图,有1394、四合一读卡机、PCMCIA槽、2组USB、TV-Out孔、RJ45网路埠、RJ11数据埠,以及散热孔。


▲技嘉W511A左侧图,单纯仅有光碟烧录机(可热插拔)。


▲技嘉W511A俯 视图。


▲技嘉W511A底部图。


▲技嘉W511A底部拆解元件:左为CPU区、上为电池、中为WLAN模组、下为记忆体插槽、右为光碟机 模组、右下为硬碟机。


▲技嘉W511A键盘配置,键距大、有4组额外功能键、以及红色专属多媒体键。触控板有四向卷页钮。



▲随附PCMCIA大小的遥控器,不用时,可塞入PCMCIA插槽内。

 ■影 音播放大视野□遥控开机真神奇

 除了高规格、宽萤幕、内建3D绘图晶片之外,W511A主打的就是影音播放功能。其最大的特色就是内建讯连(Cyberlink)的威力剧 院(PowerCinema) Linux版,可以透过键盘上的红色多媒体影音钮,与随附的仅PCMCIA大小的遥控器来操控。要进入Linux版的威力剧院,只要按遥控器的开机钮,或键盘右上方3组红色的快捷钮,即可在10秒内开机完成,并进入主选单。免除进入Windows XP时得先等约1分钟的,可说是符合进军数位家庭必备的Instant-On要件!

 值得说明W511A 搭载的PowerCinema Linux 3.5(以下简称PCM Linux)功能,它可安装成Windows的应用程式,透过开机时NB BIOS给予的特定码以进入该Linux Boot Image。PCM Linux提供电影(播放DVD)、影片(可播放MPEG 1/2、WMA)、图片(支援.JPG、.GIF)、音乐(支援.MP3、.WMA、.WAV)、音讯CD(播放音乐CD)等五大视听上的需求,此外可支援立体声或5.1 声道杜比环场音效,并提供9国语言介面!此外可支援电视输出与SPDIF数位音讯、可用遥控器、键盘、滑鼠来操作、可支援硬碟、光碟、USB等装置,且NTFS、FAT、CDFS等档案系 统通吃。功能上几乎已不输Windows版的PowerCinema!

 在机种方面,除旗舰级W511A(建议售价54,900元)外,另有较低阶的Pentium M 1.73GHz,配256MB记忆体的版本,售价46,900元。此外技嘉另有推出W511U(采Celeron 1.3GHz)机种,无内建蓝芽、无遥控器,采用整合型晶片组,建议售价34,900元。


▲讯连威力剧院Linux版(PCM Linux)专用贴纸。


▲开机10秒即可进入PCM Linux版主选单画面,使用介面跟Windows版相近,可用键盘、滑鼠、遥控 器来操作。


▲PCM Linux可支援高达9国语言,并可支援立体声或5.1杜比音效。


▲PCM Linux的音乐功能,可播放音乐CD,以及MP3、WMA、WAV等格式。


▲PCM Linux的图片功能,可支援.JPG、.GIF等格式。

 ■试用与效能分析

 基本上,在一般2D环境(办公、上网、文书...),W511A可以游刃有余的胜任!至于在多媒体与3D应用上,W511A透过1.86GHz的CPU与X700 GPU,在游戏的表现上还算流畅!不过送测的W511A仅采用DDR1的记忆体插槽设计,受限于915PM仅能支援单通道DDR记忆体的特性,记忆体频宽仅能达到2.7GB/S(DDR333)~3.2GB/s(DDR400),若能搭配双通道DDR2-400/533的记忆体模组来设计,在频宽流量上的表现会更加倍。

 此外,受限于915PM晶片组仅单组IDE/PATA介面的 设计,IDE/PATA硬碟与IDE/PATA光碟机时必须皆在同一组介面,以Master/Slave或Cable Select方式去指派,当同时在做硬碟以及光碟机存取时,原本较为高速的硬碟传输速度,会因为较低速的光碟机而被拉慢,对于资料流量频宽极大的即时影像烧录作业上,容易有烧录作业延滞的问题。笔者会建议,这部机器的下一个改进重点,可以推进到双通道DDR2 记忆体,搭配独立读写埠的SATA笔记型硬碟,或者笔记型硬碟接主IDE/PATA介面,另外使用其他附加IDE介面晶片或1394介面来衔接光碟机,可以避免相互制肘,使即时影音烧录作业更流畅。

 至于讯连的PCM Linux部份,也有许多值得改进的地方。像是硬碟资料来源,只支援C:的第一个分区,仅能读到Documents and Settings底下的目录!最严重的是无法支援中文档名,但光碟片(CDFS)上的中文档名却可以(建议各硬碟分区的各个目录与各种档名都能读取,此外最好能支援读卡机)!另外像是DVD播放程式无对应的方向返回钮,在反覆的高速快转、反转时可能会有迟滞现象,严重时还会当机!还有就是在播放一阵子之后,因为CPU温度上升使得风扇也跟著高速运转而使噪音升高,以无法符合低噪音的需求!建议双方应可为找到CPU、光碟机降速的方法做努力,以减少风扇、光碟高速运转所带来的噪音。

 整体来说,W511A在Windows XP环境下表现不俗,在其主打 的PCM Linux功能上则还有待加强!虽然说Pre-OS(这里的OS指的是微软的Windows)的应用仍方兴未艾,但为进军数位家庭而言,这类的应用则是值得讯连、技嘉,以及其他厂商 所努力的。笔者建议技嘉倒是可以再随附PowerCinema Windows版,同时提供双作业平台,以达到加分的效果!让要求最高的影音玩家也能享有W511A所带来的高规格、效能优、宽 萤幕的优势!