Not what I expected at all… no Mirasol display… it’s LCD-backlit with some lame “VividView” technology that tries to reduce glare… and 8-hours of battery life? Really? For an e-book reader? GTFO of here.. I may as well get an iPad and have 5x better of a hybrid tablet-like device and be willing to pay the extra $150 for that.

Seriously, BN, what were you guys thinking? This is a battery-eating, bright, glaring, battery-muncher with a touch-screen. I’d rather get the Velocity Micro Cruz reader sold @ Border’s for more than $80 cheaper http://www.borders.com/online/store/MediaView_cruz-reader

Disappointment

I went a different route – I got the latest version of MPT that I could, version 5.07. This updates to a version that you can only get right now through Live Update, version 5.27 and an immediate follow-up update to 5.31a (see pic).

So after these updates, thankfully my Motorola Tundra (va76r) is recognized and I can use it for syncing, etc.

—

As for the second error message:

“The program can’t start because Comm.dll is missing from your computer. Try reinstalling the program to fix this problem." mphonetools.exe – System Error”

This happened after I did some file cleanup. Not sure if this correlation is reason to suspect causation or if it was a coincidence, but perhaps the MPT software depended on extracted files on the desktop or something weird, who knows. At any rate, I just re-installed MPT and things appear normal again.

User base: those who want modern tech specs – a powerful machine that’s still quite portable, has great memory and video capabilities, and incorporates many features for all sorts of multi-faceted consumer use.

Seems that this Samsung R580 was reviewed by CNET – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wgdBDOUzb0 – and they do a good job in showing that it just so happens to incorporate ports and features in such a combination that it makes it a well-rounded machine.

Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium (64 bit)
Processor Intel Core i5 430
Memory 4 GB (DDR3 / 2 GB x 2)
Display 15.6" HD, LED Backlit
Screen Size 1366 x 768
Video 512 MB gDDR3 (NVIDIA GeForce 310M)
Speakers 3 W Stereo Speaker (1.5 W x 2)
Integrated Camera: 1.3 MP
Hard Drive 500 GB 5,400 RPM
Optical Disk Drive: BluRay (of course has DVD Multi capabilities as well)
Wired Modem No (Don’t think many need this anymore anyway)
Wired Ethernet LAN Gigabit Ethernet
Wireless LAN 802.11 bg / n Compliant
Bluetooth No
VGA: Yes
HDMI: Yes
Headphone: Yes
Internal Mic: Yes
USB 2.0: 4 USB 2.0 ( 1 Chargable USB )
Multi Card Slot: 3 in 1 (SD / SDHC / MMC)
Serial: No
RJ11 (Modem): No
RJ45 (LAN): Yes
DC-In (Power Port): No (this must be a non-standard port anyway because it’s the first I hear about it)
PC CardBus Slot: Express Card (34 mm)
Keyboard type 100 Keys
Touch Pad, Touch Screen: Yes / No
AC Adapter: 90 W
Battery: 6 Cell 4,400 mAh
Dimensions (W x H x D): 16.2" x 1.25" ~ 1.56" x 10.7"
Weight (including Std Battery) 5.7 lbs

Pros:

Very affordable for the spec combination you get

Powerful Core i5 processor and nVidia discrete graphics and HDMI

Plenty USB ports and other useful multimedia jacks/ports/expansion

Cons:

Battery life weak – don’t expect to do much without the adapter

Outside casing is a fingerprint magnet

Has glossy screen (this may be a Pro for you, but I personally don’t like glossy)

Verdict:

If I was in the market for an all-around notebook from a known manufacturer, and I had a tight timeframe to do it I would pick up this Samsung R580. It appears to have the capabilities for accomplishing all sorts of tasks, whether business, casual gaming, casual multimedia editing, or movie-watching (with the Bluray drive). The average user would not complain about performance on this, and if you just need a computer to have the power to last you a good while without having to shell out tons of $$ at the moment, this is for you.

Manufacturer: Sony
Series: Z
Model: VPCZ122GX/B
Price as advertised: $1499.00
Regular price: ~$1900

Clearly, on almost anyone’s first impression this is for those with a hefty budget and need to… well show off the extra few hundred dollars that I personally would not spend on this machine.

First, let’s check out the tech specs:

Display 13.1 in LCD (1600 x 900) – LED Backlit
Processor Intel Core i5-520M 2.40 GHz
Memory 4 GB DDR3 1066 MHz
Hard drive size 128 GB SATA SSD
Operating system Windows 7 Professional
Optical drive DVD±R DL/±RW/-RAM
Media drive SD/MS Pro/MS Duo
ExpressCard 34
Audio Intel HD Audio
Video NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M with 1 GB graphics memory
Ports 3 USB 2.0
Headphone output
Microphone input
HDMI
VGA (15-pin)
LAN (RJ-45)
Battery Standard capacity (6.5 hours)*
Camera Integrated webcam
Wireless 802.11a/b/g/n
Bluetooth Yes
Dimensions 12.4 x 8.3 x 1.0-1.3 in (314.96 x 210.82 x 25.4-33.02 mm)
Weight 3.04 lbs (1.38 kg) 
Color Black
Biometric Fingerprint reader

Some photos (source: http://store.microsoft.com)

Personal Verdict:

For those who want to make an investment on a solidly built, reputable machine from a reputable manufacturer with very modern specs (as of September 2010). These specs consider processor type (Intel Core i5), memory type and speed (DDR3 @ 1066), hybrid graphics (w/ 1GB video memory), and well-known elegance, style, and build-quality from Sony.

Here are some reviews that may help:
http://ezinearticles.com/?Sony-VAIO-VPCZ122GX-Review—An-Ultra-Portable-Laptop-That-Satisfies-All-Your-Tastes&id=5017763
http://www.amazon.com/Sony-VPCZ122GX-VAIO-Notebook-PC/dp/B003QL6D6U
http://www.it-echo.com/2010/07/08/sony-vaio-vpcz122gxb-review-13-1-laptop-w-intel-core-i5-520m-128gb-ssd.html

This is not a notebook that will flake away easily or become quickly obsolete because you happen to have been late in the game. Ideal for those who do not want to sacrifice power for portability – this provides both, hence my designation of it as an ultraportable in light of it’s size, weight, and performance.

You can find other notebooks with similar internal specifications for a few hundred dollars cheaper, but of course the external specs and build will differ. In addition, this deal sheds $400 instantly for retail which helps those who were considering getting this already. But again, the price is a bit much for my taste

I remember seeing a Z series machine in the Microsoft Store for even cheaper in a very crazy promotion many months ago but I cannot recall the price. In conclusion, I consider this machine high-roller for those with fat wallets that don’t mind thinning it out a bit in light of other deals that may equally suit their tech needs.

Lenovo Outlet – ThinkPad SL510 Refurbished – Discounted Laptops, Cheap Laptops, Refurbished Laptops, Discounted Desktops, Cheap Desktops, Refurbished Desktops.

Maybe you’ll find something that’s worth it and within your budget.

Skype adds “functionality” to firefox by basically rendering phone numbers in web pages into special little buttons that communicates with Skype in order to make a call directly from that web page.

I have had numerous problems with certain web pages, and not ordinary problems, either. Some issues more obvious than others, coupled with the fact that I had many other plugins installed in Firefox, it took a while to realize that some pages had been freezing and acting oddly due to the Skype plugin.

This warning pertains to the plugin that ships with Skype version 4.1.0.141 – it may apply to others.

It made Facebook virtually unusable, as chat sessions would freeze, and the browser would not respond upon any simple clicks on navigational links from the rendered page in Facebook. Other sites may suffer from the issue.

To check whether this Skype plugin is affecting your firefox session, go to Tools > Addons > Plugins, and try disabling the Skype plugin, restarting firefox, and then checking if there is a difference. If there is, then you know what to uninstall.

ITJogger

“Sorry, Windows Live programs cannot be installed on Windows Server, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, or Windows operating systems earlier than Windows XP Service Pack 2.”

or

“Windows Live programs can’t be installed on this operating system”

It is not that Windows Live programs “cannot be installed,” it is just that the folks at Microsoft who decreed such a thing made a stupid move. That’s surprising… Apparently, there is not sufficient application testing on these “unsupported” operating systems, and so they decided not to release it for them period.

Feel free to skip down to the uploaded MSI set up files if you do not want to know the knitty gritties.

On a “compatible” XP SP2 machine, WLInstaller.exe smacks relevant set up files and logs in

C:\Program Files\Common Files\WindowsLiveIntaller\MsiSources

NOTE: WindowsLiveInstaller was (sneakily) made a “protected operating system [folder]” so you would need to change this under Folder Options…View, Show Hidden Files and Uncheck “Hide protected operating system files”

Finally, browse over to the MsiSources folder and voila.

I am surprised there is not more accessibility to these set ups, or at least ease in finding them. Any how, I hope someone benefits from these. Enjoy.

**EDIT**

It has been a while since I updated this post. It has come to my attention that my uploaded files were no longer online for some reason. At any rate, since then, Microsoft introduced these applications as a part of their “Live Essentials” package. The same issue as described above still exists to some degree, but Microsoft finally made an “offline” installer available at the following link:

http://g.live.com/1rewlive3/en/wlsetup-all.exe

Just let me know if this doesn’t work for you and I will make sure to upload it somewhere.