Wasney's Blog » Asus U81 http://www.w45n3y.com | live | die | post | enjoy | Mon, 23 Jan 2012 04:20:11 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Compiz on Ubuntu 9.04 (on Asus U81A) http://www.w45n3y.com/compiz-on-ubuntu-9-04-on-asus-u81a/ http://www.w45n3y.com/compiz-on-ubuntu-9-04-on-asus-u81a/#comments Thu, 24 Sep 2009 17:34:10 +0000 Wasney http://www.w45n3y.com/?p=230 After about a hour of tinkering I now have Compiz set up to my liking. If you happen to have read my previous (and very old) post about running Compiz on my Presario, I did it much the same. Actually, aside from not having to tinker with the install, it is the same. Ha.

For those that do not know what Compiz is, it is a desktop effect program. Tons of things are capable with it. If you would like to see it in action scroll on down and click the Youtube link.

Basically, for my Asus U81A, all I had to do was click Applications>Add/Remove, search for “compiz” and install the “Advance Dedsktop Effects Settings.” Before doing so, I did have to enable multiverse in Software Sources. And that was it.

I plan on adding a video, as soon as I find a desktop recorder for Ubuntu that I like. (Recommendations are cool!)

Update: Since I am having trouble recording my desktop without stutters and such, here is a youtube video showing off tons of the effects Compiz is capable of: “Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope Beta with Compiz effects Test.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zoXquJdwMI
]]> http://www.w45n3y.com/compiz-on-ubuntu-9-04-on-asus-u81a/feed/ 5 The Asus u81 http://www.w45n3y.com/the-asus-u81/ http://www.w45n3y.com/the-asus-u81/#comments Mon, 21 Sep 2009 19:09:50 +0000 Wasney http://www.w45n3y.com/?p=209 9366562_raFor the last several weeks I have been thinking about getting a new computer, mainly for school. I have been using a old Emachine for the last year, ever since my Compaq Presario died (motherboard short). It was between a custom desktop, a Asus U50 laptop designed more more the desk and gaming, and the Asus U81. As you can tell from the title of the post I went with the U81. The main reason I chose this laptop was battery life, and portability.

Bestbuy quotes around 7 hours of battery life. I was skeptic at first, since most companies are about 0.5-1 hours off on their estimated. And I was right, at first. Using Windows Vista Premium I was getting about 5 hours with battery saver on in Power4Gear. With is off it was about 2 and a half. Not bad, since the laptop is going to be used mainly between classes (1-2 hours) or at home, and can be plugged in either way.

That all changed when I installed Windows 7 Pro. I was able to get it through my school (SVSU, MI) for free. I guess it is included in 9366562cv2amy tuition or something. After a hour or two of dicking around, getting drivers and programs installed, Windows 7 estimated a whopping 7.8 hours in power save mode (using Power4Gear), and 4.3 hours in performance mode. Truthfully, those numbers are a little off, by about 30 minutes. But still…

Expect a bunch more information to follow soon about the Asus U81. A review is in the works, and I am going to try out Ubuntu 9.04 as well. Not to mention a review on Windows 7!

Quick Spec Sheet, quoted off BestBuy.com:

Images and Spec sheet borrowed from BestBuy.com

]]> http://www.w45n3y.com/the-asus-u81/feed/ 4