Tuesday Tstuph
I wish to once again express my gratitude to all of the computer geeks out there who start their own blogs and websites to help other users out. As I said before, owners’ manuals are often useless, so I’m glad to be able to do searches and find other users who can help me.
This time, I was looking for help with this Netbook Mate Docking Station thingy that I finally got today. It seems like forever since I ordered it, due to FedEx delays due to storms, and then Mike not being in the Massachusetts office of his work until today, to bring it home for me. The thing was actually delivered on Saturday; yeah, we COULD have gone to his office then to get it, but we were too busy with that PawSox thing. Although the office is officially closed, he has a key card to get in. And then, he had to go to Rhode Island on Monday for the boring meeting, so he didn’t bring it home until today.
I wanted the thing for my netbook, so that I could have more storage space and an optical drive, so we can watch DVDs when traveling, install software on the thing, etc. But once he brought it home, I opened it up, connected it to the netbook, and then popped in a DVD to test it out. The netbook did recognize the presence of the external drive, but it would not play the DVD.
Once again, the owners’ manual was useless. I wondered if perhaps the thing was not compatible with a Linux operating system, but it’s a plug & play thing, connected with a USB cord. And dammit, it says right on the box that it’s compatible with Windoze, Mac, and Linux!
So, before getting pissed off enough to pack the thing up and return it, I did a search online for help. I actually found an entire site, complete with a wiki, for users of the Asus Eee PC, which is what my netbook is.
What I learned was that the media player that comes with the Linux based Asus netbooks will not play most DVDs on any external drive, due to some stupid licensing crap. But there is a downloadable solution, and when I tried it, it worked. I don’t know why it had to be such a pain to figure out how to play a DVD on this thing in the first place, you’d think it was one of those complicated home security systems or something. Would it have killed them to mention this in the stupid manual?
I don’t know if I’d really have sent the thing back, anyway. It also has a 160 GB removable hard drive, and I was pleased to see that it can be connected to ANY computer with a USB cable. That’s certainly added value. So I’m happy. And I’m happy I ordered it when I did…it’s more expensive now, and the rebate offer is gone. Now I just have to remember to send in the rebate form!
So then I was going to buy a case that would hold the netbook, the docking station, the power cords, mouse, etc. But then Mike told me that I could have part of his major award. Said “major award” was his choice of anything out of a catalog provided for employee service awards. He picked out a wheely suitcase that is very similar to mine, and it came with a bag that is about the size of a laptop case. He already has a case for his work laptop, and he said he didn’t need it for anything else…so he reminded me of its existence and said that I could have it. Fine with me!
New toys are fun!
