« Silly Issues With the Sony UX390N | Main | Upgraded to Vista, Wallpaper won't Change? »
Tips for the Sony Vaio VGN-UX390N
Thumb typing can be a little hard, especially when it comes to modified key strokes. Seriously, what Vista owner doesn't want to do some Win-tabbing these days? Unfortunately, both keys are on the left side. This makes it very difficult to do while still holding the UX.
The solution is to use an accessibility feature, namely "sticky keys" which is under making the keyboard easier to use. The settings in the screenshot work really well for me. I can hit <win><win><tab n times> then <win> to choose the app (same for the normal alt-tab stuff, too). Bringing up the start menu takes three <win> clicks, but you start using the mouse more or getting used to it. Being able to press <ctrl> then <shift> then <esc> one at a time to bring up the process monitor.
If you aren't going to use the Cingular modem, uninstall SmartWi. It's a memory and CPU hog. Your battery will reward you for doing so. I don't have a solution yet for using the Cingular modem without it, though. In addition, it doesn't affect overall performance much.
Use the fingerprint reader. Passwords are often difficult to type on a regular keyboard and could be nearly impossible with just thumbs. However, swiping one of your ten fingers is very easy and fast. Passwords are shared between Firefox and Internet Explorer, which is very convenient. This is my first experience with a fingerprint reader and it has been surprisingly convenient.
If you aren't using the memory stick slot and you have Vista, stick a card in for ReadyBoost use. It'll help launch times, even if you have the 32GB SSD system. It might even save battery due to less disk use. I have, or will have, a more complete post on this topic.
When using the mini plastic stand you can't have the power plugged in else it won't stand straight. However, if you put it on a book or two with the plug hanging down on the left side it will actually stand straight. Find a wood desk organizer or something taller and you can get the screen closer to your eyes.
Well, that's the short list for now. Did I miss anything?
Posted by Shane on March 30, 2007 8:04 AM | Permalink
TrackBacks
http://www.kf6nvr.net/mt/kf6nvr-tb.cgi/804
Comments
I've been a bit skeptical about this device but Shane has used it a lot. The fingerprint protecion works well, and my fingerprints are clearly different from Shane's cause I tried to login while he was in the shower...
I can say that I really don't like it for sharing information. Say we are looking up something on Google or IMDB. Shane will say something like see? And frankly, I cannot see anything that detailed from the seat next to him. I prefer to get out my widescreen laptop if we want to co-browse. That's not to say that the Sony Vaio VGN-UX390N doesn't have a beautiful screen - it does. I'm wondering if it would make a more functional travel storage device, but again, I need to be able to easily work with RAW photo files, and I doubt it's up to the task.
Shane also ran the Windows Vista upgrade check on it, and supposedly its not Vista ready (although it came with it installed...)
Posted by: Lauren Darcey | April 2, 2007 11:38 AM
Oh, and one more thing I remember: the video quality of the camera was surprisingly good. Video conferencing was pretty silly, but when Shane turned the camera out, I could actually follow a movie on a large TV screen from another room. It looked surprisingly good.
Posted by: Lauren Darcey | April 2, 2007 11:40 AM
Well, to be fair, it wasn't the upgrade check. Rather, it was a benchmarking tool that looked at four different things. The video was shown as not Vista compatible.
The thing is, though, Aero actually runs rather well on it. All of the neat 3D and glass effects look really good.
It's not a great device for showing other people what you're doing since you often have to be rather close to the screen to see stuff well. I've since switched to increasing application font size to see if better from a few feet away. This helps for the browser and other apps where this can be configured.
Hooked up to our 40" TV at 1024x768, though, everything looks just fine (the output won't go to 1920x1080, and the other wide screen resolutions aren't supported by our TV). Doing video out for use with TVs in a hotel room might be a good idea for some use cases.
Posted by: Shane Conder | April 2, 2007 12:56 PM