So many Wind questions, so little time.

If anyone know the answers to these, the info would be greatly appreciated.

1) I know it's designed to be used for internet, but suppose you want to access the internet by physically connecting the Wind to a dreary Verizon DSL connection- will that work?

2) Since Windows XP will no longer be suported for anything except Mini laptops, does this mean that drivers for new software will not be available?

3) Can screen brightness be controlled manually ?

4) Is it powerful enough to run latest versions of Word and Excel?

5) Can Word documents be viewed without having to scroll left to right? (without changing the margins to something other than standard 1 inch left and right)

6) Is there any reason that latest versions of Microsoft office (word and excel specifically) can't be dowloaded from the internet directly to the Wind? (rather than hooking up a drive)

7) If I wanted to attach a keyboard for at-home use (I'm very attached to Lenovo keyboards with the trackpoint), is there any reason it won't take an external keyboard

thanks. I look foward to seeing what people know about all this.

 

1) yes it will work, if you mean through the ethernet port. In fact, you probably NEED to do this first since you have to download an updated Wireless driver from MSI's website in order to *get* the wireless card to work.
2) who knows?
3) yes this is pretty easily controlled with the Fn key
4) well, not sure about the latest versions - I've gotten Office XP working just fine though, no problems at all. Some people have reported being able to reload Vista onto it instead of XP (with some extra RAM too) and seems like it works ok.
5) yes - full screen views are available for all apps I think (or at least all that I've seen so far)
6) <shrug>? You can do that legally? I know there's a way of sharing drives. What I did was just create an ISO of the Office XP CD-Rom and then saved that onto a USB drive. Plugged the USB drive into the Wind and voila, no worries.
7) no. It has 3 available USB ports and built-in Bluetooth, so I would guess that hooking up an external keyboard or mouse would not be a problem.

-C

 

thanks much! that is all very useful info. If you don't mind 2 more questions that got left off....though at this point i think I should just get it - sound greats, almost too good to be true, actually - does it get superhot in the keyboard /wrist rest areas and also i've read it was noisy- is it noisier than the fan of a loudish ultraportable?

(on Q1 above, yes, thru ethernet port (i'm assuming it has its own built in NIC?) and on Q6, yes in the sense that you can buy them that way now- download it and enter a security code that you've paid for)

 

How bout multi-tasking? Watching Youtube, Listening to music, Webcam and IM at the same time,does it stutter or lag?

 

These are the system requirements for what I belive is the latest version of Microsoft Office. This is for the standard version.

Component Requirement
Computer and processor 500 megahertz (MHz) processor or higher
Memory 256 megabyte (MB) RAM or higher1
Hard disk 1.5 gigabyte (GB); a portion of this disk space will be freed after installation if the original download package is removed from the hard drive.
Drive CD-ROM or DVD drive
Display 1024x768 or higher resolution monitor
Operating system Microsoft Windows XP with Service Pack (SP) 2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, or later operating system2
Other Certain inking features require running Microsoft Windows XP Tablet PC Edition or later. Speech recognition functionality requires a close-talk microphone and audio output device. Information Rights Management features require access to a Windows 2003 Server with SP1 or later running Windows Rights Management Services.

Connectivity to Microsoft Exchange Server 2000 or later is required for certain advanced functionality in Outlook 2007. Dynamic Calendars require server connectivity. Instant Search requires Microsoft Windows Desktop Search 3.0.

Connectivity to Microsoft Windows Server 2003 with SP1 or later running Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services is required for certain advanced collaboration functionality. Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 is required for certain advanced functionality.

Internet Explorer 6.0 or later, 32 bit browser only. Internet functionality requires Internet access (fees may apply).
Additional Actual requirements and product functionality may vary based on your system configuration and operating system.
1 512 MB RAM or higher recommended for Outlook Instant Search. Grammar and contextual spelling in Word is not turned on unless the machine has 1 GB memory.

2 The Office Clean-up wizard not available on 64 bit OS

 

Uh...I'm sure you've read the reviews, so this will just be repetition. It's actually the quietest laptop I've ever had (I have had an Asus W7J, Dell 14" laptop, and 12" generic before). And because it uses the Atom processor, it's (relatively) cool(er).

 

I did read the reviews - but oddly one person said it was very loud, which I found confusing and unexpected.

 

Sorry but the answer is not as easy as the question 'is it loud?'.


Loud is so subjective, and a personal judgement. For it to mean anything the reviewer at least needs to give you some kind of reference otherwise it is just a personal opinion. I bet he didn't give dB readings and the circumstances of the reading?

My opinion (for what it is worth)- it is quiet.
When first switched on the fan is loud for a second or two as it appears to run full speed, then it quietens down a lot as it (the fan) switches off and the computer boots and starts to run normally. It then only becomes noticeable when the computer is working really hard or your environment is very warm- perhaps his checklist said listen to the fan in the middle of benchmark testing when it is working hard and he didn't bother listening in more normal use - or hadn't noticed it then because it is quiet? For me I haven't noticed the fan at all during normal (for me) use.

To add a little background to my opinion- I suffer from tinitus and noise sensitivity and I don't find it noisy. I hear my desktop fan but not the notebookk fan although it is on my knee. Again- this is my opinion with a little justification for it (unlike the reviewer?)

Of course his machine *was* noisy in his opinion. What is he used to? Was the machine faulty? When did he make the judgement? Did he have a hangover?
His opinion and mine are just that- opinions- what matters is your opinion. Go listen to the machine- PC World ()UK) have them on display- but they aren't in your environment. The machine may not be working as hard as it would in your possession so may not react in the same way. And the environment will probably be different so you may not notice what you would in your situation. But consider what you will be doing - how hard the machine will be working- this affects the heat generated and so whether the fan runs.