News about Backstage Media

Vacation Time

It’s vacation time right now, which means no school, which means nothing to write about concerning school. So for the upcoming four weeks I will be keeping you entertained with a bit more off-topic and a little less backstage/school posts. School will start again on the 26th of August and since it’s the start of a brand new year in a brand new class, I’m sure I’ll have plenty to write about.

Spam & Comments

Like any other NoFollow blog out there this site is a good target for spammers. This is no problem, since I moderate each comment and Akismet takes care of all the spam. As you can see in the sidebar my counter has sprung up to almost 700 spams at the time of writing, so Akismet is certainly doing its job. I generally check my spam folder before I delete it to make sure no valid comments get sucked in accidentally, but I’m receiving more and more spam every single day and it has gotten to a point where manually checking each comment is becoming a chore instead of a ‘quick check’. So from now on I’ll just trust Akismet and leave it be. This also means that if your comments gets sucked into the spam folder, I will never know it. Sorry! So make sure your comment doesn’t look like spam.

Moving Server

Somewhere next week I will be moving the entire blog over to a new server, so there might be a little bit of downtime. More information on that later.

Robin

Review: Asus R1E Tablet Laptop

The following entry is a post I wrote a while ago on an old blogger blog I had. At the time I had just bought a new laptop which had a tablet feature built in so I decided to review it. While it doesn’t have much to do with media percé, I thought it would be nice to have the review available here as well.

When it comes to computers I’m set on brands for some reason. Some brands I like for quality, like Nvidia and Enermax, others because I’ve been using that brand for an eternity and never had a problem. Asus falls in that last category, I have been using the Asus brand for years now in most of the desktop computers I have built over the years. Motherboard and video card both tend to be of the Asus brand simply because they are often the first with new gadgets and functionality and, like I said, have never ever failed on me.

When I started looking for a tablet PC specifically I quickly found that although a fairly wide variety of brands and models is available, most of them seem to be an ordinary laptop with a touchscreen slapped onto it. Obviously when you’re looking for a laptop for an advanced piece of hardware on it you can expect the laptop to be modified for it here and there. And while not all manufacturers live up to this expectation, some do stand out. Among which is the R1E.

Going tablet, yes or no?
Before we dive into anything else about this laptop I want to cover a small issue I have with tablet PC’s in general and if you’re the right person to buy one.

Tablet PC’s were originally (and 95% of them still are) aimed for the traveling business man. They are supposedly a great replacement for a notepad, you can bring it with you where ever you go without having a bulky looking laptop on your lap. The argument for a tablet PC in the office is that taking notes (during a meeting for example) becomes so much easier. However you need to consider if writing on a screen is really that much of an improvement over writing in a notebook and typing it in Word later. Especially since you won’t be using the tablet function of the laptop for anything else, is it worth the extra cash? I’m not a business man, but I’d be inclined to say no.

I have no statistics to back up the following claim, but I think that tablet PC’s are more popular in the art community than anywhere else. Being able to draw on the screen is much more significant then being able to write on the screen and it might be worth the extra cash for an artist as opposed to a business man who can just as easily grab a notepad. For artists, it’s a very big leap forward if they are able to sketch in their favorite graphics software.

Before I bought the R1E I read the blog of a business man (which unfortunately I lost the link of) who tried out working on a tablet PC during meetings and such. He came to the conclusion that the process of learning the laptop your handwriting and having a bulky machine with you all the time did not come in as handy as you would at first believe. Of course it had it’s benefits, like being able to check your e-mail on the spot and quick access to notes, but he found that when he was in a meeting he rarely referred to his e-mail and hardly ever had to look at previous notes. Eventually he got rid of the thing and went back to a good old notepad. Moral of the story: think very hard about why you want to get a tablet PC and how you will be using it. The touch screen alone makes any tablet PC about 50% more expensive than their normal counterparts so be sure you will be using it when you decide to get it.

The basics
Let’s get some of the basic stuff out of the way first, such as the R1E’s specifications.

OS: Windows Vista Business Edition
Harddisk: 160GB
Internal RAM: 2GB
CPU: Intel dual core 2200MHZ
Screen size: 13,3″ (widescreen)
Wireless: Built in wireless network connector and bluetooth connector.

Other than those specs it has what you would expect on a laptop. Audio plugs, a DVD rewriter, VGA output and a nifty fingerprint scanner which I will talk about shortly.
Another cool part about this laptop is the swappable drive bay which originaly houses your DVD rewriter but can be swapped for a second battery (included) or a second hard disk (not included). The drive is apparently hot swappable (though I have not yet tested this) so you can just switch things around while you are working.
Just one other thing that is worth noting is the e-SATA port you can use to hook up all your external SATA devices.

User experience.
One thing that immediately came to mind when looking at the specs for this laptop was that 2GB of memory seemed rather low, especially since it was running Vista Business. On top of that you also get a trail version of Norton Internet Security 2008 which isn’t exactly memory friendly. So after installing most of the programs I used I was kind of expecting a significant drop in performance, especially when working on Photoshop but I was pleasantly surprised when the laptop seemed to hold it’s own against the large memory strain. I experience little to no lag when the laptop is booted up completely although I must say that the actual boot process can take quite long. If you need your laptop in quick bursts every now and again I would avoid shutting it down completely and just let it hibernate when you don’t use it.

Safe for the long boot time the rest of the laptop seems to work pretty smooth. As with any laptop these days you get a shitload of free programs and trails pre-installed on your system which you can then decide to keep or not. Internet surfing is not a hassle at all and the built in wireless connector does it’s job just fine at finding and connecting to the right networks. This laptop also has the ability to manually turn the wireless options on and off with the switch of a button. The response time of this switch is excellent and turns your internet connection on or off pretty much directly (depending on circumstances of course).

One slight issue that caught my attention was that the power LED on the laptop blinks softly when the laptop is in sleep mode. Normally there wouldn’t be a problem with this but the various blue LED’s on the laptop are rather bright. You won’t notice this at all during the day but for those of you who keep their laptop in sleep mode during the night will suddenly see a blue glow in their room fading in and out. This can be quickly fixed by just putting something on the LED’s, like a book, but it’s an annoying little detail non the less.

Tablet Style!
On to the important part! The Asus R1E has the awesome ability to flip the screen 180 degrees and then close the screen backwards, this leaves you with something that resembles an oversized PDA. When the laptop is in this mode you will lose your keyboard and touch pad but gain the ability to use your pen to select, click and write. When you flip the screen around the image on the screen automatically turns 90 degrees, forcing you to hold the tablet in a ’standing’ position. Luckily, for those not so keen on this little feature, you can flip the image back to normal with the push of a button and start working.

Because you lose your keyboard and touch pad when you’re in tablet mode, everything you need to do is done by using the included pen (which is nicely hidden in one of the corners of the laptop). Clicking is done by tapping and writing is done by writing on a little magical post-it note that will make an attempt at reading your poor handwriting. Especially at first it will have trouble but the more you use it the faster it will learn that those hieroglyphs are actually letters and numbers.

Using the pen to draw is remarkably accurate. The R1E is a Penabled tablet PC, meaning it implements the famous Wacom tablet technology and makes it one of the few tablet PC’s out there that supports pressure sensitivity (although you do need to download the drivers from Wacom.com first to enable the pressure sensitivity). Artists will be very glad to hear this I’m sure.
As far as actual drawing goes, to be honest I first expected a tablet PC to be a little off, sorta speak. Especially the small space between the pen and the actual ‘paper’ had me worried that I’d have to learn to use it properly. It surprised me that when I did some test drawings, the results were about as accurate as when I would do it on real paper. Another plus for the artist tablet user!

Last but not least a small detail our dear Asus friends didn’t forget (this is why I like them). As most tablet users know, the tip of a tablet pen will wear off in time and will need replacing. Asus is nice enough to supply you with 5 replacement tips and a nice tool to get the old one out. That should keep you drawing for years to come.

Fingerprint scanner
Biometric security measures are slowly being integrated in everyday life and are no longer a thing for top secret government buildings and James Bond movies. Today you can even get your front door to open with your fingerprint if you really wanted to.
In computers this development has been mostly reserved for government agencies but in the past few years we have seen fingerprint scanners popping up on USB sticks and phones for example.

Asus is one of the few companies to bring this technology to a laptop, together with HP who is exploring the same path, and it’s a good idea.
The fingerprint scanner on the R1E works exactly like it should without any major flaws. A pre-installed program lets you program your fingerprints into the system and from that moment on you can use your fingerprint to log into Windows, applications and websites. The only thing you have to look out for is how you swipe your finger when you’re teaching the program. If you swipe your finger with a curve of some sort you’ll have to duplicate that exact curve again to get a match in the future. It’s best to take some time when programming the scanner so you get the easiest positions to scan. For most people this will be the left thumb and the right index finger but take some time and figure out what you like best.

Battery life
An issue with the R1F (the R1E’s big brother) was it’s crappy battery life. User complained about the battery running low way to fast and that it’s durability only decreased after every charge. Unfortunately this problem was not fixed with the R1E as a closer inspection of the battery reveals that it’s the exact same model (R1F model).
My experience is that a fully charged battery will last you about two hours on average and a mere 1 hour and 45 minutes after the first few recharges. Compared to any other laptop this is pathetic and it also makes it the single largest downside of this laptop. Some people I know draw on their laptop for hours on end and having it plugged in to a power socket all the time isn’t nice for mobility. Luckily the previously mentioned hot swappable drive bay offers a solution as it can be used to store a second battery which offers an additional 1,5 hours of battery life bringing the total to 3,5 hours of battery life. That wouldn’t be a problem except that you have to sacrifice your DVD rewriter for it.

So far I have not encountered a battery that can replace the crappy thing Asus put in there but I hope to find it somewhere at some point soon because the current rate of decay will leave the battery useless in a year or so.
Users in the United States apparently can contact Asus about the battery and have it replaced if they really want to.

Conclusion
The Asus R1E is a very decent tablet PC that has all the extras you would expect from a tablet PC. It can handle pretty much all the basic stuff you throw at it like Photoshop and Word without a glitch but mind you that it’s not equiped for gaming.
The tablet part of the laptop works magnificent as does the nifty fingerprint scanner.

The only real downside to this laptop is the battery life and wear. You’d expect to be able to work for a few hours on a laptop without an electrical socket nearby but apparently 2 hours is all you’re getting at most from the original battery which is kind of disappointing but not a huge disaster for most users I’m sure.

Non the less, the R1E is something I can personaly recommend for artists looking for something more then a normal tablet and happen to be looking for a new laptop at the same time. Also for those doubting between a Wacom Cintiq or a tablet PC, go with the tablet PC. Not only is it cheaper (in case of the more advanced Cintiq models), you also get a lot more worth for your money (tablet on screen: $2500,- / tablet on screen + laptop: $2000,-. I rest my case).

Viva Las Vegas!

There are a couple of places in the world I want to have visited when I’m old and hitting on nurses in the old people home. One of those places used to be New York City because I wanted to see the Twin Towers. That dream kind of collapsed in 2001 so now I’m focusing on other places, one of those being Las Vegas.

And who wouldn’t want to visit Sin City, the world’s playground, good old Vegas? In my opinion everyone should have been there at least once in their life. In Las Vegas there is something for everyone. You name it, they have it and that’s the great thing about Vegas.

Besides the obvious stuff (gambling, hot chicks, strippers, sex, shows) I also like Las Vegas because of it’s architecture. Ever since I was a little boy I’ve always been busy building stuff. First with Duplo (the toddler, big brick version of Lego), then with Lego and when I got my first computer one of the first modern games I got for it was The Sims. In fact, sometimes I ask myself why I never considered studying to be an architect. But I think that a desk job like that and having to deal with tons of math never really made architecture an attractive study for me.

I enjoy looking at other people’s work though, which is why I love Vegas. Las Vegas is one of the fastest changing cities in the world with new hotels being built and opened every couple of years. Not a day goes by in Vegas where you can’t see at least one crane hovering over a building site. And with the opening of The Mirrage, built by Steven Wynn, in 1989, a new trend was set to design and built the biggest and most luxurious hotel on the Las Vegas strip. This trend has since then spawned some of the most incredible and original buildings such as The Luxor, a hotel built in the shape of a pyramid and has a completely Egyptian theme. For New York New York they recreated a part of the New York skyline. For hotel Paris they recreated the Eiffel Tower and inside The Venetian, you guessed it, they remade the actual Venetian canals.

Because of the constant change a lot of old hotels who can no longer keep up with the ‘bigger is better’ trend are subject for removal. They are often bought by a big developer who has plans for a new building on the site of the old one. The hotel is imploded and construction on the new mega resort begins as soon as possible. Of course an old building making way for a new building isn’t that weird. But only in Las Vegas the implosion is an actual attraction and an actual party. Because if the old hotel has to go, it will go out in style.

In my search for Las Vegas info I came across the blog of someone who has a similar love for Las Vegas architecture. Mark Adams owns the website/blog Vegas Today and Tommorow on which he constantly provides his audience with updates about current construction projects in Vegas. I especially find the construction of the Echelon very interesting to follow.

What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas

Now for the really awesome part. Upcoming October me and my girlfriend will be visiting Las Vegas for the first (and hopefully not last) time! I’m already very excited about it all, even though the journey there will involve me sitting on an airplane for 11 hours straight, being in my dream town Las Vegas makes up for just about anything.

We will be staying at the previously mentioned Luxor. Although not the most classy place you can find yourself, it is one of the cheaper hotels directly on the strip (and the airport, I forgot about that when I booked it, haha).

Of course I will be making lots and lots of pictures there and hopefully walk away with some decent winnings from the casinos. One can always dream! Expect to see a lot of my adventures on this blog when I get back.

Finally I have a question for any Vegas natives or regulars who happen to read this. What are, in your opinion, places me and the girlfriend MUST under any circumstances visit? The Secret Garden, Bellagio fountains and Grand Canyon are already on my list but I’m sure there’s lots and lots and lots more to be seen in Vegas.

Robin

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