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801

Living Room / Re: tc1100 tablet pc dies before i've even set it up

« Last post by nudone on September 02, 2010, 03:34 AM »

i'm going to put a quick end to this. if i don't, i'll end up wasting more time/money/stress trying to get it to work - or wondering if it ever will work again.

so, to anyone that wants the machine - i'll post it to you. no conditions attached. if you can get it to work, keep it - you will be welcome to it. i'll be happy that someone salvaged it.

if there are no takers by the end of the week then it goes back on eBay as spares. if there are no takers on eBay it goes in the bin. i really don't want it in my possession - i've other stuff to get on with and can't have this object eating away at my time.

here's a photo of the insides - i wouldn't know where to start to look (after removing even more panels) for the problem. i've read online that several people have required motherboard replacements after similar dead machines. i'm not going down that path.



as for the external dvd drive - that's going to the dump (and the usb cable). i suspect that the tc1100 power supply doesn't work either. not sure if the light only came on on the unit when it was powering the tablet - i've replaced the fuse as that had blown.

so, 4wd, do you want the machine?

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Living Room / Re: tc1100 tablet pc dies before i've even set it up

« Last post by nudone on September 02, 2010, 02:07 AM »

4wd; that sounds like exactly what has happened. the usb ports had been fine when using a memory stick. and the pop sound happened exactly on making contact between the external dvd drive cable and tablet's usb socket.

the external drive is quite "basic". it's actually just an empty case that you put your own drive inside. the power unit is inside the case - not that there is much to see. i'll upload a photo if you like.

as for "next time". i think i may just avoid using external DVD drives completely. it has always been the sort of equipment i'd use on other people's computers - if they don't have a DVD drive. so, in one way, i've been very lucky that i've only broken my own machine - i could easily have blown up someone else's computer by the sounds of it. from now on, i'll just use a memory stick.

i'll have a look inside the tc1100 and take some photos. it's not like i can hurt anything now...

edit:
forgot to mention: i've contacted the original owner/seller. he says we could claim about £50 from the company that delivered it to me - if i show them a damaged parcel. i'm not doing that. he also says that he'd plugged lots of external devices into the tc1100 and it was fine - and that he'd had the machine on constantly for several days showing a screensaver.

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Living Room / Re: tc1100 tablet pc dies before i've even set it up

« Last post by nudone on September 01, 2010, 01:13 PM »

Sorry to hear that. As long as this doesn't push you a tad towards Apple it's not all that bad  
Of course the money lost and stress are bad

-rgdot (September 01, 2010, 01:03 PM)

heheh, i will never turn to the dark side.

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Living Room / Re: tc1100 tablet pc dies before i've even set it up

« Last post by nudone on September 01, 2010, 01:01 PM »

well, it seems unfair to blame the seller. i've had the tc1100 for a few days, turned it on and off several times - installed a few programs after transferring stuff with a usb memory stick.

so, it's not like the machine was faulty.

perhaps the battery wasn't perfect - this was the first day i'd attempted to charge it fully (at about 50% charge when everything died). but, until then the o/s had provided a message, a few times, about how the battery could be "old" or "damaged".

i guess, i could push this with PayPal and claim the battery wasn't good enough - but it seems i'm just finding someone to blame. the machine was fine until i put the external drive into it - that killed it. no idea why, just one of those things - something wrong with the DVD drive maybe???

maybe it will work tomorrow - who knows. if not, i'm really not bothered about it. i just wish i knew why it did it - then i can try and stop it happening again with another machine.

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Living Room / Re: tc1100 tablet pc dies before i've even set it up

« Last post by nudone on September 01, 2010, 12:35 PM »

looks like other people have had the same problem (well, similar problem) with the tc1100, i.e. no LEDs or power, just a dead unit. some have had success by removing the battery and power supply for a period of time - i doubt i'll be that lucky.

the bigger question is: do i throw the external DVD drive away - this is partly to blame for the "pop" sound. the external drive has always been fine in the past (of course) but i can't really risk plugging it into another pc and hearing yet another "pop" after that.

i guess i've answered that one myself - to the dump it must go (sorry, i mean recycling depot).

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Living Room / Re: tc1100 tablet pc dies before i've even set it up

« Last post by nudone on September 01, 2010, 12:11 PM »

I've found that shotguns work wonderfully for that type of "repair".

 

-Stoic Joker (September 01, 2010, 12:01 PM)

i wish i had a shotgun. i'm sure it would be extremely satisfying to blow holes through it. not that easy to get hold of in the UK though.

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Living Room / Re: tc1100 tablet pc dies before i've even set it up

« Last post by nudone on September 01, 2010, 12:08 PM »

i'm more inclined to put it down to a learning experience. the person i bought it from kept "forgetting" to post the machine out to me - or so it seemed with the very feeble excuses he gave me. so, i won't be wasting time any further with him.

the truth is. it was a spontaneous buy - something i always regret. i did want to see how well the machine performed as a "sketching" device. and, it wasn't too bad with Alias Sketchbook installed.

but, it did demonstrate to me just how good the Wacom Cintiq is that i've got. image quality wise if nothing else.

i thought the tc1100 would be good because of its portability - the Cintiq requires a pc to connect to. it's all wishful thinking, though, as i'd never use the machine much if i'm honest...

...the simple truth, is that a pencil and paper are about 100 times better than these electronic sketching machines - but they have the problem of smudging the paper when you apply "undo" (that's about the best feature of electronic drawing, mistakes just disappear instantly like they never happened.)

anyway, i'll look at the tc1100 when i dare. maybe it's something trivial. if not then i'll post it to any DC member that wants it - maybe someone can do something worthwhile with it.

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Living Room / tc1100 tablet pc dies before i've even set it up

« Last post by nudone on September 01, 2010, 11:51 AM »

the tale of the HP tc1100 tablet pc...

bought on ebay for £180.

took 3 weeks for the seller to send me the machine and then he forgot to post me the power supply - had to wait a couple more days for that.

used it for about an hour - just messing about.

thought i'd try windows 7 on it - plugged in my external DVD drive (via usb)

alarming POP! sound from inside the tc1100.

now the machine is dead.

wonderful.

i may just smash the unit it up so i'm not tempted to waste time on it trying to get it to work.

(at least, i can be thankful it wasn't an iPad - but then, i wouldn't have been able to plug an external DVD drive in would i.)

809

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: drag window to edge automatically resizes it

« Last post by nudone on September 01, 2010, 08:09 AM »

thanks, tomos - and MilesAhead.

TicTac may be enough - i only really need the main monitor support... i think. i'll try it out for a few days.

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Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: drag window to edge automatically resizes it

« Last post by nudone on September 01, 2010, 05:41 AM »

Also, if you know how to use the "Run" grid element, you can call the ahk script directly from gridmove

-jgpaiva (September 01, 2010, 04:42 AM)

oh, that's interesting. i didn't know that. that's a good idea then - i'll look into that.

I've not used GridMove for a long time so i've lost track of what's happening - BUT, i've discovered it's the absolute ESSENTIAL tool for using with my 4 monitors...

...I wanted a tool that would let me hit a hotkey and then move a window to a specific monitor. there are "professional" programs out there (not free, and i'm using them) for multi-monitor setups yet they can't send a window to a specific monitor - they simply let you cycle through available monitors until you get the window moved to the monitor you wanted it on, i.e. window is on monitor 1, you want it on monitor 4 - that requires 3 hits of the hotkey to make it happen - the window jumping to window 2, then 3 and then 4. so, very annoying.

GridMove lets me put the window to the monitor (or grid) that i want - with one hotkey hit that relates to that specific grid/monitor zone (using an ahk script).

but, of course, GridMove lets me set up unique zones on each monitor so I've got hotkeys for some of those too.

it would have been nice if the window didn't have to be resized in the process of moving to a secondary monitor - but i can live without that.

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Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: drag window to edge automatically resizes it

« Last post by nudone on September 01, 2010, 04:00 AM »

Okay, thanks jgpaiva (wasn't sure if you were still regularly around).

i'm sure there will be an autohotkey script that already does this so i'll have a search for it - i was just trying to avoid re-inventing the wheel if GridMove did it already.

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Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: drag window to edge automatically resizes it

« Last post by nudone on September 01, 2010, 03:36 AM »

Can anyone answer this, please, if you know for sure...

Can GridMove move a window to a zone/grid area without changing the size of the window?

e.g. there are times when i just want to center a window on my main screen - but the size is perfectly adequate so doesn't need fitting to a grid.

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General Software Discussion / Re: virtual key codes - is it safe to use "unassigned" keys

« Last post by nudone on August 29, 2010, 04:23 AM »

for anyone that is remotely interested in this; here's the web page i've used that explains the theory and method: http://terrylurie.co...cle.php?articleId=12

(i'll be writing up and uploading my scripts when i've done as this should be useful for other Sidewinder X6 owners.)

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Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: drag window to edge automatically resizes it

« Last post by nudone on August 27, 2010, 07:41 AM »

ignore all that above  

i've just seen that the grids are using 3 monitors - so i've just added the fourth and it works as expected.

marvellous.

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Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: drag window to edge automatically resizes it

« Last post by nudone on August 27, 2010, 07:30 AM »

just a quickie, jgpaiva...

i'm not sure if this is a bug or just something weird with my machine, the question is:

does GridMove work with multi-monitor setups - regardless of the number of screens.

I've got four monitors plugged in and it appears that GridMove is only aware of 3 of them. admittedly, they are in an unusual layout, that is: 3 in a row and 1 above middle (like and inverted letter T).

if you remember, you made some excellent adjustments to Dialogmove to work with my multi-monitor setup. that worked brillilantly.

i wonder if something is required for GridMove to work with the same number of monitors?

thanks.

816

General Software Discussion / Re: virtual key codes - is it safe to use "unassigned" keys

« Last post by nudone on August 26, 2010, 10:57 AM »

erm, i think the AHK script is detecting those virtual keys and then triggering whatever action i've set.

example of the (test) .ahk script...

VK88::^v      ;Paste      
VK89::^c      ;Copy      
VK8A::^x      ;Cut      
VK8B::#v      ;ClipMate Clipbar
VK8C::^a      ;Select All   
etc...

those virtual key codes relate to the Sidewinder's extra thirty "s" keys. so, i'm using these special macro keys on the keyboard to trigger the virtual key codes (which i've manually entered into the registry).

the idea is to use "virtual" keys so that there aren't any conflicts with your typical hotkey combos (i use a lot of adobe apps which like to use lots of ridiculous four key combinations).

at the moment, i've got the thirty "s" keys triggering "undefined" and "unassigned" virtual keys. everything appears to work. i just didn't want to make this a complicated project and then find out in a few days i need to start again because these virtual keys aren't as free as i thought.

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General Software Discussion / virtual key codes - is it safe to use "unassigned" keys

« Last post by nudone on August 26, 2010, 03:34 AM »

i'm trying to make the best use of my MS Sidewinder X6 keyboard but it comes with the absolutely atrocious Intellitype macro/hotkey manager program (someone must have wasted a lot of days writing that bit of less than optimal code).

So, i'm using autohotkey and a few registry hacks to make the macro buttons on the Sidewinder use Virtual Keys.

this is the chart i'm using as reference: http://api.farmanage...virtualkeycodes.html

i've been playing around and it appears i can use the "Reserved", the "Undefined" and the "Unassigned" keys without much problem. (some specific keys don't work and a couple did appear to be already in use with my scroll wheel.)

the question is: i'm assuming it's not really safe to use the "Reserved" keys; as they must be "reserved" for a reason. but, i've no idea if it's safe to use the "undefined" and the "unassigned" keys. i mean, they work fine - but am i going to find conflicts one day. are they really, really, out of use keys that the operating system will never need?

and, i suppose, you can add to that: are these "Reserved" keys really that important. are they likely to ever be used OR are they in use right now - it just isn't declared what they are for.

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Living Room / Re: could two numeric keypads work at the same time

« Last post by nudone on August 25, 2010, 05:07 AM »

umm, i know what you mean. at least, you can be thankful that your own machine is set up "just right". using other computers without my hotkeys installed does just make me think how glad i'll be to get back on my own machine.

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Living Room / Re: could two numeric keypads work at the same time

« Last post by nudone on August 25, 2010, 04:25 AM »

yes, something like that - but with illuminated keys 

I'd already looked at the Evoluent before getting the Sidewinder. One advantage it has over the Sidewinder, is that it has even more room for a right handed mouse user - as the cursor and home keys are moved from their standard location.

But, i do find that i quite like using the cursor keys at the expected keyboard location - they are the sort of keys i use without looking at or thinking about - it's all by habit. so, if they weren't in their typical place, i might find it annoying. which means i'd not risk getting the Evoluent - well, i would risk it if it had illuminated keys, i wouldn't be able to resist trying it.

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Living Room / Re: could two numeric keypads work at the same time

« Last post by nudone on August 24, 2010, 12:04 PM »

I've just started to (seriously) "program" the Sidewinder keyboard - which means the Intellitype key/macro manager needs a lot of help to make it usable. Help from something like autohotkey, of course.

I'd been putting this off for a while as i didn't want to reinvent the wheel - i was sure someone would have worked out a good solution for utilising autohotkey with the sidewinder. and so they have...

http://terrylurie.co...cle.php?articleId=12

this is, pretty much, everything the Sidewinder (with Intellitype) keyboard should have been able to do out of the box.

Terry Lurie, has come up with a clever way of adding virtual keys into the registry which can then hook into autohotkey commands. i think that is pretty amazing. there won't be any conflict with hotkey combinations you may already use (or, at least, what you system uses), and autohotkey gives you the power to do what you like (within autohotkey's universe).

this find has made the Sidewinder the ultimate macro keyboard that i so wanted. (i've still got the spare faulty sidewinder keyboard too - i'm tempted to plug it in and double the insane macro hotkey fun.)

(so, Chris, it might be time to consider a sidewinder after all.)

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Living Room / Re: ultimate insult from fraudulent ebay seller tries to sell me iPhone 4

« Last post by nudone on August 19, 2010, 11:16 AM »

ugh. i'd not considered identity theft. ouch. ouch. ouch. that's going to give me nightmares if i spot something else amiss with my accounts.

it does sound like PayPal must have access to some database history on you (on us all, if that's the case). with "confidential" information being passed around these days, to anyone that pays the right price i guess that's how PP have done it - as a "security" feature for our benefit, of course.

the small purchase to keep activity hidden by an intruder makes sense - so, i'm thankful that PP does have a system in place to detect even these small transactions, if they appear odd.

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Living Room / Re: ultimate insult from fraudulent ebay seller tries to sell me iPhone 4

« Last post by nudone on August 18, 2010, 03:25 AM »

it is true that the "security questions" i've been asked to select and answer are never that difficult to guess - that is, by someone who knows me, knows my history. i'm not sure a total stranger could guess them; perhaps it is best to simply concoct a set of fantasy answers to your own security questions - that way, there will never be any history of them for someone to find (or guess).

i'm still inclined to believe that my paypal account was not accessed by an intruder. if that was the case then i would expect them to have made more of an effort to rob me - 900 dollars isn't much of a theft when they could have edited my whole profile and bought many more online goods.

i think what happened is more to do with paypal having some kind of automated system for taking payments - so it simply didn't check with me. perhaps that's naive to say and i should just accept there was a hole in my security setup. i doubt i'll ever know.

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Living Room / Re: ultimate insult from fraudulent ebay seller tries to sell me iPhone 4

« Last post by nudone on August 17, 2010, 05:04 AM »

Mark0, i think you are right. i don't believe my account was accessed - i expect the damage would have been far greater if that was the case.

thanks, biox. everything seems fine anyway. i wasn't expecting things to be resolved so quickly - i was expecting my story to be more exciting and troublesome than it turned out to be.

i wonder...

are there a PayPal set of guidelines that are clear and simple to understand? something that clarifies the "donation" definitions so that people like app can refer to - and refer PayPal to when they decide to make up their own arbitrary rules.

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Living Room / Re: ultimate insult from fraudulent ebay seller tries to sell me iPhone 4

« Last post by nudone on August 16, 2010, 03:31 PM »

thanks for the tips, 4wd. i didn't realise it could be used for eBay too. (i won't be carrying it with me though. i just want to make sure my account isn't being accessed by other people.)

app, don't know what to say. PayPal has always resolved things sensibly for me - so i can't really complain. it does sounds odd that you can't "donate" what are all the DC transactions classed as. maybe mouser can enlighten us more.

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Living Room / Re: ultimate insult from fraudulent ebay seller tries to sell me iPhone 4

« Last post by nudone on August 16, 2010, 11:21 AM »

(i've just ordered one of those harware security keys. i've already got one for my bank account - seems like a good idea, thanks for mentioning it mouser.)