Aspire One Computer

Carolyn White:

I'm on Eclipse.  The audio on the Aspire is excellent.  No problems at all.  But remember I have the 1 gig ram on mine.  The audio is real tek.  I use my stenocast wireless with a flash writer on it. It has 3 usb ports which is nice, plus decent built in mic also plus headphone mic.  It's not my main laptop but I use it for when I have to move from my courtroom and use it for editing in my office.

It does not have bluetooth installed though if you need that.

I had purchased a really nice vista computer, lightweight, 4 gig ram, big hard drive, etc for my main computer and I sent it back because my wireless stuff kept crashing on it.  I don't know if it was just the wireless or not that caused it.  But I couldn't cope with it.

 

carolyn

Carolyn, how were you able to install Eclipse without a CD-ROM drive (which I'm assuming it doesn't have)?

Tricia,

That sounds like how you do it on XP.  Don't know if it's the loaner I have, but the look of the whole audio settings is totally different than XP.  Don't see a boost option.  Even when I double-click on the speaker icon in the task bar, it only has a couple of options with slider bars and not the six or seven I'm used to.  Having this Vista loaner has definitely confirmed for me what most people say about Vista!  Won't repeat that here, but needless to say, my next purchase will have XP.

Janice,

With a little bit of time, Vista will grow on you.  At least it has for me.  I'm actually loving it now.

To find the "boost" that Tricia is talking about, go to the "Windows-Start" button in the lower left hand corner.

Then Go to "Control Panel"

Now depending on the "view" selected, you will either go directly into "Sound" from the Classic View, or if you're in Vista's "Control Panel Home" view, you want to go into "Hardware and Sound."

If you go to "Hardware and Sound," from there you will click on "Sound."

Once your "Sound" is open, you will see "Playback," "Recordings," and "Sounds" as the tab options.  Click on "Recordings," and then double-click the microphone.  Now you will have "General," "Levels," and "Advanced" as the tabs.  Click on "Levels" and you will see the "Microphone Boost."   Play with it or go with what Tricia did and place it at 0.  Your computer may be a little different, so I would test what is the best number to go with.

Good luck.

I really am getting used to Vista and don't think it's so bad anymore!

Janice,

As Sarah mentioned, there are different "view" options, so that may explain why we're seeing different things.

FWIW, I've gotten used to Vista, too.  
If you do wind up w/ Vista, you might want to consider taking a Vista class - online or through your local community college or parks and rec or maybe even library.  

Tricia Lyons:

Janice,

As Sarah mentioned, there are different "view" options, so that may explain why we're seeing different things.

FWIW, I've gotten used to Vista, too.  
If you do wind up w/ Vista, you might want to consider taking a Vista class - online or through your local community college or parks and rec or maybe even library.  

And you can get some CEUs that way too! 

I was going to take an Excel course starting last week, but I forgot to register. 

Thanks for the detailed instructions, Sarah.  I followed them to the letter, and on the Levels tab, all I have is something called Balance.  There is no Microphone Boost at all.  Audio is still a bit choppy and not very loud.  Like I said before, when I click on the Mixer on the speaker icon on the task bar, there are only two slider bars, Speakers and Windows Sound.  I'm not sure why I'm not seeing what you're seeing in the Control Panel under Sounds.  It's definitely frustrating.  Thank goodness this is only a loaner computer.  I know what I won't be getting in the future -- a Compaq Presario with Vista!

Thanks for trying, Ladies. 

Janice McMoran, CSR, RMR, CRR:

Don't know if it's the loaner I have, but the look of the whole audio settings is totally different than XP.  Don't see a boost option.  Even when I double-click on the speaker icon in the task bar, it only has a couple of options with slider bars and not the six or seven I'm used to.  Having this Vista loaner has definitely confirmed for me what most people say about Vista!  Won't repeat that here, but needless to say, my next purchase will have XP.

When it comes to audio quality and controls, it's all about the sound card and the drivers therefor.  The operating system is not much of a factor.  I suspect the loaner has barebones audio capabilities and that is the reason you see only limited options in your microphone properties dialog box.

I know it doesn't matter much on the loaner, but  when shopping for a computer it's important to bear in mind that good or bad audio can happen with any OS.  So if you have an opportunity to upgrade the sound card when shopping, always get the best that you can afford. 

And for the record, as they say, I do use Vista and have outstanding audio with the $10 nonpowered mic (and a few more slider bars in my sound properties dialog boxes ).

Carolyn, how were you able to install Eclipse without a CD-ROM drive (which I'm assuming it doesn't have)?

Hi, Adam:

Probably from a USB stick.  That's how I loaded all my apps onto my Thinkpad (which has no optical drive). 

Bye-bye, CDs!  (I hate those dang things anyway!)

Deanna    ;-)

Deanna,

But how do you get the full Eclipse program (with the visualizers and everything, the one that comes on the CD) onto the USB stick.  I guess by USB stick you're meaning a flash drive?  I read Carolyn's post prior to talking to support, when I was thinking about making a mad dash and getting the Aspire One, but they told me I'd have to use an external CD drive, and the tech I talked to didn't know of a way to load the program onto a brand-new computer that had never had Eclipse on it.  Downloads are no problem, but it's the initial install that I was told you have to use the CD.

Carolyn, let us know how you did it!

Another way to get the installation done:  If the Aspire can be connected to a network, you can use the CD drive on another networked computer.  Put the CD in the drive and then share the drive; any other computer on the network can then access that CD.  I know nothing about either Aspire or Eclipse, but I have done a fair number of installations using that procedure.

Yeah, I suggested that to the tech support guy, but he said it wouldn't work.

He was probably wrong, of course.  He definitely was wrong about installing from a thumb drive; five minutes after I hung up with him, I had Eclipse up and running.

I stayed out of the discussion because I'm no techie.  However, the last time I put Eclipse on a new laptop it was a thumb drive transfer from one computer to the next.  And I carry the software on the thumb drive around with me to distant jobs all the time.  In case of disaster, I know I can run out, buy a new computer in a hurry, and be up and running again pretty quick.

Karen

My experience is as Jeff's outlined.  I bought an HP with Vista.  Eclipse RUNS okay (needs more RAM) but the sound card, it turns out, is NOT a fully duplexing sound card.  I can't monitor my audio when I work with a videographer, which is almost all the time.  What's odd, however, is I still can't monitor it even when I use a USB sound card/microphone.   As a result, I ramped up my ancient Tosh with XP and use it for jobs.  I use the HP for travel, etc., because it's lighter.

Beyond the sound card issue, Vista is just not any big deal different than XP for me.    I may end up giving the HP to my daughter and buying another computer.  Will definitely have to consider the Aspire if it's working well with Eclipse.

Laurel

Janice, the USB sticks available nowadays are cheap, have huge capacities, and hold tons more than a CD, which only holds about 800 MB.  The drive I have is 4 GB but I know there are 8s out there now, probably for what I paid for my 4.  Buy.com is a great place to get these on sale.

Installing applications is simple.  Just copy (drag and drop) the entire contents of the CD -- Visualizers and all -- to the USB drive, navigate to the USB drive, and double-click on install.exe or setup.exe.   I've installed Eclipse, GoBack, Microsoft Office, etc., in this manner.  Works perfectly!

I also keep a copy of my .set files and PDix on said USB drive, like Karen, just in case of a hard drive crash.  Getting up and running again after that kind of disaster could (theoretically) be as easy as finding a laptop to borrow.  Like the Boy Scouts like to say, "Always be prepared!"

Hope that helps!

Deanna    ;-)

Gee, thanks, guys.  Got a bad case of TECHNOLUST (love that word!) after merely stumbling onto this thread and I'm sitting here looking at my new Aspire One.  Got it at Micro Center last night for $349.99 plus tax.  Of course I had to walk home when my wife saw me walk out of the store with the box.  Needed the exercise anyway.