My first laptop/notebook. Advice please.

Hi all. I have ordered the MX11 yesterday and this will be my first laptop, so I was hoping I could get some answers for a few questions...

I opted for the smallest HDD because I have a 2.5'' 640GB drive in my PS3 that I plan to swap with the MX11. Does the MX11 have just one partition on the drive it comes with or is there a backup partition as well? I'm hoping I can just hook up the the drive to my desktop and clone it to go on the 640GB HDD.

Second, will the lappy be ok using it while it's placed on my sofa or bed... I mean, are the air vents placed well enough so that they wont be blocked. I saw on a few youtube videos that there is a large vent on the underside of the lappy, is that mainly for cooling the graphics chip or what?

And lastly, can anyone recommend a good mouse that I can buy. I quite like Razer products but any recommendations would be appreciated.

Cheers.

 

My personal preferences are:

1. Keep it on something hard. It needs to breathe and cannot effectively if the underside fan is obscured. If you purchase a small lapdesk or cooling pad, one that is the same size as the laptop, it will do just fine with minimal footprint.

2. The unit ships with 2 partitions. One is the primary partition with Windows on it, the other is a recovery partition. Use it if your OS becomes corrupted due to a virus or other issues. I would recommend you keep it, else you are stuck reinstalling from a Cd/DVD and since most people do not have an external...

3. Congrats on your new system! I just recently got mine and am still playing with it and finding out its limitations (very few thus far).

4. Mice are completely subjective. The mouse I personally like is the Logitech G500, but I know many that hate logitech. Razor makes a lot of good mice, so it should come down to personal preference. The one I use for travelling is the Logitech Anywhere MX. Its small enough to be portable, has multiple programmable buttons, is wireless, works anywhere (even on glass), and if the batteries die, it can work off of a single AA. Though most reviews claim the battery life is quite good.

 

Thanks for the advice, n0¢yph3r.

Looks like I will need to find a good lapdesk or cooling pad, any suggestions?

I thought there may be 2 partitions. Not a problem though I will just have to google to find out the best way to clone the drive.

I have ordered the Razer Orochi, I really like Razer products and I hadn't searched to see if there were any Bluetooth mice by them before posting.

Thanks again for the reply.

 

people can install windows from a flash drive, i do it all the time and its extremely fast compared to using a dvd drive.

 

Completely agree that you can install Windows from a flash drive. I do it all the time as well. I tend to work with the least common denominator though. ASSUMING (yes, I know), he has no other access to a PC and that he will be depending on a CD/DVD drive. Who knows, I could be completely wrong.

The point I am right however,r is that why should he even have to reinstall at all? Swap the HDD and be done with it. Hell, even if he was getting an i7 and coming from an i5 it would be fine to swap the HDD. The Core 2 might give some fits due to the way the MB addresses things, but if its an even swap, there is no reason in the world he needs to reinstall at all. Save yourself the headache, especially on a new system.

If you plan on reinstalling from scratch to clear the bloat, then that is different, but I understood it to be the OP wanted to simply move his data over.

Good choice on the mouse. I am sure you will be quite happy. I have been looking at the Saitek mouse that allows you to customize its size and shape as well. I own a Saitek cyborg keyboard and while the macro keys are only average, the keyboard itself is amazing. Can press around 8 keys at the same time and it will register them all as it has separate controllers for separate zones.

The Razor product I want, is the Tron mouse and mousepad. Its a bit pricey, but if you go to youtube and look it up, the effect is just really cool. Something to show off at a LAN party more than anything though.

As far as a cooling pad/lapdesk, I really have no preference. My needs are very different than most, as I need one to allow me to use the mouse and have the PC on it at the same time, thus mine is huge. Though I only use it when the girlfriend pouts that I am not within cuddle distance.

There is a thread here somewhere, with people talking about what they use for lapdesks/cooling pads. My advice is dependant on your need. If you just want something small and have no need for the mouse area, google search cooling pads and do your research there. Name brands would be the way to go, and can always ask here with a link.

If you need a bit more space like in my case, I have one I will link when I get home. More than perfectly suits my needs though admittedly it is quite a bit larger than most (would easily handle the M17x).

 

I would recommend getting something that offers a flat surface to put on the bed, then put your laptop on that. Its not good to keep the laptop right on the bed as it blocks the fan, and you build up dust quicker in the fan that way too.

Amazon.com: Lapworks Laptop Desk Ultralite: Electronics

Even something like this above from Amazon would be much better off than using the laptop on a bed/carpet... Enjoy the machine, its wonderful.