Hi everyone! I realize I don't have much (yet) to add to the
discussions, but I'm doing better than before when I felt I had
basically nothing to add. Anyway, I seem to have been buying a lot of
hardware recently, so here are my brief comments on each. My
"production" desktop system runs Mandriva 2008.1, if that matters. By
coincidence, all four of these gadgets have USB connections, were
recognized by Mandriva with no problem right out of the box (or other
packaging), and all four have worked well for me. Hope this helps you
decide -- specific questions are welcome, on- or off-list.
External hard drive: Fantom GD1000EU, 1 TB USB, now $120 from NewEgg.
Shipped as one FAT32 partition so needed repartitioning and
reformatting. Small, quiet, cool. Quick "real world" test showed
throughput about 25 MB/sec, vs. USB 2.0 theoretical max of 60 MB/sec.
Fast enough for me for now.
Flash drive: PNY Attache, 16 GB, USB 2.0, was on sale for $40 (normally
$80) at Staples. Works well enough, although I'd say losing the cap is
likely. Here's what I added:
http://mysite.verizon.net/adam707/keychain.jpg -- that thing over the
cap is actually meant to go onto keys, $.29 at Davies Hardware, plus $2
for the keychain.
MP3 player: Sansa Clip 4 GB, on sale for $50 (normally $60) at Best
Buy. Has 2 out of 3 important (to me) features: built-in rechargeable
battery, text display. However, needs special cable (included) to
connect to USB port. Automatically recognized and mounted; can copy and
delete files using usual 'cp' and 'rm' commands.
Mouse: I splurged and got a Logitech LX8 Cordless Laser Mouse, my first
cordless mouse. $42 at Staples, but it went on sale for $30 the
following week and I had little trouble getting credited for the
difference. At first, receiver (plugged into back of desktop system)
didn't work, but I added the included "dock" (extension cable) and all
was well. Left, right, and middle (wheel) buttons, plus scroll wheel up
and down, all recognized by X automatically. Mouse also includes
additional buttons that I haven't yet figured out how to get
recognized. It's on the large side for a mouse, which works well for me
but it might not be the best choice for smaller hands.
Adam
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