Vista backstabbed by Nvidia drivers

Since its release, the latest operating system from Redmond has been blasted for being buggy and unstable. Turns out a major reason for that wasn't Vista itself, but the Nvidia graphics drivers.

Uncovered in internal documents during the lawsuit over the Vista-capable label, issues with Nvidia drivers accounted for 28.8 percent of system crashes, making it the leading reason for Vista instability. Consider the fact that not all machines are equipped with discrete graphic cards, this is an exceptionally high rate of incidence. But in its defence, the method of data collection was not revealed and hence this information is better used as reference rather than gospel. We've contacted Nvidia regarding this issue and are still awaiting a response.

After upgrading our HP desktop equipped with Nvidia GeForce 7500LE graphics card to Vista Service Pack 1, the system does seem to run smoother with fewer crashes. For those with a Vista/Nvidia setup, has Service Pack 1 solved your woes?

Via Arstechnica

8.9-inch Eee PC to go touchscreen

It seems like the Eee PC is moving away from its roots as a no-frills portable. According to Digitimes, Kevin Lin, vice president of Asustek's sales department, has confirmed that the next-generation 8.9-inch Eee PC will come with a touchscreen and 8-12GB of storage space.

Since the design looks like a conventional clamshell device, it remains to be seen if the cost of including a touchscreen is a justifiable expense. Lin also hinted at the possibility of a GPS radio being included, which we feel would gain more utility than the touchscreen.

The units are expected to leave the factory in May or June and be tentatively priced at US$500 (S$690.30).

Via Digitimes

Eee PC to sport multitouch touchpad

Despite the the best-laid plans of mice and men, no one can escape the sieve named FCC. According to documents submitted to the US Federal Communications Commission, the 8.9-inch Eee PC manual reveals that it will have a multitouch touchpad, much like the one found on the MacBook Air.

There are two main functions available--zooming and scrolling. By spreading or meeting two digits on the touchpad, documents and images on OpenOffice Writer/Impress, Adobe reader and Photomanager can be enlarged or shrunk. Two-finger scrolling, on the other hand, is available for all applicable applications.

This is a great feature to include in the Eee PC, much better than the questionable inclusion of a touchscreen or GPS radio. Hopefully, we'll see multitouch start cropping up in other ASUS laptops as well.

Via Gizmodo and FCC

Top 10 obsolete ports

I can still remember my first laptop. It was a Toshiba Pentium II model bought back in 1999. At that time, PS/2, serial and parallel ports were a must-have. There was a lonely USB port in the rear hidden by a sliding cover. For the life of me, I had no idea what it was supposed to be for, and I assumed it was an additional heat vent to be used when the machine was going full blast.

Fast forward to today when the USB port is king and any machine which dares to include only one (with the exception of UMPCs) will be ridiculed no end (MacBook Air, are you listening?). With eSATA just over the horizon and wireless USB on its way to unseat its wired brother, CNET UK took a step back in time to remember the ones which had served us well so many years ago.

Via Crave UK

NetBook gets a name: 2go PC

Those recent pics of an Intel NetBook floating around online finally have an official name attached to them. It's the 2go PC from a laptop vendor named Computer Technology Link, or CTL, according to a spec sheet dug up by Engadget (and it looks suspiciously similar to a laptop we had sitting in our lab last August).

Intended for the education market, the 2go PC clearly has its roots in Intel's Classmate PC platform. That's not surprising, since we told you last August that the low-cost design of the Classmate would, "lead to cheaper, smaller laptops for everyone, although likely not directly from Intel, which wants to stay out of the system-selling business". In other words, Intel would come up with the basic design, but the actual laptops would be, "sold by local OEMs, who offer customized software configurations for the needs of each individual market".
Read more »

Crave is...

The name says it all. Crave is our new blog about cool gadgets and other crushworthy stuff.

Drop us an email if you have tips or suggestions.

Crave for...

» Mobile Phones (575)

» Digital Cameras (356)

» Notebooks (367)

» PC & Peripherals (372)

» Handhelds (213)

» Printers (37)

» Home AV (394)

» Music & Play (358)

» Gadgets (844)

» Future Tech (124)

Previously...

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

Subscribe to
Crave

Today on CNET |  Reviews |  Crave |  Blogs |  CNET TV |  Digital Living |  Downloads