Problems on the Asus 1000HE
After tinkering around with the netbook I found that the keyboard was some what loose. So I took off the keyboard and found that there was a small amount of sticky tape that holds the keyboard to the netbook. While the tape works, it only holds for a bit before coming undone.
As a solution I bought some double stick tape from Wal Mart and applied this to the bottom of the keyboard. After I placed it back on the netbook I felt like it was too thick and caused some of the keys to stick. I cleaned off the extra double stick tape and then made much smaller strips, about the size of 1/8" x 3".
Placing this back on the netbook, I felt like it was a big improvement but a few weeks later random keys stopped working on the keyboard. So now I'm left with a netbook that can not type certain keys. :)
Will be calling Asus and having it replaced but if they don't I can just buy a new keyboard replacement and just deal with the looseness.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Small netbook experience
So this is my first post from the Asus netbook and so far it's not too bad. The keyboard while smaller is not as small as I expected. I used subcompact notebooks from Sony that were much harder to type. It did take some adjustments to get used to the smaller size, honestly even for my fingers I feel like it's very close in size to a normal laptop. The only problem I found is the shift key on the right side which I use the most is about the size of a normal key. I keep hitting this and mistyping due to it's smaller size. Also the keyboard feels like it's a bit loose, there's a little give when I press down on the keys.
After starting up Windows XP home edition on the netbook I was excited to load Ubuntu Netbook Remix. After a few readings of the instructions I was able to use my photo memory card and load a IMG image from the web site to test. Once I confirmed the wireless card and other details worked fine, I installed this over my XP install. Now it's running very smoothly under Linux. I'm going to take this to work and give it a good test on the applications. Find out just how well the netbook with Ubuntu really work out. :)
So this is my first post from the Asus netbook and so far it's not too bad. The keyboard while smaller is not as small as I expected. I used subcompact notebooks from Sony that were much harder to type. It did take some adjustments to get used to the smaller size, honestly even for my fingers I feel like it's very close in size to a normal laptop. The only problem I found is the shift key on the right side which I use the most is about the size of a normal key. I keep hitting this and mistyping due to it's smaller size. Also the keyboard feels like it's a bit loose, there's a little give when I press down on the keys.
After starting up Windows XP home edition on the netbook I was excited to load Ubuntu Netbook Remix. After a few readings of the instructions I was able to use my photo memory card and load a IMG image from the web site to test. Once I confirmed the wireless card and other details worked fine, I installed this over my XP install. Now it's running very smoothly under Linux. I'm going to take this to work and give it a good test on the applications. Find out just how well the netbook with Ubuntu really work out. :)
Monday, April 20, 2009
Netbooks and small computers
I just recently purchased a netbook, a Asus 1000HE with a 10" screen. It's very similar to your typical laptop computer but uses a smaller processor and can last longer on a single charge. A big point of this small computer is how long a single charge will last, on my old notebook the battery was going out, so I was used to lasting about 15 minutes before the computer died. On my more recent laptop, a larger Asus gaming laptop, the power lasts about 1 hour before needing to be plugged in. Again, it's not designed to run off batteries, but in some cases it's nice to have the option.
With the netbook, the small size and long battery life allows me to run away from power up to 9 hours. This is a great feature if I want to check the Internet from the garage, or while I'm at Starbucks, etc. It's hard enough to find a power outlet from coffee shops and this would be handy when you find that nice sofa but no power anywhere.
Of course, there are down sides as well. The smaller sized keyboard, about 93% of a full size, is harder to type longer periods. In addition the screen is smaller, a 10" is now very small, not sure if this would be great for long term reading, such as PDF files. Also the netbook lacks any media drives, you need to store everything from a USB CD-ROM or USB drive.
When I receive the netbook I'll post just how well it's going to fit my needs.
I just recently purchased a netbook, a Asus 1000HE with a 10" screen. It's very similar to your typical laptop computer but uses a smaller processor and can last longer on a single charge. A big point of this small computer is how long a single charge will last, on my old notebook the battery was going out, so I was used to lasting about 15 minutes before the computer died. On my more recent laptop, a larger Asus gaming laptop, the power lasts about 1 hour before needing to be plugged in. Again, it's not designed to run off batteries, but in some cases it's nice to have the option.
With the netbook, the small size and long battery life allows me to run away from power up to 9 hours. This is a great feature if I want to check the Internet from the garage, or while I'm at Starbucks, etc. It's hard enough to find a power outlet from coffee shops and this would be handy when you find that nice sofa but no power anywhere.
Of course, there are down sides as well. The smaller sized keyboard, about 93% of a full size, is harder to type longer periods. In addition the screen is smaller, a 10" is now very small, not sure if this would be great for long term reading, such as PDF files. Also the netbook lacks any media drives, you need to store everything from a USB CD-ROM or USB drive.
When I receive the netbook I'll post just how well it's going to fit my needs.
Monday, April 06, 2009
Old games revisited
I recently found the game site Good Old Games which sells older games for very reasonable prices. Most of the games range from the early 90's to present day, and the prices are starting at $5 to about $10. A big plus is that each game is DRM free, meaning that once you buy it, that's it, no codes, authentication or any problems down the road. GoG also takes developers and custom tunes the same so they can run in Windows XP and Vista with no problems.
So after hearing about this I purchased two games. First I bought Fallout, this was the original games, with the new Fallout 3 is based upon. Since I played a few hours on Fallout 3, I wanted to see just how closely does the new Fallout feel to the original. Also I was interested in Fallout since it's often a topic of the greatest games ever made.
Surprising, the install of the game was quick and easy. GoG makes their own installer which I assume added additional files to the game to help run on newer systems. As I started up the Fallout I saw that it played with no problems but I couldn't change the screen resolution, which was stuck at 640x480. Now at the time this game came out that was normal but I'm playing on a 1920x1280 screen which makes the game screen extremely small.
After getting past this slight problem I started the actual game play. Fallout is a turn based RPG, much like Final Fantasy. You move an allowed distance and have a certian about of points to attack. I played around for a short while making my way out of the caves fighting tunnel rats. Playing the orginal Fallout felt very similar to the new Fallout 3. Even the way you attack is very similar that I quickly understood the method to play. It's amazing how different the two games appear but play so closely.
Next I wanted to play a good old style shooter. I found a few favorites, Unreal Tournament, and Unreal 2004. I loved Unreal Tournament since it was so fun and had really smart computer players, plus great levels. I finally settled upon Unread 2004 and will pick up Unreal Tournament next. To buy these games from GoG you download them, which is ok for older games since they are small around 300MB but for Unreal 2004 it's about 2GB. The download was corrupted the first time but after installing the GoG downloader, went very smooth the second time.
The install process was the same as Fallout, GoG has their own installer to insall the game. Start up was quick and I was playing right after. Playing about 2 hours, I haven't seen any issue and was able to play the game in my full resolution, big plus. Even while the game is 5 years old, still feels like a very fun game, and I'll be playing this next LAN party.
Overall my experience with GoG has been excellent. I still have older games in my collection but as computers get faster and OS changes, they don't run like they used to. GoG takes out the risk and makes the old games run with no changes. It's well worth the $10 to grab a old game and give it some more life.
I recently found the game site Good Old Games which sells older games for very reasonable prices. Most of the games range from the early 90's to present day, and the prices are starting at $5 to about $10. A big plus is that each game is DRM free, meaning that once you buy it, that's it, no codes, authentication or any problems down the road. GoG also takes developers and custom tunes the same so they can run in Windows XP and Vista with no problems.
So after hearing about this I purchased two games. First I bought Fallout, this was the original games, with the new Fallout 3 is based upon. Since I played a few hours on Fallout 3, I wanted to see just how closely does the new Fallout feel to the original. Also I was interested in Fallout since it's often a topic of the greatest games ever made.
Surprising, the install of the game was quick and easy. GoG makes their own installer which I assume added additional files to the game to help run on newer systems. As I started up the Fallout I saw that it played with no problems but I couldn't change the screen resolution, which was stuck at 640x480. Now at the time this game came out that was normal but I'm playing on a 1920x1280 screen which makes the game screen extremely small.
After getting past this slight problem I started the actual game play. Fallout is a turn based RPG, much like Final Fantasy. You move an allowed distance and have a certian about of points to attack. I played around for a short while making my way out of the caves fighting tunnel rats. Playing the orginal Fallout felt very similar to the new Fallout 3. Even the way you attack is very similar that I quickly understood the method to play. It's amazing how different the two games appear but play so closely.
Next I wanted to play a good old style shooter. I found a few favorites, Unreal Tournament, and Unreal 2004. I loved Unreal Tournament since it was so fun and had really smart computer players, plus great levels. I finally settled upon Unread 2004 and will pick up Unreal Tournament next. To buy these games from GoG you download them, which is ok for older games since they are small around 300MB but for Unreal 2004 it's about 2GB. The download was corrupted the first time but after installing the GoG downloader, went very smooth the second time.
The install process was the same as Fallout, GoG has their own installer to insall the game. Start up was quick and I was playing right after. Playing about 2 hours, I haven't seen any issue and was able to play the game in my full resolution, big plus. Even while the game is 5 years old, still feels like a very fun game, and I'll be playing this next LAN party.
Overall my experience with GoG has been excellent. I still have older games in my collection but as computers get faster and OS changes, they don't run like they used to. GoG takes out the risk and makes the old games run with no changes. It's well worth the $10 to grab a old game and give it some more life.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Long time with no update
It's been a while without an update. I haven't played WoW in a few months due to work and other interests. After some time at 76 on my paladin I'm planning to transfer to another server and play with new friends. The idea of dual boxing is fun but it's hard to keep up and have fun.
New laptop
After a long time with my old IBM Thinkpad I bought a new laptop. It has enough power to play games and run other applications at the same time. It's pretty fast and should last a few years.
It's been a while without an update. I haven't played WoW in a few months due to work and other interests. After some time at 76 on my paladin I'm planning to transfer to another server and play with new friends. The idea of dual boxing is fun but it's hard to keep up and have fun.
New laptop
After a long time with my old IBM Thinkpad I bought a new laptop. It has enough power to play games and run other applications at the same time. It's pretty fast and should last a few years.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Monday, December 08, 2008
70! Northrend!
Finally after 4 days and 17 hours, my shadow priest hit 70. This is really the fastest I have leveled and now my second highest character. My highest character is only 70 and two bubble, so soon this priest will my main character. Right now I'm working on maxing out my skinning, a profession I just took, and want to level to 375 before heading to Northrend.
In order to get from 60 to 70, I followed the guides from Jame's Horde Leveling guides. So far with the new XP curve, I made 70 in Nagaran, where the guides listed as I should have been 66. Instead of working through old world I just finished my zone and now going to move to the new zone. It was a good thing because I just turned in the last quest in the quest hub and dinged, perfect timing.
For my paladin I'm level 63, going to start leveling this character to 70 and then move to Northrend as well.
Finally after 4 days and 17 hours, my shadow priest hit 70. This is really the fastest I have leveled and now my second highest character. My highest character is only 70 and two bubble, so soon this priest will my main character. Right now I'm working on maxing out my skinning, a profession I just took, and want to level to 375 before heading to Northrend.
In order to get from 60 to 70, I followed the guides from Jame's Horde Leveling guides. So far with the new XP curve, I made 70 in Nagaran, where the guides listed as I should have been 66. Instead of working through old world I just finished my zone and now going to move to the new zone. It was a good thing because I just turned in the last quest in the quest hub and dinged, perfect timing.
For my paladin I'm level 63, going to start leveling this character to 70 and then move to Northrend as well.
Monday, December 01, 2008
65-68 now in Nagaran
I leveled the priest to 68 this weekend, slower than expected since I wanted to hit 70 but I wanted to stay in rested xp so gave him a break. While resting, I played my rogue and got him to level 62. A few Outland greens and a couple of blue items from running Ramps so many times. Overall I still like the priest better but it's a different change of pace.
After playing for a bit, I switched over to my paladin. I made this character a while ago but somewhat gave up playing him. Then I transferred him from a PvP server to a PvE and gifted the last few levels to 60. I went into the Outlands with mostly level 40 gear but didn't do too bad. After questing for a short time I got to level 61 and bought the epic mount. So far I forgot how tough plate tanks can be. This guy is pretty tough and with the healing, can really be a life saver when you accidentally pull too many mobs. While the damage is much slower than my priest, I can usually take on 3 mobs and takes about the same time as my priest doing it one by one.
Overall, I think I'm going to stop leveling the rogue and only work on the priest, with the paladin in a close second. Just having the ability to heal is so nice and both classes have a bubble feature I used allot.
This week, I hope to get to level 70 on my priest and then continue in Outlands until 71 or 72, then go to the new zones.
I leveled the priest to 68 this weekend, slower than expected since I wanted to hit 70 but I wanted to stay in rested xp so gave him a break. While resting, I played my rogue and got him to level 62. A few Outland greens and a couple of blue items from running Ramps so many times. Overall I still like the priest better but it's a different change of pace.
After playing for a bit, I switched over to my paladin. I made this character a while ago but somewhat gave up playing him. Then I transferred him from a PvP server to a PvE and gifted the last few levels to 60. I went into the Outlands with mostly level 40 gear but didn't do too bad. After questing for a short time I got to level 61 and bought the epic mount. So far I forgot how tough plate tanks can be. This guy is pretty tough and with the healing, can really be a life saver when you accidentally pull too many mobs. While the damage is much slower than my priest, I can usually take on 3 mobs and takes about the same time as my priest doing it one by one.
Overall, I think I'm going to stop leveling the rogue and only work on the priest, with the paladin in a close second. Just having the ability to heal is so nice and both classes have a bubble feature I used allot.
This week, I hope to get to level 70 on my priest and then continue in Outlands until 71 or 72, then go to the new zones.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Rogue project
I have a level 60 rogue that I leveled normally from 1-20 but used my Recruit a Friend gifted levels to take him to 60. In the past few weeks as a side project I leveled the weapon skills to about 300, and leveled skinning to 240. The other profession is mining but I might drop this for leather working. It would be nice to make some gear and leather items while I level.
Now I'm pretty much set, my friend made me some basic green 60 gear and I found a mace/dagger combo from the auction house. The only item I need next and it's not a big deal is a epic mount. After having an epic mount on my priest I really miss the speed on the slower regular mount. With my druid I'm farming about 100 gold per day so I should have the rogue ready by this weekend with his own epic mount.
I have a level 60 rogue that I leveled normally from 1-20 but used my Recruit a Friend gifted levels to take him to 60. In the past few weeks as a side project I leveled the weapon skills to about 300, and leveled skinning to 240. The other profession is mining but I might drop this for leather working. It would be nice to make some gear and leather items while I level.
Now I'm pretty much set, my friend made me some basic green 60 gear and I found a mace/dagger combo from the auction house. The only item I need next and it's not a big deal is a epic mount. After having an epic mount on my priest I really miss the speed on the slower regular mount. With my druid I'm farming about 100 gold per day so I should have the rogue ready by this weekend with his own epic mount.
61 - 65, Zangarmarsh
Last night I got to about 64 1/4 before I logged out. I'm almost halfway done with the quests in Zangarmarsh, still following the Jame's guide. I did find a possible error in the guide but most likely it's something I did wrong. While getting new quests in Swamprat Post, I hit my max of 25 quests, with 3 more I needed to pick up.
Another issue I'm having is my professions are too low to pick up anything in the areas. I have herbalism and mining but with the Death Knights leveling the professions as well, it's been hard to find nodes to pick up. Since I'm a caster I'm thinking of dropping mining on my priest and picking up alchmey for the mana pots, which I'm always in need of.
The only problem is to level herbalism high enough to start gathering in the Outlands will take a long time to gather the items in old world. I'm thinking I should just to take a break from the quest grinding and this will greatly boost my income. Since I'm 5 levels from 70, I think keeping the push will be easy, then at 70 I'll take a break and level the professions. If things are getting slow, I'll stop at 66, and level.
So far, after so many levels with the priest I'm enjoying the game. It's a good mix of damage and healing which keeps the playing exciting.
Last night I got to about 64 1/4 before I logged out. I'm almost halfway done with the quests in Zangarmarsh, still following the Jame's guide. I did find a possible error in the guide but most likely it's something I did wrong. While getting new quests in Swamprat Post, I hit my max of 25 quests, with 3 more I needed to pick up.
Another issue I'm having is my professions are too low to pick up anything in the areas. I have herbalism and mining but with the Death Knights leveling the professions as well, it's been hard to find nodes to pick up. Since I'm a caster I'm thinking of dropping mining on my priest and picking up alchmey for the mana pots, which I'm always in need of.
The only problem is to level herbalism high enough to start gathering in the Outlands will take a long time to gather the items in old world. I'm thinking I should just to take a break from the quest grinding and this will greatly boost my income. Since I'm 5 levels from 70, I think keeping the push will be easy, then at 70 I'll take a break and level the professions. If things are getting slow, I'll stop at 66, and level.
So far, after so many levels with the priest I'm enjoying the game. It's a good mix of damage and healing which keeps the playing exciting.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
58-61, Outlands
This past Sunday I finally got both the priest and mage to 60. I did make a mistake of leveling the priest past 60, if I had only leveled to 59 and 80% to 60. I could have gifted one level and been at 60 with 80% to 61. But either way I'm done and happy with the results. Total time to 60 was 1 day and 12 hours played, almost 20 hours faster than my last run. I focused more on skipping quests that were collection and any quest that was overall difficult or took too long to complete.
Once I got this team up, I went back and gave my remaining toons enough gift levels to get them to 60, so now I have the following toons.
60 - Undead priest (now 61)
60 - Undead mage
60 - Undead rogue
60 - Blood elf paladin
60 - Blood elf priest
60 - Blood elf mage
20 - Orc shaman x 2
23 - Dranie shaman x 2
After this I'll have more than enough toons and doubt I'll ever need to start a new alt. :) The total time spent doing this project was small, since I was dual boxing, it was like playing one toon but leveling two. Now that I'm done, my main, the 61 undead priest I'll be focusing on.
Once I got to 60, I first trained for all of my spells at 60. Then I took two professions, herbalism and mining. The reason for the two collection professions is to make extra money and since I kept seeing the nodes everywhere but couldn't take any. I ventured out around the newbie areas and started to level both professions but found out that it was taking much longer than expected.
At the same time I also skilled up my weapons training which was very low since I only used the casting spells while power leveling. This was extremely fast, and in an about 1 hour I had wands, staff, mace, all leveled to about 300.
Once I was leveling the professions I stopped at 90 for both and headed to the Outlands. I figured the gold I could make out there was more than I could sell the materials I collected in the same time. In the Outlands within the first few quests I replaced 4 pieces of my old world gear and made about 20 gold. The xp was pretty good as I leveled to 61 in about 2 hours.
So far the shadow priest is fun to play but I'm going to need some more practice. I can take about 3 to 4 same level mobs at one time but it really burns through my mana pool. I'm thinking of taking up alchemy as a profession to make my own pots and to save money.
This past Sunday I finally got both the priest and mage to 60. I did make a mistake of leveling the priest past 60, if I had only leveled to 59 and 80% to 60. I could have gifted one level and been at 60 with 80% to 61. But either way I'm done and happy with the results. Total time to 60 was 1 day and 12 hours played, almost 20 hours faster than my last run. I focused more on skipping quests that were collection and any quest that was overall difficult or took too long to complete.
Once I got this team up, I went back and gave my remaining toons enough gift levels to get them to 60, so now I have the following toons.
60 - Undead priest (now 61)
60 - Undead mage
60 - Undead rogue
60 - Blood elf paladin
60 - Blood elf priest
60 - Blood elf mage
20 - Orc shaman x 2
23 - Dranie shaman x 2
After this I'll have more than enough toons and doubt I'll ever need to start a new alt. :) The total time spent doing this project was small, since I was dual boxing, it was like playing one toon but leveling two. Now that I'm done, my main, the 61 undead priest I'll be focusing on.
Once I got to 60, I first trained for all of my spells at 60. Then I took two professions, herbalism and mining. The reason for the two collection professions is to make extra money and since I kept seeing the nodes everywhere but couldn't take any. I ventured out around the newbie areas and started to level both professions but found out that it was taking much longer than expected.
At the same time I also skilled up my weapons training which was very low since I only used the casting spells while power leveling. This was extremely fast, and in an about 1 hour I had wands, staff, mace, all leveled to about 300.
Once I was leveling the professions I stopped at 90 for both and headed to the Outlands. I figured the gold I could make out there was more than I could sell the materials I collected in the same time. In the Outlands within the first few quests I replaced 4 pieces of my old world gear and made about 20 gold. The xp was pretty good as I leveled to 61 in about 2 hours.
So far the shadow priest is fun to play but I'm going to need some more practice. I can take about 3 to 4 same level mobs at one time but it really burns through my mana pool. I'm thinking of taking up alchemy as a profession to make my own pots and to save money.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
52 to 58, soo close!
Tonight I got from 52 to 58, still have more quests to go and I haven't done Eastern Plague Lands yet. So far I seen a lot of Death Knights but they have not taken any of my mobs or caused issues. After some of my problems with the Internet I'm back on track to get to 60 by this weekend.
Tonight I got from 52 to 58, still have more quests to go and I haven't done Eastern Plague Lands yet. So far I seen a lot of Death Knights but they have not taken any of my mobs or caused issues. After some of my problems with the Internet I'm back on track to get to 60 by this weekend.
Friday, November 14, 2008
WoW add-on review Carbonite
While I love to get surprises and discover new zones, I also like to not waste time running to the wrong zone or fighting the wrong mob for a drop that I'll never get. About a few months ago I started to use a popular quest mod called Quest Helper. I mentioned this a few times here and it's in most cases a great help, in fact I would say that Quest Helper is one of my "must have" add-ons for WoW.
How help Quest Helper is I did noticed some problems. One issue was the "ant trails" paths that tell you were to go next. Usually this is helpful as it tells you a fast route to get your quests done then turn them in. Sometimes this can be a pain because the amount of ant trails starts to cover up your higher priority quests and adds to the confusion. You can adjust this in the configurations but it's a important note. Also many people have commented that Quest Helper takes up too much performance on the WoW client and your computer. Personally I haven't noticed a huge drop in performance but I only use Quest Helper and very few additional add-ons.
From reading forums I found another highly recommended add-on called Carbonite. Carbonite is actually similar to Quest Helper but has some nice features which I'll go into detail. First, Carbonite is not free, it's a add-on that has a subscription fee with will add additional features to Carbonite. It's important to know that Carbonite Quest is the free version, while I'm reviewing the subscription version Cabonite. The subscription fee is a reasonable $3 to $1 per month depending on the length of subscription.
The install process is very easy, you simply add this just like any any add-on, copy to the "add-on" folder and start WoW. You should also disable Quest Helper as this might cause problems for Carbonite. Once started I noticed that Carbonite changed my minimap from the default to a new larger square with added functions below. This was nice but I prefer to leave the map default, it's not a big deal. So I did a test to see how this compares to Quest Helper by running in the same zone I did with Quest Helper but this time with Carbonite.
One of the first things that I noticed was different is the more exact location of mobs and quest items. In Quest Helper the mobs locations are defined by a green fog, in Carbonite they are listed as more precise green or red blocks on the main map. Carbonite takes this a step further by showing the mob locations in detail on the minimap as well. I tested this by looking for mobs and crystals in Un'Goro Crater, surprised just how precise the map was to the loot items.
Tonight and this weekend I'll continue to quest further with Carbonite and also have Quest Helper running on the other account to see the difference.
While I love to get surprises and discover new zones, I also like to not waste time running to the wrong zone or fighting the wrong mob for a drop that I'll never get. About a few months ago I started to use a popular quest mod called Quest Helper. I mentioned this a few times here and it's in most cases a great help, in fact I would say that Quest Helper is one of my "must have" add-ons for WoW.
How help Quest Helper is I did noticed some problems. One issue was the "ant trails" paths that tell you were to go next. Usually this is helpful as it tells you a fast route to get your quests done then turn them in. Sometimes this can be a pain because the amount of ant trails starts to cover up your higher priority quests and adds to the confusion. You can adjust this in the configurations but it's a important note. Also many people have commented that Quest Helper takes up too much performance on the WoW client and your computer. Personally I haven't noticed a huge drop in performance but I only use Quest Helper and very few additional add-ons.
From reading forums I found another highly recommended add-on called Carbonite. Carbonite is actually similar to Quest Helper but has some nice features which I'll go into detail. First, Carbonite is not free, it's a add-on that has a subscription fee with will add additional features to Carbonite. It's important to know that Carbonite Quest is the free version, while I'm reviewing the subscription version Cabonite. The subscription fee is a reasonable $3 to $1 per month depending on the length of subscription.
The install process is very easy, you simply add this just like any any add-on, copy to the "add-on" folder and start WoW. You should also disable Quest Helper as this might cause problems for Carbonite. Once started I noticed that Carbonite changed my minimap from the default to a new larger square with added functions below. This was nice but I prefer to leave the map default, it's not a big deal. So I did a test to see how this compares to Quest Helper by running in the same zone I did with Quest Helper but this time with Carbonite.
One of the first things that I noticed was different is the more exact location of mobs and quest items. In Quest Helper the mobs locations are defined by a green fog, in Carbonite they are listed as more precise green or red blocks on the main map. Carbonite takes this a step further by showing the mob locations in detail on the minimap as well. I tested this by looking for mobs and crystals in Un'Goro Crater, surprised just how precise the map was to the loot items.
Tonight and this weekend I'll continue to quest further with Carbonite and also have Quest Helper running on the other account to see the difference.
50 to 52 and moving
Last night I install Wrath of the Lich King and logged in. For my PvE server there was a wait time so I went to the PvP server which had no queue. I ventured out to the new zone and got some of the quests. I like the design of the starting zone, it's pretty fun, there wasn't too many people in the area but you did have to be quick to get the quest items. Playing a warlock I have a few instant cast curses which I used to grab mobs faster than the other players. After two bubbles of xp I logged out and switched to my priest/mage team.
After I waited 15 minutes to log in I had a problem with the Keyclone software I use to dual box. So I logged out than back in again, luckily there was no waiting upon reentry. While questing I finished off a few quests in Tanaris then moved to Un'Goro Crater. After doing some of the easy quests I got to level 52 on both toons.
This weekend I think I should finish Un'Goro and then move to Eastern Plague Lands, closing with Western Plague Lands.
So far I'm at 52 with 10 hours played. Doing much faster than my last time to 60.
After I got to 60 I'm considering if I should still multibox or just play one account. I've been having Internet slowness and disconnection which makes it twice as hard since I got to set everything up so I might just level one at a time.
Last night I install Wrath of the Lich King and logged in. For my PvE server there was a wait time so I went to the PvP server which had no queue. I ventured out to the new zone and got some of the quests. I like the design of the starting zone, it's pretty fun, there wasn't too many people in the area but you did have to be quick to get the quest items. Playing a warlock I have a few instant cast curses which I used to grab mobs faster than the other players. After two bubbles of xp I logged out and switched to my priest/mage team.
After I waited 15 minutes to log in I had a problem with the Keyclone software I use to dual box. So I logged out than back in again, luckily there was no waiting upon reentry. While questing I finished off a few quests in Tanaris then moved to Un'Goro Crater. After doing some of the easy quests I got to level 52 on both toons.
This weekend I think I should finish Un'Goro and then move to Eastern Plague Lands, closing with Western Plague Lands.
So far I'm at 52 with 10 hours played. Doing much faster than my last time to 60.
After I got to 60 I'm considering if I should still multibox or just play one account. I've been having Internet slowness and disconnection which makes it twice as hard since I got to set everything up so I might just level one at a time.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
48 to 50 with some problems
Last night I got home feeling a bit tired from work but happy to finally have some game time to unwind. I got the priest and mage to level 50 but was dealing with very high lag issues. Normally I would see ping times of 100~250 but last night the ping times jumped to 1200 then 2400, playing meant a 2 second delay between key presses. At this point it was being harder and harder to dual box but I cut my losses and just logged out at the inn.
I was planning to hit 60 before the expansion came out but after some delays looks like I’ll be getting to 60 by this weekend. After thinking about it I think it will be better since I can missing the rush of Death Knights invading Hellfire.
Today I’m also picking up my copy of Wrath of the Lich King, I pre-ordered a copy from Game Stop but found a collectors edition at Best Buy. Since I have two accounts, I might as well get both.
Last night I got home feeling a bit tired from work but happy to finally have some game time to unwind. I got the priest and mage to level 50 but was dealing with very high lag issues. Normally I would see ping times of 100~250 but last night the ping times jumped to 1200 then 2400, playing meant a 2 second delay between key presses. At this point it was being harder and harder to dual box but I cut my losses and just logged out at the inn.
I was planning to hit 60 before the expansion came out but after some delays looks like I’ll be getting to 60 by this weekend. After thinking about it I think it will be better since I can missing the rush of Death Knights invading Hellfire.
Today I’m also picking up my copy of Wrath of the Lich King, I pre-ordered a copy from Game Stop but found a collectors edition at Best Buy. Since I have two accounts, I might as well get both.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Helpful World of Warcraft links and add-ons
I'm not a good WoW player so I have a few favorite web sites to help me out. Some of these are really basic but some of them have more advance information.
WoWWiki - I really like this website. It's not as indepth for item details like WoWHead but their articles about classes, instances and zones are done well. If you're just starting out, I recommend to read over this site including the excellent WoWWiki Newbie Guide.
WoWHead - There are a few database web sites but I really like WoWHead. If you need to look up any spell or some item you found, this is a great resource. They also have a handy talent calculator, which I highly recommend you use before doing it live. lol
Curse WoW Add-ons - Curse is a great site for WoW add-on's to customize your WoW client UI. While there are hundreds of add-ons you can install I only recommend a few to keep things simple.
Helpful add-ons
DMiniCoords - This is a simple, X Y position add-on for WoW. When questing people will post the location in X Y format, such as 35,72 instead of "go near the big brown rock".
Quest Helper - Quest Helper is a favorite add-on of mine. This will keep track of your quests, then show where you should go, and add a helpful tooltip over mobs you need to kill. I don't recommend you use this if it's your first time playing WoW as you will spoil some of the quest surprises and fun of exploring. It's great if you just want to level ASAP.
Cartographer - This is another map mod but this will unhide the areas of the map hidden without exploring the area. It's handy for questing and leveling, also added more functionality into Quest Helper by adding a GPS style directional arrow.
Auctioneer - Just by choosing a gathering profession you can make some income by carefully selling the items on the auction house. The trick is pricing your items correctly which is what Auctioneer does for you. It's really nice but in the most recent version some of the functions have been changed. I'm not sure but things like automatic pricing is no longer by default (I can't find it) which is one of my favorite features.
X-Perl UnitFrames - This isn't something that's needed but I personally like having a smaller neater UI interface so this works well for me. Also it's very easy to customize.
I'm not a good WoW player so I have a few favorite web sites to help me out. Some of these are really basic but some of them have more advance information.
WoWWiki - I really like this website. It's not as indepth for item details like WoWHead but their articles about classes, instances and zones are done well. If you're just starting out, I recommend to read over this site including the excellent WoWWiki Newbie Guide.
WoWHead - There are a few database web sites but I really like WoWHead. If you need to look up any spell or some item you found, this is a great resource. They also have a handy talent calculator, which I highly recommend you use before doing it live. lol
Curse WoW Add-ons - Curse is a great site for WoW add-on's to customize your WoW client UI. While there are hundreds of add-ons you can install I only recommend a few to keep things simple.
Helpful add-ons
DMiniCoords - This is a simple, X Y position add-on for WoW. When questing people will post the location in X Y format, such as 35,72 instead of "go near the big brown rock".
Quest Helper - Quest Helper is a favorite add-on of mine. This will keep track of your quests, then show where you should go, and add a helpful tooltip over mobs you need to kill. I don't recommend you use this if it's your first time playing WoW as you will spoil some of the quest surprises and fun of exploring. It's great if you just want to level ASAP.
Cartographer - This is another map mod but this will unhide the areas of the map hidden without exploring the area. It's handy for questing and leveling, also added more functionality into Quest Helper by adding a GPS style directional arrow.
Auctioneer - Just by choosing a gathering profession you can make some income by carefully selling the items on the auction house. The trick is pricing your items correctly which is what Auctioneer does for you. It's really nice but in the most recent version some of the functions have been changed. I'm not sure but things like automatic pricing is no longer by default (I can't find it) which is one of my favorite features.
X-Perl UnitFrames - This isn't something that's needed but I personally like having a smaller neater UI interface so this works well for me. Also it's very easy to customize.
Realm down and stuck at 48
Last night I got home to find the realm was still down from Tuesday patching, this was about 7:30pm PST. This wasn't one or two realms but all realms in general. So I ended up playing Left 4 Dead demo. The game is actually nicely done, good speed and still has a creepy feel to it. The zombies are a mix of really fast zombies with some slower zombies, including some exploding. The demo is short but still was a good 20 minutes of zombie shooting fun.
After the demo was completed my roommate and I played Rock Band 2 for a while then I came back to check on the realms. A few realms came up but for the most part, the main realm I was working on didn't come up till 11:30pm PST. Well I couldn't stay up late so I just ran the two toons to Tanaris to get the flight path and log out in the inn.
Tonight if everything works right I'll start the leveling from 48 in Un'Goro Crater. Last time I quested here I did pretty well with the xp because everything is easy to find. There's a few elite mobs you have to watch out for mostly it's not too hard. Hoping to hit at least 50 by tonight.
Last night I got home to find the realm was still down from Tuesday patching, this was about 7:30pm PST. This wasn't one or two realms but all realms in general. So I ended up playing Left 4 Dead demo. The game is actually nicely done, good speed and still has a creepy feel to it. The zombies are a mix of really fast zombies with some slower zombies, including some exploding. The demo is short but still was a good 20 minutes of zombie shooting fun.
After the demo was completed my roommate and I played Rock Band 2 for a while then I came back to check on the realms. A few realms came up but for the most part, the main realm I was working on didn't come up till 11:30pm PST. Well I couldn't stay up late so I just ran the two toons to Tanaris to get the flight path and log out in the inn.
Tonight if everything works right I'll start the leveling from 48 in Un'Goro Crater. Last time I quested here I did pretty well with the xp because everything is easy to find. There's a few elite mobs you have to watch out for mostly it's not too hard. Hoping to hit at least 50 by tonight.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
30 to 48, almost there
This past weekend I leveled from 30 to 45 by running SM and then Maraudon. From running SM so many times, I have more than enough silk for leveling first aid plus more to give for rep turn in. I’m taking the same steps as I did before but this time I’m really trying to keep the time I played to a minimum and keeping the leveling time the most efficient. At 45 I went to Maraudon twice to finish up the quests there and then to Ferals to complete some quick quests. To make things go faster I’m skipping most collection quests and since I done this same route before I have a idea which quests took too long.
Last night I’m wanted to get to 50 but ended up at 48. After some questing I’m hoping to hit my target of 60 end of this week. This should be easy since I’m getting about 3 levels per night.
Something I noticed when grinding dungeons from level 8 to 46, they loose efficiency as you gain levels with a level 70 character. The time spent gaining xp is slower and slower vs the time spent completing quests. Thinking about this I was wondering if dungeon grinding is really the best method to power level?
Each run I use the 70, I take about 15 gold in repairs, plus I pick up large amounts of cloth (depending upon mobs) plus lots of green and blue loot. Considering questing the normal method, I would also gain some greens here and there but also I could level my tradeskills as well. For example, I could gather a stack of Peacebloom herbs very easily while at level 10, this sells for a few gold on my realm. By keeping this pace of leveling collection tradeskills this would be a nice additional income.
Right now I’m running short of gold and without changing I will not have enough for an epic mount any time soon. Once I get to 60, I’m going to quickly level my gathering skills in the old world then head to the outlands.
This past weekend I leveled from 30 to 45 by running SM and then Maraudon. From running SM so many times, I have more than enough silk for leveling first aid plus more to give for rep turn in. I’m taking the same steps as I did before but this time I’m really trying to keep the time I played to a minimum and keeping the leveling time the most efficient. At 45 I went to Maraudon twice to finish up the quests there and then to Ferals to complete some quick quests. To make things go faster I’m skipping most collection quests and since I done this same route before I have a idea which quests took too long.
Last night I’m wanted to get to 50 but ended up at 48. After some questing I’m hoping to hit my target of 60 end of this week. This should be easy since I’m getting about 3 levels per night.
Something I noticed when grinding dungeons from level 8 to 46, they loose efficiency as you gain levels with a level 70 character. The time spent gaining xp is slower and slower vs the time spent completing quests. Thinking about this I was wondering if dungeon grinding is really the best method to power level?
Each run I use the 70, I take about 15 gold in repairs, plus I pick up large amounts of cloth (depending upon mobs) plus lots of green and blue loot. Considering questing the normal method, I would also gain some greens here and there but also I could level my tradeskills as well. For example, I could gather a stack of Peacebloom herbs very easily while at level 10, this sells for a few gold on my realm. By keeping this pace of leveling collection tradeskills this would be a nice additional income.
Right now I’m running short of gold and without changing I will not have enough for an epic mount any time soon. Once I get to 60, I’m going to quickly level my gathering skills in the old world then head to the outlands.
Thursday, November 06, 2008
Done with SFK and moving on
Last night got the priest and mage to level 24, 10 levels in about 10 runs plus two quest completed. I also helped level with my friend's rogue who got from 19 to 22 pretty quickly. My next task is going to SM and starting the long grind from 24 to near 40. This usually takes a few sessions, but hoping to get at least 30 by tonight.
Right now I'm really making this a fast run to 60 with little to no wasted time. Last time to 60 I did allot of collection quests and think I can skip all of these to save even more time.
But I need to remember that while I'm saving time leveling to 60, I'm not getting any of the important rep from factions. At least doing these over again at 70 or 80 will be much easier than at their correct levels.
Last night got the priest and mage to level 24, 10 levels in about 10 runs plus two quest completed. I also helped level with my friend's rogue who got from 19 to 22 pretty quickly. My next task is going to SM and starting the long grind from 24 to near 40. This usually takes a few sessions, but hoping to get at least 30 by tonight.
Right now I'm really making this a fast run to 60 with little to no wasted time. Last time to 60 I did allot of collection quests and think I can skip all of these to save even more time.
But I need to remember that while I'm saving time leveling to 60, I'm not getting any of the important rep from factions. At least doing these over again at 70 or 80 will be much easier than at their correct levels.
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Running from RFC to SFK
Tonight I did a short run but got the priest and mage leveled to 14, and parked them near SFK. From here, I'm going to run them to 20 pretty fast then SM, then Mara. Each dungeon should take about a session of playing, so I'm estimating to hit 50 on Sunday.
After Sunday, it's going to be regular questing from 50 to 59 but last time I did this it was pretty fast, maybe a few days.
Tonight I did a short run but got the priest and mage leveled to 14, and parked them near SFK. From here, I'm going to run them to 20 pretty fast then SM, then Mara. Each dungeon should take about a session of playing, so I'm estimating to hit 50 on Sunday.
After Sunday, it's going to be regular questing from 50 to 59 but last time I did this it was pretty fast, maybe a few days.
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