What did you get?

Happy holidays. I’m about to head out the door to spend some time with the family, but I figured I’d check in and see if y’all got any cool new toys.

Here’s a short list of goodies I splurged on for myself this month:

Asus UL20A 12.1″ notebook with Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300 CPU – $581 at Amazon
Kroo 12 inch notebook sleeve – $15.99 at Amazon
Samsung 8x USB slim DVD burner – $44.99 at Amazon

I’m pretty happy with the notebook and sleeve, although I had the benefit of reviewing the UL20A before I bought one, so I was pretty sure I’d like it. I’m a bit underwhelmed by the Samsung DVD burner. It does what you’d expect, but I hadn’t realized when I ordered it that you need to plug it into 2 USB ports in order to power it up. The Lite-On USB DVD drive I tested recently worked with just a single USB cable, but that’s what I get for trying to save $10 and order the cheaper model. Still, the Samsung disc drive is a heck of a lot more portable than the monster disc drive I was using before, and it’s going to be much easier to carry with me to CES in January.

It’s also been a good year for us, so we’ve been making a point of making some donations to a couple of charities we believe in, including Heifer International, Doctors Without Borders, and Philabundance, an area organization that helps provide food to people in need.

What about you? Get anything good? Get any lumps of coal? Give any good gifts to friends, loved ones, or charity?

Posted on Friday, December 25th, 2009, 12:38 pm by Brad Linder

Michael

Brad, no idea why when you install Office 2007 and update it on the UL20A, Internet Explorer keeps crashing.

This is after a fresh install of just Windows, essential drivers and the said Office 2007
alejandroaguilar

Although the Samsung DVD have a cable with 2 USB plugs, you only need one unless the computer gives too much lower power in that port. I have one 6 months ago and I never need to use the 2 plugs. I used it to install software in portables and computers without DVD-Rom.
Kevin Rogers

Nice haul! I usually get myself the best gifts too!
The Samsung burner works just fine with one plug unless the USB port isn't pushing the correct power for some reason.
mike

I got myself an 80GB Intel SSD (X18) for Christmas. It's nice but not as amazing a difference as I was hoping. Guess I just don't do anything very disk intensive.
http://liliputing.com/ Mikez

Santa stopped by my Brown web-site and left it Icy-Blue.
http://scottsoapbox.com Scott

I was SUPPOSED to get an Acer 1820PT… but I'm still waiting for it in the US.

But I did get a new nano, fluid2 bike trainer, and a very fun RC helicopter.
DougC3

I yielded to an impulse after midnight last Sunday, bid on, and “won” a used black eee pc 901 ($255, no S&H, eBay), and it arrived early Wednesday. (If I won it, how come I had to pay for? . Although I've bought two other netbooks, this is the one I've always wanted in my heart.

Also I've been salting away goodies for the last month or two as though a dry spell were coming: Lite-On DVD drive, DriveWire hard drive adapter, Western Digital My Book 1.5TB external hard drive, family 3-pack Win 7 Home Premium upgrade, Cirago Class 1 USB Bluetooth adapter (for eee 900A), and last but not least (in price), a RunCore Pro IV SATA 32GB SSD, which I bought for the 900A but will now use in the 901.
http://www.filmeshd.tv/category/720p HD 720p

thanks for the great content posted here will always be visiting your blog
http://liliputing.com Brad Linder

Excellent, I'll keep that in mind, and maybe see if I can find a shorter USB
cable to carry with me!
vwforum

i got myself a new phone. NOKIA E52 (replacement for 12months old NOKIA E66). After using it few days i'm sorry that I didn't get NOKIA N87 MINI
Alan Cheung

My UL30A (bought from Amazon, no coupon for this model )is living up to promises, lacking only in bluetooth which was solved easily with a minimalist dongle. The laptop is now cooperating with a Nokia E63 (also bought this year) and Logitech G3 mouse as my mobile production platform. Anybody knows of a good external bluray ROM/ DVD writer drive?
codedivine

I did not get anything this month in anticipation of Intel's new mobile processors (“Arrandale”) that should come real soon now.
http://www.facebook.com/people/James-Young/1070882561 James Young

I got a Canon Rebel T1i and am enjoying learning about aperture and exposure
j555-5

Pay extra close attention to the LENGTH of the mini-USB plug. It's longer than a typical connector, and most standard mini-USB connectors won't work. I found that the 1st generation Seagate 2.5″ external USB drives (the ones in the heavy metal casing) had the same issue.
http://www.netbookreviews.net/ NetbookReviews

I would recommend the Lite-On USB burner. I reviewed it was as very happy with it.

It's powered by one USB port and stores the cable in the base of the unit, always handy as it's THE thing you're going to forget!

http://www.netbookreviews.net/news/liteon-etau108/

Thanks
GenHan

sorry for the wrong post…my bad
GenHan

Why did you go for the Asus UL-20 instead of the Acer 1810TZ? Any particular reason?
http://liliputing.com Brad Linder

The 1810TZ has a slower Pentium Dual Core SU4100 processor. The 1810T has the same CPU, but I prefer the Asus keyboard and touchpad. The UL20A was also cheaper the week I bought it, thanks to a $581 price and an offer for a free $75 Amazon gift card, bringing the effective price down to $506.
GenHan

Thank you so much for the reply!

It will make my decision a better one.

Just one more thing. The battery last's as long as the acer's?

Thanks again for your great work.
http://liliputing.com Brad Linder

I haven't tested the Acer Aspire 1810T (just the Acer Aspire 1410), but the
Asus UL20A gets between 4 and 6 hours of battery life depending on how you
use it. Acer says the Aspire 1810T should get up to 8, but I'd look for a
review of that laptop to see what the real-world results are before basing
my decision on that.

Again, I chose the UL20A based on my own personal preferences for the
keyboard, touchpad, and other features. Other people will feel differently.
It's also worth noting that the UL20A does not have an HDMI output, while I
believe the Acer laptop does.
GenHan

Thank you for your reply's, and for all your hard work with “liliputing”. One of my top reviews/news website.

Best regards!

GenHan
http://liliputing.com Brad Linder

The 1810TZ has a slower Pentium Dual Core SU4100 processor. The 1810T has the same CPU, but I prefer the Asus keyboard and touchpad. The UL20A was also cheaper the week I bought it, thanks to a $581 price and an offer for a free $75 Amazon gift card, bringing the effective price down to $506.
GenHan

Thank you so much for the reply!

It will make my decision a better one.

Just one more thing. The battery last's as long as the acer's?

Thanks again for your great work.
http://liliputing.com Brad Linder

I haven't tested the Acer Aspire 1810T (just the Acer Aspire 1410), but the
Asus UL20A gets between 4 and 6 hours of battery life depending on how you
use it. Acer says the Aspire 1810T should get up to 8, but I'd look for a
review of that laptop to see what the real-world results are before basing
my decision on that.

Again, I chose the UL20A based on my own personal preferences for the
keyboard, touchpad, and other features. Other people will feel differently.
It's also worth noting that the UL20A does not have an HDMI output, while I
believe the Acer laptop does.
GenHan

Thank you for your reply's, and for all your hard work with “liliputing”. One of my top reviews/news website.

Best regards!

GenHan

What did you get?

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