Inspiron E1520/Vostro 1500 Review

This is my college laptop, the new Inspiron E1520 based on the Santa Rosa chipset. I'll have it set up with the Sony LCD exactly this way at Cornell.



Specs:
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.00GHz T7300 4MB cache
2GB DDR2 667MHz
120GB 5,400rpm hard drive
128MB Nvidia Geforce 8400M GS
15.4" Non-gloss LCD
Extended 9-cell battery
And the standard features like DVD burner and wifi

Price:
Roughly $1080 including tax before $500 cash back for the laptop
Exactly $45 for 2 X 1GB Crucial memory modules for upgrade
Possible gain from reselling the 2 X 512MB Hynix memory modules that came with laptop

Net is around $625 for this one. The 17" Sony LCD was received from a friend in exchange for roughly a day of computer work.

The laptop's design is pretty good, although a bit on the heavier side. The graphic subsystem is decent for this price, however there are no WinXP drivers yet, so I am sticking with Vista Home Basic. I have a choice between all the Vista distributions available, but I went for Basic because it uses much less hard drive space, around 5GB, and it did not come with junk features.

The Inspiron E1520 and Vostro 1500 are identical. Both have SD card reader on the side, which can be used for Vista's Ready Boost feature. Creative integrated web cam options are available for both the Vostro and the Inspiron, but they cost $30 extra. The web cam is a fixed focus 1MP camera, which for me, is similar in quality to my Creative Notebook Web Cam Pro. I would recommend against the web cam if you can buy an external one for less than $20. The Nvidia Geforce 8600M GT graphic card is also available, but it was beyond my budget so I'm sticking with the 8400M GS instead.

Performance wise, since I opted for the upgraded 2GHz Core 2 Duo CPU and installed 2GB of memory, it is on par, if not better than my previous iMac Core 2 Duo 2.16GHz with 1GB memory. Xvid compression is usually at around 80 frames per second when multi-threaded correctly and H264 compression is in real time 30fps more or less. As for H264 decoding, with and without hardware assist from the Geforce 8400 graphic card, this laptop is able to decode true 1080p video without stress. I've been able to run dual WinXP Pro virtual PC with 512MB memory allocation on this laptop easily.

Battery life is very good with my 9 cell battery. It lasts around 3-4 hours on regular usage and even longer with minimal usage. The CPU speed step can drop all the way to 800MHz.

Here are some spec snapshots:

Summer cleaning : )

Since animedreamer.info, the first server purchased when the site started, is going to expire end of this month, I've decided to do some cleanup.

Here is the latest list of banned list of banned IP addresses [36 in total]:
deny from 24.27.89.76
deny from 58.187.103.133
deny from 60.50.49.171
deny from 60.50.54.195
deny from 60.52.114.50
deny from 60.52.190.104
deny from 60.52.118.232
deny from 60.53.73.127
deny from 60.53.199.94
deny from 60.54.21.13
deny from 62.69.54.28
deny from 66.188.94.236
deny from 69.64.32.77
deny from 69.106.242.12
deny from 74.102.143.210
deny from 81.19.151.110
deny from 85.25.129.25
deny from 85.84.103.160
deny from 85.138.218.56
deny from 87.245.132.174
deny from 122.126.66.209
deny from 125.30.56.160
deny from 165.21.154.11
deny from 196.3.88.166
deny from 200.25.169.153
deny from 200.104.228.234
deny from 201.29.55.110
deny from 201.29.35.165
deny from 201.29.56.249
deny from 201.130.156.128
deny from 201.213.148.249
deny from 202.47.75.36
deny from 202.73.115.146
deny from 207.248.35.3
deny from 211.72.233.9
deny from 218.253.14.162
deny from 221.132.113.218

Looking at the IP addresses of the abusers, it seems likely that these IP ranges will be banned if more abusers surface:
60.50.*.*
60.52.*.*
60.53.*.*
201.29.*.*

Almost all of the IP addresses are foreign, from countries such as Mexico, Malaysia, certain South American countries, and some more small Asian countries.

Intel July 22nd Price Drop: Quad Core Under $300

This is latest leaked Intel CPU price drop data.

The Q6600 will be $266, a very reasonable price for a quad 2.4ghz chip.

HKEPC confirms the pricing.

Realtime Global Internet Traffic Analysis

Akamai is the predominant global media network and on its website, there is a realtime analysis of its global network. Keep in mind that 20%, one fifth, of all the internet traffic is handled by Akamai's networks. Check it out here.

A few interesting observations:
-Venezuela has the most frequent web attacks, followed by Thailand, China, Brazil, Hong Kong, and South Korea.
-Hong Kong has the highest network latency within the Akamai system.
-Western Europe has the highest rate of network utilization, followed by US, Brazil, and China.

Cornell DDR Club

Cornell University has a Dance Dance Revolution club. I think that might be one of the clubs I'll be joining. Regrettably, Cornell does not have a Stepmania club yet. I think I'll file a petition to start a dedicated Stepmania club when I arrive there this fall.

Check out these two Cornell DDR Club videos from 2004 and 2005:




I'd say they're pretty hilarious. Maybe I'll be in Cornell DDR Video for 2007 if I'm lucky. Cornell DDR club video for 2006 was lame and bland.
On a side note, there are several newly added anime to the site, and anime download server 1 is extremely fast as well. Also, this is the 100th entry of this blog.

Irocen.com going private

Irocen.com has just gone private because they are having financial issues paying for servers. It is a shame because they had a very good collection of licensed anime and their servers were quite accessible. Perhaps because their servers were too accessible, they were stormed and thus they had a severe bandwidth overage bill.

They are charging a $2 monthly membership fee for downloads now, which isn't too much, but then again, I think charging money to access unlicensed and licensed anime is a bit too unethical for me. A month ago, a bunch of anime ddl sites were taken off of DreamHost's servers, and now, the free anime ddl scene seems to be experiencing all sorts of issues.

As for AnimeDreamer.info, I will expand the site with only strictly unlicensed material from now on. I have already removed DDR Original from the Stepmania side, and Full Metal Panic OVA from the anime side. Even unlicensed anime are technically extralegal, they are in a gray zone and I'll have to be extra prudent as not to trespass further.

On a brighter note, I've added At Home Dad, which is one of the best shows I've seen. It has an excellent plot and excellent actors as well. It may not be anime, but it is far better than the average anime show.

Update

Its partly sorted already. Next week, site should be back again.

Anime will not be on the DreamHost server anymore, and the site won't have links to the anime anymore. But I'll gather some $ and rebuild the site over at another host with anime.

Stepmania stuff will probably be allowed to remain. Hopefully. From the warning letter, it sounds like they just have an issue with the anime, but not exactly with the stepmania packs.

Server 2-5 are fine.

If you need a quick fix, use these links for anime and stepmania packs:
Server 2 Anime Server 2 Stepmania
Server 3 Anime Server 3 Stepmania
Server 4 Anime Server 4 Stepmania
Server 5 Anime Server 5 Stepmania


Connection speed is capped at 60KB/s, use a download accelerator of some sort to make download more efficient.

Cornell

I got into Cornell University, College of Engineering.

Account suspended.

Dreamhost thinks the site is illegal and disabled my account yesterday. I'm sorting through things and proving to them that the anime and step packs are unlicensed.

Site Updates and Visitor Statistics

New updates:
[Anime]
Nodame Cantabile HD ep1-6
[Stepmania]
UKUG

Visitor stats:


If you have an extra webserver account with unused space and bandwidth and would like to donate server space, I could really use all the help I can get.

What a huge surge of welcomed visitors (and a few unwelcomed hackers)!

Looky here! Almost 6 times the page view and 5 times the number of visitors.

Bandwidth usage is not an issue, despite huge surges as well. After all, I've got 16 TB's of aggregate bandwidth allotment.

New guests, my servers have plenty of bandwidth, but they're not free for all buffets. Download only what you need, and when you need it.

If you're downloading an anime series, download 1 episode at a time, and continue on to download the rest progressively after you've watched the previous episodes.

If you're downloading Stepmania packs, download the first few to try it out, and if you like it, download the rest.

If you're just on the site screwing around, sending random packets to my servers, and trying to overload my site, then congratulations, you've succeeded, but you're only going to be blocked within 24 hours.

Forum users, head up! You're getting a private server soon that won't be available to the general public, so that one should be more dependable than the rest.

Server Updates: HYD2 Episode 9 and Pumpkin Scissors 22

Hana Yori Dango 2 Episode 9 uploaded to all 5 servers today. Pumpkin Scissors 22 uploaded to all 5 servers yesterday. Possibly another Stepmania pack next week, depending on whether or not I think it is good enough, and I'll try to update DWI Extreme Series and Dance Anarchy to the latest releases.

For the regular visitors who have been with the site since I first started, I am probably adding Server 6 in the next weeks which will most likely be a private server for the most part. I still have to think of a good way to restrict access and grant access privileges. See, it pays off if you support AnimeDreamer.info!

Server 1 Issues

Server 1 has issues nowadays because I got linked by Stepmania.com's front page. I'll try to switch the site over to Server 2 to make it more stable later.

Hana Yori Dango 2 Episode 7 Released

Hana Yori Dango season 2 Episode 7 released on both server 1 and 2.

Download

Death Note Movie published

I've decided the publish the download for Death Note the live action movie after looking at the poll results.

It is a great movie, and if it does get released in US on DVD, I recommend buying the high quality DVD discs.

Microsoft New Day Launch Event

Today, I went to a Microsoft launch event with my parent. I got tons of souvenirs and free lunch and snacks.

Most important treasures:
3 Full Versions of MS Office 2007 Professional and MS Groove 2007
3 MS Windows Vista Ultimate Product Keys
Box lunches and apples.

A very profitable trip indeed.
Side note: Please use Server 2 for all of your download if possible, unless the speeds aren't acceptable for your connection.

Hana Yori Dango 2 Episode 6

Episode 6 has been released, get it from Server 2 please.

Server 2 Fully Mirrored + Two new completed series will be published this week

Check the download links now for update. All anime and stepmania items have been updated with server 1 and server 2 download links.

Server 1 is DreamHost 2TB/month in California
Server 2 is SurpassHosting 6TB/month in Florida

Obviously, use Server 2 more frequently if possible.

The 3 backup Netfirms 750GB/month servers are still having issues right now, so they won't be used until Netfirms become more reliable again.

Also, this week, I will publish two new series. Both are very good Japanese drama TV. Although they are not related to anime, I will put them in that category nonetheless for the time being.

New server to replace mirror links

Currently, most of the mirror links are already dead, thus I purchased a one year shared hosting service just to serve as a mirror. It has 800GB storage space and 6TB bandwidth per month. I will be uploading everything onto that server this weekend hopefully.

Also, I will be getting a few high quality anime and 3d rendering poster prints to mail out as presents to people who donate more than $15. More information will be posted soon after I get the posters.

ALSO:
I am redoing alot of links using subdomains and etc... so the download links aren't working correctly right now.

Yellow Fever (again)

Great video for some contemplation.

Server upgrade, expect downtime soon.

I negotiated to have AnimeDreamer.info relocated to a different server for better performance. New server should provide more stable download speed at all times of the day, even during rush hours. In the mean time, please rely on AnimeDreamer.net to get your downloads and if the download links do not work, please use the mirror links.

Downtime should be only a few hours long at most.

Pumpkin Scissors Update

Pumpkin Scissors h264 HD version episode 17 has been uploaded and mirrored.

Download

Publicity Campaign

Nowadays, I usually have more than half of my bandwidth unused every month so I would like to increase the number of visitors to use up these unused bandwidth. Please spread the word any way possible.

Thanks,
Di

Pumpkin Scissors HD Episode 15 and 16 Added.

I just added episode 15 and 16 of Pumpkin Scissors HD to AnimeDreamer.info.

They are not mirrored yet, so just download from the server.

Pumpkin Scissors added

Pumpkin Scissors episode 1-14 added and mirrored.

AnimeDreamer.info