Specifications

17
Letter From The Editor
On the stone at Norma’s grave site it says “She loved people, and they loved
her.” That is a fact; my wife was a people person and favorably affected the
lives of 4-H kids for 35 years. She had dozens of friends who loved her for
how she treated them. Things like computers and VCRs and can openers
didn’t work for her; they usually broke in her hands. Things were not her thing.
On the stone next to hers, prepared for me, it will say “He worked to
make things better.” I am not a people person; I’m a thing person. I’m a
wallflower at parties; I hide in the lobby when the loud music starts. But I
worked to make cars better, to mow the lawn, to fix the kitchen faucet, to
improve the science, math, and engineering education of young people, to
make DATA BUS better, to pump up bicycle tires. Things are my thing.
Two days before she died Norma and I held hands in the hospital. We
talked about what was coming. Being 5 years older with a tricky heart, I said
“It won’t be long before I follow you.” She thought about that for and minute
and then responded “Look me up.” I will; I will.
Bill
Python, you have to remove some small
screws on the bottom (being careful not
to lose them), remove a cover, pull the
battery out, disconnect the plug on the
end of the wires, and then reverse the
process to put the spare battery in. Not
the sort of operation you would want to
attempt in a plane or car or many other
places. I would like to see something
similar to the HP arrangement,
especially in view of the short battery
run time on the Python.
There are slots for MMC/MS/SD/
MS-Pro memory cards, but I wish they
had a slot for the compact flash cards
that my camera uses. This may not be
an issue though for those with newer
cameras.
I sometimes have trouble with the
eject button for the DVD tray. The
button is small and is recessed so you
don’t eject the tray by accident, but
sometimes I have trouble actuating it
when I want to eject the tray. There is
now an option for a slot loading drive.
I would also like to have a way to
set the screen brightness so that it would
remember my setting and boot up to that
setting. It is easy to change the screen
brightness when the computer is on, if
I don’t forget, but I like equipment that
compensates for my forgetfulness and
other frailties. I have found that the
screen is bright enough under most
conditions at a setting two notches
below the default, and the lower setting
seems to extend the battery run time.
I wish they had an automobile
adapter. Their answer is a third party
inverter, but that is less efficient and
more equipment to deal with in the
vehicle than an actual vehicle adapter.
Keep in mind when reading the
above that there are always things I
think could be improved on everything
I use. Overall, I like my Eurocom
D470K Python.
Eurocom is a Canadian company,
and their web site usually defaults to
showing Canadian prices, so if you are
used to U.S. prices, be sure to change
the currency display to avoid sticker
shock. Choose a model and then look
at the things you can customize in their