SpeedLink Styx laser mouse

I got a new laser mouse. It was pretty cheap. The brand is SpeedLink. The hardware part seems good but the driver is unusable. They said that the mouse has 5 programmable buttons but after a while it loses the function assigned to the buttons So, the 'programmable' buttons are not that programmable. I will wait 48 hours to see if the support will give me a solution to this problem else I will send it back right away.

Also 70% of the weight is distributed on the back of the mouse. When you list it you have to grip it really well else it will flip in your hand.

Pros:

• Cheap
• High DPI
• Cable is soft/flexible but resistant

Cons

• Driver issues (renders the buttons inoperable)
• Uneven weight
• Extremely heavy for a mouse without batteries

I will go back to my old mouse for the moment. 

__________________

Update November 2012

The left button started to age. Sometimes it fails to click normally.

Using 4GB on 32 bits Windows systems (for noobs)

Probably you already know that Windows 32 bits will use only (about) 3 GB of RAM even if you have more than that installed in your computer.

PAE (Physical Address Extension) allows you to enable your computer to use up to 4GB of RAM. So, all your have to do is to enable PAE on your system. Note that PAE is automatically enabled if:

• your server has hot-add memory ability (ability to add more memory without shutting down the server !!)
• data execution prevention (DEP) is enabled

If the computer does not support hardware-enabled DEP or is not configured for hot-add memory devices in memory ranges beyond 4 GB, PAE must be explicitly enabled.


To enable PAE:


Windows Vista/Windows 7

Use the following BCDEdit /set command to set the pae boot entry option:

bcdedit /set [{ID}] pae ForceEnable

IF DEP is enabled, PAE cannot be disabled. Use the following BCDEdit /set commands to disable both DEP and PAE:

bcdedit /set [{ID}] nx AlwaysOff
bcdedit /set [{ID}] pae ForceDisable

Note that under Windows 7, PAE should be enabled by default - but there could be also cases when it isn't. So, better enable it manually - "just in case".

Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP/2000

To enable PAE, use the /PAE switch in the Boot.ini file. To disable PAE, use the /NOPAE switch. To disable DEP, use the /EXECUTE switch.

----------------

I did some investigations to see if there is any way to clearly see if PAE is enabled or not. It seems there is no way to do it.
:(

Archos PC Tablets - Comparison table -

 

	Archos 70b eReader	Arnova 7 Internet	Archos 7 Home Tablet	Archos 70 Home	Archos 70 Internet Tablet	Arnova 10
Hardware
Processor	RK2818 cpu	probably RK2818	2008?  /  ARM 600 MHz	ARM 9 @ 660 MHz	ARM Cortex A8 @ 1 GHz
Processing power (million instructions / sec)	Not specified	Not specified		800 DMIPS	2400 DMIPS
RAM	256 MB	Not specified
Flash Capacity	4GB	4GB or 8GB	8Gb	8Gb	8Gb
Disk Capacity	0	0		0	250 Gb
Screen
Screen type	Resistive	Resistive		Resistive	Capacitive multitouch
Screen size		7"	7"			10"
Resolution	800 x 480 pixels	800x480 (some web sites say 800x600)	800 x 480 pixels	?	?
Graphic Coprocessor				3D OpenGL 1.0	3D OpenGL 2.0
3D Graphics Games					3D Games
OS	Android   2.1 (Eclair)	Android 2.2 Froyo	ANDROID 2.1 Éclair	Android   2.1 (Eclair)	Android   2.2 (Froyo)
Dual boot		?		No	Yes
Other Applications	Book library, Web browser, e-mail, Alarm clock, Weather forecast, Appslib				• Aldiko, Ebuddy, Wikipedia, Avecomics, HubKap, Deezer, Mewbox, Raging Thunderlite (a 3D car demo game), WordNewspaper, Touiteur, Fring
WiFi	Fast b/g WiFi	WLAN 802.11 b/g bis 54 MBits	IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g	b/g	WiFi (802.11 b/g/n)
Bluetooth		no		No	Bluetooth 2.1 EDR
3G Tethering		no		No	Yes
Multimedia
Multimedia formats				Standard Android Applications	Specially built Archos Multimedia Apps for music, video, coverflows, photo slideshows...
Compatible Video format	MPEG-4 AVI, MPG	• MPEG-42 – 30 fps / 2.5 Mbps.		- MPEG-4 – 30 fps / 2.5 Mbps.	- MPEG-4 - HD up to 720p
		H.264 up to 720p resolution – 30 fps / 5 Mbps.		- H.264 up to 720p resolution – 30 fps / 2.5 Mbps.	H.264 HD up to 720p
	RM, RMVB	Realvideo™ up to 720p resolution – 30 fps / 2.5 Mbps		- Realvideo™ up to 720p resolution – 30 fps / 2.5 Mbps	RM, RMVB
	FLV			?	FLV
	DAT, VOB			?	N/A
	MKV, MOV (up to HD 720p)			?	MKV, MOV
		With the above codecs, the device can play video files with the following extensions: .avi, .mp4, .mkv, .mov, and .flv		With the above codecs, the device can play video files with the following extensions: .AVI, .MP4, MKV, MOV and FLV	Codecs allowing video files with the following extensions: AVI, MP4, MKV, MOV, MPG, PS, TS, VOB, FLV, RM, RMVB, ASF, 3GP
Compatible Audio format	WAV	WAV		WAV	WAV (PCM/ADPCM)
	N/A			APE	P3 CBR & VBR
	OGG	OGG		OGG	OGG Vorbis
	FLAC	FLAC		FLAC	FLAC
	MP3	MP3		?	MP3
					AAC, AAC+ 5.1, 0ptional: AC3 5.1
Subtitles	N/A				.srt, .ssa, .smi, .sub
Photo formats	JPEG, BMP			JPEG, BMP, PNG, GIF	JPEG, BMP, PNG, GIF
Text format	TXT, PDF, EPUB, PDB, FB2, HTML, RTF, MOBI (Adobe DRM PDF and EPUB supported)			?	Not specified
Photo Frame	N/A			Local pictures only	3D animated Photo Frame with abitily to display pictures from Facebook, Flickr and Picassa directly through WiFi
Supported Subtitles	N/A			None	.srt, .ssa, .smi, .sub
Adobe Flash compatibility				No	Yes - Flash 10
Multimedia options
Web Cam	No			No	Yes
HDMI output	No			No	HDMI output5 (Mini HDMI / HDMI cable sold separately)
Speakers	Built-in	ARNOVA 7, Standard USB cable (micro B/A), power adapter, User Guide, legal and safety notice.			Built-in
Mic		Built-in			Built-in
Android on TV	No	no		No	Yes
Peripherics
Battery Charging	3 hours	Not specified		Compatible Micro SDHC	Not specified
Battery video playback		7 hours			7 hours
Battery music playback		Not specified			36 hours
Battery internet access	8 hours	10 hours		No	10 hours
Peripherals USB host mouse, keyboard	USB 2.0 High Speed	Not specified			Optional - via USB host adaptor
Interfaces		USB 2.0			USB 2.0: Mass Storage Class (MSC)
SD	SDHC (full size)	Not specified			Micro SD (SDHC compatible) on flash version
		Not specified			USB Host: Mass Storage Class (MSC) (adapter micro B/A sold separately)
Size/others
Weight	370 grams			380 gr	300 gr
Thickness	190 mm x 130 mm x 11.2 mm			12 mm	10 mm
Accelerometer	Not specified	Yes		No	Yes
Package content	ARCHOS 70b eReader Player, AC/DC Power Charger, USB Cable Mini B / A, earphones, user guide	Archos ARNOVA 7 4GB Internet Tablet · Standart USB Kabel · Power Adapter · Handbuch und Sicherheitshinweise			ARCHOS 70 internet tablet, earphones, Standard USB cable, Quick Start Guide (QSG), legal and safety notice, power charger.
Home page	http://www.archos.com/products/ereaders/archos_70b_ereader/specs.html?country=gb&lang=en	http://arnovatech.com/products/arn_7/specs.html?country=us&lang=en			http://www.archos.com/products/ta/archos_70it/index.html?country=us&lang=en
Firmware updates	http://wiki.archosfans.com/index.php?title=Archos_70b_eReader
Notes	Note that the Archos 70 eReader (no b in the name) is a different device that is not running Android. The 70HT edition has ony 128MB RAM
Buy now	99 euro	100 euro	129 euro amazon		210 euro	EUR 169,00 Amazon.de
			104 euro amazon