Setting up a new Windows 8 laptop

Having waited long enough, I finally purchased a Windows 8 laptop. To be precise, the Asus Vivobook S200e that I was very impressed with when I tested it, back at end of 2012.

It came to nearly £400 with Express Delivery from Amazon, so a good deal.

I’ve now set it up as I want it and thought I’d share both my initial thoughts and also tips on setting these types of laptops up.

Initial Thoughts on the ASUS Vivobook S200e

So far, I’m very impressed with the laptop. Windows 8 has some quirks but with the touchscreen on this device, it’s actually good to use. I’m also learning the keyboard shortcuts and swipe gestures and everything’s falling into place.

The Asus Vivobook S200e looks quite cool for a small laptop/notebook and is light but still sturdily made. I’ve tested the Instant On feature a few times and its averaged startup times – from off and then press On button to Windows 8 login screen – of around 12 seconds, which is excellent. My old Windows 7 laptop had got to stage of taking ages to startup, but I had filled it choc full of software of all types – business, testing and development – so wasn’t surprised. Also, I have checked the battery life and it seems to be around 4 hours, which isn’t bad for a fairly light device.

Setting up the ASUS Vivobook S200e

As for setting up the laptop, it took quite a while, but mainly because I had a lot to get through, as below:

Installations:

DropBox
Google Drive
Sky Drive
Office 2013 via Office 365, which was nice and easy, not much more than one click install
Oracle’s VirtualBox – so can run Windows 7 & other virtuals
Browsers – Chrome and Firefox

Uninstall:

McAffee Internet Security

Then installed AVG for anti-virus.

During the whole process of setting the laptop up, there were several times when it took a while to restart due to many updates of the ‘1 of 15 updates’ type, but it always seemed to get there in the end.

Initial Thoughts on Windows 8

Having used Windows 8 quite a bit now, I’m finding my way around quite well and am enjoying some of the Windows 8 features on this laptop. The touchscreen functionality is great and I’m finding I’m using it more and more, especially when browsing the web and also when moving through the list of Apps and also moving through large documents.

I’d definitely say that a touchscreen is essential for Windows 8 – without it, it just doesn’t make sense. Also, I’d say that Microsoft should setup Windows so that it starts up in Desktop mode if you don’t have a touchscreen.

I’ve now got Office 2013 installed on the laptop and it works well, though I’m just using the basic install setups, so haven’t had time to set it up as I want it yet.

Pat is an excellent one-stop-shop for testing Apps and Websites. He is a self-starter who just knows what needs to be done and gets on with it, and is responsive to requests for any specific testing requirements. He provides test plans and reports as a matter of course and was a pleasure to work with. I will definitely be working with Pat again if the opportunity arises.

Andrew Birley, PM, Storythings

Pat has been absolutely incredible at testing each of our projects he works on. He’s very professional, organised and diligent. I look forward to using him again in the future.

Oliver Thurtle, Director of Technology, Drum

Pat came to Composed to respond to our (increasingly urgent) need of QA on mobile and web and I can testify he more than fulfilled the task. On the Android side, his very structured approach (first exploratory testing, then focus on defining test plans for a variety of scopes) and his clear knowledge of the latest mobile technologies have quickly paid off. He was involved directly with the developers (including myself) and this very dynamic relationship enabled us to annihilate bugs swiftly and efficiently.

David Ferrand, Android Developer, Composed

Pat Walsh fixed my site within hours of my contacting him – his WordPress website fix service clearly works!

Douglas Green, Douglas Software

We hired Pat to help with QA of a music streaming app. We needed someone with that magic “6th sense” of where the bugs are lurking; the ones which developers tend to miss. Pat more than fulfilled this need, with highly methodical approach and a great eye for detail.

Subsequently Pat has provided QA services for a personal app project of mine, finding a significant issue which had been lurking for some time.

Pat is a real asset to any team – highly competent technically but also easy going and a great guy to work with. Highly recommended!

Andrew Ebling, Head of App Development, Composed

Pat Walsh provided Kingston Valdes with a professional and personable service that was excellent value. The site was built and tested quickly, we are delighted with the results, and we have already had positive feedback from some of our clients. If you’re thinking of building a new site or adapting an existing one, I’d certainly recommend speaking with Pat about it.

Kathy Valdes, Kingston Valdes

Pat performs comprehensive website testing for us, across all the main browsers and platforms, including mobile devices. His flexible approach to testing and clear feedback enable us to have confidence that the business end of our website is still working smoothly after system updates and changes.

Steve Liu, Manager, Wicked Lasers

Couldn’t recommend Pat highly enough. He goes beyond what you’d expect of a QA tester, commenting more broadly on user experience and even design. He’s quick, efficient and thorough – couldn’t ask for any more.

Rob Calvert, Director, Click

We’ve worked with Pat Walsh on a number of very different projects, from interactive video projects to mobile apps. His work is very thorough and has quickly become an essential and important phase of all the production work we do at Storythings. He’s thorough, diligent, and a pleasure to work with.

Matt Locke, Director, Storythings