Just bought a Dell Inspiron 1121 (11z / M101z) and want to know how to upgrade the memory or hard drive?  Unlike a few netbooks from the Dell Mini line, it’s quite simple on the 1121 and all you need are a couple of screw drivers and about 10 minutes – keep on reading to learn how!

Video Guide:

Text Guide

First off, Dell has an illustrated guide on how to access the memory and hard drive here: http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins1121/sm/index.htm.   I’d suggest using that to supplement my guide (it’s what I used!) if you have any questions.

Upgrading the memory:

1.  Remove the battery, unscrew the memory door screw, and remove the memory door itself:

2.  Push the clips on either side of each of the memory sticks and the memory stick should pop up a bit. Then simply pull/wiggle them out. 

To put the memory back in, simply push them back into place (you know it’s all the way in when you cannot, or barely, see the gold contacts of the memory stick), and push it down into the clips.  Screw back on the memory door and you’re done upgrading the memory!

Upgrading the hard drive:

1)  To gain access to the hard drive, you must first remove the keyboard.  To do this, start by removing these three screws on the bottom:

2)  Now we need to start pulling the keyboard out.  The easiest way to start this is by using a screw driver (or any other small tipped object), and push the keyboard out through one of the screw holes you just worked with and grab it from the other side when it’s pushed out a bit:

3) With your finger holding a corner of the keyboard out, proceed by sliding your finger to the other side and getting the other corner loose. 

It’s important to note that there are 4 clips holding the keyboard in at this point (and 5 tabs at the bottom):

You can probably just pull up on the keyboard to get the two top tabs (red) loose, but you may need to use a credit card to put in between the keyboard and the chassis to get the bottom two clips loose:

4)  With all 4 clips overcome, slide the keyboard up towards the screen a bit (to clear the bottom 5 tabs) and flip the keyboard over the palm rest.  Note, don’t pull the keyboard too far away from the computer as it is still attached via a ribbon cable:

5) At this point, you could remove the hard drive as is, but I think it’s better to remove the keyboard entirely (just so you have less chance of pulling the keyboard out and damaging the cable).  All you need to do is flip up the tab holding the cable to the motherboard (the black part of the tab is hinged to the white part, so with minimal force, just pull it (rotate it) up and to the left – watch the video if you are unsure – and the cable will be free):

6)  With the keyboard completely removed, all you need to do is remove the two screws securing the hard drive in place and pull it to the right, then out:

7) From here, just simply remove the 2 screws on either side securing the drive to the drive caddy, replace it with your new hard drive, and screw it back in:

8)  Place the hard drive and caddy back in it’s place, slide to the left, put back in the two hard drive screws.  Then, place the keyboard upside down on the palm wrest, flip the ribbon cable upside down so you see the white line,

place the ribbon back in the connector, and rotate the latch closed:

9) Almost done – flip the keyboard around and start with making sure the tabs slide under the chassis, press on the keyboard around where the 4 clips are, replace the 3 screws underneath, and you’re done!

And there you have it – relatively quick and painless to upgrade the memory and hard drive.  If you’re looking for some memory upgrades, here are a few options:

Any thoughts to make this easier or want to know how to dismantle or upgrade any other part of this laptop?  Let me know in the comments!

However, that’s when I came across http://joel.thegoodmanblog.com and found that you can simply put the bios files on a bootable USB drive and update the bios that way.   However, I had a bit of trouble finding the correct boot files so I figured I’d elaborate on his post in case anyone else has any troubles:

1. Download the following:
   • Latest bios from www.foxconnsupport.com (943F1P06 is the latest as of 2 Dec 2011) and extract it,
   • Windows 98 System Files (for creating a dos bootable USB drive) and extract it,
   • HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool (which allows you to use the win98 boot files to create a bootable USB drive that will get you to a dos prompt to run the bios update) and install it




2. Insert your USB drive (or SD card, etc) and run the HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool.  Note that you may get a permissions error:
   
   To get around this, right click and Run as Administrator:
   




3. In the HP tool: select your USB drive (A),
   choose FAT32 (B),
   check “Quick Format”, “Create a DOS startup disk”, and browse to where you extracted the Win98 System Files (C),
   click Start (D),
   and click Yes (E)
   




4. With that done, you now have a bootable USB drive (if you have hidden/protected files visible, you should see “COMMAND.COM”, “IO.SYS”, and “MSDOS.SYS”):
   
   What you want to do now is copy over the extracted files from the bios zip (you only need the .ROM file, AFUDOS.EXE, and DOSFLASH.BAT):
   

5. Safely remove the flash drive from your computer, plug it into your Foxconn, and boot it up.  While it’s booting up, press F11 to bring up the boot options and select your flash drive.  You should then be presented with a Windows 98 boot screen for a second and then be at a command prompt.

   From here, you want to type in ‘dosflash.bat’ and then press enter:
   

6. The bios updater should do the rest automatically (calling afudos with the required parameters) and once it’s done, you should be presented with a “CMOS checksum destroyed” and “Program ended normally”:
   
7. Almost done – now you’ll want to reboot (and remove the flash drive).  During the first reboot, you’ll get a message saying “CMOS Checksum Bad” and you’ll want to press F2 to load the defaults – otherwise, things like not being able to specify the sleep mode will not be possible (not sure why, but just do it!):
   

And that’s it – you’ve just flashed the bios!  (thanks again to joel.thegoodmanblog.com!)

Want to enable voice calling on your AT&T Samsung Galaxy Tab?  All you need to do is download a few files and run through a few hoops and you’ll be good to go.  All credit to figuring this out goes completely to clubtech over at XDA – I simply just took a few screenshots to make a slightly easier step-by-step guide:

1. Download the necessary files and extract them:
   • firmware P1000XWJJ4 (password: samfirmware.com)
   • firmware P1000XXJK5 (password: samfirmware.com)
   • Odin 1.3
   • modem_bell_i9000 (you’ll need to register for a free account at xda-developers.com if you don’t already have one)
2. Turn off the tab, plug it in via USB, and press and hold the Volume Down button then press and hold the Power Button until you are in download mode (once in download mode, release the buttons):
   
3. Run Odin and make sure you see the port number listed in yellow on the top (in my case, “0:[COM8]”):
   
4. Check “Re-Partition”, “Auto Reboot”, and “F. Reset Time”.  Then, load in the various extracted JJ4 (the Russian ROM) files for PIT, PDA, PHONE, and CSC:
   
   1. PIT:  P1_add_hidden.pit
   2. PDA:  P1000XWJJ4-REV03-ALL-CL639474.tar.md5
   3. PHONE:  MODEM_P1000XXJID.tar.md5
   4. CSC:  GT-P1000-CSC-SERJJ2.tar.md5
       
5. Now click start.  It will take a few minutes to flash the files, during which, you’ll see a progress bar on the tab itself:
   

   as well as some text output within Odin:
   

6. Once it’s done flashing, you’ll hopefully have a green success notification in Odin:
   

   and your tab will have restarted and now be in Russian:
   

7. Turn off the tab again (press the power button, select the last option, then the left option):
   
   and restart in download mode again (hold the Volume Button and Power Button):
   
8. Now, either open Odin again (if you closed it), or click Reset.  If you do not have a Yellow Port number displayed like in 4 above – close Odin, unplug and re-plugin the tab, and open Odin again.  Uncheck “re-partition” and check “Auto Reboot” and “F. Reset Time”.  Click on PDA and load the JK5 file (P1000OXAJK5.tar) and click Start:
   
9. As before with the JJ4, you’ll hopefully have a green PASS notification in Odin:
   
   and your Tab should restart (in English) and be able to make voice calls!:
   
    
10. At this point, however, it’s possible that HSDPA is no longer enabled.  If you know you are in a HSDPA area and you can’t seem to get HSDPA speeds or the HSDPA icon, you’ll want to flash the canada bell radio bin by following the same procedure above for JK5 (reboot into download mode, uncheck re-partition), only this time loading in the modem_bell_i9000 file for PHONE (modem.bin):
    

If all went well, you should now be able to make calls and use data on your AT&T Samsung Galaxy Tab!  Again, total credit goes to clubtech over at XDA for figuring this out, thanks clubtech!

Taking a screenshot on the Eee Pad Transformer is simple and requires no additional software.  To take one, follow the below steps:

1. Tap on the Apps button on the top right corner of the homescreen:
   
2. Open up Settings:
   
3. Click on Screen and then check the box next to “Screenshot:  Capture screenshots by holding the Recent Apps Key”:
   
4. Now, whenever you want to take a screen shot, simply hold the “recent apps key” for a second or two (it’s the double rectangle button on the bottom left of the screen):
   
5. Once a screenshot is taken, you’ll get a message asking to stay in screenshot mode (as well as a message letting you know the Screenshot is saved).  Select Yes to continue being able to take screenshots (if you select no, you’ll have to run through the above steps to re-enable screenshots):
   
6. All screenshots will be saved in the /mnt/sdcard/Screenshots directory:

The easiest way to retrieve the screenshots is probably by emailing them to yourself directly from the tablet, or by plugging the Transformer into your computer and copy them off directly:

That’s it!

Tools required:

All you need are some mini screw drivers and a plastic scribe (I used a credit card) for prying parts of the case apart.  

Note:  While following either the video or picture guide, it’s a good idea to also follow the Dell Service Manual (it’s what I followed to make these guides!)

How-to video:

As with the 1012, here is a video guide to dismantling the 1018.  For just upgrading the memory, it’s similar to the 1012 except there is no memory access door under the keyboard;  you have to go one step further and remove the palm rest as well.

and of course, re-assembling it:

Picture guide:

And for those of you who want a picture guide, here you go (unfortunately, I forgot to take actual pictures when taking the video, so all the images below are video screen grabs, so the quality isn’t perfect):

1)  Press out the two tabs holding the battery in, remove it, and unscrew the three screws holding the keyboard in:

2)  Flip the laptop on it’s side and stick a screw driver in one of the keyboard holes to push the keyboard out a bit.  This will allow you to pry out the keyboard:

With your finger under the keyboard, use the rest of your hand to grab the keyboard, rotate it towards the palm rest as though there was a hinge at the bottom while breaking free of the two clips on the left and right. Pull it toward the screen about half an inch, and flip it upside down on the palm rest (note that it is attached to the motherboard via a ribbon cable, so don’t pull it too far away from the laptop yet). 

Now you just need to push out the two grey tabs securing the keyboard cable to the motherboard and then remove the keyboard:

3)  Remove the single screw holding the hard drive in, pull it to the left using the pull tab, and lift it out.  (If you want to replace the hard drive, remove the 2 screws on either side and replace it). 

4)  Prepare the palm rest for removal.  Start by flipping the laptop over and remove the 3 bottom screws holding it down:

Then, flip it back over, open the screen, and remove the touchpad cable by flipping up the latch securing it to the mother board and pull the cable out:

Next, unplug the power button cable by simply pulling it out.  If you can, grab the actual plastic piece of the connector, but if not, you should be fine just pulling on the wires or the sticker tab:
 

Last thing to do is to remove the top 3 final screws holding down the palm rest:

5)  Pry off the palm rest.  Start out by using your finger to pry it apart starting on the left, inner part (I’ve found it to be the easiest place to start).  Once you get one of the clips loose here, you can use a credit card to break free of the clips all around the left, bottom, and right side:

With the left, bottom, and right loose, you basically just lift it up from the bottom until it breaks free from the screen hinge area.  It may seem like it’s going to snap in half, but as long as you removed all the screws and such, you should be fine!

6)  Upgrade the memory.  You now have access to the memory slot – if you want to upgrade it (max 2gb ddr3 stick), simple push out the two tabs and the stick will pop up – pull it out and put in your new stick and you’re good to go! (note, this takes DDR3 memory and not DDR2 like all the previous Dell Mini 10v’s)

If you are looking for some DDR3 memory, here are a few cheap options from Amazon.com that would work:

7)  Disconnect the display and Wi-Fi cables in order to remove the screen.  Start by using a screw driver or your finger nails and push the edges of the display cable towards the display until the cable is unplugged:

Next, remove the white (left) and black (right) wifi cables by simply pulling them off, and then un-route the cable all the way to the display hinge:

8)  Remove the middle cover and the back display screw.  Start out by flipping the laptop over and remove the two screws securing the middle cover:

Then, using a plastic scribe (or, if you don’t have something similar, use a screw driver – but it may rip up the chassis a bit) and pry up the middle cover just enough to slide your credit card (or similar) in to release all the clips and pull off the cover. 

With the cover removed, remove the single rear display screw:

9)  Remove the display assembly.  There are two final screws holding the display to the chassis.  While removing these screws, be sure to hold onto the screen so it doesn’t pop out in the process of removing said screws:

10)  Remove the display bezel.  Pry off the two sticky, rubber screw covers and then remove the screws underneath:

Now, start to pry off the top part of the bezel by prying from the inside while being careful not to put too much pressure on the screen itself.  There isn’t much to explain about how to do this other than basically try to rip it off, haha – with any luck, you won’t break any of the clips and everything will be fine:

From here, remove the four screws securing the screen to the bottom bezel.  With them removed, start to pull the the display away – there may be some sticky tape on the underside, so be aware when removing:

Before you completely pull the screen away from the bottom bezel, you’ll need to pull free the webcam cable.  Just simply grab it from the wire and gently pull it free:

12)  If you want to keep going, you can remove the 2 screws (4 total) on either side of the screen for the brackets, and simply pull off the ribbon cable on the back, in order to free the actual display from everything.

To put it back together now, simply follow this guide in reverse! 

That’s it!  Let us know how your dismantling, upgrading, and/or reassembling goes in the comments! 

Just purchase a Dell Mini 1012 with the new Atom N450 chip? Want to upgrade the memory, hard drive, or pci-e cards but realized that Dell did not provide a service manual to assist in dismantling it (like they have for most other computers they sell)?  Luckily, it’s as simple as removing 4 screws and the keyboard to replace the memory, and then 5 additional screws and prying off the palm rest bracket to get to the pci-e slots! 

(note — should you decide to follow this guide, do so at your own risk – I take no responsibility for anything you may damage in the process :))

HD Video Guide:

Don’t want to watch the video guide?  Continue on with the step by step picture guide below!
 

Remove the keyboard

The first step is to remove the keyboard.  It is held in by (3) screws on the underside of the laptop, as well as it’s data cable.  Start out by flipping over the netbook and removing the battery by pressing the clips left and right [blue] to unlock it (then, remove it).  Next, remove the (3) keyboard screws [red] – the one in the middle may not easily come out, but you need not worry about it as it will fall out once you actually remove the keyboard. 

– while you’re at it, go ahead and remove the (4) bottom screws as well (green) – these hold on the palm rest and you’ll need to take them out eventually anyway —

With the screws removed, flip it back over and open the screen to like a 90 degree angle and rest the laptop on it’s side.  Take a small screw driver (or anything similar) and stick it through one of the left or right (depending what side the laptop is resting on) screw holes.  This will push the keyboard out a bit so you can grab a hold of it on the other side in order to pull it out.  Don’t pull the keyboard too far away because it is connected to the motherboard by a cable.

With the keyboard a bit loose, make sure it is free from the two clips on the left and right (red circles), and then flip it back over onto the palm rest (so the keyboard keys are resting on the palm rest / touch pad), again, remember that it is still attached to the motherboard via the data cable. 

Now, we’ll remove the data cable – just simply push these two tabs out a bit (1mm or so?) to release the data cable and remove the keyboard entirely.

Remove touchpad and power button cable

Simply pull out the power button cable from the motherboard (just pull up on the cable) – it is a little snug, so it will take a little bit of force,

Then, pull/push up the latch holding down the touch pad data cable, and then pull it out:

Remove the memory, hard drive, and remaining palm rest/bezel screws

Remove the (1) screw holding in the hard drive [red] and slide the drive to the left and pull it straight up and out as well as the (1) screw holding on the memory access door [green]:

Remove the memory (and later replace this 1GB stick with a 2GB stick!) by pushing the (2) clips away from the stick (and the stick should then pop up).

Remove the palm rest bracket/bezel

You will probably hear a lot of snapping and cracking during this process, but it will be okay!  Start out by getting a credit card, lift up on the middle left part of the bezel (from the “inside”) and stick the credit card in the left side:

Continue to slide the card all around the palm rest with just the tip of the edge/corner of the card – this is when you’ll probably hear some snaps, crackles, and pops.  It’s just the palm rest being released from the clips.

At this point, the palm rest should be fairly loose and you should be able to lift it up (from the front) only about an inch or so, as it is still attached near the screen:

Now, all you need to do is simply raise it up a bit more until you near it snap/crack, which should just be it being release from the clips at the screen, and then pull it free:

Congratulations, you now have access to the motherboard where you can replace/remove the mini pci-e cards / etc!  To put it back together, basically do everything in the reverse order. 

Unfortunately, I did not order mine with Bluetooth, TV tuner, hd decoder, etc so I am unable to show you what those look like – but as you can see, there are locations on the mother board for those headers (keep in mind, it appears that if you don’t order the netbook with bluetooth or the mini pci-e cards, the headers will NOT come on the motherboard, meaning, you cannot easily upgrade in the future):

for those of you looking for cheap 2gb memory sticks, all of the below options will work:

Sounds off in the comments about how dismantling and upgrading goes for you or if there are obstacles not mentioned here due to other pci-e cards being present — Good luck!

In an effort to go completely paperless, I was presented with the problem of needing to sign a document (pdf) that was emailed to me and then needing to send it back.  Without having to print out the form to sign it nor needing access to a scanner or fax machine to send it back, you can simply take a picture of your signature, and then using free tools you can “import” it “into” the PDF and email it right back! 

This may seem long and complicated at first, but once you read through it and do it once, it should be fast and easy a second time – And granted, there may be slightly easier ways to do this with paid tools, but this guide is for using freely available tools which you also may have one or two already installed!:

1. Download and install the tools

Here is what you need to download:

• Adobe Reader 9 which you probably already have.  We will use this to view the original PDF and take a single screenshot to import into the image editing software (don’t worry, it will look good!),
• Paint.net (or really, any drawing program that can do layers and make transparent images) which we’ll use to overlay your signature on the PDF screenshot, and then also to re-print to a new PDF,
• CutePDF (or any other free PDF Printer), which as opposed to printing to a printer, will allow you to “print to” (create) a PDF, and
• A way to get a copy of your signature on your computer.  I used my iPhone to take a picture of my signature, though, you can use what ever camera phone, real digital camera, etc that you have.

2. Convert your PDF to a screenshot (an image)

Open your PDF in Adobe Reader 9 and zoom all the way out so you can see the entire page (even if it looks small and you can no longer read anything):

Next, select the SnapShot tool (“Tools” –> “Select & Zoom” –> “Snapshot Tool”) and starting at one corner, click-and-drag to the opposite diagonal corner to highlight the entire page.  Once you do that, you should receive a dialog box saying that the selected area has been copied to the clipboard:

However, if you proceed in using what is currently copied, it will be exactly the same size as you are currently looking at it; meaning, it will be really small and will end up very pixilated when you “blow it up” to normal paper size when you re-print it as a PDF, such as the image below (click to enlarge to full size):

So, in order to fix this, make sure the page is still highlighted (transparent blue) and then zoom in quite a bit (“View” –> “Zoom” –> “Zoom To…”).  You don’t need to zoom to 5000%, but 200-300% should be enough.  While making sure it is still highlighted, right click anywhere it is blue-ish, and click “copy selected graphic”.  You now have a much larger screenshot of the PDF in your clipboard. 

Proceed by opening Paint.net and pasting into a new image (Edit –> Paste) and feel free to save this as a PNG file if you want (I’ll refer to this image as “pdf screenshot”).  Either way, to make things easier, go ahead and keep Paint.net open while we move forward.  You now have a large, high quality screenshot (image) of your PDF which is ready to have your signature placed on top of!

3. Get your signature onto your computer

Okay, so now you need to get your signature on the computer.  Chances are you have a decent enough camera phone (and a way to get those pictures onto your computer) that you can use to take a picture of your signature , such as the iPhone – or – you can of course use a scanner, a real digital camera, or however else you can come up with a way to do it.  With my iPhone, I just took a picture of the signature in a decently lit room and then emailed my self the picture:

(and no, this is not my real signature, ha)

4. Prep your signature for overlaying on the PDF screenshot

We will now make the image black and white, enhance it (using brightness and contrast), and then make everything that is not the signature (the paper) to be transparent.  Open your signature in Paint.net (or whatever image software you are using) and 1) convert the image to black and white, and then 2) adjust the brightness and contrast so that it really is only black-and-white. 

To do this, start out by opening the signature image in Paint.net (“File –> “Open” –> find your image).  If you already have your pdf screenshot open, you should now be in a new Paint.net window:

First, we’ll go ahead and resize the signature just incase it is huge by going to “Image” –> “Resize”.  Make sure “Maintain aspect ratio” is checked and change the width to 1000 pixels (leave whatever number appears in the Height section as-is. It will probably not be the same as mine).  Click ok. (resizing now will help prevent issues when pasting it over the pdf screenshot later)

Now, 1) go to the “Adjustments” menu bar, then click “Black and White”, and then 2) go back to “Adjustments” and then “Brightness / Contrast” — for my particular image, I had to set brightness at 52 and contrast at 79 for it to look like the following (your settings will vary) – the goal here is to have the background as white as possible while having the signature stand out and be clear:

Now we need to make all the “white” become transparent so we can overlay it on top of the pdf screenshot.  

First, select the Magic Wand tool and start with a tolerance level of 50%:

Then, hold the CTRL key while you start clicking on the white areas of the image.  Keep clicking the white areas (while still holding CTRL) until they have all been selected so you get something that looks like this (zoom in if you need to in order to get enclosed small areas such as the white space in letters like P, B, O, etc):

At this point, you can then press the delete key, and everything that is highlighted (all the white) will be removed and will be replaced with transparency (white and grey checkered boxes):

There, now your signature is ready to be placed on the pdf screenshot!

5. Paste the signature onto the pdf screenshot

Start out by copying your entire signature by going to “Edit” –> “Select all” and then copy it (edit->copy).  Then, move on over to your pdf screenshot (just click on it’s thumbnail in the top-right corner if you still have it open, or if not, open it! [with Paint.net] ).

From here, create a new layer on top of your pdf screenshot by going to “Layers” –> “Add new layer”:  (this will allow you to place the signature “on top” of the pdf screenshot without covering anything up)

Next, paste the signature into this new layer (“Edit” –> “Paste).  Chances are, your signature will be a big large, but either way you will need to resize it to the size your actual signature would be and move it down to the signature line:

With the signature still selected (dotted lines still surrounding it), hold the SHIFT key on the keyboard while you click and drag one of the corners of the signature selection  (when you move the mouse cursor to one of the corners, the cursor should change from a solid black arrow to a white hand, thus signifying you can resize).  Hold the SHIFT key while you resize it so it will keep the same aspect ratio.   Continue to resize it until it is about the right size that you signature would be.  Once you are happy with the size, let go of the SHIFT key and release the mouse button – now, move the cursor to the middle of the signature so you now have a black arrow cursor – this will now allow you to move the signature down to the signature line:

Now, click and drag the signature to the signature line and release the mouse button.  With the signature where you want it on the pdf screenshot, proceed to “flatten” the image (combine the “signature layer” with the “pdf screenshot” layer) by going to “Image” –> “Flatten”.   Congratulations, your PDF screenshot is now signed and ready to be re-saved (“printed”) as a pdf!

6.  Print to PDF

Now, go to “File” –> “Print”, and select your PDF printer (in my case, “CutePDF  Writer”).  Be sure that you select Full Page Photo and don’t choose the option for cropping if you see it (I am using Windows 7, but if you were using XP you may see the option for full page photo cropped) and continue to print.

Your PDF printer software will now most likely have some sort of dialog box asking you what to name, and where to save, your new pdf – go ahead with that, and then enjoy your signed pdf!

So there you have it, you were able to bypass having to print it and scan it in (or fax it)!  Have a simpler (free) way to add a signature to a PDF?  Did I miss a step you can’t seem to get passed?  Let me know in the comments!  (caveat emptor, this guide is in no way meant to act as a way to forge, or otherwise impersonate, someone’s signature!)

Update 9 Sept 2010: This post has since become outdated! Please check out the updated post about using Gizmo5 and Google Voice for free calls

With Google Voice (what is Google Voice?) fulfilling more and more invitations, some more great news has recently been discovered (thanks cnr1109):  you can now setup Gizmo (a VOIP application very similar to Skype) to make free incoming and outgoing calls using your Google Voice account – no longer do you have to “start” the call from the google.com/voice webpage (or similar).   Not only this, but if you get a SIP/ATA device (devices used for Vonage/SunRocket/etc), you can plug it into your existing home phone line and have free calls from home without having to use your computer!  And what else?  it’s easy to setup:

1. Add your Google Voice number to your Gizmo5 account

Login to your gizmo5.com account and enter in your google voice account information (if you are weary about giving them your gmail account information, which you shouldn’t be – but if you are, you can request your google voice account be associated with a different gmail address)  Google Voice number:

update 7/27/09 7:30pm est:  There is now a notice on the page that this is an experimental service and calls will be limited to 20 minutes.  They also provided a link to more information at www.gizmovoice.com:

update 7/30/09:  Now it is limited to 3 minutes of outgoing calls, unlimited incoming, and more – find out full details over at http://www.gizmovoice.com/ or http://gizmocall.com/:

 

update 8/8/09:  (how many more changes will there be!?)  Now you no longer have to enter in your Google account credentials:

2.  Add your Gizmo5 number to your Google Voice account (and verify it)

Login to Google Voice (http://www.google.com/voice) and add your Gizmo5 number (if you haven’t already):

Once you click save, you’ll see a window pop up with a verification code.  Make sure you have Gizmo installed and running on your computer, and then click ‘connect’ (tip:  if having problems getting Gizmo5 to work in Windows 7, install AND run it [once installed] in Windows XP Compatibility mode):

 
Answer the call within Gizmo (you do NOT need to be paying for Gizmo incoming call feature for this call), and then enter in the 2 digit code:

Now, at this point, you can now make free outgoing, and receive free incoming, calls from the Gizmo application (using your Google Voice number)!

3.  Setup an ATA device for free calls using a land line phone

To be able to make/receive these free calls from an actual land line phone (using the “normal” phone lines in your house/etc), you will have to obtain a ATA \ PAP2 \ VOIP device.  This is basically a box that you plug in to your router/modem and then you can plugin a normal phone line into this device.  You then configure the device to work with your Gizmo account, plugin a land line phone (or, plug it into your home’s phone jack in the wall, and then any phone plugged into a different phone jack will work) and viola!  Free incoming/outgoing calls using your land line phones. 

Where can you find such a device?  These are the devices that were/are used for such services like Vonage, the now defunct SunRocket, and the like.  Here are a few examples of ATA devices (get already unlocked ones and save your self hassle):

• Linksys Sipura SPA-2100 (or basically any unlocked sipura model numbers) – ebay
• Linksys PAP2 – ebay
• InnoMedia MTA6328-2Re – ebay (not sure how to unlock these)
• Happen to already have an old SunRocket device (most likely InnoMedia)?  Follow these instructions (thanks WorpX) to unlock & use with Gizmo5

Once you have a ATA device, here is the information you want to use to set it up to use your Gizmo account (how to access the admin panel of your device depends on the device):

• Username:  your ten digit Gizmo number and country code [1 ### ### ####] with no spaces  (you can find your gizmo number by logging into your http://www.gizmo5.com account, and it will be listed there as your “SIP Number”)

  

• Password:  your Gizmo password
• Server:  proxy01.sipphone.com (or, if you are having problems with hearing audio when receiving calls, try stun01.sipphone.com:3478 – thanks ccengineer)

update 7/30:  As mentioned earlier in step 2, Gizmo has now limited (free) outgoing calls to 3 minutes but still allowing unlimited incoming minutes.  Here is the email I received this evening about it:

Gizmo Voice Moves from Experimental to Beta

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Thanks for trying our experimental Gizmo Voice service. The viral spread of this service surprised us and we’ve received valuable feedback from many users on their experience of linking their Google Voice number to a Gizmo5 account so they can make and receive calls from wifi phones, ATAs, PC software and even a browser window using GizmoCall.com. Many of you have told us about the wide range of SIP devices you can now use to connect to Google Voice and we’re keeping a list of user suggestions of compatible wifi phones and software you might want to try out.
We’re now moving the service from Experimental to Beta and there are some important facts you should know:

• Gizmo Voice will remain a free service for Google Voice users to link their telephone number to a SIP account via Gizmo5.
• Unlimited incoming calls will be permitted to any SIP software or hardware.
• Free 3 minute calls to US numbers.
• All outbound calls will display your Google Voice CallerID.
• Longer calls will require a purchase of Gizmo5′s Call-Out which offers low per minute fees to all destinations.
• Unanswered inbound calls will use Google’s voicemail with unlimited online storage and free voicemail transcripts.

We hope you are enjoying the high quality VOIP service Gizmo5 has to offer, which includes unlimited calls to 800 numbers, other SIP networks, GoogleTalk users and even the ability to call a Skype user from any SIP device. (To test the SIP to Skype gateway call Try dialing 1-333-666-1111 which is the Skype echo line.) Gizmo5 is committed to user empowerment that comes from the use of open standards and interconnected services.

Any questions!?  Have better ATA devices to use? Feel free to ask in the comments!

As opposed to simply providing a removable door (like they did for the mini-card) to upgrade the memory, Dell decided to make it difficult by requiring you to dismantle the entire laptop… (but what do I know, maybe it would affect structural integrity or something to add a door?).

So, in light of this fact, here is a step-by-step how-to video (and pictures) on how to upgrade the memory!  All you will need is time, a set of mini screw drivers, and patience!

While following this video, I would highly recommend having the Dell created service manual to follow along in case anything shown here is unclear/etc:

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins10v/en/sm/memory.htm#wp1180987

Since YouTube caps videos at 10 minutes, I broke it up into:

Taking it apart and adding the memory:

and then another putting it all back together:

Or, or those who prefer a guide using pictures as opposed to video:

1.  Start out by removing the battery by sliding out the battery lock clips, and then pull the battery straight out.  Then remove the (3) screws holding in the battery and the (1) screw securing the mini-card door, and remove the door.

2.  Remove the mini card.  Gently pry off the two antenna cables by, for example, placing a small screw driver underneath the cables where the gold metal and cable meet – then softly prying it up.  Then, remove the single screw holding the mini card down, then pull out the card.

3.  Remove the keyboard and it’s ribbon cable, as well as the ribbon cable for the touchpad.  You’ll need to basically use a very thin flat head screwdriver, credit card, etc in order to ‘pry up’ the keyboard from the center near the screen.  Once you are able to get your fingers underneath it, just pull up on the right and left sides until the laptop is free:

(there are small clips holding the eayboard in on the right and left, just pry the keyboard up as if there is a hinge at the palm rest and it’ll come loose).  Don’t pull the keyboard too far from the chassis as it’s still connected via it’s ribbon cable:

With the keyboard free, remove the ribbon cable(s) by sliding out the left and right grey “clips” holding the ribbon cable(s) in. (they will “slide out” about 2mm or so) 

4.  Remove the palm rest.  This can be a bit frustrating, but basically you want to use your thumbnail / thin creditcard to start prying from the left and right edges, where it meets the bracket:

5.  Prep for palm rest bracket removal.   First, go ahead and remove the 1 screw holding in the hard drive, and slide it out (blue).  Then, unplug the 3, or 4 if you have bluetooth, cables (green).  Finally, unscrew the 4 screws securing the palm rest bracket from the top (red).

Turn the netbook over and remove the 5 remaining screws securing the palm rest from the bottom:

6.  Actually remove the palm rest bracket.  Dell suggests starting from the hinges and working down, but I was unable to undo the clips here to start.  So instead, I started at the speakers (which are already loose), and started prying off the bracket from here.  Basically, just start pulling the entire bracket up, working your way from the palm rest area up towards the hinges, until it is removed.  (that being said, once I started getting the bracket unclipped half way to the hinges, I was able to pry off the hinge-area):

7.  Prep system board (motherboard) removal.  Almost there!  Now you need to unplug the 3 remaining cables (green) and 2 screws (red).  It may not matter, but when removing the display cable (top right), pull from the middle of the cable, as that’s where all the wires are bunched:
 

8.  Remove the motherboard.  The board is now completely loose from the chassis and can be removed!  Be careful not to nick it on anything while pulling it off, but it’s relatively easy not to.  Flip over the board, release the memory and pop in your 2GB stick:
  

9.  Put everything back together.  Basically, just follow all theses steps in reverse, power on the system, and enjoy your 2GB Dell Mini 10v!

Have any questions or run into problems?  Find an easier way to pry apart the palm rest bracket or etc?  Let everyone know in the comments!

For those of you who haven’t bought a 2gb stick yet, there are plenty on amazon that would work fine (too bad prices for ddr2 memory aren’t as cheap as they used to be) – I will keep this list updated with the cheapest amazon memory prices as I see them:

And for those interested in the products I used to help create this post:

Just like the keyboard bulge on the Dell XPS M1330, I recently bought a (refurbished) Dell Studio 15 to find that it suffers from the same bulge/flex issue.  Just like the M1330, it has to do with the WiFi cable not sitting in it’s ‘designated groove’ in the chassis.  What you need to do to fix it is just simply push the cables back into the ‘grooved’ chassis, and that should fix most of your bulging/flexing issues! 

To do this, you can either follow the Dell Service manual of removing the keyboard and then putting the cable where it needs to go, or follow along below:

First, you’ll need to flip over the laptop, remove the battery, and remove the Center Control Cover by first removing these two screws:

Then, flip it back over and open the screen as far back as it will go.  Starting from the back of the laptop (closest to the screen), carefully pry up the center control panel (imagine the dotted red line is a hinge) while being aware there is a small cable attached to it, so once it’s loose, so don’t go pulling the panel too far away from the laptop!

Once the control panel is loose, you can just ‘fold it back’ and lay it flat on the keyboard (the next picture shows that I mean by ‘laying it flat’).  The Dell manual says to disconnect the cable attached to it, but I was afraid of damaging the connector, so I never did that (there’s enough slack to do what needs to be done for this task). 

Now, you’ll want to remove the 2 screws holding the keyboard down:

And then pry away the black plastic trim around the keyboard (it should be relatively easy to take off – no screws, just pull it off, starting at one corner and work your way around).   Then, just simply pull the keyboard off (you may need to slide it towards the screen a centimeter or two, and it may feel like it’s stuck – that’s just because there’s sticky pads underneath the keyboard):

Now if your Studio 15 was like mine, you can instantly see at least one (major) cause for the bulge – the thick (and taped) wifi cable is not sitting in it’s groove (which is shown by the dotted line):

If you have the masking tape on yours, remove it, and then guide the cable into it’s groove.  I went ahead and took the eraser side of a pencil and used that to press further down the metal tabs (marked by the red arrows below):

Finally, put everything back on in reverse order, and you should now have a less bulging keyboard on your Dell Studio 15!