Extreme 700m mod: Adding a USB port for internal bluetooth project 4 May 2006, 21:15
Posted by Orhan in : Geeky Techy Stuff , add a commentAfter a long period of silence, I am back with an extreme mod project for the 700m. The Intel chipset used on Dell 700m provides at least 3 USB ports but only two are accessible on the laptop. The third is terminated and hidden on the motherboard. It is actually active and can be used if a usb device can be wired into it properly.
A similar mod has been posted by tnkgrl at: Internal USB Bluetooth module in AV1050
I am planning to finish the project in 2 days max. Detailed instructions and pictures will follow.
Mini notebook - laptop microphone project 28 February 2006, 06:33
Posted by Orhan in : Geeky Techy Stuff , add a commentI love my laptop but it lacks an onboard microphone. I hate dangling cables around the laptop as well as the hassle to find it and put it on while my internet phones are ringing! So I decided to go ahead and build my mini microphone which I carry all the time, attached to the side of the battery to be used when needed.
What is needed:
1- 1/4″ Stereo phone plug (RadioShack# 274-284, $4.50)
2- Condenser microphone (RadioShack# 270-090, $2.70)
3- Soldering iron
4- Hot glue gun (or you might improvise here)
Procedure:
1- Solder the middle and the tip leads of the stereo phone plug, and solder the positive microphone lead to this connection.
2- Solder the ground lead of the microphone to the ground lead of the phone plug.
3- Test the microphone operation.
4- Carefully fill the gaps and around the soldered connections with hot glue. This will also be the casing of the microphone.
5- Let the melted plastic set, and cool down.
6- Carefully trim the excess portions.
7- Enjoy the mini-microphone! 
Synchronize your bookmarks within browsers - and computers at the same time!! 27 February 2006, 06:23
Posted by Orhan in : Geeky Techy Stuff , add a commentOk, here is a new post after a long period of silence. Today I did maybe the most functional thing of the year. I was thinking about the cool extensions of Firefox and I figured they could have something to maintain the same group of bookmarks accross browsers. Well, turns out that there is one that does it between Firefox and IE, and even more, there is another one that allows you to synchronize your Firefox bookmarks within different computers.
[Firefox <> IE] on Computer 1 <----> [Firefox <> IE] on Computer 2 : ALL SYNCHED !!! Am I happy or what
What is needed: A valid FTP account, that’s it!
How to set up? Just follow these steps:
1- Backup all your bookmarks!!
2-Download and install the following Firefox extensions: Bookmarks Synchronizer 3 and FavoriteSync. Make sure Bookmarks Synchronizer 3 appears above FavoriteSync in the Tools > Extensions window. If it is not, then right-click and move it up as necessary.
3- Restart Firefox.
4- Click the “Sync with favorites” button (yellow star) that is added to the toolbar. At this point, your IE and FF bookmarks should all be the same.
5- Open Firefox, goto Bookmarks > Synchronize Bookmarks
6- Edit FTP settings
7- Press Upload
8- At this point, updated copy of your bookmarks at the ftp location.
For any additional computer, Computer 2,3,… follow these steps:
9- Backup bookmarks!!
10- Download and install the same extensions:
11- Restart Firefox
12- Edit FTP settings, the same as Computer 1, and enable “Merge new data into current bookmarks” option.
13- Press Download, very important. At this point, updated copy of your combined (Computer 1 and Computer 2) bookmarks are at Computer 2.
14- Press Upload, and now the updated copy of your combined (Computer 1 and Computer 2) bookmarks are at the server.
Repeat steps 9-14 for any additional computer.
Continue as follows:
15- Using the Firefox bookmark manager, edit your bookmarks to their final shape. Goto Bookmarks > Synchronize Bookmarks and upload.
16- In all computers, open Firefox, goto Bookmarks > Synchronize Bookmarks and uncheck “Merge new data into current bookmarks” option. Click download. Enable auto download and auto upload options.
17- In Firefox, goto Tools > Extensions > FavoriteSync > Options. Enable “Sync when Firefox starts” and disable “Alert if Windows program not installed”.
Well, that is all I did to get this up and running. Let me know if there is any easier way of doing this..
Does your 700m lose microphone input after hibernation? Here is a possible fix: 27 January 2006, 08:34
Posted by Orhan in : Geeky Techy Stuff , add a commentMy 700m’s microphone goes dead after almost every hibernation. I decided to do a search and found out that I was not the only one. Apparently the oldest version driver does the trick.. Read the following posts at Dell forums:
http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=insp_audio&message.id=25135
Here is the Dell Support older version driver download link for 700m audio:
I installed the oldest available version. So far so good.. Knock on wood!
Edit: I checked the driver version and “SIGMATEL STAC 9750 AC97, v.6.14.01.3901, A11” is what I installed.
Dell Inspiron 700m microphone input noise problem and fix 20 January 2006, 04:53
Posted by Orhan in : Geeky Techy Stuff , 11 commentsI have a Dell Inspiron 700m laptop that I love and frequently use for VOIP applications (like Skype). However, the 700m has an inherent design flaw that causes the microphone to capture electrostatic noise from its components, especially the harddrive. You can check www.recall700m.com
and
www.tinyscreenfuls.com/index.php?s=700m
for more info.
While 700m users are still waiting for an official fix from Dell, Jesse at www.jumboprawn.net has come up with a fix that works like a charm (I have done it on my computer) :
Yes! There is a Fix for the Noisy Mic Input | Dell Inspiron 700m
Remember, you need a little soldering experience, right tools and some magnifiers.
Also you will be doing this at your own risk, and should be aware that it will void your warranty..
I did it using a surface mount 680 ohm resistor that I took from an old soundcard and one 47 uf capacitor from RadioShack. Jesse says it performs better with 47+1 uf but I think one 47 uf is pretty good. My version looks like this:
The middle picture is the close-up shot of the area, taken from Jesse’s website Yes! There is a Fix for the Noisy Mic Input | Dell Inspiron 700m. The rightmost picture is the edited version that shows how I mounted the components.