For the first time in my computing life I purchased a Windows PC, and all it cost was $99.
TL;DR – I thought an update to Civilization III from Steam killed it (more later) from running in my VMware virtual machine. I love that game, so I needed something that would play it, which meant a PC. Right on cue I saw an article on the Kangaroo Mobile PC from inFocus (1.4GHz Atom processor, 2GB RAM, 32GB disk). A complete Window’s 10 computer. So I ordered one from NewEgg to play Civ III on. I am also hoping to play Homeworld Remastered as well.
So, the mailman dropped the box off on Saturday afternoon. The size was even smaller than I anticipated, it’s a cute little box with the Kangaroo logo on top, smaller than a paperback, and a minimal number of ports and controls. Very nice.
To provide some idea of its size, the PC portion minus the connector (at the bottom) is as tall as my iPhone 5s, about an inch wider and a bit thicker overall. It’s amazing to think of the computing power inside that little enclosure. And it looks good too! After all these decades of Apple design superiority, some other PC box designers are finally spending more time on external presentation.
Of course, when I tried to hook it up to a couple of Dell monitors here I found myself missing the correct connectors. The Kangaroo expects HDMI, and while my monitors have a plethora of video inputs they predate HDMI. Best they had was DVI-D and for that I needed a converting connector. I attempted to hook it up to my old Sony TV which does have HDMI input but the software thinks the screen is larger than it actually is and the edges of Window’s 10 are all off screen, making selecting anything a hit-or-miss game.
I did manage to get logged in and play with it a bit. I’ll grab a connector today and get it hooked up to a real monitor and then play around more in the next day or so. Meanwhile, I’ve got NaNoWriMo to contend with. Did pretty good for the week. I’m behind but not concerned about that as Festival of Murder is moving forward very well. Still managed over 9600+ words for the week which is a pretty good output in itself.
Aside: Two days after I ordered the Kanagroo I was troubleshooting why a friends copy of Masters of Orion 2 (MOO2, don’t ask) wouldn’t run on Window’s 7. I pointed him to the Properties > Compatibility tab for the EXE, had him switch it to Windows XP (SP3) and everything ran like a champ. Then I had to slam my own forehead, soundly. I hadn’t thought of that for CivIII. Changed my own settings and now the game runs fine in my VM. Sigh, I could have saved $99, but would have missed out on the Kangaroo cuteness.
No way.
Update: Went up to Frys and grabbed a DVI-D to HDMI adapter, plugged the Kangaroo into the Dell monitor and Bob’s Your Uncle. I could see and access the Start menu, the task bar, even the Charms on the right side of the display. Installed and tried out Steam’s versions of Civ III and Homeworld Remastered and had some success. A little slow on launches due to graphic requirements (I think) but otherwise the speed is acceptable for now. Need to play some more in-depth games to be sure. Still seems to have been a great choice to toy with. Of course, YMMV.
