![]() As for the other features such as elevated keyboard and USB hub, these can be purchased for a lot less than $50. If you’re using a laptop that overheats, perhaps you should check with the vendor and see what the problem might be. On the other hand, is it really necessary? I’ve polled some of my friends and asked them about their use of supplemental coolers for laptops and not one saw any need to get one. ![]() On the one hand the NotePal EVO is a quality product with several useful features. The on/off switch for the fans seems a little superfluous, as does the indicator light, however, they are nice touches.Īfter using the EVO for the better part of a week, I’ve been struggling with how to wrap up the review. It was good to have an additional 3 USB ports and although the instructions warned that I might not have enough power for a scanner, mine worked fine. This shouldn’t be an issue because the device is not designed for portable use, so you should be plugged into the wall. If you’re on battery power this would mean you are going to get less power up time. Something to consider when using this device is that it draws its power from the laptop. The sound wasn’t distracting at all when used at the lowest speed or when used in a higher ambient noise location at high speed. With the fan set to high speed, the noise was noticeable in a quiet room, but could be mitigated by turning the speed down. I did come to the conclusion that the fan speed control was more of a volume control. I have been running the fan non-stop since I received the EVO and although I can’t objectively confirm that my laptop runs cooler, it would seem logical that the increased airflow on the laptop bottom should be an asset. The wedge shape of the device provides, what to me, appears as a better angle of the keyboard. One of the first things I noticed after using the EVO was that it was more comfortable to type. Now on the right side I have 3 USB ports that allow me to plug in my devices which are all located to the right of the laptop. Also I ran the power cord for the laptop in a recessed grove in the EVO to get it out of the way. Here I’ve hooked up the EVO to a USB port on the laptop. It also angles the keyboard for a more comfortable typing position. Using the EVO elevates the laptop which minimizes the amount of detritus that gets sucked into the case. My wife uses the Dell on the counter in the kitchen, so it sees its share of abuse. So, to check this out, I enlisted the services of my Dell 15″ laptop. Because one of the ports in the laptop is used to power the device, you effectively gain 2 additional ports. On the right side of the cooler are 3 USB ports. Lastly there is a 5v jack which accepts a power supply (not included) if the laptop USB ports don’t supply enough current. Moving to the right there is a blue LED power status light and then a thumb-wheel which varies the speed of the blower motors. Next there is a power on/off switch which turns the blower on/off. This provides power to the device and passes the USB signals to the built in USB hub. On the left side of the device are several connections and beginning from the left is the mini USB port in which you plug the supplied cable and then plug the other end into available USB port on your laptop.
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![]() ![]() The puzzle isn't difficult but it gets a little hairy navigating around the enemies without Sheena's Personal skill. This is the beginning of the water seal up to the boss. Equip new Warrior Symbol and save outside Thoda Geyser. This is the last half of the Eastern Ranch: the warp puzzle and Magnius.Īll the battles go well. The only hang-up is me getting caught on the side of the invisible block I'm supposed to push forward. This is the first half of the Eastern Ranch. 2 EX gem, obviously for Lloyd's Personal skill: faster movement inside dungeons. Hakonesia Peak, Palmacosta, House of Salvation, to Palmacosta Ranch. I also pick up some Holy Bottles at the end. I buy a rapier, then 2 Beast Fangs, then Black Silver, then White Silver, then I customize weaponry for Lloyd, Colette, and Kratos, then I sell most of what I have, and buy armor for Lloyd, Kratos, and Colette. Tyler does an amazing job of spell cancelling Sheena and keeping her from attacking. You see where the terrible camera system puts me in a vertical plane with the guardian and I'm trying to figure out whether left or right will move me where I want to go. The Sheena battle is rough because she and the guardian knock you down so much. Because I waited so long to initiate the Holy Bottle, I get nearly all the way to Ossa Trail before it runs out. Lloyd and Colette take the subordinates while Kratos distracts the big guy. I give Lloyd and Kratos new weapons and Raine a new title. The dungeon itself is pretty linear, the only difficulty arising from dodging enemies on the fly. After the battle I make a shopping trip, primarily to get some Holy Bottles. The Botta battle was pretty impressive too. The worst part of this segment was getting the first battle to cooperate, and then praying for a 1v1 memory gem battle. Then bust out of the cell, grab the chest and save. Run into town and buy weapons for Lloyd and Colette, visit the fortune teller and fight the desians. Note: Marcus plays as Genis in segments 5 & 6. ![]() Nice touch having Genis reduced to 1 HP right before the game auto-heals you too! As far as I've seen, nobody has implemented this strategy on the Exbelua battle and it cuts the time down dramatically. Marcus and I are pretty proud of this one. No time is lost due to this strange glitch. I leave Colette's house before the game has finished loading the scene outside and this is the result. The cat in the forest next to the chest gets me nearly every time. Luckily this time the Sonic Thrust separated them and gave me a break. The 1V2 battle is really obnoxious because Lloyd has to learn Sonic Thrust (Shame he didnt learn in the 3rd Golem battle) and these two like to gang up on you. Iselia Human Ranch, Dirk's house, Iselia. Just running, the enemies in the forest like to wait right around the corner and jump you, luckily they didn't this time. Having the worm chase me in the hallway was pretty stressful this far into the segment. All three Golem battles went smoothly, the only catch was the one getting hung up on the corner while chasing me. It's quite difficult to navigate the hallways inside quickly without entering a battle. The rest of the Vidarr battle was very impressive, however. Vidarr catches me from over his head with his hammer, this rarely ever happens. I cut through part of the Memory Circle so I can get that little introduction out of the way and then 2 no damage battles. I grab the Klutz title for Colette because it gets her an early boost on HP and Attack and she needs all she can get. Past that, this segment is real simple, just the introduction. This makes spell cancelling and guarding in general much easier. I go into the Customize Menu and set the text speed to 0, change the window color to black, and switch the controls so that 'R' is guard. I'll provide a segment by segment breakdown of the run.įirst, though, it's important that you know which runners play as which characters to avoid confusion.Īny exceptions will be noted in their respective segment. ![]() The good news is that you can save this in your house style or manuscript paper for future use in any score.Go to the part, passage select the upbeat bar and turn it into a bar rest. It seems like a lot of work, and it is, at least the first time you set it up. Go to Layout > Magnetic Layout > Magnetic Layout Options (the dialog launcher), and change the Order of Bar number to 31 (actually, anything 15 or higher will work). To fix this, we have to make use of Sibelius’s drawing order capabilities, which we made extensive use of in our last post about headers. Here are my settings, which I’m currently using for the score to the premiere of David Newman’s Matilda, live in concert with the Houston Symphony next month:Īlmost done! You may notice that the staff line is appearing through the bar number. In the Border tab, be sure to check Boxed and Erase background, and adjust the Size as needed. Next, click Edit Text Style… to go edit the Bar numbers text style. Vertical Position: Either Above middle of staff or Below middle of staff, and you may have to experiment with the Relative to staff value depending on the metrics of your font.Horizontal Position: Center in the bar checked.Show on Staves > Specific staves: Select the staff that you’ve added to your score (it’s in square brackets because it’s not a named staff - that’s ok).Next, head over to Appearance > Engraving Rules > Bar numbers and tell Sibelius to use the following settings: Go to Home > Instruments > Add or Remove or simply press I to open the Add or Remove Instruments dialog.įind the Bar numbers instrument in the Add Instrument list - you can simply type Bar numbers in the Find box to easily find it - and add it to your score in the usual way, moving it up or down depending on where you want to place it in your score. ![]() You haven’t actually created anything in your score yet, but you’ve now defined the Bar numbers “instrument” that you can place in the score, which we’ll do now. ![]() Uncheck Initial clef and Key signatures / Tuning.Ĭlick the Notes and Rests tab and, under Note Properties, uncheck Bar rests.Ĭlick OK, OK, and Close. You can call this anything you like, but Bar numbers seems more appropriate than, say, “Bananas,” since it will help you find it later.Ĭlick Edit Staff Type… and, in the General tab, set Number of staff lines to 1. In your score, go to Home > Instruments > Edit Instruments (click the dialog launcher - that downwards right-pointing arrow).Ĭhoose All Instruments > Others > Unnamed (treble staff) and click Edit Instrument…įor the Name in dialogs, type Bar numbers. ( I discuss how to create these in Finale in another post.) Whether this style suits your score or not is up to you, but here’s how to create it in Sibelius. While the particular style is of secondary importance to having them present in the first place, one convention has emerged to place bar numbers on their own non-playing staff, boxed, with a single line, like in this score (replete with conductor markings): Having bar numbers on every bar helps reduce errors for everyone else looking at a score as well, like the composer, orchestrator, and recording engineer. With rehearsal and studio time at a premium, fewer seconds counting bar numbers means more time rehearsing and recording. Think about every time a conductor can just say “bar 17” instead of silently counting from the beginning of a system “14, 15, 16, 17” or “After A, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6”. Placing bar numbers on every bar of your score can save precious seconds of rehearsal time. |