New owner, some parts already inbound, other ideas in mind

To everyone...thanks for all of the posts so far. I have had a Sager NP9262 for over a year now, and while it defaintely gets the job done, it's ridiculously heavy to lug. I will still be carrying it when I have to, but my Aspire One is my new joy. In reading up on it, I decided on what I wanted to do initially, and have ordered some parts.

I have the white ZG5 160GB, 3cell, 1GB version. I have already ordered a nano Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR USB stick, and a 1GB RAM upgrade from the compatible RAM list thread on these forums. In looking at what others have done with theirs, I'd like to see if I can get some more information on a few ideas, so I will give each it's own paragraph.

Wireless Upgrade: My Sager NP9262 has the Intel 4965ABGN card in it, and in reading the forum posts from other Aspire one owners, looks like a lot of people are either settlin on that card, or on the Intel 5100 and 5300 series cards. The 5100 being draft-N, with 2 antennas, and decent range. The 5300 being draft-N and having a little better range, and better throughput (theoretically). I would like to add a wireless external antenna when it's needed to the location on the right side, where the current Kensington lock access resides. I am handy with the tools, so tapping out a hole here will be of no concern. However, supposing that I go with the Intel 5300 series card, there will be 3 antenna mounting locations. Obviously, there's only 2 antennas that come stock with the Aspire One. So, the question is: Where do I obtain the proper extension for the 3rd antenna lead on the card that is of sufficient length to reach where the Kensington lock is on the right side? If the extension doesn't come with the proper female connector on it (to connect to the antenna). I also want to find a decent gain omnidirectional 4-5" antenna that has a screw-in connector, with a right-angle hinge on it.

Wireless summary: Need 4-5" 5dB gain antenna, with right-angle screw in connector. Need wireless antenna extension of sufficient length to reach the Kensington lock location from the mini PCI-E location.

HDTV Tuner: This one is a bit easier: I want to find a decent USB 2.0 hardware tuner (unless tnkgrl has deciphered the 3G mini PCI-E pinout yet to add in a second mini PCI-E card) that is small enough to be taken apart, and have the antenna port be mounted on the opposite side of the rear of the Aspire one (read: left rear, across from above mentioned wireless antenna). I also need it to be a hardware HDTV Tuner. I suppose that this will have to take into consideration the potential requirement of relocating the RG58 female coax connector (potentially) to the side of the case. Anyone have any ideas? I will keep looking, but I have found nothing that resembles doing this, as of yet.

TV Tuner summary: Need a small hardware HDTV USB tuner that can be disassembled, and can have the female RG58 (or whatever the antenna interface is) relocated the rear left side of the Aspire. Also need a similar (to the wireless LAN) antenna with right angle connection for the TV tuner.

I am ready to order either the wireless card and extension + antenna, or the TV tuner solution. I am running Windows Vista Ultimate x86, at the moment, for any driver concerns. Thanks in advance, and I am enjoying looking at others creative solutions.

 

I guess I decided my path...Intel 5300 ordered. Anyone lend a hand?