Are you a part-time roadwarrior that has to give a presentation interstate at a conference, and would rather not have to bring your big-ass, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink, weighs-a-freaking-tonne desktop replacement? Then the Asus EEE PC might just be what you need. And at the moment, Penta Computers, which has a brick and mortar shopfront at Ultimo, is selling the EEE 4G (900Mhz celeron processor, 512Mb RAM, 4Gb SSD, Xandros OS) for $371, which is a bargain considering that they originally cost $500 when they launched in Australia about 6 months ago, and are still being sold near the original price at the big box stores (like Officeworks, Myer and Harvey Norman). A version with XP pre-installed will cost $108 extra, unless you're ok with a green coloured one, which is bizarrely only $32 more.
At first blush, the EEE might seem too much like a kids computer, but when you look past the 'kid/n00b-friendly' interface of the reworked Xandros Linux OS, you'll see that you're actually getting quite a lot for something that costs just a bit more than a PDA/smartphone, but is much more capable. Its has an ethernet port for a start, which is very handy for the times when you only have cable access to a network, a VGA-out port for outputting to a bigger screen or onto a projector set-up, and three USB host ports, which at the very least, can power some peripherals.
Just add a monitor, a USB keyboard and mouse (the supplied keyboard and touchpad are a bit cramped), and an external USB HD and you've almost got yourself a basic, but capable desktop to work with. On the go, the Asus can perform adequately with wifi on for approximately 3 hours, which is enough to get some emails checked, get some surfing done, and maybe review and edit some office documents when you have some free time. And to think, a few years ago, an ultraportable laptop that is not too dissimilar from the EEE specs would have set you back a few thousand dollars...
PS: If you think the EEE prices are cheap now, you may be able to get an even cheaper price in a few months, when the second iteration of the Asus EEE PC arrives (I'd like to say in Q3 08, but I have nothing to back that up), which has more screen real estate (9 inches, 1024x600), more memory (1Gb) and more SSD space (12-20Gb)...of course it may be the case that the second gen (dubbed the EEE-900) might be more to your liking, so the choice is yours.
Friday, May 23, 2008
For all y'all who already have an iPhone...
...and where after a case, brick and mortar retailer Dick Smith Electronics are already selling iPhone cases (from leather flippy ones to reflective and clear hard cases) even before the iPhone has been launched officially here in Australia.
Not having an iPhone myself, I can't really make any recommendations with regards to cases for it, but as an iPod Touch user, I am a fan of the DLO JamJacket with 'cable management'. Basically, the cable management consists of some extra silicon jutting out of the back of the case where you can wind your headphones when you're not using them, and even has little holes that fit the headphone 'heads' and the jack...genius! Having said that, having all that junk jutting out the back of your otherwise wafer-thin (Monty Python reference) iPod does look a bit dodge at first, but the utility is worth it in my opinion.
I might post some piccies of the DLO jacket (which was a birthday present btw, and not a review product that was sent to me) if anyone cares.
Also, I haven't really done much research if the DLO case can be had for cheaper at another store, so it may well be cheaper elsewhere.
Not having an iPhone myself, I can't really make any recommendations with regards to cases for it, but as an iPod Touch user, I am a fan of the DLO JamJacket with 'cable management'. Basically, the cable management consists of some extra silicon jutting out of the back of the case where you can wind your headphones when you're not using them, and even has little holes that fit the headphone 'heads' and the jack...genius! Having said that, having all that junk jutting out the back of your otherwise wafer-thin (Monty Python reference) iPod does look a bit dodge at first, but the utility is worth it in my opinion.
I might post some piccies of the DLO jacket (which was a birthday present btw, and not a review product that was sent to me) if anyone cares.
Also, I haven't really done much research if the DLO case can be had for cheaper at another store, so it may well be cheaper elsewhere.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Cheap external storage anyone?
Officeworks is offering a 1Tb external HD for $249...which would be awesome, except I had just previously purchased the exact same product for $299 less than a month ago!!! Anyhoo, my loss is your gain (if you were shopping around for some storage)...backup early and often people!
Trying something new
Having a chat to a professional blogger at STUB (shoutout to Nareev) got me thinking that maybe I should make my blog a bit more useful for people, and maybe eventually people will actually have a reason to read it.
Anyhoo, I was thinking of ways I can help people, and I came upon the idea of pointing out tech bargains that I spot here and there. I mean, I tend to window shop on the interwebs during my lunch breaks anyway, and this way my time-wasting exercise might be helpful. Let's see how we go, eh?
Searching online catalogues....now, errr, tomorrow (I am le tired)
Anyhoo, I was thinking of ways I can help people, and I came upon the idea of pointing out tech bargains that I spot here and there. I mean, I tend to window shop on the interwebs during my lunch breaks anyway, and this way my time-wasting exercise might be helpful. Let's see how we go, eh?
Searching online catalogues....now, errr, tomorrow (I am le tired)
Sunday, March 25, 2007
and now for something different
Sorry if that was hard to read - I was just trying out 'writing' on my blog.
ps:contrary to what I wrote on the post, I had to use the desktop to upload the text - it sucks that many webpages don't cater for the stripped down web browsers in pdas :(
Sunday, March 18, 2007
yeah, tx1000 still sucks
So last post, I was bitching about how crappy the tx1000 touchscreen was, but I wasn't quite ready to give up on it just yet. So I went to another store (same franchise, Harvey Norman), seeing whether I get a different experience. Unfortunately, it wasn't the case - even the salesman ws telling me that you have to really dig the pen in to write on it...damn.
I think I'll just have to look elsewhere for my touchscreen based computing needs.
I think I'll just have to look elsewhere for my touchscreen based computing needs.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
TX1000 - touchscreen? more like strong-sharp-forcescreen!
To anyone that cares, I've recently been shopping around for a new laptop. To be honest, my 2 year old celeron laptop, while bulky and has dismal (1hr) battery life, is doing well in serving all my computing needs (see last post)...so upgrading is not really essential.
Specifically, I've been indulging the thought of getting into UMPC's and other touchscreen based computers for use as my primary computer - I've been a pda person for a few years now (guess what I'm writing this blog post on?), and thought that having that experience on a full fledged pc would be cool, since I wouldn't have to sit down and prop my computer against a lap/table to use it.
Enter the hp tx1000, a convertible tablet pc, with a decent processor (2Ghz AMD turion x2), and a touchscreen instead of an active digitizer. I fell in love: this could well be my ultimate device. So being the excited geek that I am, started researching reviews. The results were mixed - people complained of weight, performance (speed and battery life), and then there was the touchscreen. I was so suprised when people kept talking about how much harder it was to ink on the touchscreen, and made a big deal about needing to keep the pen on the touchscreen for the whole penstroke...frankly, I was confused - I never thought that was a big deal - I mean, if you write with a pen, you have to keep the pen in contact with the paper for the whole penstroke right? I was starting to think that the reviewers might just have been used to active digitizers.
Anyhoo, I wasn't perturbed - though I was concerned about their comments, and thought I'd wait until I can try one out at a brick and mortar store before I take the plunge.
So imagine my excitement when I went to a store today (Harvey Norman for the Aussies reading this) and there it was. It looked amazing - the curved edges, the recessed trackpad, the small form factor - I think I almost ran to the display! I tested the swivel action, and the screen (some reviewers said it was grainy due to the digitizer that had to be overlayed onto the lcd - it was but not an issue for me)...so far so good...then my hopes came all crashing down when it came to using the touchscreen. It was easy enough to tap things, though I immediately noticed how much more pressure it required to get a response...then I tried to write using the touch input panel (TIP). Disaster! In order to make my penstrokes register, I was almost scraping my pda stylus against the screen (and it didn't help that the screen itself was not slick, and was catching the stylus tip)... I thought, 'any more of this, and I'll be scratching marks onto the screen!'. So as I left the store, I was annoyed at how such a cool device could be let down by such poor implementation of the touch screen...I even came back a few minutes later to see if there was a way to increase the touchscreen sensitivity, but I didn't find any (anyone know if there is?)....why hp, WHY??? Now I'm starting to worry if this touchscreen 'insensitivity' happens on the UMPC's as well! Anyhoo, the search continues...sigh.
Specifically, I've been indulging the thought of getting into UMPC's and other touchscreen based computers for use as my primary computer - I've been a pda person for a few years now (guess what I'm writing this blog post on?), and thought that having that experience on a full fledged pc would be cool, since I wouldn't have to sit down and prop my computer against a lap/table to use it.
Enter the hp tx1000, a convertible tablet pc, with a decent processor (2Ghz AMD turion x2), and a touchscreen instead of an active digitizer. I fell in love: this could well be my ultimate device. So being the excited geek that I am, started researching reviews. The results were mixed - people complained of weight, performance (speed and battery life), and then there was the touchscreen. I was so suprised when people kept talking about how much harder it was to ink on the touchscreen, and made a big deal about needing to keep the pen on the touchscreen for the whole penstroke...frankly, I was confused - I never thought that was a big deal - I mean, if you write with a pen, you have to keep the pen in contact with the paper for the whole penstroke right? I was starting to think that the reviewers might just have been used to active digitizers.
Anyhoo, I wasn't perturbed - though I was concerned about their comments, and thought I'd wait until I can try one out at a brick and mortar store before I take the plunge.
So imagine my excitement when I went to a store today (Harvey Norman for the Aussies reading this) and there it was. It looked amazing - the curved edges, the recessed trackpad, the small form factor - I think I almost ran to the display! I tested the swivel action, and the screen (some reviewers said it was grainy due to the digitizer that had to be overlayed onto the lcd - it was but not an issue for me)...so far so good...then my hopes came all crashing down when it came to using the touchscreen. It was easy enough to tap things, though I immediately noticed how much more pressure it required to get a response...then I tried to write using the touch input panel (TIP). Disaster! In order to make my penstrokes register, I was almost scraping my pda stylus against the screen (and it didn't help that the screen itself was not slick, and was catching the stylus tip)... I thought, 'any more of this, and I'll be scratching marks onto the screen!'. So as I left the store, I was annoyed at how such a cool device could be let down by such poor implementation of the touch screen...I even came back a few minutes later to see if there was a way to increase the touchscreen sensitivity, but I didn't find any (anyone know if there is?)....why hp, WHY??? Now I'm starting to worry if this touchscreen 'insensitivity' happens on the UMPC's as well! Anyhoo, the search continues...sigh.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Laptop hunting
Hey all. The last few weeks have seen me scouring all over the net and on foot, searching for a new laptop to replace the one already have. There's nothing wrong with my current laptop - except for maybe the inadequate battery life, and maybe its heft - I just thought that it was time to see what I can replace it with. So off I went to research the current laptop offerings, and got bombarded with "core2duo" this, and "aeroglass" that... In the end, I was paralyzed with indecision - the new Microsoft operating system had also just started shipping with new laptops, but the response have been mixed. Indeed, do I even really need a new computer?
As a scientist, part of my job involves taking pictures of cells under a microscope. Now, I had just started working at a new place, and they use a digtal slr ie. something expensive and unfamiliar. Unfortunately, I'm a point-and-shoot guy at heart, and though I do like to dabble with the settings on my own digital camera, this was for work, and I didn't want to waste any time fiddling with settings. So I snapped away, checking the images briefly (on a teeny tiny 1.5 inch screen - way too small for me), and loaded them up on my laptop. Unfortunately, it seems that the LCD backlight on the camera was cranked way up, coz on my laptop, everything was severely underexposed. Crap! I had two options: take the photos again, but trying different settings (too fiddly), or I could try and boost the brightness using an image editing program (bingo!). Long story short, my 2 year old, celeron 1.5Ghz laptop with 768Mb of RAM and 40Gb HD performed like a star. Multiple layers, filters, having up to 20 or so images open (though just at 0.5Mb each pic) - there was no discernable lag, no crashing, no weird results. Then I also remembered that when I went on a roadtrip with some friends, I used the same laptop to download the video from my camcorder (via firewire), create a roadtrip video (with live preview activated), added a soundtrack, and played it in front of everyone that very night!
In the end, my laptop might look as sexy as a grey paving tile (and look/weigh like one), but as much as I'd like to find fault in it (to justify a replacement), I couldn't deny that it was a solid performer. Hell, even with intel integrated graphics, I can play World of Warcraft and Freedom Force (a very cool game, I encourage everyone to check it out), record, edit and encode HDTV (with my HDTV adapter), and create a dual monitor setup by outputing simulatenously to an external monitor!
So this is my advice to anyone contemplating a laptop/portable computer purchase: Laptops may not be created equal, but unlike what the manufacturers would have you believe, it doesn't necessarily mean that you won't be happy with anything less than the latest and greatest. Its not all about clock speed, especially with laptops. Battery life, portability and flexibility should definitely be considered, as well as the cost of extras, such as accessories, and extended warranties.
Based on those criteria, I reckon that my next laptop won't be a laptop at all, but an ultra mobile pc (UMPC) . In particular, the Asus R2H has caught my eye. At the moment I'm still researching how this device will perform (at $1850AU, I wouldn't want to end up with something I won't use) - I may even wait a little, to see if the price goes down a bit more, and maybe wait till it ships with Vista. Sure, I could upgrade it myself, but I'd rather leave it to the experts and not have to scour the net for device drivers - Kevin Tofel, I am not. Til then, I'll try to make do with my laptop as my primary computer, and use my pdas (hp ipaq h2210 with wifi sdio card and rx1950) for my mobile computing needs.
As a scientist, part of my job involves taking pictures of cells under a microscope. Now, I had just started working at a new place, and they use a digtal slr ie. something expensive and unfamiliar. Unfortunately, I'm a point-and-shoot guy at heart, and though I do like to dabble with the settings on my own digital camera, this was for work, and I didn't want to waste any time fiddling with settings. So I snapped away, checking the images briefly (on a teeny tiny 1.5 inch screen - way too small for me), and loaded them up on my laptop. Unfortunately, it seems that the LCD backlight on the camera was cranked way up, coz on my laptop, everything was severely underexposed. Crap! I had two options: take the photos again, but trying different settings (too fiddly), or I could try and boost the brightness using an image editing program (bingo!). Long story short, my 2 year old, celeron 1.5Ghz laptop with 768Mb of RAM and 40Gb HD performed like a star. Multiple layers, filters, having up to 20 or so images open (though just at 0.5Mb each pic) - there was no discernable lag, no crashing, no weird results. Then I also remembered that when I went on a roadtrip with some friends, I used the same laptop to download the video from my camcorder (via firewire), create a roadtrip video (with live preview activated), added a soundtrack, and played it in front of everyone that very night!
In the end, my laptop might look as sexy as a grey paving tile (and look/weigh like one), but as much as I'd like to find fault in it (to justify a replacement), I couldn't deny that it was a solid performer. Hell, even with intel integrated graphics, I can play World of Warcraft and Freedom Force (a very cool game, I encourage everyone to check it out), record, edit and encode HDTV (with my HDTV adapter), and create a dual monitor setup by outputing simulatenously to an external monitor!
So this is my advice to anyone contemplating a laptop/portable computer purchase: Laptops may not be created equal, but unlike what the manufacturers would have you believe, it doesn't necessarily mean that you won't be happy with anything less than the latest and greatest. Its not all about clock speed, especially with laptops. Battery life, portability and flexibility should definitely be considered, as well as the cost of extras, such as accessories, and extended warranties.
Based on those criteria, I reckon that my next laptop won't be a laptop at all, but an ultra mobile pc (UMPC) . In particular, the Asus R2H has caught my eye. At the moment I'm still researching how this device will perform (at $1850AU, I wouldn't want to end up with something I won't use) - I may even wait a little, to see if the price goes down a bit more, and maybe wait till it ships with Vista. Sure, I could upgrade it myself, but I'd rather leave it to the experts and not have to scour the net for device drivers - Kevin Tofel, I am not. Til then, I'll try to make do with my laptop as my primary computer, and use my pdas (hp ipaq h2210 with wifi sdio card and rx1950) for my mobile computing needs.
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Widescreen on a small screen: Creative Zen W
:D Purty ain't it?! Much bigger screen than the vision M, that's for sure (4.3 inch widescreen vs 2.5 inch) .
Costs the same as the CZVM 60Gb ($479), with half the capacity...but I think the 2x bigger screen, included A/V cable and ac adapter ($29 and $59 sold separately) justifies the price. No usb host, which bummed me out a bit, but it does have a CF slot, and a multi-card adapter available as an option, so it might still be ok for storing my pics on holidays.
Have to say that what convinced me to stick with Creative players is the included software - very user friendly, and converts video formats that aren't compatible, like all those vidcasts that are in m4v (ie. iPod format) that are available on the net, and the ones that come out of my digital camera (.mov format).
Its too big to be pocketable, which is fine since its got a huge screen and a spinning HD that wouldn't survive two days in my pocket anyway, so a bag would be a must to carry this around. Speaking of bags, the drawstring pouch that was provided as a case was pretty lame and provides crap all protection against anything but dust, but I love how the W's chassis is made of a matte, faux brushed metal finish that resists fingerprints and scratches...something that the CZVM sorely needs.
This ones a keeper.
Sunday, December 03, 2006
The creative zen vision m has left the building
alas, the honeymoon is over. I returned the Creative Zen Vision M (CZVM) today - thank God for generous return policies!
The tragedy is, the CZVH would have been my perfect multimedia companion, but I just found too many negatives that I know will eventually frustrate me to no end.
First and foremost, the screen is too glossy! It was so bad that my eyes were constantly refocussing to my reflection, giving me a headache after only a few minutes of watching. And what was even more annoying was that the rest of the body was so bloody reflective as well! Sure, it makes it look pretty, but I need something that is functional, and this wasn't working for me.
Finally, though the build quality is pretty good, I felt like I can't comfortably walk around the place with this thing in my pocket - the front is just too scratch prone. Getting it out of the packaging already produced some micro-scratches, and don't get me started about the dodgy drawstring bag that was provided as a case! Also, being my first experience with a hardrive based pocketable device, feeling the hard drive spinning in use alerted me to the fact that carrying this thing around would require special care. I've been spoilt by flash based memory in all my other portable gadgets (PDA's, phones, mp3 players, even cameras), and frankly I'd be too obsessively paranoid about crashing the HD carrying this around in my pocket.
So its with a heavy heart that I drove to the store and returned the CZVM, knowing that apart from those few complaints, that it is a very innovate and worthwhile device. I'll still write up my impressions on it, though obviously I won't be able to tell u anything about the battery life (apart from how long it takes to trickle charge via usb), but hopefully it'll help others decide whether the CZVM is right for them.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
May I present: The creative zen vision M 60Gb!
Just got my hot little hands on a new Creative Zen Vision M (CZVM) :D Its a kick-ass mp3/wma/divx/xvid/mpeg/wmv player, and usb host feature built-in!
What is this usb host thing, you ask? Well, it means that you can connect a usb drive or camera to the CZVM (just as you would with a computer) and download the files from the drive/camera to it! No more running out of memory for all your piccies and vids (which happens all too often to me on holidays), and it has a nice 2.5' inch screen to view those downloaded images as well (which is a bit bigger than any of the screens on my cameras). On a cost per Gb comparison, $479 for 60Gb (just under $8 per Gb) vs $75 for a 2 Gb SD card ($37.50 per Gb), the CZVM is a darn good deal in my book. Having said that, there are a few things I don't like about the player, but I'll leave that for my full review, coming soon!
Stay tuned!
Pat
ps:That's a pic of my CZVM 60Gb charging up - that white thing attached to it is the multi-connector dongle (hehe, 'dongle'...)
Thursday, July 13, 2006
New pics on flick!
Just a quick post to say that there are new pics on my flickr album - that's going to be the place for my photos to go while MSN spaces continues to not let me upload my photos on my other blog. So just click on the link to the right of this page for the pics...and don't be afraid to leave a comment :)
Take it easy,
Pat
Take it easy,
Pat
Sunday, July 02, 2006
I love redundancy...
..at least with my gadgets. I've just bought a firewire pc card today - its a long story as to how this ties into redundancy, but its got to do with the fact that my laptop is still in the shop (hopefully getting fixed), and until today, I had no way to upload the videos on my minidv to a computer. This is an unusual situation for me since I'm too much of an impatient, paranoid freak about everything that I am hardly without access to a backup of any of my devices...and because I'm not made of money, this usually means that I purposely buy things that can perform double duty in a pinch.
maybe next post, I'll share all my toys with you and what I used them for :)
Watch pat hanging out on youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lK7bbNc4Iw
This is what I've been doing every tuesday night (and I plan to continue
doing) for the last six months...and I think one of the funny things is the
fact that I'm actually scared of heights (though I subscribe to the 'don't
look down' philosophy, and its been working well for me so far)
Pat
ps: I cheated with this post and did it with a desktop (considering that I
had to upload the video on youtube first); anyhoo, hope you enjoy it.
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Saturday, May 27, 2006
hehe, ok, so I CAN post photos...wooo!
ok, the photo below is of my friend James from work (and his oversized mug)...I'm on my sister's laptop at the moment, since my own Compaq Presario 2200 piece of Sh_t suddenly decided that it doesn't want to recognise my wireless card - the same one that is built in there, and that has been working fairly well for over a year and a half (I'll do more complaining in another post). And all of that was to explain my photo choice, since I don't have access to many of my photos at the moment. Hmmm, I'm being unusually productive for a saturday morning...better watch some tv and scratch my ass for a bit to compensate :)
moving house
first post! haven't really thought about moving all my ponderings to a 'proper' blog until now - msn spaces was getting a bit too inundated with teenagers (vile creatures) - and I really wanted to have a URL to put in the "URL" window for the forums/blog sites that I post at. Anyhoo, the plan is to move all of my msn spaces stuff here, though I'm not sure that blogger supports photos, or that I'd be able to port all my previous posts from msn spaces. Alright, that's enough writing for now. Stay tuned if you want :)
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