HP MINI 110-312TU

Another netbook, but this time by HP. No problem, since HP is the better choice when it comes to Customer Service, at least locally. They have a cozy and elegant Customer Service Office, with very fast response. So I guess, having a troublesome HP netbook would be okay. The HP Mini 110-3012TU is about 1” thick and weighing at around 1kg. It has a boring black design which is quite old according to the current trend of anti-fingerprints outer casing. The netbook is also pre-installed with Windows 7 Starter, which is good enough for light duties.

I hate the power button. It is a toggle which needs to be pull backward to turn the darn thing on. It may take you some time to adjust yourself with this kind of button, plus, I do not think you would like to spend most of your computing time with this kind of tool; long enough that would make you comfortable with it. Do you get what I mean? It’s that kind of thing, which after a few moments with it, you’ve started a calculation in your head about selling it off. The toggle button is hard to pull backward. Umm, maybe I had a soft finger tips. It is oddly placed at the right side of the palm rest. Having a cute palm rest is just burdensome enough and having a power switch like this, makes thing worse. It just that I hate you darn toggle-power-button!

The netbook-with-the-darn-toggle-power-button is equipped with a faster version of Intel Atom N455, which manages 1.66GHz. It also comes with 160GB of storage, WIFi, Webcam and Card Reader. The factory pre-installed Memory is hardly sufficient for current date task and duties. My experience, the netbook suffers frequent pauses and hangs when performing light multitasking, and even surfing the web, particularly when I am visiting those sites with heavy and intense flash graphic. Things like this is happening with Acer Netbook too, so I guess, it’s normal on 1GB base level netbook…accept on the Lenovo S10. The HP Mini 110-3012TU comes with 3 USB 2.0 ports, and also a nicely covered RJ45 connector. The VGA output is located on the left side of the netbook just a few centimeters away from the LCD.

After a few minutes of using it, the netbook has already shown signs of slow-motion’ness! Maybe it was the 1GB RAM. But how on earth can the Lenovo S10-3S not going through this kind of ‘slow’. Furthermore the HP Mini 110-3012TU comes with a better processor compared to the Lenovo, Intel Atom N450. Maybe the difference is unnoticeable, since the processors code difference is just 5 (LOL)! Pity for HP. The keyboard is pretty okay and wide for a netbook. This is much helpful to relive the stress of mistyped keys and generations of excuse upon typos and misspellings. The non-glare 10.1” WXGA screen is marvelous and sharp, and therefore no complains here. But I hate the design. I simply hate the design. HP should replace their designers. Makita and Ryobi designers are cool. Their new cordless power tools are awesome and splendid in design, that if it fitted with wings and tails, it could fly… with a little throw of course. I don’t know, maybe HP had spent too much on the Customer Service part, so that they are forgetting this design department. Yes, to be serious, I think I can design better than them.

Enough of the complaining… I want to sell this darn thing off.

SAMSUNG GALAXY S GT-I9000

I thought I had the last sight on Samsung Handphones and PDSs since the last Omnia 2.  I thought wrong.  Eventually an in-law bought it and using it for almost a year, and I had the chance to write something about it. It was quite a superior android based PDA. It was the Samsung Galaxy S GT-I9000,  3G-capable PDA with awesome display.  My first impression was that, the Samsung Galaxy S is so un-Samsung. Maybe I had too much bad experience with Window-Mobile based Samsung PDA. Certainly that was the factor for my prejudice against Samsung mobiles, gadgets. I used to think that Samsung phones are slow, irresponsive and annoying. Getting rid of it is a must. The Samsung Galaxy GT-I9000 has shown huge improvements in areas that made me loathe Samsung phones.

The Galaxy S GT-I9000, is a 120gm 3G capable PDA, with android OS Éclair. Pretty nifty and fast as a PDA, since the burdens of Windows Mobile are over. Actually, I should hate Windows Mobile, not hating Samsung (lol). The Galaxy S is sported with awesome 4.0 inch Super Amoled capacitive touchscreen with 480x800 pixels. The Screen is pretty huge for a PDA, and actually Samsung is using Gorilla Glass Display for their Galaxy S. The result, a crude and firm touch screen. It is super responsive with the Touch Sensitive Controls, and less prone to errors. I am hooked with the pleasure of the screen sensitivity. Sliding through the glassy screen is easy and smooth. Unlike the feeling when you slide your fingers over Samsung Omnia 2 screen which feels like a burden to your muscle. How I’d wish I’ve acquired the Galaxy S over the Omnia 2.

The Galaxy S I9000 comes with a built-in memory of 8GB or 16GB, making it amongst the generous storage for PDA. The 512MB RAM and 2 GB RAM is adequately good enough to maintain the PDA at all-time fast even after load of applications being installed. If you find that not enough, you can opt for the external MicroSD card which supports up to 32GB. The Samsung Galaxy S is also capable of making HD video recording of 720p at 30 frames per second.

Out of the box the Samsung Galaxy S GT-I9000 looked flat-faced and thin and retaining an unfamiliar being of the IPhone2. On the front side, there are only 3 buttons below the LCD screen which are the Home-key, Back-key and Menu-key. The Power-Button is located at the right side of the PDA while the Volume-key is at the left side. The PDA is also featuring a dual camera, capable of making video conference and video calls. Based on the Android platform, the Samsung Galaxy S can download and install additional applications from Android Market. This feature is amongst the factor that popularize the Android based gadgetry. You can either select the free applications or for deeper pockets, buy them (the applications).

All the ooh and aah, comes to and end when it goes for battery life. The Samsung Galaxy S, has an awfully low battery life. The in-law had craved for a few kinds of Android games, and eventually, it ends up that the PDA needs to be charge daily. At usual pace and day, the battery would last about 24 hours of normal usage. By the way, the in-law still defending the purchase made bragging that it been with it for more than a year with no complain. Ironically, the in-law also maintains a secondary super cheap, single-color-LCD hand phone for her daily usage… with longer battery life of course.

SKILL ROUTER 1827

I had always wanted a router, since my last Bosch mini router or mini trimmer was sold. I had a project on hand that need to be executed effectively only with a router. It was a modular kitchen cabinet stands. The stands will act as an adjustable feet and can be relocated and joined together again using a carefully routed joints. Each stands will have like 10 joints which will be made you know, either traditionally using a 1 1/2” flat head-chisel. Since there are like 10 stands to be completed and I am one of those with unsteady hands that produce unsteady and uneven cuts, so I guess, banking with a small router would be handy. One thing I hate about router is the brutal start up! I have the tendency to miss the spot even after I tried hard enough on a free play routing. I was thinking of getting myself a plunge router, since it has wide base and easier to be fixed and guide.
Back in those days, not long ago, the cheapest plunge router was around RM800-RM1500. That was way over-budget for me. Paying that kind of money should at least produce me something worthwhile, but eventually, all my woodworking outputs are not of merchantable quality. So, I thought best to stick it low and slow. My interest was captured on the Skil router 1827. Yes it is a router, plunge router… no big deal, but it is price at less than RM400. This is awesome deal, or maybe hardware and tools are getting into the trendies like what happen with computer stuff too.

Basically the new Skil Router 1827 is a plunge based router. It is powered by a 1200w motor that capable of churning most application easily. The Skil Router is also feature a Soft Start Technology, which is new to the local market. This Soft Start will be so useful for smoother and easier handling during the start-ups, therefore reducing the errors and hiccups here and there that usually happen with traditional router. On the other hand, the Soft Start is also friendlier to me as I am going to slowly adapting my hands and machine as the work progresses. The ½ collet capacity router is presumable more powerful than my last mini router that only uses 1/4” collet. It has Micro-fine Depth Adjustment for precise cuts and Dual-Position On/Off Switch for user convenience and better control. The other I like about the plunge router compared to mini router is the variable speed control. The new router is also equipped with soft-grip handles for better comfort and control over the 1200W machine. On the router itself, it has a Depth Rod and Adjustable Turret for repeatable plunge routing applications while the Quick Clamp Release Lever is for easy motor adjustments and removal.

Out of the box the Skil Router 1827 comes with Edge guide, a wrench and a Collet Adaptor. The router can be used with either ¼" & ½" collet. Below are the basic specification of the new Skil Router;

Input power                                       1200W

No-load speed                                  10,500-25,000rpm

Collet capacity                                   ¼" & ½" collet

Spindle lock                                       Yes

Soft Start                                           Yes

Micro depth Adjustments                   Yes

Auto Zero/Zero reset                         Yes

Dual-position slide on tool                  Yes

Quick Pass Turet                               Yes

Built-in light                                        Yes

Plunge base                                       Yes

Chip deflector                                   Yes

Weight                                               4.9kg

Awesome eh…  Now where do I put those kitchen stands again?

SKIL CIRCULAR SAW 5300

Sawing a straight cut on plywood and treated wood is tiresome for not-so-professional professionals. Since I had the kick of collecting power tools, I had given a try on a base line circular saw available on your local store. It is Skil Saw 5300, a 1300W brute. The Circular Saw is priced below RM300, making it amongst the affordable Circular Saw in the local market.

Out of the box, the saw comes with 7 ¼” Tungsten Carbide Tipped (TCT) blade equivalents to 184mm. The blade is 40 tooth blades is designed to cool down quickly compared to ordinary blades. The Circular Saw itself weighing at around 5 kg is no ordinary toy at its peak no load speed of 5,000 r.p.m. The built is sturdy and robust, able to withstand pressures and precisely designed meeting the acceptable safety standard. The motor is powerful enough to maintain a precise 60mm depth cut. Standard equipment provided with the saw are the 7 ¼” TCT blade itself, Blade Wrench and a Parallel Cutting Guide. The maximum adjustable bevel cut for the saw is 45 degree angle.  The Skil Saw sports a red colored tone similar to my old Black and Decker KR hammer drill. Kind of unoriginal, since out of thousands of available colors, why choose a color that has been normally linked to another brand.

The operation is quite simple, provided with the right technique and method. Cutting off a 3” wide treated wood is a short operation. However, for large surface area like ripping through an 8’ long plywood needs some initial planning and preparation. The rip fence guide is useful for such kind of long cuts. However, I prefer to use a dual rails and gliding action. The method is by fixing the plywood flat on a surface, then arranging 2 piece of long material clamped on both sides of the saw onto the plywood itself. The long material can be 2 piece of 9’ 1”X2” wood, or aluminum or anything that is long enough for the rip cut and wide enough to act as a glider for Circular saw. Before the real ripping commence, usually I will glide the Circular Saw back and forth, ensuring that the blade really touched the cutting mark. Once certain, turn on the plug and make the cut. You will be amazed on how simple it can be done. However, ripping a long cut without a guide rail, you are prone to slews and skips here and there, thus spoiling the subject. Keep in mind that wood material is not cheap locally, since our timber house are busy exporting our timbers for better pricing, so the best method is, measure twice or thrice, cut once!

ACER TRAVELMATE 8481G

Generally there are few grades of tools and stuff we usually find all around us. Starting from the crap grade then followed by the normal grade, then the high end grade. After that, there is also the sick grade. The new Acer Travelmate 8481G is no doubt a sick notebook. It is basically because it is an i7 notebook that weight only at 1.5kg. Plus this sick notebook is equipped with nVidia GT250Mobile further enhancing its ability to excel in wider scope. The Acer is also boasts to have up to 9 hours of battery life. That is one sick of a notebook at RM4k range. Let’s see what inside…

Out of the box, the Travelmate is kind of elegantly thin and slender with pretty boring of a design. It reminds me of the old Macbook Pro type of design, but with that un-cool Signal. The sick thin case is of magnesium based therefore Acer manages to skim its weight to a measly 1.5kg. The 14.1” LCD display is beautiful and crisp, leaving the panel holding it with only slight centimeters to spare on each sides and top. Even on the bright sunlight, the screen is viewable since the LCD is protected with a matte cover. The keyboard is pretty comfortable, but eventually it is the type of keyboard layout that is easy to trap dust and dirt. It is similar with the Aspire model. The palm rest is wide and generous where the touch screen is placed. The fingerprint reader is located between the buttons.

I do not know what has the engineers at Acer are eating, but equipping the already sick notebook with NVIDIA’s GT520M, is making the notebook into a beast. The notebook is also utilizing the Optimus technology where discreet graphics card will be turned on only when needed. Therefore reducing heat and reducing power consumption. This is the specification of the Acer Travelmate 8481G that is being reviewed here;

Processor: Intel Core i7 2637M with 4MB L2 Cache; Turbo Boost up to 2.80GHz. This is one of the fastest 17W TDP processor.

RAM: 4GB DDR3

Graphics Adapter: NVIDIA GeForce GT 520M with dedicated 1GB DDR3 VRAM

Display: 14.1 inch, 16:9, 1366x768 pixels,

HDD: 320GB 7200RPM Anti-shock Protected

Magnesium Aluminium Body Casing and Carbon Top LCD Panel

Integrated Bluetooth 3.0, Webcam, WiFi, USB2.0, E-SATA, VGA Output, Ethernet Jack 

The verdict; Acer’s TravelMate8481G is one of the sickest laptop around available at less than RM4k. I have to agree, that this sicko will play a contributing role in the demise of desktop industry. Now, who wants to buy an i7 desktop at the same specification around the same price? Secondly, who wants to buy a desktop that usually will last around 3-4 years, about the same age of any offered notebook in the market? Thirdly, who wants to buy a desktop that churns on your money on electric bills? Fourth, who on earth wants to buy a desktop that produces more heat? This Acer Travelmate can play Call of Duty Balck Ops and Starcraft 2 at reasonably good settings, and who on earth does not content for that, plus the additional bonus of mobility, cooler and more energy efficient system.

Now where do I start to save?
Picture taken from: Acer

ASUS K52JR

The Asus notebook range is like car plate number. It doesn’t have a model name like the Dell Inspiron or Acer Aspire or Vaio by Sony or some of the HP notebook model. So it is hard to remember and distinguish. Same goes with the MSI notebook. The Asus K52JR was brought into the local market somewhere in mid 2010. It is a big notebook with 15.6” HL Led screen. The notebook is equipped with processor option of Intel® Core™ i5 Processor 540M/520M/450M430M or Intel® Core™ i3 Processor 370M/350M/330M or Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core Processor P6000. Imbedded with the Mobile Intel® HM55 Express Chipset  is the ATI Mobility™ Radeon® HD 5470 1G DDR3 VRAM, which is a quite a formidable graphic processor. The notebook comes with a factory pre-installed 2GB DDR3 1066 MHz SDRAM and upgradeable up to 8GB SDRAM within its 2 SODIMM socket. The storage option is either 250GB at 5400rpm, 320GB at 5400 and 7200 rpm up to 640GB at 5400rpm. According to Asus, the K52JR was designed to improve multitasking and mobile computing.

Apart from the aforementioned option we can get from it, the ASUS K52JR has a normal modem, Ethernet port, Card Reader, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth, Microphone-in jack, Headphone-out jack, VGA port, 3 x USB 2.0 ports and one HDMI. DVD Writer is made standard with the notebook, and Blu-Ray DVD Combo is an option. The Notebook is also weight around 2.6kg which is pretty normal for a 15.6” notebook.
Design wise the notebook is pretty big since it is a 15.6” notebook, plus the K52JR does come with the number pad. The palm rest is wide and spacious and friendly to the hands upon resting on it, since the edge of the notebook is amazingly smooth. The touch pad is prompt and responsive as it features the intuitive multi-touch touch pad which is very handy for scrolling pages and zooming in and out. The touch pad is fitted with a feature which distinguishes the differences between palm and finger contact. This is pretty useful, since accidental movements of cursor can be reduced automatically. The notebook has hinge that draws the LCD away upon opening it up. Asus claimed that the ‘sunken hinge’ provides better viewing and increase in comfort. The LCD back panel is simply smooth without that cheap plastic feeling, and so does the overall keyboard section. The ASUS K52JR uses Altec Lansing speakers which has SRS Premium Sound. The keyboard design and layout, is marvelously sleek. It’s like a Lenovo keyboard, which the keys are raised over the panel, with just a tiny opening for each key, minimizing trapped dust and dirt. The webcam is located above the HD screen just like any other notebook. The 14” LED panel LCD is pretty sharp too, but a little too glossy to be viewed comfortably when there’s too much external light.

The notebook is loaded with Operating options of Windows® 7 Ultimate, Windows® 7 Professional, Windows® 7 Home Premium or Windows® 7 Home Basic. The one thing I hate about getting a system with factory pre-installed Operating System is the rubbish they put inside the Windows. That goes the same too for almost any notebook.  They installed too many unneeded crap, that the first 4-5 hours of the notebook life usually be used uninstalling them or figuring how clean them up. There was a time, it took me more than a week to properly clean a factory preinstalled ‘junkware’. If you can’t get the picture, purchase a new mainboard, and installed every darn applications they include free in the mainboard driver CD or DVD.

Performance wise, the notebook is freaking fast. The i3 processor is quite enough to handle most of my gaming need and processing speed. I guess the i5 equipped model will be much nicer and faster. Booting is easy and smooth. However, without cleaning the notebook out of its pre-installed applications, the notebook is like other ordinary notebook, which on the first impression is only fitted with 1GB RAM. The default 2 years warranty on all Asus Notebook and netbook is another plus that need to be considered. O yes, they have a crappy name for a notebook model that may sound nice for automobiles, but seriously the Asus K52JR is worth checking. Deciding and committing will be a little later.
Picture taken from: Asustek

HP COMPAQ CQ42-203AU

The HP Compaq CQ42-203AU is the successor from the previous version of HP Compaq CQ40 and HP Compaq CQ41 notebook range. It has newer design compared with the older model. Yes, newer and ironically cheap-feeling and amazingly boring-look of a black piece of plastic component. The specification is somehow better than the older model of CQ40 and CQ41. It came with a dual core processor, DDR3 Memory and an upgraded version of graphics engine. However, since the notebook was targeted to be on the base line system, it did not come with Operating System. I had to acquire 6 units of this model in order to cater the business need for expansion. Sold off 4 units and keeping the rest for company usage. I had upgraded a few units with additional 2 years warranty due to heavy usage day in day out. Had a unit sent back to HP for repair, and next few hours, it was ready to be collected. This is the best part of HP goods and stuff. They are very good and spectacular when it comes to RMA (Return Merchandise Agreement). Maybe it was the reps at HP. 

The factory given RAM is surely low, and upgrading it to 2GB is a must. Otherwise, you will find this notebook is not much different with those super slow-motion netbook trying to run Windows 7 Ultimate with Kaspersky Anti-Virus installed. The touchpad is among the hideous part of the notebook. It is ugly and horrid in design. Why on earth did they design such a horror palm rest? The touchpad was raised to the same level of the palm rest, which looked like colored brick. Maybe if the color was carbon-grey or red, it might be cool, but black… so not cool. The led-light, which usually indicate whether we had Caps Lock and also the power indicator are so tiny. That goes the same too for the power button. It seemed that HP is trying use small parts to reduce the cost. Cheap plastic, cheap led lights, cheap power button, cheap designing yields this HP Compaq CQ42-203AU. By the way, the notebook itself was not that bad after all. This is the specification of the notebook;

AMD Athlon™ II Dual-Core Processor P320 (2.1GHz, 1MB L2 Cache)

1024MB 1333MHz / DDR3 Memory (1024 x 1 pcs)

320GB 7200rpm Hard Disk Drive

14.0” (1366 x 768) Screen

AMD M880G with ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 4250 Graphics

Integrated B/G/N Wireless, USB 2.0 (3), HDMI Port, Card Reader, Webcam

Weight: 2.2kg

Upon first few hours, the notebook managed to run the installed applications smoothly on Windows 7 64bit. After it had finished collecting the necessary updates on the drivers and Direct X, I had put them on the game test. The result was pretty much the same like its older brother, namely the HP CQ40 and HP CQ41. The CQ 42-203AU manages to run these game; Call of Duty Modern Warfare, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, StarCraft 2 (very low setting), Fifa 2011, Section 8, Crysis, Halo, Halo 2 and almost all the games near the range. Unfortunately, it cannot play Call of Duty Black Ops, Battlefield Bad Company 2 and astonishingly GTA San Andreas. It left me stumped for explanation. The CQ 42-203 has been put to test on a straight 12 hours gaming mode, at I did perform well. Apart from a few glitch, pause and hang here and there, the notebook is considerably tough a crude. By the way, seriously upgrading the warranty from the default 1 year to 3 years warranty is worthy.
Picture taken from: HP Malaysia

BLACKBERRY PLAYBOOK 16GB

The new offering by Research In Motion (RIM) codename Blackberry Playbook has arrived the country. It is much awaited locally even in fact the Playbook is not another android based tablet. The overwhelming tablet trend is giving a strong message to RIM, and somehow, they are a little late behind other manufacturers. Despite the lag, RIM finally has released the Blackberry Playbook, using their own new Blackberry OS, which reported will be used to power future Blackberry smartphones too.
The Blackberry Playbook, unlike the Samsung Tab is a tablet that has no support for GSM voice communication, such as the 2G and 3G network. Therefor it is solely a 7” tablet that has limited capability being a stand-alone device unless being connected through its WiFi.  What a bummer! It weigh around half a kg, with TFT capacitive touch screen capable of multi-touch input and auto rotate at 600 x 1024 pixels. The Playbook is offered in three sizes of storage, 16GB, 32GB and 64GB. The Playbook is also equipped with Bluetooth, a primary and secondary webcams with 5 MP and 3 MP respectively and 1080p HD video playback capability.

Physically, the Playbook 16GB with only 10mm thickness is simple and robust. It is easier to handle, since it is only half a kg, and less prone to slip and slides due to the rubberize material on the outer casing. However, it is widely known that this rubbery material tend to give in and worn in time, making the Playbook the exhausted and tattered look. On the outer side of the screen, are the sensors for swiping inputs, which is very handy and genius. Power button is place at the top of the device near the media control buttons while RIM had placed a pair of speakers on the sides of the screen.

Like the Blackberry Smartphone OS, the provided tablet OS is fast and easy to understand. They are very responsive to the swiping and touch. Synchronizing the Blackberry Playbook and Blackberry hand phones is pretty simple and by doing this, we can use the Playbook for internet browsing which is surely more pleasant and easier to the eye and hands. The Playbook 16GB has a great battery life which is usually more than 6 hours depending on settings and usage scenarios. This is an awesome performance for RIM’s first attempt on the tablet market. The Playbook which is powered by 1GHz dual-core Cortex-A9 CPU and PowerVR SGX540 GPU on TI OMAP 4430 chipset manage to handle multi-tasking duties too. These hardware and Blackberry OS combination proven to be less power-hungry and yet, delivering performance matching to RIM’s Blackberry Torch.

On the other hand, it might be useful of having a Playbook while having a Blackberry smartphones, since they both can cooperate with each other, but it is also kind of extra burden. What’s the use of having the Playbook, when you can do almost anything that Playbook can do with your Blackberry Smart phone? Yes, maybe for that little extra here and there; large display, easier for the hands and eye, larger display,  extra pouch (to keep your Playbook), larger display, extra 0.5kg burden, larger display… oh, a working WiFi!

ALIENWARE M14X

The Alien-company has introduced a new Notebook range, the M14X and M18X.  The M14X which is already available in the local market appeared to gain momentum over their current range of gaming notebook, the M11X and M17X. The M14X is considerably the most powerful 14” notebook, period, is equipped with 14” HD display, the second generation of Intel® Core™ i7 processor and of course the top of the range graphic performance. However, the goodness of having the best of 14” notebook specifications does come with the setback, the weight problem. The starting weight of M14X is around 3.2kg, and that is around 1kg heavier than most 14” notebook.

The M14X is equipped with choices of Intel i5 and i7 Processor.  The Intel® Core™ i5-2410M processor 2.30 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 2.90 GHz is the lowest processor option up to the highest processor range of the i7-2820QM processor 2.30 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 3.40 GHz. The standard Memory is 4GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM (2 x 2GB) and it is upgradeable up to 8GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM (2 x 4GB). The M14X is using NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 555M using NVIDIA Video card is made standard either with 1.5GB DDR3 or 3.0GB DDR3. Alienware is also banking on their 14” WLED HD LCD of the option 720p display with 1366 x 768 resolutions or 900p display with 1600 x 900 resolutions. These are the offered specification made available for the current M14X;

Processor

Intel® Core™ i5-2410M processor 2.30 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 2.90 GHz, Intel® Core™ i7-2630QM processor 2.00 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 2.90 GHz, Intel® Core™ i7-2720QM processor 2.20 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 3.30 GHz, Intel® Core™ i7-2820QM processor 2.30 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 3.40 GHz

Operating System

Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium SP1 64bit, Genuine Windows® 7 Professional SP1 64bit,    Genuine Windows® 7 Ultimate SP1 64bit

Memory             

                4GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM (2 x 2GB), 6GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM (1 x 2GB + 1 x 4GB), 8GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM(2x4GB), 6GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM (1 x 2GB + 1 x 4GB), 8GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM (2 x 4GB), 4GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM (2 x 2GB)

Video Card

1.5GB DDR3 NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 555M using NVIDIA Optimus™ technology, 3.0GB DDR3 NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 555M using NVIDIA Optimus™ technology

Display

14" (35.6cm) WLED HD (720p) display (1366X768), 14" (35.6cm) WLED HD+ (900p) display (1600X900)

Hard Drive

                Up to 750GB7 hard drive (7200RPM), Up to 256GB7 Solid State hard drive

Optical Drive

                8x SuperMulti DVD±R/RW Slot load optical drive

Power

                High Capacity 8-cell Lithium Ion (63whr)

Camera

                2.0 Megapixel HD Video and Picture Camera with dual digital microphones

Wireless

Networking and Wi-Fi Options,  All Intel® Wi-Fi options include Intel® Wireless Display (Wi-Di) technology support.9, Integrated 10/100/1000Mbps Gigabit Ethernet NIC (Standard), Intel® Wireless-N WiFi Link 1000 a/g/n 1x2 (Standard, Intel® Advanced-N WiFi Link 6205 a/g/n 2x2 MIMO Technology (Optional)

Bluetooth Option

                Internal Bluetooth® 3.0

Ports, Slots & Chassis

External Chassis Connections, (1x) RJ-45 Gigabit Ethernet, (2x) SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Ports, (1x) Hi-Speed USB 2.0 Port with PowerShare Technology, (1x) Mini-Display Port, (1x) HDMI 1.4 Audio and Video Output, (1x) VGA Port, (1x) 9-in-1 Media Card Reader, (2x) Audio Out 1/8" Ports, (1x) Audio In / Microphone 1/8" Port (re-stackable for 5.1 audio),  (1x) Security Lock port

System Dimensions

Height: 37.8 mm (1.49 inches), Depth: 258.34 mm (10.17 inches), Width: 337.00 mm (13.27 inches), Starting at Weight3 with 8-cell battery: - 2.92 kg (6.45lbs)

Color Options

                Stealth Black with Soft Touch Finish or Nebula Red with Soft Touch Finish

Keyboard

                4-Zone, multi-color RGB, 82 key keyboard with AlienFX lighting controls

Customized Features

                Laser-Engraved Nameplate

 Design wise, the M14X is not much of a different from the older M11X and M15X. Retaining the aggressive and supersonic outlook, the M14X is much closer to the M11x. The LCD cover is pretty much the same with slender alien lines, and so does the keyboard. This is because there is no number pad in M14X and M11X. The other improvement of the M14X is the availability of HDMI 1.4 port in it, and it also compatible with 3-D TV which however requires additional device. The M14X also boasted with better built in 2.1 speaker configuration which is tuned and configured by Klipsch. The battery life is amazingly longer too. The 14X manage to average itself around 2-5 hours of usage, depending on the hardware notebook configuration and the system setting. This is a stupendous feat not previously possible with the already-departed Alienware M15X.
Picture taken from: Dell.com

SAMSUNG OMNIA i900 16GB

There was a time where I had the urgency to get the wife a new Windows Mobile based PDA to replace her horrific Samsung B7320 Omnia pro, a qwerty-key but also a Windows Mobile based PDA. So I had closed a trade-in deal with a chap for her Samsung B7320 Omnia pro for an older but I assumed and thought to be better PDA, the Samsung Omnia i900 16GB. It turned out to be another folly.

The Samsung Omnia i900 basically is a Windows Mobile 6.1 PDA which received quite impressive ratings online. It has 2G and 3G network capabilities, reasonably good 3.2” TFT resistive touchscreen with resolutions of 240 x 400, massive 16GB storage, great 5MP camera (at its period) and almost every goodness of a Windows 6.1 PDA had. Most importantly, Windows 6.1 is good enough for us to use Pocket Islam. The wife also uses the threaded view SMS very much and also the unlimited phone calls and phone books entries. The PDA is light at around 122 g, but a little wide for easy usage and texting while on the move. The used set, we had acquired is also equipped with a portable Garmin Navigator system, which utilized the Omnia i900 built-in GPS. However, locking and detecting location is tremendously slow. It most scenarios, we had already drove half-way before the GPS manage to locked on. I was so amazed on how could this set be reviewed positively. Maybe the Omnia i900 we had was a faulty set.

Next was the touch screen. The displayed keyboard was so small and it we could hardly get the correct keys. And the screen is somehow misaligned and insensitive to the extent that we need to tap twice or more. However, the wife managed to live with that and adapting her fingers with such horrendous touch screen. Maybe it was just me (LOL). The needed application worked ok with the PDA, with nothing to complain. Performance wise, the Samsung Omnia i900 is much faster than its younger brother, the Samsung Omnia 2 i8000. Where did it go wrong? The Samsung Omnia i900 is using only Marvell PXA312 624 MHz processor, while its newer sibling, the Omnia 2 i8000 uses faster and better Samsung S3C6410 800MHz processor, which is also has a dedicated graphics accelerator. Secondly, the Omnia i900 we had had like 16GB of storage, which means bigger load than the newer Omnia 2 i8000 8GB. After a few thoughts, it came to a personal conclusion that, Samsung might have been trying to improve some of the shortcomings of their Omnia i900 in their Omnia 2 i8000. Yes, they managed to do that. Better touch screen, better resolutions, faster GPS… but at they missed on other places which previously they did ok.

Battery life is short with Omnia i900. So did our hope of getting it fixed or getting explanations. The PDA tend to be in strike mode when after it switched itself OFF due to low battery. And getting it back on after that is tough. The Samsung Omnia 16GB is supposedly to have 16GB of internal space, or somewhere near that. But after adding and using this storage for around 3GB, the PDA had already showing an error message telling "Storage Memory is Critically Low". What the…  Was the PDA a faulty set? Or we were reading it wrongly at the box, ads, online and everywhere… its Samsung Omnia i900 3GB!

WESTERN DIGITAL ELEMENTS SE 500GB/GO

I got myself a Western Digital Elements SE  today. It is a 500GB external USB 2.0 portable hard disk. I had used up almost 70% of my notebook storage over some important things and crappy things as well. My notebook internal hard disk Is only 320GB in size, and divided into 2 partitions of 100GB and 200++ GB. After about 4 months, I had noticed that the notebook’s speed is creeping down on some stupid applications I am using. The internal hard disk is almost full with photos, books, articles and some other foolish stuff I picked up online. Maybe I need just to clean up those spaces and gain a little like 20-30GB back from it. I did that and I scrapped up only a measly 10++ GB only… superb. Now I had to buy thing again. I had already a 500GB 2.5” external hard disk on hand, which is also a Western Digital Scorpio Blue, but dead! I am yet to send them back for RMA (Return merchandise authorization). It had been dead for more than 3 months, but I’m just technically either too busy to pack it up and send it to Western Digital or too old to remember that I need to do that, every day for the past 3 months. Or maybe because I am aware that Western Digital is providing 3 years warranty for their hard disk, and the manufacturing date was on 26^th July 2010. The thing was dead because of some USB voltage spike from another amplified device. I’m not pretty sure what it was it, since I was not there, but according to the responsible bloke it was plugged on a Home Theatre System. So I guessed it must’ve been from the HiFi or the amplifier or things like that, with not-so-stable voltage, like the bloke.

For RM180, the new WD Elements SE is quite OK considering that the internal-type, Western Digital 2.5” 500GB SATA hard disk is priced at RM169. So after adding like RM25 for an external USB 2.0 2.5” casing (the cheapest of the cheap), the cost would be more than buying the WD Elements.  Plus, we get all Western Digital’s USB 2.0 external device; the Western Digital’s hard disk, the Western Digital’s external case with Western Digital’s design and emblem and logos, the Western Digital’s Cable and also the Western Digital’s box which is quite nice to be used for… you know, mementos type of thingy (LOL) or light-artillery-shell which is thrown only to friends, who drop your bike.

Basically the design is simple and not much of different from other offerings in the external hard disk market. The WD Elements SE is black contoured plastic case, sleek and lustrous on its side, rubberized feet on one surface but also a little thick for a 2.5” hard disk. To be exact, about double the thickness. Maybe they had some extra foam inside. The hard disk was already pre-formatted and ready to use. The hard disk also produces less heat compared to my already-dead Western Digital Scorpio with a cheap aluminum based encasement (Yes, comparison made base on; when the hard disk was not dead yet).