Google was so generous to send our company a free device. Its awsome!
February 16, 2011
July 14, 2010
HTC Desire – My First Smartphone Experince
Although by profession i am a mobile application developer, i have never owned a smart phone. I never felt the need. But recently things have changes. I needed a piece of the action. At work i always worked with Windows Mobile devices. Being the “Open Source” guy i naturally liked the android platform. iPhone seems to be locked down tight. But android seemed to me the most promising platform. Any how i wanted to buy a Nexus one. But as i couldn’t get one i settled for a HTC Desire. Its pretty much the same as a Nexus One. But have some differences. I am just going to post some pics, not because there are not enough pics already out there on the Internets. But because it feels good to post some in my blog.
HTC Desire
HTC Desire with the headphones
HTC Desire back and the cover removed
I asked a friend visiting Singapore to buy this for me. He brought it for 810 SGD. But i think you can buy it for about 730 SGD. Unfortunately my friend was not used to doing shopping in a place like Unity Plaza, where the shop owners are cunning a**hol*s. They even removed the microSD card that came with the phone. Anyways, i brought a new Airtel SIM as the one i had didn’t have HSPA or 3G. I am going to order a microSD off eBay. And hopefully everything would be fine! 
I am also thinking of replacing the stock ROM Android 2.1, with a rooted 2.2. I don’t have a wireless router at home, but i do have a laptop. So if the device can connect to Adhoc networks it can access internet through my laptop. But it seems stock android don’t support this. So i am going to try a rooted image. Hopefully it will solve this problem. The phone feels really snappy. And i am happy!
Sometimes its a bit hard to believe that you are having so much computing power on a little device such as this. The world sure have come a long way with building mobiles.
Links
January 22, 2010
Thoughts about HP 2133 Mini-Note
On My Bed, Looking Smart
Slim and Looking Good
More Pictures on flickr
My dad got a HP 2133 Mini-Note as a gift (!!!, seriously, its me who should have got a gift like this 
). He don’t really use it and i am the only one to spend some time with it. This is the first ever net book that i got my hands on. I expected a lot more from a netbook than what i got from 2133. I think this is due to the fact that the model i got was some what a economic edition, it had Linux and thats good. But i think HP made my model as a low end one so needless to say it degraded the net book’s performance. Why do everybody have to us Linux users less RAM anyways?!#!!. It didn’t have a SSD, the cpu is a via and its not as powerful (i don’t want it to be as fast as my desktop cpu or even come close to it. but its still too slow for doing some web browsing and playing some music. it lags at times…etc) as i want it to be. And the battery don’t last that long. Plus it gets really hot!.
Any how now this model is suspended and is replaced by the newer 2140.
Following specs were obtained from the HP’s web site (http://h40059.www4.hp.com/hp2133/).
| Specifications | ||
|---|---|---|
| Model number | KX872AA (This is what i got) | FF009AA |
| Operating system installed | SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop | Genuine Windows Vista® Business |
| Processor | Via C7-M (1.2G) | Via C7-M (1.2G) |
| Memory | 1024MB DDR RAM | 2048MB DDR RAM |
| Network Support | 56K Modem, 802.11b/g,Bluetooth | 56K Modem, 802.11a/b/g,Bluetooth |
| Disk | 120GB HDD | 120GB HDD |
| Battery | 3-Cell LiIon Battery | 6-Cell LiIon Battery |
| Warranty | 1 year | 1 year |
| OS | Linux | VB OFC07 Ready |
Simple breakdown of pros and cons as i see it.
Pros
- Looks nice
- Solid build
- OK Keyboard
- Small size
- Came with Suse Linux pre installed! (i uninstalled it and installed Ubuntu straight away
) - No Drivers-Missing problems with Linux. Almost (dynamic CPU frequency setting was not working on stock Ubuntu. I am sure this contributed to the cons about low battery life and too much heat) everything works with a default Ubuntu installation.
Cons
- Processor is too slow
- Didn’t come with a SSD
- Gets really hot
- Battery life is too short for a netbook
- Heavier than it looks
I am sure i can make this useful in many ways, but its not the ideal net book i had in mind.
January 18, 2010
Thoughts about Grado SR60i Headphones
Got a Classic Look eh?
More Pictures on flickr
There was a chance for me to get some thing brought down from Amazon, so i brought a set of headphones (and a sound card). I am nothing close to an audiophile so whatever i say about this set of headphones is coming from an ordinary geek.
Pros
- Overall grate sound quality.
- Lows, Mids and Highs all sounds good.
- I hear more sounds (ie: i hear some instrument playing in the background which i have never heard before, in a familiar song.) than i used to hear though my speakers.
- Music sounds better through my headphones, when comparing with my 5.1 surround sound system (Creative Impress).
- The build quality is pretty good. I hope this will last for some time.
- Connectors are good, i hear no noise.
Cons
- It is not comfortable to wear. My ears starts paining after a while.
- This is ‘open air’, so others around you can hear what you are listening to. Can be a nuisance sometimes.
- Bit heavy and have a 80s look (may be this should be a pro? ).
- For movies and games i would rather turn to my speakers (not really a con i guess…).
I am happy about my investment.
October 2, 2009
Samsung 2233SWPlus
Its been a very exciting month! After doing more than the average (from my standards :) ) amount of research on the subject of buying a lcd monitor. I settled on the 2233SW. It was one of best options i had, or so i think As for now i am very happy with this one. It looks grate, both the finish and the picture quality. But then its not like i have used a lot of lcd panels. Almost all of the monitors that caught my attention are included in the following spreadsheet, with their key specs and prices in the local markets. Might be helpful to anyone who is looking in to buying a lcd monitor these days.
You won’t be able to see the table here in full because of the layout of the site, so find it here: http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=tN-CeMAoc3qpsQia62azxgQ&output=html
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Some pics…
more pics here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/yasi8h/sets/72157622373186619/
October 1, 2009
My New VGA
After my old vga 8800GTS died on i couldn’t even turn on my desktop. After waiting for month or so and after doing some cost\ benefit analysis i decided on a MSI 9600GT 512. It cost 14,00LKR here in SL. It have been about 2 or 3 weeks since i brought it home. So far its working fine. It doesn’t give any thing more than 25 fps on GTA IV\max settings\1900×1080. But still this is a low end card, you can’t expect wonders from it. I have never overclocked any hardware before but i decided to do some overclocking with this one. As i really needed any extra FPS i can get. The factory settings were: 600\1500\900, i am currently running it at 700\1750\1050. Now i like to think that my system is stable but it is not. It crashed two times within two days. I might have to ajuest the speeds a bit. May be take it back a little. The overclocking gave me some 3 or 4 FPS in GTAIV. Is it worth it? i don’t know. All this time the temps never went pass 60c.
