Sunday, March 22, 2009

My Very Own HP Mini (^-^)


At last, after a month and a half of constant internet monitoring.. I've finally got my hands on my very own HP Mini 2140. Been waiting for its arrival in Malaysia, but HP representative informed that it will only reach Malaysia by end of March or early April. Hence my main purpose of the recent trip to Singapore was to buy it from the Singapore IT Show 2009.

You might think, why to this extend this bloke would go and get this Netbook? Well.. I really needed something small and light for work; namely to check e-mails, simple document editing and do presentations. I've been hauling the office's 14 inch notebook and it is killing my back, to add insult.. the wireless didn't even work!

I chose this Netbook as it has an aluminum chassis, 92% full sized QWERTY keyboard, VGA out, large HDD (160 GB) and its minimalist design. But my other main deciding factor was the HP brand, which I fully trust on their excellent support (based on past experience). The only letdown for me is the power brick; which if the wires are all wound-up, its half the size of the Netbook itself :D It would be nice if they could do it like Dell's Mini 12 power brick, which is similar to a hand phone charger.

Anyhow, tt has been a week using the HP Mini 2140 and I'm glad to say that I am very pleased with its aesthetics and performance. It coped well with it intended purpose, which is web surfing, light office work, presentations and some multimedia playback. Setting your expectation right on Netbooks is crucial as "it is not a notebook" and people are going to get disappointed if you expect it to perform like one.

A little bit more details on the user experience; the system itself comes with Windows XP Home OS, on which I've installed Norton Internet Security and re-installed the MS Office 2007 (got enterprise license). In terms of protection and office work, everything performed well. Responsiveness of loading and editing large office files was nippy.

Web surfing on the other hand, Google Chrome is the fastest browser but IE7 which came second is my default browser. I choose IE7 as it is surprisingly fast to load, supports full screen browsing and it can be integrated with the Norton Internet Security password management. Both browsers loads and streamed multimmedia content well. Firefox on the other hand; crashed and loads very slowly, I've uninstalled it shortly.

Lastly in terms of multimedia; it played 16:9 DivX videos smoothly with perfect full screen display (without the letter box due to its resolution 1024x576). It also can play High Definition 720p and 1080 movies provided it is encoded in *.avi format. Matroska or *.mkv video simply a no no.. it jitters a lot and not watchable. I think the high compression level of Matroska is too much for the Atom processor.

Additionally apart from what I've described above; it is light at 1.2kg, well constructed and the battery lasts over 3 hours between charging. A good combo for any people who are constantly on the move. Nowadays, I carry it evrywhere in my trustee Crumpler :D Oh ya, bought the HP Mini at Singapore IT Show for approximately RM 1,850 (after tax rebate) which comes with free 2GB RAM upgrade and HP Slipcase.

Interested? Check out the upcoming PC fair in KL, should be here by then.




Sunday, March 15, 2009

Singapore IT Show 2009


The view today as I waited outside the hall 15 minutes prior to Singapore IT Show opening. This is my third consecutive time I've attended this event and it has become something I look forward every year.

It is sort of become; another excuse for a trip to Singapore :) But basically I like to attend the IT Show there as it showcases many new gadgets which some may or may not reach our shores. Last year it was on GPS navigation device, companies like HP, Packet Bell, Garmin and few other which I cannot recall; put forward their latest devices. Had a chance to test almost all of them!

This year I think belongs to LCD TV, huge companies like Samsung, Sony, LG, Panasonic, Harvey Norman and Courts are selling the televisions like an auction format and it all went like hotcakes. Best deal I've heard is two 40 inch LCD, Full HD was sold for the price of one by Courts. However this time also its a little bit crowded and noisy with the auction going on.

On cameras, Sony still offer the best deal. Even though it is a fraction cheaper than Malaysia, it really is still a good bargain. Why? Because they've bundled item like 8GB Memory Stick plus another 2 4GB Memory Stick, Leather Case, Sony Photo Printer, International warranty!! The freebies alone cost half of the camera cost if it's in Malaysia.

If you're into Dell Mini 10, the one locked with Maxis 3G in Malaysia; you can also purchase it here at an offer price of SG$699 (approx RM1690). If you have already subscribe to 3G data plan, just pop-in your sim card in this Netbook for wireless connectivity. LG and HP Mini 1011 also offers their own Netbook with 3G capabilities built in.

If you're into personal music, there are abundance of mid-to-high-end earphones to choose from. Senheiser, Sone, Audio-Technica, Panasonic and Creative just to name a few. Basically there are many things to see if you're a technology or gadget buff. I can keep rambling with a long list but I won't.

I just would like to recommend, if you have the opportunity; take a trip next year and see the IT Show for yourself! Signing off from Lion City :)

Thursday, March 12, 2009

iPhone Has Landed in Malaysia

After it's worldwide reveal in July 11th 2008, iPhone 3G has finally reached our shores. It will be offered by Maxis and will be officially available on 20th March 2009. The pricing and packages are already up at Maxis website, navigate there for details or pre-order one?

Sunday, March 08, 2009

Easy Bread Pudding


This is my easy bread pudding recipe, I've improvised some of the ingredients to make it healthier.

Ingredients:

- 2 cups lowfat milk
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 omega 3 eggs (L)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
- pinch of salt (approx 1/3 teaspoon)
- 4-5 slices of Gardenia classic whitebread
- 1/2 cup of raisins
- some butter to rub on the dish

Pre heat oven to 220c. Whisk in a bowl all items from milk to salt in the list above. Rub some butter on inner part of a ceramic dish. Cut the bread to small cubes, approx 1.5 by 1.5 cm, layering with raisins inside the dish. Then pour the mix onto the bread dish ensuring all is covered.

Pop it into the pre heated oven in a water bath. In 45 minutes the bread pudding will be ready. We want the top slightly browned.

This is so easy to do, baked it 3 times already and once guided my niece. Give it a try, its so scrumptiously yummy :)

Optional sauce: 1/2 cup low fat milk heated in a saucepan with 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon cornflour and 1 tablespoon of sugar. Heat it till slightly thickens. Pour onto the bread pudding as much as the heart contempt.


-- Post From My iPhone