Saturday, April 11, 2009

A Different Kind Of Book



Went to PC Fair today, man the place is jammed pack with people. However I don't want to comment much on the event, as this time round it is a quick operation for me. I just went there to buy a book and go home. Sounds weird huh buying books at PC Fair huh?

As pictured I did buy My Book but its is in actual fact an external hard disk drive. Specifically it's a Western Digital My Book Home Edition with 1 Terabytes of storage space. That's a whopping 1,000 Gigabytes; enough for 440 hours of DVD movies or 250,000 MP3 music files or 285,000 JPG photos. The fact figures are what is stated on the packaging box, but I'm sure everyone knows all is subject to type of compression and size of the media itself.

Like all gadgets I own, rarely will I buy something without doing "some" research on it. I choose this particular model for its multiple connection options (USB, Firewire & eSata) and auto power on/off function following your PC. The latter to me is a cool and practical functionality; one less thing to shut down and no need to worry of shutting down while the HDD is writing.



Package content includes (from left) the My Book ext HDD unit, USB cable, Firewire cable, power adapter and a quick install guide. Installing the My Book is very easy; just hook-up the data cable (I'm using Firewire for faster transfer speeds) and power cable, Windows will immediately identify the HDD and install automatically the driver. In Windows, you will see that the HDD is pre formated to FAT 32 and the total HDD space available is 931 GB.

This point forward I can use the HDD immediately just like another drive, but Western Digital also bundles some optional backup softwares (in the HDD itself); WD Anywhere Backup and Memeo Auto Sync. WD Anywhere Backup is basically a program which sort of mirror your PC content (content selectable) for backup, however it is not automated. So you would have to periodically remember to back up. The second software Memeo Auto Sync is very useful piece of software since it enables auto backup. Didn't install it as it is a trial version.



Design wise, I rather like it as it is sized similar to a paperback novel and it fits nicely on my book shelves (on the right of the monitor). Heat is not an issue as My Book has heat dissipation vents on top of its casing and a there is also a software (on your system tray) which monitors the HDD health and tempreture. The emitting lights at the front shall indicate accordingly; the HDD state whether the drive in use, on standby or power on/off.

Overall I'm satisfied with My Book; its form, practicality and price is well ballance. Snatched it at PC Fair for only RM399 and that works approximately 40 cents per Gig. Normal retail price is RM445 at Low Yat. Now I can download and store more stuff!! Should I temp you with this entry, its not too late as tomorrow is the last day for PC Fair if you want to grab it at this price. Cheers :)

Friday, April 10, 2009

PC Fair 2009 Opens Its Door Today



Dear boys and girls, today PC Fair 2009 opens its door. I'm rather excited to attend this time round as I've have a few things in mind to purchase, mostly PC necessities (ye ke ni ? >:D). However I'm currently bogged down at work unable to take half-day off; though of getting there early beating the crowd and grabbing the first offers.

OMG Friday prayers.. GTG.. will update this later! Anyhow, for those who had the opportunity to go during luch-time etc; just share some crazy offers if any :)

Wednesday, April 01, 2009

HP Mini 1000: Sweet Deal at Harvey Norman



If you've been eying a HP Mini 1000, now is a good time to buy as HP has reduced its price. from RM1,699 to RM1,499. Based on my observations through the web, there are 2 main reasons for the price slash:

1. Introduction of HP Mini 2140 early April (most likely during PC Fair 2009)
2. HP Mini 2140 will be priced at RM 1,699 >> same price as HP Mini 1000 (before price cut)

The swirly design on its case both contemporary and eye pleasing. A colleague of mine is currently using this Netbook and similarly to what I've said on HP Mini 2140; it's does the job well for office work, surfing and light multimedia. Only drawback is the absent of a VGA port which hinders you from using it for presentations.

The deficiency is easily fixed with HP optional VGA cable for this Netbook which retails at US$19.90. However if you really need VGA out; better opt for HP Mini 2140 as not only it has a VGA out, it also boast a larger and faster HDD, 3D HDD Protection and Expresscard Slot.

If you don't mind what HP Mini 1000 lacks, then by all means get this nice Netbook. Harvey Norman is selling it at RM1,499 with 2 free gifts which you can choose (Kesington Lock, USB hub, Optical Mouse, Screen Protector and etc) plus 50 pieces of blank DVD-Rs.