The Lonely Vampire Chronicles

Originally published at The BLIPS Network. Please leave any comments there.

HP has released today its competing product to Asus eee PC. Called the HP 2133 Mini-Note PC, it weighs 5.3 pounds, screen size of 8.9 inch, full QWERTY keyboard, touch pad with unusual mouse button layout (left and right of the touchpad), and in a casing and style that looks better than eee, I think. I just don’t like the price.

Amazon lists the following specs:

* Procesor: VIA C7-M, 1.2GHz
* Memory: 1024 MB (1GB) 667MHZ DDR2
* Video: VIA Chrome 9 UMA
* Hard disk: 1205 GB 5400 RPM
* WiFi: Broadcom 802.11 a/b/g
* Ethernet LAN
* SuSE Linux Enterprise Desktop

A 4GB flash drive-version is also listed at Amazon.

HP Press release here.

(Image from PC Magazine.)

Originally published at The BLIPS Network. Please leave any comments there.

If you are shopping for a cheap laptop but does not like the Asus eee PC’s form factor, now is about the right time.

Strolling around Cyberzone at SM Megamall, I noticed that prices of Celeron-powered laptops have dropped considerably. So I looked at the Web sites of PC Corner, PC Express, and Asianic, and saw the following:

* Neo Q-Note Endura 320SU, priced at Php 19999 (contrary to the image shown at the page)
* Neo Q-Note Endura 540SL2c, priced at Php 19999 (not yet shown on Web site, but can be found on the downloadable price list of PC Corner and PC Express)

Both machines are Celeron-powered. Note that both units are available while supply lasts. Most prices have dropped due to the coming of second quarter, and Intel will release dual-core Celerons soon.

You might also want to check out the following:

* Acer Aspire 4715Z-1A0508MI, a Pentium Dual Core at Php 28,999 (PC Corner)
* MSI MegaBook VR330, an AMD Athlon 64 X2 at Php 24999 (PC Corner)

And with the 2nd-generation Asus eee PC priced at estimated Php 30,+++ at PC Corner, I suggest you wait for the eee competiting products from Acer, ECS, and MSI.

—

Previously:

Shopping for a laptop, 3 (or how getting one can screw you up)
Shopping for a laptop, 2
Shopping for a laptop

Originally published at The BLIPS Network. Please leave any comments there.

Acer has just announced its Gemstone Blue, an upgrade to its Gemstone laptop series. It got the appelation blue due to the the distinctive shade of the shell, and the fact that it sports Blu-Ray drives.

The display comes in 16″ and 18″, full 16:9 widescreen, and maximum resolution of 1920×1080, with video delivered by INVIDIA GeForce GS processor. It also carries 5 integrated speakers for true 5.1 sound delivered by Dolby Home Theater, Tuba CineBass booster and True5.1 CineSurround.

At the core of the series is the processor, of course. These machines are driven by Intel Centrino processors, Penryn, of course, with up to maximum of 4GB RAM.

The CineDash is the Star Trek-like interface found at the left side of the keyboard. CineDash is just a specialized interface for controlling media apps. Unfortunately, there is no right-side version.

Two models have been announced: Aspire 6920G and 8920G, and both are due next month. Not sure about a Philippine release date. Of course, they won’t come in cheap. The cheapest is priced around US$900 (that’s Php 36900 at US$1=Php41 conversion rate).

Prices of Gemstone laptops should drop by the time these Aspires hit retailers’ shelves.

Technical specifications below:

Originally published at The BLIPS Network. Please leave any comments there.

What was rumours a week ago is now official: HD-DVD is dead.

Toshiba announces that it is ending production of HD-DVD players and recorders. Blu-ray wins the format war, and at what cost? This is the Betamax vs. VHS of this decade. Gizmodo liked the HD DVD format more than Blu-ray.

It is rather ironic that the pull out of Warner Brothers – one of the proponents of the HD-DVD – from HD-DVD triggered HD-DVD’s death. Yeah, Toshiba could almost have said “You traitor.”

(Note: While HD-DVD was first conceptualized in 2003, the very first player was released 2006, hence the year in the title of this post.)

Originally published at The BLIPS Network. Please leave any comments there.

There are several cheap Celeron-powered laptops in the market today. Most of them arrived at the Php 29,999 price point (back in 2007), but now that is about to drop due to the following reasons:

1. Some manufacturers are releasing cheap Pentium Dual Core laptops, like MSI’s VR320 P2, with SRP of Php 29,999 (lower at several shops). It has the following specs:

* Intel® Pentium® Duo Mobile Technology
* Intel Pentium® Dual Core T2130 1.86GHz 533MHz 1MB L2 Cache Processor
* ATI RC410ME Chipset
* ATI Mobility Radeon X200 Graphics 256MB Shared
* MSI Wireless 802.11G
* 1GB DDR2 Memory (Max: 2GB)
* 60GB Hard Disk Drive
* Super-Multi DVD+/-RW/Ram Dual Layer Drive
* Superb Glare 13.3″ Widescreen Display (1280×768)
* Card Reader 4-in-1 MMC/SD/MS/MSPro
* Firewire Port /10/100Lan / 56K Modem
* 3 x USB2.0, Express Card Slot
* Weight : 2.1kg; Battery life: 3Hours (6-Cell)

With cheap Pentium Dual Core laptops in the market, Celeron laptops appear to be on the way out.

2. Intel is releasing dual-core Celerons soon. While the early Celeron Dual Cores will be desktop-based, it is only a matter of time before Celeron Dual Core powered laptops appear in the market.

Stores will now be hardpressed to dispose their Celeron laptop inventories. Expect these to breach the Php 25,000 barrier (unless distributors pull them out).

I suggest you skip Celeron laptops, notwithstanding the cheap price right now. At the same price, get that MSI VR320 P2.

—

Or maybe not. I got an MSI VR320 K2 laptop last month for Php 39,999 at 12 months, 0% interest installment term. Net Essentials, MSI’s distributor in the Philippines, in its Web site (linked above) listed an MSI VR320 K2 Plus. It shares the same specs as that of K2, but with an upgraded memory (2GB) and a LOWER price, Php 34,999 (though I think the 0% installment is on a 6 months term only). And yes, I AM NOT RECOMMENDING THAT YOU GET AN MSI LAPTOP, not now that they release new models with better specs and lower prices at such (very) short gaps.

That’s the problem with technology. Get one now, and tomorrow it is already obsolete.

Originally published at The BLIPS Network. Please leave any comments there.

Listed below are the notables in this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, and why:

* Skype on PSP – A gaming phone is near. Just you wait.

* Cloudbook/Nanobook v. eee and Cloudbook’s coming – Should Asus be threatened? At the same price, Cloudbook/Nanobook appears to be better than eee, spec-wise (except for the weight). We’ll see. Everex better put gOS Rocket on Cloudbook.

* Curved displays – What’s next? a 306-degree-view display? Half Life addicts must be salivating at the potential.

* MSI venturing into mobile phones – First, they have to be aggressive first (they have nice notebooks spec-wise per price point). Second, have a better logo; why can’t MSI use its star logo instead of the logotype MSI?

* eee on Splashtop – It seems that Asus’ miniwonder knows no bounds. What’s next? eee pc server edition?

* USB 3.0 – At least we have an idea on how the connector would look like. Hopefully it is not vaporware.

* Point-here-and-there – Military generals would want this. Congress better look out.

Originally published at The BLIPS Network. Please leave any comments there.

Listed below are the notables in this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, and why:

* Panasonic’s humongous TV screen – If that ain’t big, you must be Goliath. 150-inch plasma? You must have a net worth like Bill Gates’ to get one – if it becomes available. And soon. (Via Engadget)

* Pioneer’s extreme contrast concept plasma – Good thing I was not there, or I might have sensory overload.

* Bill Gates’ final CES keynote – Aside from the fact that it was the last time for Bill (ha ha ha, yeah right, first name basis) to keynote CES, the intro video was LOL.

* Asus’ eee pc with WiMax – It seems that Asus can’t go wrong with its eee line. I wonder how much it will cost. And with GSMA going for LTE, do not expect this unit to ship here (unless one telco offers WiMax here, ehem Bayantel). And those early adopters in the US must be puking now.

* Driver-less cars by 2018 – Finally, an incentive for me to get a car – if I have the funds by that time. But, nah. Unless GM ditches manual override, Filipino drivers will override the auto when they find the car slow. Filipinos are after all, more daring versions of Michael Schumacher. Either that, or these automated cars get attitudes due to horrendous traffic and undisciplined Filipinos.

Originally published at The BLIPS Network. Please leave any comments there.

In Star Trek: The Next Generation, the graphics shown on the panels in the USS Enterprise-D’s bridge caught the attention of hardcore Trekkers. And the way the characters interacted with the ship computer was awesome, too. And now, LCARS is fast becoming a reality, thanks to Microsoft.

Microsoft? Yes, Microsoft.

Microsoft introduced yesterday at Wall Street Journal’s “D: All Things Digital” the Surface, a concept computer that will do away with keyboard and mouse. It is basically a table computer with a screen under a hard plastic table top, where interaction is by pen, touch, and voice. Though commercial production is geared for businesses like casinos and mobile phone shops at the moment, it is really exciting just to think of the possibilities. (After all, just put the Surface in an angle, and voila! Star Trek ship panels!)

Will this new Microsoft product reach warp 9? Or will it putter at mach 1 (like the Zune)? That remains to be seen, although the concept is exciting and sound.

I hope that the underlying OS in Surface is skinnable (my WinAmp skin is LCARS). LCARS-themed Surface, aye, Keptin.

(Star Trek’s relevance never fades. I suggest tech companies hire Mike Okuda.)

Originally published at The BLIPS Network. Please leave any comments there.

For the past few weeks, I’ve been thinking of getting a laptop. Comparison shopping gives me headaches; stratospheric prices give me headaches. Using a credit card to get one might bury me in debt, but that’s another story.

Anyway, the cornucopia of specs and techs will make you dizzy:

* Processors – Pentium M, Celeron M, Centrino, Centrino Core Solo, Centrino Core Duo
* Memory – SODIMM, DDR2, DDR
* WiFi – 802.11 a/b/g

And now, there’s Santa Rosa. Santa Rosa, Laguna?

If you are unfamiliar with software/technology companies, they are fond of giving names to their products. For example, the code name for Nintendo Gamecube was Dolphin. So Santa Rosa is just a code name for the third generation of Intel Centrino processors. Go read the Wikipedia entry to make yourself go nauseous – it’s a plethora of code names.

Here’s a simple guide on Santa Rosa and the processors that are under that name.

Since I don’t have the grease to get a new laptop (much more those with Santa Rosa, and I am sure Santa Rosa-powered laptops are not yet available here in the Philippines), maybe I instead should go to that kingdom at Santa Rosa. In Laguna, of course.

Originally published at The BLIPS Network. Please leave any comments there.

When I was still teaching, I remarked to my boss (the school director), “How come people get to be idiots when they are promoted to boss positions?” Nope, I was not pertaining to my boss, who is one of the brilliant persons I know. It’s just that in the school system where I taught, I encountered a lot of people who were great when they were peons, but became idiots when they were promoted. Eaten by the system, I guess.

So imagine when I had read this headline:

“If You’re Going To Steal Software, Steal From Us: Microsoft Exec”

Shiver me timbers!

Apparently, this is a marketing strategy to expose individuals to MS products and lead them to buy originals. Makes sense. A bit.

But, add the MS Genuine Advantage (WGA) tool, and it really makes sense. You know, “pirate us and we’ll know, so settle or else.” That nifty spyware will bring lots of cash for MS so it is OK for them to “encourage” piracy. Neat.

Wait. WGA is spyware? Just peruse this Google search and judge for yourself.