Louie’s Current Gear – Summer 2010
It’s been almost a year since I wrote what my current gear was and a lot of things have changed since then. At one point, I had up to 3 notebooks, two smartphones, and a media player! Today, I’ve pretty much consolidated the functions of all that down to a MacBook Pro 13″ and an Iphone 4. Please click to continue reading!
Archos 5 Internet Tablet Review
I had my HP Mini 110 Notebook for a few months and it was pretty nice to take on my trip to Dubai since it was so small. Unfortunately it’s usefulness pretty much ended there since I mostly use my Macbook Pro for everything. What I needed was a portable media device that was small enough to hold in one hand and at least do a decent job of surfing the internet. The netbook in a practical sense can do most of the basic functions of a notebook, and as Steve Jobs once said, it doesn’t do any of those well. Watching HD videos on a netbook was very unsatisfactory especially in HD and it kills the experience. Then I stumbled on the Archos 5 Internet Tablet while walking around Best Buy so I bought it out of curiosity and have been very happy with it since.
The Archos Internet Tablet is an Android powered, feature packed portable media player that plays just about every popular multimedia format from AVIs (including Divx and Xvid), MPEG2/4, WMV, MKV, H.264, MP3, AAC, WMA, etc… and does so exceptionally WELL. In fact, it can manage HD media without any stuttering. There’s also a built in FM tuner and you can buy a DVR for this if you want to record and schedule your TV shows by connecting to your cable box with component or HDMI cable. There are so many features to list and so many things you can do on the device since it’s an Android player so I’m going to mainly focus on how well it does in real world every day use.
Jabra Halo Bluetooth Headset – RETURNED!
I just returned this yesterday for two main reasons:
1. Poor Call Quality – I was OK with the sound quality when I was playing music on my iPhone or on my MacBook Pro but when I took it out while driving or simply walking, other callers complained of echo and had difficulty hearing me. This was tested on multiple people, carriers, and phones. It was also hard hearing people’s voices as well when in an outdoor environment. Noise cancellation feature was non-existent and didn’t really work as advertised.
2. Poor Quality and Placement of Function Buttons – This just drove me crazy. The buttons were not only poorly place, but the response on them was extremely erratic! When you can finally find the larger round button to answer the phone, it doesn’t work unless you press exactly in the middle! Not only that, the button was flimsy and felt like it was going to break soon. Also, when trying to adjust the volume (when you can find it!), it’s a crap shoot on whether or not it will work and sometimes by accident, you will increase or decrease the volume no matter what you do!
Went straight back to Best Buy! I need to find a better headset.
Jabra Halo Bluetooth Headset – First Gadget Purchase of the Year!
I went to Best Buy last night looking for new headphones to use on my MacBook Pro, Touch Pro 2, and iPhone 3G so I can easily work out (yes New Years resolution like everyone else is to lose weight) and listen to music at the same time in the geekiest fashion… wirelessly with bluetooth! The Motorola ROKR that I had purchased a few years ago still works but it gets very uncomfortable to use after 30 minutes of use.
Pairing the headset with all three devices has been easy and the foam earpieces have been very comfortable to use. I also love the fact that it easy folds together for easy storage and includes a carrying pouch. The sound quality is decent but the bass that it produces is somewhat weak. Also the touch volume controls are a pain to use because of the way they are laid out which is narrowly on the edge of the right earpiece so it’s either too hard to find or too sensitive. I haven’t fully tested the call quality yet but it does understand my voice commands just fine.
I’m going to be taking this thing out for a spin now and see if this is worth keeping!
Sorry for the mess. I am going to work on cleaning up the wires. We mainly use this for web surfing, working and printing documents.
Specs: HP Athlon XP 3000+, 2GB RAM, GeForce 6200, 250GB Hard drive.
In the corner of my bedroom, I have this small corner desk setup to surf the web, do some downloading, and e-mails before I sleep or get up in the morning. The HP DV2-1030 is light and thin enough to take to bed and watch some anime before going to bed.
Specs: Athlon Neo 1.6Ghz, 4GB RAM, 12.1″ Screen, 320GB Hard Drive, Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
When I need to get some serious work done, I goto the dining table and boot up my MacBook Pro. A minimalist workspace but there are no distractions. Dining table is usually clear when it isn’t mealtime so it’s easy to focus.
Specs: MacBook Pro 15″ 2.53Ghz Unibody, 4GB RAM, 500GB Hard Drive, Snow Leopard.
HP Mini 110 used to quickly jump on the web and e-mail while watching TV. I also take this thing with me on vacation since it’s so light and does it’s job very well. I dumped the Vaio P for this and haven’t looked back since.
The mini mainly resides in my car so I can easily pull it out when I’m at a coffee shop or wherever WiFi is available
Specs: Intel Atom 270, 10″ Screen, 2GB RAM, 160GB Hard Drive
Last time I posted the Current Gear that I use on a day to day basis. That was about seven months ago and I’ve practically upgraded everything that I got from my desktop replacement notebook to my smartphone. I’m a gadget addict and I can’t seem to stay with a device for longer than six months. This is what’s currently what I can’t live without:
1. HP Pavilion DV2-1030US – If I was to asked to describe this with three words, I would say “Netbook on Steroids!” This is what replaced my TX2500 tablet because it’s even lighter and is more practical for my needs. I didn’t really need the DVD drive at all times and didn’t utilize the tablet feature as much as I thought so the DV2 was the best way to go for me. This little warrior outperforms every single netbook currently in the market in terms of performance and the size isn’t really that much bigger. It’s only one inch thick and weighs 3.95lbs so you can easily throw it in a backpack and carry it with you especially when you want to travel light. It also comes with an external USB powered DL-DVDRW drive so you can use it just in case. I take this with me when I go traveling and leave the heavier MacBook Pro at home but it runs every application that I need, plays any video file I throw at it, and runs a lot of games just fine. The only issue that I have is the batter will last on average about 3 hours so it won’t last through a long plane ride.
2. HTC Touch Pro 2 - I just recently replaced my THIRD Touch Pro and upgraded to the Touch Pro 2 and have been amazed by it since day one. Without any ROM customizations, this phone performs like a champ right out of the box and the TouchFlo 3D 2 interface is very responsive and beautifully designed. Many reviews claim that this is the BEST Windows Mobile Device in the US market right now and I couldn’t agree more. This device is an incarnation of everything that people wished was on the original Touch Pro and then some. It’s about the same size, screen size, shape, and weight as an iPhone but it has a keyboard and a tilt-able display. I use this phone on the weekdays for work (iPhone for weekends) to send e-mails and text messages back and forth and absolutely love how easy it is to type on the keyboard. A nice addition to this is the ability to link your contacts with their FaceBook profiles so all your friends or contacts will have their FaceBook pictures and info synced to the phone. The Sprint GPS Navigation software comes in very handy to get directions since I’m on the road a lot and the standard sized headphone jack is a nice addition for the Sprint version so I can listen to streaming music, or media from the memory card or YouTube videos without disturbing anyone. I can’t wait for them to come out with a Windows Mobile 6.5 upgrade for this. Overall, an awesome gadget for the mobile executive.
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mobileme – doesn’t work for me! drop box and windows live to the rescue!
I’ve been curious about MobileMe for quite some time and have never bothered taking advantage of the free 60 day trial until I bought and installed an AirPort Extreme router and hooked up my 1TB drive to share it across the network. I read that with a MobileMe account, you can access that hard drive online without having to continuously adjust the IP settings. I’ve been reading about it and saw the mixed reviews and finally decided to take the plunge and try it out… and boy was I disappointed and even more baffled on why people would pay $99 a year for this (even $65 is expensive if you buy it on Amazon).
Going through the trial registration was easy, except that it asks for a credit card but they won’t charge you until day 61 of using this. I’ve set a calendar reminder to cancel it on day 59… I don’t want to take any risks. On the Mac and on the PC, it looks pretty simple using the web interface where you can access your e-mail, photos, calendar, contacts, and idisk. Nothing too really special especially from someone who’s been using Gmail and Windows Live for years. E-mail interface is very simple and matches the OS X interface, but I still prefer Gmail’s because it’s much more intuitive and customizable. Then there’s the contact list and calendar which which is clean looking but no use to me because I use an Exchange server to sync with my iPhone and Touch Pro.
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Just Scored a New MacBook Pro 15″ (late 2008)!
Just picked this up on eBay! It’s about time I retire my MacBook Pro 15″ Core Duo 1.83Ghz…
MacBook Pro 15″ 2.53Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor (Unibody)
* 320GB HDD
* 4GB Memory
* SuperDrive (DVD/CD burner)
* Backlit keyboard
* Built in iSight webcam/microphone
* Mac OS X – 10.5.8
* iLife 09
* Strong Unibody design
* Removable battery!
* Original box
* Original accessories
EXTRAS
* BUILTny neoprene protective computer case
* Speck Products Satin Plastic Protective Sheild
* AppleCare Protection Plan – 2+ years of extended warranty from Apple.
I got this version vs the new MacBook Pros that just came out because the newer Macs don’t have the removeable battery, missing the express card slot (replaced with an old ass SD card reader instead of a multicard, stupid) and downgraded the L2 Cache from 6MB to 3MB! The late 2008 MacBook Pros (which I just got on eBay) is, IMO way better.
I just also installed Snow Leopard so I’m testing that out now as we speak. More to come!
MacBook Pro 15″ Core Duo 1.83Ghz Review (2006 Model)
I bought this on eBay in December 2008 as a Christmas present to myself for $600 and it is probably the best deal and purchase I’ve ever made on eBay. Even though this is the first generation 2006 MacBook Pro 15″ Core Duo, it still has many years to go thanks to the well designed hardware and operating system Apple has been known for over the years.
I could start off by rambling on endlessly about the notebook’s aesthetics but that was done over three years ago on other reviews and they are now in the unibody design of the MacBook Pro so I’ll just stick with what affects me. I like the fact that this is only an inch thick when and the weight is EVENLY distributed throughout the notebook making it very easy to carry by hand, in a backpack, or in a laptop bag. There’s also the lightup keyboard that comes in handy at night or in low light conditions. What this notebook does need is a built in 5-in-1 memory card reader (yes I know the new MacBook Pros has an SD card but that’s not good enough!). I did find great alternative however by installing an unobtrusive Express Card reader by Sandisk. My only other big issue is that this version of the MacBook Pro gets very hot especially on the top right hand side. Just make sure you have good ventilation and work in a cool place whenever possible.
Even though this was the 2006 incarnation of the MacBook Pro, it still performs very well and runs just about every one of 2009’s applications I’ve thrown at it without any slowdowns or issues. After the Fedex guy dropped it off and powered it on to make sure that everything works (hey it’s eBay, you never know), I installed a Hitachi 320GB 7200 RPM drive and did a clean install of Leopard along with the rest of the applications that I use on a day to day basis such as Microsoft Office 2008, Adobe PhotoShop, iLife ‘09, Adium, FireFox, VLC, etc… I can run all of these programs simultaneously and have no slowdown issues whatsoever.
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Upgraded MacBook Pro Superdrive!
Wow it’s been over a month since I posted anything on this site. I’ve been quite busy at work and basically eat, take a shower, and then sleep when I get home. And then on the weekends I just run errands and try to catch a movie if I can. Anyway, my weekend project this week was upgrading my MacBook Pro 15″ 1.83Ghz Core Duo’s SuperDrive.
I have the first generation MacBook Pro that comes with the crappy UJ-857C drives that are very unreliable and unpredictable with a GSA-S10N Superdrive I got on eBay for SuperDrive. I followed the guide at ifixit.com and it was incredibly easy.
It took less than an hour to do (MacBook Pro has so many screws!) but it was a great experience in opening up the Mac and learning how easy it was to replace the parts.
I now have a much more reliable drive and Dual Layer capabilities and couldn’t be happier! I feel like getting a whole new laptop for the price of $50! I also upgraded to Leopard from Tiger and am enjoying it. Finally running Windows 7 native on the MacBook Pro without Parallels and it makes a huge difference.
