louie tran spot – daily gadget blog

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!

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HTC’s follow up to the Mogul is packed with a variety of new features including a hi-res VGA screen, tilt sensor, faster processor, 512MB internal memory, EVDO Rev A and the Touch Flo 3D interface. I’ve had this phone since January and it has been a great mobile asset.

Sprint’s version of the phone come comes with a chrome trim which some will either really love or hate and a grey backing, as opposed to an all black phone that the GSM version has. Overall, the build quality is fairly solid and it doesn’t feel like a cheap phone. The Touch Pro is a little bit thicker than the iPhone and not as wide. The phone is very comfortable in my hands and shaped very well. The QWERTY slide out keyboard is very well laid out and conveniently includes the numeric keys. You do have the option of using the onscreen touch keyboard but physical keyboard is much better to use especially when writing out long e-mails.

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MightyMike has revived and updated his 6.1 incarnation of his ROM for the Touch Pro! 4.16 was the last great version before he started expermimenting with Windows Mobile 6.5 and has now gone back to the previous version most likely due to popular demand. Details below!

Click Here to Go To the PPC Geeks Discussion

[ Click Here To Download MightyROM 4/R3BORN ] Server 1
[ Click Here To Download MightyROM 4/R3BORN ] Server 2

Windows Mobile 6.1 – 20771 Build 20771
[ # ] Updated Adobe
[ # ] Updated RSSHub
[ # ] Updated Streaming Media
[ # ] Updated Google Maps
[ # ] Updated Task Manager
[ # ] Updated PocketRAR
[ # ] Updated Concurrence Manager
[ # ] Updated htc Animation
[ # ] Updated Icons
[ # ] Updated Power Settings
[ # ] Updated D3D Driver
[ # [ Updated nueGPSsecurity Registry Settings
[ + ] htc Avatar
[ # ] Optimized Registry Edits

I just scored a black open box Vaio P 530H from Fry’s for $799. Looks like it’s hardly been used and apparently there are A LOT of returns on these things, most likely because people are disappointed with the performance. So far, I can see why these keep getting returned.

My first impressions so far is that it looks great, love how it’s light and thin and the build quality is everything we expected from Sony. I love how sharp the screen looks and everything is so much easier to read when compared to my Vaio UX380N. It’s also a lot easier to type on this. The UX hurts my hands when I use the keyboard for more than 15 minutes. Now this is where all the positive comments stop…

Initial startup time was painfully slow. Slower than any netbook I have ever tested and much slower than the Vaio UX380. Uninstalling some of the trial programs and software that I didn’t need made the hard drive light go crazy and everything ame to a crawl. Installing Office 2003, running the Windows Update and waiting for all that to complete was a joke.

Now this is where it gets ugly… Everyone comments on how bad video plays on this thing and I thought it was just an exaggeration, but believe me when I say all those negative comments are true. Youtube videos are extremely choppy (unless you turn off hardware acceleration), Divx and Xvid files are horrible on full screen, and forget about the HD videos! I know this is most likely a software or driver issue but Sony should have addressed this problem before releasing in it. My HTC Touch Pro and iTouch play videos way better than this.

Surfing the web, sending out e-mails and typing up documents on this work great. But what’s the point of having such a beautiful screen if videos run like crap on it? For $899, I can buy 3 of the Acer Aspires and they perform much better! I hope they get the video issue fixed soon because I can still return this within 2 weeks and I will keep the Vaio UX. I want the P to work out because of the size and build quality but it doesn’t justify replacing the UX the way it is.

I’ve been busy for the entire month of February and basically trying to survive the horrible economic situation we are living in now. I’ve been very busy at work and really haven’t had much time to do any of the reviews I’ve planned to do, but thankfully my gadgets have help me be entertained and productive at the same time. I really wish I had more time to review every one of them but it’s been really tough… here’s a quick list of what I’ve been utilizing:

1. HP Pavilion tx2500 – This is my main computer where I do all my work on the road. Tablet feature comes in handy but I don’t really use it that often. It’s just a 12.1 Tablet PC but it has a powerful AMD Turion X2 2.1ghz processor with 3GB RAM, ATI 3200HD graphics card, and a 250GB Hard Drive. It murders every netbook out in the market and has a much more pratical use for me. I need the small size, the power, the DVD burner, and this just about does everything for me!
2. HTC Touch Pro (running MightyROM 4.12) – Arguably the BEST smartphone in the market today. I’ve gotten rid f my Touch Diamond because I needed the keyboard and memory expandability the Touch Pro has and have never looked bac. The awesome hi-res screen, the built in keyboard, massive internal memory, stereo bluetooth, hi-speed data tethering plan with SERO, and Touch-Flo are just some of the features that make this the reason why i haven’t switched over to the iPhone. I also love using thebuiltin GPS feature in conjunction with Live Search and GoogleMaps to get turn by turn directions, or look up restraunts and movie schedules.
3. Apple iTouch 2G 32GB (JailBroken)- I finally upgraded from my 30GB Black iPod Video to the iTouch. I didn’t want to switch over to the iPhone so this was the better alternative taking all those awesome Apps, music, and videos on the road. I just Jailbroke my earlier this month and have a ton of Apps loaded on to this and have it customized to look like Windows Vista. the device is so thin, I believe it’ a much better gadget to have then a netbook. I can easily get online via WiFi or use my Touch Pro as a WiFi router and get online with the iTouch. Safari on this thing is unmatched by any Windows Mobile browser and being able to get my corporate e-mail, sync my contacts and calendar is a huge plus!
4. Sony Vaio UX380N – I just got this recently at eBay for a few hundred bucks and so far has been extremely useful especially when I need to travel light and are in situations where my HP TX2500 is too big and the Touch Pro isn’t big enough to use. This is a great companion to take especially on flights and waiting at the airport to get some work done. I also use this to read my news and watch some downloaded videos while in bed.
5. Apple MacBook Pro 15″ 1.83 Ghz – I got this on eBay for $500 and it was such a great deal, I had to buy it. I upgraded the hard drive to 320GB 7200 RPM and popped in a multi-card reader making this as my personal desktop replacement at home. Running the MacOS X makes for much more effecient productivity than Vista and is much more reliable than any of the computers that I use. I also have Parallels installed so i can run my Windows applications whenever I need to. Not only is this the centerpiece of my home office, I can easily take this with me on the go when I go to StarBucks or travel. I actually use this interchangeably with my HP TX2500 and it’s thin and light enough to travel with. I actually prefer to use the Mac because of the OSX because it’s not only more easier, reliable and faster, but it’s more fun to use.

I’ve been experimenting with KK’s Loaded ROM and have been quite impressed with it because of the apps that come preloaded with it. However, it wasn’t as quick as Mighty’s and the battery life doesn’t even come close. However, KK has updated to 1.5 and the version I was using at the time was .9 so I’m sure KK made a lot of tweaks and fixes to his ROM. 

Anyway, Mighty’s 4.9.3 addressed the issue I had with dialing local calls using the dial pad that I already have stored on my contacts list without including the area code and it shows up as an unknown number.  Also included is the World Card application and a whole bunch of tweaks and fixes. Mighty already released 4.9.4 yesterday and I have yet to run and install it. This release should hopefully address the glitches in Opera from the previous version. You can get Mighty’s ROM here.

If you Touch Pro owners are still running the stock ROM, you are missing out on a lot. These modified ROMs make a huge difference in performance and battery life and the process in flashing the ROM is practically automated.

I just got my Touch Pro from the Sprint store today. Even though I was 3 months away from getting the renewal price, they were able to sell it to me as if I was a new customer!

I liked the Diamond and appreciated how small and thin it was but I had a tendency to delay responding to e-mails and text messages because I didn’t like poking at the screen to write and it was difficult for me and especially when I couldn’t get used to the small letters. Plus that onscreen keyboard takes up half the screen.

For the first 5 minutes of using the Touch Pro, using the keyboard was such a relief especially when my previous phone before the Diamond was a Mogul. The difference in thickness from the Pro was not as drastic as I thought it would be and it feels pretty light. Also switching from portrait to landscape when opening the keyboard is almost instant, and there’s no lag like the Mogul had. I was a bit disappointed when I realized that there’s currently no FM Radio support like the Diamond had, but it’s not really a big deal.

I’ve already unlocked the phone and installed MightyROM 4.5. I’m going to install my usual applications and then work on eBay-ing the Touch Diamond. I’ll have a full review of the Touch Pro either by this weekend or at the beginning of next week.

MightyMike has just released his latest ROM on the PPC Geeks forums right when I was about to install the 3.9 version I downloaded this morning! Mike’s ROMs are probably the best for the Touch Diamond. For the most part, the ROMs are very stable and significantly enhances the speed, battery life, and functionality of the Touch Diamond which is a great deal of differnce in using the stock ROM.  You can read more by visiting this thread.

MightyROM
Version 4.0
(Hosting Provided By CedoNulli)

Click Here To Download MightyROM 4.0

SYS OS 21109 Build 211091.6.0 MightyMike

[ + ] Added – OEM’s Converted To Modules (Speeds Up OS) *Thanks Calkulin*
[ + ] Added – Internet Explorer Mobile 6.0
[ + ] Added – Soft Reset Shortcut w/ Custom Icon
[ + ] Added – Camera – Panorama 7 Mega Pixel Shots
[ + ] Added – Wireless Lan – G Compatibility
[ + ] Added – Adobe Flash 3.1
[ + ] Added – Inbox Stored To Internal Storage
[ # ] Updated – Large Title Bar 4.46.0.0
[ # ] Updated – Long Press End Key 1.1.34309.2
[ # ] Updated – Quick GPS 1.00.18173430.1
[ # ] Updated – Random Access 4.1.1819.2922.0
[ # ] Updated – Task Manager 2.1.35349.400
[ # ] Updated – Teeter 1.4.1819.2028.0
[ # ] Updated – Opera Mobile 9.5.15202
[ # ] Updated – Album 2.2.1820.3428.M0
[ # ] Updated – Audio Booster 2.1.1816.2328.4
[ # ] Updated – Audio Manager 1.6.1820.3027.h
[ # ] Updated – FM Radio 1.6.1817.4024.1
[ # ] Updated – Voice Recorder 1.10.1819.1927.1
[ # ] Updated – YouTube 1.0.1819.4027
[ # ] Updated – EzInput 1.5.32715.0
[ # ] Updated – Full Screen Player 1.05.081015
[ # ] Updated – GSensorCalibrator 1.0.1819.2126
[ # ] Updated – HTC Gesture 1.0.32356.0
[ # ] Updated – SmartTouch 1.0.32417.1
[ # ] Updated – Startup Animation 1.1.5.999
[ # ] Updated – USB To PC 2.2.1819.1228.1
[ # ] Updated – Display Drivers
[ # ] Updated – Manila Files
[ # ] Removed – Advanced Config Utility
[ # ] Removed – Music ID