Hi everyone, I’m Apple

I know some of you have been asking what is it that I’m so happy about. Yes you read it right. So I don’t need to blog already? Hehe since the title says it all.

I got myself a Mac after selling all my notebooks. Not the office one of course. Hahah.

So wanna see some pics? I thought well some of you were curious about my room. And I didn’t want to show you because…you’ll seee hahaha. Oh well feast your eyes on Ap-ple. That’s her name. You must say it hongkie style. Aaap-pole. Hahahhaa.

A closer view and I love that wallpaper to the max. It really soothes me to sleep.

My Imac and my Hard Disks, In total I have 1.980 TB of storage space wooohooo. And you can see my presonus audiobox there too. It works at last!

This is my mac running Windows if not I cannot survive hahaha!

I think you can see Windows better closer now hehe!

Ain’t she gorgeous? A beauty? Oh well I decided to get and Imac instead of a macbook because I already have a notebook and there is no point having two. It would seem better to get something more powerful for my music work. I’m glad that my sound interface (audiobox) can work with the mac flawlessly.

Now for those of you who have been waiting to see my room. Here it is:

My room entrance, as you can see there are loads of boxes that belong to the landlord.

My shoes, helmet and Taylor. Taylor is there temporarily as I need to do some work with my keyboard today haha!

My keyboard, can you find my speakers?

That’s my bed with mister smiley. My landlord apologized when I came for giving me such feminine sheets haha. I said I don’t mind.

Here is where I read, study and BLOG

So you have it here! Leon’s humble abode. I am really contemplating on whether to do a review on the Imac? like I did for my Omnia. My Omnia is a super popular post. I have thousands of visitors to that. Haha. Still it is a lot of hard work leh. Any votes?

About the second thing I’m happy about. That is still a secret. For now….

A screen shot of my lovely desktop

For those of you out there who don’t like tech stuff, I know these things seem like a bore to read but please read this plus the the Omnia post ok? You will need to know these things if you want to function effectively in the post-modern world. It also saved people like me the heartache of fixing your computers for hours which I have done so for many over these years. It’s rather painstaking hahaha. Serious wan. You can start with these things I’ve been posting. They are just basic knowledge I tell you. I also only know so little. But I try to learn. You can always ask me anytime and I will try to help if I can. See I’m so nice. hahahah.

Behold my new notebook!!!

My first thought was, its so beautiful! I’m wondering how they ever designed such works of art!! I mean seriously they really do good jobs in making you feel all weak when you see their products nowadays don’t they. I was on the verge of getting an HP 2133 and do a review on it which again is one of the latest products out there and would again probably be as popular as the Samsung Omnia post, but in the end I got the HP tx2080au which is part of HP’s tx2000 series.

Why you may ask? It was offered as an upgrade from the HP 2133 at an irresistible price!

But isn’t this an older model? Yeah it came out in January but again, I’m all about functionality and then design rather than design then functionality. In the past I was riding a motorcycle and subnotebooks were honestly the way to go as they were light. They lack the processing power that is needed for my audio work and therefore wouldn’t be fit for such purposes and so I had my huge Dell 6400.

I didn’t need two notebooks anymore so I was thinking I needed something that will help me in my job and lifestlye here. So when this offer was made I couldn’t resist. Here is what I got:

• AMD Turion 64 X2 Dual Core processor TL-60 2.0GHz
• Up to 4GB DDR2 RAM (my unit has 2GB soon to be 4GB hehehe)
• Nvidia GeForce Go 6150 graphics with shared RAM of up to 128MB
• 160GB 5400 RPM HDD
• 12.1″ WXGA touchscreen display with built in digitizer (1280×800 resolution)
• 1.3 megapixel webcam and built in stereo microphone.
• LightScribe Super Multi or Super Multi 8X DVD+/-R/RW
• Windows Vista Home Premium
• Integrated 10/100/1000 Ethernet
• 802.11a/b/g with Bluetooth
• ExpressCard 34 Slot
• 3 x USB ports
• 2 x headphone out and one microphone-in
• VGA-15 pin
• TV-Out S-video
• RJ-11 and RJ-45
• Notebook Expansion port 3
• 2 x Consumer Infared
• Battery: 4-cell and 8-cell Lithium-Ion
• Weight: 4.3 pounds with weight saver and 4-cell battery
• Dimensions: 8.82″(L) x 12.05″(W) x 1.23″(H)
• 3 years on site warranty

Design and Looks

Firstly I was very very excited to hold it in my hands and I was like….whoa this is much heavier than I had expected and so much more heavier than my EEEPC. Yet it was way way lighter than my Dell so that is great. Carrying my Dell around has been painful. I have walked with this notebook in my backpack for more than 10 kilometers and well I must say it didn’t feel like a burden. But I think for girls it may be less of a pleasure.

The moment I set my eyes on it in my hands, I fell in love with its design. There are intricate things I didn’t notice about its design until I had it with me. Its not just black and silver as you see from afar. There are designs that are embedded on the cover and even on the inside. I like that a lot!

Can you see the designs?

Tablet Function and Screen

I think most of you should know what a normal functional notebook is like. Therefore I will not go into that detail. What I would love to do is to tell you about a Tablet PC. If you don’t know there are many divisions to the notebook category. Tablet PCs are touch screen PCs that can convert into a tablet form as seen below and also be used like a conventional PC. Some do not however have this dual function but that is rare for now.

Touch Screen PC? You may ask. Cool. Yes this technology has been out for some time now. But it hasn’t been very well done if I may say until Vista promised that it would change the Tablet PCs into something people would want. And guess what? It did for me!

Here it is in tablet mode

I tried some in the past and they were far from impressive, but I must say that the Tablet PC is much better now than I expected. Firstly because of HP’s active digitizer. What’s that? Like a pocket PC, there is the stylus right? There….the pen like thing….Ahhhh you get it now. In the past it was like that. Just a piece of plastic for you to touch the screen. Now, you can use it like a mouse. It has a clicking mechanism and even better when you move it around the screen, the pointer follows you so you can see where you are going to tap!

This is how the stylus goes into the notebook!

I mean for me that is wonderful! I can do notation for my music and I won’t miss the line. It is so hard to try to hit a fine line on the screen by just one tap and that is just a wonderful function that did not exist in the past. Even better, the pen when turn the other way around functions as an eraser for what you wrote. So cool!

The writing recognition has improved! It detects my ugly writing perfectly. You just write like usual. There is no need for special method or anything. That makes things sooooo easy…..for me at least hahaha.

The screen honestly is beautiful. Other than the fact it is hard to see under sun light……seems to be a problem with all touchscreen windows stuff even my Omnia….The resolution is wonderful as it is a 12.1 inch screen but has the same resolution as my Dell 15.4 inch last time. So images are sharp and clear. Colors on the screen are nice but cannot be compared to a real monitor. I noticed this only when I put it beside my Dell monitor. Otherwise on its own it actually looks impressive.

The web cam is just of normal quality and so therefore nothing to shout about.

Speed and Multimedia

This is how the screen can turn along with the speakers to change into the tablet form

I don’t know why there are so many anti AMD processors people out there but I actually prefer AMD to Intel. Performance wise I find AMD better but the downside is that it does consume more battery juice. So I was rather worried about that until I realised they offered two batteries! Yes I heard it was normal in their packages. The 4 cell lasts about 2 and a half hours on full blast usage. the 8 cell lasts slightly over 4 hours. Good enough for me

Using it was fun as there were no issues with speed with all my applications. Multi tasking is no problem too as I often run many things as well because I hook this up to my Dell 22 inch monitor to work. Still startup of the computer is slow as in all Vista systems. Very disappointing thing done by Microsoft.

Still this Tablet is not meant for gaming but plays multimedia wonderfully with its sharp screen so videos and pictures look GREAT and I must say they packed in some impressive speakers. Other tablets I come across don’t have speakers that sound so sweet. What i mean by that is that it is loud enough and not distorted or harsh sounding. They are Altec Lansing speakers that are mounted to the screen so that you can hear them even as you change into a tablet or normal notebook style.

The notebook comes with TWO line outs. I was like that is something I need so much!!! Cool!!! And one of them can function as a SPDIF out that gives you digital quality sound if you have the proper equipment to connect it to. I can even control the volume of each output individually. There is also a mic in if you are not satisfied with the in built mic . All these are located in the front of the notebook for easy access and that is really nice.

Sound quality of the sound card is good but as expected will never outperform a dedicated audio interface.

OS and Software

This Tablet comes with Vista which is so much better with its tablet functions compared to XP. I’m not sure about XP service pack 3 if it is as good as this, but I’m sure XP can’t do what it does as good. Vista’s outlook and interface is very beautiful too.

I’m not a fan of Vista because it really eats a lot of resources and is really slow in starting up. I love XP because its been more stable when it comes to audio recording. I hope this improves in time. I would not advice anyone to use Vista unless they have a minimum of 2 GB RAM and even so I would suggest getting 4GB that is the maximum for a 32bit system and makes Vista slightly more of a pleasure to use.

The notebook comes bundled with Cyberlink’s DVD suite instead of the usual Roxio or Nero somehow. It works fine just without all the other fancy stuff that the others have. Good enough for me. They also come with the lightscribe feature which is so nice to use to burn images onto the top of the cd. You must however have the right cd media that supports lightscribe.

Keyboard, Mouse and Fingerprint Reader

A picture of the pen and Tablet from another website

The keyboard was sooooo nice to type on. I don’t even know why. Its just the design and the touch. I like it sooooo much. I mean I am a pianist so touch is something I’m sensitive to and really fussy about. This is the nicest keyboard I’ve used in my life. The size and design is just nice to work with.

The trackpad is sooo nice to use too. My brother has a HP too and the trackpad looked similar and I didn’t like his. I was like I’m so not going to use that pad, but when I used it now….wow….it felt good. Because of the texture on the pad, I can actually feel when I want to move the mouse and when I wanted to scroll up or down just at the right hand side without looking. The buttons are nice to click too. I was expecting that this would be the feature I would hate the most on this notebook only to be proven sooooo wrong!

I never had a notebook with a fingerprint reader, so I was like coming with zero expectations. Then when I realised how it functions and how easy it was to setup, I was so happy. I mean logging on to windows was such a hassle in that past but now all I do is swipe my finger on the reader and ‘TA DA’ I’m in. Still I can choose to type in the password the conventional way but who wants to anymore hahaha.

A view of the keyboard and trackpad

Wireless

The notebook comes with the standard wifi capabilities though I wished they added wireless N on mine. There are different models that have that. Wireless N is the latest specification for wifi which transmits further and faster. But that is not necessary in most scenarios. A need not a want.

It also comes installed with bluetooth which again helps connect many things to the computer such as the handphone, pocket pc, other PCS and so much more. There are so many possibilities with the bluetooth functions nowadays. One of which I love is by connecting it to my bluetooth headphones. The range and reception is good on this notebook. Nothing outstanding about it.

It also helps me connect to my Motorola V6 handphone to access internet over HSPDA (3.5G) when I travel on the train or practically anywhere. So I’m so satisfied with this function. So far there is no drop of signal, no compatibility issues…..wonderful.

Other things

I think I should mention about whether the notebook is noisy or not as that counts nowadays. I loved my EEEPC because its practically almost noiseless. So nice! This however not close to that. Even my Dell performs quieter. The hard disk ‘whirlish’ sound is loud, the fan noise it audible but tolerable.

The notebook also gets rather warm at the fan outlet alone. I must stress this. I am surprised that the rest of the notebook is not as hot as I expected. I left it on for 24 hours without the air cond and still the keyboard was not hot. the back was only warm. It is farrrrr cooler than my EEEPC. Very well done by HP I must say because you don’t want a hot tablet in your hand as you give presentations. I mean if its too hot it will defeat the purpose of getting something you want to be able to conveniently hold in your hand right?

Also last thing I would love to add is that the buttons all over the notebook and the remote control that comes along with the notebook makes it so nice as a multimedia player. This remote control slots right into the express card slot at the side which makes it convenient to carry around. When I prefer, I just can control the multimedia functions like play, pause, volume and more while I’m lying comfortably on my bed. Nice.

The only downside to this notebook in the end for me is that they did not provide a screen protector. I mean with all my heavy usage, I scratch my pocket pc like mad! This notebook I do not want to scatch. So I managed to find NUshield screen protectors online and I’m waiting for them to arrive. They only cost USD15. Well worth it considering repairing the original screen will cost you more. It is very easy to leave fingerprint marks on the cover as well.

I also sourced for the price of the digitizer pen/stylus because that is the thing people lose the most and its only SGD25 from HP, phew. I’m told that the price of this tablet is also very reasonable. USD 1299. I think that is well worth it for this notebook. Thank God for providing me such a wonderful tool!!

Conclusion

Multiview of the Tablet

I hope this little review will help you choose a notebook or maybe a tablet PC too next time. There are so many choices out there but let me give some advice. Always get one that suits your needs. There is always a notebook out there that will seem tailored for your needs!!! and sometimes wants hahaha. In the end, it’s always worth to pay more for something that works for you. I mean really suits your need. Yes the price will drop eventually and you’ll always lose money. But for me it’s worth the investment if you really fully utilise its functions. You buy something that doesn’t function the way you want, you’ll regret and end up spending more because you’ll have to get a replacement in time. Also a lot of people end up spending more than necessary when all they need is to type and surf. So please use your money wisely.

Don’t say I don’t need this la, save la, and end up buying something lousy and don’t say aiyo I need this la but end up not using it. I mean if you use that function once a month only, you don’t need it! Ok? So I’m glad I got this. I hope it lasts me hahahha. Cheers!!

Good News is that I got myself a cool new thing to play with. Maxis Broadband! I went to PC Fair braving the crowds and fellow geeks from across the valley to get myself nothing! I had a budget of RM 10 that was bestowed upon me and so I went! What can you do with RM 10?

Anyway it was my duty to shop for things for other people who are not so gadget friendly so that I could help them for free as usual. So I proceeded to go there with a bunch of fellow shoppers who also had tight pockets.

So most of them never being there before, we decided to embark on a great adventure. Just like in RPG games, you have to go from level to level. It is apparent thought that this was a new challenge. Hall to Hall.

Hall 1: The temptation of the Macbook Air!!!! Have you seen it! Ahhhhhh!!! RM 6299-10899. I was tempted, but that certainly didn’t fit my budget thought it would fit perfectly in my bag!

Hall 2: Audio temptation….speakers are so dirt cheap now. But of course comparing them with my studio speakers. Nah! Though some fell into the trap of the headphones category the greater problem is the cute little EEEPC caught the eyes of the travellers of the female species. Drooling all over we walked on.

Hall 3,4,5: We were down two levels now facing the hall of great temptations. Peripherals. Here is where I am supposed to spend and yet not spend. Worse still, all the temptations from Hall 1 and 2 also presented themselves here! We ended up buying an EEEPC, a 8GB SDHC Card, 3 1GB notebook RAM, 2 web cams, 3 Mp3 players, 2 cooler pads, a Dlink DIR-300 router, a USB hub, A Logitech mouse, an external hard disk, and the list goes on…..

That is why PC Fair does so well. Terrible. I personally failed big time. I was walking pass the Maxis Broadband booth when I took the brochure and said, wow that’s cheap but let me think about it. Then a few steps later, a cute gal walks up and says, what says you if I give you 50 % off over the next four months? I was stunned. Their gimmick worked. I declined but when a friend said we’ll split the cost, I immediately fell and got myself my maxis broadband!

In the next post I will describe how I installed it with the router and got myself wireless again!! Bad news is that this caused me a hole in my pocket! Bad news is now I have a humongous hole in my pocket.