WD TV Media Player

This is latest affordable HD media player you can in the market now. I was considering DVICO TVIX 6500a, but it was too costly.

So what is this player all about? This is like a jukebox for all your videos, music and photos. Be it HD, home videos or DVD. It can read almost all video and music formats out there. Just plug in your hard drive via USB into WD TV player and you are good. The interface is clean and sleek.

You can now even put cover arts for each video. I download HD contents, mostly 720p resolution and play it on my 42 inch Panasonic Viera Plasma TV and it works like a charm.

The advantage? Firstly, I don't have to buy a bluray disc and player which cost a bomb now to enjoy HD content and secondly, I can manage all video and music into 1 place. It's a home entertainment jukebox! No more disc management and labeling.

This is how the on screen interface looks like.

Currently I am using a 1TB harddrive and I have about 200+ HD movies.

WD is constantly releasing new firmware to improve the player. So far, they are doing a pretty good job in listening to the users and improving gradually.

Nikon D90

Wow. It's been more than 6 months since my last post.

Recently, I've been into dslr photography. As my last post, I was using Nikon D60.

And now, I've upgraded to Nikon D90 with many other accessories within this 6 months period.




I realise that D60 has many limitations and I need more to improve my skills. One of the major drawbacks for D60 is the non built in autofocus motor. Without that, you need to pay more for lenses with built in motor. So, you can use old lens without auto focus motor.

D90 is so much more superior. It comes with CMOS sensor, low noise on high ISO, 3.0" high definition LCD screen, record HD video up to 720p and many more.

If you shoot with high ISO, usually you will have high noise on your picture. D90 has excellent noise control even if you bump to 3200 ISO. So with that, on low light condition, you will can take nice bright shots.

I've only bought the D90 body without the kit lens, as I've already bought kit lens during my D60 days. However, I've sold it for a faster lens, that is the Tamron 17-50mm, f/2.8 lens. It's a fixed aperture lens which makes it faster.

Since this is the delay post, I've already bought many accessories:-

1. Nikon SB600 Speedlight
2. Aipo dry cabinet
3. Nikon MB-80 Battery Grip
4. Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 lens
5. Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 lens
6. Lowepro Fastpack 200 backpack
7. Lowepro Nova 190AW shoulder bag
8. Digipod Tripod

Photography is very addictive once you appreciate good quality pictures. You can do so much with a dslr. I've been reading a lot and following threads in photography forums.

I have been enjoying my Nikon D90 every minute.

Nikon D60 DSLR Camera

I realised there are many people are into photography and at the same time the cost of owning a dlsr camera is also affortable now.

I got many friends who is into photography and they have successfully poisoned me into it. If you are serious is taking awesome pictures, you need to get a dslr camera for sure.

Bought my first dslr camera - Nikon D60. Basically, there are two major players in this field, that is Canon and Nikon. Both are good. But I kinda like Nikon and it lenses.

D60 comes with a 18-55mm VR lense. VR=Vibration Reduction. The package comes with 4GB SD card, tripod, nikon bad & Hoya UV filter.

This model is considered the entry level for a dslr camera. It is the smallest and lightest in its class. Of course you don't compare with a point & shoot camera, like my Panasonic Lumix TZ15.





I sold off the kit lense and bought a 18-105mm VR (which is the D90 kit lense).

I need a bigger zoom lense with extra weight to stablise the camera.

There are endless upgrades in equipment for photography. And it is not a cheap hobby.

Reading up some books and magazine of the photography skills and tactics.

It will not be difficult to learn anything if you have the passion for it.

Nokia E71

I finally gave up my HTC Touch phone for this one.

This is my second symbian. My first was Sony Ericsson P910. Nokia E71 uses Symbian S60 (3rd Edition). It's a predecessor of E61i. The design is sleek, covered with stainless steel housing, makes it elegant and sexy. The qwerty keyboard and screen has shrunk and compact in design.

I have been using windows mobile since 4 years ago. I am kind of tired with stylus and slow processing of windows mobile OS. Symbian OS is snappy and very straight forward. It provides business application that is useful. With the qwerty, typing is a breeze. It's very good for email and sms. You may think that the keyboard it's very crampy, but when you get used to it, it's very easy to type.

Nokia E71 is a excellent business phone. Of course it will not have variety of softwares if you compared with windows mobile. The phone features beats WM flat. It comes with all connectivity that is known, which is bluetooth, 3G, wifi and GPS. So far, the connectivity is fast. Bluetooth pairing is definitely faster than WM. It comes with 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus and flash.

In the box, it comes with a pair of ear phone, a charger, a leather pouch, 2GB micro SD card and cd & manuals.

This phone will satisfy your one hand operation.

The only drawback I have with this phone is that the glossy housing attracts finger prints. But once you clean it, it's a real bling bling!

iPhone vs. Windows Mobile

iPhone 3G finally arrived on 11 July 2008 worldwide.

There were massive congestion in Apple & AT&T stores. This time round, all customers have to choose a plan and activate in the store before leaving. This has caused a longer waiting time in the store. Furthermore, iTunes experienced problems during the launching day. Apple did not anticipated the overwhelming response on that day. On the same day, iTunes launched worldwide the v7.7 software upgrade. This has added to the congestion and caused the delay.

So, now the question is, does the Apple iPhone 3g worth it?

Let's compare with Windows Mobile:

1. 3rd party applications in iPhone 3G cannot run in background: only one application can run at any given time in iPhone 3G so no background. running of applications possible! In Windows Mobile phone several (many) applications can run at the same time so it is possible for example to simultaneously run in Windows Mobile: a) downloading a 50 MB MP3 file with a podcast, b) IM chatting with somebody including native Skype client for windows Mobile or native Live Messenger from Microsoft, c) edit Office documents, d) browse Internet, e) make a phone call, etc.

2. iPhone 3G has resolution of only 480×320 which is 2 times less than VGA (640×480) and W-VGA (wide VGA = 800×480) used in several Windows Mobile phones, what practically means: you can read more text on the display at once and everything is sharper

3. camera in iPhone 3G is inferior to camera in many Windows Mobile phones: it has only 2 megapixels compared to 3 to 5 megapixels in Windows Mobile phones and it does not have auto-focus - also present in many Windows Mobile phones .

4. one cannot record videos with built-in camera of iPhone 3G, what is possible up to resolution of 640×480 pixels and 30 FPS (frames per second) in Windows Mobile phones.

5. iPhone 3G supports HSDPA of maximal speed only 3.6 MB/second, while some Windows Mobile phones (including HTC Touch Diamond) suppport HSDPA of speed 7.2 MB/second.

6. iPhone 3G does not have exchangeable battery that all Windows Mobile phones have, but only built-in battery so if you run out of battery you cannot replace it to prolong battery life - as it is possible with Windows Mobile phones.

7. original (i.e. from Microsoft) Office Mobile is built-in in each Windows Mobile phone and allows not only for viewing but also for editing of Office documents, so there is no need ot buy 3rd party software for it .

8. there is much more 3rd party applications (programs) for Windows Mobile: over 20,000 compared to 500 for iPhone 3G

9. to make applications for Windows Mobile one needs either PC computer or Mac but to make applications for iPhone 3G one needs to buy a Mac computer - if you don’t have Mac computer then you cannot develop applications for iPhone 3G

10. most Windows Mobile phones come without SIM lock so they can be used at any operator in given country and with SIM cards from abroad (important when traveling and you want to use local prepaid SIM card to avoid International roaming fees) while iPhone 3G has SIM lock and can work with only this operator at which it has been purchased

11. iPhone 3G has capacitive touch-screen meaning that it must be used with fingers and that it cannot be used with stylus or fingernails (what women like).

12. iPhone 3G has no physical keyboard or keypad, so users have no choice but to use virtual keyboards on the display while Windows Mobile offers phones in various form-factors, including such that have both touch-screen and a physical QWERTY keyboard Conclusion: do not buy iPhone 3G but instead buy one of many Windows Mobile phones!

You decide....

New Rapidshare

This is the new rapidshare logo and it comes with a new interface as well.

Good news to all rapidshare premium account holder. They has increased from 25GB quota to 50GB for every 5 days usage. This will allow user to download double the original size before reaching the quota.

I feel 25GB is not sufficient if you download HD movies. So, now with 50GB, I can download 2-3 HD a day.

AVG Free Antivirus 8.0

AVG have recently upgraded their software to 8.0. For those who are still using version 7.5, I recommend you upgrade to 8.0 by clicking here.

By May 31st, AVG will no longer support updates for version 7.5.

Don't worry, AVG is still giving it all free in version 8.0, including free auto schedule updates.

The user interface looks better and the AVG logo is in 3D. I guess the virus scan engine has also improved.

Panasonic Viera 42" Plasma HDTV

Finally, I've bought my very first HDTV. It's a Panasonic Viera 42 inch Plasma HDTV.

Why Plasma? After looking at so many models and frequent visists to AV forums, I realised there are many advantages of Plasma against LCD TVs.

1. It does not have motion flow problem as to LCD.
2. Plasma screen can be viewed in all angle without compromising the quality
3. It has higher contrast ratio with deeper black.
4. The lifespan now increases to 100,000 hours
5. Overall, in long run, plasmas has better power consumption.
6. Plasma has a stronger glass panel with shock resistance.

Manufacturing plasma tvs are cost more than LCDs. That's why you don't see many brands carrying Plasma range. The best plasma in the market with high price tag is Pioneer and follows by Panasonic.

This model has 15,000:1 native contrast ratio and 1,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, which makes black blacker with minimal picture washed out effects. There are 3 hdmi ports, 1 SDHC card slot at the front and 1 VGA PC input. It comes with swivel stand.

This is not a Full HD model. As I mentioned in my previous post, you can't tell the difference between a 720p and 1080p when you watch within 10 feet from the 42 inch screen. 720p movies already very sharp and awesome. After that, you cannot accept standard definition in your CRT tv anymore. Click here to look at the chart on "Screen Size Vs Viewing Distance".

This is a very affordable HDTV based on the specs given. It's really value for money.

I am planning to get HD media player with plays all my mkv HD 720p files from a hard drive. Still exploring what's good in the market. Dvico TVIX sounds good.

Corsair Flash Voyager

I remember my first computer (1996) was equipped with 500mb harddisk space. On those days, it was considered a very large hard drive. Flash memory has been evolving very rapidly over the past years. Usb flash drive are getting larger and larger over the years. The record so far now is 32GB space.

I got my 1st usb flash drive of 256mb in 2003. Now with the same price, you can get a whooping 8GB usb flash drive. Again, economies of scale did the job.

As usual, I did my product research on the brands available in my place and I decided to get a 8GB Corsair Flash Voyager, as shown in the picture below.

This usb flash is different from the rest. The obvious difference is the all-rubber housing that makes it durable, water resistant and shock proof. The Flash Voyager has been shown laundered, baked, frozen, boiled, dropped and even run over by a SUV in many third party reviews. The durability of this drive is awesome.

The drive comes in 2 versions, the normal flash voyager (green) and the high performance GT (red). Corsair Voyager GT is considered the fastest usb flash drive in the market now. Of course, everything comes with a price. GT is priced 2-3 times more than the basic Voyager. If speed is critical to you, GT is the one for you.

Inside the box, it comes with a lanyard and a usb cable extension. It also includes True Crypt security application. Corsair is very generous by giving a 10 year warranty. They are very confident about their products.

I just read in CNET news that flash memory is getting more attention as developers are builting new techs around it. Apple are some early adopters of flash memories such as iPod and iPhone products.

Flash memory is compact and does not need external power source to run. It is amazing how a micro SD card, so small can store up to 8GB of stuff.

Corsair Flash Voyager is highly recommended!

New Extreme Website Conversion Software Promises 40% More Sales!

So ... what is Virtual Smart Agent and how can it benefit you?

This technology is so new ... it almost looks like science fiction! VSA is the world's FIRST stand-alone Virtual Sales Agent enables you to put an automated chat solution on your website WITHOUT having to pay someone else for the service...

But I didn't stop there. I also made it BETTER than anything else out there, by making it possible for you to train your virtual agent, split-test the results, and even build your opt-in list on autopilot!

This technological masterpiece has already been PROVEN to boost sales by upto 40%, and the marketers who manage to get their hands on it are going tobe at a huge competitive advantage.
Not only does it boost sales, but it can also build your list on autopilot,and even increase your affiliate commissions.



It's basically like having your own virtual "employee" that never sleeps. Itjust keeps working for you and building your business 24/7 with no breaks.

You see, Dave Guindon, the product owner, is also an experienced online marketer as well as an advanced software developer. So he knows how to deliver quality products along with how to use the products to your advantage.

Not many product owners even attempt to over-deliver as much as Dave does!

Here is a short list of the powerful features this software provides:

01. Increase your website conversions up to 20-40% in a little as 2 weeks!

02. Dramatically reduce your shopping cart abandonment.

03. Instantly increase the value of each website visitor.

04. Improve your website visitor's experience (builds trust and repeat business).

05. Increase your customer loyalty and overall satisfaction.

06. Quickly grow a highly responsive opt-in list of interested prospects.

07. Reduce labor costs.

08. Save time by reducing questions and support requests.

09. Up-sell or cross-sell similar and/or additional products to boost your revenue.

10. Find out WHY customers are leaving your site.

11. One installation works on ALL your websites... boost your entire business!

12. Builds your opt-in list on autopilot!

13. Auto follow-up emails to your web visitors after they leave your chats!

14. And a lot more ...

Dave Guindon offers an unbelievable LIFETIME money back guarantee!
So you basically have nothing to lose ... I didn't!

Click here to find out more.