Headphones

Choosing the right type of headphones is quite gruesome sometimes.  If you are an audiophile you would opt for a more expensive one like Bose, Senheiser, Sony, or Shure.  But if you have nothing to spare for these expensive types, you would ought for cheper ones found in stalls inside the malls or even Green Hills.  But what about CD-R King headphones?  Since we have an internet shop we already bought a dozen types.  The first ones that I have bought were just the standard P60 type.  But it turns out that after just weeks your P60 is gone.  The material used was very cheap that it will easily break and the copper wires are so thin that your nose hairs are thicker and more durable.  But the P150 types are quite sturdy and lasts for at least a month. The latest headsets that we bought were the neckband types since there were no more headband types with  the linen ply all over the wires.

Well, it depends on how you will use it.  We opt to buying the ones which have linen thread surronding the wires thinking that they are durable looking compared to the ones which only have rubber wires.  The ones that lasts more are the neckband types.  As for the headband types the usual point of breakage is the part where you adjust the band depending on your head size.  Also, the wires that are found just beneath those adjusting headband types easily break when it is oftenly adjusted.  While on the necband type, there is'nt anything to adjust so the wires beneath the band are untouched.  Our last batch of headsets are the neckband types and it lasted for 10 months already.  It looks like that CDR-King headphones improved their design which made the quality of their headsets quite sturdier than before.  But of course the quality of audio isn't that good compared to the high end types but they are enough for a Skype conversation and Youtube videos.

Don't Worry, Know the Warranty

As on my previous posts, I have mentioned that I have two MSI Motherboards that failed.  These are 2 out of 10.  Thinking that the boards are no longer covered with warranty, since PC Express claims that there is only one year warranty for MSI motherboards, I tried to see what was really wrong with these boards.  There were no signs of burn marks, damaged components or anything.  I lost hope and thought that there will be two PCs in our shop with no motherboards.  One day I mentioned the problem to one of my officemate, who happens to also have a computer shop.  He told me that most of the motherboards have at least two years of warranty.  He suggested to look for the official distributor and call them to double check if the one year warranty that PC Express claims is valid.  So I did looked up in the internet and found in MSI's website that their official distributor in the Philippines is NetEssentials and their office is found in 8th steet along Boni Serrano which was quite near our office.  According to them the warranty of MSI boards is 2 years.  To my surprise, I jumped for joy!  My Mobos are still covered!  The following day I hurriedly brought the two boards to NetEssentials.  They did the necessary inspections like the one I did before, looked for any burn marks, damaged components, and the sticker with the serial numbers.  After been visual inspected, they gave me a slip and said that I can follow-up the status of the boards after 3 working days.  It took 1 week before the boards were replaced with new ones.  They said that the problem was the on-board graphics.  Although its been a week, it is better to have them back than not having them fixed or replaced at all.

This has been a lesson to me, that before having your device or any other electronic appliance or gadget repaired by yourself or an outside technician, know first if it is still covered with warranty.  Some brands let their products carry an international warranty.  This means that if you bought it from someplace else like Singapore, Hong Kong, or even in the US of A.

One of my experience regarding the warranty is repairing my 2nd Generation iPod.  After failure to repair it I delegated it to the Mac Center in Megamall.  After having it shipped to Singapore I found out that it was still under warranty with only a few days left for the warranty to expire.  They could have replaced it with a new one if it not I have opened it.

Recently, my boss asked me if I can fix his HP Netbook since it won't boot up.  My advice is to contact HP first and know if it is still under warranty and have them fixed it instead of me.  After one day he endorsed it to HP and they repaired it since it is still covered with warranty.  Unfortunately, HP will have to format the hard disk and reinstall the system including the OS.  Bummer.

So if you have a defective gadget, Do not worry, know the warranty!

I'm Officially a Symbian User

I am writing this to declare that my O2 XDA II Mini is officially dead.  It died when my wife accidentally dropped it in the toilet bowl.  I attempted to revive it but after a couple of disassembly-assembly and a bit of visual inspection(Just to see if I have a darn talent in fixing such kind of devices) it no longer showed signs of life, so I declared it as totally unusable.  Well, this is bad news for my wife since she was the one who inherited it.  Anyway, since I currently have 2 cellphones that I am using, now I have to choose which one of them should I give her, my Nokia E90 or my HTC Touch Viva.

Beforehand, before it was flushed-up, I already have a clue that the O2 wouldn't last that long so I have already decided that I will give her my HTC Touch Viva and will live with a Symbian based E90.  Although I am having second thoughts since the Viva is very much useful to me especially the dictionary and the MS Office programs.  But anyway, I still gave it to her.  I thought to myself that the HTC Viva is too much for me.  The applications that was installed in the Viva were no longer used for the past couple of months except for the dictionary and the MS Excel.  So I just let it go.

The E90 have a battery problem, aside for the fact that it doesn't last for a day the battery itself is already bloated.  So I went out to buy a replacement battery and also unlocked the E90 since it was tied up with Globe. I am a die hard Sun Cellular user.

I installed some apps from the Ovi store and upgraded the firmware hoping that it will boost-up in speed since it only had a 300MHz processor.  The Ovi app store is not that appealing compared to the iTunes App store.  I have limited choices and didn't even found a dictionary application.  Good thing that I have downloaded a software from this Indian guy named Vikrant and have it installed.  What I don't like about it is that it's quite heavy in the pocket.  That is why I also bought a special belt-clip for it.  But on the bright side I already got used to this phone and have enjoyed using it ever since.  I type faster especially when texting.  Slowly I am liking the feel of the Symbian S60 software.  Although opening applications takes quite some time but I am able to manage.  Besides, the reason I choose this is to simplify things and it did.

K9NGM4 MSI Failure Analysis

When I looked for a motherboard for our internet shop I was thinking for a sturdy and reliable mobo to last until all the PCs are paid up by the revenue of the business. The first thing that went through my mind is ASUS since the company has been in the motherboard business for years already and they have less negative feedbacks from users. But upon the moment of purchase I was warned by one of the PC Express technicians that the ASUS mobo that I wanted was not that sturdy and they are experiencing some installation problems with it. I was buying an AMD processor and there was only 1 ASUS mobo available for AMD processors. So I asked the store what do they recommend instead in replacement for the once thought to be reliable ASUS. And there came in MSI as their recommendation. There were a lot of MSI models for AMD so I asked for the one that gave the best on-board GPU since most of the in demand games at that time were not graphics hungry most especially the online games.  Besides, if ever the demand for higher graphics came then I will just buy external video cards to go with the gaming niche. So they gave me the MSI K9NGM4 AM2+ Socket Motherboard.  But a year has passed and 3 out of the 10 MSI mobo that I bought  has gone down the drain.

The first one that failed was brought back to the PC shop to take advantage of the warranty. The failure mode is that after some time of usiage it suddenly turns off. Then as days go by after that symptom it only took minutes or seconds after boot up then without warning the entire system will shut down. After two days of waiting PC Express then decided to return the Mobo to MSI as they cannot see what is the cause of the problem. Then after two weeks MSI simply repaced the mobo with a new one which was a relief to me.

Another problem encountered on another unit is that the mobo cannot bring light on the VGA port. The fans are rolling and the LEDs are blinking but there is nothing on the LCD display. This keeps on happening everytime you push the power button. After some disconnection of peripherals and system components you will finally see the start-up logo and  then an error message in red font saying something about overclocking failure. Then the system will be back to normal.

And the latest problem that I encountered was that the unit cannot power up. After several attempts to power it up only 5% chance that the system will go up. Just recently there was no power at all after almost a hundred presses on the power button. It seems that the unit suddenly died on me.

I'm still packing the dead PCs and have PC Express do their own assessment on the problem. I hope that they can fix them or else I will have to replace them with a new one preferrably other cheaper brand. The last board that I bought was an ECS which has the advantage of a 3-year warranty. Now that is a very attractive deal for a cheaper choice. So if you will buy a rig today or in the near future I hope that this will help. You should consider your options carefully.

Modern Warfare 2

Since I started buying gaming rigs for our internet shop I was hooked on playing Activision's Call ofDuty -Modern Warfare 2 developed by Infinity Ward. This is the sequel from the first Modern Warfare which I did not had the chance to finish due to the lack of time and lack of a video card since the first batch of PCs were bought without it. Anyway, I was glad to purchase new workstations with NVidia 9400GTand 9500GT giving me a good reason to devote some time into gaming. As for the newest Call of Duty series which is the one I am reviewing. Please take note that I am just an average gaming guy whom cannot even get a hundred lives out of that darn turtle from Super Mario. But with regards to first person shooter games I can say I'm a bit above the average since I am a Counter Strike veteran. I sometimes but not most of the time top on the terrorist list when the "Tab" key is pressed, if you are an SF or CS player then you know what I mean.

First impressions with the game is that its quite apealing with the green radar type communication spreading from one place to another like intelligence networks, and the explanations of the mission briefings are done while loading the game which is better than waiting in complete silence. It adds CIA feeling on gathering intel with deep undercover high-tech stuff. The beginning of the game is the familiarization of the keys & the function of each. The scene of an instructor teaching new recruits is the background and yourself showing how its done is a good way of learning the commands rather than learning it during the game. Next is when you go to practice your precision & speed by going to the pit where you do some practical shooting. Then after this your mission begins. You start up in Afghanistan where you will be engaged in a heavy gunfire and then will succeed with the next missions.  What I like about this game is that it's not hard to kill enemy troops. The kill percentage is almost the same with left for dead 2 except that in this game the enemy shoots back. In other words you won't have a hard time killing people, unlike Crysis where enemy soldiers are all wearing vests which makes them difficult to take out. The gameplay is good from making decisions and strategizing your way through the missions. You do not need walkthrough notes to finish the mission when you are in Normal mode. You are guided by radio commands and on-screen instructions and things are pretty obvious.  You gotta be aggresive sometimes since enemy troops are quite good at shooting at you.  Anyone who will be trying out this game will surely enjoy the feel and touch of the quality gameplay it offers.

Globe Comeback

After months of bragging and a mouthful of bullshit follow-ups, Globe finally allocated some manpower to our DSL line which was devastated by Ondoy.  By the time the technicians started sprouting I never took my eyes off them and even gave them snacks and cigarettes to speed-up the repair.  It seems that the problem with our line is that it was connected to a prepaid slot in their telephone box located near the main road close to our house.  It might be a result of a mixed-up sloppy job made by their fellow contractors who gave way to new subscribers instead of dealing first with the typhoon victims like us.  Anyway, I'm glad that we are back on-line and our mini internet shop was finally back.  Thanks to the "DVJ" guys who went to save our shop from eternal doom.  I just hope that our old customers will come back and enjoy our 3Mbps Globelines connection.

Oh, by the way, I just found out from one of the technicians that PLDT have a different system compared to Globe.  They have a back-up system of somekind where in the event that the telephone boxes are damaged the subscribers are directed to the main server found in their main office.  I wonder if Globe already have this type of system.  Well, I hope they learned from this unfortunate event and that they can have a Plan B instead of relying solely on their no-backup system.

Another Window to be opened?

Microsoft just announced last Monday that they will be launching their new Windows Mobile operating system somewhere in 2010 and they are calling it Windows Phone 7.  Reviews from PC World and other tech websites are saying that the OS is quite similar to Microsoft Zune's interface.  I haven't used a Zune before but by the looks of it it's quite attractive.  Many liked the Zune aside from the iPod but majority of users still prefer the iPod or iPhone.  I just hope that this new Microsoft OS is not only for the tech savvy but also for the ordinary mediocre users who hates being technical.  If they are able to do this than they may have an edge in the Mobile business like their PC Windows platform.  Apple's iPhone OS is still the best thing when it comes to usability, while Google's Android OS is best when it comes to the technicalities.  I hope that Microsoft can bridge that gap and give the masses a unique user experience.  To me it still depends on the user's preferences and not the makers.

As they pronounced it -- "iPad"

I was never a fan of Apple products but I do appreciate their innovative ways both in technical and marketing.  Recently Steve introduced to us the new iPad as they call it (In Filipino it still sounds like an iPod).  I have reviewed their specifications and what amazed me is the battery life that they claim can last up to 10 hours of continuous use.  For me that is a breakthrough in mobile computing.  Although other companies claimed to have a battery life this long, like Dell, but despite the fact that it's a hybrid between a computer and a multimedia device you wouldn't expect something like this coming.  Most companies are souping up their devices with almost all the features that their devices can provide but the common problem is the same and that is the battery life.  I do not see much of a development in this area of Engineering but what I think that Steve did was that he removed some features that are major battery drainers like the Flash capability which he claims that is a very efficient battery drainer.  Although flash is widely used in the internet most especially video sites like Youtube and also game sites like Y8.com, I'm not sure what can we expect from this device. 

But I think that simplicity is King and I guess this is another general niche that Apple has entered and I have the feeling that they will dominate.  The way they design their devices is that they thought of it thoroughly that everybody, and I mean anybody who would get hold of it don't need to be a rocket scientist to operate it and perform what it's intended to do.