sturdy SSD
Monday, February 8, 2010
Solid State Drives (SSD) is a relatively new technology that uses non-moving parts and proves to be potentially superior to the current hard disk in many aspects. Current hard disk uses a spinning disk and a mechanical arm to read data which makes it relatively fragile compared to SSDs. SSD also has higher read speed than HDD but the main characteristics of an SSD is usually the low read latency, which implies faster loading times. Right now this technology is still expensive and glitched though, so we'll have to wait a year or two before it gets refined into a beautiful product.
Anyway, kingston proved it's sturdiness in the video below:
It's said to be able to withstand a G-shock of 1500 G, whatever G-shock means. Couldn't find it on google, but it simply means the product is very resistant and hard to spoil. =D
That being said, a hard disk of this level of resilience would mean that your data would still be there after you drop your laptop, but it's very likely that the other parts, especially the LCD screen would be damaged beyond repair such that you won't be able to do anything to it anyway. ^^". But preserving data is probably more important, isn't it?
More of such videos at KingstonSSDNow Youtube channel
source
Anyway, kingston proved it's sturdiness in the video below:
It's said to be able to withstand a G-shock of 1500 G, whatever G-shock means. Couldn't find it on google, but it simply means the product is very resistant and hard to spoil. =D
That being said, a hard disk of this level of resilience would mean that your data would still be there after you drop your laptop, but it's very likely that the other parts, especially the LCD screen would be damaged beyond repair such that you won't be able to do anything to it anyway. ^^". But preserving data is probably more important, isn't it?
More of such videos at KingstonSSDNow Youtube channel
source
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thumbs down to linksys.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Recently bought Linksys router WRT610N together with 2 USB adapters WUSB600N at Sitex. I would say it's a huge disappointment and totally not worth the cash invested in it.
I'll start with the Linksys router. The 5.0 Ghz connection, which is supposed to provide faster connection in a less congested network, has a pathetic range for decent home usage. The signal degradation is so strong that after 5 meters and a wall, my connection to the network becomes intermittent. Sometimes it would connect, sometimes it drops the connection. The transfer speed to the router in that wireless range itself is pathetic too. After tweaking the settings, my files transfer speed to the router still hovers at around 1 MBps, even though the theoretical maximum is much higher. The 2.4 Ghz (the one most people are still using) works even better than my old one in terms of speed and range but that wasn't what I paid the money for.
I would've thought the USB adapters will be easier to configure than a new router but man, I was totally wrong. Since I recently installed a Windows 7, I decided to use one of these sticks for that computer. I spent about an hour troubleshooting the whole thing because it wouldn't connect to the internet and because I couldn't find an official update to the drivers. I thought there's a problem with my settings but it turned out linksys is the one that screwed up. After visiting its community forum, I found a lot of users with the same problems and a few workarounds. I tried one of them, which is using the vista updates for another adapter version and somehow it worked. Pretty much wasted a lot of my time there with the inefficiencies.
And while searching for driver update for that stick, I stumbled upon an official update to the XP driver. So I went ahead and updated the drivers for my XP computer's USB stick. Guess what? This time the stick couldn't talk properly to the router and the router refuses to issue the machine an IP address. In the end, I reinstalled the old driver in order to use the internet. Good job on an official driver that creates more problems, linksys.
With that being said, I'll end this 15 minutes entry. I'll probably jump over to D-link the next time I do an upgrade and I advise anyone reading not to buy either of those products I've mentioned.
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Sitex 09
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Sitex'09 is going to start tomorrow and I have a pretty long list of items to buy, namely wireless n-router, a blu-ray drive, and probably some parts for a new computer I am going to setup.
Took a look at Sony VAIO CW price tag in the flyer. Pretty disappointed because the HDD is only 320 GB and it is about SGD300 more than the initial price. Don't think I am getting one anytime soon.
Took a look at Sony VAIO CW price tag in the flyer. Pretty disappointed because the HDD is only 320 GB and it is about SGD300 more than the initial price. Don't think I am getting one anytime soon.
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Current/future technologies to look out for
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
I feel like doing up a post about upcoming relevant technology advances for 2009 and 2010 in layman terms. It might be because I am acutely aware that I have a desire to revamp my computer when I ORD next year that these changes become apparent but nonetheless, they are still pretty big changes that imo, are worth noticing.
Here are some of the things you should look out for if you are looking to buy a new computer or upgrade your computer, be it now or in the near future.
Here are some of the things you should look out for if you are looking to buy a new computer or upgrade your computer, be it now or in the near future.
1) Windows 7 Operating System
It's coming out around the end of this month. If you are using Vista, it's going to be a must to upgrade it. If you meet the conditions,Microsoft can send it to your house at a low cost instead of having you buy the OS (which will cost over a hundred). If you are using XP, it might be time to consider upgrading it (perhaps giving it a few months to iron out any remaining problems).
There was a pretty huge beta testing for Windows 7 and most of the reviews came out positive, claiming Windows 7 to be the smoother and friendlier version of Vista, with a lot of clutters taken away to be replaced by a non-demanding sleek system. Looks like the time for XP to retire is coming close.
2) IEEE 802.11n (A.K.A. Wireless draft-n)
Are you still using the ugly Linksys blue and black router that looks like some out-of-place plastic casing among all your sleek black equipments? (The D-Link one looks better but I am assuming most people uses Linksys router here anyway) The new wireless-n router has not only a much nicer design but also 2x the range and up to 7x the speed. It's the new standard, superseding the 6 years old G protocol, which is what most of us are using now. And yea, this is only an upgrade if your internet surfing is powered wirelessly. If you're using LAN cables, they are still faster than wireless setups.
Wireless draft-n has been out in the market for a short while and many places now sell wireless-n routers. It's definitely worth the upgrade if you have several PCs connecting to the router wirelessly. If you are going to opt into the broadband upgrade (elaborated below), this should be a worthy investment.
3) USB 3.0 source: USB.org
Yeps, your ever convenient USB hub is going to get an upgrade in speed too. Currently every system around is installed with USB 2.0, which is already in use for 9 years. The USB 3.0 is going to be 10x the speed, transforming from "Hi-speed" to "SuperSpeed". The time taken to transfer your files from your camera to computer is potentially 10x faster if USB SuperSpeed is adopted globally. It's backward compatible too, so fret not, all your old devices are still able to connect to USB SuperSpeed.
USB 3.0 is slated to be available in early 2010, but there's really no point waiting for USB 3.0 if you are waiting a new machine because it's estimated to take about 1 or 2 years after release before it will become mainstream and utilized properly. It may be a slow transition but watch out for it!
4) Blu-ray
Heard of this term before? If you haven't, here's what it is. Blu-ray refers to a kind of disc that has an even higher storage space than DVDs. It's relatively new, having just came out early last year, and it's way more powerful than the DVD. Anyone into HD (High Definition) videos or audios would have certainly heard of this term by now. A normal Blu-ray disc can store up to 25GB as opposed to 5GB in a normal DVD disc and it can also be read faster than a DVD. As far as I know, PS3 has games being sold in this medium already.
What's more, machines aimed at multimedia consumers such as the vaio I was drooling over before are increasingly being fitted with a Blu-ray player with DVD/CD burning capabilities. With this level of penetration, Blu-ray is only going to get more popular. Just one downside, if you want to fully enjoy the wonders of this technology, your screen needs to have this logo.
5) Next Generation Nationwide Broadband Network source: IDA Singapore
Here's some local news.
Even if you haven't heard of that term before, you will have surely read from somewhere in local news that several districts are having their fiber optics upgraded to higher speed. They are the same thing essentially. It's a plan to upgrade Singapore's broadband speed, which is lagging behind many countries. If all goes as planned, our maximum download speed can potentially be increased to 1GBps, 10x the speed now, but taking all the factors into consideration, the value is probably overly exaggerated and we should just deem it as a modest speed upgrade until proven otherwise.
Despite having a broadband penetration rate of near 90%, our speed requirements barely reach current demands, ranked at 28th of 66 analyzed countries in a study conducted by Cisco. It's time that we have a proper hardware upgrade if we were to stay competitive globally.
The upgrade is a opt in thing though, and they have to install a small gadget in your house for you to access the upgraded connection. More can be read here. It says that the services is slated to be provided in 2010 so things still seem pretty vague to me. Do we have to terminate our current subscription and subscribe to their services or are they going to let us upgrade our current internet subscriptions? How much will we have to pay and what kind of jack are they providing for the connection? They either didn't cover these questions or have hid them pretty well because I haven't read any of such things thus far. Well, it's still more or less in its infancy stage so that can wait.
As I have said, I am not satisfied with our local ISPs and still remain skeptical about their provision of services. We badly need the upgrade but if our service providers aren't going to maintain the quality of the link, the investment is as good as a lost cause. I am gonna wait and see.
That's about all the main stuffs I wanted to say. I still ended up typing a bit too much when it comes to our local internet but W/E. The list is by no means exhaustive but I believe it covers most of the important upcoming developments we'll see.
It's coming out around the end of this month. If you are using Vista, it's going to be a must to upgrade it. If you meet the conditions,Microsoft can send it to your house at a low cost instead of having you buy the OS (which will cost over a hundred). If you are using XP, it might be time to consider upgrading it (perhaps giving it a few months to iron out any remaining problems).
There was a pretty huge beta testing for Windows 7 and most of the reviews came out positive, claiming Windows 7 to be the smoother and friendlier version of Vista, with a lot of clutters taken away to be replaced by a non-demanding sleek system. Looks like the time for XP to retire is coming close.
2) IEEE 802.11n (A.K.A. Wireless draft-n)
Are you still using the ugly Linksys blue and black router that looks like some out-of-place plastic casing among all your sleek black equipments? (The D-Link one looks better but I am assuming most people uses Linksys router here anyway) The new wireless-n router has not only a much nicer design but also 2x the range and up to 7x the speed. It's the new standard, superseding the 6 years old G protocol, which is what most of us are using now. And yea, this is only an upgrade if your internet surfing is powered wirelessly. If you're using LAN cables, they are still faster than wireless setups.
Wireless draft-n has been out in the market for a short while and many places now sell wireless-n routers. It's definitely worth the upgrade if you have several PCs connecting to the router wirelessly. If you are going to opt into the broadband upgrade (elaborated below), this should be a worthy investment.
3) USB 3.0 source: USB.org
Yeps, your ever convenient USB hub is going to get an upgrade in speed too. Currently every system around is installed with USB 2.0, which is already in use for 9 years. The USB 3.0 is going to be 10x the speed, transforming from "Hi-speed" to "SuperSpeed". The time taken to transfer your files from your camera to computer is potentially 10x faster if USB SuperSpeed is adopted globally. It's backward compatible too, so fret not, all your old devices are still able to connect to USB SuperSpeed.
USB 3.0 is slated to be available in early 2010, but there's really no point waiting for USB 3.0 if you are waiting a new machine because it's estimated to take about 1 or 2 years after release before it will become mainstream and utilized properly. It may be a slow transition but watch out for it!
4) Blu-ray
Heard of this term before? If you haven't, here's what it is. Blu-ray refers to a kind of disc that has an even higher storage space than DVDs. It's relatively new, having just came out early last year, and it's way more powerful than the DVD. Anyone into HD (High Definition) videos or audios would have certainly heard of this term by now. A normal Blu-ray disc can store up to 25GB as opposed to 5GB in a normal DVD disc and it can also be read faster than a DVD. As far as I know, PS3 has games being sold in this medium already.
What's more, machines aimed at multimedia consumers such as the vaio I was drooling over before are increasingly being fitted with a Blu-ray player with DVD/CD burning capabilities. With this level of penetration, Blu-ray is only going to get more popular. Just one downside, if you want to fully enjoy the wonders of this technology, your screen needs to have this logo.
5) Next Generation Nationwide Broadband Network source: IDA Singapore
Here's some local news.
Even if you haven't heard of that term before, you will have surely read from somewhere in local news that several districts are having their fiber optics upgraded to higher speed. They are the same thing essentially. It's a plan to upgrade Singapore's broadband speed, which is lagging behind many countries. If all goes as planned, our maximum download speed can potentially be increased to 1GBps, 10x the speed now, but taking all the factors into consideration, the value is probably overly exaggerated and we should just deem it as a modest speed upgrade until proven otherwise.
Despite having a broadband penetration rate of near 90%, our speed requirements barely reach current demands, ranked at 28th of 66 analyzed countries in a study conducted by Cisco. It's time that we have a proper hardware upgrade if we were to stay competitive globally.
The upgrade is a opt in thing though, and they have to install a small gadget in your house for you to access the upgraded connection. More can be read here. It says that the services is slated to be provided in 2010 so things still seem pretty vague to me. Do we have to terminate our current subscription and subscribe to their services or are they going to let us upgrade our current internet subscriptions? How much will we have to pay and what kind of jack are they providing for the connection? They either didn't cover these questions or have hid them pretty well because I haven't read any of such things thus far. Well, it's still more or less in its infancy stage so that can wait.
As I have said, I am not satisfied with our local ISPs and still remain skeptical about their provision of services. We badly need the upgrade but if our service providers aren't going to maintain the quality of the link, the investment is as good as a lost cause. I am gonna wait and see.
That's about all the main stuffs I wanted to say. I still ended up typing a bit too much when it comes to our local internet but W/E. The list is by no means exhaustive but I believe it covers most of the important upcoming developments we'll see.
Click to read entire content!
Sony Vaio CW
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Holy, I want a Vaio CW.
It's specs?
Less than 2.5kg, 23cm by 34cm
2.2GHz dual core processor
4 Gig RAM
500GB
Nvidia GeForce G210M with up to 512MB VRAM
Blu-ray compatibility (Something better than DVD)
Built-in Card Reader, Wireless compatibility up to draft n
Sleek Design!
Less than 1.2k SGD
If you have no idea what that information above means, it's (in my opinion) a pretty good deal for a consumer laptop and with the specifications just suited for multimedia (and still upgradable). It's won't be laggy watching the high quality videos or doing those intensive rendering, plus it has about all the most up-to-date technology that I've known of. In case you didn't know, it comes with Windows 7 too, which is the latest Windows Operating System available.
If nothing else catches my eyes I might just buy this laptop for my uni usage. :D. There's still two years though, but I do want that limited edition blue color laptop (see above).
It's specs?
Less than 2.5kg, 23cm by 34cm
2.2GHz dual core processor
4 Gig RAM
500GB
Nvidia GeForce G210M with up to 512MB VRAM
Blu-ray compatibility (Something better than DVD)
Built-in Card Reader, Wireless compatibility up to draft n
Sleek Design!
Less than 1.2k SGD
If you have no idea what that information above means, it's (in my opinion) a pretty good deal for a consumer laptop and with the specifications just suited for multimedia (and still upgradable). It's won't be laggy watching the high quality videos or doing those intensive rendering, plus it has about all the most up-to-date technology that I've known of. In case you didn't know, it comes with Windows 7 too, which is the latest Windows Operating System available.
If nothing else catches my eyes I might just buy this laptop for my uni usage. :D. There's still two years though, but I do want that limited edition blue color laptop (see above).
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Windows 7
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Yo windows vista users, this is a piece of good news for all of you if you haven't already heard about it.
Windows 7 Operating System (OS) is coming out and Vista users can get this upgrade for practically nothing (except the mailing fee). All you have to do is visit this Microsoft website and follow the instructions given. If you are a Vista user, I would recommend ordering one now, and by that I mean right now even if you intend to wait till the OS is proven to be stable. This offers only extends till Jan 31 2010 and who knows if it will end earlier, since it seems to be only available "while stock last" as quoted.
Some hardware requirements your computer needs before it can run Windows 7 without a hitch:
1 GHz processor or more
1 GB of RAM or more
16 GB of Hard Disk Space (My C drive doesn't have this D=)
It's obvious why you want to upgrade to Windows 7 because Vista iscrappy not in season anymore. Windows 7 claims to be faster, more user friendly and hmm, customizable. It probably patches up a lot of loopholes Vista users experienced but I can't say much since I have not tried it. Read the full windows official article here.
Order one now! (BTW, I decided I am sticking to my XP till NS is over)
Windows 7 Operating System (OS) is coming out and Vista users can get this upgrade for practically nothing (except the mailing fee). All you have to do is visit this Microsoft website and follow the instructions given. If you are a Vista user, I would recommend ordering one now, and by that I mean right now even if you intend to wait till the OS is proven to be stable. This offers only extends till Jan 31 2010 and who knows if it will end earlier, since it seems to be only available "while stock last" as quoted.
Some hardware requirements your computer needs before it can run Windows 7 without a hitch:
1 GHz processor or more
1 GB of RAM or more
16 GB of Hard Disk Space (My C drive doesn't have this D=)
It's obvious why you want to upgrade to Windows 7 because Vista is
Order one now! (BTW, I decided I am sticking to my XP till NS is over)
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My external hard disk
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Here's an image of the external hard disk I am using. It was bought in July last year and has been acting funny since November. And for the past few months, it cannot be read by any of the computers I tried so far, be it windows or mac. Upon googling this product, this is what I found:
Quite negative eh? There's more of such comments here but I couldn't be bothered to upload so many of them. It seems to common for Imation hard disk not to be detected by computers and I've found similar problems posted on tech forums on the same brand in the not-so-distant past. It's irritating especially when you have your pictures, songs, videos and everything stored inside. The warranty only covers replacing of the product, but not the repairing, so it means your data is going to be lost forever if you don't fork out the cash from your pockets.
Oh well, lesson learnt. Don't scrimp on your external hard disk especially when you are going to use it to store your precious information. Buy one with a good brand name, like Seagate and say, Western Digital. Maxtor used to be pretty faulty but since it's bought over by Seagate it should be better. Imation may be cheap but it's certainly not worth the value. (Not gonna buy their products anymore)
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