Gadget

I am officially a proud Blackberry® Bold 9700 user

Bought a Blackberry 9700 under DiGi Smartplan™. Unlimited internet blablabla… wanted to get this phone since March, but couldn’t find a good reason for replacing my phone.

And now, my Nokia N95 finally dies. After 30 months of constant abuse and, rare case, swimming sessions. I am still surprise how it can survive for so long. Nokia phones really tahan lasak!

Now gimme a crab, I want to crack the shell with N95. See who wins

Anyone wanna see how my N95 looks like right now? It’s cruel and obscene, especially to Nokia hardcore fans. (hello @tallboyz)

The main criterion for choosing Blackberry® Bold 9700 is simple—I want buttons. So I can text while driving (yet to master that skill, still practising)

This is the second generation for Blackberry® Bold 9700, it replaces a trackball with a trackpad. I have to say, this little thing is awesome! Makes navigation so much easier. You only need to rub…

I love the word “rub”

Sorry, I couldn’t find a better word to fit this description.

Blackberry® Bold 9700 also comes with a 3.2mp camera. I love this camera cause it doesn’t produce the “chik-chak” sound like my old Nokia N95. This makes candid shots much simpler.

I wonder why no sound—I remember reading an article about the regulations on the compulsory camera sound on certain country to prevent under-skirt photos. Malaysia is included I think.

Without sound is much fun laaaaa of course!

Edit: OHHHH… got CHIK-CHAK sound! but barely noticeable

(I took a candid shot here, after England lost to Germany at #WC2010. The fans fell asleep at Cafe – http://tweetphoto.com/29492923)

Now with this phone connecting to my Twitter, Facebook 24/7.. I am more active on Tweetphoto. Follow me at Twitter @ahbing

And one of the features that differenciate Blackberry® Bold 9700 from other Blackberries is the sexy leather.

Barely noticeable in many occasions, but it does make a difference. I like this feature cause it makes Blackberry® Curve (lower spec) look like a toy

On top of Blackberry® Bold 9700, there are two buttons.

Left: Keylock—you only need to press once to lock and unlock your phone. I am going to show you more geng-chau function later on.

Right: Mute—this requires no explanation. If your dad calls, you press this button and it’ll shut up your dad. There’s a function which it will send automatic message to your dad

(e.g. Don’t kacau me first, I call you back later!)

Nah, just kidding

On the left side of the phone—A headphone jack for music, movie or hands-free. In Malaysia, you don’t need hands-free.

Traffic police is happier that way, you make whole Malaysia complete.

The right photo is a fast-access button to any application you want. In this case, I set the button to Blackberry Messenger. You can set this button as camera, email, activate bluetooth, music player—almost any function.

On the right side of the phone—Another fast-access button, similar to left one. And a volume controller for incoming calls.

What I like about these buttons are, all of them can be assigned to different tasks. Memang syok.

Blackberry® Bold 9700 comes bundle with a leather case (holster) too. This case…. don’t play play. Got hidden mechanism wan.

After one week of using this phone, I only realised that this holster has a magnet inside. You put the phone inside, it’ll automatically lock keypad.

You can also set the phone to vibrate only when it’s in holster, or automatically pick up phone when you pull the phone out.

So many awesome setting to play with @.@

The holster also designed to expose the speakers so the alarm goes off loud and clear every morning. Get your ass up!

Oh by the way, my current ringtone is Justin Bieber—I will immediately pick up incoming calls to avoid her singing any longer.

The charger port also conveniently exposed! These people are genius.

The bottom of the phone is… two metal thingie… which I have no idea what’s it for.

Anyone can tell me what’s it for ah? I push, rub, touch, scratch—nothing happened. It looks awesome nonetheless.

I am a big fanboy for Blackberry® Bold 9700 now hehehehe.

My BB Pin is… nah, not going to let you know.

ONLY GIRLS ALLOWED

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This is my new laptop, a 13″ laptop. Mainly for working on my personal projects during my prolonged travel period. This is not a gaming machine so I did not go for higher spec.. and this only costs RM1,399 (RM300 cash debate rebate during promotion)

Initially I wanted a black color cover because all my gadgets are black. Changing the cover to maroon red or pearl white will cost additional RM89.00. Customer service called up and say black out of stock, and I am given choose of red or white for free

This laptop is light and compact. As you can probably see, The laptop has full sized keyboard, which is one of the reason I am attracted with. Minimal body size with full size keyboard, I like.

The keyboard feels great. Unlike older keyboards, you only need to press lightly on this keyboard, without losing the feeling of “Did I press that button” kind of feeling.

You press the button half millimeter, it will automatically sink all the way in.

Feels like Apple’s product

The touchpad has a rough and matte surface. Older touchpads will accumulate dusts on the side after a period of time, but this touchpad surface is much easier to clean, and chances are you won’t leave dirty marks or finger marks.

My finger doesn’t feel warm after a prolonged period of touching and rubbing

Like most of the laptop these days, it comes with a built-in webcam. This webcam comes with software bundle, where you can make a cat talk like a human. Hehe.

This laptop runs with Windows 7 operating system. Thank god! I rather spend the money on beer if this laptop runs with Vista. Never had any good experience with Vista.

I upgraded the graphic card with additional RM133 , give or take – can’t remember the exact price. ATI HD4330 is only enough to play World of Warcraft under low settings but rest assured, no games are installed in this machine.

Installed Starcraft under influence of 颓废 friend, removed it under 24 hours. Phew.

On the left side, there is a built-in SD card reader and HDMI port.

Did you know? HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) is a compact audio/video interface for transmitting uncompressed digital data — such as HD DVD players, Blu-ray Disc players, video game consoles such as the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

On the right side, you have all the ports you need. Microphone line in, headphone, IEEE 1394, 2 USB, eSATA, and and LAN port.

The ventilation grill is on the left side. This laptop does not have overheating problem so far. According to customers review, they are satisfied with the overall cooling. The worst heat I had was merely warm, compare to my old laptop, it’s totally different league.

My old laptop can produce enough heat to cook omelet on it.

Here’s a comparison on how small this laptop is. I do not feel “squeezed” with both my hands on it. Feels just right

Dell Inspiron 13 is way thinner than usual laptop is because… it doesn’t have CD-ROM. I need to use external CD-ROM to overcome the problem. But that’s okay because this laptop is mainly for online purposes.

The charger port with lights when you turn on. Neatt…

Small size adapter for portability, it’s very light.

The last time I checked on this product (this morning while writing this review), seems like Dell.com has discontinued this product. The closest one you can find is 13z, which is RM1,000 more expensive.

Overall, I am very satisfied with this laptop. I give it a 9.5/10 given the price I paid. Oh did I tell you I bought this laptop with my online earnings? Satisfaction gao gao

What I do not like about this laptop:

• Gloss cover and screen – attract dusts and leaves fingermarks easily
• No CD-rom
• Only 2 USB ports

Things you should know:

• Also known as Dell Inspiron 1320
• The Inspiron 13 is only available in Singapore and Malaysia
• Recently discontinued

Are you satisfied with your computer performance? Tell me

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LUMIX LX3 is the main *official* camera for Ahbing.com! Yay!

This is an amazing camera. Its a compact camera that shoots as well as a mid-range DSLR. Best of all, it costs half of what a bottom-end DSLR costs.

I bought Panasonic LUMIX LX3 not long ago, and already received messages from friends.

Two main types of messages from them

1) Congratulation! I am jealous!
2) How was the camera?

I promised them to write a review, so here is it.

Designed for easy, creative shooting, and high-performance in low-light conditions, the DMC-LX3 features a F2.0 24mm LEICA DC VARIO-SUMMICRON lens, 10.1 megapixels and an ultra-sensitive 1/1.63-inch CCD developed specifically for this model.

By combining a high-quality lens and sensor ready for a variety of shooting conditions with a wide-range of accessories and manual controls, the DMC-LX3 is ideal for professional photographers and serious amateurs looking for a compact digital camera that furthers their creative photography.

How the camera looks like

The size of LX3 is smaller than what I had in mind. I can easily cover the whole camera with my palm.

I can switch the aspect of the camera immediately with three easy switches. These aspects determine the “square size” of your camera. If you want to have wide-screen effect, choose 16:9. Pretty much like a television.

I did not clean the camera properly after came back from experimenting at city ^^;

Auto Focus – Macro Mode – Manual Focus. These switches are mostly not available in compact cameras. Sometimes I forgot to switch back to AF after taking food macro shots ^^” so is a habit I need to change.

The round switch on the left is the manual switches. Notice there is no “Automatic” shot.

Start from SCN (clock wise) – SCENE – intelligentAperture – Program – Aperture Priority – Shutter Speed Priority – Manual – Custom 1 – Custome 2 – Video

W and T button is zoom function. This camera only comes with 2x zoom but I am satisfied with current zoom.

Focus – ah haaa I love this function. I can set the focus point manually.. usually only dSLR has such functions.

And more more more more buttons which I am too lazy to explain ^^”

This is definitely not a camera for new comers. But once mastered, this is a really really really really powerful compact camera. Especially in low light conditions.

I bought a new memory card specially for this camera. I take high resolution shots to give myself more room to edit photos in Photoshop. Normally one photo is around 3mb. If I shoot in RAW mode, one photo is around 11mb.

The battery life sucks. I need to get a spare one.

The lens will become long long when you turn it on. Many girls love this motion. I turn on my camera, they also turn on themselves. Haiyaya. I don’t know why la.. but some how that boost my ego a bit.

This spot right here very geng one.. can put external flash or viewfinder.

Eh? external flash? this means LX3 does not have flash? No no no.. this is not what I mean. This camera has its own build in flash.

Jeng jeng jeng… build in flash! You push a button, and the flash will pop up with a *click* sound. Haha its addictive to play with the click sound.

LUMIX LX3 sample screen shots

These shots were taken without going through manual book. There is much room for improvement (I hope)

Chris holding my Fantasy Chicken Wing™

Low light condition – without flash.

Macro shots.. focused on the edge.

10 second expose – outside my room.

Jacaranda trees during daylight mode. Photos taken for my Brisbane Student Guide website.

Tutorial Websites

Step by step video guides – http://www.lbguides.com
Lowyat Forum – http://forum.lowyat.net
Sample LX3 photos – http://www.flickr.com
Famous blogger using this camera – http://www.dannychoo.com

Panasonic DMC-LX3 10.1MP Digital Camera with 24mm Wide Angle MEGA Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Black)

This is an amazing camera.

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I always wanted to change my old camera.

My camera, Canon IXUS 850 IS, has served me well all these years. Been to many parties, and got many phone contacts of chicks friends, and many many many many photos for ahbing blog and fuizaibing blog (old blog). The photos taken by this camera has probably showed more than 100,000 times to readers.

I started to became fussy about the quality of the photos. I compare to newer cameras. Therefor, I decided to get a new camera. Looked around for camera reviews, Panasonic LUMIX LX3 is always the recommended one. I am happy with current camera, but… I just feel like spending money. And that is my reason to change camera HEHEHEHEHE.

After much thought (and countless brainwash by photography kaki). I decided to by this camera through online shop – Topbuy.com.au. They offer the best price at that moment.

I placed my payment and I waited for the camera to arrive, everyday. One month passed, and the camera has not arrive yet. I contact the customer service and they said the order was not processed, no more stock in their inventory and they returned my money.

What the fuck.

But seems like friends around me are more upset ^^; They keep complaining about that online shop. I did not complain much. Probably it’s not the time yet.

I wanted that camera to take food photos for restaurant reviews at one of my website, Brisbane Student Guide. But since I’ve decided to go back Malaysia for good. “Aiya I don’t need that camera anymore la I am going back liao. No need take food photo anymore” I said to myself.

One month passed, a friend of mine, Ryan, wrote a blog entry about compact cameras. He ask his readers to expect the ultimate compact camera, The Leica series. Whoaaaa damn my desire to buy camera kena burn gao gao. But fairly disappointed to know that camera cost USD$1,995. Wayyy out of my budget.

After rounds of comparison, the most suitable camera for me is still undoubtedly Panasonic LUMIX LX3.

Besides that, one of my favourite blogger, Dannychoo, uses Panasonic LUMIX LX3 to take photos too. My heart feels so itchy… fucking itchy.

*rhyme* I’ve got a feeling! That tonight I will get a new toy.. that tonight I will get a new toy.. that tonight I will get a new, new toy~ woohoooo

On the last day of September, I decided to look for second hand Panasonic LUMIX LX3 at eBay (suddenly got feel). A new listing was posted for 10 days, and the listing was up only 10 minutes. The starting bid is AUD$399, buyout price is AUD$499. The owner claimed he only took 200 images, bought from a camera house at Brisbane and it comes with original receipt and warranty.

The original priced I previously paid online was $647. $499 for second hand, almost brand new. What the fuck?!

I bought the item immediately -___- I swear this is my fastest decision to spend so much money online without thinking twice. I leave my contact number to the seller, and he called me 3 minutes after I paid the item.

“Can I get the camera from you tomorrow?” I said.

“Alright! Meet at city” replied the seller with heavy Aussie slang. Soon I found out he is 50 years old white collar who works in middle of Brisbane CBD.

We exchange numbers. Met up the next day… and guess what? I am a proud owner of Panasonic LUMIX LX3 now

JENG JENG JENG…..

The camera looks a bit dusty… because… I used it whole afternoon, haven’t clean it yet ^^; I will review the camera soon. Join my Twitter to get updates!

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