racoma.com.phJ. Angelo Racoma on technology, economics, writing, problogging, and getting things done

I published a review of the top-of-line Honda CR-V a few weeks back. So far, we found it a capable car that’s just right for a family of five.

The CR-V is a very capable utility vehicle, considering our review was done right in the middle of inclement weather. The 2.4 liter i-VTEC engine doesn’t even complain when going uphill, and you get adequate engine braking going downhill. At the highway, even a light foot can get you from zero to highway speeds in reasonable time. You’d only have to pedal the floor when overtaking hard.

Check out the Honda CR-V at Pinoy Auto Blog.

This has been the most expensive review item I ever wrote about: the Nissan Teana 250 XV V6 luxury/executive sedan.

After an extended weekend of driving the Teana around town and winding hilly roads, we come to one conclusion: the Teana is the review car my family and I will miss most.

I’ve always admired Sony Ericsson mobile phones for their design. Sony is, after all, known for its excellent styling and features. The Sony Ericsson Xperia X8 smartphone subscribes to this ideal, with more of a Zen type styling that Sony Ericsson’s newer smartphones are known for.

The X8 is actually my first try at an Android phone (coming from an iPhone and a Symbian S60 phone) and I must admit there was a bit of adjustment, although the learning curve is not that steep. Sony Ericsson loaned me a review unit sometime back, and I spent a few weeks (months, actually) playing around with the phone. Android is highly customizable, although it will take a bit of getting used to if you’ve been using other smartphones previously.

What’s in the box

The Sony Ericsson X8 is a midrange mobile phone that runs on the now-popular Android operating system. It sports a scratch-resistant 3-inch capacitive touchscreen at 320×480 resolution. The phone is powered by a 600 MHz ARM processor, and has 128 MB internal storage, 168 MB RAM, and is bundled with a 2 GB microSD card. The box also comes with a user guide.

Are the local stations already airing Smallville Season 6? I’m not really into local TV these days. I have cable here at home, but we mostly watch kids’ channels like Disney and Nickelodeon (mostly Disney). Smallville’s Season 6 Premiere was supposed to air Thursday, September 28th in the US. But during that time, power in our place had been cut off due to typhoon Milenyo (international name: Xangsane), so I had no way of knowing whether Studio 23 is already carrying the new season (it usually plays Smallville Tuesdays).

Fortunately, there’s YouTube. While arguably copyrighted content isn’t supposed to be uploaded there, I think some producers of popular TV shows have become quite lenient, especially with the shows that have such a huge cult following that it doesn’t make sense to deprive the potential audience of their viewing enjoyment.

“Can you read my mind?”
I always thought Clark and Lex had this thing for each other. But flying through the air in a tight embrace? Now that’s something. Beat that, Lois Lane!

“Lex … Will you marry me?”

Watch it online

So if you missed Smallville, or if you’re dying to see the new season, you can watch Episode 1: Zod on YouTube.

Update: You can download the torrent here. Just go install a BitTorrent client if you don’t have one yet.

Watch out for the “Kneel before Zod” moment!

* “Part 1″:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=se1snfb_SIU
* “Part 2″:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hV8hDJCz3Mw
* “Part 3″:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgpyBIBNex0
* “Part 4″:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMJ5Bf54A4E
* “Part 5″:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZ8syHgYofY
* “Part 6″:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQKGMZV0hAQ

And here’s the preview trailer for Episode 2: Sneeze:

I’ll probably post a review of the season opener later on ForeverGeek.

No, it’s not Manny Pacquiao‘s latest book. It’s what I’m naming* this newest gadget of mine, the Compaq Presario V2617TS. It’s sort of my take on “MacBook.”

I’m sorry to say I had to retire my Thinkpad 390E (look it up–it’s a really really dated model, but that tells you how hardy ThinkPads can be) since it could no longer keep up to my requirements. I do hope it’s now in good hands.

The V2617TS is not top-of-the-line but it sure is a good deal for the price I paid. And it’s good enough for my needs as a writer, pro-blogger, occasional gamer and wannabe-photographer. SRP was PhP 35,950 but I got a discount of PhP 5,000 for paying cash, bringing down the price to PhP 30,950 or approximately US$ 580 (I think this is the price listed online at the Complink website).

It’s a Celeron-M model inside the V2000 form factor, so it looks just like the higher-end V2000 Centrinos and Core Duos, save for some differences which you would only see on closer inspection (and which non-laptop enthusiasts won’t know about anyway).

Yes, it’s teh sexy!

The specs

* Processor: Intel Celeron-M 370 (Dothan core): 1.5 GHz, 1 MB L2 Cache, 400 MHz frontside bus
* Memory: 256 MB DDR (upgraded to 768 MB)
* Chipset: Intel 915GM Express
* Graphics adaptor: Integrated Intel GMA 900, up to 128 MB shared video RAM (dynamically allocated by OS)
* Screen: 14″ Widescreen XGA TFT LCD (very very bright!)
* Hard drive: 40GB 4200 RPM
* Optical drive: Combo drive (DVD-ROM, CD-R/RW)
* 10/100 LAN, 56Kbps modem, two 2.0 USB ports, RGB out, S-video out, one Cardbus slot
* Weight: 2.31 Kg
* (OS not included in the package)

I’ve always leaned towards the big brands (such as IBM, HP/Compaq, etc.) and that was my first priority in looking for a new laptop. There’s something about the design of these branded laptops (design meaning not only the style but the overall concept and construction) that gives them an edge over ODM or other BTO laptops. Firsthand experience tells me ThinkPads really are built like tanks. Compaqs and Fujitsus live forever, too. And Macs never lose their sex appeal.

Yes, I know I could have bought something else not badged with the “big brands” but with better specs. But I’m a design freak. What can I say?

And then, of course, you’re paying extra for the after-sales support and online firmware updates. Got that concept from fellow laptop junkies** from Cooltoyz. So what you lose in sheer specs you make up in being sure your laptop’s in tip top running condition.

Celeron?

As for choosing Celeron-M over Pentium-M (which runs the Centrino platform), it’s a matter of price. The Celeron-M is every bit as powerful as the Pentium-M all other things equal (save for L2 cache), but the major disadvantage is battery life, since Celeron-Ms always run on full clock speed. So I usually only get maximum of 2.5 hours on a single charge.

The lowest-priced Centrino V2000 would cost me twice. Go figure.

By the way, I have a knack for pronouncing “Celeron” with a hard C (like K) as in “Celtic.” I don’t know why. Just sounds cool, perhaps.

Photos

Again, pictures speak louder than words, so I’d suggest we go mosy over to my Flickr site for photos of the PaqBook. Here are some thumbnails. You can also hover your mouse over the thumbnails for some descriptions (if you don’t want to view the larger image).

A full review is in order and shall be posted onto bLaptops once finished. For the meantime, here’s a peek into how it feels to go wide (screen) and my review of the Samsonite Inventure laptop backpack I recently got for the PaqBook.

*Corsarius has his Corsarify.
**Trivia: I used to run my BBS on a 386SX Toshiba Satellite. That was in 1995.

Updates, as of June 2007

If you’re interested with the V2000, be sure to check these out:

I was able to have my V2000′s front bezel, LCD and CPU fan replaced at the tail-end of warranty period. Since the new LCD enclosure had WiFi antennae, I was also able to install an internal WiFi mini PCI card.

Also, I decided to protect my touchpad and palm rest with frisket film, since after a year’s use the V2000′s paint had already faded due to contact with my sweaty, acidic palms and fingers.

Recently, I saw low-end V3000 Compaq Presarios (the V3120TU) selling for about the same price I bought my V2000 last year.

Some words of advice

Digital cameras have changed the trends of photography and canon cameras are among the top ones for their best performance. Your ordinary canon powershot camera can not be a match to your canon EOS D2000 digital SLR camera because it brought a revolution in digital photography. Now digital camera accessories are available in open markets and online camera accessories shops worldwide. You can opt for dvd rental to watch documentaries and movies on your digital projector on a big screen or on your televisions if you are really interested in quality of digital recording.

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