In love with the 7D but I guess my infatuation with a DSLR has to wait. Broke from paying all the loans (am still paying).

Tried my hands at the Canon 500D, as well as the Canon 50D. Picts and write ups on the way!

Nicole

More pictures after the jump!

Instruction Sheets that came in 3 languages! Love the prints on them as well.

Set aside the Instruction Sheets, and voila, I am about to lift it out of the box.

Cleverly and elegantly packed into the box.

The casing, cloth and more papers

This is how it looks like when closed:

Pretty pleased with it that it comes with Windows 7 Starter Edition.

I can’t wait till my matching mouse arrives. I placed an order for it, and I thought it would really go well with the netbook.

Alrightey, that’s the end of the unboxing of the HP Mini Studio Tord Boontje. Will write a post about it. Meantime, fire away your questions if any

Nicole

See the patterns in the photo? It’s not printed on it, but embossed on it. I like.

Apart from that, it spots a white keyboard, and orange trimmings at the side, so not much difference in terms of the design, just that the size differs.

Side views, and you can spot that the DVD drive is on the right side of the machine. Not the usual DVD drive where you insert and close it but rather just insert the DVD straight into the drive.

The touch-sensitive controls next to the speaker. Responsive and the ease of adjusting the volume just scores another point on user experience.

The keyboard is fairly large, and comfortable to type on for long period of time. I don’t really like white keyboards, as dirt and stains will stay on it, making it look dirty. But that’s my opinion Though I must add that the orange colored words matches very well with the white keys.

Very blur shot, my bad. But as you can see, on the extreme left are the visual indicators of power, bluetooth and wifi. and that the 5 dots in the middle is to provide quick short cuts to run programs.

Close ups of the touchpad and the keyboard… I like the touchpad, as it has a form of texturing on it (though you can’t really see it in this photo).

Another extreme close up of the keyboard.

Running on Windows Vista, it’s not too bad, considering that the specifications for the Y450 is decent, and the graphics were considerably decent for me to run Lord of the Rings – Battle for Middle Earth 2 game on lowest graphic configurations. And the game doesn’t lag.

Powered by Nvidia Quadro. Yes, this graphics card is not meant for gaming, but it performs equally well.

Overall, I manage to score a decent battery life of almost 3 hours with the Lenovo Y450, and that is a pretty decent standard to me, for a 14-inch laptop.

Many thanks to Su Min, Text 100, and Derrick Koh from Lenovo for sending me the Lenovo Y450 review unit.

Nicole

I shall spare you the specs of this phone, but I would share with you my thoughts and the user experience of the INQ Mini 3G.

Pretty impressed that such a small phone has so many packed features, and its easy enough to use, to keep in touch with your friends 24/7. No more rushing to a PC just to twit/facebook/msn. Just use the INQ Mini 3G!

It comes in many different colors, and it sure goes down well with the young and old (but young at heart).

Touted as the Social Media Phone, it does certainly live up to it. Facebook and Twitter are integrated alongside with the address book, thus searching for your contacts becomes a piece of cake.

Notifications and Twits are sent to your inbox, and you can read them up easily, just like opening your email.

I like the widgets function though, and it makes it really easy to call up the applications. IM app is basically Windows Live Messenger, so you can sign in and have MSN conversations on the go as well.

I love the form factor of the phone, and it’s so slim and light, and looks like a toy phone from many perspectives. Hehe, and the cheerful colors makes the phone a fashion accessory.

For the music junkies, it comes with Singtel AMPED service too! So download songs to your heart’s content.

But one thing that I don’t really like is the keypad. It comes across as a whee bit stiff to type, and I would much prefer to have the INQ Chat 3G.

I like the QWERTY keyboard. Makes typing easier

And yes, not to forget, the cupcakes I like the one with the Facebook Logo on it.

Oh, if you are wondering what happened to the cupcake, I ate it Wahahaha, I ate Facebook!

Many thanks to Ivy, from Singtel, for the invite to the launch of the INQ Mini 3G.

Nicole

Well, the results for “Make me the W Ambassador” is out. I didn’t win. But that’s ok. I am not sure who won, but congratulations to the winners anyway.

However, a big THANK YOU goes out to all whom have help voted for me during the 2 weeks of competition. Appreciate it very much.

It has been a great joy to use, and Sony VAIO W has definitely won my heart in terms of aesthetics…

Nicole

Lenovo Thinkpad X200 is one of the smallest and light laptop that can withstand shock, as well as being water resistant. I totally enjoyed using the X200, and this is coming from a first time Thinkpad user.

Featuring a matt screen, the display is still bright and vibrant, and its pretty comfortable for the eyes. The built-in camera is pretty decent, and allows for decent video calling in not very good lighting conditions. Certainly a thumbs up.

At 12.1 inch, it may be a little too small at times, especially when I am doing my coding. But it’s still decent, when you are on the road. Speaking of which, it weighs in light enough to be carried in a sling bag and it doesn’t hurt the shoulders.

Weighing in at about 1.5 kg with the 6 cell battery, this laptop packs a punch with the battery power. It is able to last me close to 9 hours (squeezed to the max with battery saver mode). Heavy usage lasts for about 3 hours. Whereas normal usage, like web surfing and writing reports approximate at about 5 to 6 hours of battery power.

The keyboard, is another plus factor. It is broader and has loads of room to spread the fingers around, and typing is very comfortable on the x200.

One can only do such a thing to a Thinkpad

Whilst I was trying out the x200, I took it out with me to school and other places, and work in the train to and fro. Never a time I had to fear that the hard disk would not be able to withstand the shock, thanks to the Hard disk protection utility function. Love the thinkVantage suite which came along with it.

Overall, the laptop performs wonderfully, hardly breaking into a sweat even when I am running intensive coding sessions with it. The x200 impresses me a lot, maybe because its my first time using a Thinkpad. But I would have to say, it really left a deep impression upon me.

After hearing so much from fellow Thinkpad users, I finally tried one myself. And yes, no regrets – in fact, I can’t bear to part with it when it was time to return it.

Big thanks to Derrick Koh from Lenovo, and Su Min from Text100, for making this review possible.

Nicole

Got myself the Samsung Jet.

Am very happy with the purchase, and yes, I’ve reviewed the Jet before. Read it here if you have missed it. I would say that the Jet is so far so good.

Nicole

“Smarter than a Smartphone” was the tagline for the Samsung Jet. It sure isn’t a smartphone, but then, the Samsung Jet handles tasks so beautifully, that I marvel at it for being speedy, responsive and user-friendly.

I shall spare you the specifications, for you can read them up here. My apologies that the pictures may not turn out beautifully, for I shot it in haste, and it’s a glossy surface, making it harder for me to capture its design brilliance.

More after the jump!

The Samsung Jet aesthetics were pleasing, save for being a fingerprint magnet. Well, all touch screen devices attracts loads of fingerprints, so this isn’t new at all. It’s candy bar form factor makes it just nice to be held in one hand comfortably and the thumb could access the buttons on the phone easily.

It boats elegantly designed edges, curving at all the right places, and ensuring that the phone doesn’t slip even when resting in the palm.

See how the hand grips the phone with ease?

You could see that the top has a mini-USB connector as well as a 3.5 mm headphone jack. This makes me really pleased. You see, I have a long-standing grouse against phones whose headphone jack are placed at the side of the phone, simply because it will be bulky to fit into any casing, let alone putting it in the bag and risk having damage to the ear phones.

Was pleased to see both the USB port and the earphone jack there on the Samsung Jet. And having it flushed in line with the edge of the phone makes it sleek and elegant.

The lock button at the top right side are so distinct that you won’t miss it. Towards the bottom right, the camera button is located there along with another button that activates the Cube. This cube works by having you to snap towards the direction to activate the application. On the left side, the volume buttons are located.

Ain’t the flip side of the phone pretty? When reflected against light at certain angles, it shows a pattern of deep red lines. The sheer subtlety makes the phone aesthetics room to showcase class and style.

Alrightey, enough about the looks of the Samsung Jet, let’s move on

Sporting an AMOLED, it makes the display look more vibrant, making the colours appear fresh and crisp on the screen. Oh, the Jet uses Touchwiz 2.0, which is more responsive and doesn’t lag as badly as version 1.0.

There exists more than one way to unlock the phone. Apart from the conventional hold the lock button down, and pressing the lock button on the touch screen, one can also use finger gestures to unlock the phone.

The alphabet gesture can be set to a particular alphabet of choice, and can be assigned to applications as well. By writing out the alphabet on screen, it will then activate the function or application as defined in the set up. I tried it, and it works really well, though I must take care not to write too close, else it won’t be able to detect accurately.

One thing to note is that the Samsung Jet allows Motion Gate feature to be deployed. Motion Gate is where movements like shaking the phone, tilting or even tapping can be detected and these are used to drive applications like radio, camera, and games.

The Cube. By snapping left or right, the defined application will be activated. The applications to start up via the cube can be configured.

Say I activate the Camera using the cube, and through usage of Motion I can control the camera. Like to take a picture for example, all I need to do is tap the phone twice, and that the phone will just automatically snap a picture after a 3 second countdown.

As per other samsung phones, the camera comes loaded with many configurable settings as well as many other modes of taking beautiful pictures.

Allow me to highlight to you the clarity of the camera.

See? This is how clear the image shows up on the screen. I was quite taken aback by it. The flash lights are of dual LED Flash, which may sometimes throw the colors of the photos slightly off. 5 Megapixel Camera, which is by far very decent and suitable for phototaking.

Not only was the camera awesome, so were the music playback and video playback. For music playback, there are different modes to choose from, to ensure the best music playback experience, and yes, the surround sound 5.1 makes music, music to the ears. The music is so clear that I can hear every note of it. Certainly a delight to the ears.

Video playback were great too. The phone doesn’t lag when loading and playback of the video, and surround sound options can be activated as well, providing a boost to watching movies on the phone itself. The AMOLED screen lends itself as a perfect complement to display clear and crisp frames.

Apart from the Headset function, it also supports TV out, all through the same 3.5 mm jack. Ain’t that so awesome?! Oh there’s even a video editor function, which lets u produce videos on the fly.

So far, all you have heard about the Jet in this review is that it provides a rich multimedia experience. But do you know that there are also some productivity tools around? Like Google Apps – Email, Search and Maps. Apart from that, there’s also a Memo function, Task function, as well as apps to Community networks like Facebook, Picasa, Flickr, Photobucket, Friendster and MySpace.

Microsoft ActiveSync is supported, so for those using Outlook, rejoice

The Samsung PC Suite is used to backup the Samsung Jet, as well as for updating of the phone’s firmware.

I like the fact that accessing WIFI and Bluetooth are a breeze, and no longer a chore.

Just hit the big button to activate the service, and the rest is self explanatory on the screen. Same goes for WIFI.

I adore the icons in the menu that spans across 3 pages. The display screen also spans across 3 screens, allowing customization of widgets layout, and it makes it easy to switch from one screen to the other.

All in all, the Samsung Jet encompasses what a Smartphone would have in terms of functionality. However the Jet makes it easier for anyone to make a switch from X brand phones to the Jet, thanks to the Touchwiz 2.0.

It’s easy to use user interface has won my raves, though I wish the sensitivity of the phone lock can be set lower, as I encountered the Jet unlocking itself due to movements when the phone is in the bag. However, this can be easily resolved by turning off the gesture recognition.

The task manager shows just how many apps are left open, when the cube button is pressed and held for a while.

Battery Life of the Jet is not bad at all. Despite me stressing it out by playing radio, video, music, wifi, calls, sms and playing games. It lasted for 2 whole days. Well, it could last up to 5 days, with minimal usage that is. (These are just rough figures)

Who is it for? Well the Samsung Jet is suitable for people whom wants a user-friendly interface, and as an all in one entertainment, multimedia, and productivity stuff all rolled into one gadget. If you are looking for a phone which has a whopping 2 GB of internal memory, with up to 16 GB on the micro SD card, a 5 Megapixel camera that does awesome shots), good quality music and video playback, yet do not wish to get a Windows Mobile Phone or any other cheem phone, this is the phone to get. (Speaking from a non-tech savvy perspective).

All in all, the Samsung Jet is truly “Smarter than a Smartphone”. Retailing at $698 without contract. Based on the pricing factor alone, this functionally packed phone is worth the buy

Nicole

PS: I can go on and on, but I would have made this post too long already. If you have any queries, feel free to leave me a comment. Or drop me an email (Contact me page).

PSS: Thanks to DK for lending me his Samsung Jet. This review is not possible without it

Can’t find words to describe this camera. The Canon EOS 500D. Within minutes of trying it, I was hooked. Of course, I don’t have the shots with me to post it here.

I love the ease of handling and the form factor is awfully great for the ease of gripping the camera and steadying it. A plus point would be the weight of the 500D is quite light, allowing less strain on the arms.

Of course, I shall not say more, but do stick around for Gear65’s coverage of the Canon EOS 500D. Stay tuned.

Nicole

If you happen to look around for a new monitor for the upcoming PC Show, listen up and listen clear… Cos I’m going to share with you an e-coupon that will entitle you, to a $20 Takashimaya Voucher when you purchase the Samsung Lapfit LCD Monitor. Plus, get your friends to purchase the Samsung Lapfit LCD Monitor and get additional discount off.

(Click the image to print the actual size version)

Download this e-coupon and print. Present it at the PC Show to enjoy the offer. (Valid till the last day of PC Show).

The Samsung Lapfit LCD Monitor has 2 model variations, namely the LD190G and the LD220G. The specifications are as follows respectively here, and here.

At the PC Show, both the LD190G and the LD220G will be available at a promotional price of $229 and $309, respectively. The current pricing is of $239 and $339 respectively.

I’m currently giving the Samsung Lapfit LCD Monitor a try, and I happen to have gotten hold of the LD190G thanks to Daniel Goh of Samsung.

I fixed it up with my laptop, and extended my viewing range.

Setting up and Installation of the Lapfit is easy, and by following the easy to read instructions, I got my Lapfit up and running within 30 mins, from unboxing to driver installation.

What impressed me were the colors and display, which turn out vibrant and pleasing to the eye. And yes, putting it side by side gives a harmonious displays, which is another bonus. But in this case, I didn’t mind putting it at an angle.

These are my first impressions of the Samsung Lapfit Monitor. I will be doing a detailed write-up on it real soon. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment and I will get back to you as soon as I can.

Nicole

PS: Feel free to pass on the link to the e-coupon to your friends, and let’s spread some shopping cheer

I used the USB cable to connect the Lapfit to my laptop, but you can also opt to use the Analog cable, which frees up one of the USB ports.

I would say that the matt cover hit a very sweet spot with me, for it made the lenovo wordings stand out, and gives it a very classy finish. And the curves around the corners just add subtle elegance to the whole design. I like. To top it off, the orange trimmings around the Ideapad Y650 breaks the monotony of the Black surface.

With a whopping screen size of 16 inches, coupled with a Blu-ray drive, it’s no doubt that it’s meant to serve up some mean entertainment… coupled with JBL Speakers, as well as Dolby Surround Sound.

Gotta admit that the sound quality is great, and the screen’s display very crisp and nice graphics.

The Ideapad Y650 tends to heat up, and I would say that it’s perfectly normal to do so, even more so when one is utilizing heavily on the graphics, and multimedia.

But fear not… the little raised legs at the back of the Ideapad helps to dissipate the heat away, so as not to overheat the unit. What struck me was that the battery unit is quite small for such a huge machine.

The Ideapad series don’t come with a trackpoint, but all is not lost for trackpoint lovers… for there is a huge touch pad to make up for it.

The subtle tactile feel on it allows fine interactivity on it, and the same multi-touch function can be used on the Y650 as well as the S10. Though I lament the lack of control for multi-touch sensitivity…

The keyboard’s alright, but the layout of the keys towards the right made it even easier for me to make typo errors. It feels as if the whole keyboard has been squeezed. =X

Especially the Home, End, PgUp and PgDn buttons. Kudos to ease of volume controls… and the placement of the lovely speakers at each corner. It would have been great if the keyboard is shifted down slightly below the speakers. The layout as such meant that more room to rest the wrists, but I felt that my wrists were positioned in an awkward manner. It felt uncomfortable to type after a while.

The surroundings of the keyboard is glossy, but it ain’t as bad, for it don’t show up the fingerprints and such that quickly. Glad that the keyboard keys are matt. White and Orange combination makes it look very pretty though.

The Ideapad Y650 weighs in at approximately less than 2.5 kg, making it one of the lightest 16-inch laptops around. Not my kind of device for me to bring around on the move, but it makes a great entertaining gadget. Not to mention that big screens make designing work easier too.

My take on the Y650? I like it without a doubt, though it’s simply not possible for me to run around with a huge machine. Entertainment’s a punch on it, with the great sound quality, and of course, Blu-ray drive to unlock great content.

Apart from this Ideapad Y650, there is the 15 inch model the Y550, which is unfortunately not available in Singapore market, and the 14 inch model the Y450. Would love to lay my hands on the Ideapad Y450.

Nicole

Credits to Nadnut for letting me snap pictures of her S10

Net books has been the rage of the market, with many other brands coming out with their version of Net Book. So does Lenovo. Thanks to the kind folks of Su Min (Text100) and Derrick (Lenovo), I got to lay my hands on this mini, yet functionality packed Lenovo S10.

One might agree with me that it’s not the best looking net book out there, but yet, it’s decent and boy, this net book can perform and lived up to my expectations.

This was the review unit that was on loan to me. I was a little worried I will dirty the white S10, but my fears were unfounded… because it doesn’t catch the dirt at all, and even if it does get dirty, the surface of the material makes it easy to clean. Woohoo! (Now you all know why I don’t like white coloured gadgets)

The surface feels very smooth, and the pearl white elegance just shows off itself. The curves are in the right places, and yet it feels light, despite looking a little thick, but that’s a very small issue. The speakers are located in front… and that all the ports are nicely arranged by the sides.

A USB port, card reader, projector port and power adapter slot. Though I wished the power adapter slot can be pushed to the back of the fan…

The head phone jack and the microphone jack, plus Ethernet port and an unknown slot (I don’t know what is it for)

2 USB ports is very decent for such a small net book.

Something subtle in the front to indicate the status of the net book surely rocks, for the LED lights are not too bright till it becomes a glare.

Looking good I would say!

The keyboard is comfortable to type, and gives a nice sound, without sounding too plasticky, however, the same cannot be said for the touchpad. I find it nice to use, but the buttons are too noisy… lol, and it got quite a bit of attention during class. Oops.

One thing to note on the touchpad is that it is multi-touched enabled… a quick pinch zooms out the document, and spreading motions zooms in on the document… very useful feature indeed. I thought it could be improved by allowing one to control the sensitivity of it, because at times it will just zoom in or out on its own (accidental gestures), which makes it a little irritating.

I like the matt screen, and despite it being small, graphics displayed were sharp and crisp, and the vibrant colors make everything look good on screen The built-in camera is useful for video calls on the go

The memory card slot easily reads both the Memory Stick Pro Duo and the SD Memory Card. Though it makes it sticking out of the card slot…

No major complains, but have to be a little more cautious of trying not to damage the cards, because I pushed them in quite hard on the first try, thinking that the entire card will fit into the card reader slot perfectly. =X Read and write speeds to the cards are decent.

And yes, I saved the important part for last… The Battery Life.

This is the standard 3 cell battery… which came with the review unit. I could get about 3 hours to 3.5 hours of battery life just by surfing the net, and blogging on it… with the brightness level at its bare minimum. Of course, viewing multimedia stuff only yielded about an hour or so of battery life. As usual, how long the battery lasts really depends on the usage.

The 6-cell battery offers twice as much battery life.

Last but not least, the Lenovo S10 boots up quickly and connects to WIFI in no time, and I was able to start surfing the net in about 3 mins (Cold Boot).

I like this net book a lot, apart from its size, which I could just put it into my usual bags and carry them, and also its functionality, the multi-touch function. The overall user experience is great!

Nicole

PS: I’m so sorry that I got this out super duper late. Sorry Derrick!

This was a photo collage I made with all the other pictures that I took of the Aura. Thanks Johahn from Fleishman-Hillard!

At first glance, it is not your usual rectangular-ish kinda phone. Instead, I was presented with this rounded edges, and a round screen! w00t! Not the first for Motorola, if you still remember this phone which was launched a long long time ago.

The Motorola Aura reminded me of the V70.

What I see impressed me. The colours on the screen are so rich and vibrant, that I simply can’t take my eyes of the screen!

The screen contains a richness of 16 million colors, and it makes everything look crisp and sharp. And not to mention that it features a scratch resistant glass, virtually unscratchable, unless you use a diamond of course. 62 carats of sapphire crystal lens went into the circular display.

It was put to a brutal test, using a fork to scratch it (as seen in Gear65 Episode 1), scratched with a key, and even on the surface of the road (*gasp*). Impressive isn’t it? The screen does not even show up any scratches.

The metallic body of the phone adds the glam and bling to the overall design of the phone. The shell was etched with designs that gives it a elegant looking phone.

Here’s how the back of the phone looked liked…

This is taken with the cover detached. Notice the mechanical parts? These are the parts which gives the motion of flicking the cover of the phone…

The menu interface is quite unique, with the icons placed in a circular manner. The selected icon is magnified in the centre of the screen, which makes it easy to tell what is selected.

Nothing to shout about features wise apart from the standard call/sms/gprs etc… though I must say that the battery life of the AURA lasts me less than a day. The call quality is quite clear and the camera quality is not that bad at all! It can act as a paperweight, given that it feels rather solid with stainless steel casing.

Overall, I felt that the phone adds to the glam and bling factor, looking really good on its own. Its pricing is really dear, given the materials, workmanship factored into manufacturing the phone. Its a mechanical wonder, owing to the mechanical parts controlling the opening and closing of the phone. Its a feast of the for the senses.

Check out the short flash clip right here

AURA – The Return of Artistry

It feels good to have a go at using such an expensive phone. I like!

Nicole