Lumia 920

My mobile contract has expired for quite a while. And my current Xperia S is a non contract phone. The reason for changing it is due to the camera pictures quality (grainy quality) as well as the widely availability of 4G network. I heard and read of the camera capabilities of Lumia 920 and I am tempted. The camera picture quality seems to be better than my Xperia S. And the best low light phone camera out there.

It is not a bad phone but once in a while will have hanging software issue (I have upgraded to official ICS firmware not long ago). So I decided to change to another mobile OS since I have been having Android OS phones since its early days. I still remember is HTC magic.

And this month there is IT show going on. Usually, these big shows will have better offers on mobile renewal plans. And Lumia 920 came with a good offer which is not bad, it comes with a Purity HD headset with a new line or re-contract subscription during the show. And the trade in value of my Xperia S is pretty high too. In the end, I paid about 100+ in total for a re-contract + trade in deal. Everything is done online.

And I got the 3rd party casing and screen protector online early since the delivery will not be so early. Below is the pictures (taken by Xperia S before it is traded away). The casing material is TPU material.

 Casing + Screen protector

 Back view

 Front view

Finally the day arrived for the delivery, I took a unboxing video for the phone as well as the Purity headset. Since I have no phone to record it, my old trusty FZ35 is used to record it (only 720p).

Video:

Unboxing video

In the box 1

In the box 2

Unboxing video of Purity headset:

Unboxing video

 In the package

Mini review of the phone: Took a bit of time to get used to the interface. After playing with it for a couple of days, certain things can be improved like auto updating of apps etc.

I guess Win 8 mobile OS is not that matured yet but it is pretty user friendly in a way once you are used to it. However, the battery life is poor and once in a while it might auto reboot. I suspect certain apps might have caused it. I had uninstalled some of the ones which I think may be the culprit. So far, it has not auto reboot yet (I hope never).

As all the other reviews has said, the low light photo taking is very good. Maybe in the weeks to come, I will post pictures as it goes along since I am using my mobile phone to take pictures more than my compact camera/DSLR. So a good camera phone will come in handy. By the way, I have thrown away the screen protector since I think the phone Gorilla glass is doing a great job. 

Mini review of the headphone: After trying it with the phone, I would prefer the sound after customizing the equalizer of the phone. Otherwise, the sound seems to be a bit soft on my ears. Different people different requirements I guess. But it is doing a reasonably good job.

Nokia 1280

Recently, I am going for my reservist and my LG non-camera coloured phone is dead. So it is time to get a new simple non-camera phone. And it is Nokia 1280. It has a BW screen and Symbian OS if I am not wrong. It also has a small LED touch built in. It is cheaper (30 SGD cash) compared to my old LG non cam phone, I believe is due to the screen which is BW compared to a color one. 

Below is some pictures I took:

 The package (no earpiece)

 The phone itself

 LED touch and earpiece connector

Charging port

Mini Review: Good simple phone and battery life is very good. 

NEO GEO X Gold Limited Edition

Came across a remake of this console recently. It can be considered as most expensive console during its time. Especially its game, it can be up to 400+SGD per cartridge. But it has the best graphics (in my opinion) compared to other consoles during its time. Basically, it is the same cartridge that is used in the arcade machine.

However, this remake is kind of different. It can be used as a handheld or plug into the mock up console and play on your TV with the joystick. This attracts me and the list of preloaded games, so I decided to buy it for childhood memories and owning it. And also the games I used to play at the arcade like Art of Fighting, Samurai Shodown etc.... 

The manufacturer has a dedicated website. I think the website is pretty good. And I love their unboxing video. 

Ok, now for my own purchase.Below is the pictures I took.

 Front

 Back

2 boxes in the big box

 The Gold LE package

 The connectors in the replica case

Mini review: It plays pretty much like the real thing. But I am not really happy with the video out to my LED TV, it seems so pixelated on a 39 inch TV. Maybe those old school CRT TV will have a better output since it is just a SDTV. HDTV doesn't look nice at all since there is no scaling done from the NGX itself.

Steering wheel cover

Time flies and it has been over a month since I last updated my blog. Been pretty busy but I still manage to buy something off qoo10. I had a old steering cover I bought previously from a local store but due to the heavy rubber smell which doesn't go away after a period of time, I decided to change it.

Then I came across this Korean seller who is selling a variety of local made steering covers. The design seems to be nice and price is reasonable. So I decided to purchase one that is suitable for me. The only thing I am not happy about is the long delivery time by the local courier.

 It took 2 weeks to get the item but the seller was helpful in pushing the courier to send it to me ASAP. Overall, this product seems to be better than my previous one. The rubber smell is not strong and hopefully it will go away after a period of time.

Below is a few pics I took and the link for the product: :

 The package

 Content

 Is that the logo?

France trip 2012

Been a while since I update again my blog. Recently, I went to France for work purposes. Couldn't enjoy much since I am staying in the outskirts area again. The only day I get to see Paris is on the last day which is the annual dinner.

But still, Paris is a very beautiful city although it is starting to transit into winter while I was there. Everyday is only a few degrees celsius (cold for an asian who lives in tropical weather all year long). Not much shopping this time round, only nice foods all the way. Below is some pictures summarizing my trip.

    A railway

Vintage VW. Nice

Very nice beer with a tinge of tequila, not for export from what I know

"Tapas" menu in the eatery

Nice wine

Recreational activity by the company by learning to cook

One of the trainer

Pastry made by myself under directions from the trainer

Colleagues

Another trainer

Demostration

Nice starter dish

Main course

Nice salmon fish

Dessert for the day

One of the theater in Paris

Nice ceiling drawing

Wine for sale

Annual dinner table

Annual dinner main dish

Took another pic of the ceiling drawing

Snack kiosk in the departure area

Rodis HD car recorder

I was looking for a car recorder for quite some time. After browsing through quite a few models with a small budget. I had bought a HD car recorder from a online merchant. It cost below 50 bucks. Its brand is called Rodis, it seems to be a Korean company but the product is produced and shipped from China.

Below is some pics of my received package.

 The box

 Contents

 LCD view

USB view

 
Mini review:

After using it for a week, I would say it takes reasonable quality video for both day and night time. But the car plate number may not be visible until you reached certain proximity of the vehicle in front of you.

The user manual is not very useful since it doesn't talk about the function much. I end up doing trial and errors to have a better grasp of its functionality. Overall, can't complaint much for the price it is selling compared to others. The remote control is pretty useful though.

And there are couple of real time sample clips easily available on youtube. You can judge if the quality is acceptable. 

Bangkok work trip 2012

Had a interesting trip to Bangkok for work purposes. Stayed there for week with 2 different hotels. First is Novotel Platinum, it is near to major shopping malls and the well known Platinum mall. The mall is like a wholesale centre and there is lots of clothing's there for all ages.

Novotel Platinum is pretty new I guess, since all the facilities looks new (including the furniture). It has a modern concept especially with the see-through glass panel shower room. It will be interesting for couples I guess. Most important, it has in room internet (wired). Wireless is also available but signal is weak I feel.   

The breakfast is typical international buffet style but with some local food like the soup noodles. Overall, the food is not bad. And my 6 night stay here is comfortable!

Below is the pics:

 The cozy bed

Neat toilet

 Open shower concept

 Lobby

 A part of the food available for breakfast

The gym

Next up is the hotel I stayed for 1 night only for R&R purpose. It near to Novotel and about 10-15 walk for my pace. It is a boutique hotel called "P2 boutique hotel". Booked this hotel since I am on a budget and my package doesn't comes with breakfast so I can't comment on the food. 

If you take a cab, the driver might not know how to get in since it is a one way lane to the main road. He will need to make a big detour just to get to the street. So it will be better if the driver drop you at "Soi 33" and you walk in.

They have a massage centre on the 2nd floor and the price is reasonable. It is a clean massage and the masseur skill is good to me. I had a 300baht for an hour of full body massage. I was assigned with a male masseur and he is pretty skilled, I feel relaxed after the session.

As for the hotel, decently furnished and reasonably clean. But the bed seems to be a bit too soft for me and the aircon compressor is just located just outside my window, which can be noisy in the middle of the night. I noticed many youngsters stayed here, it can be noisy if they are not considerate enough. The good thing it has wired and wireless internet. 

Below is the pictures:

 Soft bed

 Shower area

 Room overview

Soi 33 leading to the main road

Finally, some randomly taken pictures to sum up the trip.

  Empty hall 1

 Empty hall 2

 First night dinner

 Audio products

 Live band stage

 Nice promoter 1

 Nice promoter 2

 Fake robot 1

 Fake robot 2

 Fake robot 3

 Live band starts

 Dancers

 Fake robot again 1

 Fake robot again 2

 Outside Central shopping mall

 One of the day dinner, a well known Ramen shop from Japan apparently

 Coffee time

 Place where I bought my coffee (Free WIFI)

 Too bad SG don't have. Double SME!!!

Lunch at airport before flight