Recently bought a second hand Macbook Pro (previous model without SD card slot) and I noticed a faint reddish shape in the middle while I was playing Battlefield Bad Company 2. So I rebooted into Mac OS and filled the screen with a complete black picture and you can see what that revealed on the picture below.
This was visible both in Windows 7 and Mac os.
The machine was still under warranty so they changed the panel and poof no more red stain.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 15, circle, glow, line, macbook, pro, red, stain | Leave a Comment »
A friend of mine has bought a “Thunder” phone from a Chinese shop and I had the ability to test it for a few moments.
I see you thinking ”I’ve seen this before”. That’s true, probably even on your own phone. But let’s see what’s different in this one.
the antenna for TV and FM radio in action
TV actually working (channel: La Une)
Manufacter shot, note the 2 SIM card slots.
NOTE: The device I tested said ’8 Megapixel camera’ on the back.
The website specifies a VGA camera (640×480) so it could be either one.
Manufacturer shot, what’s in the box
I fiddled around with the interface and I was impressed with the smoothness of the touchscreen. Compared to a Samsung Star which was very sluggish.
The 320×240 resolution on a 3inch screen on the other hand is very low. You can see pixelized edges everywhere througout the interface.
In some applications you get the “flipping record” effect seen on various Apple products which is also smooth and pleasant. It does have a fake feeling to it.
The center button does not go back to the homescreen but works as a confirm key. In my opinion the interface is an iPone meets Samsung meets Chinese kitsch.
The look and feel is cheap. Everything is plastic. Some silver parts look like the kind of silver you find on a 50 cent space figurine from the 80′s.
If your ambition is to become a style icon, keep away from this phone.
The sound coming out of the speakers is reasonable. A bit harsh, but nothing out of the ordinary.
If you are in search of a phone that supports 2 SIM cards, analog TV, touchscreen and is cheap, this is your phone.
My personal advice is to stay away from these Chinese clones.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged analog tv, antenna, brick, china, chinese clone, clone, iphone, samsung, touchscreen | 2 Comments »
Right, last week I decided it was time to create my first shopping list for ThinkGeek. They sell freaky gadgets, t-shirts, remote controlled zombies, .. I could go on.
One item in particular that I ordered was an Atari t-shirt. I ordered size L for a friend and size S for me. American sizes can be somewhat big for us Europeans. Belgium is where I ordered from.
I noticed right away the L and S were different. Here’s how:
On top, the L version. Sewn in Atari logo and cardboard Atari circle. Below, the size S. As you can clearly see, a generic t-shirt.
I also noticed the print was of lesser quality and the blue was not 100% the same. Well not a very big deal, I can live with that as long as the t-shirt is awesome. This was the case UNTIL I washed the t-shirt according to instructions on the “Pro Weight” label.
I started an RMA procedure on the ThinkGeek website. You can choose “refund, shop credit, replacement” as options. So I opted for a replacement. In comment I added some polite notes of what exactely happened. They shipped me a replacement almost instantly. I received a new t-shirt, with higher quality fabric and sewn in logo. As it should be. You can start an RMA up to 30 days after delivery.
Note: I have not washed the t-shirt yet, so expect an update if anything goes horribly wrong.
So yes, it’s expensive. But if you want something few people have, it’s worth spending an extra penny.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged atari, atari logo, belgie, belgium, bestelling, experience, order, t-shirt, thinkgeek | Leave a Comment »
If you want to bring all your media content to your television (High Definition or Standard Definition) or any other screen supporting DVI with HDCP or HDMI and for less then 100 EUR.
Without WD TV
With WD TV
Audio:
Video
I mainly use it to play 1080p and 720p video’s. I’ve had it for a couple months now and the only format I encountered that did not play was WMVHD (which is not supported). These images below show all the supported formats. You can also play .ISO files and Dolby Digital EX and DTS ES are also supported (if your receiver supports it). I have some HD movies with DTS ES and get 6.1 channel sound. There is no mention of this in the manual.
If a video should have multiple audio tracks (for example Spanish and English) or Built-in subtitle you can enable/disable these during playback. It is also possible to add your own subtitles (SRT, SSA, ASS and SAMI) by naming the file exactely the same as your movie.
VIDEO FORMATS AUDIO FORMATS IMAGE FORMATS
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As you can see, if you put a .jpeg in the same folder with the same name as the movie, you get kinky thumbnails. I’ve only done this for a few movies. You have to do it for all movies or put the view on ‘list view’ otherwise it’s just ugly. (As you can see)
I thought it would be convenient to show the supported output resolutions/refresh rates. Put in on auto if you are not sure what framerate your video is.
An this is how the main menu looks. You can play music and do other things simultaneously as shown in the picture below.
Sound and image for HD video’s is superb.
A lot of HD files only have DTS or Dolby Digital audio. YOU NEED A DTS and/or DOLBY DIGITAL CAPABLE RECEIVER to playback the audio on these files. Don’t be fooled by the analog stereo output.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged dts, hdmi, high definition, media center, review, surround, usb media player, wd tv, wdtv, western digital | Leave a Comment »
Working in a noisy environment can be stressful. At my working space there’s a lot of chatter on the phone, cars passing by and furniture being moved around. So for me, ideal timing to start the search for Noise Cancelling (NC) headphones.
Noise cancelling headphones are by definition designed for use on airplanes. They filter out the low-end part of the frequency spectrum that the engines on a plan produce. But do these headphones also work in a noisy work environment? Read on.
The main competitors for the PCX 450 are the Bose QuietComfort 3 and the Beats by Dr. Dre. All three are in the high price range, so keep an eye on your wallet while shopping.
You can choose to listen with or without noise cancelling activated. I find listening to music with the function disabled a dull experience. High tones sound somewhat muffled and bass sounds flat. A bit like listening to a low-bitrate mp3 track.
But if you activate the noise cancelling the high notes sound precise and the bass is descent. So I personally always listen with NC activated.
In my workplace it works very well. It really makes working more relaxing. The environmental sounds are much less direct.
More like all the noise comes from 2 rooms away.
I’ve also tested the headset on a plane, where it should perform at its best. The experience was less shocking than expected. But the trip (Brussels – Rome) was made to look like 30 minutes with the headset. A lot of the engine noise was gone, but it was still clearly present.
One word of warning: NC gives you warmer, more precise sound but also a slight ‘hiss’ in the headphones. This is an effect from which all noise cancelling headphones suffer (the Bose, and the Beats inclusive). In my experience you will hear this ‘hiss’ mostly while listening to classical music or during silences in general.
As you can see in the second picture, the build quality is very decent. The ear cups neatly fold around your ears and are covered in very soft leather-like fabric. Hinges are made from steel, not plastic and the headphones rest relaxing on your head.
If you should have glasses like me, the headphones could get uncomfortable after some hours of listening.
Some reviews say the headphones are extremely heavy. I disagree. Yes it has more weight to it. But in this case weight = quality.
I go running with this headset and it stays on very nicely.
Another feature is ‘Talk Through’. This mutes all music and enhances the voice frequencies so you can hear colleagues, airplane personnel, .. This way you don’t need to remove the headphones from its comfortable position.
Very practical indeed. A button on the right ear cup allows you to activate/deactivate this feature. It is not necessary to hold down the button, a simple tap will do the trick.
The headphones use 1 AAA battery for the noise cancelling. This gives you about 15-20 hours of music. It also has the ability to function without battery and thus without noise cancelling.
Pro’s:
Cons:
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged beats, headphones, noise cancelling, pcx-450, quietcomfort, review, sennheiser | Leave a Comment »
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