Showing posts with label Gadgets. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gadgets. Show all posts

Friday, October 3, 2014

Acer Liquid E700 (E39) Review

If you will ask around mobile stores if there are any tri-sim Android phones available in the market, they will dismiss the "Android" and offer you a very basic phone. If you will insist on a triple sim, touch screen phone with a nice camera and an updated Android software, they will look at you as if they've seen an alien speaking in foreign tongue. That reaction is mostly followed by a you're-out-of-your-mind ridiculous laugh or i'm-puzzled-so-here's-an-incredulous-look response. (People, imagination please!)

Leaning towards hopelessness, I again relied on my very good friend, Google, to shed light on my seemingly out of this world exploration - then voila! I found one!! The search engine keeps on pulling up a certain Acer Liquid E700. Curious, I stumbled upon its specifications. I read through, with something like "this is too good to be true" idea in my head. There I was, not really expecting for some company to have already manufactured the phone with features I only formulated in my mind - yet it did exist! Apparently, some genius from Acer thought of the demand this phone will create even before I thought about it. I love my iPhone, I just wanted something to hold my other 3 sims without having to buy multiple phones.

After much reading, I decided to go to the nearest concept store. At first I was skeptical to buy it. They did not have a demo unit. I was convinced with the other phone models though. Just don't expect much from their highly revered 8MP or 13MP cameras. No matter how much MP there are in a phone camera, it's the final image captured that matters the most. Acer's pictures and videos did not meet my standards. Maybe it's not in the number of pixels. It's in the sensor and post-processing of images. In the end, I still bought one because overall, I thought it was offering more than its tag price. Here are my early observations about the phone (in no particular order):

1. Triple Sim Stand By / Value for Money / Convenience - the seller initially told me it was not on stand by for calls for the 3 sim cards at the same time. He said it was only on triple sim stand by just for text messaging. (I was not able to test it because they had no demo unit and inserting 3 sims to the same phone would be a tedious task. The store did not have 3 different sims with them.) I bought it anyway. It turned out he was wrong - I can be contacted through any of the contact numbers at any time! Just choose "always ask" for calls and text messages on the settings. Messaging worked the same way too. It's very convenient, especially for those who want to get the best of all worlds - from three different networks. It's like having 3 phones in just one phone. It's convenience magnified! :) To top it all off, the phone just costs Php 10,990 (USD 244.28). For those who doesn't want to feel shelling out that much in one go, I recommend charging it on installment for 0% interest - that is if you are a good payer. Otherwise, don't think about charging :) This will help you test out the unit without having to pay for it in full. I do this most of the time, without breaking the rule of saving up first and spending only the extra money you have. I'll be writing a post soon about finances, will share with you some tips that turned my life around..

Thursday, September 18, 2014

iOS 8 Review

So I downloaded iOS 8 just a few hours ago. Here's what I think about it so far:

1. JUICE UPGRADE - gave my iPhone 5s an extended battery life. I've been using it the whole day, like for 10.5 hours already with LTE and the works, and it still has 31% life on it. Amazing, I'm so loving it ü

2. PREDICTIVE TEXT - I assume Apple's been keeping track of the way I text for the past years so it's far more intelligent than my android toy, it has this eerie way of knowing what I want to type - eerie in a great way ü



Friday, September 12, 2014

Should I Buy the iPhone 6 Plus?

Photo Courtesy of www.apple.com

I love Apple to bits. I’ve been a believer since I first used the iPhone 4, and then upgraded to iPhone 5s, passing up on the iPhone 4s and iPhone 5 upgrades. Now, with the launch of iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, I'm torn. But I guess the better choice would be to sit it out and wait for the better iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 7 or iPhone 8 perhaps - whichever gives me the most reasonable (considering value for money) upgrade from the already awesome iPhone 5s :) Don’t get me wrong, I guess people are missing out big time loving android without having tried THE iPhone. If you haven’t tried the product, now’s the time to buy one before launching into all sorts of nitpicking for the brand, comparing it to the capabilities of other smartphones, without earning your credibility by using one. And, guess what! Apple’s giving away free downloads of U2’s newest album until October 13, 2014 - yes, FULL ALBUM DOWNLOAD! - only if you have an iTunes account. So go ahead, sign up and enjoy this awesome freebie ^_^.

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

MacBook Pro with Retina Display ME866ZP/A

So I got myself an early Christmas present last year. I actually got myself and ex bf matching iPhone 5s 64GB Gold in that same month - but that's not the gift I'm talking about :D 

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I've never been addicted so much to Apple until 2009. Way back, I used to raise my brows to Apple fanatics and criticize the exclusivity of their preferred brand. I didn't see much use for an iPod then, I thought iPhones were tacky and absurdly priced, supported by equally absurd consumers willing to pay sky high for a phone. And then the most absurd product yet known to man: the iPad. What on earth was Apple thinking when it created the iPad?!? A more compact computer that had no computing power than running applications that work so-so on the performance department??!! I didn't see the point of iPad's existence before. It was merely an oversized iPod touch back then.. It was year 2009 when I finally joined the bandwagon and gave up my preconceived notion about the brand. Bought an iPhone 4, half curious of what the hype was all about and half daring myself to see and try the product. From then on, I was a believer. Apple products were built to perfection that I could not, for the life of me, criticize, even a single feature! I've never realized how much I was missing on touch screen until I used iPhone. From that time onwards, there existed just two types of touch screen phones in my vocabulary: one is iPhone and the other one is "oThers" (get it?? LOL) The responsiveness, ease of use, the speed - they never deteriorate in time, as compared to their other counterparts! Sorry Samsung, you had your chance with Note and the other Galaxy models but you just can't beat iPhone in a lot of ways. Yes, you're fairly fast at first, but Apple has something that you don't have: consistency in performance, for when your system's been filled with data (photos, videos, messages, music), the speed of the phone is lost whereas iPhone remains fast, unbeaten.
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Going back to the early Christmas present I got, since I'm so in love with Apple, I finally decided to give MacBook Pro a chance. The main problem of a MacBook for me then was the weight. I was not willing to carry around a computer the weight of a boulder on my shoulders or on my back. I knew I was missing a lot, I even considered buying a MacBook Air but I'd rather buy an iPad than that one. MacBook Air was (and still is) just a pricier version of the iPad. For me, 'twas Pro or nothing. Then news came to me that the new model was released, with retina display and packs a lighter weight! I checked it out in a Mac store and I was in love. I was torn between getting the 15" and the 13" but I finally reconciled the three most important features for me: weight, computing speed and battery power - so I chose the Php 92,990 ($ 1,799) Macbook Pro 13" with 2.6 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5, Turbo Boost up to 3.1GHz, 8gb 1600MHz memory, 512GB PCIe-based flash storage, Intel Iris Graphics and Built-in battery that lasts up to 9 hours. I was in love at first use.