Saturday, May 28, 2011

Online reviews can only go that far

Visited Funan today to get some hands-on contact with a few electronic products that I'm considering

1. Rii portable bluetooth keyboard (for Galaxy Tab)
Main target today; visited Trends Mobile to see this product. Keypad felt ok, but the design, which places a trackpad on the right of the keypad, meant that it was awkward to thumb-type, especially for the right thumb, which had problems reaching keys near the centre)

2. Sony TX5 or TX10 camera (for candid street photography)
Didn't manage to get my hands on a TX5, as it is a run-out model. The TX10 felt a little too small, with my hands struggling to find a comfortable shooting position. The sliding mechanism is also a little iffy. Instead of sliding downwards in a linear motion, it actually has to pivot outwards before moving down.

3. HP DM1 notebook (to replace my old workforce, the Asus Eee PC 4G)
The DM1 sits between a netbook and a notebook, running on AMD's E-350 chip. Pity that the Challenger offer of a 4GB model for $699 seems to be gone, with the specs sheet mentioning it with 2GB of RAM. Saw it's other 2 direct rivals too, the Asus 1215B ($599, 2GB), and the Dell M102z ($799, 4GB). The Asus was a little bland looking, and I was not convinced about the battery life. The 1215B though, is the only 1 of the 3 that has dedicated Page Up and Page Down keys. The Dell on the other hand, seemed to look a little bulky, and the screen seemed to have a limited tilt angle.

4. Kata 3N1-22 (backpack that can take a DSLR + notebook)
The 22 model seemed a little too narrow, while the 33 model looked a little boxy. Price wasn't cheap either, with both close to the $200 mark.