Virgo's Gadgetry

Neo BB1EL: My New Laptop

2012-09-22T21:03:00.000-07:00

I recently purchased a new laptop. It made possible by selling my more than a year old netbook and applied for a loan. The laptop came from a local company named Neo and the model is Basic BB1EL. So how's the new laptop perform in everyday scenario? You'll find out after the break.

Before we go to the laptop, a brief description about the company. Neo is a local company here in the Philippines in which they outsource their laptop from OEM manufacturer. Here's the overview of the company from their site:

The Neo brand was launched in May of 2003 during the PLDT CyberMadness event, the biggest PC & Internet festival in the country. Neo notebooks followed later that year, establishing itself as the leading brand of Intel Centrino-based notebooks all the way to 2004.

Neo Manufacturing and Services was formally incorporated as a company in January of 2008. The same year also saw the birth of Neo’s targeted marketing strategy with the launch of its primary notebook product lines – Basic, Vivid, and élan.

Neo Manufacturing and Services Inc. (Neo) is a Philippine-based manufacturer of personal computers, primarily catering to the market's need for a hip and mobile lifestyle. - http://neo.com.ph/company/neo-profile

Below is the product specification of the laptop:
Model: Basic BB1EL
Processor: AMD E-450 1.65GHz, 1MB Cache
Operating System: Windows 7 trial edition (currently, the OS is Windows 8 Consumer Preview 32-bit)
Memory: 2GB DDR3
Screen: 14" LED Display (1366x768)
Video System: AMD Radeon HD 6320 Graphics (built-in)
Hard Drive: 500GB
Optical Media Driver: DVDRW Supermulti
Connectivity: LAN (10/100Mbps), WLAN (802.11 b/g/n), Bluetooth 3.0
Port: 3 x 2.0 USB, VGA, HDMI
Battery: 6-cell Li-ion battery
Others: 1.3 Megapixel Webcam

When I first saw this laptop on an exhibit, I fell in love with it because of the brushed finished in the overall appearance of the laptop. The design of this model is really different from the previous model of the company. I heard stories that the laptop from Neo is not durable or so they say. I have this laptop for a month already and it didn't disappoint me.

The picture you see above is a screenshot from Speccy. If you notice the motherboard is from Clevo and they are the OEM of Neo. The laptop that I purchased came from them but branded by Neo when sold here in the Philippines. As you can see the video card is embedded in the cpu from AMD with model number E450 and the embedded graphics card is Radeon HD 6320.

The embedded video can handle HD videos from 720p to 1080p. I did not try to run any installed games yet but you can search the net to know what Radeon 6320 is capable of. Below is the Windows Experience Index of the laptop.

The lowest score goes to the CPU with a speed of 1.65GHz with 3.8 but the rest of the component got 4.0 and up. I also noticed that the temperature of motherboard is very low compared to my previous netbook. The temperature of my previous netbook exceeds 80 degrees and the culprit there is the CPU which was a AMD Neo X2 dual-core L335. AMD really improved their APU from Neo X2 to E450 in terms of performance and handling common tasks.

With a price of Php14,500 ($348 US), this laptop is more than what you pay for. It has a 1 year warranty from Neo. Is it durable or loss it performance after a year or two? Time will tell but right now I'm happy with my purchase.

Any Video Converter: My Ultimate Video Converter

2012-08-28T05:52:00.000-07:00

Need to convert your video to play in your iphone or ipad? Or on your android phone or tablet? No need to worry because I have a freeware that can convert almost any type of video and that is called Any Video Converter or AVC for short. I've been using this freeware for a long time now and it has all the features I need plus some extras to boot. Although, the time it took to convert a video depends on the file size of the original video.

The freeware can convert various video formats such as OGM, RMVB, RM, WMV, QT, WebM, FLV, MOD, TS, TP, DVR-MS, Divx, etc. to AVI, WMV, MP4, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, FLV, SWF, MKV, 3GP and 3G2. It can convert the videos to portable devices such as Apple products (iphone, ipod touch, ipod video, ipod classic, ipad, apple tv), Sony products (PSP, PS3, Walkman), Android tablets and phones (there are selected model of android tablets and phone), Microsoft product (Zune and Xbox 360).

One of the extra features of the freeware is it can download the videos directly from YouTube/Google/MetaCafe/Nico. All you need to do is to copy and paste the URL in the "Import Video from Internet" window by clicking the "Add URLs" button. Another extra feature is that the freeware supports CUDA acceleration from NVIDIA video cards. So if your PC has a NVIDIA CUDA-enabled video card you can utilize this feature.

If you want to know the full features of this awesome freeware please go to this link. I really recommend this freeware for your video conversion needs.

PIXresizer: Another Way to Resize Your Pictures

2012-08-20T04:05:00.000-07:00

I have another way to resize pictures and this software is called PIXresizer. I used this freeware for more than a year now and this is what I used when I just want to plainly resize the pictures. It can support BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG and TIFF file format. You can resize a single picture and group of pictures. The interface is easy as 1-2-3. Below is the description of the freeware from the site:

The reduced files are saved in a different folder, so your original images are not altered at all. PIXresizer offers several different resizing methods to choose from and can automatically recognize image sizes to calculate the best fit. In addition, it can convert between image formats (JPEG, GIF, BMP, PNG and TIFF), rotate images, convert to grayscale and resize multiple images in batch mode. It also allows you to keep the original EXIF information from your images. A great companion for webmasters and digital photographers. - bluefive.pair.com

I definitely recommend this freeware to anyone who would like to resize their pictures. To download please go this link.

Interface for single resize

Interface for multiple resize

Pixlr-O-Matic

2012-08-09T00:05:00.001-07:00

Recently, I wanted to have a retro-effect like Instagram that can be use online. After searching I found a really cool alternative to Instagram and it's called Pixlr-O-Matic. Pixlr-O-Matic is free online picture editor that can add retro effects and more.

Pixlr-o-matic online editor

This online editor is very easy to use. You choose to select image from your computer, webcam or one of the site's own picture. After you chose a picture you will go to their 'dark room' area wherein you will see your picture in a processing tray and as you move the mouse pointer in the tray it will make a ripple effect.

Pixlr-o-matic "dark room"

You can add retro effects, overlay and border. If you're lazy you can click the shuffle button to automatically use the effects to your liking. Once finished, you click the save button and choose to save to your computer or share it. If you have smartphones like android phones or iOS devices, you can use the app for free. If you have Facebook account, you can use the app itself inside your Facebook account, once installed it'll create a new folder named pixlr-o-matic and all the finished picture will be save here. So if you want to add an effect to your picure, I recommend Pixlr-O-Matic. You can go by clicking here. If you want to use the app online make sure your browser have a flash installed.

Pixlr-O-Matic final stage

If you want a more advance online picture editor or a picnik-like online editor you may go their main website here.

First Award

2012-07-02T01:29:00.000-07:00

The first award given to this blog. I thank Balut of Balut Manila for giving this award. And here's my seven random things about me:

1. My height is 5 feet 5 inches.

2. I'm currently working in a Telecommunications company.

3. I started blogging last year.

4. The main reason why I started blogging is because I want to earn extra.

5. Currently, I'm in a relationship with a beautiful lady (hehe)

6. I support healthy living lifestyle - fitness, diet etc.

7. This blog is my third and latest that I created.

Now that I answered seven random things about me, I will now award this badge to one of my co-bloggers.

Krizza of Life's Tips and Tricks

Mak of Christian Song Lyrics

Pretzel of Pretzel Gurl

Below are the rules.

Thank the blogger who gave you this award. Don’t forget to link his/her blog.
Post seven random things about you.
Give the award to other bloggers as many as you can and let them know you gave them this award.

And that's it, my very first award for this blog. Happy blogging.

My Alternative Ipod Touch: LG-LU3700

2012-06-14T23:15:00.000-07:00

For a while, I longed to have a portable media player (PMP). I have my eyes on different models but the iPod touch stood the crowd. But due to my budget limit, I end up buying a second hand android phone. The picture above is the LG-LU3700, a Korean-only phone. It's specs is similar to LG Optimus One (P500) but the difference is that the LU3700 is a CDMA phone so it can't be used to call and text in a GSM network. That's the only feature of the phone that you can't use directly however there's a device called Gmate that will allow you to call and text to a GSM network. But I have a GSM phone already so I used this phone just for playing music, video and casual gaming.

Like I said earlier, the phone is similar to LG-P500 so it runs an Android OS. I'm able to update the phone from version 2.2 to 2.3.4 by using the update software from LG website (using LG-P500 as the search device). I tried to root the phone in different methods but to no avail. I'm still happy with this phone because I can still install different apps. Stay tuned for my upcoming posts regarding android apps that I used.

Free Online Storage Part 2

2012-05-02T02:23:00.000-07:00

Here's the second part of free online storage. If the first seven services are not enough click more to know more.

Ubuntu One

Free Storage: 5GB
Additional Storage: 20GB: $2.99 per month or $29.99 per year

Maximum File Size: 5TB
Desktop Client: Windows and Ubuntu
Mobile App: iOS and Android

SpiderOak

Free Storage: 2GB (paid and free account will get an additional free GB of space when refer a friend up to 10GB of space)
Additional Storage: 100GB: $10 per month per 100GB increment or $100 per year per 100GB increment

Maximum File Size: Unlimited

Desktop Client: Windows, Mac and Linux

Mobile App: iOS, Android and Maemo

4Sync

Free Storage: 15GB
Additional Storage: 100GB: $6.50 per month for 1 year

Maximum File Size: 2GB

Desktop Client: Windows, Mac and Linux

Mobile App: iOS, Android, Blackberry and Symbian

ADrive

Free Storage: 50GB
Additional Storage: 10TB: $6.95 per month or $69.50 per year; Unlimited: $16 per month or $167 per year

Maximum File Size: 16GB

Desktop Client: only for paid accounts: Windows, Mac and Linux (currently in beta)

Mobile App: (coming soon) iOS and Android

IDrive

Free Storage: 5GB
Additional Storage: Personal: 150GB for $4.95 per month; Family: 500GB for $14.95 per month; Business: begins at 100GB for $9.95 per month

Maximum File Size: 10GB

Desktop Client: Windows and Mac

Mobile App: iOS and Android

Syncplicity

Free Storage: 2GB
Additional Storage: Personal: 50GB for $15 per month; Business: Unlimited storage for $45 per month for 3 users (free to try up to 30 days)

Maximum File Size: Unlimited

Desktop Client: Windows and Mac

Mobile App: iOS and Android

MiMedia

Free Storage: 7GB
Additional Storage: 250GB: $9.99 per month; 500GB: $20 per month; 1TB $35 per month

Maximum File Size: 1-3 GB

Desktop Client: Windows

Mobile App: iOS

I personally used 4sync because of 15GB free storage and its free desktop client. There are still many online storage that you can used but the list here are the ones that can give you free storage for life.

Free Online Storage Part 1

2012-04-24T22:29:00.001-07:00

Looking for a free online storage? There are so many cloud-based online storage today that you don't know what service you'll use. I list down some of those services for your convenience. Here's the first part of the list.

SkyDrive

Free Storage: 7GB
Additional Storage: 20GB: $10 per year; 50GB: $25 per year; 100GB: $50 per year
Maximum File Size: 2GB
Desktop Client: Windows and Mac
Mobile App: iOS and Windows Phone

Dropbox

Free Storage: 2GB (customers with free accounts get half a gigabyte per referral, and can expand their service to up to 18GB)
Additional Storage: 50GB: $9.99 per month/$99 per year; 100GB: $199 per year/$19.99 per month; 1TB and up: starts at $795 for five users
Maximum File Size: 300MB via the browser; unlimited if you upload from your desktop
Desktop Client: Windows, Mac and Linux
Mobile App: Android, iOS and BlackBerry

Amazon Cloud Drive

Free Storage: 5GB
Additional Storage: 20GB: $20 per year; 50GB: $50 per year; 100GB: $100 per year; 200GB: $200 per year; 500GB: $500 per year; 1TB: $1000 per year
Maximum File Size: 2GB
Desktop Client: Windows (through the use of third-party app Gladinet Cloud Desktop Starter Edition )
Update: Amazon Cloud Drive now have its own Desktop app. You can download it here. Windows and Mac
Mobile App: Amazon Cloud Player (for music files), iOS, Android, Blackberry and Palm

Box.net

Free Storage: 5GB
Additional Storage: 25GB: $9.99 per month; 50GB: $19.99 per month
Maximum File Size: 25MB (free account); 1GB (business and enterprise account)
Desktop Client: Windows and Mac - only available for Business and Enterprise plan
Mobile App: Blackberry, WebOS, iOS and Android

Google Drive

Free Storage: 5GB
Additional Storage: 25GB: $2.49 per month; 100GB: $4.99 per month; 1TB: $49.99 per month; 16TB for $799.99 per month
Maximum File Size: 10GB
Desktop Client: Windows and Mac
Mobile App: Android, with an iOS version "coming soon"

Apple iCloud

Free Storage: 5GB
Additional Storage: 10GB: $20 per year; 20GB: $40 per year; 50GB: $100 per year
Maximum File Size: 25MB for free accounts; 250MB for paying subscribers
Desktop Client: Windows and Mac
Mobile App: iOS

SugarSync

Free Storage: 5GB
Additional Storage: 30GB; $4.99 per month; 60GB: $9.99 per month; 100GB: $14.99per month; 250GB: $24.99 per month; 500GB: $39.99per month
Maximum File Size: Unlimited
Desktop Client: Windows and Mac
Mobile App: iOS, Android, Blackberry, Windows Mobile and Symbian

BurnAware Free: My Choice in Burning Software

2012-02-23T20:57:00.002-08:00

Since the computer I used in our office is ancient I searched for a free burning software that will require minimum space in hard disk and ram (nero is out of the list) so after using various free burning software I finally settle in using one, the BurnAware Free. Here's a description from the developer:

BurnAware Free is a full-fledged disc burning tool – fast, lightweight, feature-packed and, most importantly, free. The program burns all types of CD, DVD and Blu-Ray discs containing data, digital photos, music and video. With BurnAware Free, you will be able to create bootable or multisession CDs and DVDs, high-quality audio CDs, make and burn disc images, copy and backup discs. - burnware.com

So what's in the freeware that makes me stick to it? You'll find out after the break.

The BurnAware Free has a simple interface by dividing the tasks by four categories, Data, Multimedia, Disc Images and Utilities. I'll be demonstrate here the Data DVD task because this is the one I've been using when I open the software.

I think the interface for each burning task is similar to the one above. The center pane is where you'll see the list of files you want to burn. At the bottom left corner, above the DVD/CD icon is the title wherein you can edit it. The DVD/CD icon will be colored once you add your files, it will turn red or green (depends on the total size of your files). On the lower right corner you'll see a red big button saying "Burn baby burn", hehe, just "Burn".

Burn baby! burn!

Now here are my findings when running the software.

The BurnAware Free used 24.9MB in RAM in a computer running Windows XP with 512MB RAM installed. The size in the hard drive is 16.02MB (the version currently installed is 4.6). So that's about it, I'm gonna used this freeware to burn my files unless there's better freeware out there. If you don't like BurnAware Free, you can search the net, there are various free burning software that you can use. If you would like to know more about the freeware or try to use, go to their website by clicking it here.

PDF Converter

2012-02-16T20:52:00.000-08:00

Last week I discussed about alternative PDF reader. So how about converting word, excel or powerpoint to PDF? Is it possible? Yes it is and you will know the free programs that you can used in your Windows computer after the break.

All the software listed have the same function, once installed it will create a virtual printer so that when you want to print the finished document to PDF, the virtual printer will be available in the printer option. Just click the banner to go to their site.

You can also use the online converter just used your favorite search engine to know those online converters. I once used the PrimoPDF to convert my word documents to PDF and it works. There are several PDF converter available in the net but these are my top choices.

Alternative to Acrobat PDF Reader

2012-02-07T21:01:00.000-08:00

If you are looking for an alternative to Acrobat PDF Reader and wanted it to be lightweight (less disk space in your hard drive). I listed some freeware that you can use for free. Are you using one of them? Check it out after the break.

1. Foxit Reader

The Foxit Reader is a small, fast, and feature rich PDF viewer which allows you to open, view, and print any PDF file. Unlike other free PDF readers, Foxit Reader also includes easy to use collaboration features like the ability to add annotations, fill out forms, and share information with social networks. Foxit Reader has a small footprint that starts up instantly, renders PDF files quickly and uses very little memory, which is especially important with today's handheld devices. The Foxit Reader is packed full of convenient and easy to use viewing, commenting and printing features that make document collaboration simple. Foxit Reader's secure platform insures worry free operation against malicious virus and provides a secure and reliable digital signature verification platform for exchanging electronics documents without putting the user at risk from falsified documents. - foxitsoftware.com

2. Nitro PDF Reader

We’re enthusiastic about PDF, no doubt about that. We're also PDF software users — like you, and hundreds of millions of people worldwide. We go to events, we fly in planes, and we file tax returns. We get asked for feedback at work, and we apply for insurance. Almost every single time we do these things, it involves a PDF file. And, like many, many people out there — there simply wasn't a free solution that did the things we needed it to. The way we wanted it to. Nitro Reader is our endeavor to provide a better option. We hope you enjoy using it. - nitroreader.com

It looks like the Nitro PDF Reader used the Ribbon GUI just like in MS Office 2007.

3. Sumatra PDF

Sumatra PDF is a free PDF, XPS, DjVu, CHM, CBZ and CBR reader for Windows. Sumatra PDF is small, portable and starts up very fast. Simplicity of the user interface has a high priority. - http://blog.kowalczyk.info

4. Evince

Evince is a document viewer for multiple document formats. The goal of evince is to replace the multiple document viewers that exist on the GNOME Desktop with a single simple application. - http://projects.gnome.org

5. PDF-Xchange Viewer

Those wishing to View/Modify or perform simple editing and even OCR Image based PDF files on their Windows PC's now have a FREE pdf reader alternative to the Adobe Reader! The PDF-XChange Viewer is smaller, faster and more feature rich than any other FREE PDF Reader/ PDF Viewer/ PDF Editor available. This free pdf viewer download also allows users to try the extended functionality offered by the PDF-XChange Viewer 'PRO' in evaluation mode - for free. No PDF reader or Viewer offers more features than PDF-XChange - or does so without compromising performance and quality, checkout the feature list below and save $100's in unnecessary expenditure on your PDF software today. - http://www.tracker-software.com

6. Nuance PDF Reader

Get ready to rethink your choice of free PDF reader. Nuance PDF Reader enables you to do much more than just view PDF files. You can convert PDF files to Word, Excel, and RTF via a hosted web service. Use annotation tools to highlight, cross-out, and underline text for more effective collaboration. Even fill out and save PDF forms. Nuance PDF Reader takes up less disk space, is more secure than Adobe Reader, and works with virtually any PDF file. Best of all, it's absolutely free, proving that you really can get a whole lot of something for nothing. - nuance.com

These are some free pdf readers available in the net. What I personally used is Foxit Reader. How about you? What PDF Reader you're using?

Learning Web Development Online

2012-01-30T22:09:00.000-08:00

Wanna try to learn java script but don't know where to begin? Or you already know the basics and want to know the advance in java script? How about HTML? HTML 5? CSS? Don't worry because I have a great site that can help beginners and advance users. You'll know the site after the break.

The site is called w3schools.com . It's an online tutorial site where you can learn the following; HTML, Browser Scripting, XML, Server Scripting, Web Services and Web Building. This site is what I go to when I try to add some HTML codes in my posts or pages. One of the features that I like about the site is the Try It Editor page.

The said page will let you try first the codes in the left column and view the results in the right column as shown in the picture above. Asides from Try It Editor, the site also give examples, books and quizzes. If you are a serious or advance web developer and would like to have a certification, the site also gives Online Certification Program with a fee.

So if you're just curious on how to use the codes and scripts, feel free to go to w3schools website and who knows you might be an outstanding web developer.

The Quest for Free Alternatives to Microsoft Office Suite

2012-01-26T00:00:00.000-08:00

Looking for free alternative to Microsoft Office? In search for the free counterpart of the popular office suite from Microsoft, I listed several free software that can be used in your windows computer. These softwares mostly compatible to MS office format of word, excel and powerpoint. There will be disadvantages of each freeware compared to the MS office but there's no harm in trying, right? Before you click the 'read more' button, try to make a list of free alternatives that you can think of and then let's see if it will be on my list. Ready? Click it away!

Needs installation.

Web-based or cloud-based alternatives. Must use your browser and have an internet connection.

Just click the logo to go to their website. You may try all the applications one at a time and feel free to comment below. If I find another alternative to MS office I'll update this post.

Update 1: The latest Lotus Symphony version will probably the last version based on IBM's own code. IBM will start with Apache on OpenOffice.org by contributing codes to the main version. You can read more details here.

Update 2: Microsoft also had a web-based application to its popular Office suite. Before you can use the web-based apps, you will need a Windows live ID which you can get for free. Just click the banner below to go the MS Office web apps.

Watermark Your Photos No Trials Needed

2012-01-23T21:11:00.000-08:00

I have been searching the net for a free software that can make a watermark on photos. The top searches gave me a bunch of software that only good for a couple of days. After all the searches I done with the friendly Google, I found a free software, yes a really free software, not the ones that you can only used for a short time. So what's the freeware? You'll find out after the break.

The freeware is called Fast Image (JPG) Resizer for Java. An open-source software that can run on Linux, Mac or Windows as long as you have java run-time installed. No need to install the software, you just unzipped the file and run the execution file. The software is very easy to use. Not only the FIR4J (acronym of the software) can watermarked batch or single photo, it can also resize pictures (well as the title of the software suggests :D).

The only disadvantage of this freeware is that the only supported format (for now I think) is JPEG. So if you want to try the software, read more about it and see some screenshots, you may go here. If you're using a better freeware then feel free to tell us in the comment below. Hope this helps.

Malware detected

2012-01-20T04:30:00.000-08:00

Recently when I went to my blog using Chrome browser the tab shows a message like the picture above. It says that a site linked to my blog has a malware so it cause my blog to be blocked by the browser. When I try to go to my blog using Firefox, it does not have this kind of message. What I did is checked the site which is linked to my blog who had a suspicious malware. I found out that the suspicious link is in my backlinks so I immediately deleted the javascript of the said link. When I refreshed my blog's url using Chrome browser the warning message no longer occurs. I first encountered this message when I went to some of my friends' blog using Chrome browser and the suspect is in their backlinks. So if you happen to encounter this message in your blog, don't fret, calmly poin the suspected site that's linked to your blog and go to your dashboard to delete the javascript. Cheers.