In my home office, I had a Brother HL-2070N (read my previous review here) network laser printer which shared with family.

Tip: Click here to scan for Windows Registry Errors and Optimize PC performances

However, the paper feeder was not working few months ago, and I was looking for a replacement printer — a network color laser printer. Yeah, not only network laser printer. I want to upgrade to “color” this time!

However, a color laser printer is not cheap, and even expensive with the network feature. Such printer would cost over RM1,000 (~USD$293).

Why Dell 1320cn network color laser printer?

Luckily, I found a great deal on Dell Malaysia — Dell Color Laser Network Printer 1320cn for only RM499 (with RM500 cash redemption)

Wow! That’s the price of a monochrome laser printer!

You might wonder, “A laser printer from Dell? How is the quality?”. Dell is so confident that they included a Dell vs. HP report to compare Dell 1320C to HP Color LaserJet 1600/2600N. In the report, Dell prints faster and has better colour output than HP Color LaserJet.

Without 2nd thought, I placed the order and received the laser printer few days later.

Review Dell 1320cn laser color printer

It was carefully packaged in a VERY BIG box! The printer is big and heavy, about double size of Brother HL-2070N. The setup is easy, simply follow the included quick instructions and you are ready to print.

Dell Color Laser Network Printer 1320cn toner cartridges

One problem though, I am using Mac and the laser printer does not come with a Mac OS driver!

At last, I found the Mac driver for model 1320c (no network) on Dell Support. I installed the driver and set Mac OS to use the driver for 1320cn found on my home network.

Voila! It works!

The monochrome output is crisp and sharp. Color output is good, even though you can’t get photo quality. The printing speed is about 30 secs for the 1st print from idle mode.

Surprisingly, the colour printing is very fast. Believe it or not, printing in color (1st page) is actually FASTER than monochrome print. That’s weird…

Dell color laser 1320cn web control panel

You can access the printer settings via its web interface. There are some advanced settings such as email alert setup (email you when toner low, etc). Warning: you better don’t mess up with the settings if you don’t understand them!

Dell Color Laser Network Printer 1320cn belt unit

Dell Color Laser 1320cn Specs:

• colour laser printer
• Dimensions: 400mm W x 422mm D x 378 mm
• Weight: 17.2KG
• Print resolution: 600 x 600 dpi
• Max print speed: up to 16 ppm (monochrome), up to 12 ppm (colour)
• Max paper input capacity: 250 sheets
• Ports: 10/100BaseT Ethernet, USB 2.0
• Supported Operating Systems: Microsoft Windows Vista, 2000, XP, Server 2003, Windows 7 (Editor note: tested on Mac OS X Snow Leopard, too!)

Details on Dell 1320cn

Photo gallery: Unbox Dell 1320cn Network Colour Laser Printer

My two cents

If you or your company needs a budget network color laser printer, I would recommend Dell 1320cn laser network printer. I am a happy customer here.

If there’s any feature I would like to add to it, that would be duplex printing and additional paper tray (1320cn only has 1 paper tray). Is that too much to ask for at the printer’s low price? LOL~

Which printer are you using now?

This is a guest post by Dwarka Rao from Review Unit, a blog where you can find Reviews and News about Gadgets, Software, Hardware and Web Apps. Please have a look at PC’s PLACE, which. is a blog with amazing tech related stuff, freebies and web apps.

Ensuring the security levels of your computer is the most basic and fundamental task for any computer user. There is an old saying in the Medical Fraternity that “Prevention is better than Cure.” The same applies while you are putting your efforts to protect your computer from malicious attacks. So keeping your computer shielded with a robust antivirus program is the very much necessary.

It has been few days but Windows 7 has already created a great buzz. People are very much in love with this brand new operating system from Microsoft because of its amazingly innovative features. Since Windows 7 is the newest operating system of the current date, users are skeptical about the antivirus programs which can be used to protect their computers powered by Windows 7.

Hackers release numerous viruses, Trojans, rootkits and other malicious program every year. It is nothing less than any unending process. So, computer security experts have already warned people about number of malicious programs which are designed to hamper the performance Windows 7.

I would like to list out the top 5 antivirus programs to protect your machines powered by Windows 7:

1. Kaspersky Antivirus

   
   Are there any users who have not heard about the brand KASPERSKY? I would be surprised and shocked if I find any. Being a huge fan of Kaspersky, I cannot stop myself boasting this incredible computer security company. Many of you would agree to the fact that Kaspersky Antivirus programs are some of the best and robust security programs you have ever come across.

   And the brands launched its new antivirus program compatible on Windows 7 on the very day, when Windows 7 was officially launched. They wanted to ensure that their product is the first one to be opted by the users of this brand new operating system.

   Below are some of the many wondrous features offered by Kaspersky:

   • It provides real time scanning of files, web pages and e-mails.
   • It is attuned to shield Windows 7
   • Protects your Windows 7 powered computer from all kind of dangerous viruses, spyware, phishing attacks and malicious products.
   • Amazing design and look with user friendly graphical user interface.
   • The brand new Kaspersky Toolbar for Internet browsers warns you about infected websites even before visiting them.

   Buy Kaspersky Antivirus now and get discount

2. AVG Antivirus for Windows 7

   AVG is the one of such antivirus programs which is popular among the newbies and advanced users. And the brand new antivirus program designed by AVG is completely compatible on Windows 7. And if you are an avid AVG fan, this is surely a reason to smile, Below are its features:

   • Integration of features like Link Scanner, Web Shield, and AVG Toolbar ensures your system’s protection.
   • The Link Checker feature is an innovative option offered to users which warn the Internet users to stay away from harmful web sites.
   • Does not hamper the computer’s performance while it is functioning in the background.
   • Intuitive graphical user interface, which makes AVG a complete treat.

   Buy AVG antivirus now and get discount

3. AVIRA Antivirus Software

   Like its logo (protective umbrella), the latest version of Avira antivirus program is very much competent to protect your computer running on Windows 7 operating system. It will surely impress you with its user interface, which brings all the options just a click away. Following are the amazing features offered by Avira:

   • It works on a completely updated virus database.
   • Automatically blocks you to visit the infected websites.
   • It offers its FREE version too. Can you ask for something better?
   • Hassle free operation and keeps your computer’s performance while it is operating in the background.

   Download Avira free antivirus

4. AVAST! Windows 7 Anti Virus

   Avast is not an unknown brand in the market of antivirus programs. With the release of Windows 7, Avast has also launched its brand new computer security package compatible for the computers run on Windows 7 operating system. Below are some of its features:

   • Robust protection against all the latest viruses, spywares, Trojans and other malicious programs.
   • Does not consume much of your computer’s resources.
   • User friendly graphical interface and is very easy to use.
   • You can tweak its display settings (for example, changing skins) to complement the ultimate visual effects of Windows 7.

   Buy Avast! antivirus now and get discount

5. Trend Micro Antivirus for Windows 7

   Trend Micro Antivirus is a Japanese computer security firm. And with in no time, they have managed to capture respectable market share in its genre. This inspired Trend Micro to launch their new antivirus program to protect Windows 7 operating systems. Below are its features:

   • A complete security against compute infections like worms, Trojans, viruses and other malicious programs
   • Blocks the infected emails to be viewed on the computer.
   • Its smooth operation allows you to work fluently while it is being operated in the background.

   Buy Trend Micro antivirus now and get discount

This is a guest post. If you would like to contribute too, please contact us.

Panda Cloud Antivirus

Panda Cloud Antivirus is the first FREE cloud-based antivirus. It connects in real-time to PandaLab’s online database for protection against virus and malware.

Therefore, Panda Cloud Antivirus could detect the latest virus faster than the traditional signature-based antivirus.

And, it does NOT need to download updates, because the virus signature database is online!

Installation

Panda Cloud Antivirus is a lightweight antivirus. The download size is only 21.9MB. The installation is very simple, all you need to do is click on the big “ACCEPT and INSTALL” button and you are done.

Install Panda Cloud Antivirus

To launch Panda Cloud Antivirus, you need to sign in your Panda Cloud Antivirus account. You can create your free account here.

Simple user interface

The main window of Panda Cloud Antivirus is very simple. By default, it shows current security status. Beside the Status button, there are only 3 other buttons on the window: Settings, Scan, and Report.

For “Settings”, you can set enable/disable automatic management of possible viruses and send anonymous information to Panda.

Under “Scan”, there is only a big “Quick scan” button to do full system scan, and another smaller button to scan selected folders/files.

Panda Cloud Antivirus – Report

The “Report” shows all the detected threats in the last month, last week, last day, or all.

A small blue color “Recycle Bin” icon is at the bottom right for you to recover a false positive.

Virus scan performance

Panda Cloud Antivirus uses only less than 500KB memory when idle in background. When scanning, it only uses around 8MB of RAM and almost no CPU resource! Very impressive!

Panda Cloud Antivirus – Quick Scan

The first full system Quick Scan took around 23 mins to scan 18,424 files (10GB).

According to PC Mag review, Panda Cloud Antivirus is “extremely effective at keeping malware out of a clean system” but “failed to remove huge amounts of malware traces from threats it detected” (but still better than other free antivirus software).

My two cents

If you do not want to pay for an antivirus software, Panda Cloud Antivirus is the simple, lightweight, effective free antivirus for you.

Recommended by LiewCF!

(Just make sure you install Panda Cloud Antivirus on a clean system, then you would be well protected from most of the future threats.)

Download Panda Cloud Antivirus now

Also, check out Best Selling Anti-Virus Softwares on Amazon.com for great discount prices.

Samsung Star 3G S5603

Specs highlights

Samsung Star 3G is very light and thin. It weights only 96 gram and 12.9mm thick. The 2.8 inch touchscreen has a resolution of 240×320. You see less screen details if compared with other higher-end mobile phones.

Samsung Star 3G screen with widgets

Samsung 3G Star has a 3.2 megapixel camera with LED flash. Supports bluetooth, FM radio, but no WiFi. Connects to your computer using USB 2.0.

Internal memory has 80MB and support external memory card up to 16GB. The 1000 mAh battery allows up to 3 hours talk time and 300 hours standby time.

Review Samsung Star 3G S5603

Samsung Star 3G is thin, light and the curved design makes it very comfortable to be held in your hand. The phone’s speaker is quite loud but the sound quality is just so-so.

One of the highlighted features of Samsung Star 3G is its touchscreen and widgets. You can a column of widgets at the left hand side of the screen. You can drag a widget and drop it to anywhere you like on the screen.

Samsung Star 3G widgets and multiple screens (3 small square boxes on the bottom of screen)

Like Apple iPhone, Samsung Star 3G has multiple screens. You can have different widgets on each screen. You “swipe” to switch in between the screens.

Sounds cool, right? But it is not the real case.

The touchscreen of Samsung 3G Star is not sensitive. It is slow and lag. It keeps on launching widgets when I only want to switch screen or move a widget..

Click, move, or swipe, you need to do it slowly on Samsung Star 3G.

On the plus side, Samsung Star 3G has a 3.2 megapixel camera with rich camera controls. Many scene modes are available, as well as custom adjustments. Very much like a touchscreen digital camera!

Samsung Star 3G camera scene modes

The overall user interface design of Samsung Star 3G is colorful and cute. Youngsters would probably love it, but not for an uncle like me.

More photos of Samsung Star 3G

Here are more photos of the Samsung Star 3G. Click on each thumbnails to get full size image.

My two cents

Samsung Star 3G is a light, thin, fun, budget touchscreen mobile phone. If you have limited budget but want to have a touchscreen phone, consider this.

Else, I would recommend you to skip this and get a higher-end smartphone.

Pro:
- ligh & thin
- low cost touchscreen mobile phone
- powerful phone camera

Con:
- less sensitive touchscreen
- no wifi

Retail price: MYR$999 (~USD$294)

How Pingtest works?

According to Pingtest.net, the quality of your connection is determined by 3 factors:

1. Packet loss: the success rate of data packets to reach its destination from its source. The less loss the better.
2. Ping: the travel time of a data packet between source and destination. The faster the better.
3. Jitter: the variance in measuring successive ping tests. The less the better.

Pingtest rank the your broadband test result with A to F, where A is the best quality broadband.

Benefit of quality broadband

The better broadband quality, the better performance when you are accessing online stream data such as online video, online music, online gaming.

Pingtest result of my broadband

My broadband connection (TMnet Streamyx) got a Grade C. The Ping time is 92ms, Jitter is 48ms, with no packet loss.

How is your broadband quality? Let’s compare!

I was surprised that some famous anti-virus programs are not in the list, such as: Norton, Mcfee, Trend Micro, F-Secure, and Kaspersky.

Personally, I am on Mac and I don’t need any antivirus app but I installed VirusBarrier for Mac to scan files for virus, so that I don’t spread viruses to my PC friends.

If any PC friend asks me, I would recommend AVG Free Antivirus.

For my younger brother, after testing several antivirus programs, he recommends Kaspersky Anti-virus. “It is a very powerful antivirus program, but sometimes too powerful..”, he comments.

Check out Best Selling Anti-Virus Softwares on Amazon.com and their discount prices.

Over to You

What’s your choice of anti-virus software (both free & paid), and Why?

Weighing at merely 147g, Apolco P3 micro projector has a throw distance of 30″ at 1.2m. The projected image size can up to 60″. The contrast ratio is 200:1. Display resolution is only 640×480 pixel (VGA).

The micro projector’s brightness, due to its size, is only 15 lumens (normal projector has over 2000 lumens).

Apolco P3 micro projector accepts video input of composite video and D-Sub (PC). It supports NTSC/PAL/SECAM video formats. The speaker audio output is 0.3W (mono channel).

The rechargeable battery life last 40 minutes for a single charge.

My two cents

Never compare Apolco P3 micro projector with a normal projector. That’s unfair.

The micro projector would be an ideal gadget when you want to do a small presentation at any place. Or, show photos taken from digital camera when you are traveling.

I like the small sleek white/black design of Apolco P3 micro projector. However, it does not has a stand, nor it could stand stable without any support.

Pro:
- extremely portable

Con:
- low display resolution
- low brightness
- does not support digital video input

More information at IBI Electronics Sdn Bhd.

Similar pocket projectors:

• 3M Pocket Projector MPRO120 listing at Amazon.com
• Optoma PK102 Pico Pocket Projector listing at Amazon.com
• Optoma EP-PK-101 PICO Pocket Projector listing at Amazon.com

fb140: find your Facebook friends who are using Twitter

1. Sign in your Facebook account at fb140.
2. Sign in your Twitter account.
3. You will get a list of Facebook friends who have Twitter account. Tick them and click on the “Follow these people!” button to follow them on Twitter. Done!

fb140 is a web application to find all your Facebook friends on Twitter. It looks at the website field of your Facebook friends’ profile to find friends who have listed their Twitter URL.

If your Facebook friends do not list their Twitter URL then fb140 cannot find them…

Among my 344 Facebook friends, only 6 have Twitter URL listed in their profile. I was expecting more.. maybe my friends are not keen to tweet?

How many of your Facebook friends are Twitter users too? Try fb140.

*Follow me at @liewcf

TwitBlock could help to spot spammers among your Twitter followers. It has a points system to order your followers with the most likely spam at the top of the list.

How to use TwitBlock to spot a spam?

TwitBlock use OAuth for Twitter authentication. No login information will be exposed to the site.

After you have approved TwitBlock, it will start scanning your Twitter followers and generate a list with most likely spam at the top.

You can then analyze each Twitter profile and “block & report” the spammer. If the listed profile is not a spam, you can mark it as “not spam”.

Does TwitBlock work?

With the help of TwitBlock, I managed to spot over 60 twitter spammers, blocked them and reported to Twitter (read my previous post: how to report a Twitter spammer) for them to take further action, e.g. suspense of account.

Please note that it is important NOT to rely on the TwitBlock point system. If a Twitter user is new, chances are TwitBlock will suspect it is a spam (follow many, no followers).

Update: Click here to read 7 ways to identify a Twitter Spammers.

TwitBlock helps you by generating a suspected-spammers-list and you still need to check each profile to confirm a spam.

Try TwitBlock now and tell us how many Twitter spammers you have blocked.

P.S. TwitBlock also provides a bookmarklet to scan an account at its Twitter profile page.

P.P.S. Follow me at @liewcf

Related books:

• Twitter Power listing at Amazon.com
• The Twitter Book listing at Amazon.com
• Twitter Tips, Tricks, and Tweets listing at Amazon.com

Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2 is slim and light. I can easily hold it on my left palm and type with my right hand.

If you think all netbook is light weight, try Asus EeePC 1000H. It is much heavier than IdeaPad S10-2!

Read on to see the size different between the two netbooks.

Most netbook has cut the size of right “Shift” key to squeeze more space but it cause you to press wrong key frequently.

The battery life is ok, around 3 hours on web surfing. Enough for quick access of your documents or Internet on-the-go. Not suitable for you to online at Starbucks from 9-5 without charging.

Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2 Specs

• Intel Atom Processor N280 (1.66HHz)
• Windows XP Home
• 1GB DDR2 SDRAM
• 160GB SATA hard disk
• Integrated 1.3 Megapixels camera
• Integrated stereo speakers with Dolby Headphone technology
• 802.1lb/g WiFi, LAN, Bluetooth
• 3x USB2.0 ports
• 4 in 1 card reader (SD/MMC/MS/MS pro)
• 10.1″ (1024 x 600) LED backlight display
• Weight: 1.25KG

Size difference: Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2 vs. Asus EeePC 1000H

You can see the size different between Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2 and Asus EeePC 1000H from the following pictures (Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2 at the top):

Size difference: Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2 vs. Asus EeePC 1000H (front)

Size difference: Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2 vs. Asus EeePC 1000H (side)

Size difference: Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2 vs. Asus EeePC 1000H (side)

Size difference: Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2 vs. Asus EeePC 1000H (back)

No surprise about the Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2 design though. I like the almost-full-size keyboard of S10-2, especially the full size “Shift” key on the right.

OneKey Rescue System

Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2 comes with a OneKey Rescue System, which make it unique among other netbooks.

There is a “Rescue” key next to Power button to startup the computer straight into the rescue system without Windows.

OneKey Rescue System allows you to easily restore backup, scan for virus, or fix corrupted operating system files, even when you cannot log in Microsoft Windows.

You can also create backup of your system using the OneKey Recovery. The backup restore is fast, and I recorded a speed of 1GB/minute! Full “Factory default” restore took only 6 minutes!

However, in order to allows One Key Rescue System to work, your hard disk has an extra partition for backup by default, which take up 30GB of hard disk space.

Tech geek might not like to idea of extra partition. They want all the available space of a hard disk and they know how to rescue their system.

However, for general home users, the rescue system would be a godsent.

Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2 Photo Gallery

My two cents

I would recommend Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2 to someone who needs a netbook but do not know how to protect their computer (read: often infected by viruses, accidentally delete data, etc).

Do you own a netbook? What do you consider before purchase a netbook?

More Information:

• Lenovo Ideapad S10-1311UW 10.2-Inch White Netbook listing at Amazon.com
• Lenovo S10-2 10-Inch Black Netbook – 6 Cell Battery listing at Amazon.com
• Lenovo S10-2 10-Inch Gray Netbook – 6 Cell Battery listing at Amazon.com

Don’t be fooled by its name, Adobe Photo Uploader does not only “upload photos”. It also shows your Facebook News Feed, allows Facebook Chat, notify you of new events, messages, friend request, and pokes. It IS a Facebook application for desktop!

Great for those Facebook addicted.

Wait! I don’t see Adobe Photo Uploader support Facebook Notifications, which notifies me of new comments made by my friends?! And, the font size is too small… (at least on my 24″ monitor)

Upload photos using Adobe Photo Uploader for Facebook

1. Click on “Upload” tab and choose an Facebook Album or create a new album.
2. Drag & Drop the photo folders or photos to the Adobe Photo Uploader.
3. Set the caption for each photo as you wish, as well as crop, tag, rotate the photo.
4. Click on “Upload Images” to start uploading. You are done when the progress is 100%.

My two cents

Before this, whenever my friend asked me for an easy way to upload photos to Facebook, I would recommend Picasa + Picasa Uploader for Facebook. Both are free downloads.

However, download a software, install it and then install a plugin.. the process could be a nightmare for a non-techie guy.

Now, I will recommend them the Adobe Photo Uploader for Facebook. It is easy & fast!

However, I only use it as photo uploader and not a Facebook app for desktop. It can’t replace the Facebook web interface, yet. And, I do not need to frequently check my Facebook news feed.

I am using something simpler, the Facebook Desktop Notification (Mac only).

Have you tried Adobe Photo Uploader for Facebook? Do you like it?

More Information:

• Facebook: The Missing Manual listing at Amazon.com
• The Facebook Era listing at Amazon.com

Thank you, @derekw!

For your information, Google Wave requires a Google Account (Gmail). Your Gmail username will be used as the Google Wave username too.

Therefore, you really don’t need to rush to have a Google Wave account now to grab a nice Google Wave username.

The Google Wave registration is easy and fast. Simply follow the Google Wave invitation link on the email and log in your Google Account and you are almost done!

You will get a your_gmail_username@googlewave.com email account. Mine is liewcf@googlewave.com (drop me a message, google wave users!)

First time login, you receive a message from “Google Wave Doctor” with an embedded video to help you get started with Google Wave, as well as a few of Google Wave tutorial videos.

Typing messages is live! You can see your friend typing message to you. It is Real time communication! Multiple player games is possible on Google Wave too.

Learn more about Google Wave

By the way, I created a Google Profile after getting my Google Wave account.

For me, Google Wave is “a complicated and powerful Gmail for group or co-workers”. It is less useful to someone who work alone, like me.

OK, maybe I haven’t discover the real power of Google Wave yet.

Have you request/ask for a Google Wave invite? Have you get your Google Wave invite yet? What do you think about Google Wave?

P.S. Oh! If you are about to ask, I have NOT see any Google Wave invites on my account, yet. I will let you know as soon as I got the invites to be send out. Promised! Follow my blog or twitter @liewcf

At the first glance, MSI X-Slim looks very sexy and stylish. As the name suggests, it is very thin and light, comparable to the famous Apple MacBook Air. The thinnest part (6mm) only 2mm thicker than MacBook Air. Weighing at only 1.3KG, I can hold it up in the air with only one hand!

MSI X-Slim look like MacBook Air but with more input/output ports. It has 2x USB, 1x VGA, 1x gigabit ethernet port, 1x HDMI, 1x build-in SDHC memory card reader, as well as the mic & audio ports.

It’s a 13.4″ widescreen display with built in 1.3M camera and mic.

MSI X-Slim X340 is powered by Intel Core2 Solo CPU and comes with 2GB memory and it is the maximum it can have. You are not able to upgrade system memory with a hard disk size of 250GB.

The 4 cells battery could last for 4 hours using the “Balanced” profile. Not too bad for a thin notebook like MSI X-Slim.

Oh. By the way, as expected, it does not have an optical drive to read your CD/DVD…

The MSI X-Slim has a big touchpad with single button (press left side for left click, or vice versa). The touchpad does not support multi-touch gestures to zoom in/out or page scrolling. Too bad.

The keyboard feel is only so-so. If you press it too hard, the whole keyboard would be dented a little. Not good.

My two cents

Other than being thin and light, MSI X-Slim works just the same as other notebooks.

Perfect for people who travel a lot and do not want to sacrifice screen size for notebook weight.

The MSI X-Slim X340 would cost you around RM2,800. It is much cheaper than MacBook Air (RM5,599) but less solid and less processing power.

I would like to have MSI X-Slim X340 as my travel notebook but the price tag is, considered high for me.

What do you think? Would you spend RM2.8K for a thin & light notebook, which does not have an optical drive?

More Information:

• MSI X-Slim X340 photo gallery
• MSI X-Slim X340 – Silver listing at Amazon.com
• MSI X-Slim X340 – Black listing at Amazon.com
• Apple MacBook Air 2.13GHz listing at Amazon.com

gwabbit automatically scans incoming BlackBerry emails, finds contacts, and instantly transforms them into contact records within your address book with a mouse click! 

The installation of Gwabbit is easy, download and install, done. It has no setting at all. Once installed, Gwabbit will start working when you are checking emails on BlackBerry.

When Gwabbit detected a new contact info (email signature), it will pop up to ask whether you want to save the contact or not. If Gwabbit does not pop up, you can also manually run it from email menu.

Click “Create New” button and Gwabbit will start capturing contact of the email. That’s where the magic happens. The contact details (name, company, job title, phone, email, address, etc) is automatically added to BlackBerry address book!

No more copy & paste contact details to address book!

My two cents

Gwabbit for BlackBerry is a handy little app that saves your time to add contacts. Based on my experiences, Gwabbit sometimes can’t capture all the info in email signature. That’s fine. I just add in what’s missing.

Copy & paste every contact details to address book could be very frustrating sometimes. If keeping email contacts is important for you, I highly recommend Gwabbit for BlackBerry to make your life easier.

You should also read my review on BlackBerry Bold here.

First impression

When I first received the BlackBerry Bold, I was surprised by its size. It is wide, slim and light. My N-series phone immediately looks bulky beside BlackBerry Bold. I like the black and stylish look of BlackBerry Bold covered by silver border.

On the left side of BlackBerry Bold, there are: 3.5mm headset jack, mini USB port, and keypad lock button.

The mini USB port is used for data connection and battery charging. Very convenient. You can easily charge your BlackBerry Bold by connecting it to your computer.

On the right side of BlackBerry Bold there are volume control and camera button.

One major different between BlackBerry Bold and my N-series phone is SPEED. BlackBerry Bold is much faster on menu navigation, apps opening & running.. no waiting time at all!

BlackBerry Bold QWERTY keypad

The BlackBerry Bold QWERTY keypad looks very nice with white backlight for black keys. The keys might look small but, with the special curve edge design, I have no problem typing with my fat fingers. It only took me 1 day to type faster on BlackBerry Bold than numeric keypad phone.

BlackBerry Bold trackball

The navigation and clicking is done by the white trackball in the middle of BlackBerry Bold. It is sensitive enough to detect a small movement, especially useful when scrolling line-by-line on a web page. However, if your thumb is webby/oily, then the trackball might get stuck or does not move the on screen cursor.

BlackBerry Email

The email setup on BlackBerry is simple. It supports POP/IMAP but not real Push Email. BlackBerry Email has a very simple user interface but it supports HTML emails (images in email) and attachments viewing.

By default, BlackBerry Email does not load images in emails. You need to manually ask it to “Get images”. For IMAP email account, BlackBerry Email does not sync the email “read” status.

If you use BlackBerry to download the email BUT you read the email on desktop PC, BlackBerry Email will still has the email marked as Unread.

It is rather annoying. I have to manually mark every email as “Read” or I have a unread email counter at the top of the screen all the time, even I have checked them all on my desktop PC!

As you know, I am new to BlackBerry. Let me know if you have a solution about it.

BlackBerry Web Browser

BlackBerry has its own version of mobile web browser. The browser’s speed is so-so. Much slower if Javascript has been enabled. No tab browsing. No multiple windows. Does not support Flash, but can view Youtube video on media player.

BlackBerry Media Player

Blackberry media player and playing video in full screen (right).

BlackBerry media player can play most common video formats. The user interface is simple but video quality is high and smooth. Colors are great! Sound is stunning! The greatest mobile video playback experience I have had to date.

BlackBerry Documents To Go

The BlackBerry Bold comes with a useful office software named “Documents To Go“, which allows you to view and edit Microsoft Office files and email attachments (doc, xls, ppt).

I tried it. It does opens office document correctly. Viewing is ok but editing documents on the small display is a nightmare, especially on Excel worksheet.

BlackBerry Apps

While BlackBerry apps are not as many as iPhone app store, you can easily find the apps to get your jobs done. There is BlackBerry App World, but it is only available to users in US, Canada and UK.

The BlackBerry apps I installed are: Yahoo! Messenger, Windows Live Messenger, UberTwitter, Facebook, and Google Mobile App.

I am quite a social-media-guy, am I not?

Blackberry OS support apps running in the background. But having too many background apps will drag down the BlackBerry Bold performance and get a spinning waiting cursor, everything halts for a few seconds.

BlackBerry Bold camera

The BlackBerry Bold’s 2.0 megapixel (1600×1200 pixel) camera is not good. It has no autofocus. Slight shaky hand will get you a blur image. The taken photo has very high noise level.

Check out the sample photos taken with BlackBerry Bold here:

BlackBerry Bold camera test shots: without flash (left) & with flash

BlackBerry Options

The user interface of BlackBerry settings (options) did surprise me. It is… text based! No graphic, no color!

Anyway, the options are clear and simple. But the over simplified text based menu could really scare off some users.

BlackBerry Bold Shining LED

There is a LED indicator light the top right corner of BlackBerry Bold to indicate the BlackBerry status. As far as I have surveyed, flashing red means “you got a new message”. flashing blue means bluetooth activated. flashing green means low battery.

The LED indicator light is useful that you don’t need to pick up your phone to check for new message received while you are away.

BlackBerry Bold battery life

According to BlackBerry Bold’s specs, the battery standby time is 13.5 Days (2 weeks!) and 4.5 hours talk time. That’s very good battery life for a mobile phone.

When the BlackBerry Bold is in standby mode, the display is turned off (not even a clock). That’s how it save more battery power and where the LED comes handy to indicate its status.

In real life test, I did web surfing, twittering, emailing on BlackBerry Bold for the whole day and only need to recharge at the next morning.

To further extend the battery life, you can turn off GPS, Bluetooth, WiFi, and disable 3G (use EDGE). Also, set backlight level to lowest (it still quite bright).

BlackBerry Bold Specs

• CPU: 624 Mhz processor
• Memory: 1GB storage, 128 MB RAM
• Dimensions 114 x 66 x 14 mm
• Weight 133g
• Display: 480×320 pixels, 2.6 inch
• Camera: 2.0MP camera with flash, 3x digital zoom
• Battery: 4.5 hours talk time, 13.5 days standby time
• Ports: 3.5mm stereo headset jack, mini USB
• Card slot: microSD/microSDHC (up to 8GB)
• Connection: Bluetooth, Wifi
• Video format support: DivX, XviD, H.263, H.264, WMV3
• Audio format support: .3gp, MP3, WMA, MIDI, AMR-NB, AAC

My two cents

I have never used a BlackBerry smartphone before. It is not a fancy phone but it will get your jobs done.

It is a mobile office in your hand: make calls, read/send emails, web surfing, view/edit documents, etc. As well as some entertainments. Oh, GPS when you are lost, too!

I would consider BlackBerry Bold, if the email app can sync email status, a better web browser, and BlackBerry App World for Malaysians.

For Malaysians who are interested to get a BlackBerry, you can check out BlackBerry packages from Maxis.

Model posing with HP Mini 110 (Pink Chic)

In the press release of “HP Recipe For Success“, there is no sign of HP Mini 110 netbook.

HP Mini 110 Netbook Specs

• OS: Windows XP Home
• Processor: Intel Atom N280 (1.66 GHz, 512 KB L2 Cache, 533 MHz FSB)
• Memory: 1GB DDR2 533 MHz
• Hard disk: 160 GB
• Display: 10.1″ LED Anti-glare Widescreen Display
• Graphic: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950
• Ports: 3 USB 2.0, 5-in-1 digital media slot, Headphone-out/Microphone in combo jack (iphone compatible)
  Webcam with integrated microphone
• Battery: 3-Cell Lithium-ion (optional: 6-cells)
• Weight: 1.06KG

Why HP Mini 110 netbook?

Beside the standard features of common netbooks, HP Mini 110 pre-loaded “Syncables“, a software to sync content between your primary PC and HP Mini 110.

It comes in handy for you who carry netbook for mobile access and easily sync data with your primary PC when you back home/office.

I got to admit this. “HP Mini 110 (Pink Chic) is gorgeous!” I think it is the most beautiful netbook I have ever seen so far. If any girls ask me to recommend a stylish netbook, HP Mini 110 (Pink Chic) would be the one.

Buy HP Mini 110 Netbook in Malaysia?

So far, HP Mini 1100 is the only netbook model on HP Malaysia website.

HP Singapore is selling HP Mini 110 netbook at SGD$ 699 (~RM 1715). That’s much more expensive than the announced price, USD$ 299, at HP “Touch the future. Now.” media summit in Beijing, China.

Will I buy HP Mini 110 netbook?

If the price is USD$ 299, maybe I will buy one. If the price tag in Malaysia is RM 1715, then I would rather get another brand of netbook with much longer battery life but a dull look.

More Information:

• HP Mini 110-1020NR 10.1-Inch Netbook – 3 Cell Battery listing at Amazon.com
• HP Mini 110-1030NR 10.1-Inch Netbook – 6 Cell Battery listing at Amazon.com

It is not easy to get an ideal house. I experienced it when I couldn’t even find a suitable house to rent after half a day of hunting. Google Maps Real Estate makes the task easier.

Find properties the easiest way

Google maps real estate allow us to search for house properties (for sale and rent) in real world but virtually. Most properties come with details of bedrooms, bathrooms, price, exact address. Some even uploaded with real photo.

Any benefits to find property online? Other than saving your time on the road, it also help you search for nearby schools, restaurants, shopping malls.

I prefer condo to landed property, so tried searching maps. Found a condo in center of Kuala Lumpur in Google maps. But the sky-high price of $7.5 Million scared m!e Haha..impossible to buy it in my whole life.

Did a quick search for landed property in Kluang, Johor. Sorry, no property found. Perhaps more companies have to join Google real estate to make the property search more useful.

As a result, Google real estate is not so useful for us in Malaysia, yet. Suggest Google Maps Real Estate to accept property input from users. What do you think?

Guest Blog by AhTim, a Malaysian that works hard to achieve his dream as full-time blogger. Subscribe his feed to get daily free iPod and software tips!

According to Mozilla, Firefox 3.5 is based on the Gecko 1.9.1 rendering platform, which has been under development for the past years. Firefox 3.5 offers many changes over the previous version, supporting new web technologies, improving performance and ease of use.

What’s new in Firefox 3.5 for ?

Super Speed — believe it or not, Firefox 3.5 is 2 times faster than the previous version Firefox 3. 10 times faster than Firefox 2!

Private browsing — now you can surf porn privately with Firefox 3.5 new private browsing feature. When it is enabled, you won’t leave a single browsing fingerprint behind for others to discover.

Location-Aware browsing — when you visit a location-aware supported website, Firefox can tell the website about your location, with your permission, so you can find more relevant and more useful information.

Play audio and video without plugin — Firefox 3.5 now support HTML5

Get Firefox

Click here to download free Firefox 3.5. Or click here for Firefox in 70 different languages.

My two cents

I am amazed by the speed of Firefox 3.5, even though I have been using Firefox 3.5 beta and RC versions before the final version. It is so much faster, but not the fastest.

ZDNet did a web browser speed benchmark and showed that Firefox 3.5 is still slower (but close) than Google Chrome and Safari 4.

Speed is not everything. Remember, Firefox has over 6,000 add-ons to make your web surfing experiences better.

I tried to test the location-aware feature but it did not work for me. Anyone got it working on a desktop computer?

The buildt-n support of embedded video is cool. The Ogg video has better quality than H.264 (video format used by YouTube). The problem now is how many websites use the open video/audio format? Not till YouTube make a switch or it as an alternative, I think.

What do you think about Firefox 3.5? Is it your default web browser now?

Update: Firefox 3.5 gets the best score in UA Profiler test. (hat tip: Gen Kanai)

You can get more free twitter backgrounds and themes at Twitter backgrounds. Currently, there are a total of 166 themes in 14 different categories.

What’s great about Twitter backgrounds is that it could automatically install your selected twitter theme for you! Just select the twitter theme you like, then key in your twitter ID and password and click “Install”.

While the automatic installation is great idea but somehow it didn’t work for me — “complaining file size is too big”. I had to opt for the manual installation — download background image, manually set the CSS colors.

Custom Twitter background

If you would like to have a unique, custom made twitter background, you can order it for $49 USD. If you have the skills, you can refer here to read more about custom twitter background.

P.S. Follow me at @liewcf

Review BlackBerry Storm

The BlackBerry Storm has a big display like Apple iPhone. The size is just nice to fit in my palm. It is heavier (155 grams) than my Nokia N95 but I like the sturdy-feeling of the phone. The display automatically changes to landscape when you rotate it.

The touch screen of Storm is “clickable”. You “touch” to select a menu on the display, then “press” to confirm/execute it. This is the world’s first “clickable” touch screen, which you can’t get on other touch screen phone.

I like the display clicking but it also means I will leave more noticeable fingerprints on it.

The video playback on Storm is smooth. Volume is loud enough. It has a standard 3.5mm headphone jack for your own headset.

Somehow, I crashed the media player while testing it. The media player buttons just refused to get away from the bottom of the screen. The crew had to reset the device to get it work properly again.

BlackBerry Storm has 3.5G, bluetooth, GPS but does NOT support WiFi. That surprised me and feeling disappointed.

BlackBerry Storm has a 3.2 megapixels camera with auto flash, auto focus, 2X digital zoom. Here is the sample image taken using Storm’s build-in camera (click for full size) and received by MMS:

Like an iPhone, BlackBerry smartphone is supported by many 3rd party applications. Instant Messaging, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, etc. You name it.

You might want to get the Unlimited Maxis BlackBerry Internet Service Packages at RM120/month to download those applications and enjoy 24/7 Internet connection on your BlackBerry.

The price of MAXIS BlackBerry Storm is RM2,199.

Is BlackBerry Storm for you?

If you want a touch screen smartphone to work on your office emails and view/edit documents, while still able to IM with your friends on MSN, Yahoo, Facebook, etc, and play some games… BlackBerry Storm might be the one.

Will I get a BlackBerry Storm?

Personally, I am not a fan of touch screen smartphone. I am used to one-hand-sms-typing. Tapping is fun but not time efficient. Well, maybe I just need more practices.

I don’t feel like connecting to Internet all-the-time. It will trap me in the infinite loop of mail checking emails, blog comments moderating, facebook and twitter status updating, etc. And, spending 100 bucks more for a unlimited data package is not wise for me.

Plus, the price tag of RM2000+ is too expensive for me. I will only spend RM1000+ for a mobile phone. (Apple iPhone 2009 might be an exception.)

If you ask me to pick a BlackBerry phone, it will be the BlackBerry Bold. Full QWERTY keyboard, GPS, WiFi, etc at RM1400+