Patrick's Bites: Computers and Internet

MacBook Pro vs Acer 5672

Sat, 11 Feb 2006 12:49:31 GMT

Apple Mac Book Pro

Spec

Intel Core Duo 1.67GHz

512Mb 667MHz DDR2 SD RAM

80Gb SATA Hard Disk (5400rpm)

Slot-loading SuperDrive (DVD±RW/CD-RW)
15.4-inch (diagonal) TFT widescreen; 1440 by 900 pixels
ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 with ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 with
128MB of GDDR3 SDRAM and 256MB of GDDR3 SDRAM and
dual-link DVI support
Built-in iSight
ExpressCard/34 slot
One FireWire 400 port and two USB 2.0 ports
Built-in 54-Mbps AirPort Extreme4; built-in 3-Mbps Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR
10/100/1000BASE-T (Gigabit)
Built-in stereo speakers, built-in microphone, optical digital input/line in, optical
digital output/headphone out
Mac OS X, Front Row, Spotlight, Dashboard, Mail, iChat AV, Safari, Address Book,
QuickTime, iLife (includes iPhoto, iMovie HD, iDVD, GarageBand, iWeb, and iTunes),
iCal, Photo Booth, DVD Player, iWork 30-Day Trial, Comic Life, FileMaker Pro Trial,
Microsoft O! ce 2004 for Mac Test Drive, OmniOutliner, QuickBooks for Mac New
User Edition, Xcode Development Tools, Apple Hardware Test, and more

Price : RM8199

Acer Aspire 5672WLMi

Spec

Genuine Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition (Service Pack 2)
Intel® Core™ Duo Processor T2300 (1.66GHz, 2MB Cache, 667MHz FSB)
Intel® 945PM Express Chipset
Intel® PRO/Wireless 3945abg Wireless Connection
15.4" WXGA Acer CrystalBrite colour LCD, supporting 1280 x 800 pixel resolution
ATI MOBILITY™ RADEON® X1400 with 256MB HyperMemory™ (128MB of dedicated GDDR2 VRAM; 128MB shared system memory)
80GB SATA HDD
5-in-1 card reader, supporting MultiMediaCard (MMC), Secure Digital (SD), Memory Stick®, xD-Picture Card and Memory Stick PRO™
512MB DDR2 RAM (upgradeable to 2GB)
Integrated 56Kbps modem & 10/100/1000 Mbps LAN
Intel® PRO/Wireless 3945abg Wireless LAN
Acer SignalUp wireless technology support
DVD-Dual Double Layer Drive
Integrated Bluetooth
8-cell Li-Ion Battery Pack (3.5-hour battery life) with Acer QuicCharge™ technology
(Actual battery life may vary, depending on usage and configuration).
4xUSB, 1xIEEE 1394, 1xTV Output, 1xDVI port, ExpressCard™ slot, 1xVGA port & 1xFIR Port
364 (W) x 274.75 (D) x 28/36.3 (H) mm
Weight 2.95kg (6.57 lbs.)
Pre-loaded Norton Anti-Virus (90 days Introduction Offer)
Acer eManager (ePresentation, eSetting, ePower, eRecovery, eDataSecurity, eNet, eLock & ePerformance)
1-Year International Traveller Warranty
Free:- Acer Designed Carrying Bag

Price : RM 4988

A no bull s&*^ news website

Sat, 11 Feb 2006 10:54:57 GMT

My friend Alex Dong in China setup a wbsite where news are posted by its readers and the ranking of the post are voted by readers. Voting on the news will have the software learn your news reading behavior and set your preference on the news listing. Go visit and have a look, registration is required.

Mac for Intel vs Windows Media Center PC from Low Yat

Thu, 12 Jan 2006 09:03:59 GMT

Apple iMac with Intel

Intel Duo Core 1.83
512 DDR2 667
802.11g
Bluetooth
Erthernet 10/100TBase
56k Modem
ATI X1600 128Mb
DVI output
iSight Camera
17" monitor
Fire wire
USB
Speakers and amp

Software
Mac OS X 10.4
iLife 06
Front Row
Photo Booth

Total USD1299 X 3.8 = RM 4936.00

PC from Low Yat

Intel Duo Core 2.8Ghz     930.00
Shuttle XPC SD31P    2029.00
(945G Chipset for Dual Core)
GeCude ATI 1600 256Mb    830.00
Corsair 512Mb DDR2 667MHz RAM   195.00
17" Samsung 172X w/DVI   1260.00
Netgear Wifi PCI Card    150.00
Logitech X230 Speaker Set   170.00
Pinacle PCTV Stereo / TV Tuner Card   99.00
Logitech Quickcam Messenger    99.00
PCI IEEE1394 Firewire Card    70.00
Logitech Keyboard and Mouse set    69.00
Microsoft Window XP Media Center OEM 450.00
Total     6351.00

Commodore is back!!

Fri, 06 Jan 2006 01:08:59 GMT

Check this out! Commodore media center running on windows. You can see the 'Start' button on the lower left too.

http://hardware.commodoreworld.com/default.aspx?i=3&s=products&p=44

USD230 Million for Kedah... blessing or headache?

Fri, 30 Dec 2005 03:32:34 GMT

Not long ago, Intel announced plan to setup a facility at Kedah with a sum of USD 230 Million (about 1 billion Ringgit). While this maybe good new for the state and even the northern region of Penisula Malaysia, it has send head hunters and recruitment agencies in the country to over burn. It is estimated by my head hunter friend that the new facility there would require about 2000 engineers. Consider the tiny population in Malaysia to India and China, 2000 engineers is really a headache. Because the fact that I am a Penangite, I am frequently called up by head hunters I know about recommending someone to working in Penang. Without futher guessing I would had asked is it Intel and 80% of the time it is.

Malaysia has been wooing foreigners to invest in the country with lots of tax benefits and infrastructure, but they never consider the fact that how hard is it to find talent esp. in technology field. Adding to the fact that we does not have world class university like NUS of Singapore or Qing Hua University of China, this is indeed a big big headache. Because of political concern, the country has strict rules on hiring of foregin professionals. Many young punk like me is begining to feel that this country is lacking in many things a modern country should have and plan to move elsewhere to feel the energy and dynamics found in cities like Shanghai, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Sun Microsystem website got a new face lift...

Tue, 03 May 2005 08:46:02 GMT

http://www.sun.com

Same goes for Java's website

http://java.sun.com