BlackBerry Curve 9360 Smartphone Price in the Philippines, Features and Tech Specs

BlackBerry Curve 9360 Smartphone Price in the Philippines, Features and Tech Specs: The BlackBerry Curve 9360 is the latest, thinnest, lightest, and most powerful BB Curve released to date. It serves as the successor to the popular BlackBerry Curve 8520, and like its predecessor, it is targeted towards budget-conscious consumers who can't afford high-end smartphones like the iPhone 4S, Samsung Galaxy Note, and Google Galaxy Nexus. What are the pros and cons of owning a BlackBerry Curve 9360? Read on to find out as we provide you with more details regarding this sleek and curvy smartphone.

In terms of design, the BlackBerry Curve 9360 looks rather similar to the previous version. However, it is now slimmer (width: 11mm) and lighter (weight: 99 grams), and most importantly, more beautiful than ever. Although the exterior of the BlackBerry Curve 9360 is mainly made up of durable plastic, it still has that classy appeal that there's no way for anyone to call it a cheap device. At the front, you'll find its 2.4-inch display, the trademark QWERTY keyboard, the handy physical buttons, and the touch-sensitive optical trackpad. At the back, you'll notice the smooth, glossy black finish highlighted by the BB logo at the center.

Although the TFT LCD screen of the BlackBerry Curve 9360 is small when you compare it to other smartphones these days, it offers a resolution of 480x360 pixel at 246ppi that enables it to display clear and sharp images. This enables users to comfortably browse the web, read documents, and do other important stuff without hurting their precious eyes. The Curve 9360 sports a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera with an LED flash, but it doesn't offer the already-common auto-focus feature and it is not capable of recording HD videos. Also, it lacks a front-facing camera that would have been handy for users who always do video chatting/conferencing.

The BlackBerry Curve 9360 is equipped with an 800MHz single-core processor, which doesn't sound really impressive in the age of mobile dual-core CPUs. However, it doesn't mean that the device runs slow or the performance is laggy. In fact, according to several reviews, the handset runs admirably smooth and fast and is really pleasant to use. Although the BlackBerry Curve 9360 has a measly 512MB of built-in storage, it has a microSD card slot that allows you to expand the storage capacity to up to 32GB. This means that there will be plenty of space for your images, videos, and music collections.

One of the best things about the BlackBerry Curve 9360 is that it is one of the very first smartphones to run the latest operating system from RIM, which is the BlackBerry OS 7. The smooth and flawless performance of the device despite its limited specs could be credited to this new operating system that somehow uses system resources efficiently. Aside from the visual and performance improvements, the new OS supports plenty of apps found on the BlackBerry App World, and it has a well-integrated social features that collect updates from BB Messenger and various social networks such as Twitter and Facebook.

Some of the other features of the BlackBerry Curve 9360 include 3G and EDGE support, GPS, Wi-Fi, and surprisingly, NFC support. As some of you may already know, NFC technology enables users to use their smartphones as virtual wallet for purchasing goods and services and may eventually replace credit cards soon.

All things considered, the BlackBerry Curve 9360 would make a good secondary handset for those of you who already own one of those super high-end smartphones. But for budget-conscious consumers, we recommend you take a good hard look at the BB Curve 9360 and decide for yourself if it is really right for you.

BlackBerry Curve 9360 Smartphone Price in the Philippines: Approximately Php 16,000.00

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Sony NEX-C3 Digital Camera Price in the Philippines, Features and Other Details

Sony NEX-C3 Digital Camera Price in the Philippines, Features and Other Details: In the past, DSLR cameras can only be seen in the hands of a professional photographer or a consummate enthusiast. However, the sudden shift of interest to photography and the increasing number of hobbyists getting more serious led to the boom in the DSLR market.

This renewed interest spurred manufacturers to be more prolific in coming up with DSLRs that included modestly priced entry-level shooters in that particular category that is within easy reach of the public. This trend has made the DSLR camera as ubiquitous as ever and it is now a common sight to see a lot of people virtually everywhere toting these rather bulky shooters.

On top of the DSLR heap are Canon and Nikon which for the longest time have been dividing the market between them and enjoying much success in terms of sales and profitability. Sony, on the other hand, tried to blast through the DSLR market with its own Alpha series but failed to get the reception it was expecting from the photography crowd.

To compensate for this seeming lack of interest in their DSLR line, Sony instead threw its resources in coming up with the NEX series which provide a user with advanced features commonly found in a DSLR and yet pack the size of a compact point and shoot. To achieve this, Sony trimmed down the external controls to a bare minimum and the control selections were in turn made accessible using the menu of the shooter.

With the release of the Sony NEX-C3, the Japanese electronics giant is again exerting an effort to make headway in the camera market. What then are the things that can we expect from the NEX-C3? How good is it really? Read on as we get you the full details.

Design and construction

Measuring 4.4 x 2.4 x 0.9 inches and tipping the scales at 10.7 ounces, the NEX-C3 looks to be a slimmed down version of the Sony Alpha NEX-5. In addition to that, the NEX-C3 boasts of a redesigned body with its top casing made of solid metal and its grip features a streamlined shape with ease of use in mind when it was designed.

However, the design changes are not all for the better. The shooter may be smaller and lighter but the placement of the shutter button on the top right edge instead of on the grip’s front edge makes for a rather awkward shooting position because you have to tilt your forefinger back to reach the shutter button.

The shooter also tends to sag towards the left with its lens attached to the body thereby adversely affects the handling of the camera. Sad to say, in an effort to make the NEX-C3 smaller, handling was severely compromised.

The features

The feature set of the NEX-C3 may seem like a twin to its predecessor but it also boasts of new attributes. An example is the 16.2-megapixel CMOS sensor it packs. The sensor of the NEX-C3 works in conjunction with the proprietary BIONZ image processor that lets you capture images in both JPEG and RAW files. Not only that, the NEX-C3 has a 25-point autofocus system and its display is a 3-inch LCD screen of the tilting type with 921,600 dots.

Aside from capturing stills of exceptional image quality, the NEX-C3 also has a video mode wherein it can record 720p video clips at 30 frames per second in H.264 MPEG-4 format.

In addition to that, the NEX-C3 gives you creative control by packing a bevy of scene modes that not only includes Sweep Panorama and 3D effect but also has an onscreen shooting guide to assist those who are just getting started with photography.

It might have the features of a DSLR but also retains attributes commonly found in the Cybershot line of point-and-shoots. It packs new Picture Effects that include Posterization, Pop Color, Toy Camera, High Key, High Contrast, Mono, Retro and Partial Color among others to add creativity to the images it turns out.

It also boasts of an improved Auto+ mode that takes the automatic scene mode feature of the shooter to the next level which is designed to reduce camera shake and minimize image noise. Clearly, these features are consumer-aimed but can also come in handy for enthusiasts who might want to take a break from tinkering with the controls and do some point-and-shoot spree.

The battery life of the NEX-C3 has also been significantly improved. With its power pack supplying juice to the shooter, the NEX-C3 is now capable of capturing up to 400 stills which is a 20% increase over the NEX-3.

The bottom line

Available since August with an introductory price of $749 in the US of A, the Sony NEX-C3 is one impressive shooter that has a wide range of functions that make you think it is a full-blown DSLR from the Sony Alpha line and yet manages to cram all those in a rather compact body.

Sony NEX-C3 Digital Camera Price in the Philippines: Php 34,999.00 (Suggested Retail Price)

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HP Elitebook 2560p Laptop Computer Price in the Philippines, Features and Specs

HP Elitebook 2560p Laptop Computer Price in the Philippines, Features and Specs: We spend some quality time with the Elitebook 2560p from HP and liked what we saw. We share our findings with you so continue reading for the full details of its specs sheet and for its estimated price in Philippine peso.

Design and construction

In today’s world where consumers are usually looking for the thinnest ultrabooks possible for maximum portability, HP bucks the trend and instead builds a notebook from the ground up with an extra layer of materials and packing extra heft in the form of the HP Elitebook 2560p.

The design and aesthetics of the Elitebook 2560p takes some inspiration from the 13-inch MacBook Pro from Apple in terms of its DuraCase frame made of aluminum exterior along with its color selection. When you come to think of it, the silver tone, clean lines and indicator lights kept to a bare minimum are very reminiscent of the Apple product.

What sets the Elitebook 2560p apart from the usual notebook in its category is the fact that it went through vigorous tests for MIL-SPEC-810G certification. These tests include subjecting the Elitebook 2560p through a series of shaky, dust and damp environments in addition to operating the Elitebook 2560p in hostile conditions with extremely cold or extremely hot temperatures.

In terms of its dimensions, the Elitebook 2560p measures 305 x 209 x 27 mm and tips the scales at 1.92 kilograms if the configuration of the notebook includes a DVD-ROM drive. Looking at its numbers, it is pretty obvious that the Elitebook 2560p is a bit bulky and hefty for its size but this results to the notebook being very sturdy and the use of high-quality materials in its construction gives us the impression that the company designed the Elitebook 2560p for rugged business use.

As for the other materials utilized in its construction that include lacquered and brushed aluminum makes the Elitebook 2560p feel cool to the touch and makes the whole frame of the notebook scratch-resistant. In terms of its hinges, those found in the Elitebook 2560p are tight enough that they are able to hold the display of the notebook on an upright position pretty well. In connection with that, the weight of the Elitebook 2560p’s chassis enables a user to open the display of the notebook single-handedly.

Under the hood of the Elitebook 2560p

The internals of the Elitebook 2560p are just as impressive as the externals of the notebook. In terms of its CPU, the notebook ships with a second-generation Intel Core i5-2410M processor. This processor has a default clock speed of 2.3 GHz but with the use of Turbo Boost technology, the clock speed of the CPU of the Elitebook 2560p can instantly be overclocked to 2.9 GHz.

Sad to say, the Elitebook 2560p doesn’t come with a dedicated GPU to help the processor in taking care of graphical concerns but the Intel HD Graphics 3000 graphics chip integrated onto the notebook’s processor ensures that all graphics are displayed properly on the screen of the notebook. In terms of system memory, the Elitebook 2560p comes with 4GB of DDR3 SDRAM, which is of course upgradeable to a maximum of 16GB should a user need more RAM. For data safekeeping purposes, the Elitebook 2560p on the other hand comes with a 7200rpm hard disk drive with a storage capacity of 320GB.

The display and other features of the Elitebook 2560p

As for its display, the Elitebook 2560p sports a display that packs a diagonal of 12.5 inches and features a WXGA resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels. The aspect ratio of the display of the Elitebook 2560p is at a native 16:9 format and has an anti-glare coating that keeps glare and reflections to a bare minimum. An extra that comes with the display of the Elitebook 2560p is its ambient light sensor that basically optimizes the brightness of the display in relation to the available ambient light in the surroundings.

As for its input devices, the keyboard of the Elitebook 2560p comes with keys done in chiclet style with strong pressure points. This in a way provides nice tactile feedback to a user and the curved surface of the keyboard results to more precision typing due to the reduction of the fingers’ tendency to slide sideways.

As for its pointing devices, the Elitebook 2560p comes with both a trackpad and a point stick. The trackpad of the Elitebook 2560p is not very big but features horizontal and vertical scroll bars found on its side. It is relatively smooth and leads to precision scrolling.

The bottom line

The Elitebook 2560p from HP is definitely a very capable notebook in its category. It has an attractive design coupled with the impressive components found under its hood. What earns points for the notebook though is its MIL-STD-810G certification, which makes the notebook impervious to pretty much everything. If mobility and portability is your aim, then nothing beats the HP Elitebook 2560p in that department.

HP Elitebook 2560p Laptop Computer Price in the Philippines: Approximately Php 50,000.00 (Starting Price)

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Fujifilm FinePix HS20 EXR Digital Camera Price in the Philippines, Tech Specs, and Other Features

Fujifilm FinePix HS20 EXR Digital Camera Price in the Philippines, Tech Specs, and Other Features: First coming out into the market this year (2011), the Fujifilm FinePix HS20 EXR compact digital camera is the successor of the HS10 version. This all-new model boasts a resolution of 16 megapixels, a wide jump from the 10 megapixels that its predecessor possesses.

The Fujifilm FinePix HS20 EXR brings a lot more significant features with it as it also has a physical size increase of its BSI-variety sensor. This means higher ISO performance as compared to the traditional and conventional digicam designs currently available today. Although the BSI technology has always been found in brands other than Fuji and is therefore not a unique feature of the camera, it is proud to showcase this model’s color arrays and EXR pixel, both of which play a major role in ensuring high image quality. Just a rotation of 45 degrees and the horizontal and vertical resolution capture of FinePix HS20 EXR are increased by its array of EXR pixels. The sensor can in fact switch from high-resolution, to wide dynamic range, to high sensitivity-low noise modes just by utilizing the same-colored twin pixels in a diagonal alignment. This ensures that no matter what kind of scene or movement is captured properly in excellent-quality images.

A powerhouse package of dual CPU, reconfigurable processor, and EXR core goes with the sensor of the Fujifilm FinePix HS20 EXR. Together, these features work to power HD movies and nonstop shooting, on top of pro-shooting mode and scene recognition. Indeed of top caliber, this camera can sustain up to 8 frames per second at maximum resolution and even up to 11 frames when down at an 8-megapixel resolution.

Viewing pleasure while checking out the user interface of the Fujifilm FinePix HS20 EXR digital camera is made possible through the all-new vector graphics accelerator that greatly enhanced how its menus appeared. Other great features include the camera’s capacity to recognize 27 scenes when shot in EXR mode, zero in and get rid of chromic aberration, and produce uniform images in terms of resolution distribution all throughout an image. The ISO sensitivity range of the Fujifilm FinePix ranges from 100 to 3200. Increased sensitivities of up to 12800 are also possible at lesser resolution settings.

Now let’s focus on the zoom lens of the Fujifilm FinePix HS20 EXR, which covers up to 30x zoom features of a 24-720 mm focal range. Unlike other compact digital cameras, its lens is zoomed manually. Shutter lag and autofocus are designed to be quick in this camera, with a 0.16-second acquisition time of its autofocus. One would also find that the camera could be manually controlled fully, coupled with a RAW shooting option—both on top of the usual automatic and scene modes, of course. Anti-blur technology is also installed in the compact set which can be witnessed on its 3-inch LCD monitor.

The Fujifilm FinePix HS20 EXR is powered and made functional by four AA batteries. Additional memory storage is accommodated by its SD/SDHC media memory, if the internal memory of 20 MB would not be enough for storing a session’s photos. With the purchase of a Fujifilm FinePix HS20 EXR set, one gets a free package of four batteries, A/V and USB cable wires, camera strap, manual, CD-ROM software, and a lens hood.

If you are a photography enthusiast looking for your first camera, the Fujifilm FinePix HS20 EXR is already quite a good option for you. The product specs, which include the huge lens, great shutter, autofocus features, sensor, and the manual controls all come in one camera package that delivers excellent photo quality without the outrageous prices of other DSRLs. For a price of jut around $300-$500, you will be able to enjoy a versatile and innovative product that possesses lead features made especially for high-caliber photography.

Fujifilm FinePix HS20 EXR Digital Camera Price in the Philippines: Approximately Php 15,000.00

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Archos Arnova 9 G2 Price in the Philippines, Features, and Other Details

Archos Arnova 9 G2 Price in the Philippines, Features, and Other Details: We take a long, hard look at the recently announced Arnova 9 G2 tablet from French manufacturer Archos. We found the tablet to be quite ordinary but then again, what did you expect from something priced so cheaply. Read on for the full details of the time we spent with the Archos Arnova 9 G2.

Design and construction

At first glance, the Arnova 9 G2 is your typical tablet that looks like it has been shaved off a block of plastic. It has dimensions of 239 x 184 x 12.5 mm and tips the scales at 630 grams. Looking at these numbers, we can immediately surmise that the Arnova 9 G2 is not out to win slimness contests with its being a bit wide on the hips.

In terms of its aesthetics though, the Arnova 9 G2 comes with a bezel that is predominantly thinner compared to what see in other tablets and this actually is a good thing for the Archos tablet because it gives the illusion that the tablet is smaller and more compact and yet packing a bigger display that what it really does.

The predominant colorway of the Arnova 9 G2 is black and the front panel of the tablet is done in a matte black finish. The finish of the fascia of the Arnova 9 G2 helps keep fingerprints and smudges away which scores some points in favor of the tablet. Also, despite its 12.5 mm thickness, the tablet gives off the impression of being thinner than it really is.

In addition to that, at its thickness, the Arnova 9 G2 already comes with a full-sized USB 2.0 port, something unprecedented in a tablet packing a thickness of just 12.5 mm. The Toshiba Thrive actually packs a USB port as well but it is rather thick at 15 mm so you see, the Arnova 9 G2 also scores points on this front.

Under the hood of the Arnova 9 G2

Given the fact that the Arnova 9 G2 comes in at a much cheaper price point compared to the other tablets currently available in the market, it is just fair to not expect too much from the tablet in terms of the components that lurk under its hood. For one, the Arnova 9 G2 doesn’t pack an SoC chipset like the other higher-priced and consequently higher-spec’d tablets from the competition.

For its CPU, it only has an ARM Cortex-A8 processor chugging away at 1GHz to come up with the necessary computing power to run all the operations in its circuit board. Sad to say, despite the fact that the Arnova 9 G2 has already been officially announced by Archos, to this day, there is no information that was made available to confirm just how much RAM its processor will be working with.

In the same vein, there is no official word from the company if the Arnova 9 G2 will come with a dedicated graphics core to help out in handling graphical concerns. What we were able to confirm though is that the tablet will come with an internal memory pegged at 8GB. Also, the device will also come with a memory expansion slot that will enable a user to add more storage to the tablet should the 8GB that the Arnova 9 G2 comes with gets depleted.

As for its operating system, the Arnova 9 G2 foregoes the tablet-optimized Android 3.0 Honeycomb and instead contents itself with running Android 2.3 Gingerbread that was designed specifically for smartphones. And similar to other budget-friendly Android tablets, the Arnova 9 G2 is not capable of gaining access to the Android Market but the tablet does offer access to the Appslib apps store instead.

The display and other features of the Arnova 9 G2

In terms of its display and as suggested by its name, the Arnova 9 G2 comes with a 9.7-inch capacitive 5-point multi-touch screen. It is of the TFT LCD type and has a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels and comes with IPS technology to boot, a first among inexpensive Android tablets. As for its aspect ratio, the Arnova 9 G2’s display has a native aspect ratio of 4:3 and also comes with a gyrosensor that actually adds to the functionality of the tablet.

To keep prices down, the Arnova 9 G2 only comes with one shooter and it is a front-facing camera mounted on the front panel of the tablet. Sad to say, details about the capabilities of the shooter of the Arnova 9 G2 are also severely lacking. Well, I guess you get what you pay for, so to speak.

The bottom line

Overall, there is not much to like about the Archos Arnova 9 G2 tablet except its low price point. However, a lot of corners have been cut to arrive at that cheap price point and some people, power users especially, would be hard-pressed to swallow the compromises that the Arnova 9 G2 had to endure just so it would be made available at a price point that is relatively affordable for our cash-strapped brethren.

Archos Arnova 9 G2 Price in the Philippines: Approximately Php 12,000.00

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Apple MacBook Pro Price in the Philippines (as of November 2011)

Apple MacBook Pro Price in the Philippines: The Apple MacBook Pro is a high-end line of Macintosh laptop/notebook computers that are geared towards professional users such as graphic designers, video editors, and programmers among others since it is loaded with powerful processor, graphics card, and other hardware.

The latest generation of MBPs has a sleek aluminum unibody enclosure and has narrow sides comparable to those of the MacBook Air. It is available with either 13-, 15-, and 17-inch display. As standard, the screen of the MacBook Pro is glossy and is covered by an edge-to-edge reflective glass finish. However, an anti-glare matte screen option is available.

The most recent version of MacBook Pros that were released on October, 2011 utilize the ultra-fast and efficient Intel Core i5 and i7 Sandy Bridge processors and are loaded with the AMD Radeon HD 6750M and Radeon HD 6770M graphics card models. They are also equipped with the new Intel Thunderbolt technology and high definition FaceTime camera. All of the latest models come with standard 4GB of RAM.

Apple MacBook Pro Price List in Philippine Peso (as of November 2011):

13-inch: 2.4 GHz

2.4 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5

4GB 1333MHz RAM

500GB 5400-rpm hard drive

Intel HD Graphics 3000

Built-in battery (7 hours)

Price: Php 61,990.00

13-inch: 2.8 GHz

2.8 GHz dual-core Intel Core i7

4GB 1333MHz RAM

750GB 5400-rpm hard drive

Intel HD Graphics 3000

Built-in battery (7 hours)

Price: Php 76,990.00

15-inch: 2.2 GHz

2.2 GHz quad-core Intel Core i7

4GB 1333MHz RAM

500GB 5400-rpm hard drive

Intel HD Graphics 3000

AMD Radeon HD 6750M with 512MB GDDR5

Built-in battery (7 hours)

Price: Php 91,990.00

15-inch: 2.4 GHz

2.4 GHz quad-core Intel Core i7

4GB 1333MHz RAM

750GB 5400-rpm hard drive

Intel HD Graphics 3000

AMD Radeon HD 6770M with 1GB GDDR5

Built-in battery (7 hours)

Price: Php 112,990.00

17-inch: 2.4 GHz

2.4 GHz quad-core Intel Core i7

4GB 1333MHz RAM

750GB 5400-rpm hard drive

Intel HD Graphics 3000

AMD Radeon HD 6770M with 1GB GDDR5

Built-in battery (7 hours)

Price: Php 126,900.00

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HTC Sensation XL Price in the Philippines, Features and Tech Specs

HTC Sensation XL Price in the Philippines, Features and Tech Specs: After the HTC Sensation XE, the HTC Sensation XL is the next smartphone to be equipped with Beats Audio technology. XL, which means extra-large, best describes the huge screen size of this sleek smartphone. What is so special about the HTC Sensation XL? Does it have what it takes to stand out among the best handsets in the market today such as the Apple iPhone 4S, the Google Galaxy Nexus, and the Samsung Galaxy Note? Read on as we take a close look at some of its features, and then we will also be sharing with you its price as usual later on.

The HTC Sensation XL has that trademark HTC look, but overall I think it is one of the most gorgeous-looking smartphones that I've ever seen. It has that simple and clean design and has a very slim profile, making it easily 'pocketable' despite its enormous size. For bragging rights, the bright red Beats logo can be found at the lower portion of the back of the phone. The HTC Sensation XL is available in black and white version but I especially like the white one, which is also accented with brushed metal. In terms of looks, the highlight of the phone is definitely its massive 4.7-inch (~199 ppi) S-LCD capacitive touchscreen capable of 480 x 800-pixel resolution.

Although powered by a single-core 1.5 GHz Scorpion processor, the HTC Sensation XL is still a very powerful smartphone that could easily compete head-to-head in terms of performance with most of the latest handsets. Its processor is accompanied by Adreno 205 graphics chip and 768 MB of RAM, which enables the device to smoothly run Android operating system and all its supported apps. The HTC Sensation XL comes with a built-in 16 GB storage but it doesn't come with a microSD card slot that let users beef up the storage. This really sucks since I assume that majority of those who will get enticed by this device are music lovers with tons of songs waiting to be copied from their music library.

The HTC Sensation XL runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread with custom HTC Sense 3.5 user interface. HTC sense is a nice GUI layer that tries to improve the user experience and added some visual polish to the stock Android UI. Since the HTC Sensation XL is bundled with Beats Audio, it uses a built-in Beats equalizer that can be easily enabled to enhance the audio quality. Like most Android devices, it comes with handy Google apps out-of-the box such as Gmail, Google Maps, and YouTube among others.

HTC has released two editions of the Sensation XL. There is the standard edition that ships with the Beats in-ear earphones, and there's the limited edition that comes with Beats Solo HD headphones.

Having a very large and excellent display and bundled with Beats Audio technology, there is no doubt that the HTC Sensation XL is designed for users who want to get the best multimedia experience on their smartphone. Although it comes with weaknesses like the lack of expandable storage and relatively poor battery performance (according to some reviews), I still think that it is an ideal smartphone to have if you are really into music and are a big fan of Beats headphones.

HTC Sensation XL Price in the Philippines: Approximately Php 32,000.00

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Samsung Galaxy W i8150 Smartphone Price in the Philippines, Features and Other Details

Samsung Galaxy W i8150 Smartphone Price in the Philippines, Features and Other Details: We take a more discerning look at the Samsung Galaxy W and share with you our impressions of the handset. Read on for the full details.

Design and construction

The flagship device of Korean smartphone and tablet manufacturer Samsung as of the moment is the monster of a superphone Samsung Galaxy S2 / S II. And for good reason. The device has a massive screen and is very ferocious in terms of the components under its hood. It also comes with a price tag that might leave you a miser so if you want something more affordable and yet very capable, the Samsung Galaxy W is a very viable option.

In general, most of Samsung smartphones never got their aesthetics right and almost all of them look like they have been slashed off a block of black plastic. Even the mighty Galaxy S II falls prey to this and the Galaxy W is no exception either. The handset measures 115.5 x 59.8 x 11.5 mm and weighs in at 109.9 grams. With these numbers, the Galaxy W effectively puts itself in the middle grounds – not so thick, not so thin either. It is a lightweight though if you check how it tips the balance.

As for its construction, Samsung boasts of giving its handsets a well-built quality and feel and this is also a given in the cast of the Galaxy W. The whole front panel of the handset is covered in glass but its edges are plastic that pack brushed metal look. The back panel of the handset on the other hand is done in a matte black finish with dimple stampings to make it even easier to grip.

The right edge of the Galaxy W houses the lock button of the Galaxy W while its left flank contains the volume rocker. At the top edge of the device, we see its microUSB port and a 3.5 mm headphone jack. Despite the well-built quality that the Galaxy W packs, critics might still find the handset a bit cheap-looking because of the type of materials used in its construction. Well, I guess you just really can’t please everybody can you?

Under the hood

As mentioned earlier, though not as ferocious as the Galaxy S II when it comes to the internals that line up its guts, the Galaxy W is still a very capable handset that packs enough punch under the hood to get everything done in a snappy manner.

The handset is based on the Snapdragon platform and packs a QualComm MSM8255T SoC chipset right smack in the middle of its circuitry to ensure that every component in and around the chipset is doing what it is supposed to. In terms of its CPU, the Galaxy W has a single-core 1.4GHz Scorpion processor tasked to come up with the required computing power of the handset while a dedicated Adreno 205 graphics chip makes certain that all graphical matters are handled pretty well.

In terms of its system memory, the processor of the Galaxy W works in conjunction with 512 MB of RAM that acts as a backup in the running of Android 2.3 Gingerbread, the operating system of the Galaxy W. As for its storage capacity, the Galaxy W comes with an internal memory pegged at 2GB. This can further be beefed up to as much as 32GB by making use of the dedicated microSD card slot for instant memory expansion in the handset.

The display

In terms of its display, though the Galaxy W didn’t get a SuperAMOLED Plus display, the one that eats up the majority of its front panel is capable enough to blast out images that are very sharp and vibrant. The display of the Galaxy W has a diagonal of 3.7 inches and is of the capacitive touchscreen type with a 800 x 480 resolution and pixel density of 252 pixels per inch. A physical home button along with two other touch-sensitive buttons are just below the display while sensors that add to the functionality of the Galaxy W are all integrated onto the device.

The shooters

The shooting department of the Galaxy W is pretty standard for a device in its class. It has a rear-facing camera with a 5MP resolution and this shooter has autofocus along with an LED flash. It can also capture images of up to 2592 x 1944 pixels and record 720p videos at 30 frames per second. A VGA snapper on the other hand is found at its front panel and this shooter is designed for use during video chats.

The bottom line

There is not much to say about the Samsung Galaxy W really. It obviously isn’t the Samsung Galaxy S II but the handset has its positive attributes as well. It may not be as classy-looking as the competition but the components under its hood more than make up for whatever shortcomings it has in the face value department. And the best part? It comes at a price point that will not break the bank.

Samsung Galaxy W i8150 Smartphone Price in the Philippines: Approximately Php 15,500.00

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Ford Ranger Price List (as of November 2011)

Ford Ranger Price: The Ford Ranger is available in two different compact pickup truck lines made by Ford Motor Company and by a marketing arrangement with Mazda. A Mazda-designed pickup truck is sold in more than 130 countries, which include the Philippines.

The Ford Ranger was the first ever small pickup to introduce dual air bags as safety features, making it one of the safest vehicles in the market today. It gained an "acceptable" frontal crash test rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety when they were first tested in 1998, while many of its competitors received "marginal" or "poor" ratings during that period.

During the course of almost 30 years, the Ford Ranger has only received minor cosmetic changes both inside and out. The latest model features a totally new front suspension, new frame, and reworked 2.5L engines. The current Ranger model is loaded with a 143 hp (107 kW) 2.3 L I4 and a 207 hp (154 kW) 4.0 L V6 engine. The 3.0 Vulcan V6 was stopped as of the 2009 model year.

Ford Ranger Price in the Philippines (as of November 2011):

Ranger 4x2 2.5L MT XL TDCi: Php 845,000.00

Ranger 4x2 2.5L MT Trekker TDCi: Php 1,030,000.00

Ranger 4x2 2.5L MT TDCi WILD TRAK LTD: Php 1,085,000.00

Ranger 4x2 AT Trekker TDCi: Php 1,090,000.00

Ranger 4x4 XLT 3.0L AT TDCi: Php 1,438,000.00

Ranger 4x4 XLT 3.0L MT TDCi: Php 1,363,000.00

Ranger 4x2 2.5L AT TDCi WILD TRAK LTD: Php 1,145,000.00

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Acer Iconia Tab A500 Android Tablet Computer Price, Features, and Other Info

Acer Iconia Tab A500 Android Tablet Computer Price, Features, and Other Info: Launched in early 2011, the Acer Iconia Tab A500 is the newest addition to the slew of tablet PCs released today by big companies such as Apple, Motorola, and Samsung. With features similarly matching those of the other tabs, one who ponders on purchasing a tablet PC should examine the specifications and features of these available products very well. The Acer Iconia A500 is an Android tablet that proved to be a worthy competitor of the other similar products in its line.

The 10-inch Android-running Acer Iconia A500 didn’t launch right into popularity and remained fairly in the background until recently. This tablet is styled with an aluminum case that is aesthetically pleasing, although its being tightly secured onto the body can be sometimes questioned. Despite this, the Iconia A500 is by far one of the most portable compared to its competitors, with its weight of 1.69 pounds and thickness of 13.3mm.

Android Honeycomb is what runs in the system of this tablet PC that is designed to be held in any orientation you want it to. Some buttons present on its outside hardware are the lock switch for software menu browsing, volume buttons which are found beside the microSD card slot, and a SIM slot.

The Iconia A500's power button is translucent and transforms into a charging light. Next to this sits the headphone jack that measures 3.5mm designed beside a mini-HDMI port. On the right side of the Acer Iconia A500 you’ll find two USB slots for data transfer and storage device or as keyboard connector. And at the back of all these are the 5MP camera with LED flash and the stereo speakers at the bottom. These speakers, powered by Dolby Mobile wizardry, are loud enough to appreciate your favorite music without using a headphone. Movie viewing and video watching are activities you will be enjoying with others with this audio feature.

The Acer Iconia A500's 1280 x 800 TFT LCD display measures 10.1 inches enables viewing to be convenient and pleasurable enough with its display being visible from several angles. The color display is excellent, too—each shade really pops out of the monitor in its sheer and solid brightness. The tablet’s dual-core 1GHz Tegra processor powers all these features. This is coupled with a 1GB of DDR3 RAM that makes the Iconia A500 faster than its main competitors.

The Acer Iconia A500 showcases optimum performance as it shows figures that are at par with that of the other top brands of tablet PCs. All software features —the web browser, chat client, file browser, calendar, email, and other apps run smoothly with Iconia’s excellent Android Honeycomb OS. Photo and video shooting are also made convenient with its two cameras located at the front and at the back. Although the cameras take longer time to focus on subjects that are a number of feet far from them, they take fairly good pictures at the tablet PC level. It is also capable of recording up to 720p, which is not in full HD.

Your purchase of the Acer Iconia A500 includes one pair of 326mAh batteries that give around seven hours of battery life. Of course, the battery wouldn’t last as long as it initially was predicted to if your tasks involve hard-core draining of the battery due to several big apps running at the same time.

All things considered, the Acer Iconia Tab A500 is already a fair purchase if basic, standard functionality is what you are looking for. It comes with a reasonable price of around $450. Although some competitors have released their products at much lower prices, do take the time to study each option in terms of all three criteria: form, function, and price.

Acer Iconia Tab A500 Android Tablet Computer Price in the Philippines: Approximately Php 20,500.00

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Samsung Series 7 Chronos 700Z5A Laptop Computer Price in the Philippines, Features and Tech Specs

Samsung Series 7 Chronos 700Z5A Laptop Computer Price in the Philippines, Features and Tech Specs: We take a look at the Samsung Series 7 Chronos 700Z5A notebook and check out its capabilities. We like what we saw and we are sharing it with you. Read on for the full review.

Design and construction

Pundits claim that the Samsung Series 7 Chronos 700Z5A is the toughest rival the MacBook Pro from Apple could ever come up against. The reason for that? Simple. The Series 7 Chronos 700Z5A is a lighter notebook to begin with and packs better specs compared to the notebook from the company from Cupertino. And the best part? The notebook from the Korean manufacturer comes with an attached price tag that is half of that attached to the MacBook Pro.

In terms of its aesthetics, the Series 7 Chronos 700Z5A is really beautifully designed. The notebook boasts of a grey finish that reveals the brushed pattern in its aluminum finish. This type of finish also ensures that fingerprints and dust are kept away from the frame and body of the Series 7 Chronos 700Z5A. In addition to that, the notebook’s lid has nicely rounded edges that make the sharp edges of the MacBook Pro seem crude.

In terms of its dimensions, the Series 7 Chronos 700Z5A measures 362 x 238 x 25 mm and tips the scales at just 2.4 kilograms. The shape and design of the notebook give it a simple and yet classy and elegant air to it. And since the frame of the Series 7 Chronos 700Z5A is fashioned out of aluminum, the overall effect it has on the notebook gives it a solid-build quality despite the fact that there are a lot of plastic parts in the Series 7 Chronos 700Z5A.

The only snag we managed to find in the Series 7 Chronos 700Z5A is its hinge mechanism. It has a wobbly hinge that can’t keep the display of the notebook in position especially if the Series 7 Chronos 700Z5A is laid on a vibrating surface. This is compensated by the fact that the 15.6-inch notebook comes with a compact size that is suited for laptops that pack a 14-inch display.

Under the hood of the Series 7 Chronos 700Z5A

As we mentioned earlier, the Series 7 Chronos 700Z5A packs better specs than the more expensive MacBook Pro. At the heart of its circuitry, we see the Intel HM65 chipset that is responsible in directing the flow of power in the circuit board of the notebook. For its CPU, the notebook relies on an Intel Core i7-2675QM processor. This is a beast of a processor that is able to support up to eight virtual cores and has a default of 2.2 GHz clock speed. Make use of Intel’s Turbo Boost technology and it can even be overclocked to as much as 3.1 GHz with no issues whatsoever.

To lend support to the i7 processor of the Series 7 Chronos 700Z5A, a whopping 8GB of DDR3 memory complements the processor in handling out all the tasks that are thrown to it. This combination is especially deadly that it would have difficulties in finding this that will make life difficult for them. As for its graphics card, the Series 7 Chronos 700Z5A employs an AMD Radeon HD 6750M GPU which comes with a full gigabyte of GDDR5 VRAM.

In terms of storage space, the Series 7 Chronos 700Z5A packs a dual hard disk configuration with an 8GB solid state drive where the operating system of the notebook gets installed and another 7200rpm hard disk drive with a storage capacity of 750GB where all other files are stored for safe keeping.

The display and other features of the Series 7 Chronos 700Z5A

In terms of its display, the Series 7 Chronos 700Z5A packs a 15.6-inch HD+SuperBright LCD screen that has a resolution of 1600 x 900 pixels at an aspect ratio of 16:9. The display of the notebook features LED backlighting and 300nits of brightness levels that lead to sharp and vibrant colors with no noticeable light bleeding and exceptional black levels.

As for its input devices, the keyboard of the Series 7 Chronos 700Z5A features chiclet-style keys that are backlighted and provide exceptional tactile feedback when used. The keys have sufficient spaces in between them so typo errors can easily be avoided. As for its touchpad, the notebook has a button-less touchpad that rivals that of the MacBook Pro and could probably the best of its kind among Windows notebooks.

The bottom line

What is there not to like about the Samsung Series 7 Chronos 700Z5A? Not much really. The notebooks pack classic good looks on the outside while its internals is lined up with components that make it a veritable beast. And the best part, it only costs half as much as Apple’s MacBook Pro. Can you think of something negative about this laptop? I didn’t think so.

Samsung Series 7 Chronos 700Z5A Laptop Computer Price in the Philippines: Approximately Php 65,000.00

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LG Optimus Q2 LU8800 Price, Features and Other Details

LG Optimus Q2 LU8800 Price, Features and Other Details: We take a more discerning look at the LG Optimus Q2 and see the stuff that it is made of. We have or first impressions of the device so read on for the full details, which includes its estimated price in Philippine peso.

Design and construction

The Optimus Q2 is another smartphone from LG’s line of Optimus devices. It is an Android-packing smartphone with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard found underneath the display of the handset. This device was first leaked as the LG Optimus Note but the company opted to drop the Note in its name because Samsung already had the rights to it for its Samsung Galaxy Note device.

In terms of its dimensions, the Optimus Q2 has measurements of 123 x 65 x 12.3 mm and tips the scales at 147 grams. If you would take a look at the numbers, you could certainly conclude that the Optimus Q2 is a bit bulky and hefty but that is already expected given the fact that the device has a slide-out keyboard that certainly adds to the bulk and heft of the device.

At first glance though, the Optimus Q2 looks like it has been chopped off a slab of black plastic. I guess this is really the trend when it comes to the design and aesthetics of these types of devices. It looks as though that manufacturers never really tried to venture or deviate from that design tradition and the Optimus Q2 inevitably falls prey to this.

One snag we found though in the aesthetics of the Optimus Q2 is its piano black glossy finish. We all know that this type of finish usually tends to make a device a veritable magnet for fingerprints, dust, and not to mention smudges. The glossy finish of the Optimus Q2 at least gives the device the impression of being elegant though.

Under the hood of the Optimus Q2

Whatever shortcomings the Optimus Q2 has in terms of its externals, it compensates for by putting impressive components under its hood. Like most high-end devices today, the Optimus Q2 is based on the Tegra platform and uses an NVIDIA Tegra 2 chipset in its circuit board to keep everything in its guts working perfectly and in-sync with each other.

In terms of its CPU, the Optimus Q2 relies on a dual-core 1.2GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor to provide the computing power needed in its high-performance operation. The processor sits right next to the handset’s dedicated 333MHz ULP GeForce graphics engine that is tasked primarily to keep pesky graphical concerns off the A9 processor’s back.

As for its system memory, the A9 processor of the Optimus Q2 works hand in hand with a full gigabyte of RAM in powering up Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread, the operating system of the handset. In terms of storage capacity, the device packs an internal memory pegged at 8GB that can further be expanded through the use of the device’s dedicated microSD card slot.

The display of the Optimus Q2

LG has been known to be one company that puts impressive displays in its smartphones, especially the high-end ones. The Optimus Q2 is not an exception to this as it sports a massive 4.0-inch touchscreen of the LCD capacitive type panel. The display of the handset comes with a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels while pixel density is pegged at 233 pixels per inch.

Below the display of the Optimus Q2, we see the slide-out physical QWERTY keyboard of the device. This would bring convenience to people who never really got the hang of typing on a touchscreen and definitely adds appeal to the device. The handset also packs touch-sensitive controls in addition to the integrated sensors the device has such as proximity sensor, gyro sensor and accelerometer which all add to the functionality of the Optimus Q2.

The shooters of the Optimus Q2

Pretty much, the shooters of the Optimus Q2 are average for its class. It comes in with two shooters and the primary shooter of the Optimus Q2 is a rear-facing camera with a resolution of 5 megapixels. The shooter has an autofocus and LED flash that comes along with it and is also capable of video recording when its video mode is selected.

The secondary shooter of the device is a front-mounted VGA snapper that will most definitely be taken advantage of in video call situations or in capturing self-portraits if a user is so inclined with these.

The bottom line

All in all, the LG Optimus Q2 is a very capable device given its impressive components under the hood. It packs the classic good looks that is expected from a smartphone that gives off the impression that the handset is elegant, thanks largely to its glossy finish. The clincher though for the device is its slide-out keyboard that will definitely be a good news to people who prefer doing their messaging on a physical keyboard.

LG Optimus Q2 LU8800 Price in the Philippines: TBA (To Be Announced)

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ASUS Eee Pad Slider Tablet Computer Price in the Philippines, Features and Specs

ASUS Eee Pad Slider Tablet Computer Price in the Philippines, Features and Specs: ASUS joins the tablet computer party dominated by the likes of Apple, Samsung, HTC and BlackBerry with the release of its own impressive line of tablet devices. First, we see the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer, which gives a user the option to attach a physical keyboard to the device making the whole thing “transform” to an Android laptop. The ASUS Eee Pad Slider on the other hand is aimed to target the tablet-toting portion of the population who just can’t live without a physical keyboard at their disposal.

As its name suggests, the Eee Pad Slider sports a slide-out QWERTY keyboard which is eerily reminiscent of the Nokia E7. Not only that, the device also brings to the table an impressive specs sheet aimed to up the Wow factor.

Read on as we discuss what is to be expected of the ASUS Eee Pad Slider.

Design and construction

Measuring 273 x 180 x 18 mm, the Eee Pad Slider is a little bit bulkier when compared to other tablets due to its slide-out keyboard. It might be hefty but not ridiculously huge making it pretty comfortable to hold. ASUS obviously took pains in making sure that the Eee Pad Slider come out with an eye-pleasing design and all that effort came out with good results.

The Eee Pad Slider is very ergonomic with its slightly rounded edges. A glossy black bezel surrounds the display and has chrome trimmings around the sides. All in all, the device seems very well put together and looks very classy.

Under the hood

Unfounded rumors still abound as to what the Eee Pad Slider will pack under its hood but review devices pack a dual-core NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor clocked at 1MHz and is expected to be paired with either 512MB or 1GB of RAM to ensure that things are kept running smoothly.

No news yet as to what GPU will be used to take care of all graphics-related matters but the device will come in two versions in terms of storage space: users can choose between the 16GB or 32GB version. Oh, and did I mention that the Eee Pad Slider packs an SSD for storage purposes?

Should the onboard memory of the device be not sufficient enough, a user has the option to further expand it via the dedicated midroSD slot which is expected to be able to take cards of up to 32GB which is the norm nowadays.

The display

The Eee Pad Slider sports a 10.1-inch LED-backlit IPS (in-plane switching) capacitive touchscreen mounted on Gorilla Glass making it scratch resistant. The display has a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels which is more than enough to make it look very sharp and clear.

The display of the Eee Pad Slider is said to have an accelerometer for UI auto-rotate along with a proximity sensor for auto-turn off and supports multi-touch input gestures.

The shooters

The Eee Pad Slider has two onboard shooters: a rear-facing 5-megapixel snapper with auto-focus and LED flash capable of capturing stills of up to 2592 x 1944 pixels and a 1.3-megapixel front-facing cam which can be used as a webcam for video chats.

The rear-facing shooter also doubles as a video recorder and is capable of recording video clips at 1080p Full HD at 30fps and turns out video clips with 1920 x 1080 pixels.

The slide-out keyboard

This is the meat of the matter: the slide-out QWERTY keyboard where the Eee Pad Slider derives its name from. The keyboard’s build quality is fairly impressive and though the keys are somewhat small, they provide good tactile feedback and you would be able to build a fairly fast typing speed if you keep at it.

The software

The Eee Pad Slider is expected to run Android 3.0 Honeycomb upon its release and is expected to have ASUS’ custom My Wave UI overlaid on the operating system. With what lurks under the device’s hood powering Honeycomb, things are expected to run smoothly. Lags may be experienced but are expected to be kept at a bare minimum.

Battery life

No real world tests have been done yet as the Eee Pad Slider hasn’t been released but ASUS claims that the standard Li-Ion battery of the device will be able to provide enough juice to keep it running for an approximate 6 hours before it gets fully squeezed out.

The verdict

Tablets have had their share of the market because of their mobility and portability and we are not sure if we are ready to tote around the ASUS Eee Pad Slider which tips the scale at a whopping 886 grams because of its slide-out QWERTY keyboard.

If (and that’s a big if), however, the physical keyboard of the Eee Pad Slider is proven to be useful and will add to the overall functionality of the device to negate the fact that it makes the device heftier than the competition, then we’re all for shelling out the hard-earned dinero to bring home the ASUS Eee Pad Slider.

ASUS Eee Pad Slider Tablet Computer Price in the Philippines: Approximately Php 26,000.00 (starting price)

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Samsung Omnia W Smartphone Price in the Philippines, Features and Specs

Samsung Omnia W Smartphone Price in the Philippines, Features and Specs: We take a colder inspection of the Samsung Omnia W and check if the device will stand up to the scrutiny. We have our impressions and all that follows so just continue reading.

Design and construction

The Samsung Omnia W is the first Windows Phone Mango-powered handset released by the Korean smartphone and tablet manufacturer. The handset is not considered a high-end device in league with the likes of the HTC Sensation but instead is lumped in with Mango-powered smartphones from other manufacturers such as the Acer Allegro and the HTC Radar.

At first glance, the Omnia W looks like an ugly slab of black plastic with black as its dominant colorway. This design tradition has had a profound influence on almost all smartphones we currently see in the market today and has reared its ugly head to affect the aesthetics of the Omnia W. It may be as such but the handset still has its redeeming features.

The Omnia W, which measures 115.6 x 58.8 x 10.9 mm and weighs in at 115.3 grams, packs that classic and elegant good looks because of its glossy front panel. In addition to that, its back panel is dominated by the handset’s battery cover which is done in a brushed metal finish albeit in black as well. The battery cover of the Omnia W in a way breaks the monotony of the black colorway of the device and adds to the elegant look of the handset.

The only snag here is that both the glossy front panel and battery cover of the Omnia W are perennial fingerprint, smudge and dust magnets so a user might find himself spending time in polishing the handset to a flourish. All in all though, the Omnia W gives off the impression of being a solidly-built handset while maintaining an elegant air about it.

Under the hood

Despite not being taken seriously as a high-end device, the Omnia W still packs enough punch under the hood to make itself very competitive in the ever-heating and now becoming more cutthroat smartphone wars.

The device is based on the SnapDragon platform and makes use of a QualComm MSM8255T chipset with a system-on-a-chip architecture. With this configuration we see the CPU of the Omnia W, a single-core 1.4GHz Scorpion processor, sitting right next to the device’s Adreno 205 graphics core.

The Scorpion processor of the Omnia W works in conjunction with just 512 MB of system memory but that combination alone is already enough in providing the computing power needed by the handset to run Windows Phone 7.5 Mango, the device’s operating system, smoothly and in a way resulting to a very snappy performance.

As for the handset’s internal memory, the Omnia W’s onboard storage is pegged at 8GB. The snag here, as is found in most Windows Phone handsets, is that the Omnia W doesn’t have a dedicated media card slot that can be used in augmenting the handset’s onboard storage. In short, you only have 8GB of internal memory in the Omnia W to handle all your storage needs. If you happen to be a power user or a media fiend that has a lot of files they need with them wherever they go, think twice if you are eyeing this device lest you run the risk of the internal storage of the handset getting squeezed out on you.

The display

In terms of its display, the Omnia W packs the same SuperAMOLED capacitive touchscreen display as the one found in the Samsung Galaxy S2. The display of the Omnia W has a diagonal of a smallish 3.7 inches though but packs an 800 x 480 pixel resolution. The pixel density of the handset is pegged at 252 ppi and we see the device’s touch-sensitive controls sitting right below its display.

The shooters

The camera department of the Omnia W on the other hand is average for a device of this category. It does have a dual-camera configuration with a 5MP shooter at the back and a VGA snapper gracing its front.

The rear shooter of the Omnia W has autofocus features while an LED flash can be used when shooting in dimly-lit situations. This shooter is able to capture images of up to 2592 x 1944 pixels and has a video mode that enables it to do 720p video clip recording at 30 frames per second. There is not much we can mention about the front VGA shooter of the handset except that it will be useful in video calls and can also be utilized in taking self-portraits.

The bottom line

All in all, the Samsung Omnia W is a pretty capable handset and is able to meet the stringent regulations Microsoft put in place for the device to be given the license to run Windows Phone 7.5 Mango for its operating system. It has classic good looks coupled with power from under the hood so it pretty much is a very nice handset to tote around. If you need more storage space though or long for the memory expansion option, then you are better off having something else.

Samsung Omnia W Smartphone Price in the Philippines: Approximately Php 20,000.00

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Toyota Prius Price in the Philippines (as of November 2011)

Toyota Prius Price in the Philippines: The Toyota Prius is a full hybrid electric mid-size vehicle that is considered by many as one of the most fuel-efficient gasoline car in the world and is rated as among the cleanest vehicles sold in the United States based on smog forming and toxic emissions. It is also the first hybrid car that is available here in the Philippines.

The first Prius model, the NHW10, was out in the market on December 10, 1997. As of September 2010, more than 2 million units have been sold worldwide. Released in 2009, the third generation of Toyota Prius has a more aerodynamic body design compared to its predecessor. As of September 2011, over 1 million units have already been sold around the world.


The Toyota Prius runs on gasoline and/or electric power. This type of vehicle is classified as power-split or series-parallel (full) hybrid. The 1.8-liter gasoline engine (previously 1.5 liters) of the Prius generates 98 hp, and with the added power of the electric motor, total horsepower is 134 hp (previously 110 hp). The larger engine displacement allows for increased torque, reducing engine speeds (RPM), which in turn increase fuel economy at highway speeds. With an electric water pump, the Prius engine is the first production engine that requires no accessory belts, which also further improves fuel economy.

Toyota Prius Price in the Philippines (as of November 2011): around Php 2,250,000.00

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Sony Bloggie Duo HD Camcorder Price, Features and Other Details

Sony Bloggie Duo HD Camcorder Price, Features and Other Details: We gut the Sony Bloggie Duo HD from gut to stern and tested the little guy in capturing self-portraits. The experience came out good so read on for the full details about this camcorder.

Design and construction

With the rise in popularity of self portraits due to the vainness of most people, it is not uncommon to see cameras and camcorders with a second LCD display out front to make the process of capturing self portraits a lot easier.

This is the primary reason electronics giant came up with the Sony Bloggie Duo HD with the camcorder packing a front facing display makes it the weapon of choice for self portrait fanatics. The Bloggie Duo HD is a tad bigger than the older Bloggie Touch with its measurements of 108.0 x 55.0 x 18.4 mm and weighs in at just 139 grams. This is not to say that the Bloggie Duo HD is a big device for that matter; its size is average really for its class and you can actually easily stow the camcorder in your pocket.

The controls and ports littering the body of the Bloggie Duo HD are almost similar to those found in the Bloggie Touch. The left side of the camcorder houses its Power button in addition to a shutter button for the Bloggie Duo HD’s still camera. The right side of the Bloggie Duo HD on the other hand contains the mini-HDMI port of the camcorder that is used to hook up the Bloggie Duo HD to a big-ass HDTV along with a flip-out USB protrusion that is used to connect the camcorder with your computer. With this USB arm, there is no longer any need for data cables. In addition to that, since the Bloggie Duo HD doesn’t have a removable battery, you charge the camcorder via this USB arm as well.

Much of the back panel of the Bloggie Duo HD is taken up by its 2.7-inch display. The display of the camcorder has a 230K dot resolution which makes it very sharp and clear. The left-over space on the back panel is littered with the other controls of the Bloggie Duo HD that include a 5-way D-Pad with the camcorder’s Record button right smack in the middle of the D-Pad, an LCD control button, a menu access button and 3 Playback buttons.

Round the front of the Bloggie Duo HD, we see its secondary LCD display which has a diagonal of 2 inches which is designed to be used as a viewfinder when focusing the lens on yourself for easier capture of self-portraits. The front-facing display of the Bloggie Duo HD doesn’t have a very high-resolution but is usable enough and works just fine when you frame your face as you get ready to capture self-portraits or record videos of your mug.

There is not much to discuss about the interface of the Bloggie Duo HD aside from the fact that it looks as if it was developed in the Middle Ages. The icons in the interface are very unattractive and are of the low resolution type. The user interface is also not intuitive enough that it is very easy to get lost in the menu of the camcorder. In short, the user interface of the Bloggie Duo HD is just not up to speed.

The key features and performance of the Bloggie Duo HD

The size and aesthetics of the Bloggie Duo HD may have been sacrificed in order to get a second LCD to be fitted in its front panel but luckily, the video quality of the camcorder doesn’t get compromised. In fact, the footages turned out by the Bloggie Duo HD are at par with what the older Bloogie Touch came up with.

In addition to that, the Bloggie Duo HD is capable of recording high-definition clips in 1080p at 30 frames per second, 720p at 30 frames per second and 720p at 60 frames per second and the resulting video clips from all three resolutions looked very good with the footages coming up as clear and bright with the colors very crisp.

The still images though were not up to par when compared to that of the Bloggie Touch. The Bloggie Duo HD is only capable of coming up with up to 5MP stills but be that as it may, as long as you are shooting in a situation where the lighting is good, images are expected to come out good as well. Don’t make the mistake though of using the Bloggie Duo HD to capture stills indoors since the images will be pretty unusable due to noise and grain. In short, this camcorder only works well for outdoors use.

The bottom line

The Sony Bloggie Duo HD packs a slightly larger body compared to the Bloggie Touch and is lot flashier-looking due to the available selection of colors. In addition to that, the performance of the Bloggie Duo HD is a bit downgraded but in exchange for that, you get a second front-facing display to get you to frame and capture all your glory in self-portrait heaven.

Sony Bloggie Duo HD Camcorder Price in the Philippines: Approximately Php 7,500.00

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MSI WindPad Enjoy 7 Android Tablet Computer Price in the Philippines, Features and Specs

MSI WindPad Enjoy 7 Android Tablet Computer Price in the Philippines, Features and Specs: We spend a little alone time with the WindPad Enjoy 7 from MSI and see for ourselves just what the capabilities of this budget 7-incher are. Read on for the full details of the experience.

Design and construction

The WindPad Enjoy 7 is MSI’s entry to the budget 7-inch category and the company does nicely with this tablet really. Announced back in June at Computex 2011 in Taiwan, MSI tries out the Android waters with the WindPad Enjoy 7 after being associated with Windows-based tablets.

Sad to say, there has been no official word yet from MSI regarding the dimensions of the WindPad Enjoy 7 given the fact that it has been 5 months since the slate has been announced. It does tip the scales at 395 grams though – the only thing we were able to squeeze from the company. Looks-wise, the WindPad Enjoy 7 looks like your typical 7-incher except for the silver bezel surrounding its edges that breaks the monotony of the black colorway of the tablet. This also sort of sets the WindPad Enjoy 7 apart from the competition wherein almost all other tablets nowadays look like they have been shaved off a slab of black plastic.

In addition to that, the WindPad Enjoy 7 gets that premium look due to the brushed metal finish of its back panel working in conjunction nicely with the glossy front panel of the device. Also, the slate gives off the impression of being solidly-built despite its affordable price point.

In terms of buttons and controls, the power button along with the volume rocker is found on the side of the device in addition to the physical Android buttons found near its display. These are physical buttons compared to the touch-sensitive controls found in higher-priced tablets but they provide exceptional feedback belying the budget category of the tablet. The lower edge of the WindPad Enjoy 7 on the other hand contains a media card slot along with a mini HDMI port which is found under a cover.

Under the hood of the WindPad Enjoy 7

Not much information was made available to the press with regard to the internals of the WindPad Enjoy 7. We were able to find out though that the tablet makes use of a RockChip chipset with a single-core ARM Cortex-A8 processor with a clock speed of 1.2GHz generating the computing power needed by the slate. No confirmation was given though as to what graphics core the WindPad Enjoy 7 relies on to handle graphical concerns if there is one.

The Cortex-A8 processor of the WindPad Enjoy 7 gets to work in conjunction with 512 MB of RAM which gives the processor a helping hand in the power generation process. Its internal memory though is a bit lacking given the budget status of the WindPad Enjoy 7 and it is pegged at a meager 4GB of onboard memory. A microSD card slot however as mentioned earlier enables memory expansion in the WindPad Enjoy 7 with the use of high-capacity cards for added storage, albeit external.

The display of the WindPad Enjoy 7

As for its display, the WindPad Enjoy 7 makes use of a 7-inch capacitive multi-touch display that has a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels. Despite the budget categorization of the WindPad Enjoy 7, the display of the tablet is has above average brightness levels and the colors are found to be clear and sharp.

A snag though is that the bezel found in the front panel of the display is a veritable magnet for fingerprints and dust and sort of adds to the glare factor due to its glossiness. Also, the viewing angles of the display of the WindPad Enjoy 7 are a bit underwhelming and looking at the display of the tablet at an angle exceeding 45 degrees results to loss of visibility and color.

The shooters of the WindPad Enjoy 7

The camera department of the WindPad Enjoy 7 is the one that sort of suffers in addition to its display. Though it does pack a dual-shooter configuration, both rear and front-facing shooters of the WindPad Enjoy 7 are just of the 2MP resolution type only so you can already expect the image quality turned out by these shooters. The rear shooter though is still capable of video recording but the video quality is mediocre as to be expected.

The bottom line

All in all, the MSI WindPad Enjoy 7 is a contradiction of sorts. It has a premium look to it matched by the above average components lining its internals. All other departments are found lacking though and the only thing that we can say is that you get what you pay for in the case of the WindPad Enjoy 7.

MSI WindPad Enjoy 7 Android Tablet Computer Price in the Philippines: Approximately Php 14,500.00

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Kobo eReader Touch Edition Price, Features and Other Info

Kobo eReader Touch Edition Price, Features and Other Info: We take a look at the Kobo eReader Touch Edition, the company’s new entry to the eReader competitions. We give you our impressions of the device after spending some time with it so just continue reading for the full details.

Design and construction

In an eReader market where the Goliaths like Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Sony are giants in their fields, Kobo is the veritable David because it is not always the first name you can think of when eReaders are being discussed. Despite these odds though, the company was able to stay afloat and managed to become competitive against the bad boys of the eReader market.

And with the eReader Touch Edition, Kobo is once again trying to make its name more known in the field of eReaders. Taking a quick look at the eReader Touch Edition makes you realize that it has an awful lot of similarity with the new Nook from Barnes and Noble in terms of design and aesthetics. If you have both eReaders in a bag, delving into it to get one of them might leave you getting the other by mistake.

With the implementation of a touchscreen as it name suggests, the eReader Touch Edition does not have much use for hardware buttons and other controls and pretty much does away with those. The result is a smaller footprint and dimensions of 114 x 165 x 10 mm. With its smaller size, the eReader Touch Edition is also lighter at just 185 grams, a tad heavier than the big-ass superphones that we see in the market today.

The dimensions and the weight of the eReader Touch Edition play a big part in its being portable but the puny size of the eReader leads to a smaller bezel which we found as one of the snags of the device. With the smaller bezel on the eReader Touch Edition, there is no place anywhere on the device to rest your thumbs on especially if you are holding it single-handedly and the tendency is for your thumb to cover a portion of the display.

As for its design, the whole aesthetics of the eReader Touch Edition is very nice actually. The Kobo logo is very prominent right above the touchscreen and the right below it is its metallic horizontal bar which pretty much functions like the one found in the iPad. Press on this hardware button and you instantly go back to your home screen no matter where you are. A power switch can be found on the top edge of the eReader Touch Edition, a microSD slot towards the bottom of the device’s left edge and a microUSB port graces its bottom edge. The back panel on the other hand features a plastic finish with a rubbery, quilted texture that looks very good while at the same time ensures that you have a secure grip on your eReader.

Under the hood and the display of the eReader Touch Edition

Under the hood of the eReader Touch Edition, we see the Freescale i.MX508 processor that runs at a clock speed of 800 MHz powering up the operation of the eReader. The processor of the device is a lot more powerful than the 532 MHz processor of the Kindle. The additional power that the processor brings is very apparent during page turns wherein the pages are turned at a faster rate add to the fact that the eReader Touch Edition only does a full refresh of its page every six pages or so.

As for its internal memory, the eReader Touch Edition has 2GB on internal storage but only 1GB is allocated for storage of actual books. It does have a microSD slot that is able to handle media cards of that type of up to 32GGB.

Battery life on the eReader Touch Edition is almost similar to that of the Kindle and the company claims that the eReader can last for a month on a single charge before its juice gets fully squeezed out. The actual life of its power pack still depends on the usage of the eReader but to make it more vivid, users of the eReader Touch Edition will have a tendency to forget as to when was the last time the eReader was plugged into a wall socket for charging.

The display of the eReader Touch Edition

Since the Pearl E Ink is already the adopted industry standard when it comes to displays in eReaders, Kobo went ahead and gave the eReader Touch Edition a 6-inch Pearl high-contrast E Ink display. The screen of the eReader has a 16-level gray scale and its clarity is really hard to beat. In fact, the screen of the eReader Touch Edition is clear enough to be legible under direct sunlight that is basically the advantage of this type of display in addition to its low power consumption.

The bottom line

Kobo has indeed gone a long way to ensure that the eReader Touch Edition comes out as perfect as it can be. The device is now a lot more pleasing to the eyes compared to earlier Kobo eReaders and the components under its hood pretty much generate the power needed for a smooth operation when using the device. And at a price point of $129.99, the eReader Touch Edition is definitely more attractive compared to the other eReaders available in the market today.

Kobo eReader Touch Edition Price in the Philippines: Approximately Php 6,000.00

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Samsung Galaxy Note Price in the Philippines, Features and Tech Specs

Samsung Galaxy Note Price in the Philippines, Features and Tech Specs: The Samsung Galaxy Note is a high-end Android device that can be considered as both a smartphone and a tablet computer. Having a 5-inch display, it reminds me of the original Dell Streak and the Acer Iconia Tab. However, the Galaxy Note is way better than those two mentioned, and we will tell you why later on. Through this device, Samsung aims to create a new niche market for people who want the combined features and functionality of tablet and smartphone in one package.

Equipped with a 1.4 GHz dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 SoC processor, the Samsung Galaxy Note is considered as one of the most powerful tablets/smartphones around. To top it off, it also uses a fast GPU and 1GB of RAM. These hardware specs allow the Galaxy Note to effortlessly run demanding games and applications and enable it to take care of multitasking flawlessly. It also means that the handheld is future-proofed for upcoming apps and Operating System updates that may require high spec'd hardware.

One of the best features of the Samsung Galaxy Note is its enormously gorgeous 5.3-inch HD Super AMOLED touchscreen that is capable of 1280x800-pixel (285 ppi) resolution. The display makes it possible for users to comfortably do things such as browsing some web pages or creating documents as if using a desktop or laptop computer. Although a lot bigger than your ordinary smartphone, the Galaxy Note is still considered as highly portable by those who have tried using the device. This is probably because of its slim profile and lightweight construction (178 grams).

True to its name, the Galaxy Note can be used like a traditional notepad or organizer. This is because of its ingenious stylus called the S Pen. The S Pen is conveniently tucked at the bottom portion of the device and can be readily used in a wide range of apps. Users can simply write on the screen and the Galaxy Note will convert hand writing to text, which could be handy when sending long SMS or emails. Of course, there will be other practical uses besides the one I've mentioned.

The Samsung Galaxy Note runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread and it will be upgradable to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. It includes Samsung's very own user interface called TouchWiz UX. The slick UI is also used on Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 and Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9.

Like other high-end Android smartphones or tablets, the Note is loaded with built-in peripherals such as HD-ready cameras (8MP rear, 2MP front), Wi-Fi, removable storage, and Bluetooth among others. It also comes with the usual sensors like proximity and ambient light sensors, 3-axis gyroscope, magnetometer, accelerometer, and barometer.

The Samsung Galaxy Note may not appeal to mass consumers, but all in all, it has all the right features or qualities that could make it a successful device in its own right.

Samsung Galaxy Note Price in the Philippines: Approximately Php 30,000.00 (starting price)

You may also like: Samsung Galaxy S II / S2

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Nikon Coolpix L24 Digital Camera Price, Features, and Other Details

Nikon Coolpix L24 Digital Camera Price, Features, and Other Details: We take a look at the Nikon Coolpix L24 and check if it is as good as advertised. We share with you our findings so just keep on reading to get the full details.

Design and construction

The Nikon Coolpix L24 is the successor to the Coolpix L22 and is almost similar to its older sibling in terms of its design and aesthetics. Despite it being a compact point and shoot, the shooter is a bit heftier and bulkier than other cameras in its category with its measurement of 2.4 x 3.9 x 1.2 inches and weight of 6.5 ounces. The thicker body of the Coolpix L24 allows the zoom rocker to be located at the top edge of the shooter where it surrounds the shutter release.

Despite being fashioned mostly out of plastic, the Coolpix L24 also has some metal in its frame specifically those found in the back panel of the shooter along with those in the lens mechanism. The Coolpix L24 is eerily reminiscent of the Canon PowerShot A1200 and it also has a protrusion in the front right portion that serves as a grip on the outside but is actually a battery compartment in the inside.

The Coolpix L24 has a very integrated look and the back panel of the shooter is able to match the sophisticated styling of its front panel. The control layout of the shooter is very simple and yet functional with all buttons within easy reach. Once the batteries are already in place, the Coolpix L24 packs a nice weight to it thereby making the shooter feel like a solidly-built compact point and shoot.

The rear panel of the shooter is almost eaten up by the Coolpix L24’s 3-inch LCD that packs a 230K-dot resolution. The display of the shooter is a whole lot better than those found in other shooters in its class and is very bright even when under direct sunlight.

Key features of the Coolpix L24

The Coolpix L24 makes use of a CCD image sensor that packs an effective resolution of 14 megapixels compared to its older brother’s 12 megapixels. The zoom lens of the Coolpix L24 is Nikkor-branded and has a 3.6x optical zoom capability. With the zoom lens in play, the shooter has a focal length that ranges from 6.7 mm to 24 mm which in a 35 mm camera equates to 37 mm to 134 mm. These numbers indicate a moderate telephoto to a slightly tight wide angle capability.

With this focal length, the Coolpix L24 can capture wide angle stills of subjects that are as close as 30 centimeters or a telephoto shot as far as 70 centimeters. However, selecting macro mode reduces the wide angle capability of the shooter to just 5 centimeters.

In terms of ISO sensitivity, the Coolpix L24 has an ISO ranging from ISO 80 to ISO 1600. The bad news is that a user is not able to control the ISO settings of the shooter because it is on automatic mode by default. There is no way to manually adjust the Coolpix L24’s ISO settings and the lowest you can get the shooter to go is ISO 100 and that is if you are already using studio lighting.

Performance and image quality of the Coolpix L24

Being a budget shooter, it is a given that the Coolpix L24 is not a speed demon unlike the higher-priced shooters we have seen. For its boot to shoot time, the Coolpix L24 was able to chalk up 2.3 seconds from boot up to snapping a still. It has a 0.4-second shutter lag when capturing images and takes about 2.6 seconds before it can take the next shot.

Subjecting the Coolpix L24 to our strenuous tests, we were able to find out that the capabilities of the shooter are mediocre at best. The images that were turned out by the Coolpix L24 are lacking in fine detail and there is noticeable noise and fuzziness that obscure textures that would otherwise have been fine.

The camera encountered difficulties in adapting to dim lighting and the shutter lag becomes even more noticeable when shooting in dimly-lit conditions. In short, the Coolpix L24 is only advisable for capturing stationary subjects in brightly-lit conditions. Other than that and everything is kind of messed up, so to speak.

The bottom line

The Nikon Coolpix L24 is a bit overrated when you come to think of it. It does look great and it also packs a slightly larger display compared to other shooters in its category but the performance of the shooter is unable to compensate its quiet good looks.

Images are a bit noisy and the ISO settings cannot be manually controlled. The zoom lens of the shooter is also found lacking in terms of telephoto reach and wide-angle capability. In short, the Nikon Coolpix L24 might come in at a reasonable price point but there are definitely and infinitely better shooters out there.

Nikon Coolpix L24 Digital Camera Price in the Philippines: Approximately Php 5,500.00

You may also check out: Nikon Coolpix S8100 Digital Camera

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