Surfnux’s Weblog

It might be late, but better than nothing. I have been wanting to find out how the Acer Aspire One able to steal everyone’s heart from Asus and MSI netbook. First, of course its on their pricing I would say. People here will always look for the good one, but the cheapest. Well, that does not apply to enthusiasts of course.

I’ve finally got my hands on the 4 GB SSD Acer Aspire One which is sent in for service. While at it, all I can say is, I am pretty impressed with the black border by the LCD screen. Just like the new Mac series. Keyboard is just too small and not easy to type.

As for the click button on the touchpad, the location just does not feels right. Design wise, it is nice, sleek and eye catching with all the glossy surface.

For the heat problem, it is really hot and for the SSD option, it is not suggested to run Windows XP. It is just really slow. Its great that now it came with 160 GB HDD option which is way better.
Continue reading »

written by surfnux \\ tags: gadgets

Some shots and short review of Sony VAIO VGN-CR323 with Intel Core Duo processor. As for the specs, I won’t be reviewing it, as for the price of it, you could get a Compaq Core 2 Duo laptop.

Quite heavy for its metal casing surrounding it, weight at about 2 Kg. It was surrounded metal case by the side, and it does brings on electric current through.

While installing this laptop myself, I got plenty of electric current flow to my fingers and got numb after using it for 1 hour. Its either bad grounding, or something else. Continue reading »

written by surfnux \\ tags: gadgets

Following the previous review of Asus Eee PC 901, it is sold. Managed to take some close up shots before letting it go.

Its time to stock up more powerful and better tagged Netbook. What’s next?

written by surfnux

Got Asus Eee PC 901 a month back since its straight availability here. It may be already out there for sometimes, and its quite slow here in Indonesia. Finally, I can get my hands on it.

So, its size is superb. 8.9″ is really small for you to carry around conveniently. Can just slip it into my Crumpler Messenger bag compartment. Perfect. I feel like getting it for myself though. But no… its for sales. Sadly again, the people here in Dumai does not need this one specifically. People still look for a cheap PC, or a standard notebook for their daily computing needs.

There goes my stock of MSI Wind U100 Limited Edition and Asus Eee PC 901. It has been in the cupboard for sometimes.

So, after opening the box, you will see the free pouch given. Its really nice and classy. Continue reading »

written by surfnux \\ tags: gadgets

Well, as most of you have known, internet access in Indonesia mainly limited to bandwidth, or time. There are unlimited access package, but it can cost a fortune. For example, Speedy Office (Unlimited) can cost as much as Rp. 700.000 per month (SGD 100), at speed of 384 kbps or 1 Mbps for some areas which have been upgraded.

Without much choices that offers unlimited bandwidth at a good price, we have to preserve these available bandwidth and maintain our internet usage. The most basic home package from Telkom Speedy which cost Rp. 200.000 per month (SGD 30), has bandwidth limit of 1 MB (Up and Down). I myself can use minimum 100 MB bandwidth per day if I were to be active in the internet.

With that, I have to stop reading blogs, no downloading unless urgent and important, reduce pictures access, and strictly on e-mail, messengers, and some informative sites like engadget.com to keep me updated. Not forgetting Google Adsense as well.

That’s all I left to do with this limited bandwidth. On the other hand, Telkomsel has offered an unlimited internet access via HSDPA/3G/GPRS at fair usage of 3 GB per month. Afterwhich, your internet speed will be capped at the minimum. The normal speed will range on HSDPA/3G/GPRS signal quality, and can be up to 3.6 Mbps for HSDPA connection. But mostly it is around 2 Mbps that you can get. It is offered under Telkomsel Flash Unlimited package. I have used Telkomsel Flash Unlimited for a month with GPRS connection only, and it can’t really help me to work efficiently @ speed of about 114 Kbps only.

So, I unsubscribe this package and wait for 3G or HSDPA access to be available in town and get back to it. So far, this is the best offer I can find. For speed of 512 Kbps, you only pay for about Rp. 250.000 (SGD 38) per month. And for the top speed at 3.6 Mbps, it cost about Rp. 500.000 (SGD 75) per month. That is fair enough and unless there is HSDPA in town, there is no use to subscribe to the top speed package.

So, way to go Indonesia. You gotta grow up a lot. Do check out other posts on my experience with internet access and connection in Indonesia below:

• Accessing Free Hotspot at Gloria jeans Coffee Pekanbaru
• Telkomsel Flash Verdict
• Blogging from Free Telkom Hotspot
• In Search for Free Hotspots

written by surfnux \\ tags: networking