Thriving Compact Tech

It’s been a whole month with my z1 compact back. Nice. I’ve successfully avoided buying the Sony smartwatch 2 and a bluetooth headset, the SBH-70 in particular. I have this list of want-to-buys in my notebook and so far, what I’ve checked is only the 2GB RAM for my father’s netbook. I think it did give a performance boost but not so much as the reduction of startup programs. The psychological effect may also help. Hope it does maintain it’s performance.

In a few days after that RAM upgrade, mhaelord’s netbook’s I,K, and M keys stopped working. The day after I found out, I managed to fix it for a couple of minutes only for it to fail me again when I was puttting the screws back. I’m guessing it had something to do with me opening it up in the first place to borrow it’s RAM. Nonetheless, her netbook is still useable with my spare PC’s USB keyboard.

I also found out that my old netbook’s not useable at the moment, most likely and hopefully just because its charger has gone faulty. I have yet to visit a laptop repair shop for it. Maybe I’ll have it checked same time as having mhae’s netbook’s keyboard checked. I’m refraining from ordering a replacement keyboard online, both because I’m getting a little stringent with cash outs and I want to make sure that replacing the keyboard will solve the problem. There may be the possibility that there’s just(?) a problem with the connection.

Back to my z1 compact, it’s either a software problem or one brought about by it falling to the floor. I’ve been having problems with the earphone jack that a restart quite solves. Dogi’s z1 compact has completely failed him. I’m comforted by the fact that I’ve gotten an extended warranty. I’m not bringing this one to the service center yet because I still have an out of town trip soon.

Fun trivia from spending time on the net recently: Sony has an Xperia J1 Compact model, a Japanese market exclusive, which is pretty much a rebranded Z1 Compact. I thought of getting an Xperia J before, but it wasn’t much of an upgrade for my Xperia pro back then. I’m glad to know that I practically have an Xperia J1.

Build Me Up

<p>Main PC is now on Windows 10 Build 10122 fixing my problem with the Start Menu not working in Build 10074.</p>
<p>My Z1 Compact is back and updated to Android 5.0.2 Lollipop i wish i could have retained my favorite KitKat. the consolations with the repair are many enough for me to let go. The back panel and magnetic charging port were replaced along with the damaged LCD (i think it wa the LCD that got damaged) and it retains its old IMEI.</p>
<p>I thank this year’s spare phone, my old Xperia pro (version 3) that took 269 photos in my Z1 Compact’s place and made me miss a physical keyboard on a smartphone.</p>
<p>Now, back to packing for summer trip.</p>
<p>(apparently, there is a problem with blogger and microsoft at the moment. oh well.)</p>

Tech Downs and Up[grade]s

After almost 5months of owning it, my Z1 Compact failed and while I was on the pool. Called the service center and I think it had a crack and got infiltrated. Good thing, though I have to wait a couple of weeks, things are still covered by the warranty. I’m currently using my old Xperia pro. I did miss using this.

As for Mhae’s iPhone 4S, it caught the WiFi/Bluetooth hardware problem. After a couple of weeks and me finally checking it out on the net, we got it fixed at Makati Square for P450. Not bad. The iPhone’s now running on iOS 8.3 and I hope it won’t run into problems or get a big performance hit. I’m pretty confident about it cause that’s one of the things I think Apple does better—software-hardware integration.

On the Windows side of things, my desktop’s Windows 10 Tech Preview is now on build 10061 and finally has the Search Bar working, albeit slower than it used to be on Windows 7.

Quick Bits for the Month

Windows 10 TP is working really well for me save for the disfunctional search. i’ve installed the latest build on my secondary desktop and it’s fine. it’s also difficult to find similar complaints so i’m guessing it has something to do with my main PC’s OS config before/during/after updating from Windows 7.

New hardware in the office but not all for me. i got an ink advantage printer. it’s black and white.

As for software in the office, ETABS and SAFE upgrade and some Bentley QTL problems resolved. MIDAS was presented and very impressive. Looks like we have a 3rd solution coming. Revit’s also starting to be utilized thanks to JT’s lessons.

Smartwatch…not yet says LG G Watch R availability and price.

Windows 10 Tech Preview Update on Main PC

A good portion of the time I spent using my main PC during the past two weeks or so was restarting, safe mode, verifying RAID1 status, and such. Thankfully, it has turned to a pleasant PC experience once I managed to work around the errors and issues with doing an in-place upgrade of my system from Windows 7 to Windows 10 Technical Preview, Build 9926 via Windows Update.

Things to look out for are possible compatibility issues with installed programs. What I found that turned the system unstable and freeze are Intel’s Rapid Storage Technology software which I updated and Core Temp which I stopped from launching at startup.

A major feature upgrade in Windows 8 that was carried over is the redesigned Task Manager. I found the Startup tab very useful in troubleshooting. Unfortunately with regards to Core Temp, it didn’t appear. I had to rename the program’s installation folder to prevent it from launching. Funny though is that I got to use the system a couple of times with Core Temp successfully launching at startup. I’ll account it to beta instability.

Although I’ve gotten to use earlier previews on my secondary desktop, it’s a different thing when done on my “daily driver”. (I noticed that term a lot in http://youtube.com/linustechtips.) Prior observations from using Windows 10 on my spare PC was how I enjoyed the animations and the convenience of multiple desktops. I use the multiple desktop feature from time to time during multi-tasking and finding windows cluttered.

I expected to do the same in-place upgrade with my Windows 8.1 hybrid netbook only to find out that it isn’t doable with the current release because of a compact installation. I hope it does happen before the actual release of Windows 10.

It’s great to find sites like http://www.winsupersite.com to find tips on some issues. 1 major concern which is also resolved for now is how buggy and absent the latest start menu revision is. Thanks to a registry entry, an earlier Windows 10 start menu can be accessed.

So far, the experience is generally positive. I look forward to the free upgrade this year and a worthy update on my PC experience.

Big Software Upgrades This Year

Autodesk and its partners have been constantly reminding and marketing the end of the upgrade option. Today is the last day. I’m not sure if the office did about it until yesterday.

I’ve been almost half-hearted about software upgrades. For programs like AutoCAD and office software, I think they are vital. These can’t be perfect when released and not have room for even the slightest improvement. For operating systems, though, I think major upgrades are unnecessary and overrated. I came across an article that android’s problem is how slow its new versions are deployed to the many android phones/tablets out there. I thought, why? Phones used to have specific firmware and worked with minor updates. And why would a phone people usually replaced in a year or two need to be updated a year or two after being bought? Then it hit me, hardware improvements are incremental and the devices are actually meant to last longer than people normally do as i actually constantly say.

Enter Windows 10 free upgrade announcement. This got me excited. Interestingly, one of the biggest problems with Vista was its high hardware requirements. It now seems like a necessary “evil” given how very uncommon bad hardware specs is despite looking so bad on paper. The excitement also came from the fact that I once wanted an updating Windows similar to OS X. Incremental changes that build up to major revisions similar to how service packs worked, only bigger.

I’m incoherent now so I’ll probably stop. Point is, I’m looking forward to how these big software updates are going, Autodesk software and Windows. These steady updates are a sign of a more stable progress in both software and hardware, and in general, an assured evolution in our computing lifestyle.

a good year in techie acquisitions

It turns out I got a number of upgrades and new tech stuff this year. this is gonna be quick.

I got to sell my HAF 922 and after getting a CM 690 nVidia edition both via tipidpc.com. the sli pc looks slicker on its table now and I’m pretty much satisfied with it. Later in the year, I installed Windows 10 Technical Preview on it and so far so good.

Thanks to the Western Appliances (?) sale, I acquired a 12mp Kodak digicam. I find it hard to handle especially in lowlight, but it works well enough especially when mounted on the tripod that we also got from there.

Mhaelord and I went to globe one day and applied for a postpaid mobile internet subscription. We got the plan 999 and paid a few thousand pesos for a bundled 8-inch skyworth tablet to go with the free pocket wifi. The 8-inch tablet runs impressively well for its price. It must be thanks to its quad core processor. Good thing the 7-inch Samsung was out of stock, and we chose the quad core skyworth over the dual core 7-inch acer.

I’m supposed to be calling this a booklet but it really didn’t get into my system. I also jumped the tablet bandwagon but with a windows 2-in-1 netbook/tablet. I’ve been using my father’s mypad2 a bit but it really wasn’t mine and significantly used. I really can’t remember what made me consider this 64gb asus t100 with a 500gb hdd in the keyboard dock but it was a fine decision. I got to upgrade my netbook and got a new tablet as well. Best thing is the more productive windows environment. This is one of the devices where windows 8.1 makes sense.

The 8-inch tablet was a birthday gift for mhaelord, but I also convinced her that since she wanted my sister’s iphone 4s when she decided to sell it, we’ll also have that as another birthday gift. For an old device, it unsurprisingly smooth. That’s apple for you.

My last purchase for myself this year was the sony xperia z1 compact which I hoped for since the announcement of the xperia z1f japan exclusive. At last, I got a smooth running top-tier smartphone that isn’t as big as the flagships. Funny thing, though, it’s still as large as former flagships like the xperia T. nevertheless, compared to its contemporaries, it is the perfect smartphone for me. It’s a worthy successor to my xperia pro. And thanks to the absence of side-slide qwerty phones, I finally made the transition to a completely touchscreen phone. One fun thing too about this purchase is how I got it a couple of months since its successor got released, and I think I did get the best possible deal with it.

The last one that isn’t really just for me is a 32” Sony TV. At last, we got to get a new TV. I bought it as a year’s gift for my mother although it is something for the household. Favorite feature that’s one for me is screen mirroring since it works with my xperia z1 compact.

A third last, the last tech acquisition was a usb3.0 flash drive. I actually haven’t opened the package. I got it from our struct exchange gifts. I think it was my wishlist item no. 1.

This year was a good year in tech and was also a good year in spending. Hopefully this coming year won’t require me to upgrade. My tech needs are pretty much covered now. As I’ve said, new tech product are released every year, but that doesn’t mean we have to upgrade as often. Good tech lasts. i’m thankful I got to get what I got this year. I look forward to saving in 2015 and seeing just how good these tech stuff are.