For Eyes and Ears: Review Samsung YP-S2 MP3 Player

The new Samsung MP3 player has the curves of a temptress

I have a thing for shiny little gadgets. The bling factor makes them interesting and I am not even talking about their interesting shapes. The new forms that gadget companies give their products gives the same old technology an interesting outlook. But trust me, I know, like my wife says, I am a dog when it comes to technology, always salivating. So you shouldn’t be surprised when I say the new Samsung MP3 player is an eye candy. Whatever term you would want to use for it, this device lives up to it.

To be available in India soon, the Samsung YP-S2 is a stylish, multi-hued acquisition. The 1GB version costs about $39 and besides the five different colours it’s available in, it also has some nice features. It charges using the USB port of your PC—and there are no silly connectors on the device to spoil its silhouette. The USB cable plugs directly into the same port that is used for the earphones (which, of course, means you can’t listen to music while your are charge it). And every time you transfer data from the PC, like most other new-tech devices, this gets charged too.

Another great feature about the YP-S2 is the multicoloured LED lights that glow when the device is charging. What is more, it also indicates to you the battery status. Yes, I admit this is more a visual treat than technology, but then as I said, this MP3 player is an eye candy.

Well, I was talking about the shape too. The YP-S2 is designed to look like a pebble, quite reminiscent of the Moto Pebl phone. The aesthetics, therefore, are excellent. To top it all, all the buttons—stop, play, pause, next track, last track—are neatly arranged on the underside, leaving the eye to ogle at the smoothness of it all.

The player supports MP3, OGG and WMA, making it a top buy. However, the 1GB storage limit may leave you a bit miffed (okay, but at an average of 5MB a song, you can fit in about 200 songs—how many do you want to walk about with?).

Most of the alternative music players other than the iPod Shuffle now feature a screen, however tiny, for pictures and videos. That is what is missing in the YP-S2.

If you can live with that, there is just one other downside to this cutesy player—it is not finger-print proof. So with the samosas and the chips that snack on, not to mention India’s myriad fried delights, and the dust around, you could end up with a haggard-looking device in a few days. But I’ll worry about that later. My priority is to get my grubby hands on it first.

So there. If you want to stand out in that college crowd or simply love gadgets, and don’t mind having just another MP3 player, look forward to the launch of the YP-S2 Launch. It’ll be worth it.

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The Above Article was Printed in the Indian Express, on Sunday, April 27, 2008

In the Good Books: MacBook

If you want a new laptop, and have the money, go for the Apple Mac Book

When my my three-year-old IBM Thinkpad gave up on me about three weeks ago, I began my search for a new machine. After all, the Pentium 4 had been replaced with the Core 2 Duo, and my 2 GB RAM machine looked ancient. I had two options: buy another Thinkpad, or choose from an HP, the Asus Eee PC or the Apple Mac. For me the transition from PC to Mac wouldn’t have been difficult as I have been on Linux for years, and in many ways Mac works no differently from the Linux box. So I zeroed in on a Mac.

Today, when you can buy several laptops for under Rs 40,000, one doesn’t have to think of taking a home loan. But with the MacBooks starting from Rs 65,000, I needed to think. Since I haven’t been a Mac user, I needed to put down my requirements on paper. I needed a fast machine which would last at least three years. I needed a machine with a small screen, around 13 inches, and which would play DVDs, not necessarily write them. I also wanted a lot of RAM and power.

Among the Intel MacBooks, there were three models. I whittled my choice to a white model, the cheaper one, which came with a DVD reader, not a writer. I didn’t want to spend another Rs 10,000 on a DVD writer and RAM, but I did buy something called an Apple Care pack for Rs 13,000 that helped me extend the one-year warranty to three years.

Back home, I opened the machine, booted it up and 10 minutes later I had a shiny Mac with a wonderful software. All I had to do now was go online and grab freebies like the Firefox browser, Thunderbird for e-mails and Neo office (the open office port for Macs)—I didn’t want to pay Microsoft for the software.

After using the Mac for three weeks now, all I can says is it’s geek zen. One may face problems with the missing right click (yes, Macs have only one mouse button) and being on a PC that does not have Windows (there is boot camp, and there are things like Parallels / Vmware Fusion) may not make this the right choice for all, but if you are willing to learn, you have a perfect machine that looks and works well.

Still, some of the bigger problems with the MacBook are that even at 2 GB plus of RAM, it can be slow at times. The machine heats up a lot at the base, so it may not be a good idea to work for long stretches keeping it in your lap. The wonderful backlit keyboard is not present in the MacBook, only in the Macbook Pro series. The white Mac has killer looks but I would advise you to go for the black one as it doesn’t get soiled quickly. The web camera and sound are great, but it does not work in a low light conditions. Still, it’s a wonderful machine.

So if you are looking for a new laptop and have the money, go try this one.
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The Above Article was Printed In Indian Express, on Sunday, April 20, 2008

GS

Asus Eee PC v/s HP HP 2133 Mini-Note - Tech 2

This week in My Indian Express Article, I reviewed the HP 2133 Mini Note.

To read the review, click here, or buy the Indian Express, on Sunday, April 13, 2008, Across India.

I know some of you would like to know feature to feature comparison, so here it is

Spec	HP Mini Note	Asus Eee PC
Processor	VIA 1.0~1.6GHz	Intel UMA
Scree	8.9"	7"
RAM	512 ~ 2048MB	512 ~ 1024MB
Graphics	WXGA 1280x800	SVGA 800 x 600 - Unknown
Stroage	4GB SSD ~ 120GBHDD	4GB ~ 8GB SSD
Battery	2.5 Hours	3 Hours
Webcam	VGA	VGA
Bluetooth	Select Models	NO
Weight	2.63 lbs	2.02 lbgs

Facebook - Step by Step - How to figure on

AS most of you would know, I am a big believer of networking, and I spend nearly 1 hour a day on LinkedIN, looking at how I can connect with more and more people, yes, I understand the debate of Quality v/s quantity, but LinkedIn to me is pure business. A few weeks back, I saw a lot of my school and college friends coming up on LinkedIn, and then I saw there were groups, groups that led me to facebook. Now I have been a member (sleeping) of Facebook for ages, but I finally got to go use it, and now I have some good old buddies all lined up.

This week in my tech2 Article in Indian Express, I look at how to make your profile on Facebook, and how to get connected. To read more, click here, or buy the copy of Indian Express on Sunday April 06, 2008, India wide.

GS

Hard Target - External Hard Disks

Last week in my Tech2 Article I spoke about the Pinnacle Video Transfer, and it needs a huge hard disk, if you end up recording a lot of programs, but then how big a hard disk can you get, can you get scalable external hard disks, I look at two options, one from Netgear and the other from Bufalo, in my Indian Express, article this Week. To read more, click here or buy the Copy of Indian Express, this Sunday March 30, 2008, across India.

GS

On the Record - Recording your TV Program without a PVR/PC or VCR

I love watching TV, but with my 24x7 schedules, and major traffic jams while going and returning from work, TV or missing TV is a thing I really don't like. I would have loved to have a TIVO or a PVR, but well they dont' really have good options that work in India, so on my hunt for recording TV I came across the Pinnacle Video Transfer, and it works nicely. To read my review of the Pinnacle box, click here to read it online, or buy the copy of Indian Express, on Sunday March 23, 2008, across India.

GS