On the night of the PC Show 2011, my brother called me and said the D-Link DGS-1008D (which I got back in IT Show 2009) switch in my room is spoilt and there is no power being supplied to it. Went back home, tested and verified that it is the case.

Went down the next day to PC Show 2011 again and got back the same switch, D-Link DGS-1008D switch, for SGD$85. I was expecting them to change the model number since it is totally a new design, but unfortunately it remains the same. This time I got 2 pieces instead of just 1 as I will be placing the additional switch in the living room to facilitate the switch to Fibre Internet.

Box Front View

8 Ports

Switch In My Room

Switch In The Living Room

The Apple 85W MagSafe Power Adapter is for 15″ and 17″ MacBook Pro. Got it in Hong Kong for only HKD$588 (~SGD$93). It is selling for SGD$128 in Singapore!

I am also using a 15″ MacBook Pro for work and I have a power adapter at work, it has been wired so nicely that it makes removing it very difficult and hence I decided to get a spare power adapter that allows me to bring it along when I am on call.

Box Front

Box Open

Box Contents

Apple’s iMac has been refreshed, bumping up the processor to Sandy Bridge while the unibody design remains the same. The last refresh happened in October 2010 where it got bumped to Core i3, i5 or i7 CPUs.

Here is what’s new in a nutshell:

• Sandy Bridge Quad-core Intel Core i5 and i7 processors across the line.
• Thunderbolt technology for high-performance peripherals with data transfer rates up to 20x faster than USB 2.0 and up to 12x faster than FireWire 800.
• FaceTime HD camera, previously known as iSight
• New AMD Radeon HD graphics processor with performance up to 3x faster than before

21.5-inch: 2.5GHz – SGD$1,648

• Intel Core i5 2.5GHz Quad-Core
• 4GB (two 2GB) memory
• 500GB hard drive
• AMD Radeon HD 6750M with 512MB
• 1920 x 1080 resolution

21.5-inch: 2.7GHz – SGD$2,048

• Intel Core i5 2.7GHz Quad-Core
• 4GB (two 2GB) memory
• 1TB hard drive
• AMD Radeon HD 6770M with 512MB
• 1920 x 1080 resolution

27-inch: 2.7GHz – SGD$2,348

• Intel Core i5 2.7GHz Quad-Core
• 4GB (two 2GB) memory
• 1TB hard drive
• AMD Radeon HD 6770M with 512MB
• 2560 x 1440 resolution

27-inch: 3.1GHz – SGD$2,748

• Intel Core i5 3.1GHz Quad-Core
• 4GB (two 2GB) memory
• 1TB hard drive
• AMD Radeon HD 6970M with 1GB
• 2560 x 1440 resolution

I thought this would be the iMac I will be getting, but wasn’t impressed with the change and pricing. So I guess I will wait for the “proper” refresh as in change of design and USB3.0! Anyway just for fun, here is my ideal iMac specifications based on the current generation:

27-inch – SGD$3,702.60

• Intel Core i7 3.4GHz Quad-Core
• 8GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM – 2x4GB
• 1TB Serial ATA Drive
• AMD Radeon HD 6970M 2GB GDDR5
• Magic Trackpad
• Apple Keyboard with Numeric Keypad (Int’l English) & User’s Guide (English)
• AppleCare Protection Plan for iMac- Auto-enroll

I wanted the “1TB Serial ATA Drive + 256GB Solid State Drive” but it is way too expensive (SGD$813.20 more). Not a fan of Magic Mouse, I will probably end up using a Razer Mouse instead and hence I opted for the Magic Trackpad. I am also not a fan of Wireless keyboard so I opted for the wired keyboard. AppleCare is a must for all Apple computers because the parts and labor are way too expensive.

Apple iMac: Technical Specifications
Apple Store (Singapore): iMac

Li Xiang and I was invited to the HP’s Everybody On Blogger event located at The Gallery in Hyatt Hotel on Tuesday where they showcase to us 5 new consumers products:

• HP Pavilion dv4
• HP Pavilion dv6
• HP TouchSmart610 Consumer PC
• HP Pavilion g4
• HPx2301 Micro Thin LED monitor

Everybody On is HP’s new marketing campaign. This new campaign is the next chapter of HP’s marketing vision, spanning music, fashion, community activism, business and is supported by an integrated marketing campaign featuring print, broadcast, online and social media, and builds on the highly acclaimed “The Computer is Personal Again” campaign.

The new campaign celebrates how people around the world are using HP technology to connect to their world and achieve their personal and professional passions, and features passionate individuals such as 12-time Grammy Award winner Alicia Keys and singer, song-writer and composer JJ Lin. Both share a passion for music and recognize the importance of technology in enabling their audiences to hear their songs exactly as they recorded them.

Read More (770 More Words, 5 More Images, 5 More Videos)

Apple’s MacBook Pro has been refreshed, bumping up the speed and processor while the unibody design remains the same.

Here is what’s new in a nutshell:

• New 2nd generation Intel Core i5 for entry level MBP 13″ and Intel Core i7″ for higher end 13″, all 15″ and all 17″ models
• Integrated Intel HD Graphics 3000 processor for all models and dedicated AMD Radeon graphics processors for 15″ and 17″ models
• Thunderbolt aka Intel Light Peak. So basically your Mini DisplayPort can transfer data on top of video signals
• FaceTime HD camera, previously known as iSight
• New 2nd generation Intel Core i5 for entry level MBP 13″ and Intel Core i7″ for higher end 13″, all 15″ and all 17″ models
• The new SDXC card slot on the 13″ and 15″ models supports up to 64GB cards

5 models are available, 2 for 13″, 2 for 15″ and 1 for 17″:

13″: Core i5 2.3 GHz (Dual-Core) – SGD$1,648

• Intel Core i5 2.3GHz dual-core
• 4GB of 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM
• 320GB SATA HDD (5400 rpm)
• Intel HD Graphics 3000 (384MB of DDR3 SDRAM)

13″: Core i7 2.7 GHz (Dual-Core) – SGD$2,048

• Intel Core i7 2.7GHz dual-core
• 4GB of 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM
• 500GB SATA HDD (5400 rpm)
• Intel HD Graphics 3000 processor (384MB of DDR3 SDRAM)

15″: Core i7 2.0 GHz (Quad-Core) – SGD$2,488

• Intel Core i7 2.0GHz quad-core
• 4GB of 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM
• 500GB SATA HDD (5400 rpm)
• Intel HD Graphics 3000 (384MB of DDR3 SDRAM)
• AMD Radeon HD 6490M (256MB GDDR5)

15″: Core i7 2.2 GHz (Quad-Core) – SGD$2,988

• Intel Core i7 2.2GHz quad-core
• 4GB of 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM
• 750GB SATA HDD (5400 rpm)
• Intel HD Graphics 3000 (384MB of DDR3 SDRAM)
• AMD Radeon HD 6750M (1GB GDDR5)

17″: Core i7 2.2 GHz (Quad-Core) – SGD$3,398

• Intel Core i7 2.2GHz quad-core
• 4GB of 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM
• 750GB SATA HDD (5400 rpm)
• Intel HD Graphics 3000 (384MB of DDR3 SDRAM)
• AMD Radeon HD 6750M (1GB GDDR5)

Apple MacBook Pro: Technical Specifications
Apple Store (Singapore): MacBook Pro