I know it has been a long time since I post any new article in this website because I was very busy with work. Well now I have some free time, I am getting back up with Sony Ericsson F305 review that I have been using for the past 3 months.

Let’s start with the price it cost me RM 450.00 including the 1 GB micro SD and screen protector. With this price you are getting quite a lot of value too. It comes with 2 MP camera that take video and still picture, integrated micro stereo loud speaker, a large bright 2 inch screen, tri-band, Internet (WAP Push) accessibility, lots of Java games, FM radio and many more. The phone styling looks like “ipod” and with comes with a glossy smooth surface and available in black and white. Size of the phone is reasonably slim at 14.6mm that made it easy to put inside pockets. When considering all the features available and design of the F305 it is clearly targeted at youngsters that enjoy games and music.

The main highlight of F305 is the 11 preloaded Java games that vary from simple puzzle games to platform 3D action adventure. Among the 11 games 3 of the games require motion to play like the Wii so you will be playing Bowling with the phone rather than the keypad so make sure to put on the strap before playing, you would not want to throw away the phone yet . All the games performances are quite good and loading times are fast too considering when they are Java applications which require more processing power.

On the multimedia side, the most impressive part here is the integrated stereo loud speaker which is able to delivery very impressive treble and details but the bass is a bit flat for such a small speaker. Music playbacks are also good with clarity and detail but the FM Radio reception is just the only problems here. Don’t expect to get good reception inside building because can’t really expect those wired earphone antennas to be good with FM reception.

The 2 MP integrated digital camera for a phone camera standard it is consider good with low noise but quite pixilated due to the small sensor size and the performance video and image performance is acceptable.

On the usage side the buttons are smalls and will take quite a while to get use to and the buttons pressed feel solid. The 2 inch screen is so bright that I have to dim it down from the default setting and quite usable on a very bright daylight outside. The screen colours and contrast just look brilliants. The user interface is not really that intuitive or friendly for some frequent settings and have to do with additional clicks just to access it like the phone profiles and SMS otherwise it is pretty much direct access just the matter of getting use to and GUI performance is reasonably fast. The biggest complain here, since this is a slide phone I would expect to easily slide open the phone using my thumb but that is not the case because the phone is made of glossy smooth surface and nearly flat button surface, it is not easy for my thumb to get a good grip and with my sweaty thumb made matter worst so sometimes I have to end up using 2 hand just to slide open. Only after lots of practice then only I am used to slide open the phone but still feel the grip is lacking. The handset speakers (not the integrated loud speakers) sound clear but loudness is a bit short of supply even a max volume. It is good for quiet environment but for noisy environment I have to put it close to my ears to listen and I am not the person who likes to put the headset near the ears for long time due to heat after long usage.

Overall the Sony Ericsson F305 is very well spec cell phone just suffer from a few usage issues like the sliding grip, user interface access, headset speaker not as loud and lack of indication (especially making calls not sure whether connection have been establish so have to keep hearing from the headset and no dim display for any updates so I have to slide open find the updates). I have left out the Internet access using the F305 in this review because I felt it is useless to surf the web with the tiny screen and using the keypad and should be kept for emergency use only. Note that the phone USB cable is not included in the package and have to be purchase separately, bad Sony! But l really like the F305 battery life of 8 hours talk time and 400 hours of standby which means I only need charge the phone once a week or sometimes longer and the battery life can be shown in percentage like 45% battery life left rather than a bar indicator that does not really give people the confident on how long the battery will last but to view the battery life percentage you have search in the phone status menu. Also not forgetting it is also reasonably low SAR at 0.67 W/kg. If you are able to adapt and get use to the minor usage issues, this phone does offer a lot features and the specs are very impressive but I just wish Sony Ericsson can include Outlook email PC sync up with the phone calendar that would be very nice to have.

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5

If you have a headphone with more than 32 Ohm requirement and needed amplification power to run it. The tiny FiiO E5 headphone amplifier seems to fit in the gap to your requirement to get more juice from your ipod or portable player for you headphone while on the move.  Due to the portable player low power profile by design will not have the amplification power to run those high end headphones that need 64 ohm or 300 ohm so even if you plug your high end headphone on the portable player it will sound very soft and lack the umph! to drive the headphone. FiiO E5 was design to address that requirement for people who are on the move with their high end phone and portable player.

The FiiO E5 is a tiny device like the size of a tiny matchbox and the width matching with the ipod nano and same goes with the rest of the styling like ipod nano. The build quality is good and come with digital volume control which can be annoying when trying to quickly turn up or down the volume and feature a bass boast to give more bass to the sound and the build-in lithium ion battery will last up to 20 hours per full charge through USB and lastly come with a clip to hang on. All of this comes with a price of just 20.00 USD.

Most importantly is how does the FiiO E5 sound and if you are thinking that this small little cheap device is able to improve your sound quality from your portable, think again! My test setup was using the Sony A-806 Walkman MP3 and AKG K 701 with 62 Ohm requirement. After making lots comparison with and without FiiO E5 with many 320 kbps MP3s my conclusion, yes it does boast the sound volume and give more bass to the music but sacrifice of sound details and texture. To be honest I would rather use a cheaper headphone with less than 32 ohm with my portable player that can easily sound better than with FiiO + AKG K 701. If you turn on the bass boast it will make it sound even worst. The sound with FiiO E5 is bright and bassy that over shadowed some the music details and even if I crank up the Sony Walkman MP3 to the max on the AKG K 701 it sounded better than with FiiO E5 although very soft.

FiiO E5 is cheap but not cheerful because I feel it does not sound acceptable even though it is cheap, I would recommend spend a bit more on a good pair of headphones that work well with portable player rather than spend on a tiny little box that does not do justice with the high end headphone. Or alternatively you can go for better portable headphone amp from iBasso or Graham Slee. If you are on a budget and needed to something fix the soft volume for the large headphone when on the move, FiiO E5 is the only choice to have.

Overall Rating: 2.5 out of 5

This is the perfect watch for mountain climber and also hiker as it have all the necessary triple sensor capability like altimeter, barometric /temperature and digital compass sensor build in to the watch. The best part of this model is with all the sensors integrated the thickness of the watch remain slim at 11.5mm. It is also design to last for many years thanks to the build in solar panel which Casio call it “Tough Solar” and in theory you no need to change the battery as long there are light source to charge it. So far with my experience with other Casio model with Tough Solar after using more than 2 years the battery charge still remain high level even without putting any effort at all to charge it, just regular wearing. All this thanks to the intelligent Power Saving capability which I recommend you not to turn off which is on by default that will turn off the LCD display after idling for some time without proper light source to charge it. By the way this watch comes with a large LCD number display good for easy reading and 100 meter of water resistant which more than enough even wearing it for swimming and also Electro-luminescent backlight readability in low light. This model come with resin strap or if you prefer metal strap then go for PRG-110T-7V that come with titanium strap and will cost considerately more.

The triple sensor is the highlight for this watch with the integrated Digital Compass that will help hikers plot the locations and with memory store to help keep record. The Barometric / Temperature sensor will provide a good forecast about the weather trend with a line graph to show the trend of pressure for the pass 24 hours. So if you see the trend is going down which means the weather going to be bad as pressure level is lower and possible of rain is very high. Finally the altitude sensor which will keep track of the progress to know how high is it from the sea level. All these capability makes this watch ideal for hikers and highly recommend.

The only cons for this watch is the price, it is not cheap it cost about 170.00 USD for the resin band and about 250.00 USD for titanium strap. Remember for this price you get a lot of features that other watch don’t have and also a solid build quality. I suggest cheaking several shops or online store if you plan to buy because the price difference can be a lot.

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5

The rumor about Nintendo releasing a bigger screen for the portable DSi is now confirmed. This is probably driven by below expectation of the sales of the DSi which was not really well receives as it only comes with built-in camera and also the removal of the cartridge slot that really does not create the attraction or wow factor for people to buy or upgrade. The Nintendo DSi XL will come with 2 x 4.25 inch LCD screen with improve battery life as compare to the normal DSi which only come with 3.25 inch screen but even with the increase in size the resolution of the screen remain the same. It comes with 2 stylus of choice, the new one is bigger and also the existing normal size stylus. Basically the Nintendo DSi XL mainly target for people who want to use it for movies or web surfing with a bigger screen it will make it easier to do so and also RPG games that you have to read a lot.  Sony PSP have been enjoying this competitive edge up until now that Nintendo decide to compete on those areas as well. It will be release in Japan on November 21 with 3 colours and the price tag of 20,000 Yen and will be release to the rest of the world in Q1 2010. Following this announcement do expect there will be price reduction of the existing DSi model for this coming Christmas.

Specifications

• Screen Size: 4.2″ (10.67cm)
• Dimensions: 161mm (W) x 91.4mm (L) x 21.2mm (H)
• Stylus: 1 Style with 96mm length, 1 Stylus with 129.3mm length
• Power: Power supply for DSi, Battery
• Weight: 314g
• Internal Battery: 3 hours
• Battery Runtime:
  Brightness 1 – 13 to 17 hours
  Brightness 2 – 11 to 14 hours
  Brightness 3 – 9 – 11 hours
  Brightness 4 – 6 – 8 hours
  Brightness 5 – 4 – 5 hours
• Preinstalled DSi product:
  DSi Browser
  Moving Memo Pad
  Chotto no Nou o Kitaeru DSi Training: Bunkei-Hen [Brain Training: Arts]
  Chotto no Nou o Kitaeru DSi Training: Rikei-Hen [Brain Training: Science]
  Meikyou Kokugo Rakubiki Jiten
• Input/Output: DS card slot, SD memory card slot, Power supply, Stero Headphones, Microphone

Fuel Cell technology is coming closer to consumer electronics market thanks to the engineers from Toshiba that made this first commercially available miniature fuel cell charger for mobile devices through USB charging. Toshiba call it Dynario and so far only made 3000 units available and can be bought at Shop1048 for 29,800 Yen. The fuel cell charger is running on methanol and requires 14ml of it for full refill and enough to charge 2 cell phones. Dynario charging capability is within the USB spec and weights 280g without methanol. Already safety regulation is preventing user from carrying such device especially the methanol and more particular when flying. This device is ideal for people who are on the move a lot and carry lots of electronic mobile devices but they have to stand the chemical smell of methanol and luckily Toshiba chose to use methanol instead of hydrogen which can be even more dangerous.

If you ever wonder whether it is possible to create all round 3D image view that you have seen in many Sci-fi shows!!! Now it is possible thanks to the folks from Japan that made a prototype concept product that is able to display 3D object and can be view from 360 degree and showcase at recent IFA 2009. At this stage of development Sony have yet to identify specific application usage model based on this technology. The specification of this 360 degree 3D display is 24 bits colour at 96 X 128 resolutions to generate stereoscopic images without having to wear 3D glasses. In this early stage I think it is not possible to put in on mobile devices yet but it will be cool to have 3D Head Ups Display use in car dashboard.

It has been out for a while but I thought it would be a good idea to share what it have been like using the Sennheiser HD 555 for more than 6 months and have over more than 300 hours of music and movie on it. For starters Sennheiser classify this headphone as audiophile grade and suitable for movie and music. So the HD 555 it is considered the mid range of the entry level audiophile grade headphone from Sennheiser and price between HD 515 and HD 595.

The built quality is good and does not feel flimsy or break easily but mainly made of plastic. Ears cap are soft and made of micro fiber clot like material so it would be easy on the skin.  So since this is over the ears type of headphone it very comfortable for long hours of usage. Keep in mind that this is an open type of headphone which mean it will not isolate sound from around and you can hear them while playing music but this type of design in theory offer better sound dynamics because this type of design allow more air flow for more dynamic sound pressure that is required for good sound. It comes with only 6.3 mm plug but include a converter to convert 6.3 mm plug to 1.5 mm plug and when attached with the converter is quite long stretching making it inconvenient to plug to 3.5mm devices with space constraint. It rated at 50 ohm means it can be powered by iPod but have to max out the volume for decent loudness, recommend to use amplifier for better sound. It can be use with PC too since it is just under 64 ohm.

Ultimately comes down to how good it sound, let’s begin by talking about the way it sound are directed at an angle to create sound stage instead of direct into your ears, just like listening from a well position pair of speakers, this obviously is a very good feature to have and make listening feel natural. The HD 555 really shines when it comes to voice; there is a lot of details and depth in the voice that the music doesn’t outshine. Separation between voice and music is very good and does not overlap each other especially when listening to opera musical. Because of this there is a lot details in the sound even guitar string squeaking is also noticeable. The only downside is the bass, it can generate bass for those mid bass sound but it is lacking the deep strong punches for those heavy bass types of music.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5

Specifications

• Nominal impedance : 50 Ω
• Contact pressure : 3,5 N
• Weight w/o cable : 260 g
• Jack plug : 6,3 mm stereo (3,5 mm Adapter)
• Transducer principle : open, dynamic
• Ear coupling : circumaural
• Cable length : 3 m
• Frequency response : 15 – 28000 Hz
• Sound pressure level : 112 dB (1 kHz and 1 Veff)
• THD, total harmonic distortion : < 0,2 %

If you are looking for a good basic cell phone, Nokia 1202 could be the answer for you. The Nokia 1202 was design to be cheap and reliable cell phone for those who just want a basic phone for communication needs. At first glance it looks simple and elegant. This small and slim phone is available in 2 colours variant black and blue/grey. This phone support GSM Dual band protocol.

It feels well build and tough, there are no parts connected loosely that I can see and all parts are attach firmly. Since this phone was design to be cheap so there are also fewer parts. The components are simple big pieces to reduce plastic molding cost. So fewer parts mean there are fewer things to go wrong. The buttons press feels solid and not flimsy. Don’t be despair by 1.3 inch mono colour screen, it has its advantages because in a bright day outside you can still manage to see the screen clearly compare to colour screen because the contract of the mono colour screen is much higher, this good for people who just wants a basic phone and don’t want the fancy GUI. Mind you that the small 1.3 inch size screen display big fonts for easy reading at end of your hand. The front buttons layout is made from 1 piece rubber layer that can provide basic water resistant. The best part of this phone it is the battery life of whopping 9 hours of talk time and 636 hours of standby time which could easily last more than 10 days (subject to your usage) of usage in a single charge by far because average cell phone these days only have about 3 to 5 hours talk time and 250 to 450 hours of standby time. It is also very affordable too; the suggested retail price is RM 135 but I bought it at RM 90. Lastly it is come build-in LED flash light that can be quite handy at times.

There are a few disadvantages, firstly is the price because by adding RM 10 to RM 15 you can get a Samsung basic phone with colour screen on that price range. Secondly, the objective of a basic phone is that it has to be good with the basic stuff like built, look and sound but sadly Nokia only equip it with average speaker on the phone, so it just sound acceptable not really that clear which is important for this class of cell phone. Furthermore for a basic phone like this that only have basic feature it should not have noticeable radiation count from 0.76 W/kg to 1.12 W/kg (depending of the model version) which is consider medium to high when compare to other cell phone on the market.

Overall it is a very good essential basic cell phone for the price even after considering the sound and radiation disadvantages because at this price value it should be consider as a bargain. This cell phone is suitable for people who don’t want fancy stuff that are easily slipped into the pocket and the raw simplicity power it is greatest strength.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5

Note: When I bought the phone the pin that need to contact with SIM card is already broken and can’t be seen. I have to send it for repair after that everything else is fine. Recommend to fully test out the phone at the shop before buying

Specifications:

Operating Frequency

• EGSM 900/ GSM 1800 , GSM850/1900
• Automatic switching between GSM bands

Size

• Dimensions: 105.3 x 45 x 13.1 mm
• Weight: 78 g (with battery)
• Volume: 61.8 cc
• Rounded shape brings the friendly and human feel for comfort and fits to the hand
• Subtle texture on back, which brings a fresh feeling to end user, gives a better grip and it protects the surface from scratches
• Coloured mesh is used on the earpiece area to emphasize the position and give a eye catching design detail
• Slim, round-edged design for a solid grip

Display and 3D

• Main display
• Size: 1.3″
• 96 x 68 pixels
• Black and white