GAMES AND GADGETS

Tech news, gadget reviews and how-tos on just about anything and everything.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

SwitchEasy Nude vs. Spigen Ultra Thin Air for iPhone 5

When it comes to cases for iPhone 5, some of you might want to encase your phone in bulky cases to ensure that its safe from drops while others would opt for the minimalist style, preferring those slim and thin cases just to protect the iPhone 5 from scratches and then just using caution to make sure that your phone isn't dropped.

The SwitchEasy Nude and Spigen Ultra Thin Air is in the category of the minimalist cases. Both sports a thin design that won't add weight or bulk to the iPhone 5 but when it comes to best bang for the buck, who's the winner amongst the two?

Protection from Scratches

SwitchEasy Nude Crystal Clear

Spigen SGP Ultra Thin Air

The main reason you would opt for a thin case rather than an Otterbox is so that you could show off the iPhone 5's thin profile and design but still maintain some sort of scratch protection especially if you have the black one which is prone to scuffgate.

Both cases of course offers back protection so its the sides that you should worry about. Spigen's top and bottom side are wide open and there's also space on the volume and mute buttons. As for Switcheasy's Nude case, its only the bottom part that is open but you can easily cover that up because they've included a plastic bottom protector, the only downside to this is that you have to remove it every time you charge.

For me, the clear winner is SwitchEasy Nude as it offers total side protection for your iPhone.

Style

The Switcheasy Nude comes in 12 colors to choose from while the SGP Ultra Thin Air comes in 7 colors. If you're the type to match their iPhone case with their clothing, you'll have far more choices with the SwitchEasy Nude.  

Build Quality

The Spigen Ultra Thin Air is made of soft bendable plastic while the SwitchEasy Nude is made up of hard plastic. The materials used by Spigen seems more durable as the SwitchEasy seems more prone to breaking because of the hard plastic, however, the Spigen has a black rim around the camera hole and it easily popped off.

I would lean towards the Ultra Thin Air on this one but the shoddy black rim that popped off would make this a tie, however, I may have gotten a lemon.

Bang for the Buck

  All of SwitchEasy Nude's colors are priced at $19.99 while the SGP Ultra Thin Air is the same price, you have to add $2 more if you opt for the Clear or Soft model. The SGP Ultra Thin Air comes with a screen protector, their Steinheil Crystal Clear ones which, based on experience, is a top notch screen protector. The SwitchEasy Nude comes with 2 screen protectors AND a back protector as well. Not to mention that it includes the protector for the bottom part of your phone. Both the Nude and the SGP has the microfibre cleaning cloth included and a squeegee. Now the SGP Ultra Crystal Clear screen protector is around $7 worth right there so it seems the SGP Ultra Thin Air might have the best bang for the buck, however, if you're not too particular on your screen protectors, 2 is always better than 1 plus if you're in the market for a clear case, $19.99 sounds a lot better than $21.99.

This is a close one but I have to give this to SwitchEasy Nude.

Winner

I really love the SwitchEasy Nude Crystal Clear. Its just a better case when it comes to scratch proofing your iPhone 5 and yet still maintaing that slim profile. Don't get me wrong, I think the SGP Ultra Thin Air, especially the Soft color would withstand breakage more since its bendable and more lightweight but it just leaves too many open spaces for the scuffgate to rear its ugly head.


Mobilefun.com provided the SwitchEasy Nude Crystal Clear for this review. Check out their website for more slim cases for the iPhone 5 and other smartphones.

Saturday, August 25, 2012

List of stores that sell the Google Nexus 7

Whether you're just too lazy to get off your bum and walk to your nearest Staples, Walmart or Office Depot, or you don't have such stores near you and you don't want to phony up for the shipping cost that the Google Play store charges, whatever your reasons, here are some of the online stores I've gathered which sells Google's latest tablet. Oh, and if you want to slash more out of the price, you can join Mr. Rebates (referral id inserted) or other cashback websites to get around 2-5% cashback from your purchase:

1) Staples - as of 8/25 available in-store only but previously selling online with free shipping. Doesn't accept international credit cards
2) OfficeMax - as of 8/25 out of stock. Previously online only. Does not accept international credit cards.
3) Radioshack - as of 8/25 out of stock, online only. Accepts Paypal.
4) Kmart - as of 8/25 out of stock online. In-store availability varies. Accepts international credit cards.
5) Office Depot - as of 8/25 sold in stores only.
6) Macmall - as of 8/25 out of stock online. Accepts Paypal. No stock in some states.
7) B&H Photo - as of 8/25 out of stock. Accepts international credit cards and Paypal.
8) Adorama - as of 8/25 out of stock online. Accepts international credit cards, Paypal and Google Checkout.
9) J&R - as of 8/25 available in store only. On order from manufacturer. No sales tax except for NY, accepts international credit cards, Paypal, Google Checkout and Amazon Payments.
10) Gamestop - as of 8/25 available online charges shipping though but you can lower your shipping charge compared with the Play Store if you use the 5-10 days option. Accepts international CC but depends on country.
11) Walmart - Out of stock online. In store availability varies. Accepts international credit cards and Paypal.
12) Sam's Club - As of 8/25 out of stock for delivery. Lowest price compared with all stores but needs membership.

Okay, so that's all the stores I've gathered. If you still haven't grabbed one yourself and you're thinking of getting one, then keep checking these stores as stock run out pretty quickly. If you know of more stores that have them in stock, give me a holler in the comments section.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Dual Boot Windows 7 and XP system won't boot-up

Okay so I'm writing this down to help those with similar problems and also to serve as a guide for me in the future in case I forgot what I did. I have a dual boot XP and Windows 7 System on the same hard disk but on different partitions. It was working well for several months until I suddenly got a BSOD and when Windows 7 attempted a startup recovery, I got a black screen and I can't even see the boot manager.

I tried repairing it via the Windows 7 install disk but I still get the black screen after BIOS startup so I tried repairing the other partition with XP although I rarely use the latter. I loaded up my Windows XP install disk and chose repair (not through the recovery console) and THANK GOD! I was able to boot to XP. So now my only problem is getting the Windows 7 side to boot.

I installed easybcd (google it), deleted the boot entries and then manually added everything one and by one and Ta-da I finally got the boot manager and successfully loaded Windows 7.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Cool looking Computer Cases

Fancy an industrial computer? Well to achieve that look on a desktop PC, the simplest thing to do is to change cases or your desktop's chassis. If you're comfortable putting together PC components, achieving a desktop PC with an industrial feel will be easy. Here are my top choices for desktop chassis/cases to help you achieve the industrial look.

ThermalTake Level 10 GT

The Thermaltake Level 10 Modular case is designed by the BMW Group. The design may not be pretty for some but it screams power. It houses 3 200mm fans and one rear 140mm fan, five hot swappable hard drive bays, and is already USB 3.0 compatible. Rest assured that if you're bringing your PC with you to a LAN party, the Thermaltake Level 10 will definitely get you some attention.

Cooler Master HAF



Though the Cooler Master HAF is not as radically designed as the Thermaltake Level 10, it still retains that science fictiony look with an industrial edge to it. It's the traditional rectangular box with mesh design for extra cooling. This case is built to accommodate seven cooling fans, designed also to accommodate a water cooling kit, 5 5.25" drive bay, 5 3.5" drive bay, and 7 expansio slots. It's also cheaper than thermaltake's offer.


Antec Dark Fleet

The Antec Dark Fleet chassis looks like something straight out of Star Wars. It doesn't have the bells and whistles as Thermaltake but it does offer 9 drive bays and accessible knobs to adjust fan speeds.

Well, that's my list. You can find more items from Amazon but Newegg offers more options.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Future Proof your T-Mobile G2

T-Mobile has a lot of Android mobile phones under its sleeve and more to come but probably the most under appreciated phone under its wing is the T-Mobile G2. Looking at its specs, people might shy away from it since it only has an 800 MHz processor while all the new phones nowadays have 1GHz processor and the current trend is dual core processors. But before you completely write-off the G2 or sell it to buy a newer model, there are some ways that can actually future proof your handset.

Overclocking the T-Mobile G2

800 MHz is actually pretty fast and I haven't actually gotten any kinks while running the G2 at stock speed but if you're all about numbers, you can actually overclock your handset to up to 1.4GHz. Overclocking your handset requires rooting but if you're still under warranty you can overclock the T-Mobile G2 with temporary root. Instructions can be found at the link and you can unroot any time. With 1.4 GHz processing speed, the G2 is noticeably speedier and you can now rest assured that your phone is faster than the 1GHz android phones being currently released by Sony Ericsson.

Install FPSE

Sony Ericsson has currently released the XPERIA Play and will be introducing Playstation games in the Android Marketplace for playsation certified handsets. If you want to get in on the action, purchase the FPSE App instead which lets you play PS1 Roms on your handset. You can map keys so you can make use of the G2's physical keyboard and I actually think you're better off with the G2 rather than the Xperia Play esp. if you overclock the latter and you'll have an actual physical keyboard.

Install Custom ROMs

If you don't care about the warranty, you can go all out and permanently root your handset. If you permanently root your T-Mobile G2, you can install custom ROMs. With Custom ROMs you can customize your handset anyway you please; don't like vanilla android? You can install the HTC Sense ROM on the HTC Desire Z. Don't like to wait for the latest version of Gingerbread to be rolled out by T-Mobile? There are Gingerbread ROMs at xda-developers.com. Anything is possible with custom ROMs.

These are just but a few ways to future proof your T-Mobile G2. In the future, more hacks will be possible that would bring out new features on the G2 that you can be sure it will be able to compete with the latest and greatest in a year or two.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

iPhone Nano true or false?

The latest iPhone news is that Apple is about to make a smaller version of the iPhone to appeal to the mass market. Now before you get excited, some anonymous sources were quick to debunk those rumours. 

Now while an iPhone Nano sounds delish, these sources do have a point in stating that an iPhone Nano won't be produced. First, developers would have to rewrite their apps in order to play nice with a smaller screen and the last thing Apple wants is for the iPhone to be fragmented since they've been calling Android that for years.

It is however, more likely that Apple is looking for cheaper components to make the iPhone appeal to the masses. Well, even though it won't be an iPhone Nano we would definitely see a new iPhone this summer.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Best mobile phones to buy this 2011

So you've been lugging around that brick of a mobile phone you have had since the 90s and you're thinking of finally upgrading to a better mobile phone this year. Well congratulations because this year you'll have the latest and greatest the mobile phone world has to offer. Here are the top mobile phones to watch out for.

AT&T

Motorola Atrix 4G


This year, Motorola isn't just cozying up with Verizon but decided to make a killer phone for AT&T as well. The  Motorola Atrix 4G has certainly turned a lot of heads at the recent CES. Not only does it have a dual core 1GHz ARM Cortex A9 processor, 1GB RAM, fingerprint sensor, high resolution 4 inch screen, WiFi 802.11 n, but also a dock that turns your phone into a smartbook once connected to any TV or monitor. Check out this Motorola Atrix review to see what I'm talking about.

iPhone 5

Yes, there will certainly be an iPhone this Summer, it's as sure as Steve Balmer hates Steve Jobs. There's not much info yet but word has it that it will have a new design as well as 1080p video recording maybe? Well, whatever it has, I'm pretty sure Apple fans will make this phone a hit.

Samsung Infuse 4G

I'm debating whether to put this in or not since I thought this might be the Captivate with the added feature of a front facing camera but my mistake. This is definitely more souped up than T-Mobile's version. It has a 1.2 Ghz processor and capable of 1080p video recording not to mention it's one of the three mobile phones that will be compatible with AT&T's 4G Network.

T-Mobile

T-Mobile Sidekick 4G


Yes, expect the Sidekick to make a comeback. Of course, there's nothing concrete to go by except for a few leaks. Word has it that this will be an Android phone and will be made by Samsung. Aside from that no concrete specs but hey, it's the sidekick, I'm sure some people are excited.

Verizon

iPhone 4

Yes, half of us in the US already have the iPhone 4 but the other half, particularly those loyal to the big red, have been patiently waiting for a CDMA variant of the iPhone 4 and finally, this year, their wait has been rewarded. Do I have to delve into the details? Come on! It's the iPhone 4, I'm pretty sure you've heard of it.

Motorola Droid Bionic

And Droid still lives on. If you think the iPhone 4 is so last year (which it is), you'll find solace in the Motorola Droid Bionic which does blazing 4G speeds on Verizon's network. Aside from that it packs a 1GHz dual core processor, HDMI out, high resolution screen, 512MB RAM, and has the feature of simultaneous video streaming on your device and TV.

So that's it. For our international readers, read this list. Of course there'll probably be more coming but they're either under lock and key with the big manufacturer's or still in the minds of their great engineers but rest assured that come the second half of 2011, we'll see better mobile phones, after all, Moore's Law states that it'll only get better.