What to Buy on Amazon : HP Stream 7

Not too long ago, HP introduces this nifty little 7" tablet, HP Stream 7 32GB Windows 8.1 Tablet (Free Office 365 Personal for One Year), at an amazing price point : $99. Now you might wonder, there are a couple of Chinese made tablets that also can be had for $99 so what's the big deal here.

First, this tablet runs Windows 8.1. The full version, not the still-born RT in the Surface RT. Second, it has a decent and nice IPS touch screen running at 1280x800 resolution. Most importantly, it came bundled with Office 365 Personal 1yr Subscription. This subscription is valued at $69.99. That alone makes this bundle an excellent value proposition.

That aside, there are a few things you should take note and while the price tag is attractive, we need to keep things in perspective. It is unlikely to run graphics intensive games or do any kind of heavy lifting smoothly, you know, like Lightroom or Photoshop. I exaggerate but you get the idea. Most of these limitations come from the fact that it only has 1GB of memory and a quad core Atom based CPU. We know the Atom is not the fastest and you probably couldn't multi-task very well. However, it should serve you well with the occasional emails, small and straight forward Word and Excel documents, web surfing and Skype.

One other thing to consider is that it's a small 7" screen and without a physical keyboard, you might not find this a very productive tool. You might also have an issue with the small on-screen control elements where you might not be able to say select the menu items easily.

You are unlikely to be able to install a lot of programs due to the small on-board 32GB eMMC. You can, however, expand up till another 32GB via the onboard micro-SD card slot (hidden underneath the back shell). I've seen reports saying that the micro-USB charging port is USB-OTG compatible so there's a chance that you might be able to stick another thumb drive to it.

Read the reviews posted on the Amazon's website to get some more details. I might pick one up and play with it at the end of the day. :)

Parting ways with my Mid-2011 13" MacBook Air

I am selling my mid-2011 13" MacBook Air, simply because I have upgraded to a Pro instead. The Air is purchased on Dec '11, together with AppleCare since day 1. Warranty ends 20th Dec 2014.

The complete specs of this lovely machine can be found directly on Apple's Support website - Mid-2011 13" MacBook Air. Mine is the 128GB SSD with 1.7Ghz core i5 Intel Processor.

Working condition is 10/10. Physical outlook is probably 7.5/10. There are unfortunately some blemishes (likely caused by the palm guard which I have peeled off) on the corners of the palm rest. Pictures at end of post.

I have done a factory reset and it has OS X 10.9.5 on it. It comes with its original packaging as well as all accessories. The power adaptor shows sign of use while the extension is mostly new. I have only used it maybe a couple of times.

Battery condition is good with less than 70 cycles on it and approximately 85% health. The battery has been replaced once under AppleCare sometime last year.

Along with it, I have the Transcend JetDrive 500 480GB SATA III SSD Upgrade Kit for Macbook Air SSD (Late 2010 - Mid 2011) TS480GJDM500. I have since taken this out from the Air and restored it back to its original configuration.

Pictures follows -

The MacBook Air itself.

The blemishes :(

Full accessories included.

The box itself.

Thank you. I hope it finds a new home soon.

What to Buy on Amazon : Newer Panasonic Eneloops and AmazonBasics NiMH LSD

In a previous article, I have penned down my thoughts on NiMH LSD batteries and specifically recommended Sanyo Eneloops. Today, Panasonic should have completed the take-over of, at least the battery division of Sanyo. As a result, you won't be able to find Sanyo branded Eneloops offered by Amazon anymore. There are still Sanyo Eneloops offered by 3rd parties but they may be old stocks.

The latest generation of these great batteries are now Panasonic branded. The 8-pack, Panasonic BK-3MCCA8BA eneloop AA New 2100 Cycle Ni-MH Pre-Charged Rechargeable Batteries, 8 Pack, now cost slightly more. On the bright side, they are now rated for 2100 cycles. The previous generation is rated for 1500 cycles.

The Eneloop XX are now known as Eneloop Pro - Panasonic BK-3HCCA4BA eneloop pro AA High Capacity New Ni-MH Pre-Charged Rechargeable Batteries, 4 Pack. Again, there seems to be a slight price hike over the older version.

With the launch of these newer batteries, Panasonic also introduces a new bundled charger. From the reviews on Amazon, this charger is now capable of charging individual batteries. This means you do not have to charge in pairs anymore! The charger is available for purchase as a standalone - Panasonic BQ-CC17KSBA eneloop Advanced Individual Battery Charger with 4 LED Charge Indicator Lights, Black, or you can buy the bundle pack - Panasonic K-KJ17KHCA4A Eneloop Pro Individual Cell Battery Charger with 4 AA Ni-MH Rechargeable Batteries, 4 pack.

There is a white colour non-pro version of the charger. But as far as I can tell, the only difference is just the colour. The white version is a few cents cheaper but I think the black one has a cool factor to it.

If you find the prices of these batteries too high, Amazon offers you a low cost equivalent, which is probably just as good. The AmazonBasics range come in 2 flavours as well, the standard white coloured cells and the higher capacity black coloured ones. These don't ship to Singapore in the past but now they do.

• AmazonBasics AA High-Capacity Ni-MH Pre-Charged Rechargeable Batteries (8-Pack) - 500 cycles (Typical 2500mAh, Min. 2400mAh)
• AmazonBasics AA Ni-MH Pre-Charged Rechargeable Batteries (4-Pack) - 1000 Cycle (Typical 2000mAh, Minimum 1900mAh)

I'll buy the high cap cells just for the cool look factor alone :)

What to Buy on Amazon : SD/SDXC Cards

There seems to be a slew of deals for SD cards, both the standard sized and the micro version. The major brand would be Sandisk and the most bang for the buck would be SanDisk Ultra 64GB MicroSDXC Class 10 UHS Memory Card Speed Up To 30MB/s With Adapter, Frustration-Free Packaging - SDSDQU-064G-AFFP-A at $37.99 currently. This card is rated Class 10 and Sandisk claim it can do 30MB/s.

Those who wanted more speed will have to go for the Extreme version,SanDisk Extreme Plus 64GB MicroSDXC Class 10/U1 Memory Card Speed Up To 80MB/s With Adapter, Frustration-Free Packaging - SDSDQX-064G-AFFP-A. Sandisk claimed up to 80MB/s and will set you back $69.99.

Transcend is another reputable brand in the States and they currently have a very good offer for the Transcend 64GB MicroSDXC Class10 UHS-1 Memory Card with Adapter 45 MB/s (TS64GUSDU1E). Transcend claimed 300x for this card and at $29.99, it seems to offer the best value.

Lastly, Samsung recently introduced a brand new line of SD cards sporting a bright orange colour. The Samsung Electronics 64GB EVO Micro SDXC with Adapter Upto 48MB/s Class 10 Memory Card (MB-MP64DA/AM) is currently going for $39.99. Samsung claimed a slightly higher speed at 48MB/s.

Before you rush out and buy these, do note that if the 64GBs are SDXC cards and you do need to have a compatible SD card slot on your devices (smartphone, camera or laptop) in order to utilize them. If you're going to feed them to your laptop/PC via a card reader, you'll also need a USB3 capable one to realize the claimed speed.

Current Deals : Kindle Reader

Thanks to Mother's Day (We all love you Mom!), Amazon is running a promo on all the Kindle Reader lineups which starts at just $49!

• Kindle, 6" E Ink Display, Wi-Fi - Includes Special Offers (Black) - $49!
• Kindle Paperwhite, 6" High Resolution Display with Next-Gen Built-in Light, Wi-Fi - Includes Special Offers - $99!

The Kindle Fire lineups get the same treatment too!

• Kindle Fire HD 7", HD Display, Wi-Fi, 8 GB - Includes Special Offers - $119
• Kindle Fire HDX 7", HDX Display, Wi-Fi, 16 GB - Includes Special Offers - $199

I must say these are very attractive prices. On top of that, you also get 20% off selected Kindle accessories.

On the Mac : Macbook Air and Macbook Pro SSD Upgrade Kit

Good news fellow Mac users. A couple of days ago, Transcend announced a series of SSD upgrade kits for some of the Macbook models. Specifically -

• Late 2010 and mid-2011 Air - JetDrive 500
• Mid-2012 Air - JetDrive 520
• 2012 and early 2013 rMBP - JetDrive 720

The JetDrive 500 comes in 240/480GB while the 520 and 720 comes in 240/480/960GB versions. For more details on the specifications and compatibility, you can refer to the Transcend JetDrive Product page. In short, all the non-PCI-e SSD based Macs will find one model which suits it. Transcend said you'll have to wait a while for the PCI-e version for the mid-2013 Air and rMBPs.

The kit comes with all the tools that you need to open up your Mac, be it the Air or rMBP. It also includes a nice little housing where you can pop in your original SSD and turn it into an external drive with a USB3 connector. Follow the video posted on the Transcend page for the installation instructions.

When you're done, do remember to set your spanking new drive as the boot disk and also install the Transcend toolbox software that comes with the kit. This toolbox software will enable TRIM on your new SSD. For those who are wondering why we have to do this - because Apple does not like 3rd party SSDs and will not enable TRIM on them. SSD without TRIM is not the wisest of choice to make.

Initial reviews from some early adopters are very positive, including ease of installation and better performance than the stock Apple SSDs.

Transcend made all these models available on Amazon -

• Transcend JetDrive 500 240GB SATA III SSD Upgrade Kit for Macbook Air SSD (Late 2010 - Mid 2011) TS240GDJM500
• Transcend JetDrive 520 240GB SATA III SSD Upgrade Kit for Macbook Air SSD (Mid 2012) TS240GJDM520
• Transcend JetDrive 720 240GB SATA III SSD Upgrade Kit for Macbook Pro with Retina display (Mid 2012 - Early 2013) TS240GJDM720

At this point, all the base models list at $189.99 and some models has a ship time of between 2-4 weeks. All qualifies for free international shipping to Singapore. Take note that only the 240GB versions are GST exempted while the 480/960GB version attracts import tax.

This is definitely going to give my 128GB mid-2011 Air some new lease of life.

What's New : Amazon Fire TV

Amazon has finally released their much anticipated TV product, known as Amazon Fire TV. It is essentially a beefed up Roku 3 and Apple TV. The unique feature I can see is probably the Amazon Fire Game Controller. They will set you back $99 and $39.99 respectively.

The channels included are the usual suspect : Netflix, Hulu Plus, YouTube, Crackle, Vevo and of course their own Amazon Instant Video, available as part of Amazon Prime. We shall see how well this guy will sell.