Netbooks (sometimes referred to as mini notebooks or subnotebooks) are a rapidly evolving category of small, light and inexpensive laptop computers suited for general computing and accessing web-based applications; they are often marketed as “companion devices,” that is, to augment a user’s other computer access. Walt Mossberg called them a “relatively new category of small, light, minimalist and cheap laptops.” By August 2009, CNET called netbooks “nothing more than smaller, cheaper notebooks.”

Recently, there are so many choice for you to choose, from Acer, Asus, HP, Toshiba, BenQ to many others.

They are really small in size, but how reliable can they be? If you ask me which brand will I choose, I will choose Toshiba because of its design.

This definitely suit girls. Pink, light and cute. If getting a netbook is necessary, I would love to get this!

It comes in different color too. Brown looks good too.

Functionality wise, I think for now, most netbooks are more or less the same.

What I like most about Toshiba’s netbook is the design of the on/off button. Simply splendid.

Which brand is more reliable? It’s actually a hard question. But base on my experience, I receive (for warranty claim) more Acer and Asus netbook compare to the other brands. Probably because they have better sales? BenQ is also another patient in the list.

Although base on most netbooks definition, it is said that netbooks are inexpensive, I still think it’s expensive for us living in Malaysia, especially my hometown. The price range is still above 1000 Malaysia Ringgit. Will you pay 1k++ for a piece of small notebook which, in most of the case, carries only one year warranty? They are fragile!

Will you buy a netbook? If yes, what is the specification you will want for a netbook?

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Obvious enough, this is considered as warranty void according to BenQ Malaysia’s warranty policy. The customer kept insisted that he did not dropped nor “abuse” the camera. Complaining that once he switched on the camera, the lens just became like that – stuck.

Look close at the picture above, can you spot the lens is scratched and dented????

Let me quote the most important part of the Policy.

This warranty automatically becomes void under following circumstances:
(a) the product has been physically damaged or rendered defective due to accident, misuse, or abuse, or other circumstances beyond BenQ Malaysia’s control;
(b) use of the product with parts or peripherals not manufactured or supplied by BenQ;
(c) use of the product within an improper operating environment;
(d) unauthorized modification of the product;
(e) the product serial number or warranty seal being removed or defaced;
(f) the product serviced or repaired by non-authorize personnel;
(g) the LCD Panel has cracked internally due to whatsoever reasons

Not like I didn’t want to help proceed on warranty claim. I admit, I’m not good in oral communication. Most people prefer to talk over the phone (I have phone phobia) or communicate face to face. On the other hand, I prefer written communication because you can think thoroughly of what to say over and over again before ink (typing). Furthermore this type of communication has a (written) record, good for future reference. (You can’t record speech all the time unless you have a recorder beside you which is always on when you start talking.)

Maybe I’m really not good in oral communication, as this post title suggested, oral communication is an art! I tried to talk politely over the phone and the customer started to shoot me. Okay I know, it’s human nature to blame others first, regardless of it’s your own fault or not. He even hang up my phone (fuck!). I tried to control my emotion. Oh, I think I need to improve my EQ too.

At last the customer agreed to repair the camera with a charge of RM250 barely for the parts. Thanks to my colleague who is much more better in communication.

I felt bad so I dug an old textbook on business communication. Here is the summary.

Factors that add impact to face-to-face communication:

• intonation of voice
• facial expressions
• gesture
• posture
• movement

To commence effective face-to-face communication:

• Plan what you will say. Prepare supporting notes and gather any relevant documents.
• Consider the person to whom you will be speaking. Take account of their position, background knowledge and experience.
• Speak appropriately to the situation. Be chatty, friendly, informal or formal, etc, in accordance with the situation and the topic.
• Be open-minded. Consider the matter from the other person’s point of view and be as open-minded as possible, but have counter-arguments ready just in case they are required.
• Consider the location. You will feel more comfortable in a familiar environment. Try to avoid distractions like telephone calls or other interruptions.
• Dress appropriately. Your appearance indicates your personality and what you represent.

Listening is also a skill, it’s half of oral communication:

• Prepare to listen. Clear your mind so that your attention is assured, and concentrate on what is being said.
• Be open-minded. Hear what is being said, not what you would like to hear. Appreciate the speaker’s point of view.
• Establish eye contact. This shows that you are listening, as does your posture.
• Avoid prejudgement. Do not prejudge the speaker because of appearance or occupation, or make conclusions about the speaker before hearing what is said.
• Extract main points. Pick out key words or phrases to help fix in your mind what is being said.
• Beware of distractions. Try not to be affected by what is happening around you.
• Give feedback. Learn to give positive feedback verbally and non-verbally, eg. by nodding, smiling, etc, to let the speaker know you are following what is being said.
• Make notes. Record important conversations afterwards – your notes will serve as a useful reminder. Develop your note-taking skills by jotting down the salient points of lectures or meetings.

How about communicating over the phone? As you cannot see the speaker or know what he/she is thinking, the intonation and style of delivery used is very important. Here is a list of do’s and don’ts of telephone effectiveness.

It really takes time to put all those points in actual use. I’m actually a hot tempered person. I have to always control my tone and my emotion as I know what I say will represent my company. So just imagine how hard is it to be an operator (though am not one), or from the company’s perspective – how hard is it to search for a suitable employee to work as an operator.

Sometimes its really hard to communicate with others when you thought its more like common sense. A friend of mine discussed about common sense, which is quite true. Worth a read!

Yea, customer is always right (screw that!).

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This is Gigabyte Geforce 8400GS (GV-NX84G256H) 256MB heat pipe version. The 8400 series (released in 2007) is really old now. But given 3 years warranty means if there’s any malfunction (provided without physical damages) during the 3 years time frame, warranty claim can be done.

Warranty is not 100% good. It so much depends on the supplier. (note: it’s supplier not the reseller) It can also eliminate one’s patience for waiting the return of the claimed item. If new unit is given for replacement, that is a good thing for the customer. However, if the returned item is just sent for repair and still need to wait for two months, it’s gonna pissed off any normal human beings.

On 17th November 2008, I sent this Gigabyte Geforce graphic card (GV-NX84G256H) to the supplier (let’s call it N) for warranty claim, and it was returned on 0th December 2008. (imagine how long you have to wait) The following photo is the returned unit.

Seems like nothing wrong, right? But let me tell you, if it wasn’t my colleague who pointed out the weirdness of this graphic card, I didn’t even notice it! The fan on the graphic card was originally not there. Means, N attached the fan there to solve the overheat problem! Why is this so wrong? Because this series suppose to be a fanless design with heat pipes / heat sink to solve the overheat problem.

Here is a photo for you to compare the original GV-NX84G256H and the modifined version.

I think this model is obsolete already. Therefore, N chose to repair / fix the unit rather than replacing a new unit. However, another supplier, let’s call it S, did something different yet more reasonable.

I sent 3 units of the same said model to S at different times and yesterday I received all of them but were replaced with GV-NX84S512HP. It’s another model with same design, but still 8400 series that comes with 512MB memory. That is really something good for the customer as initially customer bought the 256MB version.

What I’m trying to say is, do not expect your warranty claim item to be returned to you in a short time frame. And new replacement is not always the case. Sometimes, alternative stock replacement will be done too.

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Dad still need the floppy disk drive. There isn’t many choice left if you want to motherboard that has a floppy slot. So I took Asus P5KPL-AM motherboard. And most important is the old data, so I also need to transfer the old hard disk.

I don’t think the noun “technician” fits me, as I do not practice assembling hardware as often as those official technicians, it took me slightly longer time to complete the job. Especially when I don’t have better tools. I always wanted to buy myself a mini toolbox with some useful screwdrivers and pliers to facilitate my “part time job”.

Before I took short course on assembling hardware (my Diploma and Bachelor’s Degree didn’t cover anything on hardware!), and before I worked as an IT support, these (the following image) was like a bunch of messy wires and hardware. Now, I can get the job done ^^

It took me an hour plus to finish all the job including configuration. And this is the final outcome:

This is for my own reference. The specification and price of the hardware (bought on 31st December 2008):

• ATX casing – RM85
• Asus P5KPL-AM – RM175
• Intel Dual Core processor – RM262
• Kingston 1GB DDRII ( KVR6071G) – RM32
• Seagate 80GB SATA HDD – RM135
• LG DVD Writer – RM72
• 17″ Samsung SyncMaster 732NW – RM520
• Genuine Windows XP Home Edition – RM295

Total: RM1,576.00

p/s: I’ve forgotten most of the specific model. Need to check and will update the list some time later.

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Now, a somewhat “advance” concept is here in the market. It’s called the continuous ink. It is a external device (ink tanks) connected to the printer’s cartridge via tiny “tubes”. It is said to be more economy as it allows users to print more then an original cartridge.

The idea is great but somehow it’s not as economy as it seems to be. Problems will emerge after using for some time. This include problems like ink unable to go through the tubes to fill up the cartridge, ink leakage, etc…

Still remember I bought a printer because of the frustration while working? The Company has finally replaced a “new” printer for us. Actually not new. The printer was bought from one of my colleagues as she no longer using that printer. However, the management suggested that we use continuous ink for that printer, instead of using a whole new original cartridge for all times. This printer only stayed in the office for about 1 week plus and now it can’t print anything. The cartridge / print head is moving but nothing is printed on the paper.

If the management didn’t insist to use continuous ink, maybe our printer will still be working fine. Yesterday, our technician colleagues came to rescue the poor printer. By accident, the waste ink spilled all over my colleague’s table and all you can see is black ink everywhere.

Even after cleaning, stain still can be observed. Take a look at my colleague’s table. I bet she is very mad with the situation. The table surface, the edge of CRT monitor and the keyboard…

Take a closer look at the beautiful white keyboard. The keyboard has become Dalmatians! =.=

This is what happen when you want to cut cost on the unnecessary. When it’s time to invest, just go ahead and buy some quality products. Save the hassle of doing all those extra work and save cost and time for other value.

Continuous ink, anyone? Share your experience with us.

Yes, a 640GB SATA hard disk!! Model: Western Digital WD6-400AAKS.

My computer is too old for a SATA hard drive, its motherboard only supports IDE (just imagine how old is my desktop computer, it was bought around year 2003, when I hardly knew anything about hardware back then)

So, I decided to install this new hard drive into Orange‘s computer. We did some cleaning and adjustment to his computer’s hardware and finally placed the new hard drive ^^

The power cable and hard drive all together cost me RM246~ I’m starting to love my job ^_^

Now here’s the question: Why on earth do I need a 640GB SATA hard drive? There’s plenty of games, movies, music that I wish to store in my computer~~ Don’t “waste” the Internet

Note: So far the most problem (base on warranty claim frequency) brand is Maxtor and Samsung.

Speaking about game, have you heard of a new game from the creator of The Sims? It’s call SPORE. You can find out more about Spore here.

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Speaking about digital camera, what will be your priority? Brand? Features? Price? There are several brands around the market and it’s hard to define which is good, which is bad. It’s all personal preference. Nowadays we prefer to have a digital camera, be it DSLR or point-and-shoot. I almost forget something like Nikon binoculars.

There’s this BenQ digital camera DC C740 (not a new model though). If you are having this camera, take good care of its lens. It looks good and you can get it at a reasonable price, offering some fine features. However, there are several cases of crooked lens of this model, other wise, other faulty problems like: no display, display blur, lens cannot return to default position, lens cannot “zoom out”, etc.

What reseller never tell you: Once your camera lens is crooked, the warranty is considered void.

My Two Cents:

I don’t know is it because of the quality standard of this model (DC C740) or other models with same brand, many case reported that the camera lens is crooked. So, handle your camera (regardless what brand) with care. Do not drop it! Bare in mind that once warranty void, also means expensive repair fee.