Boredworkers.com

Just got back from a 4 hour stint at PIKOM PC Fair in Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre. My original intention was to subscribe to HardWare Magazine. They were giving away an 80GB Samsung Harddisk for the first 100 subsribers on each day of the fair. Unfortunately when I arrived at 1.30pm, the units had already been distributed. Apparently, they ran out of stock by 12.00pm. According to the lady at the counter, people were queueing since 10.30am and the line stretched from hall 3 to hall 5 where the HWM booth was located. Anyway, all was not lost.

Hall 5 is home to magazine publishers and HWM were not the only ones offering great deals with their subscriptions. Across the lane was PC.com’s booth. They were promoting two magazines, PC.com (RM10.00 an issue) and Digital Camera and Photography (RM9.50 an issue). They had two packages available.

Since I wasn’t in need of a new DVD burner (my PC motherboard restarts when burning a CD, so it isn’t much use anyway) or the DVD player, I decided to subscribe for PC.com and get the nifty free gifts that came along with it. After standing in line for 90 minutes, we finally got our turn at the counter. After paying the subscription fee, I got my goody bag which contained the magazine along with a host of items. I also received a Notebook bag as a lucky dip prize. Really don’t know what I’m going to do with it since I don’t have a notebook at the moment but I’m sure we’ll figure something out. On to more important matters.

Edifier MP220 Multimedia Speakers

I just took it for a test drive and damn it’s sweet. Retailing for about RM120.00 (USD32.00), the MP220 by Edifier is a sleek one piece portable speaker set with Apple inspired designs. It comes with a nice soft carrying pouch and the stand flips around and acts as a cover for it’s twin speakers when travelling. The package also includes an AC power adapter, a USB power adapter, and two audio cables.

Volume is controlled via the audio input device. There isn’t a manual override. So be sure to turn down your device (e.g. PC, or player) volume before plugging in the speakers. From the size of the speakers, I wasn’t expecting it to produce anything particularly spectacular. Let’s just say that everyone in the office was surprised when the song in my play list started up. It song came through loud and crystal clear. So loud in fact that I nearly fell off my seat.

Aside from the sound quality, I’m loving the Edifier MP220 for its portability. The dimensions are small enough to fit in my trouser pocket. I think this is makes a great complement to a notebook. The USB adapter allows the speaker to function without a wall socket power supply. However, drawing power from the USB port would mean draining the power from the portable device. An additional drawback to that would be that the sound quality suffers due to the unstable nature of the power source.

Aztech FS50 MP3 Player

I’ve always figured Aztech to be in the market for communications and network peripherals. Didn’t know that they were producing MP3 players. The FS in Aztech’s FS50 MP3 Player stands for Fun Series. Touted as the world’s smallest MP3 Player, the cube shaped FS50 is indeed a sight to behold. My first thought when I first saw the package was, “That can double as a die if we ever need one“. It weighs a measly 32 grams. Even the earphones were heavier than the unit itself! The FS50 comes in three storage sizes available (128MB, 256MB, and 512MB) and a variety of colours. The 256MB model that I have retails for about RM198.00 (USD52.00). It comes with a built in lithium ion polymer (Li-poly) rechargeable battery that provides up to 10 hours of continuous play for 2 hours of charge time.

I think that the package is pretty neat. The downside to the small body is that it does not have a screen. That means that in order to view and edit the playlist, you’ll have to hook it up to a computer. This is done using a special USB cable that comes with the player. Unlike most MP3 players that comes with an audio port and a USB port, the FS50 employs a two in one audio port for charging/file transfer and audio output. In other words, you won’t be able to listen to music while the player is plugged into the PC. Since the USB cable connects to the audio port, it is obviously not your standard run off the mill cables which makes it a little inconvenient.

The earphones that come with the player is a little short for me. It barely reaches my ears when I put the player in my pants. But then again, that’s true for most earphones in the market anyway. So it’s probably my fault for being tall. That’s one of the mysteries that I’ll never understand. Why don’t they make the wires longer? Perhaps it’s economics, or perhaps shorter wires are easier to manage.

Another downside is that the unit does not support a standard playlist or shuffle. Songs begin to play from the beginning and in alphabetical order. That means if you stop and switch off the player, the next time you use it, the play list will start from the beginning instead of where you left off. If you want songs to play in a particular order, you’ll have to rename the files to the alphabetical order in which you want them played.

Anywho, controls on the cube includes a crosspad for moving along the playlist and controlling the volume, a button for recording, and another for playing/pausing. Working the controls takes a little getting used to without the visual input but the simplicity of the design makes it easy to learn. Audio quality is on par with other entry level MP3 players in the market. For me, it’s great for the size, weight and simplicity.

That’s all folks
I’m happy with my magazine subscription. The electronic gadgets that come with it is an added bonus. Something for me to fiddle with while I’m free. The speakers I’ll leave in the office. Not exactly the same as the Altec Lansing subwoofer set that I used to have in the office but it will suffice for watching movies/anime and listening to some music during those dull moments. The MP3 cube will be keeping me company on my gym sessions. It’s light and small enough that I won’t notice it.

A year’s subscription to PC.com magazine for RM120.00 with all the great free gifts thrown in was a steal. If you’re reading this right now and would like in on the action, head on down to the PC fair right now. Offer valid while stocks last.