pakdoktergolfblog: Keeping up with Technology...

pakdokter's new Blackberry....

About 3 months ago pakdokter decided to join the thousands who have moved on to using the 'smart-phones'. And what a discovery it was!

Many of the things that pakdokter used to do with the PC or laptop can now be done via the smart-phone. Pakdokter invested in a Blackberry Bold 9700 and apart from the FB and Tweeter, pakdokter also accessed emails from the Blackberry Messenger. The only downside was the small screen which made surfing the net not so satisfying.

At the PC Fair in December, pakdokter and partner stumbled on the Samsung Galaxy Tablet. Pakdokter had seen the I-Pad before but the Galaxy Tablet is smaller and functions as a handphone as well as a camera. Using the Android platform, this equipment again allowed most of the stuff we previously did on the PC or laptop to be carried out on this ultra-portable and mobile device. And pakdokter's partner has decided to make a 'gift' of this device for herself !

the Samsung Galaxy Tablet...

Pakdokter did also consider buying the Samsung Galaxy tablet because the Blackberry smartphone was not compatible for doing online stock-trading. For some reason or other, pakdokter did not manage to download the trading platform on to the tablet device ( although pakdokter did read in the papers later that this could now be done on the Ipad).

Pakdokter had been lugging around pakdokter's 2.5 kg laptop everywhere ( locally and overseas) and was finding it quite strenous to have the laptop back-pack strapped on to the shoulder. With that 'excuse' pakdokter shopped around for lighter laptops - there were a lot of netbooks weighing just about 1 kg but the downside were the lesser quality LCD and slower processors. Most new laptops these days have HD (high definition) screens and some even with Blu Ray disc players!

Pakdokter finally bought ( as a new year gift!) a Sony Viao Y series laptop with a 11.3 inches high resolution screen, run by an i3 processor using the Window 7 Home operating system. And without a built-in DVD player, it only weighs 1.35 kg. This laptop cost about RM2000, just a tad higher than an I-Pad.

pakdokter's new Sony Viao Y series weighs only 1.3kg...

runs with i-3 processor using Windows 7 operating system

HD storage capacity 320GB

Pakdokter had in the past used a Celcom 3G broadband to access the internet while on the run. And quite often the experience was quite frustrating. The download and upload ( especially) can be very slow and frustrating and in some places ( at times even in pakdokter's office! in downtown KL) not even available!

The YTL group recently launched their 4G Wimax 'YES' service with much fanfare and turned many parts of KL blue with their colour and pakdokter decided to sign up this service for use with pakdokter's new laptop. Well, to YTL's credit, pakdokter must admit that up till now 'YES' has kept to its promise. The download and upload time has been faster (YTL claims that it is 4x faster) than the time when pakdokter used the Celcom 3G - in areas around KLSentral where pakdokter lives, the connectivity has been good reaching almost the maximum 5 bars of receptivity. But in pakdokter's office in downtown KL, although the connectivity has always worked, it only reached up to 1 bar strength. Pakdokter has not managed to try out at many other places yet....

Pakdokter also realised how often pakdokter has been upgrading pakdokter's PC and laptop actually. It has been at the rate of once every 2 or 3 years! ( Some people probably do this every year!). But honestly, the technology in IT has been changing ( and improving?) ever so rapidly that it would be nearly imposible to catch up. And this is now also happening to handphone devices.

The 'apparently' good thing though, that despite the advances, the PCs and laptops have actually become cheaper. Most of pakdokter's older laptops cost between RM3000 to RM5000! These days netbooks cost less than RM1000!