Panasonic LUMIX LX3

It has being two weeks since I got this camera. After fiddle around the with the settings and snapping around with it for a period of time, here’s a simple conclusion I got for this superbly great camera.

Panasonic LUMIX DMC-FS6

I remember that I mentioned about my sister lost our old digital camera, the Canon IXUS 55. She accidentally left the camera at school and then it just gone… naturally…

Then, decided to get another camera for her and another for me. After doing some market research. I’ve chosen the Panasonic Lumix FS6 for her.

It is a 8.1MP, lower end, digital point-and-shoot camera. Costs RM530, not including postage fee. Yeap, very affordable and I trust the quality of Panasonic and Leica.

The box is simple. Not very big but enough for all included accessories.

Package included:

Panasonic DMC-FS6 Black unit
Camera case/bag
Battery Pack
Battery Charger (why don’t give a direct wall plug charger?)
2pin plug (2pin tail for your charger)
3pin plug (or perhaps you prefer your charger have 3pin tail)
USB cable
DV out cable
driver & user manual disc
User Manual
Included – 2×2GB Sandisk SD card

Lets look at the camera.

The camera is fairly well made. The body is made of sort of metal, aluminium perhaps (=.=). When the battery is taken out… It weights so light, just around 100g something. The size is pocket-friendly too.

The buttons are just typical. There’s a IA (intelligence auto) button beside the shutter button for quick activate IA mode. Well, IA mode is something like the computer chooses the best setting when you try to capture an image. eg, when u points the camera at a person, it activates Portrait mode.

4:3 ratio

3:2 ratio

16:9 ratio

The 3:2 and 16:9 ratio is just basically crop from the 4:3 ratio… as you see, the width doesn’t changed, what changed is it cropped out the upper and lower part…

Here’s some photos taken on FS6

Simple conclusion.

Pros: 8.1MP, Affordable, small & light, Leica lens, Lumix, not a C*non

Cons: not working well in over-high or low lighting situation, Not very durable, no grip, assembled/made in Ch*na?

Yes, it is a good camera. What’s left to be tested is the lifespan the battery is… because our Canon IXUS 55’s battery turned into a crap after 1.5year of usage… We’ll know as time passes…

Do you have any camera? What do you think about the brands of camera, such as Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic and etc… Do share your experience here.

Getting a New Camera

After my sister lost the camera that my father bought years ago, the Canon IXUS 55. She wanted to get another camera. So do I.

She asked for a low cost point and shoot camera, so I’ve chosen the Panasonic Lumix FS6 for her. A 8.1 mega pixels camera which is great I think, based on my research and other users’ review.

As for me, I’m still in dilemma of which camera to choose.

Panasonic Lumix LX3, a compact semi-pro camera with manual exposure. It is a good camera which received bunch of awards. Robert Tan owns this baby.

Nikon D3000, the new entry level Digital SLR launched by Nikon around 2 months ago. It is an upgrade of Nikon D60…

Nikon D60, predecessor of D3000. Since the price is the same while D3000 is newer, for sure the sellers would need to clear their Nikon D60… a price drop for D60 is expected.

Wish I could have:

Panasonic GF1, newly launched by Panasonic. Micro-Four-Thirds system… well, I don’t know how to describe this thing.. try Goggle or Wiki for better understanding.

The LX3 is the most affordable among all my choices, small size, with manual exposure & HD video recording capability. Both Nikon are DSLR, which means that I could capture great images if I have the skill, you can change the lens to suit different needs, however, both unable to record video. While the GF1 is having all my needs, but pricey…

Kaspersky Internet Security 2010

After using free version or pir@ted version of antivirus for few years… I got myself a genuine Kaspersky Internet Security 2010.

3users package for RM100. KL PC Fair price.. Thanks to my friend who get it for me.

Jackie Chan is promoting Kaspersky lol…

Cooler Master CM Storm Scout Casing (Open Box)

This casing was arrived last week… but due to my mid term exam, this post is delayed..

Chosen Cooler Master’s casing because of their quality, design and the most important aspect, price.

Included bunch of accessories…

Removed both side panels.

Interior view

It got 3 fans – 2x 120mm + 1x 140mm

Drive bays with custom lock(?)… having some hard time to discover how it works…

Front panel

Top view

Overall, the design is very nice. Fully meshed front panel to increase the air flow.

Stealthy looks and cool.

XFX NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250 (OpenBox)

Arrived on Tuesday, for SiongHwa’s new PC.

Originally wanted to buy XFX NVIDIA GeForce 9800GTX+, but the seller recommends this because both has same performance. Checked the specs of both cards, and found that they’re basically the same, while GTS 250 is newer. GTS 250 is the replacement for the GeForce 9800GTX+.

Tech Spec

GPU Engine Specs:
Processor Cores 128
Graphics Clock (MHz) 738 MHz
Processor Clock (MHz) 1836 MHz
Texture Fill Rate (billion/sec) 47.2

Memory Specs:
Memory Clock (MHz) 1100 MHz
Standard Memory Config 512MB or 1 GB GDDR3
Memory Interface Width 256-bit
Memory Bandwidth (GB/sec) 70.4

Feature Support:
NVIDIA SLI®-ready* 2-way/3-Way
GeForce 3D Vision Ready yes
NVIDIA PureVideo® Technology* HD
NVIDIA PhysX™-ready yes *
NVIDIA CUDA™ Technology yes
Microsoft DirectX 10
OpenGL 3.0
Certified for Windows Vista yes

Display Support:
Maximum Digital Resolution 2560×1600
Maximum VGA Resolution 2048×1536
Standard Display Connectors Two Dual Link DVI
Multi Monitor yes
HDCP* yes
HDMI* yes
Audio Input for HDMI SPDIF

Standard Graphics Card Dimensions:
Height 4.376 inches (111 mm)
Length 9 inches (228.6 mm)
Width Dual-slot

Thermal and Power Specs:
Maximum GPU Temperature (in C) 105 C
Maximum Graphics Card Power (W) 150 W
Minimum System Power Requirement (W) 450 W
Supplementary Power Connectors 6-pin

Package included the GTS 250 graphics card, user manual, driver CD, cables, adapters, and a “Do Not Disturb, in Gaming” door tag.

Always love the box art and the graphics card’s design by XFX. By the way, I always choose XFX’s product when it comes to NVIDIA’s graphics card.

still waiting for other parts to arrive…

Online Banking

Back then I could only heard or read how convenient online banking are. Never had any chance of trying out it, until my father started using e-banking provided by Public Bank few years ago.

After I helped him to activate his e-banking account, in 1 months time, he’s able to use it to pay for various payments and bills, such as electricity bill, water bill and so on, everything by himself… By the way, my UTAR’s every payment including admission fees are paid via online banking too… I’m impressed that my father could use it effectively…

Before, I came to Kampar, I applied a personal banking account at Maybank. So that I could get the money through the account from my parents(thank you). At UTAR, it’s best if you have a Public Bank account. I think it’s because UTAR is having some sort of partnership with Public Bank. Therefore, any payments such as tuition fees can be paid easily via Public Bank. So I applied a Public Bank personal banking account too.

I’ve used my Maybank account to pay my telephone bill, Celcom XPAX reload and etc… It’s so easy to use and convenient… No need cash, no need to go to post office/TM point…

So, do any of you tried out online banking?

Twinhead Laptop Back-Pac

When you buy a laptop, normally, you’ll get a mouse and a laptop bag for free. You’ll get even more free stuffs if you buy a laptop during promotion or PC fair, such as USB flashdrive, USB hub, and even USB powered vacuum cleaner.

I didn’t get that much of free accessories since the time I bought my 4937G is not during the store’s promotion time or PC Fair. Anyway, I still got a free laptop bag and a optical mouse which I traded it to Logitech V120 Notebook Laser mouse.

Was really satisfied with the laptop and the mouse, however, the included laptop bag is so disappointing. I don’t really care if the bag looks good or not, as long as it serves it’s purpose well. The major problem of the bag is it’s size. The size is so small that after you put your laptop into it, you’ll having problem stuffing your power cable and mouse into it, don’t even mention about other things… What is the purpose for having a bag that could only fit a laptop inside it, am I suppose to get another bag for my power cable and mouse? It would be annoying to traveling around with 3-4bags…

By the way, I personally prefer a backpack than a briefcase. In terms of safety, a backpack is more safety than a briefcase. While in terms of comfort, carrying a backpack is more comfortable than carrying a briefcase.

After using that crappy laptop bag for a month, I decide to get a new bag for my laptop. Went to the PC shop beside Sitiawan Econsave, name that shop, cause I forgot the shop’s name… As expected, the prices are sky high, raging from unknown branded RM60 to Dell/HP/etc RM150. Even worst, the shop has few choices only, after struggling for few minutes regarding which bag should I choose. I finally decided to buy this Twinhead laptop backpack.

The bag is divided into 3 sections, the front section with several “slots”/mini-pockets for mini-notes, stationery and CD/DVDs. It has a mesh pocket, I think it is for earphones or cables.

Middle section has large space for books or power cables…

Back section for the laptop. It could fit in a maximum 14inch laptop, still have some space for your documents.

The padding of the bag is done pretty well. Interior and exterior are done really good. I like the backside’s padding, the feeling when carrying the bag is so great.

Overall, was really satisfied with this backpack, I could put my laptop, plastic folder, stationery case, 500ml bottle and some stuffs in it. Comfortable to carry around too.

What kind of laptop bag you’re using?