Balanced

Now, as I said before my notebook configuration was not balanced. So I replaced the internal HDD which was a Samsung spinning 120GB at 5400rpms. I replaced it with a Seagate spinning 250GB at 7200rpms.
The good part is that I cannot feel vibrations as I would have expected from a faster hdd. Even the noise when stressing it out seems the same. A little more pleasant I might add.

Now, the REALLY good part is that I can now play flawlessly an 1080p HD movie using VLC. Without any additional codecs or software/players. This is exactly what I wanted.
Also, if I remember correctly, I can say that I gained 10MB/s transfer rate.

And, Windows 7 agrees with me.



And now I have a balanced system.
V

Mai mult loc

Presat de mesajele primite de la sistemul de operare cum ca nu mai este suficient spatiu, atat de la desktop cat si de la notebook am decis ca e timpul sa iau inca un hdd.
Peste doua zile:
Nu am stat sa caut multe teste...la aceasta capacitate nu sunt multi competitori...Samsung era mai ieftin dar si mai putin bun, Seagate a inceput sa aiba multe, multe probleme si l-am ignorat...singurul oponent viabil era fie un Hitachi, fie chiar un WD Caviar Blue.
In final m-am hotarat repede pe un Caviar Black. Oricum diferentele dintre cele doua nu se observa day to day. HDTune spune un maximul speed de 109 MB/s.
//In acest moment am ajuns, per total in desktop, sa am 2TB.

Coincidenta face ca fix in aceeasi zi sa vad un alt hdd:
Este un Seagate de 40MB. Si inca merge.
V

Din nou stelist

Dupa ce ieri am pus mana pe ram, astazi mi-am ridicat volumul I al cartii SuperSteaua scrisa de Andrei Vochin. Cartea am primit-o prin posta, dupa ce am dat sms taxat cu 4 euro. Am fost sunat pentru a spune adresa la care vreau sa fie trimisa si dupa o saptamana si ceva parca.


Eh si spre marea mea surpriza si fericire, datorita unui 'tip' primit de la cineva m-am dus la un chiosch de ziare unde am gasit si volumul II cu care m-am pricopsit in aceeasi zi cu volumul I.


Happy happy. In weekend-ul asta vreau sa le termin.
V

Part of a bigger plan

The first step in building a better computer was made. Yesterday night I was holding in my hands a dual channel kit 2* 2GB Corsair XMS 2 running at 1066 MHz with 2.1V bumped in them.

These two pairs will be used in my future configuration alongside with another one later on.

Currently my PC configurations has a pair of these and a pair of the older ones, Geil 2*1 GB running at 800MHz. So, for now I have 6GB of RAM running at 800 in dual channel. Later I will have only 4 at 1066 and even later 8GB at 1066.





In these time of crisis there was no way I could go with i7 and DDR3. Perhaps next year.

A venit Mosu'. Mai devreme. Si mai gras.

Cuvantul exagerat e prea putin pentru situatia actuala...
Pe scurt, a venit Mosu' cu... uuuuuunnn........SUBWOOOOFER!
Povestea, pe scurt: am decis sa iau subwoofer activ din varii motive. Si am ramas chitit acum cateva luni (cred) pe un JBL BassProII. Azi insa, dupa ce m-am consultat cu un specialist am decis sa nu il iau. Primul motiv: E prea mic. Al doilea, are putere mica (60-70W reali). Al treilea si cel mai tare...carcasa este de plastic.
Astfel ca am acceptat oferta de iarna de la Be-loud. Un subwoofer activ Juice (A12) + cabluri + reducere 50% la montaj.
Ideea este ca eu practic habar nu aveam ce cumpar. Am mers pe mana lor pentru ca am mai facut asa o data si am fost multumit si am zis sa mai incerc inca o data...
Si m-am trezit dupa ce am terminat comanda cu o cutie extra-large in care se afla subwoofer-ul. Si care de abia a incaput in portbagaj.
Las pozele sa zica totul:



Despre el...ce sa zic...500W adevarati...1100 sau 1200W maxim...difuzorul are diametrul de 30cm.
Mai multe chiar nu am ce, decat dupa ce il montez si il aud.

Cert este ca trebuie sa recunosc, dimensiunile sunt prea mari. Ocupa prea mult spatiu din portbagaj, iar pentru masinuta mea...e prea mult.
Ma consolez cu gandul ca o sa se potriveasca de minune cu viitoarea mea masina...cat despre portbagaj...sunt tanar frate! n-am nevasta, n-am copii, n-am asa mare nevoie de portbagaj.
Acum sa ma prostesc si eu sa imi fac damblaua, ca mai tarziu....

V

Legenda Steaua

Da, am cumparat cartea "STEAUA - Legenda unei echipe de fotbal" si ma bucur ca am facut asta! E groasa, e grea, e de calitate si se gasesc multe informatii utile si placute multor fani. In special celor mai "vechi" care vor rememora anumite momente, faze, jucatori.


Cea mai tare faza a facut-o maicamea, cand i-am aratat cartea, si am pus-o pe masa. M-a intrebat de unde am luat-o, a rasfoit-o un pic si m-a intrebat:
- Cat ai dat pe ea?
- 100 lei
- Pe criza asta?!
- :))

V

DIESEL POWER

Scriu acest blog plin de entuziasm si fericire. Pentru prima data de cand conduc masina am decis ca e timpul pentru ceva "improvements".

Am avut de ales intre mai multe lucruri. Am decis sa incep cu sunetul. Se stie ca sunt relativ pretentios la calitatea sunetului iar ce aveam eu era sub orice critica. Mai exact aveam un casetofon ( da, am scris corect) Kenwood. Puterea data era de 40W x 4. El era chiar ok, singura mare problema era suportul de caseta in loc de cd.  Asa ca l-am inlocuit cu un MP3 player Pioneer.

Culorile dupa cum se vede sunt albastru si rosu :X. Cel mai important este ca detine o mufa pentru auxiliar, unde pot sa imi conectez ipod-ul si astfel nu imi mai fac griji cu numarul de cd-uri. 

A urmat apoi o dezbatere lunga. Am discutat cu mai multi despre boxe, amplificatoare si subwoofer. Intr-un final m-am decis pentru niste boxe mai scumpe si atat.

 Alternativa consta in niste boxe mai ieftine + amplificator + subwoofer. Am refuzat sa instalez subwoofer-ul din cauza spatiului pe care il ocupa in portbagaj. 

Au urmat apoi boxele pe fata. Care sunt niste HELIX E 106 Esprit. 

 Specificatii: 

difuzoare coaxiale pe 2 cai

diametru: 16,5 cm

con acoperit cu fibra de sticla

tweeter 19 mm silk dome orientabil la 25º

putere: 50W RMS (100W max)

raspuns in frecventa: 55 Hz - 22 kHz

sensibilitate: 91dB (1W/1m)

impedanta: 4 ohmi  

Au urmat boxele pe spate, MTX Audio THX653

Specificatii:

difuzoare multiaxiale pe 3 cai

diametru: 16,5 cm, tweeter 13 mm + supertweeter

putere: 65W RMS (260W max)

raspuns in frecventa: 65Hz - 22Khz

SPL: 92 dB/2,83v/1m

impedanta: 4 ohmi

con de polipropilena

bobinaj de aluminiu

Cam asta ar fi de scris. De auzit insa...e alta poveste :)

Multumirile mele lui Wabit pentru sfaturi si teoreticizare, lui Pitzy pentru ajutor la montare si dezmembrare masina si celor de la Be-Loud care au fost foarte rapizi, atenti cu clientul si au lasat o impresie foarte buna. Ii recomand cu caldura! :)

V

ps. Probabil ca in viitorul apropiat va urma o antifonare a usilor sau ceva in acest sens deoarece pe la nivelul de sunet 40 de la player vibreaza tot, usi geam tot si cateodata produc un zgomot urat. (ah si nivelul maxim al player-ului e de 63 :)) )

Mereu conectat

Ei bine, din acest moment pot sa declar ca aproape oriunde m-as afla am posibilitatea sa fiu conectat la internet.

Cand sunt acasa am, evident abonamentul de internet pe cablu. Cand sunt la munte la fel.

Cand sunt la facultate, pot sa ma conectez fie de la calculatoarele din laboratoare, fie cu ipod-ul la unul din hotspot-urile publice.

Iar acum, cand de exemplu, sunt in drum spre Sinaia iar ai mei sunt la Careffour la shopping, eu pot sta linistit in masina deschid laptop-ul si ma conectez prin Vodafone Mobile Connect

It's so preety :))

Dispozitivul functioneaza asa cum trebuie, din prima si foarte usor. Este compatibil si cu XP si cu Vista si cu Mac OS X. Instalarea a decurs fara probleme, conectarea la fel. Imediat am facut testul de viteza si era corespunzator abonamentului. Momentan l-am luat pe cel mai mic de 1Mbps. Faza tare e ca am trafic nelimitat. E drept, cica ar reduce viteza dupa 1GB de date transferate dar chiar si asa, a fi mereu conectat e ceva. Si da, merge si in afara prin roaming. 

Ah, si primele 6 luni am 50 sms gratuite in retea. Ma rog neinteresant asta. Modemul nu a costat nimic deoarece am facut abonament pe 2 ani. Taxa de anulare a contractului e de 260 euro :))

Si cam atat e de zis. Il bagi in calculator, te conectezi si gata. Simplu si frumos. Si cu un abonament mai mare as zice chiar si rapid :P. 

V

Another Amazon Order

Exactly on the 12th of September the local postal office notified me that I have received a large package. I new it was from Amazon and the next day my dad went to pick it up because I was too lazy.

Here it is: 

This order though has some history. When I first decided to take these books it was a couple of month ago. Back than I knew I will pe going to Spain and after that to the mountains so it would be pretty hard for me to pick them up when they would have arrived. So, instead I send them to Adrian.

Everything went smooth. Until one day when he went to the postal office to pick it up and he couldn't because the address from his ID card does not match the one from the order. (I send the books to where he lives here in Bucharest, not were he was born) 

Nevermind, after several failed attempts, he managed to get hold of the ID with right address. But, surprise! The order was sent back :|

Then I waited for Amazon to give me a sign that they received the order back and to ask me what happened bla bla. It didn't. Or I didn't wait long enought. It doesn't matter.

Bottom line is that I explained to them the hole situation and in 24h they send a very nice e-mail with their apologies (althought it was not their fault) and they made a new order with the same stuff but to my address.

And the order arrived faster than usually. It was supposed to arrive somewhere around the 20th of September, maybe even 24, but it got here on the 12.

For this, I salute Amazon and their policies. If more companies like this one would exist, the world would be a better place.

V

Heroes

This just came in from Amazon :X :X :X


























:X
V

Sennheiser MX75

Another thing I bought from Germany. These stereo headphones.

There are better than the original headphones from apple.
There are moisture resistant.
They have a twist-and-go system which makes them harder to fall, thus great for running.
They are green.

Running has changed my life. And I am sure that the Nike+ shoes, Nike+ Sportband, Belkin Armband and Sennheiser MX-75 will help me getting faster, stronger...better.

V

ps. They sound really good with: Scorpions - Rock you like a hurricane.

SanDisk Cruzer micro 8GB

Another thing I bought from Germany is this USB stick.

I previously owned, and still will, a SanDisk Cruzer Titanium. Unfortunately this one has only 1gb but I will keep it because of it's virtually unbreakable case and use it to store any important files, documents I want.

This one, has the same retractable cap which is great because you don't have to worry about losing anything. It has 8gb, good speed as with all Cruzers and it also has U3 Software. This is co-designed by SanDisk and it offers Skype, OpenOffice, antivirus(McAfee) and other programs and games on-the-go. It really is a knock-out feature from where I stand. Right now I selected a file and transfered it with 7mb/s. And it can sure go faster. About two times faster.

Previously owning a flash memory from the same producer and from the same line, I can only say that it meets my expectations.
Also, I'm happy that I got it at a 'back-to-school' offer with a 30%+ discount ;).

V

WD MyBook Essential Edition

One of the things I bought from Germany is an external hdd.

Now that I arrived home, I got to get it out of the box and use it.

First of all, I already had in head the plan. I plugged it in, drivers were installed automatically, formated it to NTFS, had it organized (this meaning lots of folders, sub-folders, a whole familly of folders) and filed it up.
This thing has 500GB. And I believe it is enough for now. In the future I will probably buy another one and put them next to each other to look very nice. Speaking of looking, the box is very dust and fingerprint magnet. Much like the WD Passport. But it's not crucial because it's for storage not mobility.
Anyway, performance wise it is great. It does not get too hot, the hdd is silent and I sometimes even get 60MB/s writing speeds. Mostly I get around 40.

For me is great. I have on it every movie, tv-show, some music, many photos on it. And it performs very nice. Yes, it does not have, firewire 800, e-sata or ethernet or all of them, but I don't need them. Every now and then when I will remember I'll plug it in and upload some new things. Otherwise, you will find it on my bookshelf.

V

Upgrade

It was time for an upgrade for my PC. This time though, no internal component changes. I choose to buy a new wireless router. The first problems I encountered were with the signal. For no reason at all, it stopped transmitting data. Moreover, it security protocols were very old and it had a nasty habit to loose every configuration made.
Also, after discovering that my computer were actually connected, network-wise, I made a simple test. Using the notebook, I tried making a live streaming of an HD movie. It didn't work - it stopped every 2-3 seconds. Practically, you couldn't see the movie.
I said, maybe it's normal so let me try a SD movie. For my surprise...although it ran better the sound kept interrupting and the image also from time to time. This was the last drop.
So, I got a new one. After installing it(physically) I started the setup. First was the PC. No problems. Then the notebook. No problem. The first test was with th SD movie. Again, no problems. A big smile on my face. (I hadn't had a change to test an HD at this time, sorry). The next and final step was the internet.
Here I had some problems, not because of the faulty router of anything but the internet provider. I called them to inform of the recent hardware change, they asked for my modem MAC but the guy said that his computer shows only the TV service offered here, not the internet one. Until everything is sorted out, I have to stay with the old one so final impressions are still to be made.

L.E: Happy! Today the provider gave me a go and now the internet is running on this new piece of hardware.
Plus, i tested streaming from network an HD movie and worked like a charm this time, unlike when I had the old router. Very glad for my purchase.

New keyboard

I recently bought a new keyboard. Actually I was forced to because in the past, I owned a Logitech MX5000. Keyboard and Mouse connected to a bluetooth 2.0 hub. However. I received another mouse, the new G5 from Logitech(wired, gaming mouse). I couldn't say no, so I had to 'retire' the one from the kit.
So there I was, with one keyboard and two mices. I couldn't let go of the wired one so...I had to buy a new keyboard.

There it is! It is the Logitech's G15. I also liked the first version but it had a couple of flaws that bothered me. This one doesn't. I like it very much and the only small problem I have is with one small applet which doesn't work very well with Vista, yet. I fired up Command & Conquer: Tiberium War and it was niiice :D (btw, I heard Red Alert 3 is coming,yupi!)
Although, at first my folks were agains the idea, after I showed it to them, they changed their mind.
Now, all that that I have to do is to sell the other kit and after I'm back from the holiday I can start doing some serious damage >:).
V

BIGFOOT

As fi vrut eu sa scriu o poveste despre Bigfoot. De fapt si de drept scriu acest post pentru a-mi exprima frustrarea.

Mai exact, am fost azi la InterSport unde, spre fericirea mea am gasit atat clapari cat si patine. Aveau cateva modele asa ca m-am uitat sa vad care imi plac mai mult. Dupa ce m-am decis, a venit circul:

Intai cu patinele. Cel mai mare numar pe stoc? 44. Buun. Poate e aceeasi situatie ca la pantofi. La adidasi port 12 ( aprox 46 nu stiu exact) iar la pantofi imi sunt buni 44. Zis si facut. Iau dreptul, il probez...ciuciu. Nici nu incapea piciorul.

Am trecut la clapari. Vine domnu care se ocupa cu zona aia ma intreaba ce model ma intereseaza. Ii arat vreo 2 si ma intreaba ce numar. Stiind ca actuala mea pereche de clapari e 46 l-am intrebat de un 47. Pe langa faptul ca a facut o fata cand a auzit, mi-a propus sa caute ORICE model numar 47 :)).
Dupa cateva minute se intoarce cu o cutie; clapari numarul 46 1/2. (buna idee, zic eu). Un pic entuziasmat, ii probez si..nimic...era prea mici. Ca lungime. Culmea e ca nici nu erau foarte scumpi spre deosebire de alte modele, si erau si mai buni tehnologic decat cei pe care ii am acum insa...erau mici.

Concluzie. Nimic nou. Aceleasi probleme cu masurile cand vine vorba de pantaloni sau pantofi sau orice altceva in afara de tricouri si adidasi.

Gaming Headset

I was interested in buying a pair of gaming headset for my pc as a cheaper alternative to some other gifts I had in mind. Not knowing much about them, I looked up companies that produce them and I found a few: Razer, Zalman, Plantronics etc.
As always, models I liked and were described as good in different reviews were prohibitively expensive.
After a sort of, 'let it go and find something else' I turned my attention to Unreal Tournament 3 and the new patch that fixed quite a few things I wanted. Therefore, 'let the Campaign begin'. However, being a little bit too late to start up my 2.1 audio system I had to put a headset on. Since I have a brand new wireless headphones for my iPod, and an extension cord I told myself to give it a try. Plugged the transmitter, started the 'receiver' aka headphones and I was ready to go. To my surprise, the sound quality was pretty good. Incomparable to that of a professional gaming set but still, better then standard headphones.
So, I said: since I don't have enough money to buy a very good set to match my preferences and start looking for a budget solution and and up with another set with similar performances as my Logitech FreePulse.... KEEP THE MONEY and buy something else. It's the wise thing to do. The only downside it that the FreePulse runs out of batteries in five or six hours. If you look on the bright side, this would give me a chance to rest my eyes and wrist.

Own-gift

I have starting preparing the field for my parents regarding the Christmas presents. I am hoping that this week to order a new pair of Logitech Freepulse to go with my old iPod. Also, I'm hoping to receive a brand new iPod for Christmas from my folks. However, since the financial situation isn't that great I might be obliged to wait some more. I'll see what other opportunities will arise.

lost and found

Actually, I haven't lost anything. I am just looking for some very old maths books that I need for school. They have them at the college library but I don't want to borrow them, I want to OWE them. Therefore I've searched the web but no such luck. I've decided to go to antiques shop and look there but before I do that I'm waiting for a friend of my mother who said she might have some of them.

Legal

Hey, I am all for buying stuff. At least until a certain point.
Oposed to the opinions of some of my friends I bought programs (such as Microsoft Office) OS's (Vista) or games (Orange Box). From time to time I also buy dvd's. Last week I said that maybe it's time to buy the music I listen. Since I have an Ipod and iTunes was already installed I decided to make an iTunes account and start buying some music. Well...guess what..my country was not listed:|. Now this is something new, i want to BUY something and cannot because of my nationality/place of residence. Damn. Another option would be Amazon.com but I think that not even there everything is OK/possible.
Speaking of buying software, I was very happy when I found out that because I'm a student, Microsoft give me Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 for free. I was less happy when I read that Visual Studio 2008 will soon appear because I will probably won't receive that one for free too.
Anyway anyhow i must go because...you know what they say..time is money!