Wingless blogs about tech and stuff

[Wingless]

After buying and messing around with the "new Ipad" I feel that I could give it a short review and give some insight on some other tech-related stuff in the coming future. So, starting with the Ipad, I will be reviewing/discussing tech-related things every now and then.



Now, I originally bought the new Ipad because there was much evidence that a shortage would take place and that it would go for some decent money over Ebay. Well, it turns out Apple boosted their stock, and it seems I wont be getting a profit. However, after a few days of using the Ipad, I'd almost be content on keeping it. It has a few weaknesses, but a lot of strengths.


Now, I normally hate Apple's fanbase and their pompous ways of advertising their overpriced products, but this is one of the first products from Apple that I can honestly say that it could be a decent purchase if you do not have a tablet, but would think you'd use one. If anything else, this a move that will encourage other manufactures of tablets to step up their game and offer something competitive.

SCREEN:
First of all, the thing Apple seems to be most proud of, the screen. At 2048×1536 px, 264 pixels per inch, it's far beyond any tablet currently available on the market, and higher resolution than most monitors are now. It covers 94.4% of the sRGB color gamut and 65% of the Adobe RGB color gamut, basically meaning this thing is pretty damn accurate in terms of rendering properly-colored images and video.

While Itune's movies are usually only sold at a 720p resolution (and for like $20, lolololololololololololo), they still look great on the Ipad's screen, and 1080p content on youtube is vibrant and impressive. Images on the web are even better, to me it seemed some images and text could just pop right off the screen and into real life. It really is fantastic. So, yes, this means this will become your dedicated porn-viewing device.

PROCESSOR:
The Processor is dubbed A5X, and is really just the same thing as the previous A4 chipset, only with a quad-core GPU. Benchmarks have shown that it totally surpasses Nvidia's Tegra 3 quad-core chip in GPU performance, but falls behind in renderings that require more CPU power. Nvida, get your asses to work and release Tegra 4 quickly!

APPLICATIONS:
Games designed for the new display do look fantastic, but are not "console-quality" as developers have mentioned during Apple's first presentation of the new Ipad. If you're looking at this as a portable game console, look elsewhere because it simply isn't and will never be a proper mobile gaming platform. Gamers would be better off with a 3DS or a PS Vita, which are both much cheaper and offer higher-quality gaming experiences on the go. Pretty much all you have to play on the ipad is Infinity Blade 2 (and that barely is a game as much as it is a tech demo), a MW3 ripoff, a bunch of flight-"simulator" games, a shitload of racing games, and a absolute fuckton of pay2win multiplayer games that barely qualify as games in the first place.

There are some decent apps for productive and business purposes, but once again, nothing I've seen seems as fully featured as on a normal PC or Windows tablet just yet. You could definitely get away with typing up an essay on it, if you are not bothered by the on-screen keyboard, and the limited multitasking will work well enough to allow you to "swipe" back and forth between an app, internet, music, game, or whatever else you have open. I do think this is the first Ipad in which people will more easily be able to be produce content, rather than just consume it....but that will change as soon as Windows 8 tablets come along.

CAMERA:
The camera offered isn't much better than most mainstream android phones, and I'd really hate to take a photo with this shit in the first place. It's like holding up a sign saying "Hey, look at me! I use a baking sheet to take pictures!". With no SD card slot, I'd really rather not anyway. Pictures do look alright, and it does shoot 1080p video, so if you are fine with shooting videos on this thing, you could get some decent footage with it. I've used it for taking pictures of textures on walls and floors for use in the Unreal 3 Engine/website design.

DESIGN/WEIGHT:
The whole tablet isn't too heavy for me, and I'm a skinny weak-ass, but from what I've heard it is a noticeable difference from the previous Ipad 2. You will most likely use it standing on a case or in your lap anyways.

The bezel (huge black/white margin surrounding the screen) is pretty big and will probably be ugly-looking to most people, but it doesn't distract enough to be a huge problem.



All in all, it's not a bad tablet in all honesty. It took Apple two tries, but they finally released a tablet that might be worth buying if you want a general all-use tablet.

[The]

Can I get the same shit a lot cheaper from a different company?

[Wingless]

(03-20-2012 08:08 PM)The Wrote:  Can I get the same shit a lot cheaper from a different company?

At the moment, not really unless you want to settle for a much lower resolution screen. ASUS will be releasing the Transformer Inifinity 700 TF700T tablet with a 1920 x 1200 res screen, but I think that will be more expensive.



I've heard some decent things about the galaxy tab 7 plus, which is $400 and has a slightly more powerful CPU than the IPad.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6834215170 Might be a good choice, and despite the subpar reviews I've heard it's pretty decent. Has the Tegra 2 SoC which is still fairly powerful enough.

Any cheaper than $300 and I couldn't really reccommend anything unfortunately, Archos makes a lot of tablets below $200 but I hear their quality is horrible. Your best bet would be to wait a little while for prices to go down if you want a nice tablet.

[Wingless]

Now, for some earphones. I've owned a handful because it seems like I can barely own a pair for 3 months before they break.

I've used a whole bunch, but I will only go into detail on a few, the rest I will just list short 1-10 ratings:
Genuine Sony MDR-EX10LP: 7/10, About $14.99 Good sound quality, small/light, cheap.
Shure SE210: 2/10 About $200 (many of these models were defective, mine included).
Fake Sony MDR-EX700: 7/10, About $5 on Ebay faked. Lasted about 2 months. Great sound but was 'veiled' and muted.


Sony MDR EX-082 (Probably Fakes):
http://www.ebay.com/itm/SONY-MDR-EX082-E...3f15114927

These seem to be in abundance on Ebay, and if I'm correct these particular earphones are normally bundled with a Sony Walkman device. They are also possibly fakes, but even then, the sound quality on these things are worth the $10 or so bucks you'll end up spending on them. I'm using a set as I speak.

They can definitely compete with $50+ earphones in terms of sound quality. Bass isn't very strong, but clarity is great, instruments are clear and beautifully rendered in classical/soundtrack tracks. Songs with heavy beats will 'thump', but they won't impress. There isn't a huge sense of a soundstage, but you really can't ask for that from $0.99 earphones. They also don't really filter out background sound too well, but once again, I never expected them to.

They've so far lasted me about 6 months, and I'm thoroughly impressed they've lasted beyond one month. If you want an awesome set of earphones for cheap, definitely look into the Sony MDR sets on Ebay. Most are fakes, but still have excellent sound quality for what you pay for. Maybe I just got lucky, but they were excellent. Also look into other MDR sets on Ebay, as you might be able to nab an even higher quality set at a similar price (MDR-700s, for example, are also in abundance).


Ultimate Ears Triple Fi 10:
http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Ears-Trip...B0019RBJOE
I shit you not, there are more expensive earphones than this. At about $150 from most stores/Ebay, these things are damn expensive, up there with the over-priced Beats. However, they are leaps better in sound quality.

You can hear every little movement, every time a singer parts their lips, and every hand flick at a string with these things. At the same time, coming from the cheap MDR set I have, it still isn't a huge improvement enough to really justify the $150 price tag in my opinion. The sound is crisp and clear, very much treble-oriented, and much more bass than the fake MDR earphones. Easily had the best sound quality I've heard in a set of earphones.

A big issue with these was getting them to fit: they have an awkward body and for me I couldn't get a proper seal, as they kept popping out of my ears after awhile.


Monster Turbine Pro Golds:
http://www.amazon.com/Monster-Turbine-PR...B002EL4RIE
Even MORE expensive at $275, but I got these for about $120 from an ebay auction, ending up selling them for about the same price.

These were the most comfortable to fit, and had a much more pronounced bass than the other earphones without sacrificing too much treble, however, at the price tag, I don't think they were worth it.

They have a great cable system though, and never seemed to be able to tangle up even if I just stuffed them into my pockets.

They aren't exactly something you'd probably want to wear in public in a shady neighborhood, or most neighborhoods anyways. Not worth the money.


If you really, really, care about your music, the Triple Fi 10s are great and work as In Ear Monitors, but otherwise most fake earphones get the job done for much cheaper and still beat most retail $10-50 earphones.

[Wingless]

Heres a quick review on a case I had bought about three months ago to replace my aging one.

Corsair Carbide 400R: $99, sometimes less at retail stores
http://www.corsair.com/pc-cases/carbide-...-case.html


I've usually skimped out on cases in favor for better PC parts, but as I was needed extra airflow after buying a high-end video card for the most part.

The 400R is not very flashy, but rather looks very professional in its design; it's attractive to gamers as well as mainstream/business people who might be put-off by an almost alien-looking case. It comes with one rear 120x120mm and two white-LED colored 120mm fans in front. There is room for two 120 or 140mm fans on the side and on the top of the case. The front top panel has a switch for turning on and off the LED lights, a standard reset switch, power switch, two USB 3.0, headphone jack, earphone jack, and firewire port. They way they are positioned can make it a bit annoying if you end up using most of the ports and have the case sitting on top of a desk, as it will block the optical drives, but it isn't a huge issue.

There are holes in the back designed for custom water-cooling systems, but at the same time, there isn't too much room for a radiator, at least if it is supposed to be mounted to the top of the case. I don't have much experience with water cooling, but this might not be the best choice for those wanting an extensive water-cooling system.

Cable management is fantastic, you can hide most of your wires behind the mainboard and filter them through the holes provided, keeping the inside very clean and open for airflow.

Hard drives are easily removed or inserted through the slot-loading system, completely painless and tool-less. Same with the optical drives, a few simple adjustments and you can place a Blu-ray/DVD/CD/etc in a few seconds.

I only added two extra fans to the case, but just the case seems to have decreased overall temperatures by around 5-8 degrees or so, at least compared to my old stuffy case I had been using. It looks awesome and is roomy enough for just about any video card, motherboard, cpu fan, etc you can throw at it (apparently you can easily fit three video cards into this thing). It has the look of a gaming case without begin too overtly bright and LEDS EVERYWHERE, and could easily fit in a business environment as a fantastic-looking and performing workstation. Overall, I say it was well worth the $100 I spent on it.