July 1, 2009

More Substance Than Style
By Luis Anthony G. Oliveros
Published in the May 2009 print edition of PC World Philippines

Lenovo ThinkPad W500
P154,990
www.lenovo.com/ph

It’s pretty obvious at first glance that Lenovo’s ThinkPad W500 is no eye candy. It doesn’t come enclosed in a flashy chassis design, neither is it emblazoned with über glossy trims to attract the fashionably driven younger generation of users. It’s in fact quite the opposite really; with a general shade of charcoal gray cloaking the machine which makes it practically invisible in any office or home computer setups. Plus its mid-corpulent 356x255x35mm body won’t exactly slip effortlessly into your everyday backpack or handbag though it does naturally offer mobility but only to a degree. It weighs 2.8kg, which is, by no means, back-breaking but is considered relatively heavy nowadays for those frequently on the road. However, to its credit, this laptop isn’t really pushing much effort in terms of aesthetics, since it’s geared more towards business users and students with larger-than-average computing needs.

Its lacklustre, black box-like appearance is bolstered by edgy sides and corners and combines two surface textures with the lid’s soft quasi-rubberized finish and the smooth hard plastics that sheath the rest of its body. While we like how the lid’s surface gives the laptop a nice feel and a business-type, non-flashy matte appearance, it’s also very receptive to scratches, smudges and your sweaty palms.

On the flipside, build quality is excellent, as we’ve come to expect from a Lenovo product. It inherits the traditional workstation design from the IBM days including the solidly built frame with no noticeable creaking hinges when you prop the lid open and when you shut it close. It also has an obvious focus on ergonomics as seen with the keyboard which features large, well-spaced keys and offers great tactile feedback that contributes to a very comfortable use.

Like most of the brand’s desktop replacement laptops, the W500 offers an amusingly glaring red trackpoint as an auxiliary navigation tool. This is placed smack dab in the middle of the keyboard and is accompanied by its own left and right click buttons located below the spacebar. While it offers proper sensitivity that can be tweaked further to your liking, it’s practically challenging to manoeuvre if you’re aiming for accuracy; in which case you can opt to use the ubiquitous touchpad. But then again, if you’re dealing with detail-oriented graphics and in need of utmost precision in your input device, you’d find the ThinkPad W700 a very enticing alternative with a larger 17-inch display panel and a built-in Wacom tablet and matching stylus.

The W500′s 15.4-inch WSXGA+ LCD yields a 1680×1050 resolution, displaying crisp visuals with cleanly defined monochrome contrasts evident when viewing word processing documents with no visible gray shadows past each character’s edges. It provided us with vibrant images and clear color definitions during our tests; from the basic picture viewing, Web surfing and even on the games, Photoshop use and on DVD movies, with no visible signs of ghosting and pixelations. And we really like that even the smallest of details that have been driven to near obscurity in other machines’ LCD screens are easily discernable. This makes it an ideal tool for video editing and for running visually driven graphics manipulation software suites, and has a roomy screen real estate for multitasking with a handful of windows simultaneously open. It has decent horizontal/vertical viewing angles which is a plus for working in busy environments. The only snag we ran into was the screen’s brightness which proved to be well adequate for brightly lit indoor setups but a little lacking when used outdoors.

However, if you prefer to use other display panels, perhaps a larger LCD monitor for better viewing or for an optimized video playback ala-faux home entertainment system, sockets for both DisplayPort and VGA interfaces have been provided, located on its left side panel. A LAN connector for the wired Ethernet, an ExpressCard slot and three USB 2.0 ports are also bunched with these. In our opinion, more USB ports would’ve been better, but this shouldn’t be an issue if you intend on using a compatible docking station or a cheap USB hub you can easily pick up from any PC retailer.

Above the keyboard are the speakers that churn out audios with surprisingly loud volume configurations, decent quality and a fair amount of detailing, although you won’t really notice this with the bass deficiency common among built-in speakers also afflicting this unit. However, should you decide on using the W500 also for multimedia playback, media streaming and especially for audio/video editing, plugging in a standalone 2.1 speaker set or a pair of headphones with good midtone output and bass response would be preferable.

The two 3.5 audio jacks (headphone and mic) to accommodate these are easily accessible right on the front side panel. These are joined by a Firewire 1394 port you’d find essential for connecting to most multimedia devices, a switch for enabling the integrated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.0 connections and a 7-in-1 card reader. Meanwhile, the right side panel houses the RJ11 port for the modem and a slim optical bay for swappable drives that, for the unit we received, housed a DVD Multi-Recorder.

During our tests, we didn’t encounter any hitches as far as performance is concerned. The unit we tested had an Intel Centrino 2 processor at its core and joined by the pairing of an Intel GMA 4500MHD graphics and 4GB of memory which makes it more than adequate for multiple tasks for mission critical office works, school needs and even for multimedia playback. It ran smoothly from startup to basic word processing, multitasking and multimedia streaming. The hard drive in our review unit is at 320GB which sounds just about right, but given that this is a workstation expected to get much beating from its varying uses, a larger storage would’ve been ideal, like perhaps 500GB or even a terabyte would be great.

Preloaded along with the Windows Vista operating system is Lenovo’s own ThinkVantage system which pulls up a simple interface of system tweaks and management tools and can be seen as an expansion of the one-button backup found on the brand’s mainstream laptops. Upon pressing the corresponding blue ThankVantage button found on top of the keyboard, you are presented with a lineup of tools for updating or recovering the system, creating simple backups and discovering wireless networks within the area, as well as for configuring the installed devices, managing multimedia contents and various security tools.

And speaking of security, the W500 definitely beefs it up outside of the customary ASCII-based password protection. The built-in 1.3megapixel Web cam, aside from being able to take bright videos and photos and visually supplement chatting, also has a facial recognition feature that allows only previously scanned faces to log into the computer. A fingerprint scanner is also at hand, located just below the arrow keys, and can be enabled to only allow access to people whose fingerprints have been registered as login credentials. While both these security enhancements aren’t something we haven’t seen before, they’re still nice additions geared to protect your personal data.

	click to enlarge image

July 1, 2009

Western Digital Debuts First 2TB HD

By Melissa J. Perenson

Published in the May 2009 print edition of PC World Philippines

Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB

$299

www.wdc.com

The  Caviar Green 2TB WD20EADS hard drive from Western Digital boosts the capacity game to a whole new level. This $299 disk can hold two terabytes– it’s the first to do so, and a boon to anyone with a large data archive or media library. Previously, Seagate’s Barracuda 7200.11 1.5TB drive led in capacity.

This internal unit provides an areal density of 400 gigabits per squar inch on four 500GB platters. And WD bills it as environmentally friendly for its lower power use.

In our PC World Test Center trials, it came in fifth among all hard drives tested, one place better than the 1.5TB Seagate unit. It lagged our performance leaders (the WD RE3 Enterprise 500GB and the WD Velociraptor) on some results– notably, write-intensive disk imaging in WorldBench 6. But on other core metrics, the 2TB drive was competitive. It finished our test for writing files and folders in 112 seconds and handled our test for writing large files in 92 seconds, placing behind the performace leaders by 12 seconds or less.

The drive comes with several WD technologies that, the company says, allow the model to achieve its baance of price and preformance and optimize its inner workings. For example, StableTrac reduces vibrations but securing the motor shaft at both ends, permitting accurate head tracking during read and write operations.

The $299 orice tag may seem high, but at 15 cents per gigabyte, it is fairly competitive with that of other drives. The cost of recovering a ginormous 2TB drive that is dead or damaged, however, could be huge.

That the drive isn’t quite top-of-the-heap performer should not deter people with large data libraries. Nor should it put off digital media enthusiasts. Those users will rightly crave this drive.

March 15, 2009

Samsung HM320JI
By Carlo C. Gutierrez
Published in the December 2008-january 2009 print edition of PC World Philippines

www.samsung.com.ph

The Samsung HM320JI comes with a 320GB and 5400rpm hard drive. It has support for both Serial ATA 3.0 and 1.5 interfaces.

Similar to other hard disks we received, we used HDTach RW 3.0.1.0 to gauge the HM320JI’s performance. It finished with an 18.7ms random access time with an average read and write speed of 55.9MB/s and 45.2MB/s correspondingly. Uploading and downloading 1.66GB of random files took 70.22s and 120.22s in that order.

Samsung HD103UJ

The Samsung HD103UJ sports a massive 1TB worth of storage, a 7400rpm hard drive motor, and a Serial ATA 3.0 interface support. It has an areal density of 334GB per platter, storing data on a three-platter array for faster seek times.

Testing the hard disk with HDTach RW 3.0.1.0 proved to be of no surprise. The HD103UJ had a random access time of 13.8ms along with an average read and write speed of 99.6MB/s and 94.3MB/s respectively. Uploading and downloading 1.66GB of random files clocked at 54.34s and 77.50s. Though it has a slower random access time compared to the Samsung HA101UJ, it dominated every other aspect with plenty of time to spare.

March 15, 2009

Lenovo IdeaCentre A600
By Billy Joe I. Allardo
Published in the December 2008-January 2009 print edition of PC World Philippines

P46,112
www.lenovo.com/ph

There is no need to explain – space is essential to offices. This is the reason why a number of companies have been replacing their bulky CRTs with slimmer LCDs and if their budget allows them, desktops with notebook PCs.

However, notebooks still have a number of disadvantages compared to their desktop kin. Foremost is the need for long uptimes, particularly if you need to download or transmit big files that require a night or a couple of days to complete. Another is the necessity to upgrade in order to improve performance and meet current demands, which is too darn hard or impossible to do with a notebook. Hence, PC manufacturers have been churning out small form factor (SFF) PCs in order to meet the demand of space-saving and rigorous computing environments.

Among the current SFF PC options available in the market today is the Lenovo ThinkCentre M57p Ultra. It comes primarily in matte black, dousing it with an esoteric charm that has been the mark of Lenovo desktop and notebook. Accentuating it is a mesh front that doubles as a simple ploy to cool the PC.

By default, the Lenovo ThinkCentre M57p Ultra comes with a 3GHz Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 processor and 1GB DDR2 memory. For storage, it has a 160GB 7200RPM hard drive with integrated Intel GMA 3100 and Pro 1000T Gigabit controllers for graphics processing and networking, respectively. Also bundled are a laser mouse and a USB keyboard.

However, you can still customize the M57p Ultra’s spec at the point of sale to fit the buyer’s needs. One of the notable enhancements includes the Intel ADD2 DVI-D Adapter that provides extra connectivity to another display.

The unit we had came with an extra gigabyte of memory and double the stock storage capacity. It also came with a 19-inch LCD. However, you need to shell out extra for the display, as it is not part of the package. The only issue I had with Lenovo ThinkCentre M57p Ultra is that it needs to use an AC adapter to run, similar to a notebook PC. It somewhat eats a tad of space that the PC aims to not use. On the other hand, it does save internal space and lowers the temperature from inside the case.

Due to its wee form, the Lenovo ThinkCentre M57p Ultra costs a bit higher than the usual desktop package. Despite the aforementioned snags, I enjoyed using the ultra SFF. It offers a light punch when it comes to games, but this PC packs enough grit for tedious office tasks. The Lenovo ThinkCentre M57p Ultra angles well not only for offices, but also for mobile users who need to setup a remote office and be up for extended periods.

March 10, 2009

Buffalo MediaStation
By Carlo C. Gutierrez
Published in the December 2008-January 2009 print edition of PC World Philippines

P4,150
www.buffalotech.com

The Buffalo MediaStation features an ultra slim and compact form, measuring a meager 141x23x155mm and 360g. It makes use of USB 2.0 interface and is USB bus-powered to spare you from having to deal with another set of wires, but a power adapter is included for good measure.

The MediaStation supports a whole array of DVD/CD formats, including DVD-R, DVD-R Dual Layer, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+R Dual Layer, DVD+RW, DVD-RAM, CD-R, and CD-RW. It can burn DVDs at up to 8x speeds and CDs up to 24x speeds.

The MediaStation is compatible with Windows Vista, XP, and 2000. Bundled with the portable drive are Nero 8 Essentials, Secure LockWare, and Adobe Reader.

March 3, 2009

MSI P45-8D Memory Lover
By Billy Joe I. Allardo
Published in the December 2008-January 2009 print edition of PC World Philippines

P8,950
www.msi.com.tw

It is normal to see eight memory modules on a server motherboard, as its likely environment requires a high memory count to meet the demands of number-crunching processes. With this in mind, eight DIMM slots on a desktop board can be quite rare.

The MSI P45-8D Memory Lover does. It literally stays true to its name by having eight pastel colored memory slots on it, giving it the ability to handle up to four DDR2 or four DDR3 memory types. Of course, you could not plop the said types altogether as both run at different speeds, but you can run four at a time though, with the slots evenly divided between the two aforementioned types. The board can support up to 16GB 1066/800/667MHz DDR2 or 8GB 1600/1333/1066/800 DDR3.

The Memory Lover can prop dual- and quad-core Intel LGA775 processors with a front side bus of up to 1600MHz as well as single-core LGA775-based Celeron units. Managing its Northbridge devices is an Intel P45 chip while the Southbridge is controlled by an Intel ICH10R that can run up to eight Serial ATA 3Gb/s devices with RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10 configurations.

In spite of the excessive memory options, the Memory Lover sorely lacks the facility to expand. It only has one PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slot, that goes along with a solitary PCI-E x1 and three PCI slots. The single PCI-E x16 slot automatically takes away the possibility of employing a multi-GPU setup for a more powerful approach to graphics-intensive applications.

It would have been nice if the board also has an embedded graphics chip, to further exploit its memory capacity and save some money in the process. The mentioned items could have benefited from the proprietary technologies that MSI added that includes the solid-state capacitors and shielded chokes for better power handling and a built-in overclocking switch that enables direct system tweaking with preset settings.

The MSI P45-8D Memory Lover could have been great, if it had maximized the potential of its memory capacity and the Intel P45 chip. Yet it finds a specific niche among people who currently prefer using the prevalent DDR2 memory, but would likely switch to the faster DDR3 type once the price drops.

March 3, 2009

Samsung SCX-4300
By Luis Anthony G. Oliveros

P5,995
www.samsung.com.ph

The glossy black SCX-4300 is the sole multifunction printer in the triumvirate of Samsung‘s affordable laser printing solutions we received in the mail for testing. It’s intended to be a personal printer tethered to one computer which justifies the USB 2.0 port on its rear being its sole data connection; but if you want to hook it up to a network to share it with various other machines, you may want to look around for other printers or consider the Samsung ML-00D print server as an additional purchase.

The 250-sheet automatic document feeder practically lines the base with a manual feeder and the output tray right above it. Meanwhile, lifting the top lid reveals the scanner that bears a maximum optical resolution of 600x2400dpi that yielded clear and bright results albeit a little too rich on the reddish hues during our colored scan tests and lacked contrast by a certain degree because the blacks looked a tad bit pale on the monochrome scans upon close inspection. On the other hand, it produced nice contrast when we tested its copying capabilities, with the blacks appearing clearly although there was some amount of bleeding around the edges and hints of ink clumping when it came to the arches, loops and slants in the letters of the copied document. These, in retrospect, were barely visible, noticed only under our scrutinizing magnifying glass.

A control panel is also present at the top along with a two-line, 16-character LCD screen that displays a very user-friendly interface.

When it comes to printing, the SCX-4300 prints at a decent speed; it churns out at a rated 18ppm, completing our 10-page document a little past the 14- second mark, our text and graphics combo document in about 7.78 seconds and our photo a few nanoseconds past five seconds. It may not be as fast as most of the laser printers we’ve tested in the past, but frankly, if you’re docking this printer in a small office setup merely
for basic school and office needs, the few second discrepancies may not actually matter at all.

It produces good quality monochrome text outputs with clear blacks and clean distinct lines on optimal quality settings, given that  its maximum resolution is at a mere 600x600dpi. The quality faltered by just a little bit on the draft printouts though, by way of tiny bleeds outside character borders. Again, these were nearly imperceptible to the unaided eye. What isn’t very indiscernible however, are the tiny bandings present, awkwardly appearing outside the positively bold blacks and on top of the indistinct shades of gray that diminished the amount of detailing.

February 10, 2009

Instant Performer
By Billy Joe I. Allardo
Published in the December 2008-January 2009 print edition of PC World Philippines

MSI 4850 2D512 OC
P9,990
www.msi.com.tw

The MSI 4850 2D512 OC that visited our lab literally looks like the MSI N9600GT Hybrid Freezer we had a couple of months back. It employs the same cooling mechanism that features an intricate set of aluminum fins, woven with thick copper pipes for extra heat dissipation, and topped by a hard clear plastic and a sizeable fan.

Built around ATI’s mid-level graphics solution – the 55nm fabricated RV770 PRO – the card comes already overclocked. Its engine clock is up to 640MHz from the normal 625MHz, though the memory clock remains at 1.986GHz. This tweak allows a bit more rendering for in-game objects, which bodes well for users who do not want to meddle with hardware settings.

In this setting, the card was able to get a score of 8590 in 3DMark 2006 and rates of 56.8 and 171 frames per second, in Company of Heroes and FEAR, respectively. Compared to the scores garnered by the previous graphics cards we tried out, the ones got by the MSI 4850 2D512 OC are quite competitive. On screen, the lighting and shadows were sufficient, the same goes for the details on in-game items like trees and cobblestone streets.

Still, you can further adjust the clocks. Given the attached cooling mechanism and the capabilities of the chip, it is safe to say that the card has enough grit to withstand the increase in power flow, though it is better if you have a robust overall cooling setup inside the CPU. To provide more power handling, the card comes equipped with solid-state capacitors and chokes, lined specifically to even out-current loads.

We were able to up the engine clock by 9.38 percent and the memory clock by 11.98 percent. Unfortunately, the scores went a tad down (see the table below), though the graphics quality remained pretty much the same making the MSI 4850 2D512 OC as good as it comes out of the box. In addition, the card supports multi-GPU deployment with the dual CrossFire slots it has above it.

To exploit its potential further, MSI bundled the card with a number of utility software. There is the Live suite that enables users to receive BIOS, driver, and utility updates, while Vivid enables fine-tuning of graphic quality. WMIinfo list provides a detailed list of system information while LockBox gives a user a frontline password protection. Despite being a mid-tier offering, the MSI 4850 2D512 OC provides enough oomph to get through graphics-laden games and applications without even yanking its settings.

January 7, 2009

Mobile Battery Let’s You Go Unplugged For A Week
By Sean de Jesus
Published in the November 2009 print edition of PC World Philippines

IceL Twins 102
www.icelkorea.com

In case you find yourself planning for a prolonged stay somewhere where there’s no power, you don’t have to leave your portable devices behind. This portable charger from Icel Systems Korea is built with an 18 watt-hour capacity, designed to charge mobile devices such as mobile phones, music players, portable gaming systems and other mobile devices that can be charged using a 5V USB connection.

Measuring approximately 100 x 44 x 22mm, and weighing 136 grams, the Twins 102 is a pretty simple device, featuring a stylish, glossy body with chrome edges, and a single button for checking the internal battery’s charge level shown using five LED lights. One side houses a couple of USB ports—one mini-USB port labeled “in” and one standard USB host port labeled “out”—this is the business end, where you connect the supplied c able (a common mini -USB to standard-USB cable) to either charge other devices using the “out” port, or charge the battery pack itself by connecting the USB cable (via the “in” port) to an AC power adapter or to a computer.

It may look pretty simple, but the company installed a few little-known battery-based technologies to make the Twins 102 last longer. Using a technology known as “Compounded Interconnection”, the multiple batteries inside the pack are wired in such a way to make sure that all the batteries are evenly charged to eliminate the risk of any one battery degrading faster than the others. This connection also makes sure that the kit will still work even when one or more individual batteries fail.

Charging the Twins 102 to max capacity through a USB connection takes around 3-5 hours. It’s documentation says that it should charge faster if you use an AC power adapter, but the standard package only includes the USB cable, so this is what we used. This shouldn’t be much of ahassle, since you can use both the in and out ports at the same time (using two separate cables) to charge another device while charging the Twins 102’s batteries.

Probably this device’s best feature is its flexibility. After scrounging around the office for a number of different adaptors for connecting it to different products, I found that it works with more than 90% of the devices I tested with (including Nokia, Sony Ericsson and Samsung mobiles, Windows Mobile PDAs, and a number of different iPods). Some devices, such as Samsung’s OMNIA and one particular Sony Ericsson mobile, looked for an operating system through the USB cable and didn’t charge.

Fully charging other devices take one to two hours, depending on the device, and I used it to charge an iPod Classic exclusively for a week, giving me around 5-6 full charges after depleting the iPod’s battery down to around 20% before charging. Regularly using the iPod for around 2-4 hours a day, I lasted a full week using only the Twins 102 to charge it.

January 7, 2009

iPhone Competitor On the Rise
By Luis Anthony G. Oliveros
Published in the November 2008 print edition of PC World Philippines

Samsung SGH-i900 Omnia
8GB- P33,000 • 16GB- P38,000
www.samsung.com

You have to admit that Apple was practically daring for competition when the iPhone came out. And true enough, competitors have scrambled to get their best designers and developers on the job and were shipping their touchscreen smartphones out their factory doors by the time 2.0 arrived. And after months of these smartphones dominating the mobile phone scene both as a communication tool and as a status symbol, Samsung comes out among those leading the race; first with the Instinct and now withthe Omnia.

We first saw the Samsung Omnia (aka the Samsung SGH-i900) as one of the mobile phones touted as an iPhone killer that headlined the CommunicAsia exposition in Singapore earlier this year. We had the chance to fiddle with one, and it immediately caught our attention with its design and intuitive interface. Now that it has reached our shores (and the PC World test labs), we finally get more face time with it as we took it for a test drive.

A large screen is one of the ultimate necessities in touchscreen smartphones so they logically occupy practically the entire faceplate, not leaving much leg room for designers to play around with. And in the Omnia’s case, Samsung made use of what little space there is to make a cleanly laid-out model; small spaces vertically sandwich the touchscreen with an earpiece and VGA camera for videocalls, CALL and END CALL buttons, and an optical touchpad below. Meanwhile, the power button is at the very top with the proprietary AC/headphone port, volume rocker, the camera shutter and Main Menu shortcut button shunted to the side panels.

What came in as a slight disappointment upon closer inspection was that the back was actually plastic instead of brushed metal the pre-release photos appeared to have. Another thing we didn’t quite agree with was the decision to bypass a stylus slot and instead have the stylus dangling from a lanyard, which could get a little annoying at times. Despite this, the Omnia simply looks classy and well constructed with a 112x56x12.5mm form factor. Yes, a little thicker than most models out there but it gives a solid grip and is nevertheless comfortable
to use.

The Omnia comes in 8- and 16GB flavors which can be expanded with a microSDHC of up to 16GB of storage. However, unlike in most models nowadays where the SD slots are readily available along the exterior, the one here is found within the battery enclave so SD hot swapping is out of the question.

There isn’t really much to complain about the 3.2-inch WQVGA touchscreen that, despite being significantly smaller than the Instinct’s 4.25-inch screen or the iPhone’s 3.5-incher, is decidedly sufficient for carrying on most of the tasks though manageably cramped when viewing Web pages. It has a 240×400 resolution which displays clear and vivid images and good black-white contrast. It’s pretty responsive for the most part but could get a wee bit spotty at times especially for slender buttons and options and when using the scroll bar for navigating through long pages. It gives out haptic feedback in the form of slight vibrations to let you know that it recognizes your inputs. An accelerometer is also built into the phone so the screen orientation shifts from portrait to landscape when you turn the phone to its side.

Not everyone is impressed with the Windows Mobile user interface, even tagging it to be “buggy,” “slow” and not at all userfriendly, which is why the TouchWiz auxiliary user interface Samsung fitted into the Omnia is such a welcome inclusion. It offers a personalized Home screen and makes usage ingeniously intuitive by emulating the basic Windows desktop look and  feel where you can drag and drop icons or widgets from a tray on the left side of the screen for easier access. And then there’s also the Main Menu page which is basically like the grid view in most mobile phones in that it carries the icons for the phone’s features and settings lined up in rows. From here, you can access the Shortcuts page which also lines up all the essential applications in grid view.

This Quad-band phone churned out clear audio during our test calls with good call quality. There was some amount of crackling and echoing in the background, though they weren’t really audible enough to be distracting. No
dropped calls either.

Data entry primarily comes in the form of the Windows Mobile standard virtual QWERTY keyboard, which we didn’t quite enjoy using because of the tiny keys. However, the Omnia also offers various other data entry options including the Samsung Keyboard, the Samsung Keypad and the Samsung Phonepad. All these occupy more than half of the screen, this makes composing a document or an e-mail/SMS message a little challenging. Though you can zoom out to view a majority of the document, you’d have to compromise having to view it with smaller fonts. Good thing it also comes with the Block and Letter Recognizer systems as well as the Transcriber which recognizes and translates stylus handwriting in cursive, print and mixed styles.

Aside from the touchscreen, you can also utilize the optical touchpad, which we’ve previously seen in the i780 and i8510 smartphones. You can use it to navigate or scroll through list-type menus or enable it to match a mouse pointer for complete navigation, although we found ourselves rarely using it because the touchscreen was obviously easier to use.

The Omnia comes brimming with preloaded apps and features. A list of standard Windows Mobile apps are onboard including the Microsoft Office Mobile Suite for making, viewing and editing Powerpoint, Word and Excel documents, OneNote for making quick notes, and the Calculator and Calendar which you can easily update and sync with your desktop Outlook via ActiveSync. For easy management, you can toggle between apps with the Task Switcher which you can access by either giving the Main Menu shortcut button a longpress or giving the
screen a slight upward swipe.

Internet connectivity is pretty straightforward since it automatically scans for Wi-Fi signals and gives you all the available networks within range. In the absence of local hotspots, it shifts to the provider’s data network, letting you utilize an array of connectivity options, from GPRS and EDGE to 3G and HSDPA. You have a choice of either Internet Explorer or Opera Mobile for browsing while there are also icons to take you directly to the Google homepage, Windows Live and its accompanying Windows Live Messenger.

Multimedia consumption is further bolstered by the RSS Reader which provides access to RSS feeds and the Podcasts feature, quite self-explanatory, lets you subscribe and download podcasts to your phone. There’s even an integration with ShoZu, a one-stop Web communityfor sharing videos and photos to YouTube, Blogger, Flickr, Facebook, and Picasa among others. In addition, this smartphone also comes with a TV-out functionality via the proprietary RCA cable you can purchase separately.

Furthermore, it has a built-in GPS receiver that supports Assisted GPS which triangulates location with the use of cell site towers. This makes it a good in-vehicle guiding system, however locally we found it a little erratic because we couldn’t lock onto a reliable signal. Plus Google Maps (the preinstalled navigation app in the phone) hasn’t completely mapped the entire Philippines so it wouldn’t offer much help during local out-of-town trips. In spite of this, it’s good to note that the technology is there and is ready to go when you need it.

As far as music is concerned, the Omnia does offer good audio quality with squeaky clean high tones, decent midtones and booming bass levels. Other than playing your music (in MP3, AAC, AAC+, WMA, OGG and AMR file formats) on the Windows Media Player, Samsung also included the Touch Player which, aside from playing the tracks, presents them ala standalone MP3 player complete with album art and lets you organize and tag by album, artist and genre. The included earbuds have soft rubber nubs that make them very comfortable to use, though
you can also use other headphones since the pack comes with an adapter for a standard 3.5 audio jack.

The five-megapixel camera fitted into this phone comes with LED flash, macro and autofocus, image stabilizer, face recognition and 14 predefined presets. It shoots with a landscape screen orientation and offers proper settings flexibility with white balance and ISO settings.Various shooting modes are available, adding both fun and a touch of creativity to your shots. The Continuous Mode lets you shoot nine sequential photos by holding the shutter, while the Mosaic Mode shoots only a quadrant of the photo at a time. The Panorama Mode, meanwhile, utilizes a photo stitching system that displays frames on the screen to guide you as to where to aim and then stitches them together. On the other hand, the Smile Mode works in unison with the face detection feature, recognizes a smile and automatically shoots.

To sum it up, the Samsung Omnia does make some missteps, but nothing really distracting enough to sway you from its feature-rich direction. But does it live up to all the “iPhone killer” hype? As far as specs and features are concerned, it does have a competent laundry list of its own which makes it a fair competitor if you’re into Windows-based mobiles. However, when it comes to the value-added after sales goodies, it just isn’t as robust or as extensive as those aggregated by the Apple App Store since you’d have to shop around first to find third-party apps. But give the Omnia a year or so where Samsung has either come out with an Omnia 2.0 or a firmware update to remedy the hitches or Windows has finally pushed out their much rumored Skymarket mobile apps store, and it can potentially give the iPhone a run for its money. This is a good scenario since healthy competitive market propagates both innovative technologies and lowered prices. But right now, given those minimal missteps, it still comes out as a high-quality all-in-one device with a refined mix of productivity and entertainment features streamlined for usability and it’s only been four months since its launch.