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August 23

My ordeal, review & test results of my 64GB Samsung SSD
Hi guys, its been awhile since my last update. I recently purchased a Samsung 64GB Solid-State Hard Drive (SSD) for my laptop because I really wanted that speed boost badly. You see, I get frustrated when things go slow, and when I'm frustrated, I tend to splurge buy things to solve my frustration. Its not that my laptop isn't optimised, it is in fact very much in good shape. But being a techie, I acknowledge that the slowest part of any PC is actually the hard drive because its slow mechanical nature. The fact that it is vulnerable to bad sectors and "The Click Of Death" make me realise that I shouldn't take chances with my data. After all, I get a speed boost and better battery life in the process so why not? I went ahead and bought a Samsung MMCRE64G5MXP for SGD$399 at Bizgram.


This SSD is very light. Looks pretty too.

Now I've done my homework before. I recall from the OCZ forums that SSDs need to have their offset aligned before imaging/installing XP over. Vista/Win7 users are exempted because the offset automatically changes to 1024k. That's because XP uses the ancient 63k offset by default which causes heavy fragmentation and severely degrade SSD performance.

So I followed the steps faithfully and got my partitions aligned to 64k. Then I used Acronis True Image to restore back my backup partition. Bad move. After the restore, I found out that Acronis reset my offset to 63k! I was pissed because I just wanted my data restored so why did Acronis mess up my carefully aligned offset? Turns out, the sector-based clone technique wipes it out and there is no way to prevent it.

Anyway I used HD Tune Pro to see how my misaligned SSD performs..

C Benchmark
My C drive benchmarks. Write speeds aren't fantastic.

D Benchmark
My D drive. Write speed is a lot better 'cause the misalignment happens on the C partition only.

I've spend almost $400 bucks for a degraded performance of a SSD? I'm determined to set the record straight. Long story short, I finally managed to get Acronis restore my data without affecting my offset. Here is the new C benchmark:

Modified C Benchmark
Finally. Looks similar to my previous D benchmark now.

Random IO
The Random read test. True enough, the random read speeds of ~100mb/sec lives up to expectations.

For comparison sake, I used a Fujitsu 320GB 5400RPM 2.5" Hard drive on an MSI X slim 340 running Vista.

C
C Drive Results.

D
D Drive Results. Read/Write speeds look more consistent.

IO
Finally the IO Results. What a huge difference! SSD has the clear advantage when it comes to random access speeds.

With figures like these, I noticed my startup (<30 secs), shutdown (<10 secs) and loading speeds have improved very significantly. I've seen even more improvements after doing some additional tweaks like adding a RAMDISK for my temp files.

But the price of being an early SSD adopter is still very high. Given that the XP offset needs to be aligned and other tweaks have to be in place before you even see any visible results is something not all XP users want to go through. Vista users have it much easier due to it's offset auto-alignment of 1024k..just backup and restore. Also after some days of testing, contrary to advertisements' claims of longer battery life, it actually shortens it! Thats because SSDs have only 2 states: On or Off. Compared to the matured power saving features on mechanical hard drives when the PC is left idle, SSDs consume more battery under the same usage circumstances. I've noticed my battery life dropped from ~2.7 hrs to ~2 hrs on my SSD with Power Saver Mode. Desktop users of SSD drives will definitely have no problems.

Frankly, although I enjoyed my newly-acquired speed, but at the high price of ~SGD$400, reduced battery life and preparation work needed to align the offset on XP makes it rather hard for me to recommend SSDs for the average laptop user. The misaligned offset is tantamount to buying an Audi sports car with a 50km/hr speed limit. The upcoming Windows 7 promises better support for SSDs and if it improves battery life, I will definitely go for the upgrade.



9:27 PM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

May 31

Sim Lim Square Rip Off?
 
I came across an article "Sim Lim Square and Lucky Plaza: Bargain heaven or rip-off joint?" in Yahoo News today and was appalled by the number of cases reported in 2009 last year: 250! The comments made in that article also points out that users should do their due diligence before purchasing products. Some commenters also pointed that CASE, a consumer rights watchdog organisation, have no bite and cannot protect the misled consumers fully. Filing a case with CASE (pun intended) is ardous and a non-simple affair, sometimes a refund isnt returned in full.
 
While i agree some kind of research is in order before buying any big ticket item, most people whom I've communicated with only research what they want to research. Don't understand? I'll elaborate..
 
A female friend of mine wanted a digital camera. I asked what she looks for in a camera. "I like it in pink, has to be small, compact and easy to use, I think Nikon and Sony looks good." She then got a Nikon S Series digicam at approximately 10% less than other shops with the same freebies from my contact.
 
Another male ex-colleague wanted a custom-made PC, he wants it powerful enough to run Mass Effect2, Left For Dead 2, FarCry2 and want the best of the best. Money isn't an issue for him. He thought he needed to pay more than $3000 for this rig. I got it done for him at less than $2500.
 
Another relative wanted a laptop to "check emails, play facebook and surf the internet" and wants it with a big screen. Brand isnt a problem for her although Sony looks nice. In the end she got a 15" compaq laptop with my service to "decrapify" the preinstalled software and a performance tuneup with essential software installed, still costing less than a Sony product overall.
 
In the above situations, all 3 different people, with different needs and wants out of a product they have in mind, don't have a slightest idea how much they ought to pay for their dream product! Even if they do have a rough budget in mind, the salespeople can upsell them parts which are originally included already, or replace a component with another inferior type, or sell them a different product entirely! The unwary customer ends up usually paying alot more than they should. Hence shopping alone or with like-minded friends with no experience increases the likelihood of a rip off.
 
Its sad to hear that the IT purchasing haven has such a notorious reputation amongst the locals and foreigners alike.
 
I however, frequent Sim Lim Square and Funan often as some of my customers needed parts or softwares and I usually get it on their behalf, from some of the shopowners I know personally who are honest and friendly, when my suppliers can't deliver on time. Likewise a savvy customer can rely on the trust of a IT professional's second opinion before purchasing anything. Better still, go shop with one!
 
I do offer second opinions. Contact me up on one if you have any questions at all.
 


7:49 AM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

April 26

I Got So Busy. Blogging Now Takes A Backseat...
..or will it still continue?

Ever since I came back from my Korea trip in December 2009, I've been busy maintaining my existing customers, attending to new ones, doing paperwork & the usual stuff that's expected of a business. Blogging about technology, new encounters and random thoughts takes active effort now that my time is getting stretched.

However, looking back it seems I have to keep the fire burning not for blogging's sake but, I believe in creating valuable, timeless (if possible) content. But my realm of expertise is in technology and as you know, technology always change and what seems relevant now will be rendered obsolete in XX years time. So how to create timeless content about tech stuff like gadgets, software or hardware? My 32GB iphone 3GS review isn't going to benefit anyone who came to this blog looking for phone reviews in the year 2099.

Heck maybe by then we wont have iphones anymore. We can probably call someone just by thinking about that person. Or maybe Google have found a way to totally index our brains' contents for instant search retrieval from our handphones/PCs. Like phone numbers of Alice, Tom, Dick or Harry. You know, the feeling that you come across this person before but can't remember his name or phone number? Google Instant Search for the human brain to the rescue!

Now that's scary. The future definitely is.


10:21 AM GMT  |  Read comments(1)

December 19

Away for holiday
Not blogging for now. Will be back soon! :)

5:24 AM GMT  |  Read comments(2)

October 21

The Most Powerful Wireless Router I've Tested. Period.
Have you ever felt the frustration of using your laptop in areas outside your wireless router's signal reach? The dropping signals and frequent disconnections are enough to drive you mad. In my case, I've tried everything from building my own tin-foil antenna to positioning my wireless router as high above my bookshelves can go. Still the measures only marginally improve the signal strength, if that's any comfort.


For example, place a wireless router in Room 3, while trying to get a signal at the Kitchen/Service Balcony, is a sure case of poor, “full-of-disconnections” wireless signal.

Best part is, my router is unfortunately positioned at one far corner of my 5-Room HDB flat. When I need to use my laptop at the other FAR END of the flat, signal strength literally went flat. Sure there is an option to use homeplugs, which uses power sockets to transfer internet data across the power grid, but I wanted freedom of Wifi every corner in my home when I needed it the most. The current solution is to purchase a router with "longer range attennas" or N-routers which promises better coverage. From what I've gathered, the range yields substantial improvements. But is it worth paying SGD$90+ to replace my router which is working fine all this while? Some people do, but cheapskate me feels its kinda wasted.



Fortunately, I own a Linksys WRT54G Wireless Router. And I've discovered the God-like powers of a custom firmware called DD-WRT some time ago. It performed so well, geeky me just have to blog about it. Although it might be nothing to other techies, to me it is mankind's greatest invention after condoms sliced bread.

Not only is this custom firmware able to improve my wireless signals alot, it also gave me a wealth of options that allows the administrator to block websites based on keywords, prioritise internet traffic for specific apps, set bandwidth allocations among the connected PCs, overclocking, etc. I've seen routers and managed switches with such functionality costing several hundred dollars more and usually used in corporate environments! In where I worked previously, my ex-company faces a problem of users complaining of slow access to our internet-based ERP software. The real problem is that most of them are loading facebook and youtube pages, occupying valuable bandwidth! Some prioritization is definitely needed and our current modem/router does not have those features. Oh wait, we do. But it requires tinkering of Cisco commands on the modem which we are not trained in and we can't justify the cost of the replacements. Ho-hum, I might just sell this to them and make them happy. :)


A snapshot of the administration page.

But please exercise caution in flashing custom firmware on your wireless router as there are chances that the router can be BRICKED. It is definitely not for the average "Im-good-with-computers" joe-schmoe or those who are afraid of breaking things. That said, you can find all the information right here at their website.

I can also help anyone who wants their router upgraded to this awesome custom firmware. Drop me a mail or give me a buzz. Cheers!



7:26 AM GMT  |  Read comments(2)