wanting to Hire or rent a camera?

For every big event in our lives such as weddings, birthday's or anniversaries, it is has become a need to have something to remember those special occasions. That something comes in the form of camera's which come in an array of sized and features. That is exactly what happened to me during one if the events that I attended, and was asked to take a shot of. But I have two big problems, one, I don't have a decent camera, and since these events don't come often I didn't had the need to buy one, until now, second, I don't have the budget, specially in our time when money seems hard to come by.

I thought of a way and its camera hire and luckily, I found a website that answers both my questions. Its http://www.camerent.co.uk/ a camera for hire website and I even saw the camera that's fit for the job. The sony camera hire which I choose is the Sony HVR-Z1E high definition camcorder, Not only did I look like a professional camera guy, I also had very good shots for my event.The Sony Z1 Camera Hire which I got not only saved me a lot of money but also provided the immediate need for a device to keep our lovely memories forever.

Nokia 5130 Xpress Music

The Nokia 5130 Xpress Music or the 5130 XM is another classic bar shape phone from Nokia's Xpress Music Line and comes in three colors, blue, silver and red. Just like any music phone from Nokia, it specializes in excellent music but that is not all  this gadget has to offer. Its basic specifications include:

• Bright screen up to  256K colors
• Numeric Keypad
• Dedicated music keys
• Voice Command
• USB connectivity
• 3.5 mm audio jack output
• micro SD card slot
• Bluetooth
• GPRS and EDGE
• Approxiamtely 6 hours of talk time
• Approximately 288 hours of stand-by time
• Supports IMAP, POP, SMTP, OMA EMN
• Supporteds HTML, XHTML for web browsing
• 2 megapixel camera
• Video recording
• Symbian series 40 Operating System

First thing I noticed is the very small box, unlike previous Nokia phones whose boxes were at least twice the width of their phone's unlike the box of Nokia 5130 XM.

 The reason for such a small box may probably be due to two reasons: one is that it only contains the basics, these include the phone, battery, 1GB micro SD memory card, charger, headset and the smallest USB connector from Nokia I have ever seen, the second reason is just my theory of Nokia's effort to save resources and to cut prices.

 Nokia made good with the cellphone's casing, because its very convenient to hold, I would however, comment on the numeric keypad because the 2 keypad is very close to the D-pad, it might be better to add a bit of space between. Found on the left side of the phone are the dedicated music keys, its also the Radio keys for Radio listing.

 On the right side of the phone is where the volume controls are located as well as the micro SD slot. On top are conveniently placed 3.5 mm jack output, power slot and the micro USB port.

 At the back you'll notice the design on the lower portion which is where the speakers are located. Also, there is the 2.0 Camera with out flash.

 In all the Nokia 5130XM is a great phone, and considering its retail price of about Php6,000 or rougly US $135. I think the phone is between mid-range to low-range device, considering its price tag and the features that it provides. The feel and touch is great and the audio is very nice, specially when you use the 3.5 mm audio jack output and connect it to your home sound system. The down side for this phone is probably its camera, even though it has 2.0 Mega Pixels, the pictures are mediocre, probably due to the lack of flash. Also, I'm not a great fan of the series 40 of symbian,  it would have been great to use a series 60 instead, avoiding the short-cut keys of attachments to your text editor. All in all, the phone is great for its price tag, and does best what it's meant for, having great music.

KVM Switch

A Keyboard, Video and Mouse (KVM) Switch or KVM switch is a device that is used to control multiple system units using only one Monitor, one keyboard and one switch. Just as what I have here, I used a two port KVM switch to control two system units. KVM switches are useful because they are sometimes cheaper than monitors and can save a lot of space. This device is also ideal for people who manage multiple computers control them on a single seat. KVM switches vary, some allow buttons to switch from one computer or server to another, while some allows shortcut keys to keep the administrator from going to and fro the KVM switch.

How to connect a bluetooth device to nokia 5800

Everyday whenever I travel its almost impossible not to see people listing to their music, either through their cellphones, MP3 players or even the background music from buses, and I guess I'm one of them. But sometimes having all that wire from your earphones is pretty annoying, that is why it's convenient to use a bluetooth headset to skip all that wire and enjoy your music wire free.

It took me a while to learn how to connect a bluetooth headset to a Nokia 5800 and here is what I did.

1. On your phone Tap Settings > Connectivity > Bluetooth
2. Turn your bluetooth "on"
3. Above the menu, tap the right arrow or the connectivity sign in between the two bluetooth logo, to view your paired devices
4. Tap "Option and select "New Paired Device".
5. Make sure your bluetooth headset is switched on and is ready to be paired or in pairing mode, Tap "More Devices"
6. Select the device as it appears on the list, if you do not see your device, just try tapping "More Devices" again
7. If the device request's for a code, enter the code provided by the manufacturer of the bluetooth headset
8. Select if you wish to connect the device automatically in the future
9. Select connect when asked, and your bluetooth headset should be connected

How to setup proxy for Nokia 5800

I would like to share something that took me a while to figure out with my Nokia 5800 ExpressMusic. That is setting up a proxy for connecting to a network that requires proxy settings. I would assume that your phone has its WLAN scanning turned "on" and that your unit can detect the wireless network. Configuring a proxy for your Nokia 5800 is not difficult , here is what i did.

1. On your phone go to or tap Settings > Connectivity > Destinations > Internet
2. Choose and tap the network you wish to access
3. Inside choose options and select advanced settings
4. If the network needs an IP address you can select it and add the IP address, otherewise, just leave it and enter the proxy address and port number for your network

One done, you should be able to connect to your network.

Develop INEO 353

A couple of weeks ago our office purchased a new copier, its the new Develop Ineo 353 which according to our supplier is the latest model available in the country for state of the art copiers.

Since our office requires a lot of photocopies which needs to be sorted and stapled, I requested to add a finisher, so that papers are not only sorted but stapled as well. This feature is very convenient for bulk copying.

Then we do not want to constantly pull the cover up and down every time we copy documents, not only does it strain our arms but its also time consuming and is not recommended for quick copying of documents for those crucial moments. A feeder was installed not only for easy copying but also to allow back-to-back scanning and copying, according to the technician who installed the feeder, the safe volume of paper would be 100 but of course I would like to try if it can handle more.

Ineo 353 features monochrome as well as colored copying, touch screen colored console, scanning with electronic copies stored on a PC, RJ 45 plug for connection via Local Area Network (LAN), fax machine, can act as a network printer, fast output at 35 ppm for colored and b/w (we have yet to test this one), password protection, can enlarge or reduce images, control the density of print, compact design which perfect for space consious offices, accepts up to A3 size papers and scans, and other features of a normal copier.

Since its a colored copier and scanner, it has four toners Magenta, Cyan, Blue and Black. The imaging units are also of four types based on the colors mentioned. I think the only disadvantage that the machine has is the price. It cost around $7,500 and up depending on your supplier and the consumables would cost around $1,300 for each of the imaging unit and $220 for each of the toners as a rough estimate. But according to our supplier the consumables can produce around 100,000 copies but ofcourse that is still a rough estimate since you can control the density of the colors and would also depend on what are you actually copying.

USB LAN

I have here a very intersting, very useful and very practical gadget, its a Local Area Network (LAN) device which can be plugged to your Universal Serial Bus (USB) in short its a USB LAN.



This is very usuful for those who have damaged LAN cards or to those who use old computers that needs a bit of upgrade or parts replacements, and its best for those who are not really that knowledgeable when it comes to computer devices plus its cheap, around 250 to 300 bucks or 5 to 6 US dollars.


What you get when you buy one basically are these two items, the USB LAN itself and the CD which contains the driver for the device.


I used an old Compaq Presario which is kinda ancient in the laptop world but the device still works fine. I used it because the laptop doesnt have a LAN card good thing it has a single USB port, i can use a USB hub later, but for now its nice to know that I can connect through the USB LAN. By the way my old laptop doesnt have wifi, and why didnt I just buy a USB wifi device, well even though I have a wifi router its still better to use wired connection, specially for my old laptop.

Nokia 5800 XpresMusic Phone

The Nokia 5800 XpresMusic Phone dubbed by some as the "iphone killer" is Nokia's almost all touch screen smart phone. Released on the first quarter of 2009, the phone boast both a hand full of features and some shortcommings. A High-end Phone for an above mid-end price is something that would surely entice any gadget lover.

Here is what you get from the box aside from the phone, the stylus, battery and memory isnt in the picture but it is included in the box. I liked the fact that the Nokia gave a lot of stuff included in the box, considering its price, which is not but nor was it that expensive for this type of phone.

You can see at left side are two slots one is for hot swapping of memory cards ( the phone includes an 8GB memory card, very nice....) and the other is for the SIM card, although unlike the memory card you can only insert it in this fashion if you want to pull it out, you need to remove the battery. The slot of the SIM card slot in my opinion isnt really necessary, why put it in that fashion if you cant use it that way? This is also the location of the speakers which is the best (quality wise) I have heard so far, its also pretty loud and despite its loudness sounds played are still clear.

Here is a view on top, almost all external connection are made here, which include, 35mm audio jack, charger slot, USB slot and power switch. I findit convinient that all these connections are placed here,it just made the phone look neat even you connect the USB cable and power jack in. Nokia also made good adding the 35mm Jack since it allows users to use their standard headset. You cant however, charge via USB, dunno why they didnt inlcude that feature, it would have been great to have that included.


The right side of the phone has the volume control, keypad lock and the camera button, these buttons are conviniently placed for easy access.

The back is where you find your 3.5 Mega Pixel Camera (why didnt Nokia used a 5MP camera?..) also you'll find your stylus which is again placed nicely. (The pictures were taken from a Nokia 5800 XpresMusic Phone)

The phone uses symbia S60 Operating System and runs beautifully except for a few instances of lags and slow responses, its very much acceptable. The phone works like any phone the only difference is that its obviously a touch screen device. Nokia also gave its users options on entering text either qwerty or alphanumeric and even a hand writing feature. It also has Wifi and bluetooth so you stay connected if there is an available network. The device also has an accelerometer which allows the screen to change based on how you hold the phone, this can breed softwares that can be very entertaining, Nokia made a sample of this with their racing game, where you need to steer the phone to steer the car, neat! GPS is also included and with its ultra wide screen, im sure you wont loose your way.

I liked the phone, it has a stirdy well developed design combined with Nokia's Symbian Operating System. I think Nokia could have made it better though, but I guess in order to compete with the market they just cut short a few of the features that they could have put in.

Samsung SC-MX10 Digital Camcoder

This blog was posted at http://archangel-025.blogspot.com/2009/01/samsung-sc-mx10-digital-camcoder.html last January 3, 2009.


It's so nice to have a new gadget around and this little critter is just perfect for gadget lovers and even for those who just want to keep a record of the good ol' holidays. This device maybe small but packs a couple of nice features.


Aside from the camcoder itself the package includes battery charger, battery (not shown), cleaning cloth (not shown), software installer via cd (not shown) usb cable, usb to video-audio jack and pouch bag.

This small device is pretty nice since it provides both 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratios - 4:3 and 16:9 which ensures that recorded media can be played on wide-format HDTV screen and olderTV sets. It also has a 34x optical/1200x digitalzoom and 680,000 pixel CCD with electronic image stabilization providing clear pictures with matching 2.7 LCD display for your recording pleasure.

The Camera records all your precious moments using a standard SD or MMC card, I got a free 512 MB SD card but you can also use memory cards with higher memory say 8GB perhaps, the 512 MB gives me around 15 minutes of recording time, so 8GB would probably give you an estimated 4 hours of recording time the only catch is that according to its manual the battery can only give you two hours of juice, so i suggest you plug it if you consider recording higher than 4GB.

To wrap things up here's my personal experience: The device is small cute and easy to carry, perfect for those who is always on the go, for two hours or less that is, since this baby can only give you roughly two hours of recording time, otherwise you'll need to plug it. The software wasn't that great since it just like your standard movie maker nothing too special. The quality of the recorded video is nice, and recording on a memory card is very convenient since I can swap out fresh card if my memory runs out. I hate the fact that it doesn't have a viewing lens, to save battery life, since you'll be recording on your LCD all the time. All in all, its a great device but Samsung could have done better...

A fresh new look on my cell phone

This blog was posted at http://archangel-025.blogspot.com/2008/06/fresh-new-look-on-my-cell-phone.html last June 21, 2008

I have already tried a number of phones but this phone stood up the most. Its a nokia 5200 mobile phone, It's not high-end but definitely reliable and dependable. I have this phone for over a year and I'm a bit surprised that it lived that long, considering the kind of battering that I do. Its a bit late for me to make a review about this phone since this phone has been in the market for quite some time, and I would simply like to make a tribute to the phone and to the company that made it (not that they needed one...)

The nokia 5200 is a mediocre compared to its cousin the nokia 5300, it only has a VGA camera, symbian OS, long battery life, can play mp3's and radio. These are the exact features that I was looking for when I bought the phone, and after more than a year, I got more from my money.
First was the type of battering that I did in a list and the result

1. fallen from two (2) meters high - minimal damage to exterior, phone operation has not changed

2. over charged, and emptied the batteries - battery life is still amazing, at full charge the battery can stay for 4 days, with texting, calling and gaming included.

3. played games, - free and trial symbian games only, still works perfectly

4. Used as a back up memory - works just like my thumb drive

5. Thrown around - still works perfectly

off all these punishments the 2 meter fall made the biggest impact, and I decided to buy new housing for my phone and the results are from the pictures above. From the original blue and red strips I got an all black rubberized housing and partnered it with a fresh new theme I got from the Internet (free ofcourse...) and look I think my phone got a bit younger...

Sony Ericsson K320i Review

I've had a number of phone's to play with and this time id get the opportunity to tell something about my newly grabbed toy...

i got the phone from a local subscribers plan, a very cheap plan but also very economical. Its a Sony Ericsson K320i mobile phone, my other option for my plan was a nokia 2630, i looked at both of their specifications at websites of their creators and they seemed to be on the same level. Ever since i was a nokia guy, from the awkward nokia 5110 to their Nseries, but soon i thought i just need a plan to save cost and at the same time have a new phone.

I thought of having a different kind of phone and i think i made a pretty good decision about it. The K320i had a pretty look, though Sony Ericssion seem to make their phone's all look alike with their signature joystick. The design looked pretty though, but i have yet to test that hypothesis, since my nokia phones are tried and tested phones when it comes to being tough (my nokia phones have been thrown around and they still work, some from 8 feet high, and only got cracks on their casing's, but they still work just fine...).

The menu seems pretty straight forward and not that hard to learn as i previously expected, the space on the texting is on the pound sign which is pretty close
to the 0 of nokia's, which made it pretty easy for me to text. the graphics seem to be just fine
considering the price of the phone, not to crisp nor has much detail but then again its far better
than other phone's of the same level.

The voice quality and volume when talking is pretty much normal, nothing to fancy, and unlike nokia music phone which has a special chip for music, this phone is provides acceptable sounds,
though you might not have enough space since this critter only has 15 mb of memory, very mediocre compared to other phones, and nowadays most phones have expandable memory, while the K320i just doesn't have that kind of feature.

battery life isn't much, from talk time to standby time, since i use my phone quite often, i seem to charge em' every day, so i suggest you buy either extra battery or extra charger for this phone.

the K320i features good connectivity from GPRS, to blue tooth to infrared, and might come in handy for those who would like wireless headsets or PC connectivity

my verdict, if your a middle guy who just wants to have a fancy phone for your everyday communication needs and that's right to your budget, then this phone's for you, just make sure buy extra batteries and/or charger. But if your a techie guy, then this phone is just not good enough, it doesn't have enough
memory and battery life is bad.

These are some of the things that i noticed on my phone, personally i like it but i wouldn't recommend this phone for high-end users since it lacks just a few points to be truly satisfying. But then again when you buy a phone you need to think of your priorities, this one is for those who take budget as a priority with just a few thoughts on features.

cheers!!!