one.step.at.a.time

zen reborn...

i recently got my RMA'd zen back. good as new, actually it's really new. heheh, that's one thing i love about warranties... the long wait is a fair trade off, better than paying the remainder of the installment plan for your wrecked device. this time, i'm not taking any chances, that's why the moment i had it back i headed to cd-r king to get a screen protector (for psp but the screen size is the same so 60 pesos is money well spent) and then on to toy kingdom for a nintendo ds case that fits the zen snugly for 250 pesos. i had to resort to alternatives since in this country, mp3/portable media device is ipod-centric and that being the case, there is no market for accesories for other brands.

i love this thing, the only proprietary thing is its removable battery and remote control (haven't tried the universal remotes as i don't know which code to try). charger and screen protector, you can use those designed for the psp. data transfer cable is a standard usb cable again same as the ones used for psp's, most digicams and other usb devices. the audio/video out is a standard baby jack to rca cable, easily available at hardware/electronic shops.



internet reborn...

i have been on smartbro long enough and the service just sucks. speed crawls and when it rains, it dies. if there's anything worse than the connection, it would be their customer support 'professionals'. these people don't know jack about what they're supporting. every conversation ends with "please try your connection again within 24 to 48 hours and if you are still unable to connect, call us back."

now, i have a new provider...mydsl from pldt. well, aside from the expected speed bump due to the more expensive rate, everything seems ok and i have not had the need to call them yet. though i am not hopeful that their support is any better than their sister company.
my only gripe with them is with their installation crew. the landline installers were ok, it was simple enough, install the phoneline near the tv on the living room. and they left a roll of phone line wiring. this would prove to be useful for spoiling the m.o. of the dsl installers. they came in those puny scooters that try to pass off as motorcycles and the 'tools' they had was only the ones on their backpacks. at this point i was skeptical. and sure enough there was something off with them. they told me that they only install the dsl line right around the area where the phone line is. and since my work area is on my bedroom on the second floor, i had to provide for the extra wirings and adaptors. so i asked them what i needed...they were shocked when i showed them the roll of phone wiring that i had and that forced them to install a line that runs across the stairs straight to my room. now i needed those damn sockets. i was about to go to the hardware store to purchase one when they offered that they have an 'extra' that i could just buy from them. so, saving myself the exhaustion of walking under the baking sun, i agreed. they made it that i had an extra slot for the phone upstairs which was nice. when i asked them how much for that thing-a-majig, they replied, "bahala na kayo ser..". so i checked my wallet and i had no money on me. i went through my used pants and jeans and was able to scourge a hundred. so that's what i gave them. bearly audible they murmured, "wan pipty dapat yun ser e" i offered to give them more if they give me a ride to the nearest atm but they declined and just took off.

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mobile hdd reborn...

having lost my mobile hdd.. i had two options for replacement, either get the laptop hdd or a desktop hdd. so, on to the pros and cons:

laptop hdd's are truly mobile, you can carry it around on your pocket but price and storage size were the drawbacks. to get around the respectable size of 200GB and up, you'd have to shell out a lot.
desktop hdd is bulky and you'd have to lug around a power adaptor, but it really shines where laptop hdd's fail. cost per gb leans toward this solution.

verdict... i went with the desktop path. and seeing that i am low on cash (i always am these days, heheh), i bought a 3.5 external hdd enclosure from cd-r king for only 420 pesos and made use of the spare hdd from my old desktop pc. it's been...what's the word...incapacitated for the past few months. i have not the time, tools and resources i need to get it back up running. so i thought what better way to build a new pc than to get it in parts! and that's where the next item fits in.



monitor reborn...

since i purchased the speakers, i have been using this setup for my home theater system (pathetic really but it's watchable)...a cheap ass dvd (plays divx/xvid for those downloaded vids..shhh..you know) hooked up to the 5.1 that i o so carefully mounted equidistantly and the 17in aoc flat pc monitor. now, i convinced myself that purchasing an lcd monitor is within reason since i will be able to use it while i am saving up for the remaining parts needed for the pc i am building.
and so i went around cyberzone and ended up with this:

samsung syncmaster 940bw

product site
review sites: devhardware, cnet

price...light enough, thanks to zero percent installment options for 12 months. guess that means the rest of the pc parts will come after a year. hehehe.


music/video collection reborn...

thanks to the fast internet, and a membership to a private torrent tracker (again, shhhhh). i am now starting to get my media collection growing again. and for those that know me, yes, i still painstakingly tag and rename each one of the albums, also still with album art. for videos, i still make sure subtitles and posters are included before i burn them. i know that i may never get everything back, especially the personal files (no, i am not talking about porn! i guess i've just found them to be a waste of space and they're all the same anyways), i am starting to fill this baby up rather quickly
need...more...space...





all in all, though i'm starting from scratch, i'm getting there, one step at a time.



* killer dramatic ending eh?! hahaha