Gadzooki

The Amazing MagSafe Power Adapter

by

MagSafe power adapterThere is one more reason why I love my MacBook, even if its 512MB RAM gives me a headache at times: the MagSafe Power Adapter kicks “hopelessly ordinary” laptop adapter butt!

Mac users are aware that the beauty of the MagSafe Power Adapter lies in its ability to seamlessly come off one’s MacBook with a quiet click, saving the Mac user a few months of heartache had his or her MacBook come crashing to the ground and, though highly unlikely, rendered beyond repair.

And yet I only realized how truly amazing the MagSafe adapter was when one time I awoke to my floor becoming an indoor mini-pool after an hour of rain, which fell upon my world when I was deep in REM. [Read more…]

OC With the Lappie + Lappie Obsession

by

I just went to PowerMac Center, a local reseller for all things Apple and their accessories essentials. One of the things that I saw there was a silicon cover for the MacBook keyboard. There was this day when I went all obsessive-compulsive with my Mac’s keyboard, because the gaps, or what should be more appropriately named “dust wells” have gathered dust bunnies and other gunk that have made me brush those gaps over and over again that day, after wiping the dust stains with alcohol.

Every few seconds I had to just take the brush and brush the dust out. True, this was highly unnecessary, but the obsessive-compulsive in me just had to do that. Eventually I resolved to had this cleaned when I will have Sayuri the Macbook’s lining fixed.

So when I saw the display MacBook at PowerMac with the silicon keyboard cover, I decided to test typing on it. Sadly, it was the most uncomfortable experience on earth. [Read more…]

Salivation Alert Part 2: Hardware!

by

Speaking of geeks and salivation, I had come across a picture of my friend’s boyfriend’s computer setup months ago, but the writing of the article itself was put off after mounds of work, mounds of lifestyle stresses, and moving houses, rooms, and what-not galore. So here it is, for all the world to see, my friend’s boyfriend’s PC setup.

I actually thought that this looked so much like an alienoid thing, but I was more fascinated than weirded-out in a girly way. Though I could not relate to his and my friend’s glee at his boyfriend’s having “Reached the CPU and vid card temp that he’s been targetting. So it rocks!” I sure could relate to the fact that this thing does look cool, and I do appreciate a great-looking tricked-out, pimped-out thing any time.

[Read more…]

Salivation Alert Part 1: Multiple Displays, Multiple Machines

by

There are days when I just wish I were Bill Gates’ (rather, Steve Jobs’) daughter. With a tricked-out setup like his, I would so be beside myself, that if I were married, I won’t be paying hubby any attention because of being absorbed in my system.

When I first saw Bill Gates’s setup on CNN Money, I chuckled to myself because I was so amused how he could need three displays just to check mail. It was only until I had experienced and realized the need to work on two computers at once that I finally reconciled myself to the fact that multiple displays have more than salivation factors. They actually bring a productivity boost that is unparalleled. [Read more…]

Two Computers

by

While I was shuffling around in Sayuri to reorganize my files and make room for new articles to be written, I came across this old one. Written last September 14, 2007, I cannot believe how absent-minded I was. Well at least this would save me time from having to whip up another one. :p

Seriously, writing for SplashPress is more of therapy and sanity-salvation nowadays.

Well, enough pre-article banter. Read on for my experience with and addiction to… Two computers. :p [Read more…]

Good Riddance: The Horror Story of a Laptop Deal Gone Bad

by

In the spirit of Halloween, here is a horror story, for all geeks and used-computer buyers out there.

On the 25th of October, I bought a Dell ultraportable (US company-owned and used) laptop from a certain tipidpc.com member, for only Php 5500 or $139 (cost of item+remittance fees). I gave the seller an option to go for PayPal or Xoom, outlining the advantages and disadvantages of either option. He chose Xoom, despite my fears that the transaction may fall through because as I’ve experienced, Xoom.com just cancels transactions without your clearance, simply because your case falls under their “customer protection policy” no-no.

To my chagrin, at 3AM the next day, as I was tracking the progress of the money transfer, I saw that the transaction was being canceled. So when that happened, of course I panicked, a little bit. Just a little bit, because the laptop wasn’t all that good when I tried it at home. When I had stuck an external drive in there that had been ravaged by Internet Cafe viruses BUT deleted those that I was able to spot before sticking it in the Dell lappie, the Dell won’t boot Windows XP SP1 in normal mode anymore. It can still be used in safe mode, even safe mode with networking, but just not in normal mode.

So later that morning, guy tells me to return his laptop coz the bank says *I* canceled it. Though my first instinct was to get the money someway, somehow, I decided not to put up a fight because it wasn’t worth it. Not only did the FRESH system break at the first sign of a virus invasion, the former owner was such a pain in the butt-tocks to deal with. [Read more…]

2007 and Beyond: An Exciting Era for the OS Wars

by

This is an exciting year for the OS wars. With Gutsy Gibbon just released last 18th of October, the Mac OS X Leopard being released today, and the dust over over Windows Vista not having settled yet, I think things are looking up for the OS horizon. We are back in the glory of the 80s, folks, when OS competition was healthy, with the freedom of choice at an all-time high, and enthusiasm for computers and software on an unparalleled level.

It’s just that today, this enthusiasm is magnified, to levels that “exponential” doesn’t even cover. [Read more…]