Pathik Shah

Samsung Galaxy S 2 Review: First Look

The Samsung Galaxy S 2 will be the successor to the best Android phone of 2010 – the Samsung Galaxy S. It is supposed to launch today at MWC 2011. In this preview, I will give you a quick run-around of what you can expect with the Samsung Galaxy S 2.

Samsung Galaxy S 2 Specifications

Display: 4.3 inch SuperAMOLED Plus display, 800 x 480 pixels
OS: Android 2.3 Gingerbread
Processor: 1 GHz dual core processor (Exynos)
RAM: 1 GB RAM
Memory: 32 GB internal memory
Camera: 8 MP camera with autofocus and flash
Connectivity: Bluetooth 3.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, HSPA+

EDIT: Here’s a great review by Electric Pig – Samsung Galaxy S 2 Review

Design

The Samsung Galaxy S 2 is a bit bigger than the Galaxy S, thanks to the larger 4.3 inch display, but is both lighter (116 gms) and slimmer (8.49 mm) than its predecessor.

It is quite stylish and looks great. It also has a much better 4.3 inch SuperAMOLED Plus display with a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels. The display is brighter, offers more contrast and is more power efficient than SuperAMOLED displays. Watching movies and reading ebooks should be a pleasure on the Galaxy S 2.

OS and Hardware

The Samsung Galaxy S 2 will come with Android 2.3 Gingerbread with the TouchWiz UI and Swype. It will have a 1 GHz dual core processor and 1 GB RAM with 16 GB / 32 GB internal storage. It is as powerful as some Android tablets which will be launched soon.

Multimedia

The Samsung Galaxy S 2 will come with an 8 MP camera with AF and flash and will also offer full HD video recording and playback. It will be one of the best mobile cameras ever.

Connectivity:

The Samsung Galaxy S 2 should offer all the standard connectivity options – Bluetooth 3.0 with A2DP, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, HSPA+ etc. Browsing the web will be a great experience on this powerful device with a huge display.

Conclusion

The Samsung Galaxy S 2 could very well be the Android smartphone of 2011. It has the design, hardware, OS, camera and all the features that might be needed to take the pole position again. If I had loads of cash, this is the phone I would be going for.

Dell M101z Review

I had been on the lookout for a nice netbook since a couple of months, but I wanted something much more powerful than the cheap Atom powered ones which are commonly available now.

I had three options

Dell M101z
Asus EEE PC 1215T
MSI x340

After about a day of research, I decided to go with the Dell M101z. I ordered the base version of the Dell M101z (with Windows 7 Home Basic) for Rs 22265 on December 28, 2010 and it was shipped to me in about 15 days.

Dell M101z Specifications

Display: 11.6 inches, 1366 x 768 pixels
Processor: 1.7 GHz AMD Athlon II K125 Neo
RAM: 2 GB DDR3 RAM
Graphics: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4225
Hard Disk: 250 GB SATA, 5400 RPM
OS: Windows 7 Home Basic
Other Features: 3 USB ports, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth, HDMI, VGA, Mic, Headphone, Ethernet, 1.3 MP webcam
Battery: 6 cell 56 WHr Li-ion battery
Price: Rs 21,800 (Base) + Rs 465 (Windows 7 Home Basic)

I have been using it for about 2 weeks now, and finally have time to post a short review.

Dell M101z Review

Design

The Dell M101z has an excellent design with a glossy black look. The build quality is great and it is quite light and portable at just 1.56 kgs, despite having a 11.6 inch display. There is no flex near the keyboard or the display area and the chassis is very sturdy.

Display

The Dell M101z has a nice 11.6 inch display with a resolution of 1366 x 768 display. The resolution may seem a bit high for such a small display, but in time, you will get used to it. It’s perfect for watching movies. The brightness and contrast are great, but the viewing angles aren’t very great.

Keyboard and Touchpad

The Dell M101z has the best keyboard I’ve seen in any netbook. It has a chiclet style keyboard which is almost full-sized. The typing experience is awesome; I get a typing speed of about 65 WPM, slightly more than on my desktop. The arrow keys are a bit weirdly shaped though, but they hardly takes 2 mins to get used to. The touchpad is also very responsive and the mouse buttons below it are perfect.

Performance

The Dell M101z offers much better performance than standard netbooks. It is powered by a 1.7 GHz AMD Athlon II K125 Neo processor and comes with 2 GB DDR3 RAM and an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4225 graphics chipset. It has a 250 GB SATA, 5400 RPM hard drive. It comes with Windows 7 Starter but I upgraded it to Windows 7 Home Basic. It also has Ubuntu Light, an instant-on OS pre-installed.

The performance is very good. It is very fast once you remove the crapware that Dell bundles it with. Windows 7 boots in about 25-30 seconds. The processor is quite fast and the RAM is more than adequate for basic computing. I can easily play Counter Strike and Warcraft: DoTA, and many old games, without any issues. It’s perfect for watching movies, browsing the web, video conferencing, working on Office and some light programming. It handles 720p videos with ease. I get a Windows Experience Index score of 3.4 on my Dell m101z.

Other Features

The Dell M101z comes with 3 USB ports, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth, HDMI, VGA, Mic, Headphone, Ethernet, 1.3 MP webcam and a card reader. It is powered by a 6 cell 56 WHr Li-ion battery which lasts for about 5 hours with casual usage. Watching videos drains the battery in about 3.5 hours.

Should You Buy It?

Hell yeah! It is the best netbook I have used in ages and offers much more than a standard netbook. It is almost like a laptop, only much more portable, much cheaper and much more awesome. I would definitely recommend it.

If you are looking for a full-sized, desktop replacement notebook, I would suggest the Dell XPS 15. It is much more powerful than the Dell M101z and a bit more bulky.

Infibeam Phi Review – Windows and Android Tablets

Since the Apple iPad launch, many manufacturers have been planning to launch their own tablets. Some, like the HP Slate, have been cancelled, some have been delayed while some are slated to launch soon.

Notion Ink, the original Indian tablet, was one of the most anticipated tablets since its announcement about an year back. However, its launch has been delayed to the end of 2010.

However, there is still hope – After launching its own ebook reader – the Infibeam Pi and mobile phone range, Infibeam has now announced its own Tablet – the Infibeam Phi

Infibeam Phi Preview – Windows and Android

The Infibeam Phi will be available in two versions – the Infibeam Windows Phi and the Infibeam Android Phi.

The hardware specifications of both the Windows and Android version are similar. They comes with 8 GB internal memory (with support for upto 32 GB memory cards), a 7 inch TFT touchscreen display with a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels and come with the Windows CE / Android OS. They support both Wi-Fi and USB connectivity. THe Phi has dimensions of 225 x 175 x 75mm and weighs around 180 grams.

Both of them will have image, audio and video support. You can buy ebooks from Infibeam directly on these devices. The Windows Phi comes with Microsoft Office and GPS while the Android Phi is supposed to support the Android Market. Both the versions are supposed to have a battery life of around 5-6 hours with moderate usage. (1800 mAh Li-ion battery)

Infibeam Phi Price and Availability

Both the Windows Phi and the Android Phi will be available for Rs. 14,999 ($330) with a 1 year warranty and will be available on 30th July 2010.

Preorder – Infibeam Android Phi and Infibeam Windows Phi

Infibeam Android Phi

Infibeam Windows Phi

Dork by Sidin Vadukut – Book Review

Dork by Sidin Vadukut is a book about Robin ‘Einstein’ Varghese, an MBA from WIMWI (IIM-A). The book is about his experiences at Dufresne Partners, a consulting firm where he was placed at Day Zero.

It’s a hilarious first person account of his drunken misadventures at Dufresne, the race to get promoted to Associate and the quest for love (lust, actually). Sidin Vadukut has a superb writing style and the humor (mostly self-effacing) is the type that most internet geeks are used to and will most probably like (littered with expletives), much better than the typical Chetan Bhagat stuff. Excellent read, especially for the aspiring Engineer-MBA hybrids like me.

Rating: 7.5/10

Get Dork – Sidin Vadukut from Flipkart

The Hero Hawk Nu Age is one of the cheapest road bikes available in India. It’s one of the best options for beginners who want a road bike and don’t want to spend a fortune on their first one.

I am in no way a pro-cyclist so this review is only aimed at beginners who want to take a shot at cycling. It’s a superb bike which offers great VFM. In the 3 – 3.5k price range, it is one of the few options available along with the BSA Mach. I had read on a lot of cycling forums that the Hero Hawk was a much better option than the Mach, so decided to go with it.

I purchased the gearless version of the Hawk for 3.2k; will probably upgrade it with 5×2 Shimano gears soon. The bike is very sturdy with good build quality. I had the mudguards and carrier removed and will probably remove the aerobar too; didn’t find much use of it. Needless to say, it looks much better without all that.

Here’s a pic of my Hero Hawk Nu Age at one of my first attempts at amateur randonneuring at SGNP, Borivli.