Very often we, as consumers, make a purchase base on form and factors that we’ve pre-listed in our mind the moment we register that we’re going to make a purchase. These can be in terms of the features we want in that mobile phone, the design and form factor, the pricing and perhaps the colors available too.

Most of the time, before anyone in my family (and extended family), and circle of friends, wants to buy a computer or camera, they’ll come seek my advice. Being the more techie person in the family, I’ll often end up repeating myself more than once to different people asking the same question. But thanks to blogs and forums, they now know where to go for resources and information. Or rather, to seek my advice, they just read my blog. (But dear friends and family, as I only have that limited knowledge of the few brands that I’ve contact with, it doesn’t mean that my opinion is the best. Unless I start getting to try out all the brands and gadgets, than perhaps I can give you better advices.)

Right, I diverted… back to the serious stuff.

Do you know what this is???

Nope! It’s not the latest spider robot!

Before I tell you what the above is (if you not already know), let me first ask another question – When you’re planning to buy that netbook, laptop or mobile phone, have you ever think about the brain in those gadgets? I’m referring to the brain that’s processing all the information, data and what not so that you can use your gadgets. Yes, this brain is call the processor. And the photo above was how the first few Intel processor looked like!

Long long time ago, these processor chips come in much bigger sizes, as shown above. (Image on right shows the inside of one of the first Intel microprocessor.) And because of the size, the motherboards and circuit boards and what not, to hold and power the processor were huge and bulky too (as compared to now) . Can you remember that huge ugly looking CPU that has to be laid flat on the table and you’ll have your bulky monitor sitting on top of it? Yap! Ugly right? Thanks goodness those are ancient history!

Now, great power does not have to come in big packages anymore. If you’re among the geeky crew, I’m sure you’ll know the history of Intel and how tiny these processors are becoming. But if you’re non-geek, here’s how the chip looks like.

The above is the Intel Core 2 Duo processor

If you think that’s tiny already, wait till you meet the Atom! Let me show you the Atom processor! Image on the left is how the inside of the Intel Atom looks like. And please take note that this image is like about 30 times blown up of the real thing ok! And this is the tiny brain that is inside the sexy red Vivienne Tam digital clutch, which served the red very well. Powering it right for the portable needs and giving quite a decent battery life to it. *(Do note that the Centrino 2 is of better performance than the Atom and should not be used to compare when buying a notebook vs a netbook!)

If you still can’t imagine how tiny the Atom processor is (cause what you can’t see you can hardly believe right?), here’s a screen shot of the chip in the hand of a man… Ya lah!! It’s THAT tiny can??

Still cannot tell how tiny the Atom is? Here’s a comparison of the actual Atom with a rice grain!

With the Atom processor, Intel’s smallest and lowest power processor, it allows the latest Mobile Internet Devices and netbooks to get the power necessary for fast and power-saving processing. The Atom processors also provides for better performance and increased system responsiveness. How cool is that!

During my time spent with the red, it became my friend on the go. I surfed while I was traveling. I watched videos in bed (don’t let your mind wander please!) and I must say, those tiny speakers on the Vivienne Tam wowed me! And of course, the sleek design and classic digital clutch turn heads almost all the time. When I use it in the train, I can sense those envious eyes glazing towards the red. Feel shiok lah! Too bad that’s not mine to keep.

Besides myself, all these people and more had met the red too…





Have you seen the red?

Click here to view photos taken with Samsung Innov8

Thanks to the kind people at Intel, I’m able to hold it, play with it, use it, adore it, hug it, love it, flaunt it and even sleep with this hot babe! (For a week) And because I’m loving it so much, I thought why not spread some love around the people I meet too!

So here’s the thing, if you’re going to meet me anytime this week (till Tuesday), you’ll get to touch it, play with it, lick it, smell it and take a photo with it! If you’re going to be seeing this hot red babe, I’m going to take a photo of you with the red and you’ll join in the album of “Seeing red“! This is just something fun I want to do. It has got nothing to do with Intel, HP nor any agency.

Where you can find Claudia for the next few days…

• Today (Thu): 7pm at the social media people meetup
• Fri: Should be at office (Call me to check)
• Sat: BarcampSG
• Sun: Sorry its family and friends day
• Mon: At office (Come visit me)
• Tue: At office (Can come visit me also)

Hmm… wonder if Intel will allow me to hang on to it for another week so I can bring this red to BlogOUT too!

Here are some friends who’ve seen, felt and played with the red…

Diana

Brennan

Amelia

Oh! And yes! This post is created on the red too!!

For females only! Head down to Vivo City by 21 Feb 2009 and discover what true inner beauty is! This is one of those time where you leave your bf, steady, husband and guy friends outside while you and your girlfriends spend some time pampering yourself. And best of all its FREE! (Don’t you just like that word?) Got free goodie bag too! Which comes pack with discount vouchers, free trials and a sexy condom too!

Get truly gorgeous and head down to Vivo before they pack up and leave! Catch sexciting exciting activities such as pole dancing demonstration, communicating love workshop and eyebrow trimming services, or simply enjoy a free coffee and R&R at the lounge. Get ready to show your girl power! Because beauty begins with being empowered!

This is happening at VivoCity Central Court B, Level 1 from 16 to 21 Feb 2009. This event is brought to you by HPB and sponsored by many many other brands. But that’s not really important. Most important is you get to discover yourself and get FREE stuff! *LOL!*

I’m not going to say much, let’s let the pictures do the talking… but don’t just scroll, view and forget leh! Bring all your girlfriends down and get that goodie bag! It’ll come in handy! *winks*

You not going get to learn. But you get to shop too!
But sorry, you can’t buy anything there. Just window shop k?

No! These are not free! Nor for sale!

Relax yourself at the lounge.
Don’t worry, no saleman will come up to promote them!

And take a shot at the ‘Reveal your future’ booth.
See how you’ll look when you’re 60!

I think I look more like 80 in the picture loh!

Click here to view photos taken with Samsung Innov8

Footnotes:
Truly Gorgeous on facebook and the event here.
Check out Let’s Talk About Sex too!

If you would like to know my thoughts, here they are…

The Zn5 design is quite sleek and slim. It feels good in the hands and the many texture of the phone makes the feel special and unique. I would have preferred a flat behind, but with the 5mp camera, a slight bulge for the lens is acceptable. In fact, this bulge gives a better support when holding the phone in one hand.

The camera feature on the Zn5 is a collaboration with Kodak. (A brand which I’ve not been using or seeing for a long while since I last used a film camera about a decade ago? Yap, the only Kodak product I’d used in my life are their film!) Honestly, because of my ignorance of the brand’s product, I don’t know how good or not good is the camera in the phone as compared to the other Kodak cameras. But with the shots I took of the same object under the same condition with the Zn5 and Innov8, I’ve to say I still prefer the quality and control of the camera on the Innov8.

Here are two different shots taken with the Motorola Zn5 and Samsung Innov8… you tell me which is better. (Click on image for bigger and closer view at 1024×768)

The above is from the Moto Zn5

The above is from the Samsung Innov8

In lowlight condition with the Moto Zn5

In lowlight condition with the Samsung Innov8

From the above, I would say, the Innov8 still has a better camera than the Moto Zn5. However, I prefer the flash on the Zn5 better. It gives a more powerful yet evenly spread lighting when you try taking photos in a dark room.

Here’s a shot of Pooh Bear in total darkness with Moto Zn5 w/flash on…

And the two below also with flash on… the cow in daylight condition and the other shot in a KTV room…

(No! I didn’t drink those beer!)

Moving on to the other factors of the phone…

On the side of the phone, there are minimum control, with just the usual volume up/down, camera shutter and a phone keypad lock switch. And on the other side, there’s just the 35mm earphone jack and the USB cable slot.

Lastly, the keypad on the Moto Zn5 is not something I enjoy punching in SMS with. Besides the small screen, the not-so-browsing friendly window also deters me from using it on the go to surf the net or to check my mail.

Overall my verdict for the Moto Zn5 are as follows:

1. Good enough camera with photo quality suitable for web viewing and small prints.
2. Slim and clean lines makes the phone sleek and easy to carry around.
3. Keypad a tad too small and not so friendly on the thumb.
4. 35 mm jack on the side (like the Innov8) is a not-good.
5. Clever use of in between keys for camera function buttons. But it almost caused me to drop the phone while trying to fiddle with just one hand.
6. I would recommend this to those who need the keypad and a relatively good camera.
7. And if you’re looking for a non-sliding phone with the camera feature, get this.

Still prefers my Samsung Innov8. ^_-

So if you can guess correctly where this place is located, I will give you this special gift. There’s only 1 gift, so good luck to all those with the correct answer!

Just leave your answer in the comments and one lucky winner with the correct answer wins! Don’t forget to leave your email address so I can get in touch with you k? Contest closes on Tuesday, 15 Dec at 2359hr. Winner will be announced in the post of this mystery location!

*This contest does not apply to those who were at this place with me today!

Click here to view photos taken with Samsung Innov8

There were many dogs, cats and rabbits. But Baby Samuel caught my attention! I fell in love with him and my heart aches when I left SPCA without him. I’m trying hard to persuade mum to let me keep him at home. I want Baby Samuel!! He’s soooo adorable isn’t he?

Here are some photos and a video of us playing with Baby Samuel…

Are you taking a photo of me?

Come let me pose for you…

Will you take me home with you please?

Mummy! I want to bring Baby Samuel home please!!! I promise I’ll take good care of him, will toilet train him, and will shower him every week. Please please can I bring him home?

Photos and video by…

Click here to view photos taken with Samsung Innov8

Sadly, this installation has just ended its debut at The Cathay on 2 Nov 2008. But according to the description, they’ll be moving it around to other destinations too. You can find out more (hopefully they’ll update) on their website at TO DO blog.

Here are some interesting TO DO I spotted while I was there…

I wonder how tall this person is.

Who doesn’t want world peace?

I also want to be rich wor!

Sometimes its not good to have a hot dude bf!

Love this installation! Hope I’ll be able to spot one before the post-its are being filled up. I want to write on them too!

I’ve got an idea! How about a POST SECRET installation? Anyone wants to do it? It’ll be cool!!

Click here to view photos taken with Samsung Innov8

If I were near a Skin Food outlet today, I’ll probably become a Skin Food member instead. But there wasn’t any at Tampines Mall, where I went for dinner. But there’s The Face Shop!

I walked in hoping to find their BB cream and spotted it…

The Skin Extra BB Cream @ $42.90

Than…

I remembered my foundation running low, so I asked the saleslady to recommend one suitable for my skin type. It’s filled with collagen too! Feels good on my hands and so I bought it…

Flebeaute Collagenic 2 Way Cake @ $52.90

Than my bf saw this poster recommending an eye patch that’s awarded Eye Mask of the year by Cleo magazine, and since its only $9.90, ermm… I took one to try too…

Raspberry Roots Collagen Eye Patch @ $9.90

And I saw next to it a sleeping mask! One last bottle, so it should be good right? (LOL!) And the saleslady also confirmed that its their best seller and many customers recommended their friends too. So…

I bought it!

Raspberry Roots Sleeping Mask @ $31.90

Than hor, since I’m going to start using make-up, I better get a proper cleanser to remove them! And so…

Brightening Rice Water Cleansing Emulsion @ $22.90

Muahahahahahaha!!! Total damage came up to more than $160! And with $100 spent, you’ll get to receive their lifetime membership too.

Although its just a 5% discount, but still better than nothing lah. I hope the products will live up to their reputation and hope I’ll feel that its money well spent. Have you tried any of their products too? Any recommendation or reviews to share?

Click here to view photos taken with Samsung Innov8

First, changes was made to my PSP slim. In June, I Zhng-ed my PSP, but after only few months, the blings started coming off and leaving ugly sticky marks on the garskin. And I was also getting tired of the bright ah-lian zhng-ed PSP so I decided to pull everything off and keep it original.

My clean white PSP slim

For those few days where I was playing on the naked PSP, I was extra careful with it, afraid to get any scratches on it. I decided, I need to get it protected again. So I found this at one of the pushcarts at CompassPoint.

I got this at just $10

So now my PSP slim looks like this…

The front…

The behind…

That was the first change. And now the second change I did was to my blog layout. Few friends have been telling me that they’re confused when reading my blog.

What I intended was to make my blog less personal and less like a blog-blog. Ermm… more like a blog-azine style or a website? When I found this theme, I was delighted as it gives me lots of flexible and moving elements or widgets around is made simple. Because of the nature of some of my posts that are kind of “timeless”, like my reviews, social media sharing and others, I want to highlight them and made known to new readers on my blog. If I had used the usual chronological blogging theme or format, these posts will just disappear when new ones are posted. This theme does well in giving them more and longer exposure. And I like the boxes and simple layout design too. So what I did was to rearrange the boxes a little and this is the little changes and explanation. Hope it’ll help make it less confusing for you.

The before…

And now, the layout looks like this…

Some of you also suggested that I keep a separate blog for each of my focus. Like having a Claud talks Gadget blog, one for my social media sharing and one for my personal whining and what not. There are reasons for me to keep them all under one roof. I’ll touch on this in another entry soon.

And finally! I’ve changed my phone!! I just couldn’t live without it! After using it for 2 weeks with the review unit I got from Samsung, I got so in love with it that I just have to get one! Thanks to the $300 handset upgrade voucher received from Starhub, the $100 discount for getting a 3G phone and the trading-in of my motoQ9h, I paid only $88 for my Samsung Innov8! *grins big big*

With a 8-megapixel camera in my hp, I’m now using less of my Canon Ixus camera! Wonder if I should sell it off.

Claudia is a happy woman! :)

Psss… to make claudia an even happier woman, anyone willing to sponsor a new Macbook Pro? Muahahahaha!! *evil grin*