Current office PC wallpaper

Transformers + Michael Jackson = EPIC EPICNESS

Being my first big purchase from CD-R King, I have to admit that I was a wee bit nervous as I unboxed my latest acquisition.

I was not really expecting it to be as impressive as its box’s specs would want me to believe. However, I was hoping that it would function at least half as well as it claims to do.

With expectations kept to realistic levels, CD-R King’s e-Book reader is actually pretty good. Here are the reasons why:

The reader is actually nicely designed. It does not look nor feel cheap and it actually feels quite sturdy. The navigational buttons are situated on both sides of the reader while the menu/control buttons can be found at the bottom of the screen. My only gripe with the reader’s construction is with the buttons as they make clicking sounds when you use them. Other than that, I’m really happy with the way it looks and feels.

The screen is a 7 inch TFT display with a respectable 800×480 resolution. Viewing can be set vertically or horizontally with the touch of a button. Options are available for the screen’s brightness and backlight duration. The box and manual says that it can support 720p video playback but that is one big fat lie. Still, the display is decent (even outdoors on a sunny day) and it is pretty easy on the eyes.

Under the hood, though, the reader’s features get a little hit-and-miss.

While it supports TXT, PDF, HTML, EPUB, and FB2 files, the reader has trouble loading EPUB files. It supports them, granted, but it takes forever for the files to load (more than 5 minutes). This is a really big drawback especially since EPUB seems to be the preferred file type for e-books these days. However, I am still partial to CD-R King’s reader only because majority of my files are in PDF and the reader does a good job displaying them.

On the other hand, the reader also accepts majority of the popular file types for images, music, and movies these days (e.g. JPG, MP3, and AVI). This means that your e-book reader also doubles as a pretty decent portable media player. Music and movie playback quality is pretty ok but, rather unfortunately, scaling for image files is a disaster. Again, considering the device’s price tag, its multimedia playback capability is good enough.

Feature-wise, remember, always, that this device is not a Kindle or Nook killer – it is merely a relatively cheap alternative. The device has no text highlighting feature, it has limited bookmark slots, no Wi-Fi capability, et cetera. If you absolutely, positively, can’t live without those features, then this device is not for you. Stop being cheap and go buy a Kindle or Nook, for God’s sake. However, if you just want a device to read your e-books on, then rejoice.

All in all, CD-R King’s e-Book reader/multimedia player is a good purchase especially if you can be realistic with your expectations from it. The price is not too bad especially if you compare it with the higher end products on the market. And for all its shortcomings, there is a feature or two that makes up for it (video playback!).

Here’s hoping that my purchase would last for more than a year!

One of the best game trailers I’ve seen – very intense and dramatic. Here’s to hoping that the game won’t suck ass…

My sister gave me a copy of Pupil’s latest album, Limiters of the Infinity Pool, last night. After listening to it a couple of times, I can say that it is probably Pupil’s best and most coherent album to date. There’s a noticeable change in their sound but the songs are still undeniably Pupil’s (thanks to Ely Buendia’s very distinct singing/songwriting style). The band just sounds more natural this time and the record’s more polished. A great OPM release to start 2011!

Got a copy of Sleepwalk Circus’ Great Secret Show today and I have to say that I’m pretty impressed with the band’s debut album. They claim to belong to the Post-Rock/Ambient/Shoegaze/Alternative music genre on their Facebook account and, amazingly, that’s how they sound; think Slowdive meets Sigur Rós with an OPM twist.

Trippy. =)

…an overpriced, unappetizingly served, heart-clogging monstrosity that’s really ought to be just called the greasynator. With enough grease to clean your truck’s diesel engine, this thing will make you feel dirty after eating it.

It’s not a terrible burger, mind you. It’s just that I heard my heart weep when it touched my lips…

You have been warned.