Earlier last night, PCCW contacted me in regards to my cellphone contract renewal. I had been given some thought in the past month or so as to whether I should stick with them or to find some other cellphone service provider who has a more comprehensive call + mobile data packed deal.
I have been trying those 3’s pay as you go rechargeable SIM cards for a little over a month and their 3G coverage seems to be inline with PCCW’s from where I have been accessing their service. 3.5G coverage was a little less than PCCW’s but not something with much noticeable difference other than the phones service indicator which indicates otherwise. The nicest “feature” of a pay as you go rechargeable service is that one would never have the service charges gotten out of hand unless one charges it with over something like a thousand dollars at a time, I suppose. My data usage with a very moderate and careful use was about a coupon pricing of around $170 at a rate of $0.02 each KB, which works out to be about 8MB. However, for strap free web browsing, one would really need several folds of that in order to be home PC like free. Yet the $488 per month quasi unlimited use package that all suedo conspired suppliers seem to have is simply too costly for me. Besides, one time I have noticed by loading just one single average web page with mostly text alone came to be over 2MB in data transfer, the KB packet tariff unit is simply ridiculously costly. While the pay as you go method is a save way to ensure no over indulgence, it isn’t exactly ideal despite that fact that 3 allows number portability to be transfered to their rechargeable plans.
2 days ago, after scrutinizing PCCW’s website, I called PCCW to inquire about any special (hidden) deal on mobile data usage packages in accordance to 3’s current “free iPhone” plans which is in mobile data with audio call orient but to no avail. Last night, the PCCW saleslady showed me a “special Kung-Pau manager-approved ultimate insider Oracle chosen one for company staff only” plan. I didn’t care of the bloated status, it just sounded like more inline to what I was hoping for so I took the contract renewal. A little later, I have just found “The Plan” to be newly listed on their website as such, which isn’t surprising but as they say, read the fine prints (you know, the rules that they have neglected to mention)…
- Waiver of monthly charge of moov on mobile/ M.HD pass during the first 2 months. Starting from the 3rd month, customer has to pay the standard monthly charge ($48)
- Mobile data service additional charge is $10/10MB, usage is rounded up to the nearest 10MB, maximum charge is $298 per month
- Mobile data service does not include downloading or uploading files, or any other kinds of data access, from a computer using a mobile handset or SIM embedded data module as a modem, in which case $0.08/KB will be charged
Since it is so new, I am sure the out calling saleslady hadn’t had time to learn the fine prints herself as most of these callers work for an out sourced calling agent rather than the service provider themselves. Getting back to those fine prints, the mobile data access is actually more like their special $18/30MB web viewing package where one must go through their PCCW website portal to access other website only with this, one is not required to go through the portal (I was explicitly ensured as such). The problem is, while I can’t be sure that I would not be downloading anything, I am sure I would be uploading photos on the way! The $0.08/KB premium is what I have been trying to avoid all along. The only solution now would be to keep my $48/month 3MB $0.01/KB thereafter mobile data package just to make sure it would not be 8 times as much.
This whole deal doesn’t sound as bad as it sounded semi-good either, actually. I have been paying over $120 per month with just 3MB mobile data allowance with sometimes over $150 in the odd months plus 3’s rechargeable cards anyway. So adding the $48 back to the new $98+12 plan but with 60MB+3MB data is in fact a bit more usage allowance than I could hope for 2 days ago with any service provider without needed to pay at least another 2 to 3 hundred HKD. I am sure the mobile data package pricing would drop soon so I can modify that along the way.
Shot with Sanyo CA8 but was downsized by Picasa automatically when being unloaded to it’s Web Album.
After owning and using several old and new WM phones up to last year’s WM5.0, and in this year one of the latest S60 phone, along with Nokia purchasing the rest of Symbian, I predict this collaboration between mobile giants marks the begin of the end of WM crap.
and the 2G is officially RIP.
At USD$199, I ‘envy’ those who had paid could afford over HKD$4K for the cracked 2G model against my advise, and couldn’t help but laughing wondering WTF that newly announced dealership of the 2G model by 3 for the HK and Macau market was all about.
Although Apple has switched the 3G model back to their usual selling outlets as with all other Apple products, ie screwing all the local gray marketeers, the 3G model is on the HK Apple online shop without a price and looks like they are not taking orders at this moment. That means one can still get the closed to HKD$5K 2G model from HKSincere and pretend to be the coolest dude for awhile still.
Unlike the 2G model, I am able to find one or two great features on the iPhone 3G though; talk time in 3G mode (only manual switching, no auto hanging switching between 2G/3G for this phone) is a whopping 5hrs at a great USD listed price!
Which reminds me, perhaps a Whopper for lunch today or very soon. Yum. 
Oh! Ah…. one more thing…
This iPhone 3G is like an iPod Touch at about HKD$800 less with a free 3G phone attached albeit without a video call camera … Sounds GREAT to me!
For quartz bulbs. They come in single bulb of 20 LEDs, 3W single LED, or 3W x 3 LEDs. They say the 20 LED one is about the brightness of a 5W regular bulb, and the 3W x 3 one is about the brightness of a 50W quartz bulb. The problem is, these LED bulb has no side lighting, just straight down. So the 20 LED one maybe the brightness of the 5W regular bulb, without any highly reflective material underneath it, it is very very dim making the 3W x 3 one more like a 40W regular bulb unless you have something white underneath it. The other problem is except for the color of yellow single LED one, the white LEDs on the other two kinds is too bluish to be suitable for home lighting.
I had managed to replaced 7 quartz bulbs with an assortment of these LED bulbs at various places at home which the deem suitable for the purpose of lighting those specific areas, usage-wise they are certainly not direct quartz bulb replacements even though the voltage is.
We’ll see how it goes for the long run.
At 10000:1 contrast ratio, 4ms response time, 1080p resolution but running at 1080i through the oldish Cambridge Audio DVD HDMI output, and 450cd/m2 Brightness, the Sharp AQUOS LC-46P7H Full HD 46″ LCD TV gives a great VCD image and average TV image. I haven’t tested it with a DVD disc yet. Image size is about 1/2 or even less than my projected image from the digital projector. The biggest difference would be watching a panavision or 2.33:1 aspect ration image. The height of such an image is about the same as my 14″ CRT! At 4:3, it is slightly bigger than my old 29″ 4:3 Grundig CRT. Considering the Grundig cost just over $10K, this LCD panel is about the minimum size price ratio as I am willing to spend.
Color-wise it’s typical Japanese - too saturated but nothing the adjustment couldn’t handle. 4:3 image converted to 16:9 aspect distortion is better expected. There is no S-Video connection but not too important nowadays.
TV quality is just as poor as most LCD panels that I have seen. Originally, I was thinking of putting the panel more away from the wall where the screen for the projector is to make up for the lost image size but the “digitized” image looked like being shot from Southpark. I had to put it back about 2ft making the front of the panel about 10″ from the wall to get a decent image. So much for that 4H (viewing distance to be 4x the height of the image) theory which I think applies better to projected image than LCD panels. I would say around 6H is more like it.
While more testing is needed, I standby my recommendation of digital projector for the higher image quality.
Why bring a $500 wallet for carrying the money when I usually have less than $300 on me most of the time? Like its leather counterpart, I may soon no longer need a digital wallet for my digital photos.
Just bought a Nikon Coolpix S700 digital P&S camera. Along with it, I headed over to the computer centre to find a larger SD flash memory card for this 12MPix DC. Trandscend has a 4GB class 6 (fastest) SDHC for HKD$260! For comparison, my first ever 80MB CF cost me HKD$1680!
At these prices, I see no point in carrying a digital wallet anymore. Besides, my digital wallet does not accept SDHC anyway.
In ST:Voyager, the EMH Doctor’s altered ego mentioned the Photonic Cannon.
Here comes the photonic laser thruster which could reduce a 6 month trip to Mars to just one week!
Some recoil.
Here is a little something that’s a little less drastic.
WhaUSay?!