filingaccount

Just want some thoughts from TV laptop users. I want to buy a laptop for around 40,000 Baht and was looking at either a Sony Vaio or a Macbook. Which do you think is the better buy (or even other brands)???

Thanks in advance...

What are you going to us it for? At home? Travel a lot? Coffee shop user? Just browsing and emailing? What is important in your case?

Then consider 3 things.

LCD quality

Keyboard quality

mouse quality (eg. touchpad, nipple)

These are the 3 things you use each and every time you use the laptop. If one is of poor quality, or doesn't work as you want, then the purchase will not make you happy.

In my case, having a reflective screen is horrible. You can only see your own face and what goes on behind you, not whats on screen.

PM me with your requirements and I'll be happy to answer.

1. Look for some advice on some basic things i should be looking out for when buying a desk-top computer which main purpose is for 2d(photoshop, illustrator)and 3d arts (Maya).

2. I also like to run Maya and photoshop simultaneously, so i need a computer than can handle switching between two programs ongoing quickly and easily.

3. I am hoping to find out the minimum requirements as I already have a high end computer in storage in the UK (only 3 years old and was custom built..so shouldnt be too out of date (i hope)..and cost a small fortune. So, if i decide to stay in Thailand, i will bring it over. Just do not have that kind of money for another comp ).

4. Anyway, since being in Thailand I have been using a Sony Vaio laptop for all my graphics work, and im taxing it pretty hard and it times it freezes/crashes, so considering buying a desktop comp that will cover my basic needs.

1. Basic things. Fastest 2x quad core CPU's (Intel Core i7), Mainboard for 2x quad core CPU's, maximum RAM, biggest and fastest HDD, latest Nvidia Quadro VGA card, professional grade LCD's with color calibration at minimum 24" and at least 2 of them (probably 3 is needed) and a 64-bit operating system.

2. You need at least 2 big LCD's with color calibration. This enables you to run Photoshop on one screen and Maya on the other at the same time. No switching needed. A 3rd LCD would enable you to put all the "tools" from photoshop, maya etc and all the other open programs like browser, IM and more on one screen.

3. A 3 years old PC is not high end, not even close. If you think you spent money on it, you made a huge mistake putting it in storage.

A midrange PC would out-perform your "highend" today.

If you list the specifications of it, then there might be a part or 2 that can be salvaged.

4. The laptop is probably overheating and shutting down. Normally consumer grade laptops are not built for heavy work according the manufacturers. They simply do not put enough thought into creating good quality and reliable stuff (eg. not enough cooling).

Based on your initial post, this is the best information I am able to offer.

PM me if you'd like to discuss in more detail.

Right now I am using both TOT and True.

TOT 2.0/0.5 Mbps package

True 8.0/0.5 Mbps package

Comparing the two (excluding torrents) places True ahead simply because they offer 8 Mbps and gives maybe 2.5 Mbps 24/7 whereas TOT's 2 Mbps generally gives about 300 Kbps.

True's connection also does not suffer from severe bugs as TOT. Eg. TOT now interrupts downloads randomly and severs connections frequently making downloads impossible without a download manager, and also making online streaming (radio and TV) fairly useless.

I will of course test True thoroughly during the 2 weeks of Wimbledon. So far, however, True has been much better than TOT when it comes to streaming online media.

Ping times seems to be quite stable at 350-450 ms to the US and about 75-100 ms higher to Europe.

Comparing torrent downloads in percentage of the maximum package speed gives True an small edge on both download and upload.

TOT gives me 155-160 KB/s download (theoretical maximum 256 KB/s minus overhead). About 65% or so of max.

True gives me 900-910 KB/s download (theoretical max 1024 KB/s minus overhead). About 85% or so of max.

Upload is of course slow on both connections, but True generally gives me a maximum of 47 KB/s and TOT 33 KB/s (same torrents, same trackers, etc).

Prices.

TOT apparently now offers the 2.0/0.5 Mbps package at 590 baht per month. I still pay ~1000 Baht because I do not want to be tied up for another year with them. (I can cancel with them without penalty and recover the phone line deposit in a month.)

True offers the 8.0/0.5 Mbps package at 1199 Baht. (requires another service by True. I have a prepaid True Move sim with call forwarding, and it works fine with a 49 baht sim, 50 baht refill. Call forwarding to another True number is 1bht/min and other mobile networks 1.5bht/min).

As far as I know, there are several good online sources for live feeds.

Generally a weekend pass is around US$ 2 (official).

Also several un-official feeds for free (they also show the whole weekend)

If you are interested I can ask some of my friends who are interested in F1 to provide you with links and packages.

http://www.siamtv.info/start.html

Something like that?

It is actually as simple as providing the general consumer what the consumer wants in any specific region.

If there is high enough demand for certain (quality, probably higher priced) products, then retail outlets will carry those products.

If there is a demand for cheap and cheaper goods, as is the case in Thailand, that is exactly what you will find in abundance.

I can give you a decent example.

Normally I buy Panasonic Oxyride AAA batteries (70 baht or whatever they cost for 2 pieces).

Today, however I happened to pass by a stall selling cheap electronics and tools. As it happened they were selling AAA batteries, 4 pieces for the unbeatable price of 7 Baht (3 packs of 4 costs you 20 Baht). I decided to buy a pack and try it our in my wireless keyboard.

The cheap batteries works fine, but the question is for how long.

Now, I have no illusions about getting something better than what I paid for, but one can always try just for the heck of it.

I guess it is generally expected that thing break quickly here in Thailand, but as things are cheap there is really no need for a service and repairs department. The general idea is just to "buy a new one".

Another great example is "low energy" light bulbs.

Sylvania mini lynx mini twister something. You'd expect the bulbs to last the 5 years promised. But a year in, from 17 bulbs, all 17 have expired. I called Sylvania about this problem and asked what could be done (I kept receipts and detailed records as it were for my new condo), and the answer was plainly: "Nothing. If you don't like, don't buy again."

I buy the Phillips equivalent now, and so far none of them have broken. They cost a little bit more, but it is of no issue as they work...

I guess the general message is, vote with your wallet.

If anyone is interested we could setup an informal group that tests and reports on newly purchased goods. This could be done via a simple blog to begin with. I could maintain the blog and hand out editor accounts to whomever wants one. The products "reviewed" could be anything as long as some ground rules are set (eg. no product bashing).

I have never after calling the call center of DTAC, AIS and True received more than an SMS or 2 peer week. Mostly the SMS' are from the company itself. I don't know what they say as my mobiles do not recognize Thai characters.

How do you get the SPAM to stop?

1. Call the call center.

2. Talk slowly and use very simple words. (eg. I do not want SMS SPAM. I can not read Thai. My phone can not read Thai. Make the SMS SPAM stop)

3. Wait. If within 24 hours you receive some spam, save the message and caller details, call again, repeat step 2 and include any caller ID info if asked. Always polite, always without anger and impatience.

4. No more problem.

A 320 GB SATA Laptop HDD should cost you around 2400 baht

400 GB: 3200 baht

500 GB: 3500 baht

4 GB RAM SO-DIMM DDR2 should set you back about 2100 baht (2x2GB).

This means you have to remove your old RAM. I suggest selling the RAM to one of the second hand shops on the higher floors.

Hardware House is generally a decent place with good warranties.

If you need more help, PM me.

Anyhow,I have noticed that a film is available but with widely different file sizes...ie,840 mbs....4200 mgbs....same film same legnth.

I have tried both and after converting to DVD I can not detect any difference in quality.

It's all about bitrate. The higher the bitrate, the higher the quality. Since you are again converting to DVD you will lose a lot of the quality improvements from the higher bitrate download.

If you are watching on a smaller screen (eg. 17" or less), then you will not notice as big a difference as when you are watching on larger sceens. The same goes if you are watching on a CRT TV since the resolution is quite low (480 lines) or have a low resolution LCD (eg. 1024x768 or less).

Look in the specifications in the description. You should see something like:

352x280 (or similar. Very low, VCD quality/youtube quality. About 350 Mb in size for a 90 minute movie)

640x480 (or similar. Low quality, SVCD. Generally 700-900 MB in size)

720p (1360x720 or something similar. Good quality. about 4 GB in size)

1080p (1920x1080 or similar. Very good quality. about 8 GB in size.)

Why are you converting to DVD? Isn't it better to download an ISO and burn the ISO to DVD (this is after all what ISO's are for) if you absolutely need DVD?

If you are watching on a TV, and it is an LCD TV, you can very easily connect your computer to the TV and enjoy much better quality than you have with your converted files.

If you have a CRT TV, and you have a SVDO out on your computer/laptop, you can then again connect your computer to the TV and enjoy the movie without having to convert and burn to DVD.

If you are in Bangkok, I'd be happy to assist you getting the best out of your system. PM me.

I'm coming to Bangkok soon and will be looking to get connected to the information superhighway.

I will be staying near Bangkok's Central Business District.

Are there many broadband providers? Do they have download limits like some ISPs in the UK?

Is there mobile broadband so I can connect when out and about?

Any info or tips would be great.

Thanks

Will you stay as a tourist (eg. a cople or few weeks) or planning on longer term (eg. months or years)?

This influences the answer significantly. I have attempted to briefly outlione a few available choices though.

Mobile broadband doesn't really exist yet. At best you will get a slightly unreliable EDGE connection (very few areas provide 3G on a "trial" basis). In my experience DTAC has the most reliable EDGE service in central bangkok. AIS data connections are unreliable. True Move I am not 100% sure (but they do offer a great dial-around service enabling you to call the UK from your mobile for 2 baht per minute, and quite a few other countries for 1 to 3 bht/min)

True WiFi provides access points in many places around the city (most notably in shopping malls and in & around cafes).

WiFi access could run from, free (requires ADSL connection provided by true) to 160 Baht per hour.

There are 4 notable ISP's in Bangkok.

True (offers up to 8 Mbps)

TOT (up to 4 Mbps)

TT&T (up to 4 Mbps)

CAT (Hinet packages vary. eg. 2/2 Mbps, 6/1 Mbps. Very limited service areas. More expensive)

All of them have their strong and weak points.

I have experience with TOT and True.

In my opinion True is better simply because they attempt to provide you with higher bandwidth, resulting in a higher average transfer rate.

True does not provide ADSL in every location in the CBD. The only choice then would be TOT.

TOT as a whole provides decent bandwidth. Torrents are coming at full speed, but surfing is very variable. It can range from a decent 1 Mbps to an abysmal 50 kbps.

TT&T provides the infamous Maxnet service packages. 2 MBps at 590 Baht per month. And this results in a classic case of "you get what you pay for". If you have meager bandwidth requirements, then 590 bht per month is a price hard to beat.

I have never used CAT's Hinet, but their upload speed up to 2 Mbps, at least on paper, sounds good for those who needs the extra upload bandwidth.

The 6 Mbps download with 1 Mbps upload would have been my choice had True not offered a 8/0.5 Mpbs package.

If you require more details, please PM me. The above should get you started in the right direction though.

Seed to peer ratio comments

It's not always necessarily true that a high peer number and a low seed number gives you low speeds.

Simplified example:

There is 1 seed and 100 peers, and lets assume the torrent has been seeded to 50%.

So when you jump into the mix as a peer you will see high speed until you also reach 50%. At 50% you are then limited to how big the bandwidth is of that lone seed.

This happens due to the fact that up until 50% you do not have one seed, you have 101, because everyone is seeding it.

There are a few more variables, but this explains the basics of torrents and why you should most of the time (99%) max out your connection.

Contrary to what is being said here. Disable DHT.

Force encryption and allow legacy connections.

Limit your upload speeds. Maybe 17 KB/s is enough.

Limit the amount of seeds and peers both on the Global setting and per torrent setting. (I have mine at 250 global and 100 per torrent).

Make sure peer lacy bitfield is enabled in the advanced settings.

Also enable allow same IP.

Make sure your max half open connections is changed (XP SP2, is default 10. Increase it if you have not). Set the half open in utorrent to a value less that the XP SP2 limit (eg. XP SP2 is set to 250, then utorrent should be 249 or less. I prefer 250 in XP2 and 100 or a number around in utorrent). This enables more peers to connect quicker to you and still enables you to surf fairly unimpeded.

These settings work well for me, I make no guarantees it will work on any other connection but mine. Trial and error seems to be the only way to get it right.

Edit: My TOT 2 Mbps connection always gives me 150+ KB/s with the above settings.

I know of a company that does this. Professional people with good equipment.

They are based in the Czech Republic though.

I will not link to any site, as I have been told about the site rules that to me are very ambiguous. PM me for company information.

as the topic title says...after some time that could be anything from a couple of minutes to a couple of hours, the comp jut freezes and needs a reboot. Been up and down the uTorrent FAQs and set the settings according to their recommendations but no avail.

The comp in question runs on XP SP2.

It seems that you are suffering from the 10 half open connection limits introduced in SP2.

Access the event viewer by Start / Control Panel / Administrative Tools / Event Viewer / System. Sort by Event and scroll down to 4226.

If you have many occurrences of this event you might either be infected with a worm, or you are using a program that opens a lot of connections (eg. utorrent)

If you see a lot of event id's 4226 then you need to increase the maximum half open connections limit (the number varies, but 100-250 should be fine. I use 250 because I am a very heavy torrent user.). There are several software that will do this for you easily and quickly. I'm not sure if I am allowed to link to "unofficial" software, so if you need it, PM me and I will reply with the link for the patcher.

Decent guerrilla marketing

Good one, but no sale.

Now the audio is safely archived on the web and I'm all done.

No such thing.

Keep triplets by yourself. (eg. HDD, gold plated CD/DVD, memory stick)

just use a proxy

In my opinion the only way to play back movies that is not on a physical media is by building a Home Theatre PC (HTPC).

It can be done fairly cheap, gives you enormous storage capabilities and flexibility, with the added benefit of being a full fledged computer allowing you to download content directly and even automatically using RSS.

I would suggest a dual CPU system (eg. Core2Duo, AMD dual or triple core), an all-in-one mainboard (including vga) 2 GB RAM and at least a 1 TB HDD.

This can probably be bought for around 8000 baht or so, depending on CPU chosen.

Some will say it's too pricey too do. (not if you upgrade or use your current PC/Laptop)

Other will say it's complicated (it's not)

Others will be happy with the inconveniences and time wasted using other methods. (fine)

I'm just saying the best alternative is an HTPC.

Edit: I'm happy to assist anyone who is interested in building an HTPC. Just PM me. No, this is not a commercial offer. I'll settle for a cup of coffee.

The only memory card reader that works for DSi is "Acekard" (800-1000 baht). This one has worked from day 1 and still continues to do so even with firmware updates.

If Nintendo starts playing the cat-and-mouse game with firmware updates, then they will surely be frustrated.

Personally I recommend the SuperCard line of readers for the DS Lite. My old SuperCard SD (a bit bulky though) still works to this day with all games. No guessing there.

If it is music tracks, then the easiest thing would be to download the albums. Fair use and all.

If it's more personal audio, and not overly critical that quality is perfect, then as suggested run a cable from the line out on the cassette player to the audio in on the computer and use a recording software to capture the stream. I used CoolEdit before to do similar things. Not sure if it even exists today, but it was a nice enough program then.

If you rather pay someone money to have it done in Bangkok, then I suggest IT Mall, Pantip Plaza, Zeer Rangsit or MBK. Prices will range from ridiculous to surprisingly low. Honestly, it's almost like a lottery finding a decent place do convert audio from one media/format to another without ending up paying dearly.

No point getting the DS. It's big, bulky and the screen is dark and dim.

The DS Lite is a nice piece of hardware. The going rate is around 5,000 baht. Then you need to add a memory card reader (so you can backup and play your legal games from one place, without having to swap game "cartridges".) and screen protector.

The DSi is brand new and costs a little more (a package of a DSi, memory card reader, screen protectors would set you back 9,000 or so).

Make sure to test the hardware before buying. You do not want to buy one with dead or stuck pixels on the screen. Also, listen to the speakers and plug in headphones to verify the clarity of the sound. Make sure you get a charger that allows you to charge in Thailand (ie. 220Volts). A replacement, non-nintendo, universal charger should set you back 150 baht.

If you need access to backed up games, PM me.

1. Remove the first 0 in your number (landline, mobile, telegraph, can-to-can.. doesn't matter)

2. Add +66 in front of your number

3. Call

Interesting. I never, even once, got stopped on Thonglor during my 4+ years there or even eyed wrong by any police and I was out walking daily several times at all hours (admittedly weekend late night/early morning walks were fun). Many times drove through the check points outside the police station in a car, never even an attempt to stop me. I wave, smile, roll down window and offer my encouragement... not once stopped nor any other response except a wave to go by.

I dressed in a variety of ways, "comfortably" (eg. shorts, t-shirt, slippers) and other times "smart casual" (eg. trousers, shirt, shoes) and yet other times in a variety of suits.

Maybe I'm one of those people who just looks dumb enough not to be up to any foul play. Or maybe they check up on you "from a distance" and make their "educated guess" over a period of time as to who you are (place of residence, vehicle, reputation at your place of residence and surrounding areas, your known habits, etc) and if you might be up to no good.

On the other hand, another resident in my condo building was regularly stopped by the police, even when dropping by the local 7-Eleven for a bottle of water. He always dressed "smart casual", and never was up to "bad stuff" (as far as I know), had a good reputation in the area for being helpful, funny, hard working and honest. Picked up at least thrice a week.

Who knows how they "operate". Maybe they pick up the ones that look like easy pickings?

I even was apologized to, by the police and the royal guard, when one day one of the princess' arrived at a restaurant and the walking path was blocked off for a minute so the entourage of cars could pass. I just nodded and responded with "mai phen rai". They open the walk path and salute me as I pass...

Edit: added experiences.

Anyone know the going rate for the nintendo ds?

Anyone have a website for any game shop in bkk where I can view the prices of the ps3, xbox360 etc.?

Which model? The DS, DS Lite or DSi?

You can put URLs in your posts provided they are not to other forums or to YOUR commercial site.

How does one prove or disprove that then?