The Lost Digit

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  • LG 22 inch Full-HD IPS Monitor (22MP56)

    I walked into Best Buy hoping to buy the Samsung S24D590 but things took a turn. Looking at all of the models side by side and playing with different modes, I couldn’t help but notice that Dell had the best looking monitors. There was one issue with them and that was their glossy screens, immediately I removed them from my mind. This left me to compare the Samsung with the LG 22MP56. The Samsung had the worst blacks I have ever seen and very yellow tinted whites. The LG seemed to be the most accurate but the whites on the LG had a slightly blue tint. It was sad to see that no displays were both matte and accurate out of Dell, Asus, Acer, AOC, LG, and Samsung. 

    You could say I settled for the LG but at a sale price of $140 it was still a great deal. I was surprised to see that its color calibration results were placed inside the box (see image). The colors overall are great, and watching High Definition content on it is a pleasure.  

    The blacks are not as good as I had hoped but they are not as bad as the Samsung. I guess IPS displays are still ahead of PLS as I was not impressed with what I saw.

    For the price I am very happy with the display, but next time I would probably pay more for a matte Dell Ultrasharp to really enjoy my purchase.

  • Moto X Water Damage

    My friend dropped her Moto X into the deep end of a pool without noticing. It remained there for roughly 5 minutes before it was retrieved. Instantly it was put in rice for 16 hours but afterwards it wasnt working correctly and remained stuck in a bootloop. At that point it was taken apart and cleaned using alcohol and left to dry. It was no longer working. A few days later I tried to change the battery but it didnt help as the device just stayed off or in a bootloop depending which battery I connected. I left the Moto X open for another week to dry out completely with all of the original parts assembled. Today I plug it in and to my surprise it turns on and works as normal, but every time I unplug it, it would turn off. This happened around 3 times and then I decided to leave it on the charger to let it reach 100. In a few minutes the battery went from 56% to 100% and then it said fully charged. After some heating up and rebooting, it just started working normally. So if your Moto X is heavily water damaged (water has been forced inside by pressure), open it and just let it dry for a week and you should be good to go. The nanocoating seems to have worked out well in this case.

    Internal Rust
    Internal Rust
    Internal Water Damage
    Internal Water Damage
    Between the screen and main board
    Between the screen and main board
    The Main board under the battery
    The Main board under the battery
    Finally Working
    Finally Working

     

  • TP-LINK TL-WN722N High Gain Wireless USB Adapter (150Mbps) Review

    I needed an affordable yet powerful Wi-Fi adapter for my desktop and after a lot of searching, I found the TP-LINK TL-WN722N available on Amazon.

    According to their website it features:

    Exceptional wireless speed up to 150Mbps brings best experience for video streaming or internet calls

    Easy wireless security encryption at a push of the WPS button

    4dBi detachable antenna, remarkably strengthen signal power of the USB adapter

    The package came within 3 days and this is what it looks like:

    WP_20140619_08_26_15_Pro
    The box
    WP_20140619_08_27_34_Pro
    The adapter packaging
    WP_20140619_08_30_14_Pro
    What’s inside the box
    WP_20140619_08_37_58_Pro20140619083818
    How it looks in a laptop

    The adapter was plugged into a USB 2.0 port on my Windows 8.1 laptop and it was automatically installed and ready to use in under a minute. It is slightly stronger than my internal Wi-Fi adapter, at the same moment my internal card recognized 31 networks while the TP-LINK recognized 34. I tested it for several hours streaming 1080p videos on youtube, opening 12 tabs at once on chrome and multitasking, and streaming music on iTunes radio and it held up very well. The connection did not drop once and so far it has been great.

     

  • Razer Nabu Developer Band Update

    The have just emailed me saying,

    “Dear Developer,

    We are pleased to announce that the Razer Nabu SDK is now available via the Developer Portal and that the Razer Nabu Developer Edition units have begun shipping to qualified developers.

    As you have expressed interest in our Developer Program before, please provide information as to prior apps you’ve published – this will allow us to qualify you as a Nabu developer. Note that we are only qualifying developers who already have published apps at this time.

    Click through this link to qualify.

    Qualified developers will be entitled to purchase a Nabu Developer Edition unit for $49.99. However, due to limited availability of the Developer units, we will be shipping them out on a “when available” basis in batches.

    In the event you are not a published developer but would still like to participate in helping us test and provide feedback toward the Razer Nabu’s final polish for the retail launch, we have a separate Beta Program which is open to the wider public. 

    If you’d like to learn more about the Razer Nabu Beta Program, click through here.

    Once again, thanks for your support of the Razer Nabu. With your help, we are shaping the future of next-gen wearables.”

    This started off as an exciting email but then I realized that all of the waiting hasn’t helped at all. I had to sign up again and start all over again. Let’s hope I’m chosen.

     

  • Lumia 1520: WP 8.1 Update 2 with Whatsapp Update 2.11.494

    Many weeks have passed since I spoke of the horrid experience of WhatsApp on WP 8.1. Well, I am glad to say that after 2 updates to the preview for developers and 2 updates to WhatsApp, things are looking much better.

    Windows Phone is now on version 8.10.12393.890 while WhatsApp is on version 2.11.494.

    wp_ss_20140605_0001
    WhatsApp
    wp_ss_20140605_0002
    Windows About

    Finally, battery drain isnt as bad, the phone doesn’t heat as much, entering and exiting conversations is back to how it was in WP 8, and lastly we can set chat wallpapers!

    On Microsoft’s side, it seems that the lack of optimizations for the Lumia 1520 chipset in WP 8.1 were holding it back before. These updates have fixed many performance issues and the coming Cyan update in the end of June is beginning to look promising.

  • Whatsapp On WP 8 Slow, On 8.1 A Nightmare

    wp_ss_20140507_0002
    Whatsapp splash screen which occasionally is all that loads

    I have used Whatsapp on many different platforms: Symbian, iOS, BBOS, BB 10, and Android. Never have I seen it run with such a lack of optimization and as slow as on Windows Phone. It was a horrible experience 2 years ago on the Lumia 800 and it has improved greatly since. This improvement is mostly due to the faster hardware. Still, it is no where near the speed it should be. The Nokia Lumia 1520 has a Snapdragon 800 on an operating system that is known for its efficiency, yet the second I open whatsapp, heavy battery drain and lag are instantly present. I have read that big updates are on the way but none have showed up yet.

    While using the WP 8.1 Preview, Whatsapp was on average 3-5 times slower than when on WP 8. Opening chats took several seconds and sometimes didn’t even open. It was the main reason I went back to WP 8 as it was just unbearable for an app that I use constantly day in and day out.

    I am curious though if on sub 1080p devices such as the Lumia 1020 whether or not Whatsapp runs better as it may be optimized for 480p and 720p screens. The icons on the Lumia 1520 within the app are grainy and it is clear that the app is not made for 1080p devices.

    I will just put up with it for now and hope for future updates to address the many issues, especially in 8.1 for its release is nearing.

  • Revert The Nokia Lumia 1520 to WP 8 from 8.1

    I have easily reverted back to WP 8 using this link: http://forums.wpcentral.com/windows-phone-8/262277-nokia-quietly-releases-software-recovery-tool.html

    Just download Nokia Software Recovery tool and follow the instructions. Other than downloading the Phone OS which was roughly 1.5gb the install took less than 5 minutes and I was back on the lag free 8.

    1520 revert to 8

  • Nokia Lumia 1520 on WP 8.1 (Battery Drain | Lag)

    Feature wise, 8.1 has been a pleasure and joy to use. It looks great and feels great as you can see below. That is the end of the good.

    WP_20140424

    Battery wise, there have been times where it drains randomly and slightly heats up on top and there are other times where it lasts decently at best. Last night, from 1:30 AM to 7:30 AM it drained from 100% to 91% while on wifi which is unacceptable for the so called GSM Arena battery king. The standby time has been cut significantly with this update and I really hope that with the official Nokia Firmware, things return to the way they were.

    On top of random battery drains throughout the day where it would heat up and drain around 5% every time, performance has also taken a hit. The majority of apps run slightly slower after the update and the new Music and Videos apps are horrible too. I have faith that Microsoft will update these apps as they are standalone now but overall system performance needs to be fixed too. I am not sure if it is an optimization issue that Nokia can fix on their hardware or if it is a system wide issue that Microsoft needs to address, but while using the phone for extended periods of time, weird things begin to happen…

    • The start screen gets stuck in a loading or resuming state
    • The notification bar gets stuck and freezes the phone
    • The phone heats above the camera on the back while in my pocket
    • The UI lags sometimes which is unacceptable as a lag free experience is the reason I switched to Windows
    • The Music, Videos and Games apps are slow and always loading something
    • The volume would not get lower even though it showed it was getting lower
    • The power button works when it feels like it, even when the device is already on and unlocked sometimes it doesn’t work
    • Some apps such as viber barely work in the background
    • Random reboots (very rare but they happen)

    All in all, these are only a start to all of the issues there are in the current build of 8.1 on the Lumia 1520. I must say though, I am still enjoying it and I am still getting through a full day without charging it. I would however like to go back to reaching almost 2 days without charging it.

  • Nokia Lumia 1520 Pre 8.1 Update

    The pre 8.1 update 8.0.10532.166 has been pushed to developers that have the preview for developers app. I have installed this and am now awaiting the much larger download of 8.1. This small update finished quickly as it was only a preparation update for 8.1.

    wp_ss_20140414_0003

  • Razer Nabu Developer Band Update

    Finally they have emailed me with a sort of confirmation saying,

    “If you are receiving this message, please also take it as confirmation that your application is being reviewed by our Developer Relations team, and when the device is ready, we will be reaching out to you with next steps on how to purchase it at developer price.”

    The only downside is that the launch has been delayed until May or June but I don’t mind as long as I can have it early and for a discounted price!

    The device has been delayed to ensure that it is hypoallergenic before release to developers.