Choosing a GPS receiver for use in the Philippines

We hear a lot about GPS, specially in new hi-tech mobile phones. GPS is different from GPRS, GPRS are protocols used in mobile phone data transmissions, while the latter (GPS) is used for accurately determining points/position on earth or as a navigational aid. Questions mostly asked:

1. What is this GPS?
2. Does it have charges for using it's signal like phone bills?
3. Do I really need one?
4. Where will I use it?
5. How many hours will I be using the GPS receiver on a daily basis?
6. Do I need an all in one device like a mobile phone with built-in GPS receiver?
7. Are there maps available for my country(in my case, it's the Philippines)?
8. How much is it? Where to buy?

These questions could also be your guide before buying a GPS receiver. I tried to find out all about GPS before I bought one, done my research thru googling.

1. GPS is an acronym for Global Positioning System, it's used for navigation system using satellites orbiting around the earth. The satellites provide the data like time, distance,and it's position, while the receivers' on board computers calculate and determine your position gives out your latitude, longitude and altitude. It even has an accurate clock (atomic clock), where you could synchronize your watch to determine exact time.

2. It's totally free, GPS is a military technology, but years later, allowed civilian use. No charges, except for phone based A-GPS and phones that use the cellular mobile phone network to download maps.

3. Do I really need one? If you drive and find unfamiliar roads, trying to get around traffic jams. If you like trekking, mountain climbing or hiking. Loves traveling, just for land surveying or just simply the love for electronic gadgets.

4. Things to consider like battery life, screen size and legibility, portability and reliability. I thought to my self, I won't be using it much in a car, but on a motorcycle. But most of the time, I'll be on foot so, battery power's stamina should be long or at least, I can easily replace the batteries. At least it's waterproof and rugged. Portable, easy to carry and hold with one hand. This is the reason I chose the Garmin GPSMap 60Csx, instead of mobile phones or car gps navigational models. An oldie but goodie. I don't need hi-tech gpsr(gps receiver) with touch screen ones and being able to display thousands or millions of colors for map display. What I need is a sensitive and accurate receiver. Rugged unit, able to handle some kind of accidental punishments like dropping, or accidentally dipping it to water.

5. GPSmap 60csx uses the common double A sized batteries. I used 3 pairs of sanyo eneloop batteries.

6. Don't need multi-talented mobile phones. They're too much fragile to carry around rocky and mountainous areas.

7. There are no Philippine Garmin map products. But there are maps made by a community/forum members, although not complete, it's currently updated by member's data contributions. Best of all it's free! But, it's not a licensed garmin map data. You may find more info in roadguide.ph. BTW, their maps are only garmin compatible, so, as much as possible, only buy garmin compatible products. Although, I'm not endorsing or suggesting this is the best brand to buy. But you won't have a hard time getting the map into your gpsr if you have a garmin device.

8. GPS receivers ranges from 5,000PhP up. Some Car navigation devices cost less compared to portable handheld ones. Also, buying GPSr outside the Philippines is cheaper. Prices in malls are way too expensive.

Next, I'll be reviewing my Garmin GPSMap 60csx.

Please vote wisely! Ask yourself if they deserve your vote!

Tagalog muna tayo, nauuubusan na kasi ako ng bokabularyo eh at medyo naka-inom ng kaunti, ewan ko kung bakit kailan, grogee ako, tsaka ko naiisipan na magblog.

Meron na bang kandidatong presidente at bise presidente na nasa isang partido na walang sarili o nag-iisang campaign tv ad? Mayroon na bang kandidato na nagsalita na "kung iboboto niyo ko, pati partner/s ko, kung hindi, wag niyo na kaming iboto! Bakit? Dahil lahat kami sa partido ay nagkakaisa sa layunin, pananaw at puso para sa ating bayan, kapag iba ang aming nakasama, magiging mahirap gawin kaagad na magkasunod-sunod ang mga naka-plano tungo sa ikabubuti, ikauunlad, & ikaaayos ng ating bansa."

Naaalala ko nung highschool days namin, ang galing ng aming Asst. Commandant, dami namin natutunan sa tao na yun, mula sa pagiging nationalistic at hanggang sa pagiging isang mabuti at maging totoong tao. Gawin mo ang trabaho bago ka magreklamo. At walang daan para sa iyong reklamo sa nakakataas sa iyo. hahaha. Sa huli, malalalaman mo, para sa pangkalahatan pala ang iyong ginawa, para sa ikabubuti ninyong lahat.

Ang ating batas, kung pipilitin at hahanapan ng butas, makakakita ka nga. Pero ang batas, kapag walang nagpapatupad, parang isang asong kakagat na walang pangil.

Ah eh, Next year, I'll be sharing some tips, files, and my review on my newly acquired Garmin GPSMap 60csx. Bought it from Singapore. Will be playing around with this baby for a while before I post my views on my new toy. Happy New Year Everyone!

Review: Sennheiser CX500 vs. Philips SHE8500 vs. Skullcandy Hesh

Before I started testing and comparing these in-ear phones, I've prepared several mp3, ogg, flac and wav files to listen to, music ranging from the classical era, to the modern pop and rnb. Media player used was my pc laptop (equalizer/dolby settings disabled), PSP, and an iPod touch. Why purchase earphones when one is usually included in your DAP/PMP? For listening pleasure, for audio enthusiast and audiophiles, earphones/headphones makes a big difference. If you've spent several Pesos on your gadget, why not at least maximize and enhance the quality of sounds pumped out from those devices by investing on a pair of good earphones, certainly it will make a difference when you hear the clarity of music you listen to. By the way, first time users will find it irritating or sometimes uncomfortable when you first insert these phones in your ear. Takes time getting used to these type of phones.

First on the table, the Philips SHE8500, this earpiece is really comfortable, noise isolation from surrounding ambiant noise is almost closed off from the listener, and it's wire is flexible but not that reliable. As with all in-ear canal phones, it's like wearing a stethoscope, friction/rubbing/moving of cables produces sound and can be heard in the phones due to microphonics. There a 3 silicon earpieces to suit different ear canal sizes, this plugs in your ear to seal off reflected sounds and preventing from cancelling itself off and also these are resonant to low frequencies, further enhancing the low range sounds. Also I could say that this model looks really cool, and doesn't look like cheap earphones. After several hours of listening, testing the Philips SHE8500 is so comfortable, you'll sometimes forget you're still wearing it. As for quality of sounds pumped out from these tiny earphones, it's a bit flat on the mid range, human voices sounded like muffled, a bit short on high notes but almost un-noticeable unless listening to classical music on high sampled ones. But the bass is really good for rnb, rock and pop style music. Though on some musical pieces with very low notes and percussive instruments, I notice some very muddy sounds produced by this phones, it's like unexplainable chaos of notes and musical pieces. As for gaming, I tried using this on the PSP and NDS, and it performs pretty well, I feel liked I'm immersed in the game, specially when playing FPS (First person shooters) games. The sound of rifles firing, cannons, and explosions, it's like I'm at war in my room. And lastly the price, it's pretty cheap and good enough upgrade/replacement from the standard phones included with DAPs(Digital Audio Players) or PMPs (Portable Media Players). Price in malls around Php1.5k.

Then the Sennheiser CX500. Compared to the Philips SHE8500, this earpiece looks cheap, design is simple and very minimalistic yet on the contrary it's 3x more expensive than the latter. Same with all in-ear canal phones, this too suffers from microphonics noise due to rubbing, and movement. To minimize the microphonic effect, the wires should not be left dangling, as much as possible, use the clip included and the higher or closer to the Y split the better. Wires seems reliable and strong, has a rubbery texture and its very flexible also, in the middle, there's a volume control (attenuator). Cable winder is included and seems to compliment the insulator material used on the wires for flexibility. Although it includes 6 pieces of silicon earpiece plugs 3 of them are double flange types, it's not as comfortable as the one from SHE8500, I find the smallest one still a bit large and too firm, yet, I still got used to it, but only after 30 minutes or more, unlike from the SHE8500 which felt like almost nothing is penetrating your ear canal. But after several minutes, I didn't feel or notice the tight fit of the phones in my ear anymore, may be because of the sounds produced by these small earpiece, everything was very very clear, from the low sounding instruments, percussions, to the crisp voice of human singers like Sarah Brightman, and up to the sounds of triangles. Bass wasn't exagerated unlike on the SHE8500. CX500's bass frequency production are very clean, tried using different equalization settings from off, flat to loudness settings, still very satisfactory. It's like having full size 3 way stereo speakers directed to your head. Never have I heard such clarity from such small drivers. For gaming, this also sounds great, but I think, this Senny really excels the music department, and you'll notice the big difference when you use this earphones. Really worth investing on this brand and model if you're an audio purist. Note that you could only hear the difference if you listen to audio files that are sampled from 128kbit and above ranges. The higher the sample rate of your encoded audio files, the larger the sizes, the better. Price is around Php4-5K in malls.

Last the SkullCandy Hesh. Just included this in case people want large headphones. Looks really cool, even thieves in Manila will immediately notice you if you wear one. If you're used to using headphones, it's pretty comfortable, but for me, I find it heavy but it's more secured so it won't easily fall off or pulled off (although its an advantage for in-ear phones, prevents damaging the wires), the wires are nylon braided and includes extension cable. Extended use for hours may cause discomfort because it feels like something is clamped on your head. Noise isolation is very good like the Sennheiser, for gaming, this truly immerses you in the virtual world of gaming, you're closed off from your environments noise. For music use, first thing I notice is at middle volume settings, the two in-ear canal phones sounds more louder than this skully, it may be because of it's higher impedance rated at 32 ohms vs 16 ohm on the Sennheiser and Philips. So I adjusted the volume higher than my nominal listening level to compensate. Started testing different types of music, it sounds pretty much like the Philips but with more body and much more fuller, but this also lacks in the mid range. Bass is full bodied, because of the large 50mm drivers. I tend to adjust the equalizer settings to boost the mid range frequencies, also to make the voices of singers more clear on this headphone. Price is around Php1.5-2.5K.

For me, Sennheiser CX500 is the best, but if you're on a tight budget, you could apt for a Skullcandy if you like large headphones. Also, before buying, always try to sample and listen to different brands & models to know which will satisfy your ears. Stay away from shops who don't have any sample units to test to, like Astrovision in Malls in Manila. Last time I asked for unit testing, they said they can't open the seal and allow me to test it, unless I'm buying it because they need to destroy the packaging. So I just left the shop, it's not good doing business with people who don't give importance to their customer's concerns and don't give credit to their valued investment.

Apple Ipod Touch, a threat to PSP ?!?

Ahhh.... Ipod Touch. What can I say, it's a great portable media player. People who haven't seen it will be awestruck by the cool and very futuristic like controls or the way you flick and point your finger on the screen. Plays video with its large screen and of course mp3 music files better than the psp and nds. The iPod touch like other iPods has built in index for it's mp3 files you've downloaded to it. Searching by title, artist, or even by album is easily done smoothly like a breeze, with its famous cover flow, you could peruse the albums with cover arts displayed, and scan through like flipping pages from book. Unlike on the nds or psp, you'll have to scan through all your songs to look for a specific title, unless you use a homebrew app like lightmp3 where it builds an index of your mp3 files. For audio quality, its good, so if you already have a psp and don't have extra dough for another device, thats good enough, unless you've got lots of mp3s with you and like to scan through different libraries which will be slow and hard on the psp. On the nds side, mp3 music quality is on the lower quality side, but acceptable for non audiophiles and is even now better with the new moonlight shell.

On the Video capability, for me the psp slightly wins this category, it's scanning by configurable intervals with preview is really cool compared to scanning by dragging the position bar on the ipod. For the nds, its irritating if you try to scan scenes, so slow and its takes like forever.

And lastly, the gaming side. Well, the iPod isn't actually a gaming portable, but with it's powerful processor and graphics processor, it's capable of doing some graphics comparable to the current players in the portable gaming arena. But it will never be like the psp, it can't even shake the grounds of the nds territory. iPod's game graphic details is lower than the psp and above the ps1 area. But one major difference is the frame rates from the nds and psp are far more fluid than the iPod. But some well made racing game actually have a very good frame rate but still not close to psp nor nds. Controls on the iPod is really cool, very ingenious and intuitive style of interacting with the games are unique. Game music is good but I notice that most of them don't have asimple fade in/fade out effect, it's kind of annoying when a background music abruptly stops when scene/stage changes. Sound quality in-game is good, almost cd quality on some few titles. The NDS and PSP games are incomparable to iPods', they're made for games so, they excel in this area. They provide a complete and fulfilling gaming experience.

Gadget	iPoD	PSP	NDS
MP3 audio Quality	***	***	**
MP3 searching	***	*	*
Video Quality	***	***	*
Game Quality	**	***	***
Game Graphics	**	***	**
Coolness Factor	***	***	**

Nintendo DS - Pure Gaming Portable System

The Nintendo DS is a well designed portable game system, nothing more nothing less, unless you use hombrew flash carts to extend its capabilities. It has dual screens, while the lower display is a touch screen. The touch screen in some games are used like an analog controller for interacting with games, while the upper part as the main display. The touch screen is a resistive type and made to be used with a stylus, but you may also use your finger or nails, but it won't be that accurate. Why 2 screens? So you may play Super Mario Bros. in the upper screen while playing Tetris in the lower one(as if we can do that haha), actually, from my experience, on fast paced games, if it were using a single display, there would be times, your view on the screen will be obstructed by your fingers/hands. System is well thought of and some games make use of all available interaction features never done even on PC games. It also has a microphone and wifi capability used for internet browsing, game downloads, ad-hoc gaming and some communication use. I find the touch screen a better controller for FPS games against the analog stick on the PSP and because of the 2 screen, view wont be blocked by your appendages. Graphics are ok but not on par with current generation consoles, still game quality and titles make up for its deficiency in the graphics area. For the audio part, well its good enough for portable gaming, sound/music quality is average, while voices are a bit on the rough side. This is the reason that the DS is not a good portable media player, audio quality sampling max out at 32khz only. If you have a homebrew flashcart, you could play video(converted to a specific format) and mp3 audio on the DS. You can't compare the DS against Sony's PSP, because of different gaming libraries, and game play styles/type. But one advantage or major difference of the PSP is it's media playback abilities and for people without ipods, this is a major plus. For now, my PSP is just collecting dust, currently playing Castlevania Order of Ecclesia and just finished Dawn of Sorrow and Portrait of Ruins. BTW, games for the DS aren't all for kids, don't believe what you hear until you've actually held one and played different titles. But it's true there are some games designed for children, and some are even educational. If you're planning to buy one, I suggest any Premium shops from Pinoypsp.com except for GoGadgets. Had a bad experience with them, bought my DS from them indirectly, asked a shop from here(province an 8 hour bus ride/6 hrs on private car) to get me a BLACK NDS from GG, only to know they ran out of stock, and they only have silver and zelda limited edition (with 110v charger). We bought 2 units, but problem starts here; Memory card was supposed to be Kingston as per package but, they're out of stock and replaced with sandisk 4gb-class 6, but it had problems with the Castlevania POR, so I test my own original transcend class 6 8gb memory card, and problem was inexistent. I asked the shop here if he replaced the memory card but he said that is what the shop gave with the packaged set, and I believe them because I know them and their trustworthy, besides that, my cousin noticed that the lower screen has a small scratch underneath the touch screen because when he was putting on the screen protection film, he noticed the small scratch. It's more visible when the DS is turned off but when playing, it's not noticeable unless you position the unit on an uncomfortable angle. But I asked the middleman(shop here in our province) if it's possible to replace the unit when he goes to Manila again, only to find out it's not possible. Sadly that's the end, but still I find the games in the DS really fun. Planning on buying new PSP 3k series and Ipod touch from other Premium shop, crossing my fingers hehe. BTW Cellpower is a very good shop too just look for Tomli. My last purchased item from GG was a Skully Headphone, in fairness, it's ok, no problems/defects. But this will be the last item I will get from the shop, because of my experiences with them and I had not much choice, they have the lowest price on that specific skully. Next I'll be sharing my I-Pod ventures.

Sony PSP, a toy or gadget?

Is the Sony PSP (PlayStation Portable) a toy or an electronic gadget? Well, it depends on the person using this device, but most of the persons I've met who owns one usually consider this as a plaything. Few ones in the Philippines like the community in http:\\www.pinoypsp.com knows it's a lot more.

Standard PSP features or capabilities using official firmware (currently version 3.93):

• View pictures from your memory stick (Jpg, gif, png, & bmp)
• Play MP3 & WMA audio music files
• Play videos in MP4 format files (converted from pc)
• Play games/movies from the UMD drive
• Play downloaded demo/purchased games online from the memory stick.
• Remote control of PS3 console
• Web browsing using it's built in wifi
• Listen to Internet radio (shoutcast)
• Read RSS feeds
• Voice, video, text Chat using Go messenger with go!cam or skype.
• Watch videos using Location Free Player thru streamed video by using Sony's expensive Location Free Base; with this device, you could connect satellite receivers, or any video player device and stream its output thru wifi and still have remote access to the device like changing channels, etc.
  

But, if you are using a custom firmware (currently 3.90 m33), its like unleashing the full potential & capabilities of the sony psp, like:

• All features from the official firmware except Location free player (removed to save memory. Besides, theres a cheaper better way of streaming videos from your pc to the psp)
• Run your legally owned games from the memory stick to save the PSP's UMD laser from wear and tear. (Remember PS1 & PS2 laser problems)
  
• Run homebrew applications made by lots of people from all over the world which extends the psp's capabilities
  
• Play ogg, flac, mod, stm & other audio file formats.*
• Play PSX(PS1) games by converting your psx iso images to eboot
  
• Watch videos from youtube.com*
• IRC chat*
• Plug-ins or add-ons*
• Use the psp as a universal remote control*
• Emulate different old computer systems, game consoles & scientific calculators like the amiga computers, Texas Instruments calculators, Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Genesis/Megadrive, PC-Engine(Turbo-Grafx 16), Capcom Arcade System, Neo-Geo, etc..*
• Manage files in your memory stick**
• Stream video/audio files from your pc thru wifi just using your pc and wifi router.***
  
• And a lot more thanks to homebrew and the people who made them.
  

* Possible with homebrew apps
** PSPFiler (homebrew too)
***PimpStreamer (what do ya think, its also homebrew)

If you want to learn more about the psp, google it. I also suggest you visit pinoypsp.com and qj.net .

SMS Scam beware!!!

I know its old but I just want to share this to people who haven't received this message. Always remember to check where the message came from and they should be the one calling you thru voice and not on sms only. If they're giving out prizes then it means they have funds for making phone calls whether its NDD/IDD etc. Here's an example of one the messages I received, "Congratulations; ur sim # won cash prize fr. PCMC thru CPV electronics raffle draw. Call me up now for d mechanics to claim ur prize. I'm Ed Robles.", his/her mobile number is +639296932911, haven't called nor even thought or sending a sms to this scammer. Reports from victims who tried to meet with these people where robbed (hold-up at gunpoint) of their belongings, others ask for enormous amounts of phone loads before you meet them.