1/125sec, F8, ISO 100, Lens Focal Length 70mm

1/125sec, F8, ISO 100, Lens Focal Length 70mm

1/125sec, F8, ISO 100, Lens Focal Length 50mm

1/125sec, F8, ISO 100, Lens Focal Length 35mm

1/125sec, F8, ISO 100, Lens Focal Length 35mm

1/125sec, F8, ISO 100, Lens Focal Length 35mm

Finally got the chance to go out and shoot some portraits with the Sony 70-300mm F4.5-5.6 G SSM out that Chung Hom Kok today.  Weather a bit overcast but still managed to take some decent pics. Click the following pics for a larger pic.

1/400sec, F5.6, ISO 800, Lens Focal Length 300mm

1/320sec, F5.6, ISO 800, Lens Focal Length 300mm

1/250sec, F5.6, ISO 800, Lens Focal Length 180mm

1/125sec, F4.5, ISO 200, Lens Focal Length 200mm

1/200sec, F4.5, ISO 200, Lens Focal Length 70mm

1/250sec, F5.6, ISO 800, Lens Focal Length 230mm

1/400sec, F5.6, ISO 800, Lens Focal Length 230mm

1/400sec, F5.6, ISO 800, Lens Focal Length 300mm

1/125sec, F5.6, ISO 800, Lens Focal Length 230mm

1/200sec, F5.6, ISO 800, Lens Focal Length 120mm

1/200sec, F5.6, ISO 800, Lens Focal Length 150mm

@ 300mm, 1/60 sec at F5.6

@70mm, 1/100 sec at F4.5

@300mm, 1/500 sec at F5.6

@70mm, 1/160 sec at F9.0

@300mm, 1/500 sec at F5.6

@70mm, 1/160 sec at F8

Posted some test pics up, link here.

The hood is very plastic, which is the only thing I don't like.

The ASUS Eee PC 900 features a 8.9" active matrix TDT LCD screen with 1024x600 resolution; 1GB DD2 Ram; 20GB SSD and 1.3 mega-pixel camera. My Eee PC 900 runs on Linux and Firefox browser.  The whole thing do look small and feels incredibly light at 990g.  The wireless connection is slow at disconnecting and connecting but nonetheless still pretty smooth.

Retail price at HK$3,998 (US$513), but because of limited stock available at present, prices are up to HK$4,488 in Mongkok Computer Centre and HK$4,688 in Wanchai 168 Computer Centre.

As the Windows XP version are not available yet, expect another HK$680 if you want the retailers to install a copy of Windows XP licence for you, that is, if you can't wait till they formally release it.  As for the screen protector, you can get it for around HK$150 (tight fit).

On the left side, a Ethernet Lan port; USBx1; Head-out and Mic-in, speaker at the bottom.

On the right hand side, a SD/SDHC Card Reader; USBx2; VGA-Out and Kensington lock.

One of ASUS' secret weapon, the Multi-touch that resembles that on the MacBook Air. Basically, it's a two-finger gesture zooming in and out function for viewing photos and documents.

Size comparison with my Fujitsu T2010.

Size comparison with my Fujitsu T2010 (top view).

Size comparison with my Fujitsu T2010 and Sony Vaio UX27.

Other size comparisons with HTC Cruise and iPod Touch as well.

Wow, what a trip to Singapore, will do a wrap up on that later tonight. While I was gone, ASUS Hong Kong launched the ASUS Eee PC 900 (Linus version) and the first batch was on sale yesterday. As I got back late last night (around 3:00am), I got a message that mine was ready for pick up today.

Okay, some pics for now and I'll follow up with a more detail review in a few hours. If you have any questions, just post it up here and I'll include them in the review.

• Quad-core PC (really overdue)
• Another monitor for dual monitor mode and as second monitor for the Sony Vaio UX-27
• External USB hard disk (for that extra storage)
• Softwares such as Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Standard and Photoshop Lightroom
• Camera ball head and tripod (for taking stills)
• A portable power bank for the iPod Touch (as mine keeps running out of juice before the Bluetooth headset does)
• Carl Zeiss 24-70mm/F2.8 for my Sony Alpha 700 (got this one already, and it is a sweet lens, tho expensive)

Will post some before and after pics on the Tech Hole later.

Will be moving next month to the new apartment (hopefully, the renovation project is already 3 weeks behind). In the midst of packing, I have decided to sell off some of my gears, gears which I treasured and are all in great condition. First off, I'm selling my SONY UX27GN which I obtained back in May this year. I figured I will offer it to my readers first before posting it on eBay. The UMPC is still under warranty for another six months from Sony Hong Kong. Email me at gadget@hkphooey.hk if you are interested (I do have a reserve price, but please don't ask, just offer me whatever you can afford or think is reasonable). Click here to see the specs.

Mitchell Oke from Gear Diary posted his My Gear Bag article two weeks ago and inspired me to do the same. Took me longer than I thought but here it is, My Gear Bag. Wonder what's in yours.

1. Bag - Burberry Blue Label

2. Sony UX-27GN + Foldable Keyboard + USB Mouse

Previous posts:

My Gear - Sony UX-27, My Mobile Office - Sony UX27, Tekkeon MP3400

3. Tekkeon myPower ALL MP3400 and GO MP1500

Previous posts:

My Gear - Tekkeon myPower Go MP1500, My Mobile Office - Sony UX27, Tekkeon MP3400, Review on Tekkeon Universal Rechargeable Batteries

4. Casio Exilim EX-S880

5. Archos 404

Previous post:

My Gears - Archos 404

6. Dopod 838PRO and HTC Touch

Previous posts:

My First Impression - HTC Touch, More Review - First 60 minutes with HTC Touch (HTC Elf), My Gear - HTC Touch Battery Usage Report, Long Review on the HTC Touch, Ultra Long Review on the HTC Touch, HTC Touch vs iPhone

7. Jabra BT 8010 and Plantronics BlueTooth Dongle

Previous posts:

My Gears - Jabra BT8010, My Gears: Plantronics Pulsar 590A

8. MITO MU108 HSDPA USB Modem

Previous post:

Video Review - MITO MU108 3.5G HSDPA USB Modem (in Chinese)

9. pqi 2GB USB Drive

10. Sony PSP

From, Pocketables, check this out, looks really cool. Full ink here.

Finally got my Tekkeon MP3400 (HK$1145) this morning from ExpansysHK (see previous review here) and that completes my mobile office. The MP3400 charges up real fast (less than 3 hours to full) and I hook it up to my Sony UX27, the foldable keyboard and mouse and now I have a mobile office together with my Dopod 838 pro as a HSPDA modem. The reason I don't use Bluetooth keyboard and mouse is that I don't want to further drain my batteries.

Ok, this setup gives me close to 4 hours full from the MP3400 and 2.5 hours on my UX27 battery, so a whole 6 hours plus. Gonna love that juice. The great thing about the MP3400 is that it not only powers up my UX27 but it also charges. The best is after I finish reading off my UX27, put it back in the briefcase and hook up the MP3400 and it starts charging while I'm on the move, nifty. Next thing I know, I will probably have a fully charged up UX27 ready to go. If you want to see some more review about the MP3400, check it here from Mobile01.

A sidenote on the UX27, after almost 2 weeks of use, I can say that the Vista Business runs pretty smooth and not getting much lag as other UMPCs are experiencing. Loving it.

Post any questions if you want to know more.

My Sony UX27 with the foldable keyboard and mouse.

The free foldable keyboard that came with my Sony UX27

So far the experience have been great with my Sony UX27. A typical day would start out by turning my UX27 on from hibernate and updating all my RSS feeds (25sec to come out of hibernation, pretty fast) and downloading emails for reading in the car and during lunch breaks. Apart from that, I do a lot of reading with the iSilo, eReader and eSword. iSilo can read all Palm ebooks file (Chinese) whilst for eReader, ebooks have to be purchased through their site. eSword is a great eBible application, comes with different versions, commentaries and devotion readings and they are all free.

Programs I installed so far -

• Mircosoft Office 2007 (Home and Student Edition, $1,204)(3 licenses);

• Microsoft Outlook 2007 (Academic Use Version, $480)(single license);

• eReader Pro (US$9.95);

• iSilo(for Chinese eBooks, US$19.99);

• GreatNews RSS Reader (free);

• eSword (great bible reader, free).

With all the hype about UMPC, I finally took the plunge and bought the Sony UX-27 a couple days ago. Full specification here. Well, the spec is not truly what Microsoft termed as the true "origami" (UMPC), but it truly added mobility to my browsing/blogging/reading experience. The 4.5" screen is one of the best I've seen so far in the market, Sony is so good at making these nice, sharp and crisp LCD screen. With 1G ram on board, not really too sluggish with the Vista Business OS. Weight wise, bit heavy after long use, but I tend to rest it on my legs when sitting, or on a table with its attachable stand. Loaded a very nice RSS reader, GreatNews, perfect for both English and Chinese RSS feeds and most important of all, it's free. Highly recommended.

5 weeks after I submitted my "upgrade to Vista" application to Microsoft and still no news. Hmm.... could it be a blessing? Ppl all around seems to be having a lot of hiccups with the new Vista and the new iExplorer 7.