Panasonic is at IT Show 2013 at Marina Bay Sands at Level 1, Booth 1528.
Click to view or download Panasonic promotions during IT Show 2013.
Check out Panasonic’s business notebooks and ruggedised tablets.
The FZ-G1 runs on Windows 8 while the FZ-A1 runs on Android 4.0 (S$1,499).
Their latest is the Windows 8 Pro Ultrabook CF-AX2 which debuts at IT Show 2013 at S$2,899.
The monitor flips over to convert the Ultrabook into a tablet. IT Show 2013 at Marina Bay Sands at Level 1, Booth 1528.
HP is at IT Show 2013 at Marina Bay Sands at Level 1, Booths 1221 & 1225.
Click to view or download HP promotions for personal computers during IT Show 2013. Caution: large 3.3MB PDF file.
Check out HP’s range of ENVY and Pavilion series desktops and All-in-One computers, monitors, as well as ENVY notebooks and Ultrabooks, and Spectre notebooks and sleekbooks.
Click to view or download HP promotions for laser and inkjet printers.
If you’re looking for a SOHO printer, check out the Officejet Pro 8600 Plus e-All-in-One (S$449) which I’d reviewed earlier – it’s good value for money for a small office.
Click to view or download HP promotions for computer accessories.
If photo quality is important, look for the Photosmart 7520 e-All-in-One (S$299). I’m reviewing it right now and the image quality – even on plain A4 paper is simply amazing.
Lenovo will be at IT Show 2013 at Marina Bay Sands at Level 1, Booth 1321.
Click to view or download Lenovo promotions during IT Show 2013. Caution: Large PDF file – 2.7MB containing 8 flyers.
Check out their Lenovo’s complete range of desktops, All-in-one computers, notebooks, Ultrabooks, and convertibles in IT Show 2013.
The four star products are the IdeaPad Yoga 13, IdeaPad Z400, ThinkPad X1 Carbon, and the IdeaPad Y500.
Light and svelte Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon, the Ultrabook workhorse for the mobile warrior.
Lenovo has many offerings for Windows 8 but if you’re looking for a Windows 7 machine, my favourite is the ThinkPad X1 Carbon, which I used when travelling in Kyushu, Japan in December.
It’s light, slim and the battery life lasts forever. It’s also svelte and fashionable!
I brought the ThinkPad X1 Carbon along when I went on vacation in Japan in December. Why? Because it was light and slim and promised a long battery life. It did not disappoint. RRP: starts from S$2,349.
The ThinkPad X1 Carbon is on offer during IT Show 2013. For S$3,149, you get a 3rd Gen Intel Core i7-3667U 3G processor with Windows 7 Professional 64 with Windows 8 Pro Recovery DVD.
This configuration comes with 8GB DDR3 SDRAM + 256GB SSD, with Wi-Fi + 3G connectivity.
What’s more, bundled items include a Lenovo Mini-Display Port to VGA monitor cable and a USB 2.0 Ethernet Adapter!
The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon is the ideal fit for the mobile warrior.
Launched back in August as part of the ThinkPad’s 20th anniversary celebrations, the X1 Carbon was the world’s lightest Ultrabook at the time, and still is one of the thinnest and lightest around today (331x226x18.85 mm).
Slim & svelte is the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Ultrabook.
The X1 Carbon weighs less than three pounds, or 1.36kg – that’s less than a 1.5l soft drink bottle – thanks to its carbon fibre construction.
The Ultrabook withstood the physical rigours that we put it through lugging it from place to place.
The X1 Carbon boasted up to 8.2 hours of battery life and one of the best charge times in the industry, with rapid recharge up to 80% battery life in 35 minutes.
During vacation, I usually bring along a notebook for the family to surf the Web, check emails and social network updates, and for me to blog and do photo selection and editing for the holiday photos.
What I need is a powerful notebook that is light and powerful with long battery life. The ThinkPad X1 Carbon fitted the bill perfectly.
Indeed, the battery never once run out on me before I could hit a hotel to recharge, and the recharge was indeed rapid – wall power outlets can be much sought after when you have loads of other electrical devices to recharge at the end of a day.
The unit that I had did not come with 3G, so I had to connect using Wi-Fi most of the time. I didn’t need 3G anyway since I wasn’t data-roaming overseas.
I like the backlit keyboard so I can type in dim light without straining my eyes to locate the infrequently-used keys.
A special hinging mechanism allows the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Ultrabook to be laid completely flat on the table.
The multi-gesture glass surface touchpad also made it easy to get by without having to connect a mouse.
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Ultrabook
Video conferencing with family and friends at home was a breeze, with the HD face-tracking camera, dual array microphones and Dolby-tuned audio.
In its effort to stay slim and light, I/O ports are limited.
There’re no VGA or HDMI ports, so I can’t plug into my external monitor at home without buying an optional cable for the mini display port.
There’s also no Ethernet ports. You might think nobody needs that since most hotels come with Wi-Fi. Well some of the hotels we stayed in only had wired Internet connections in the room and no Wi-Fi.
My say:
The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon is a slim and powerful Ultrabook with long battery life and fast recharge – suitable for the mobile warrior – be it for business or on vacation. And it looks svelte and sexy to boot!
So I had to pop down to Best Denki in Kumamoto to buy a Logitec Elecom mobile wireless access point to broadcast the broadband access to the X1 Carbon, smartphones and tablet.
The new ASUS convertible Ultrabook – featuring a display on either side of its cover – is available in Singapore from today for S$2,698.
The ASUS TAICHI tablet-cum-Ultrabook convertible has two screens – one on either side of the cover. Available from today in Singapore for S$2,698.
The 11.6-inch Ultrabook runs on Windows 8 and features a 3rd generation Intel Core i7 processor and two back-to-back Full High Definition (FHD) IPS screens.
With every new Ultrabook purchase in Singapore, Intel is offering a suite of software worth SG$350.
Check out Intel’s Ultrabook software bundle promotions.
The suite of software will introduce you to the full potential of your Ultrabook, which is powered by the latest Intel Core processor technology.
This promotion is valid until 31 December 2012 or while stocks last.
Follow this link for more details.
The software bundle consists of a variety of entertainment and security programs, including CyberLink’s PowerDirector 11 Deluxe, PhotoDirector 4 Ultra and PowerDVD 12 Standard.
You will also get the iRacing and Civilization 5 games, Nest Family Organizer, McAfee AntiVirus Plus 2013 and access to Bollywood streaming site Hungama.com.
So we decided that there was a 2-week window to grab a quick break. But that’s like one-week away. Is it possible to plan the usual DIY self-drive holiday at such short notice?
Aerial view of Fukuoka, our gateway to Kyushu.
The answer is yes, with the advent of the Internet. Here’s a recap of what I did for my own holiday.
Cutting it close
I booked the air tickets the day we decided to go for the break, the car rental the next day, 3 hotels on the third day, and the remaining 3 on the fourth day.
The remaining days were spent planning the itinerary for each stop.
It’s as close to the date of departure as I’ve ever tried going on a self-planned, self-drive vacation.
First the obvious, decide how long you’ve got and where you want to go. In my case, we’ve long wanted to visit Kyushu in Japan, and the window of opportunity available was roughly two weeks.
If you’re thinking of visiting Japan, I recommend this site called japan-guide.com. It has comprehensive descriptions of popular tourist spots all over Japan, as well as travel tips for Japan.
Even more useful is its forum where vacation planners get their queries answered in detail with advice from a community of fellow travelers, as well as useful links to resources – such as timetables, rates etc – outside of the website.
Next book the air tickets. The availability and price of last-minute tickets usually determine whether your vacation destination will become a reality.
Cameras of choice
For this vacation, I’m entrusting our memories to the Nikon D800, with the AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED and the AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II lenses.
That’s almost 4 kg of camera gear but for the sake of image quality, I believe the 36.3-megapixel full-frame camera and two FX lenses from Nikon are worth every ounce of their weight.
Besides, we have the rental car to carry the gear between sights.
For a second camera, my wife will be carrying our trusty Olympus E450 with the ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 kit lens.
I use Zuji.com to get a feel of the airlines plying Singapore and the possible stops and the price range, then if there’s time, check competing sites or the airline’s website for better rates.
For Kyushu, it was pretty straightforward, only Singapore Airlines fly directly there from Singapore – to Fukuoka. It’s straightforward until you hit the SIA website. For a premier airline, it sure has a terrible website for bookings and reservations – plenty of long waits.
Next is the car rental. I use ToCoo car rental. It helps you check the rates for multiple car rental companies with cars available in the cities where you intend to pick up and drop off the car. But you’ve got to compare rates manually yourself.
Computing on the go
For computing, I’m bringing along the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Ultrabook, a BlackBerry PlayBook, and the Seagate 1TB Backup Plus.
The X1 Carbon is sleek in design, wonderfully thin and light, yet powerful enough for surfing Web and running Photoshop and Dreamweaver CS6 for photo-editing and blogging back in the hotel room.
The 7-inch PlayBook keeps the children entertained with game apps, and serves as an e-book reader. Its biggest bugbear is that it’s the Wi-Fi version and does not have 3G, but I don’t use 3G data in Japan anyway.
To store and back up the 40MB RAW photo files generated by the D800, I brought along the 1TB Seagate Backup Plus Portable Drive. The 2.5-inch plug-and-play drive constantly backs up the hard disk and makes posting photos online a breeze.
Usually, I pick up the car at the airport, drive off to the first destination and return the car at the airport I’m flying off from. If the pick-up and drop-off locations are different, check if a surcharge is levied and how much it is.
Fuss-free music
For music in the hotel room, we’re bringing along the Jabra Solemate portable speaker. Instead of lugging stacks of CDs around, simply download your favourite tracks onto an SD card and plug it into the Solemate.
What I like most is we can play our song collections and playlists wirelessly from our smartphones, tablet and Ultrabook via Bluetooth. It’s portable, easy to use and the sound quality is superb.
Finally, book the hotels. I know some Japanese so I used to browse Japanese booking websites and hotel websites directly, calling them on the phone for enquiries and reservations.
This time round, I discovered that my favourite accomodation-booking website for Europe holidays – booking.com – now has quite extensive list of hotels in Japan. Enough to find hotels that fit your budget in most places in Japan.
I like booking.com because of its clear information and easy booking. So even if you don’t know ANY japanese, you can still find and book accommodation easily.
Smartphones
We don’t use smartphones an awful lot, but for the record, we’re bringing along the Android Sony Xperia ion and an aging iPhone 3GS.
I’ve left the Nokia Lumia 900 at home because Nokia maps does not have the navigation map for Japan, and I’m renting an English GPS with the car anyway.
Another website that I tried last year – hotels.com – seems to be only beginning to move into Japan, with poor selection and high prices. I’m hoping there coverage and pricing will improve over time.
Once you’ve gotten the flight, car and hotel bookings out of the way, what remains is the physical packing for the big day.
HP will be at SITEX 2012 at Hall 6 Booths 6B01 and 6E10 in the Singapore EXPO.
Click to view or download SITEX 2012 promotions for HP desktops, All-in-One computers, notebooks, tablets, and notebook-tablet transformers. (Caution: Large 2MB PDF file)
The much anticipated HP ENVY X2 is now available at a special pre-order price of $1,099 (U.P $1,199)
Other HP computers to check out include the HP ENVY 4 TouchSmart Ultrabook, HP Pavilion Sleekbook, as well as the HP ENVY 23” and 20” AiO PCs.
Click to view or download SITEX 2012 promotions for HP printers. (Caution: Large 2MB PDF file)
Also check out HP’s printers, such as the HP LaserJet Pro 200 M276nw Color MFP and the HP Officejet 6700 Premium e-All-in-One printer.
Click to view or download SITEX 2012 promotions for HP printer supplies, including ink, toner and paper.
My favourite is the HP Photosmart 7520 e-All-in-One printer, which is equipped with HP’s wireless direct printing featureand allows users to print from any Wi-Fi-enabled mobile device, such as smartphones, tablets and laptop computers without the need for network or internet connections.
Click to view or download SITEX 2012 promotions for HP accessories including mouse, keyboards, headsets, speakers, bags and webcams; as well as software.
Lenovo will be at SITEX 2012 at Hall 5 Booth 5C40 (Courts), and Hall 6 Booths 6C30 (Harvey Norman) and 6D30 & 6F18 (Newstead) in the Singapore EXPO.
Click to view or download Lenovo promotions for SITEX 2012. (Caution: Large 7MB PDF file with 6 pages)
Check out Lenovo’s promotional offers for tablets, notebooks, ultrabooks, convertibles, AIOs, desktops, and accessories.
Windows 8 Lenovo Ideapad Yoga Ultrabook-tablet convertible
These include the IdeaPad G480 laptop and the recently launched Windows 8 Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13 Ultrabook-tablet convertible, and ThinkPad Twist S230u convertible.
My favourite is the Yoga.
Accessories include wireless mouse, speakers, headphones/headsets, USB hubs, and accessories for ThinkPads and IdeaPads.
Samsung will be at SITEX 2012 at Hall 4B Booth 4B10; Hall 5 Booth 5B20 (Audio House), 5C30 (Courts), 5G30 (Gain City); and Hall 6 Booth 6D20 in the Singapore EXPO.
Samsung is fielding its wide range of computers, cameras, printers, smart TVs and home entertainment systems.
Samsung will be selling its wide range of products at this year’s SITEX 2012.
Check out its promotions for Windows 7 and Windows 8 notebooks and tablets; as well as printers, cameras, Smart TVs and home entertainment systems.
