Computer Games..... again.

Yes, after a long lay-off, I'm back at computer games again :)

Well, I'm not playing the latest games really, just reliving the old time favourites of Starcraft, Diablo II & Warcraft III. These were my favourite real-time strategy games from the Windows platform, and I've now got the Mac versions. And will definitely keep me busy at home during those cold winter weekends...

Hopefully after 5 years of non-gaming, my skills and reflexes are still up to par to kill monsters and aliens :P

From Windows Mobile to Symbian

After having used Windows Mobile devices for a long time (from HP IPAQ 2210 to O2 Xphone II to O2 Atom Exec to HTC Touch Diamond), I switched to the Symbian platform a few days ago... in the form of the Nokia E71. Very different beast altogether, but I can say the experience is extremely pleasing and satisfying. The Symbian interface is very responsive and the software is definitely a lot more stable than Windows Mobile. The E71 is a class of it's own.

One of the reasons for the jump to the E71 is also because it feels so much better in the hand than the Touch Diamond which I previously had and the superb battery life.... I owned the Touch Diamond for about 6 months and traded in for the Nokia E71. The Touch Diamond does it's job but the battery life is really disappointing, I couldn't get past 1.5 days without reaching for the charger :(

Anyway, for those who are two minds about the E71, my recommendation is 'Go get it', you'll love the feel of the phone and the stability of the Symbian platform. :)

Why I bought the E-520

With the announcement of the E-30, and it's release in January 2009, I still went ahead to upgrade my E-510 to E-520 recently. On paper, the E-30 looks like a winner, but two things put me off... the lack of weather-proofing and initial high price.

Not that I will ever shoot in the rain, but I think at this level, Olympus needs to come out with something that they can compete with the competitors, and weather proofing is one thing they can excel in, because they have made all these wonderful weather proof lens. It just needs a body to match...

The high launch price of the E-30 is another thing that is preventing me from making the impulse purchase. For the same price, I can get the E-3. Although the E-3 is a year old but it still is the flagship camera and it comes with weather proofing. So until the E-30 price drops to a level (I think S$1,300 for body only) that I'm comfortable with, I won't be forking out any money for it.

So, that leaves me with no upgrade path for now, but the gear acquisition syndrome in me say I must get myself a Christmas present, and that's how the E-520 landed in my dry box :) The 'upgrade' may be subtle on paper, but I think the E-520 fixes a few of those annoyance on the E-510 and best of all, the out-of-camera jpegs from the E-520 are very close to that of the E-3. So I have something 'new' I can play with until the E-30 becomes more affordable in 6 months or so...