Today we did the Fallaj Al Mualla route from the Explorer book. Yes it was hot but we stopped frequently and rested in the shade of trees. It was a nice and easy drive but even though Explorer says it can be done without deflating I’d recommend deflating anyway. There are passages with small dunes and very soft sand, which would be tough without deflating, I think. There is a track all the way but there are also dunes for more advanced drivers to play in. At the last stage of the route we took the wrong turn so we ended up somewhere completely different than what was expected but that was okay too.
It’s sad how some people treat the desert. In spots that would be very nice camping or BBQ sites there are heaps of trash. Why can’t you pick up after yourselves? And around most of the farms in the area there is even more rubbish, most likely not from offroaders but the guys who work the farms. I think the owners of these farms should be held responsible for cleaning up and keeping it clean. If they derive money from cultivating the desert in terms of plants of camels they should be responsible for keeping it clean too.
Yes I’m a Mac-man at heart and I’m not going to give up my MacBook and Mac Pro anytime soon (unless there are new models from Apple, of course) but I do try to keep up with what’s happening in the PC world. Hopefully in a day or so I get to use the Dell Adamo and yesterday I got the Acer Aspire 3810T, one of the models in the brand new Timeline series from Acer. It’s main selling point is a battery life of 8-9 hours on one charge, thin and light design, all at an affordable price. I can tell you that their claims of battery life are about right and the speed is okay to comfortably run Windows Vista and the typical applications for most users. It runs very quiet and surprisingly cool. You can very comfortably keep it in your lap, same can’t be said for all notebooks. The 3810T is going to go into my computer backpack and will be a companion to my MacBook for the near future at least.
There are three models, 13.3, 14, or 15-inch display (I have the 13-inch version). Here are the specs:
- Processor and chipset: Intel® Centrino® 2 / Centrino® processor technology, Intel® Core™2 Duo ultra low voltage processor SU9400, Mobile Intel® GS45 Express Chipset, Intel® Wireless WiFi Link 5100 (dual-band quad-mode 802.11a/b/g/Draft-N) Wi-Fi CERTIFIED® network connection, Intel® Wireless WiFi Link 5150 Wi-Fi®/WiMAX™ dual-mode module
- Operating system: Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium
- Memory: Dual-channel DDR3 SDRAM support, Up to 4 GB of DDR3 1066 MHz memory, upgradeable to 8 GB using two soDIMM modules (requires 64 bit Operating System)
- HDD: hard disk drive up to 320GB
- Storage: 160/250/320/500 GB or larger hard disk drive or 80 GB SSD drive, 5-in-1 card reader, supporting Secure Digital™ (SD) Card, MultiMediaCard (MMC), Memory Stick™ (MS), Memory Stick PRO™ (MS PRO), xD-Picture Card™ (xD)
- Optical Media driver: N/A
- Display: 13.3″ HD 1366 x 768 pixel resolution, high-brightness (200-nit) Acer CineCrystal™ LED-backlit TFT LCD, 16:9 aspect ratio
- Graphics: Mobile Intel® GS45 Express Chipset with integrated 3D graphics, featuring Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD (Intel® GMA 4500MHD) with up to 1759 MB of Intel® Dynamic Video Memory Technology 5.0 (64 MB of dedicated video memory, Microsoft® DirectX® 10
- Audio: Optimized 2nd Generation Dolby Sound Room® audio enhancement, featuring Dolby® Headphone, Dolby® Natural Bass and Dolby® Sound Space Expander, S/PDIF (Sony/Philips Digital Interface) support for digital speakers, MS-Sound compatible, built-in microphone
- Communication: Acer Video Conference: Integrated Acer Crystal Eye webcam supporting
enhanced Acer PrimaLite™ technology; WLAN: Intel Wireless WiFi Link 5100 (dual-band quad-mode 802.11a/b/g/Draft-N) Wi-Fi CERTIFIED network connection, featuring MIMO technology, supporting Acer SignalUp with Nplify wireless technology or; Wi-Fi®/WiMAX™* Intel® Wireless WiFi Link 5150 Wi-Fi®/WiMAX™ dual-mode module, supporting Acer SignalUp™ with Nplify™ wireless technology * depending on network availability; WWAN GTM382E module: UMTS/HSPA at 900 MHz/2100 MHz and quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) upgradeable to 7.2 Mbps HSDPA and 5.7 Mbps HSUPA (for 3G models); WPAN: Bluetooth 2.0+EDR (Enhanced Data Rate); LAN: Gigabit Ethernet, Wake-on-LAN ready
- I/O ports: 5-in-1 card reader (SD™, MMC, MS, MS PRO, xD), Three (Four on AS5810T) USB 2.0 ports, HDMI™ port with HDCP support, External display (VGA) port, Headphone/speaker/line-out jack with S/PDIF support, Microphone-in jack
- Security: BIOS user, supervisor, HDD passwords, Kensington lock slot
- Power: ACPI 3.0 CPU power management standard: supports Standby and Hibernation power-saving modes, 62.16 W 5600 mAh 6-cell Li-ion battery pack: Acer PowerSmart 3-pin 65 W AC adapter, ENERGY STAR® 5.0
- Special keys and controls: 103-/104-/107-key keyboard, with inverted “T” cursor layout (model 5810T) - 86-/87-/91-key keyboard,, with inverted “T” cursor layout (model 3810T & 4810T), Multi-gesture touchpad pointing device supporting: Circular-motion scrolling, Pinch-action zoom, Page flip; 10 function keys, four cursor keys, two Windows® keys, hotkey controls, independent standard numeric keypad (only on AS5810T) , international language support Acer PowerSmart key, Easy-launch keys: Acer Backup, Communication®, touchpad lock, Media control keys (printed on keyboard): play/pause, stop, previous, next
- Dimensions and weight: 322 (W) x 228 (D) x 23.4/28.9 (H) mm - 1.6 kg ( 3.5 lbs.) with 6-cell battery pack
- Price: AED2799
It’s funny how things work out sometimes. Little did I think that when we moved to the UAE I’d start a Mac web site, but I did (www.emiratesmac.com); little did I think I’d become editor of an Apple magazine, but I did (www.shufflegazine.com); and never did I imagine I’d be writing about tech for a daily newspaper. But now that last bit has also become true.
Shufflegazine has partnered up with The National newspaper here in UAE and we’ll write reviews of gadgets and other tech related articles for the paper. It’s a great way to get Shufflegazine’s name out there and it’s a great way for them to get content.
So look out for the first article next week. Not exactly sure when yet but Thursday through the weekend is a good bet.
I just realized that this blog is almost four years old by now. First post is from September 2004. Imagine that. Crystal and I had all kinds of grand plans for this blog when we moved to the UAE in 2005 but not much of that came true, probably because we were just too busy with other things. I will try to do better and post some things here regularly, but can’t make any promises.
Why is it that with profits of Dhs2.99bn ($815m)in net profit for the second quarter this year, an increase of 37.1% on 2007 figures, that you still cannot (or will not?) provide a good customer service and internationally competitive telecom services, especially when it comes to internet connections? Why, oh why, Etisalat? I made a joke about Etisalat’s customer service to a guy I know who works in Etisalat and he just said “don’t go there…” as in he’s heard it all before. It can’t be fun working in a company like that, which is so widely disliked.
Sweden’s in the news a lot today. Volvo is slimming down and getting rid of 8% of its workforce and ABB was awarded a new contract in Qatar.
I’ve changed something fundamental in my life, I’ve changed jobs. But more than that I’ve completely changed careers. For eleven or so years I’ve been teaching IT at college and university and now I’ll be Director of Communications for CENTIMETERCUBE. There is a list a mile long of things I need to do when we get back to Dubai in a few days time but I’m excited. This is a fresh start in many ways, for me as well as Crystal, so we hope for the best!
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