SAMSUNG ES30 UNBOXING & MINI REVIEW!!

Hello folks!!

To those who followed my blog, I used to own a 5MP Polaroid digital camera. That was my first digital camera, and for all intents and purposes was a really good and durable camera. Sadly early on, my little sister needed a camera to document her trips and stuff specially when she’s out of Manila, so I gave her my Polaroid camera.

For months, I had been contemplating on getting a new camera. So for this one, I took time and researched and looked around for a camera that atleast has the following specs:

• 12 megapixel (my old Polaroid camera only had 5 megapixel resolution, so I’m bumping it up a notch)
• 3.0” LCD screen (I’d like much more screen space)
• Optical Zoom (my old Polaroid camera only has digital zoom)
• Powered by AA rechargeable batteries (I’m not a fan of rechargeable lithium ion battery packs since its hard to find replacements once the model gets phased out)
• Digital Image Stabilizer/Anti-Shake feature (I have shaky hands so this would help me a lot)

Now I believe these are pretty reasonable features for a camera that’s below Php 6,000 since that’s the only budget I have for a digital camera. Back then, the best camera I can find with those specs in mind was the Nikon Coolpix L22:

Priced at Php 6,000 for me back then it seem a better deal. Considering that I saw just how good my GF’s camera was (a Nikon Coolpix L21), I said to myself this seemed a good deal for a camera. Then came this camera:

Introducing the Samsung ES30. I’ve recently just seen this camera, and I was surprised at the specs of this camera considering its price of just Php 4,990!! Here’s a quick comparison of the these 2 cameras:

	Nikon Coolpix L22	Samsung ES30
Total Megapixel	12 Megapixels	12 Megapixels
Max Resolution	4000 x 3000	4000 x 3000
Optical Zoom	3x zoom	5x zoom
Digital Zoom	4x zoom	5x zoom
Display LCD size	3.0” LCD	3.0” LCD
Dimensions	3.84 x 2.39 x 1.1 in (98 x 61 x 28 mm)	3.76 x 2.43 x 0.9 in (96 x 62 x 23 mm)
Image Stabilizer	Digital	Digital
Connectivity	USB (2.0), AV connector	USB (2.0), AV connector
Price	Php 6,000	Php 4,990

Considering the specs alone, I went ahead and got the Samsung ES30 instead of the Nikon Coolpix L22. I’m pretty confident with my choice, since I already had some hands-on with another Samsung digital camera (the one that my father uses) and so far I’m okay with it’s performance. So yesterday, I finally got my funds to get the unit and went to SM Bicutan to get my Samsung ES30.

The folks from Picture City at SM Bicutan (the same shop where I got my GF’s Nikon Coolpix L21 camera) gave me a great package for my Samsung ES30 for only Php 4,990. My camera comes with the following:

• Camera Pouch
• 2GB SD card
• Energizer AA Rechargeable Batteries + Charger pack

Aside from the package, it also comes with 1 year warranty, which is good enough for me. So I went home happily with my brand-spankin-new digicam. ^___^ Here’s a simple unboxing (pics taken from my Nokia C3 camera):

My initial impression with the camera was its gorgeous. It looks really good and doesn’t feel cheap at all. In fact, you’d be hard-pressed to think that this camera only costs less than Php 6,000. Build quality is solid, and the camera feels good in the hand.

Here’s some sample shots I got for the camera:

Pretty good quality IMHO. Just to test how good it is compared to my current Nokia C3’s camera, I’ve made what I call the “Voltron Test” where my test subject is my uber-awesome Voltron toy and take pictures of it then compare the shots taken. Here’s the results:

Picture Taken with the Nokia C3 (using default settings)

 

Picture Taken with the Samsung ES30 (using only Smart Auto)

I love how the colors are more vibrant and more better toned on the Samsung ES30, than on my Nokia C3 (well it IS just a camera phone after all). So far so good I’m lovin the results so far. I’ll try to get a similar comparison with the Nikon Coolpix L21 that my GF uses and see how it fares with that camera if ever.

But overall, it’s money well-spent and I’m amazed at the quality I got with my Samsung ES30 considering its price tag. With my new digicam, you can expect better photos in my blog soon (me thinks I’ll have to take pics of my toys again for christmas. Hehehehe).

Definitely one happy camper *iskwik iskwik* XD

SYMA Minicopters @ SM!! XD

You know back then when you were a kid in the 80s and early 90s and RC (Remote Controlled) toys were the “in” thing? I’m one of those kids. I find them amusing and well they’re like close to videogames; they give me a chance to know what’s it like to drive a real sports car or fly a copter, even if its just a toy. XD

Back then RCs were damn expensive. Like those things would cost you thousands of pesos and drains batteries faster than other toys. No fun. Fast forward to 2010, RCs nowadays are getting better and well… cheaper!! And just today, I was at SM Bicutan, trying to find a KFC branch that still has a KFC Double down sandwich available. Sadly I never found one, but I did end up getting upclose and personal with these new RC copters!!

There was this crazy sale of RC copters at SM. They’re SYMA branded and from what I’ve been seeing they look real good. Here’s some of the pics of them that I got with my phone:

The lowest priced copter they have is this one, the Falcon Terminator X. Priced at Php1000, they offer lifetime warranty in-case your copter gets busted, they’d give you free replacement of parts if the said part is available. Not bad!!

The reason why they’re giving lifetime warranty for these, is that they are confident with the quality of the build of these copters. In-fact the sales rep gave me a little demonstration of just how durable these things are.

Lemme tell you, I was actually shocked at first when the guy demoed me this. I was scared for the helicopter and I thought it would break into pieces and the poor sales guy would have to pay for the copter. But damn, did that copter survive!! They we’re not kidding when they mentioned it was built for abuse indeed!! Here’s some pictures of that copter that was put thru the stress test after being banged and crashed to the floor:

Honestly, I am surprised that it still looks good!! Nice!!

These babies run on 6AA batteries which is slapped on the controller. The copter itself runs on rechargeable batteries, and the sales guy mentioned you can plug the copter to the controller to charge it. They also have a model which can be charged via USB. Niceee~

Definitely loved it and now I’m definitely tempted in getting one. I prolly be getting that aluminum alloy type that can be charged via USB. XD Which looks like this:

Till then guys!! ^___^

My Komikon 2010 Experience!!

Yep, this is abit of a long overdue post. Sorry I was caught up with a lot of work these past few days.

Anyway, all I can say was Komikon 2010 was…. AWESOME!! You can literally feel the love for the industry as long lines start as early as 10AM. It was such a blissful feeling seeing that the local komiks industry is getting more and more support every year.

I was also surprised that despite the change of venue, the crowd was even more larger than last year. And to think I was worried that putting it in Starmall, instead of Megamall would be an issue, I was dead wrong.

Anyway, I came in hoping to get the latest issues of comicbooks that I was waiting for (namely; Trese book 4, ZsaZsa Zaturnnah book 2, Cat’s Trail 3, Pasig, Kubori Kikiam 3 and The Marvelous Adventures of the Amazing Dr. Rizal) sadly some of them weren’t there.

But atleast Kubori Kikiam’s new book was there, and here’s it’s creator Taga-Kanal happily getting moniez, then signing my copy. LOL!!

Instead of walking out of the convention, I opted this year to be more open to try out new titles; namely get more indie komiks. And boy, was there A LOT of indie komiks this year!! I mean this is just a FEW of the many indies out there:

And here’s some pictures of the artists who’s work I got this year:

And yes, I got the one and only Pol Medina Jr. to autography my copy of Pugad Baboy 22!! XD

Man, and I’m actually impressed with the quality of works the indies are churning out this year. I guess competition just got better eh? Overall I bought tons of indies this year, and here’s a picture of my Komikon haul this year:

Gawd tons of indies. And as usual, here’s my annual “I got broke at Komikon” photo: