Monster Hunter 4 ProMini 9000 mAh Battery Pack Unboxing

Just recently, I got myself one of these from Datablitz

It's the officially licensed battery pack for Monster Hunter 4 called; the Promini 9000mAh Battery pack. I got it for about Php2495 (roughly $55) and I came away impressed overall with the said battery pack. Here's a small video unboxing of the battery pack itself:

If you're like me, who brings some gadgets on-the-go, like tablets, mobile phones and specially a handheld gaming console like a Nintendo 3DS, it definitely sucks when your gadget suddenly runs out of juice for you to keep on using them while you're out. And for people like us, battery packs like these are heaven send, as they give us that emergency charge when we need them the most, anytime, anywhere!

But the thing is, most battery packs available locally come from China. And not only do they look cheap, but they are prone to some very scary problems like short circuiting and in other instances, the battery suddenly bursting leaving the battery pack in flames.

I've been on the market for battery packs for quite sometime, after finding myself in alot of situations where my gadget suddenly runs out of battery. So hearing that Datablitz has imported these bad boys, I tried to read up any article regarding the said battery pack and I was surprised that it was officially licensed by Capcom no less! And so I went ahead and got myself one, and it didn't disappoint.

As far as looks go, this looks quite nice honestly. If you're a Monster Hunter fan, you definitely owe it to yourself to get one of these. Just look at the logo detailing from up-close:

Simply gorgeous! :D The fact that it's also encased in steel/titanium, this looks very sleek and would definitely turn some geek heads, specially those who are into the Monster Hunter series. The battery pack itself isn't that big, but it definitely feels solidly built. Here's some pictures for size reference:

When it comes to performance, it definitely is bang for your buck. With a whopping 9000mAh of battery packed in, it can charge your tablet for 2 full charges, which is good. Speaking of charging your device twice, another awesome feature of this battery pack, is that there's 2 separate USB output slots for you to charge your device simultaneously! 

This is perfect specially when you have 2 different gadgets that are both low in battery and you want to charge them at the same time! Here's my Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 and my Cherry Mobile Titan phone being charged at the same time:

I got alot of questions in groups when they learned I have this Battery Pack, as to how to charge the unit itself. And so, I decided to make a step-by-step illustrated tutorial on how to do so.

Also, if you happen to have one of Apple's USB chargers like this one:

You can use that to directly plug the battery pack on to an electrical outlet and charge it from there. It's been tested to be working for me. Hopefully the guide was of help to others.

The only downside to this, is that the package doesn't come with its own USB charger for the Nintendo 3DS! I mean it's just ironic that for an officially licensed battery pack to play Monster Hunter 4 on the 3DS, it doesn't have the cable needed to charge the 3DS itself! D: So I went ahead and scouted for a USB charger for my 3DS, and I found one in SM Bicutan:

Got it for on sale for only Php200! :D

The great thing about this USB charger, is that it not only works with the 3DS/3DSXL, but with DSi/DSi XL as well as the PSP 2000/3000 and the Gameboy Micro.

And just to show you guys that it does work with the 3DS XL, here's a picture of it being charged with my Monster Hunter 4 Battery pack:

Anyway, there you have it! In my opinion, despite the price, I would have to say it's very much worth every penny. The fact that it performs well and it is very solidly built, you could be assured that you've invested on something that won't easily break. Add that it also looks really sleek and nice, its a definite must buy for me.

You can get one at Datablitz, for only Php2,495 with a discount for cash purchases. Get one while supplies last, as my contact in DataBlitz mentioned they won't be restocking these again, making them highly collectable! :D

Old VS New; Polaroid A544 VS Samsung ES30

Hey everyone!!

Well remember I mentioned back then that the reason I bought my Samsung ES30 was because I gave my old Polaroid A544 to my sister? Well just so happens I saw it one day on a drawer unused. I asked my sister about it, and she mentioned that she doesn’t need it as much anymore as she’s now busy with work. Oh well, atleast now its used as our official office camera for taking ID pics and stuff.

Here’s how my old Polaroid A544 looked like:

In my previous review about it last year, for the price it’s a pretty good digicam.

Now that I have a better digicam, I’m curious just how my old camera fares. Now first off, I know that its quite unfair to pit my old Polaroid camera with my newer Samsung ES30, since it only has 5 megapixels compared to Samsung’s 12 megapixels. But still I must admit I’m pretty curious nonetheless.

Here’s the comparison pics, and yes once again I’m using my trademark “Voltron test” for the comparison (resized). Here’s the results:

Here’s the pictures (unresized) for a much more accurate take on the pictures themselves and overall picture quality:

Samsung ES30 (top), Polaroid A544 (bottom)

Samsung ES30 (top), Polaroid A544 (bottom)

Samsung ES30 (top), Polaroid A544 (bottom)

Samsung ES30 (top), Polaroid A544 (bottom)

In the test, it shows clearly that the Samsung ES30 has better lens quality and shows much more sharper and clearer images than the Polaroid A544. It also does a great job in macro in locating the subject image. Colors are a little dull with the Samsung ES30 and leaves a lot to be desired, compared to the Polaroid A544, but IMHO Polaroid’s photos is oversaturated. The picture also look really blurred when I tried to picture Voltron full-sized when using the Polaroid A544.

Overall, I suppose the Polaroid A544 didn’t age as well as I hoped it would compared to let’s say my 2 megapixel Nokia camera. Till next time!! ^_^

Samsung ES30 VS Nikon Coolpix L21–part 2

Hey everybody!!

As promised, here’s the part 2 of the on-going comparison between the Samsung ES30 and the Nikon Coolpix L21 digital cameras.

On the previous comparison test, I only used Samsung’s Smart Auto, which while was pretty good, failed to impress due to poor lighting of the subjects. Now I played around abit with my Samsung ES30 digital camera, and I learned a few tricks with my new camera. Now in this test, I’ll be using the “Program" mode, which gives me more options to edit the settings of my shot. This is to put my camera on equal terms atleast with my GF’s Nikon Coolpix L21 as she uses difference customized scenarios and settings when taking photos and not relying on it’s “Easy Auto” feature.

Anyway, here’s the round 2 of the Samsung ES30 VS Nikon Coolpix L21 comparison shots:

I was actually quite happy and surprised with the results. In some aspects, the Samsung ES30 actually trumps the Nikon Coolpix L21 with more vibrant colors and better saturation, as some pictures from the Nikon Coolpix L21 appears dull. The sauce on the sweet & sour pork looks more… YUMMIER in Samsung’s photos.

Although when it comes to detail and sharpness of pictures, Nikon Coolpix L21 definitely blows the Samsung ES30 away. Just looking at the picture with the tofu plate, as well as the pineapple juice where you can even see icecubes floating on the juice, while on the Samsung ES30 you can barely seem them at all.

Nikon’s Anti-shake technology does a better job at making pictures crips and sharp compared to Samsung’s and I suppose that’s to be expected considering it IS Nikon and they are well-known in taking sharp, crisp photos.

Overall, I can say that when it comes to colors, I’m more inclined to choose Samsung ES30 over the Nikon Coolpix L21. Although I never showed it here, wide-angled lens tech of Samsung truly kick’s Nikon’s lens out of the water, as I get more with my Samsung than with Nikon. But on picture sharpness and detail, Nikon wins hands down. Shaky hands are nothing to Nikon’s impressive Anti-shake technology which really shows in the pictures.

Ahhh man, I think next time I’ll try to do the “Voltron test” between the Samsung ES30 VS Nikon Coolpix L21. XD Till then!!

Samsung ES30 VS Nikon Coolpix L21–part 1

Hi guys!!

I wanted to do this comparison last week, but my GF beat me to it with her own comparison of the 2 cameras in her blog. You can read all about it here: http://kitten-insideacatsmind.blogspot.com/2010/12/tech-talk-samsung-es30-vs-nikon-l21.html

Now as for me, here’s my own set of comparison shots:

The settings used for the Samsung ES30 would be default Smart Auto, while the settings used for the Nikon Coolpix L21 was the “Food photography” setting and not the default “Easy Auto” mode.

As you may see with the pictures, Samsung’s picture quality is noticeably much darker than Nikon’s and does a poor job in illuminating the subjects when using Smart Auto. However, it does a sport a much wider-angle shot compared to the Nikon Coolpix as shown in the picture of the room as well as giving the room a much better contrast and not too bright compared to the Nikon Coolpix. Sadly, Samsung’s photos at times doesn’t come as sharp as Nikon’s which would come to no surprise since Nikon is well-known for taking very sharp and crisp photos.

Currently I’m figuring out how to adjust the settings if ever, so next time I do another comparison with the Nikon Coolpix L21, it would be on even terms. Till next time!!

PS: Bonus shots from my Samsung ES30, now using “Program mode” which essentially gives you a lot of options to tweak your settings before taking a shot. XD

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