Yesterday I picked it up at the dealer. A brand new renault kangoo 1.6 I love it! It's roomy, it's fun to drive and it has ample room for my whole family. And the color makes me smile,
Friday, June 13, 2008
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Sonim XP1=KPN Porto 300.
Typically for KPN they've bought a phone, had the manufacturer stick on a KPN label and they're selling it for a lot more than the standard price.
Only difference I can see is that they are offering Push2Talk with their business subscriptions.
http://www.kpn.com/kpn/show?aboform=buy&compare=prices&dbid=393631&id=1564392&saleschannelid=102237
Typically for KPN they've bought a phone, had the manufacturer stick on a KPN label and they're selling it for a lot more than the standard price.
Only difference I can see is that they are offering Push2Talk with their business subscriptions.
http://www.kpn.com/kpn/show?aboform=buy&compare=prices&dbid=393631&id=1564392&saleschannelid=102237
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Bas trying a piano
Bas trying a piano lesson. According to the teacher he just may have some real talent. Made me proud of course.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Sonim XP1 BT review
End user reviews of this phone seem to be scarce or even non-existent so here's my attempt at one.
Introduction
Recently it was announced here at the office that a bunch of us would get a company SIM and that we could buy a phone for upto 250 euros.
I looked at the current offerings of Nokia, Samsung and Motorola and could find very little there that appealed to me. So I looked elsewhere and found the Sonim Xp1 BT.
Sonim is totally unknown as a maker of handsets, at least here in Europe. Despite that I found that this phone had some very appealing features. It calls, it can be used to send SMS and it's very durable. Since I have a tendency to drop phones the durable appeals to me. Now if you surf around for information and reviews you'll notice that people have tried and failed to break this phone. Sonim itself has links to the various videos on youtube. Have a look and prepare to be amazed.
I work in the IT business so chances that I will drop mine in a cement mixer are slim but I still want a phone that can be dropped and that's loud enough to be heard in a room with 600 servers. (if you've never been in a fair sized server room just imagine an old, noisy pc, add some vacuum cleaner and multiply that mix by 600). I'd pretty much made up my mind to get one so I started looking for a good deal on one. Prices varied from 255 to 329 for the model with bluetooth. Local webshop typhone had the Sonim XP1 with bluetooth (which is what the BT stands for in it's name) for only 255 euros I decided to order one.
The box
A couple of days later it arrived. Neat little box with the phone, battery, charger and a booklet , a very hefty belt clip and nothing else. I did have a problem getting the back lid of the phone which involves unlocking it and inserting your nail firmly in the edge of the lid but after I sorted that out it was happily charging itself. 3 hours later it claimed to be fully charged. That first charge lasted me almost 8 days. Two charges later I'm getting 8 days with BT always on and not too much talking.
But how does it perform?
Reception is absolutely astonishing. I tested this in my mother-in-laws living room which is a notorious black spot. Every phone I've ever used always lost it's signal once I set foot in that room. Not the Sonim! I still got 2 bars reception and a slightly degraded connection to my voicemail.
Call quality is excellent! On default settings it can be a bit too loud but that's easily corrected. Conversations are clear but I do get the impression that high frequencies can sometimes be clipped a bit. When I'm calling from the server room people do think I'm standing very clause to an airco exhaust but I'm still perfectly understandable.
Ringer volume is awesome! Use the factory supplied extremely boring ringtones and even at the lowest settings it's hard to miss a call.
Data transfer
So, as a phone it works well. The trouble starts when you connect it to a PC. Via Bluetooth you see this:
Not very usefull it seems. A comm port to map, dialup networking, and obexpush which seems to be some sort of businesscard exchange. It's not until you happen to google across http://www.gsmarena.com/philips_xenium_9@9g-reviews-1835.php that it makes sense. That links to http://www.p4c.philips.com/files/c/ct9a9hgry_40/ where you can download Philips Phone tools. (162mb) This phone seems to be built on the same platform as the Philips 9@9r. When you install that Phonetools thing (looks exactly like Motorola's) you get this in the about screen:
PHILIPS - NEXPERIA SY.SOL 6120 (21/04/2006)
The Philips connection becomes even more clear when you hook it up via usb. (use any old usb-mini usb cable). Then, after a lot of hunting for drivers you'll see this:
Philips DF2000 GSM and some weird Philips USB lun device. No idea what that is but it can be added as a drive. If you do that you'll get a removable disk. Double click it and it tells you to insert media.
Despite all this the only way I could find to get my custom ringtone onto the Sonim was to transfer it via BT to my Motorola V8 and from there via BT to my sonim. No problems.
Of course I tried to contact Sonim about this. Since I couldn't find a local distributor I contacted Sonim directly. No response whatsoever. As an end user I can be safely ignored it seems.
OK, moving on.
User interface and other annoyances.
Since the feature set is so limited it is an easy phone to master. The manual supplied is adequate but you don't often need it. If I don't mention a function here you can assume it's OK.
Keyboard lock. On Nokia it used to be unlock and *. On the Sonim it's press and hold *. You just have to get used to it and then it is OK. Keypad lock can be set to off, 10s, 30s and 60 seconds.
What is incredibly annoying is that even when it's locked you can still make emergency calls. So without knowing it you could have it in your pocket and you could be dialing 911 or 112 or whatever it's in your location. I haven't found a way to disable this!
Ringer volume has three settings, loud, even louder and really loud. Ringing and vibrating at the same time seems to be a challenge. The option is there but somehow it's not saved. There's only a few profiles available and the default profile is the only one that can be renamed, the rest cannot.
Phone book, select it via the right menu button and you have to select "view list" first before you can see the book. Use the big button on the side instead.
Texting/SMS
There's T9 support and that works fairly well.
Conclusion
If you're looking for a sturdy, loud phone look no further. If you value communication with your PC, a camera or other features look further. Despite it's design annoyances I'm keeping my Sonim. I just hope the company will soon take end users serious enough to provide at least a basic level of support. I've come across some annoyances that seem to be very sloppy user interface design. Any capable engineer can turn out a software update to fix this in a week or so.
End user reviews of this phone seem to be scarce or even non-existent so here's my attempt at one.
Introduction
Recently it was announced here at the office that a bunch of us would get a company SIM and that we could buy a phone for upto 250 euros.
I looked at the current offerings of Nokia, Samsung and Motorola and could find very little there that appealed to me. So I looked elsewhere and found the Sonim Xp1 BT.
Sonim is totally unknown as a maker of handsets, at least here in Europe. Despite that I found that this phone had some very appealing features. It calls, it can be used to send SMS and it's very durable. Since I have a tendency to drop phones the durable appeals to me. Now if you surf around for information and reviews you'll notice that people have tried and failed to break this phone. Sonim itself has links to the various videos on youtube. Have a look and prepare to be amazed.
I work in the IT business so chances that I will drop mine in a cement mixer are slim but I still want a phone that can be dropped and that's loud enough to be heard in a room with 600 servers. (if you've never been in a fair sized server room just imagine an old, noisy pc, add some vacuum cleaner and multiply that mix by 600). I'd pretty much made up my mind to get one so I started looking for a good deal on one. Prices varied from 255 to 329 for the model with bluetooth. Local webshop typhone had the Sonim XP1 with bluetooth (which is what the BT stands for in it's name) for only 255 euros I decided to order one.
The box
A couple of days later it arrived. Neat little box with the phone, battery, charger and a booklet , a very hefty belt clip and nothing else. I did have a problem getting the back lid of the phone which involves unlocking it and inserting your nail firmly in the edge of the lid but after I sorted that out it was happily charging itself. 3 hours later it claimed to be fully charged. That first charge lasted me almost 8 days. Two charges later I'm getting 8 days with BT always on and not too much talking.
But how does it perform?
Reception is absolutely astonishing. I tested this in my mother-in-laws living room which is a notorious black spot. Every phone I've ever used always lost it's signal once I set foot in that room. Not the Sonim! I still got 2 bars reception and a slightly degraded connection to my voicemail.
Call quality is excellent! On default settings it can be a bit too loud but that's easily corrected. Conversations are clear but I do get the impression that high frequencies can sometimes be clipped a bit. When I'm calling from the server room people do think I'm standing very clause to an airco exhaust but I'm still perfectly understandable.
Ringer volume is awesome! Use the factory supplied extremely boring ringtones and even at the lowest settings it's hard to miss a call.
Data transfer
So, as a phone it works well. The trouble starts when you connect it to a PC. Via Bluetooth you see this:
Not very usefull it seems. A comm port to map, dialup networking, and obexpush which seems to be some sort of businesscard exchange. It's not until you happen to google across http://www.gsmarena.com/philips_xenium_9@9g-reviews-1835.php that it makes sense. That links to http://www.p4c.philips.com/files/c/ct9a9hgry_40/ where you can download Philips Phone tools. (162mb) This phone seems to be built on the same platform as the Philips 9@9r. When you install that Phonetools thing (looks exactly like Motorola's) you get this in the about screen:
PHILIPS - NEXPERIA SY.SOL 6120 (21/04/2006)
The Philips connection becomes even more clear when you hook it up via usb. (use any old usb-mini usb cable). Then, after a lot of hunting for drivers you'll see this:
Philips DF2000 GSM and some weird Philips USB lun device. No idea what that is but it can be added as a drive. If you do that you'll get a removable disk. Double click it and it tells you to insert media.
Despite all this the only way I could find to get my custom ringtone onto the Sonim was to transfer it via BT to my Motorola V8 and from there via BT to my sonim. No problems.
Of course I tried to contact Sonim about this. Since I couldn't find a local distributor I contacted Sonim directly. No response whatsoever. As an end user I can be safely ignored it seems.
OK, moving on.
User interface and other annoyances.
Since the feature set is so limited it is an easy phone to master. The manual supplied is adequate but you don't often need it. If I don't mention a function here you can assume it's OK.
Keyboard lock. On Nokia it used to be unlock and *. On the Sonim it's press and hold *. You just have to get used to it and then it is OK. Keypad lock can be set to off, 10s, 30s and 60 seconds.
What is incredibly annoying is that even when it's locked you can still make emergency calls. So without knowing it you could have it in your pocket and you could be dialing 911 or 112 or whatever it's in your location. I haven't found a way to disable this!
Ringer volume has three settings, loud, even louder and really loud. Ringing and vibrating at the same time seems to be a challenge. The option is there but somehow it's not saved. There's only a few profiles available and the default profile is the only one that can be renamed, the rest cannot.
Phone book, select it via the right menu button and you have to select "view list" first before you can see the book. Use the big button on the side instead.
Texting/SMS
There's T9 support and that works fairly well.
Conclusion
If you're looking for a sturdy, loud phone look no further. If you value communication with your PC, a camera or other features look further. Despite it's design annoyances I'm keeping my Sonim. I just hope the company will soon take end users serious enough to provide at least a basic level of support. I've come across some annoyances that seem to be very sloppy user interface design. Any capable engineer can turn out a software update to fix this in a week or so.
Friday, April 11, 2008
What makes people kill children?
And more importantly, what makes me read the news items? I know that when I click one of those links I will be reading a story that breaks my heart.
Take this latest one for example, a mother in the belgian town of Angleur near Liege let's her 21 months old toddler starve to death because she didn't want the child and felt neglected by her partner who was working in another country. She calls emergency services because the child was sitting lifeless in his chair for two hours. Autopsy revealed a 0% fat content in the body. Her three other surviving children have been taken away.
Can anyone imagine the agony and despair that child must have gone trough? I've got two children, I remember that age when they'd sit in their little chairs munching their way trough a bowl of fruit.
It's bad enough that children die in famines but this....
And more importantly, what makes me read the news items? I know that when I click one of those links I will be reading a story that breaks my heart.
Take this latest one for example, a mother in the belgian town of Angleur near Liege let's her 21 months old toddler starve to death because she didn't want the child and felt neglected by her partner who was working in another country. She calls emergency services because the child was sitting lifeless in his chair for two hours. Autopsy revealed a 0% fat content in the body. Her three other surviving children have been taken away.
Can anyone imagine the agony and despair that child must have gone trough? I've got two children, I remember that age when they'd sit in their little chairs munching their way trough a bowl of fruit.
It's bad enough that children die in famines but this....
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Saturday, March 08, 2008
Trying a vintage lens
Got a Nikon 135 f2.8 Ai lens for next to nothing. Stuck it on my D50 where it's totally manual.
This pic isn't perfect and yet, there's something about this lens I like.
This pic isn't perfect and yet, there's something about this lens I like.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
getting the flash off the camera
It's a theme many people will encounter. Get your flash away from your camera. Get several flashes and some radio triggers and create an elaborate lighting setup.
I'm not too sure about the elaborate setups yet but it's fun to play with this.
I'm not too sure about the elaborate setups yet but it's fun to play with this.
Friday, February 22, 2008
The Protective Filter Craze
I see this so often on the various forums and message boards. People buy a camera with a kit lens and feel the need to stick a UV filter on it.
Now, let's face it, kit lenses are good value for money but they are often not the greatest lenses on the market. Why would you run the risk of lens flaring by adding some glass to the front of the lens? Most lenses are designed as a whole package. From front to rear element they are designed to bring a good image to your sensor (or film).
What are you protecting your lens against? I've used SLR cameras for about 20 years now and I have never had front element damage. Take proper care of your gear. Use a lens hood whenever possible and use your lens caps.
Of course there are circumstances thinkable when you'd want to use a protective filter. If there's stones flying around or if you are in a situation where there's salt water spray or beer flying around for example. So, it can be useful to have a protective filter in the bag. When you do buy one, a skylight or a UV filter don't try to save money there. Get something at least multicoated. The Hong-Kong based firm hvstar has excellent prices on filters and good customer service.
Even with good filters, such as the 62mm Nikon circular polarizer, I own you still need to take care or you will end up with this:
For further reading I suggest reading what Thom Hogan has written on the subject.
I see this so often on the various forums and message boards. People buy a camera with a kit lens and feel the need to stick a UV filter on it.
Now, let's face it, kit lenses are good value for money but they are often not the greatest lenses on the market. Why would you run the risk of lens flaring by adding some glass to the front of the lens? Most lenses are designed as a whole package. From front to rear element they are designed to bring a good image to your sensor (or film).
What are you protecting your lens against? I've used SLR cameras for about 20 years now and I have never had front element damage. Take proper care of your gear. Use a lens hood whenever possible and use your lens caps.
Of course there are circumstances thinkable when you'd want to use a protective filter. If there's stones flying around or if you are in a situation where there's salt water spray or beer flying around for example. So, it can be useful to have a protective filter in the bag. When you do buy one, a skylight or a UV filter don't try to save money there. Get something at least multicoated. The Hong-Kong based firm hvstar has excellent prices on filters and good customer service.
Even with good filters, such as the 62mm Nikon circular polarizer, I own you still need to take care or you will end up with this:
For further reading I suggest reading what Thom Hogan has written on the subject.
Monday, February 04, 2008
Blowing out the candle on her cake.
Rhianne turned 7! Proud owner of a Belle princess dress and a big girl now.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
rock, water, earth
Took my lunch walk today and noticed this puddle on a rock.
Second attempt at adding the very fashionable vignetting. I think in this case it does add something.
Second attempt at adding the very fashionable vignetting. I think in this case it does add something.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Missing friend Chanin Nickerson
Not a very flattering picture of my friend Chanin. She moved back to Canada in early august 2006. We exchanged a few emails but she seems to have dropped of the face of the planet in october 2006. I've found a facebook account under her name but even that hasn't been touched in months.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Rosey Rose
The little bit of glitter on one of the leaves caught my attention so I built my shot around that.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Monday, August 13, 2007
purple passion
Took this yesterday. It looked ok on the camera but really spectacular on the PC. I'm very proud of this shot.
Friday, August 10, 2007
No Difference
Is one of those excellent songs by Everything but the girl.
You watch the phone Like it was the TV If you're all alone Well, whose fault can that be Your keys, your bag, the car They're where they always are And the light goes down And all the lights.. come on And they call to me Oh come on come on And you don't make, you don't make no difference to me
Excellent. Listening to it makes me see a video of someone driving trough a dark and wet city. Sometimes it can be nice to listen to something as sad as this. I found it on the excellent compilation album "Like the deserts miss the rain"
Saturday, August 04, 2007
Monday, July 23, 2007
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Saturday, June 30, 2007
modelling
Last lesson in my photography course I got stuck with the first round of modelling. So I asked the teacher to take my camera and shoot a few frames.
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