Adwi Terbuang: July 2010

Friday, July 30, 2010

Tire Nitrogen

If you’re being charged $49.95 plus tax, as is the case in this ad from Porsche Center of San Antonio, the answer is a resounding “no”. Despite this ad’s claims, nitrogen does nothing to improve ride quality or fuel economy, and won’t prevent false tire warning lights any better than plain old air will. The key to getting a smooth ride, maximum fuel economy and no tire pressure warning lights is simple: regularly check your tire pressure when your tires are cold.

Nitrogen is a larger molecule than oxygen, so it does seep from tires at a slower rate than air. How much? About three times slower, which means your tires will stay properly inflated three times longer. If it’s a major inconvenience for you to check tire pressure, then by all means step up to nitrogen if you can get it cheap. If you have to pay more than a few bucks per tire, it’s just not worth it.

Why do race teams use the stuff instead of air? In racing, tire pressure is absolutely critical, and nitrogen filled tires don’t change pressure with heat as much as air filled tires do. When you’re talking about tenths of a second being worth thousands of dollars, the cost of a tank of nitrogen is just part of doing business.

Monday, July 26, 2010

Porsche Panamera

Image via Wikipedia

I remember when I first fell in love with the Porsche 928, I was 13 years old and went to visit my dentist Dr. Da’Grosa. When we arrived, there in the parking lot sat a candy apple red Porsche 928 S with gold wheels and it hit me like a ton of bricks. That long nose hid the 5.0-liter 288 HP V8 that propelled the big Porsche to a top speed of over 155 mph. Not much by today’s standards, but in 1985 that was some heavy duty muscle. The 928 is a car that has always been on my automotive bucket list, and something that one day, I will own in the form of a 1995 928 GTS.

Fast forward 15 years to 2010. Rumors are now circulating that a new 928 successor will make it’s debut in form of the Porsche Panamera GT. It will most likely utilize a shortened version of the Panamera’s already existing platform albiet being a bit shorter and loosing the two rear doors. One cannot deny that the performance levels are simply amazing for a big sedan, the looks however leave something to be desired. Hopefully, if the Panamera GT does see the light of day, Porsche designers will be able to take some of the ugly out of the Panamera’s current styling. Only time will tell I suppose, until then though I think I’ll just be holding out for my now old and antiquated 928 GTS.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Motorola Milestone

Image via Wikipedia

The TELUS will be ready to launch launch Motorola Milestone cell phone in February 18th 2010. I thought they will roll it out sooner than that in order to catch the Valentine’s Day. The Motorola Milestone has a large 3.7-inch touchscreen, 5MP camera, a QWERTY keyboard, Wi-Fi, GPS, microSDHC slot and runs Android 2.0 OS. Most phone names are given by carriers. I like the name Milestone better than Droid. Great phone though. I am very happy with mine. No issues what so ever. Finally! I hope this is true this time.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Apple Obliterates Q3 Earnings Estimates On Best Mac Sales Ever And Huge iPad Numbers

Image representing iPhone as depicted in Crunc...

Image via CrunchBase

In news that should surprise no one by now — Apple once again had a stellar quarter and blew past Wall Street estimates for Q3 2010. Just as with Q1 and Q2 of this year, Apple has been doing so well thanks largely to the iPhone. But unlike those quarters, Apple now has an important new product adding money to their bottom line: the iPad (the iPad had been released just prior to the closing of Q2). And this quarter actually marked Apple’s best ever in terms both revenue and Mac shipments.

Apple posted a revenue of $15.7 billion for the quarter (again, a new record — beating even holiday quarters). And net quarterly profit was at $3.25 billion — $3.51 per diluted share. All of those easily beat both Apple’s own (always low) estimates, as well as Wall Street’s.

Apple sold 3.47 million Macs during Q3 — again, a new quarterly record. The company sold 8.4 million iPhones, which was down slightly from the 8.75 million they sold last quarter. But remember, that’s before the iPhone 4 (which went on sale just prior to the end of the quarter) and many customers likely held off on purchasing the iPhone 3GS to wait for the new iPhone. The company also sold 9.41 million iPods in Q3. This number continues to decline on a year-over-year basis as it’s being eaten by Apple’s other products, like the iPhone.

But the big number is the iPad sales. Apple moved 3.27 million units in Q3 2010, the first quarter they’ve reported sales. Yes, the iPad almost outsold the Mac — and that’s on record sales for the Mac.

All that being said, Apple’s gross margin did fall slight to 39.1 percent, versus 40.9 percent a year ago. Part of this is likely due to the iPad, which Apple is selling for relatively cheap (by its standards).

Of note, Apple CEO Steve Jobs chimed in with: “we have amazing new products still to come this year,” in the release. He also reiterated that the iPhone 4 was the most successful product launch in Apple’s history.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Based on a Challenger R/T model, the Mopar version is powered by a 5.7-liter HEMI V-8 engine and features a hood-venting system that adds to the mean look of the vehicle like a flaring nostril on a raging bull. Additionally the Mopar Challenger gets a cold-air intake, a front strut-tower brace with shock caps, and a unique engine cover.

Just off of a first glance alone, this Challenger looks very serious. The 20" forged heritage gloss-black wheels are a perfect partner for the Brilliant Black exterior color with contrasting Mopar Blue, Red, or Silver. On the exterior it will be distinguished by a black-chromed grille surround, a functional, vented T/A-style hood with vintage hood pins, and Mopar logos and graphics. On the interior it gets Katzkin leather seating, custom leather-wrapped steering wheel with baseball-style stitching, Mopar shift handles (T-handle for automatics, Pistol Grip for manuals), a serialized dash plaque with Mopar ’10 logo, and Mopar branding throughout.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Spoilers for cars

Image via Wikipedia

spoilers for cars

Saturday, July 17, 2010

t-shirt bullet for my valentine

Image via Wikipedia

t-shirt bullet for my valentine

Laptop Dell Inspiron 14

Picture of a Dell Mini 12. Originally from Fli...

Image via Wikipedia

The Dell Inspiron 14 laptop computer is one of Dell’s many fine entries in this category. It represents an exceptional balance of the most needed laptop features with reasonable cost. Our review is based on what we believe to be an optimal configuration for a wide array of consumers but just about everything on this computer can be customized to the individual user’s needs and desires. Some of those choices add to the cost while others will actually reduce the final unit cost.

The Dell Inspiron 14 is one of the most versatile and practical laptops available. Its 14-inch widescreen display is large enough to avoid the eye strain that can be an undesirable side effect of NetBooks and similarly, its keyboard is spacious enough to make for a pleasant typing experience. Nonetheless, this little computer fits nicely into just about any laptop case or backpack with ease and weighing in at just about five pounds, carry it around is a breeze. Pricing is very reasonable for the amount of computing power provided.

The processor for the version of the Dell Inspiron 14 is the Intel Core 2 Duo T6600 running at a snappy 2.2GHz with a 2MB L2 cache and 800MHz front side bus speed. For users who need more computing power there are a couple of upgrades available culminating with the Intel Core 2 Duo P8700 with a 2.53GHz clock speed, 3MB L2 cache and 1066MHz front side bus speed. For those who wish to economize a bit, the processor can be downgraded to a still respectable Intel Pentium Dual Core T4300. The computer comes with a healthy 4GB of DDR2 RAM memory.

The Inspiron 14 used for our review comes with a 320GB hard drive which is upgradeable to 500GB. There are lesser versions of this computer that have hard drives as small as 160GB. It also includes an 8x CD/DVD burner. That can be upgraded to a combo drive that will read Blu-ray discs and write to DVDs or CDs.

Battery life is always an issue for laptops and this one comes standard with a very respectable 85 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion battery.

Microsoft Windows 7 is the included operating system on the Inspiron 14. It also comes with Microsoft Works and a trial version Microsoft Office. A 15-month subscription to McAfee Security Center is also part of the package. The standard warranty is a one year parts and labor and includes mail in or in home service following remote diagnosis. The warranty can be expanded to two or three years at additional cost.

The standard Inspiron 14 configuration supports Wi-Fi “G” wireless networking. Most wireless network users would do well to upgrade to the Wi-Fi “N” network card for much faster data transfer and better range. Bluetooth connectivity is available as an option.

Friday, July 16, 2010

Yamaha FZ 8

spare part Yamaha FZ 8

Yamaha FZ 8

After teasing us with pictures showing only the noses of both the 2010 FZ8 and FZ8 Fazer models and the motorcycle press getting their hands on more than just a few leaked pictures yesterday, Yamaha has decided to release a single full picture of the all-new FZ8.

Looking at it, it’s easy to see that the model supposed to replace the FZ6 is actually derived from this last’s bigger brother, the FZ1. Considering that the 1000cc bike produces 150hp, the new middleweight one should brag about around 120hp. We can only be certain of that this summer, when Yamaha will unveil the naked FZ8 and the half-faired Fazer 800.