Inside CNET Labs Podcast

Questing for gear in hopping Ho Chi Minh City

Dong Ngo — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 08:00:00 PDT

Jasper, my tour guide du jour, and a tracking device from his company, Skeye.

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET)

Editor's note: CNET editor and Crave contributor Dong Ngo is spending several weeks in his homeland of Vietnam and will file occasional dispatches chronicling his adventures. To read stories from Dong's last visit, in December, click here.

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam--Last December, I visited Ho Chi Minh City and discovered that while Wi-Fi was ubiquitous and the Internet was fast, it was incredibly hard to get across town.

Seven months later, the traffic here is still terrible. This time, however, I found that if you are in the right place, dealing with traffic isn't necessary at all.

The right place is District 1. Other than being the center of tourism with lots of hotels, famous landmarks, restaurants, and bars, D1 is also the site where you can get pretty much anything you need, especially when it comes to technology and digital entertainment. And it's all within a short walking distance.

I actually heard about this area during my last trip here. Jasper Waale, owner of Skeye, a GPS- and GSM-based tracking company operating in Vietnam and Laos--and an avid listener of the Inside CNET Labs podcast--insisted I check it out. I took a rain check till now.

Hung checks out my D80. (Just another example of how good I am with the iPhone camera.)

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET)

We met at Cafe Centro, a trendy yet casual coffeehouse located in the middle of D1's most bustling section. According to Jasper, this is a popular place for ex-pats to hang out for both fun and business. It offers reasonably priced refreshments and, of course, free Wi-Fi.

(By the way, there are lots of cafes in Ho Chi Minh City, and pretty much all of them offer free Wi-Fi. My other favorite is Cafe Da on Alexandre De Rhodes Street. Also in D1: the best ice milk coffee and smoothies I've ever had. If you go there, make sure you try the "Dong Tim" fruit shake. It's so good, it has my name on it!)

"You'll find me at Centro at least a couple of times a week," Jasper said. Then, in a slightly show-offy manner, he pulled out his brand-new-looking Nikon D300 camera.

"I just got a good deal on this one. I traded in my D80 and got about 80 percent of new value to put toward this new one. You'll have to come see this place," he said.

I was intrigued, partially because next to his D300, my 4-year-old D80 looked somewhat pathetic. I've considered upgrading my camera for a while, but anticipating the whole hassle of selling my D80 on eBay or Craigslist has stopped me.

He then took me to Thuong Xa Tax, a mini shopping mall that's just a five-minute walk from the cafe. "Mini" here, by the way, is according to American standards; this is actually one of the bigger trading centers here in Vietnam, and it is indeed very large.

As in most shopping malls here, you can find pretty much everything, but we walked straight to the Vinh Hung Camera shop. The owner, Hung, a friendly 40-something man, greeted Jasper like an old friend. He then took a quick look at my D80 and said, "I'll give you $600 for this one, body and lens." Now that's a very good deal, as mine is rather scratched up and dirty since I regularly carry it around in open air. It also comes with a low-end non-VR Nikkor DX 18-135mm lens. On eBay, the best I could get is probably $500 (minus all the fees).

Asked how he could evaluate the camera so quickly and what would happen if it turned out to be bad later, Hung said he generally only needs a minute with a camera to know how much it's worth. "I've been doing this so long. I can tell if there's something wrong with the body via the shutter sound," he said. "The lens, I can just see."

Hung also revealed that his business was going well because digital SLRs are getting more popular and that so far he has been able to fulfill all customer requests, whether for new purchases or exchanges. "We have a good connection, so the most you have to wait for a rare model is just a few days," he said.

I wouldn't have to wait at all since he had a brand new D300 in stock, reasonably priced at almost $1,500. What I didn't have was $900 in cash. The shop accepts Visa, but I would have to pay another 3 percent. That, plus the incredible fees Bank of America charges me for using the card abroad, would end up making it not such a good deal. So I decided to let Jasper stick with the lead in the camera competition, and he seemed very happy about it.

On the way out of the Tax mall, we stumbled upon an interesting shop selling bootleg movies. Now this is nothing new to me. However, unlike the modest-looking bootleg stores in Hanoi, this one is quite upscale. First, it takes a good amount of money to have a booth in this shopping mall, and second, the shop employs uniformed women to tend to your every movie need.

The shop has virtually any movie title you can think of, including those still out in theaters and not yet released on disc. They come in stacks organized by genres. I spotted a DVD of "Angels and Demons," which I didn't have time to see in a theater before the trip. And, no, I didn't buy it.

"Angels and Demons" on a DVD like this is itself an unsolved mystery.

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET)

Cuc, one of the women in uniform, told me her job is selling and she has no idea about the legality or illegality of these movies. "All I know they are 15,000 dong (about 90 cents) per DVD and 40,000 dong (about $2.25) per Blu-ray. Anything else you will need to talk to my manager," she smiled. She wasn't so happy when I wanted to take her photo, though.

"These movies' quality really sucks, even the supposedly high-def ones," Jasper said. "If you want true high-def movies, you have to come with me here."

We got out of Tax and after a 10-minute walk, we arrived at Paster Street. This street runs from D1 to District 3 (Quan 3). However, the D1 part is where it's at. There are a lot of electronics and computer stores--the two Jasper wanted to show me are Minigame and Halo.

These two stores focus on console games and offer virtually any title. Most of these games, of course, are not original copies but bootleg versions. To play these games, the consoles themselves need to be hacked, and the shop takes care of that too.

Jasper said he once mistakenly upgraded his Wii's firmware and re-locked his console. He brought it back to Halo, and 400,000 dong later, his Wii was unlocked again. The process involved removing and reordering a memory chip. It's much like the work on the iPhone 3G that I mentioned last year.

The most popular service these two stores offer is games on thumbdrives. The shop will modify a console to make it accept game stored on portable USB drives. After that, you can just bring your thumbdrive over and buy a game for the common price of 10,000 dong (56 cents) per game, regardless of how big (in megabytes) the game is. So now, instead of having to store DVDs or game cartridges, you just have to have a big external hard drive.

Apart from games, true high-def movies in Matroska format (also known as MKV) are also on sale here for the same price: 10,000 dong per movie. You will need a computer to play these movies--or a portable media player such as the WD TV.

Though not a console gamer, I felt excited about what you can get here and how much you can get it for. Legalities aside, in a way, these stores offer much better service than GameStop or any other retailer or repair store I've run into in the U.S.

After a couple of hours hanging out with Jasper, my perspective on Ho Chi Minh City completely changed. Traumatized by its traffic, I used to compare this city of some 12 million people to Los Angeles. Now, it seems somewhat like Manhattan, where you can get virtually anywhere on foot.

What I found most interesting, however, are those people like Denmark-native Jasper--foreigners who weren't born in Vietnam and don't speak the local language very well, if at all, yet who can relate to the place better than a lot of Vietnamese including myself.

Jasper made up his mind about the place long ago. "You are not allowed to have a dull moment here," he said. "If you are bored, it's your fault. This is the most exciting place in the world."

Laptop gets (overly) warm welcome in Hanoi

Originally posted at Crave

Inside CNET Labs 49: My name was Brian McGee

Eric Franklin — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:42:00 PDT

Brian Mcgee himself.

(Credit: Fox)

Since Dong is still away in Vietnam, we discuss just how hot he must be right now, and I mean literally temperature hot. We all know figuratively hawt, right ladies? All four of you?

Anyway, I tell a story involving GameStop, a Wii, and bad customer service. Also, why Palm Pre testing is dumb and time consuming.

Dong shows us that he's still the best at putting our audience to sleep as he talks about the Verizon Mifi 2200 Mobile hot spot.

This is our final prerecorded week! Next week, we return live! If by "live" I mean recorded at least a day before you actually get to hear it.

To subscribe to this podcast, visit us at our main page and click the podcast link on the right. Don't forget to leave us voice mail at 1-800-947-6399 or e-mail us at insidecnetlabs@cnet.com.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

Acer's sleek-looking 23-incher coming soon

Eric Franklin — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:57:00 PDT

Although the very sleek-looking H235H will not manipulate time and space, it at least looks like it could.

(Credit: Acer)

For the most part, I'm really loving this era of 16:9 LCD computer monitors. The fact that we can get a 21.5- or 23-inch monitor with a resolution of 1,920x1,080, can't be a bad thing since previously monitors of those sizes would have topped out at 1,680x1,050 in 16:10. While I have a little something to say about 20-inchers with 16:9, for the most part I'm happy.

Today, Acer continues the trend of giving us more pixels by announcing the Acer H235H. It's a 23-inch LCD computer monitor with a 16:9 aspect ratio and a 1,920x1,080 resolution.

According to Acer, the monitor includes a 2ms response time, 300 cd/m2 brightness and a 100,000:1 contrast ratio. That last number can mostly likely be attributed to its dynamic contrast ratio however.

The display features Acer's SensorTouch technology. Which shuns buttons in favor of a touch-sensitive space on the monitors bezel used to control the On Screen Display. Not anything new really as other monitors have done this, but judging by the picture, the lack of buttons does allow the Acer to maintain a clean, sleek look.

Connection options include VGA, DVI, and HDMI. Also, Acer includes two built-in speakers, and judging from the narrow 160-degree viewing angle quoted in their press release, the panel type is most likely a TN, since they are known for having narrow viewing angles.

Acer says the H235H will be available in July for a MSRP of $239.99. Look for a full review soon after they send me a unit. In the meantime, you can check out all our monitor reviews here.

Originally posted at Crave

Sally's Spa: When chainsawing aliens isn't enough

Eric Franklin — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 11:27:00 PDT

Sliced cucumbers on the eyes are all in a day's work for this spa owner.

(Credit: Eric Franklin/CNET)

A funny thing happened to me last weekend on my way to save the galaxy, chainsaw aliens to death, and beat the living snot out of the world's top martial artists. I painted a stranger's toenails purple--and helped her shape her eyebrows.

That's right. Instead of logging countless hours on Xbox Live, I was taken in by the unstoppable force that is Game Cafe's iPhone game, Sally's Spa. Not only is this the best iPhone game I've played (not saying a lot, since I don't play many, but still), it's one of the most addictive handheld games I've ever played.

If this is your first time hearing about Sally and her addictive qualities, here's the deal in a nutshell. In the game, you play a young entrepreneur (Sally) who starts her own spa business.

Although you'll eventually hire others to help, you take a very hands-on approach to running your business. When patrons enter the shop, an icon over their head hints at their current need. So, if a patron enters with a yellow-chair symbol, it's up to you to drag that customer to the big yellow masking chair. Once a patron is situated, you'll usually have to interact with them in some way, whether it's plucking eyebrows, applying facials, or giving the occasional mani-pedi.

This is all completely addicting thanks to simple mechanics (dragging and tapping), gameplay that keeps you constantly busy, and an upgrade system that gives you long-term goals.

Upgrading your spa equipment directly impacts your customers' comfort level, which makes them less likely to leave before you've served them, thus making them happier (and the happier they are when the check out, the higher your tips). The more money you make, the more you'll have to spend on upgrades.

Also, the side mini-game game of selling supplementary items like shampoo and skin creams earns you promotions if you sell enough. The promotions grant you access to even more expensive ancillary items that make more money when sold.

If this seems like the most capitalistic game ever, you're not far off. Although I guess Mercenaries 2 would give it a run for its money.

As for replay value, Games Cafe has taken the Sega NiGHTS model and allows you to play all the old stages over and over to get the highest score you can can as well as upload your score.

Now, as much as I enjoyed the 99 cent adventure, here are a few things I feel would justify a higher price for the next iPhone version of the game (if there is one). Other versions of the game may already have some of these features.

A little harder please
While the game keeps you busy throughout, I was able to get an expert rating on nearly all stages. When I did lose a customer or two, I was still able to meet my sales goals. Multiple difficulty levels would be nice.

Customer variety
Aside from the couples--who have to be moved together at all times--all the patrons in the game are basically the same, differing only in how much they tip and how patient they are. More idiosyncrasies would spice things up.

More mini-games
Upgrading your equipment and buying ancillary items is great, but tackling other aspects of running a spa business--bills, firing under-performing employees, paying off the local crime boss or police--would add some much needed depth to the gameplay.

More control
When the facial or manicure window pops up, you're forced to do only that for a couple of seconds, even if you were in the middle of dragging a customer to a station. A way to see behind the window and control the action behind would be lovely. You should at least be able to queue some tasks up.

Re-prioritizing
Speaking of queuing, sometimes I have like eight or nine tasks lines up. However, as new patrons enter the shop or current ones get antsy, it would be useful, as priorities change, to re-prioritize tasks. Currently, this can't be done in the iPhone version.

Boss battles
These would have you deal, one on one, with a very demanding customer and introduce different ways of implementing the gameplay mechanics. Maybe a mini-game on perfecting the art of politely cutting patrons off mid-sentence so they don't waste too much of your time.

Since finishing all the levels, I probably won't be playing as much now, but will instead be anxiously awaiting whatever followup the developers come up with. Yes, that's right. A guy who usually delivers virtual genocide on a nightly basis is now eagerly anticipating a new shampoo bowl. What changes/improvements would you guys like to see for the next version?

Wait. A game where I get to constantly touch strangers' feet? Where do I sign?!

(Credit: Eric Franklin/CNET)

Originally posted at Crave

A tale of two 22s: Dell P2210, NEC MultiSync EA221MW

Eric Franklin — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:31:00 PDT

The P2210 is a low-priced 22-incher with features up the DVI port.

(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET)

No, I don't mean 22-inch rims. I mean monitors, silly. Why the heck would I be talking about 22-inch rims on Crave? Hmmm, I guess I could be a spy from Car Tech, in which case talking about 22-inch rims wouldn't seem so out of place.

Alas, no. As much as I'd like to be an Antuan Goodwin, a Wayne Cunningham, or especially a Cooley, I'll have to settle for boring little old me. Talking endlessly about aspect ratios, color temperature, and bezel widths.

Monitors are really just smaller TVs. Interest in TVs has never been higher and yet, I have to point out on a constant basis where to find monitor reviews (right here ----> Monitor review POWA!!)

Enough about my life and on to the things that fill my life. This week I took a long, hard look at two 16:10, 22-inch monitors, and I've decided that one is actually better than the other. Earlier, I featured both the Dell P2210 and NEC MultiSync EA221WM in slideshows.

Now they each have full reviews on the site. The NEC MultiSync EA221MW and the Dell P2210. Read them now, and remember, monitors are people too. Electronic people.

Originally posted at Crave

Latest U.S. export to Vietnam: Mother's Day

Dong Ngo — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 09:30:00 PDT

Ngaycuame.com's Web site offers suggestions for digitally celebrating Mother's Day, such as getting and sending e-cards.

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET)

HANOI, Vietnam--I'm not a big fan of holidays. I don't mean the time off, of course, but the mass consumption that generally accompanies them.

For this reason, I've been sort of secretly happy that my parents live in Vietnam. This means that for years I haven't had to pay attention to Mother's Day or Father's Day. The Vietnamese, one would think, have no reason to even be aware of these American days. And for a long time, they weren't.

Thus, it was a revelation to me the other day, during a casual conversation at Hanoi's Noi Bai International Airport, when a trendy-looking and friendly Vietnamese girl asked me if I had done anything for Father's Day.

Learning where I stand on the issue, the girl, Lan, expressed surprise. "I bought my dad a Gillette shaving set," she shared, "and he was very happy. You should have done something! I bought my mom a nice bouquet for Mother's Day a month ago, too."

Original American movies and TV programming with subtitles are popular in Vietnam.

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET)

I was speechless. I live in America and my American friends have hardly ever asked me the same question. As it turned out, over the years I was away in America, American pop culture, via TV and the Internet, has sneaked into my home country in a big way.

Apparently, a month ago, for the first time, Mother's Day was a big event in Vietnam. Newspapers talked about it, TV talked about it, teenagers blogged and made YouTube videos about it, and people went out to buy flowers and presents for moms.

The day was hyped so much some people even felt guilty because they hadn't known about it in previous years. Yet at the same time, most didn't know the origin of it. "I had never heard of it and all of a sudden everywhere people started talking about it," Lan told me honestly. "But I think it's meaningful to honor your parents. Don't you think?"

Though it might have seemed "all of a sudden," the introduction of Mother's Day marked a very deliberate attempt by businesses here to sell products. For example, during the time leading up to May 10, Dutch Lady Vietnam, a subsidiary of the popular powder milk manufacturer Dutch Lady, launched an ad campaign that basically tried to link Mother's Day to feeding children with the company's variety of milks and dairy beverages.

The company even created a Web site, Ngaycuame.com ("Ngay cua me" is the direct Vietnamese translation for "Mother's Day"), which offered more information on the day and different ways to digitally celebrate, such as getting and sending e-cards.

And young people in Vietnam, like Lan, seem very susceptible to all things digital. According to Quyen Le, public relations manager at Dutch Lady Vietnam, young people in Vietnamese cities use the Internet heavily, starting in middle school. "Without the Internet, our ad campaign wouldn't be made possible, let alone the level of success that it achieved. The Internet also allowed us to measure the response of the consumers to the ads." Le revealed that the campaign was so successful it has become the advertising benchmark for the company.

Thanks to the increasing availability of the Internet and cable TV ("The X-Files," "Friends," "Jimmy Kimmel Live," "Dirty Sexy Money"...the list goes on), the media here is now full of foreign pop culture, especially that of the U.S. As a result, in the last couple of years, hobbies once hardly seen in Vietnam such as breakdancing, beatboxing, and skateboarding are now getting popular.

People have started using English words in daily life. My 6-year-old niece's catch phrase when she's frustrated is "Oh, man!" something she imitates after some character on the Cartoon Network. It was just a matter of time before foreign holidays were adopted by Vietnamese.

To answer Lan's earlier question, yes, I personally think it's meaningful to honor our parents. The thing is Vietnam has always already had several known days to honor moms and women, including International Women's Day (March 8); Vietnamese Women's Day (October 20); and Valentine's Day, which has also been widely adopted during the last few years and oddly thought to be another day for the ladies.

However, most people I've asked seem to embrace the addition of Mother's Day to the list. Minh, a 26-year-old student, said, "There's no such thing as too many days for mothers." Even those who don't embrace it express no objection. Hang, a 30-year-old mother herself, said, "I think it's a good idea, but still the only two days I buy flowers for my mom are March 8 and her birthday."

So I guess, it's just natural that Father's Day is now also known to some, though not yet as popular. It would be ironic, however, if this day actually became a big deal. Vietnam, where women are commonly and openly considered inferior to men in the family structure, is a place where every day is very much a father's day. (No offense, Dad!) Nonetheless, I wouldn't be surprised if some beer company grabs onto this idea in the future.

Other than Mother's Day, Halloween has also been celebrated in Vietnam in the last few years. Christmas, the holiday once celebrated solely by Christian communities, has also presented a big opportunity for teenagers to get out on the streets to bob and weave dangerously in groups with their scooters.

(I don't how and when it all started, but being out on the streets and racing on scooters are the typical ways for young people in Hanoi and many other major cities to celebrate basically any holiday or special event.)

Up to just less than 10 years ago, America had always been considered by Vietnam the symbol of "imperialism" and something to be avoided, at least at the ideological level. Ever since the post-war embargo ended in 1995, the government has been fighting a losing battle to keep Vietnamese culture from dissolving under the invasion of foreign ideas and lifestyle. Now with the Internet and the ever-increasing adoption of commercialism, it seems just a matter of time before Vietnam is no longer an exotic destination.

From KFC and bad TV to the commercialization of holidays, I'm pretty sure most Americans will easily find themselves at home in Vietnam's major cities.

For me, however, I finally understand the true meaning of this saying: you can never go home again.

Originally posted at Crave

Seagate refreshes external storage lineup for Mac

Dong Ngo — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 00:00:00 PDT

The FreeAgent Go Pro for Mac external hard drive.

(Credit: Seagate)

Mac users have had many options for external storage lately. Two weeks ago, Western Digital unveiled its new My Book Studio II for Mac, and Seagate just now released a few of its own.

The company announced Wednesday a new lineup of portable and desktop FreeAgent external hard drives designed specifically for Macs. This includes two portable external hard drives, a regular-size external hard drive, and a docking station.

The portable drives includes the FreeAgent Go for Mac and FreeAgent Go Pro for Mac, similar to the Windows versions released awhile ago. These two drives share the same capacities of up to 500GB, but the Pro version comes with FireWire connections and a faster 7200rpm internal hard drive, while the nonpro version comes with USB 2.0 and a 5400rpm internal hard drive. The 500GB versions of the FreeAgent Go and FreeAgent Go Pro cost $150 and $190, respectively.

The FreeAgent Desk Drive for Mac now offers 2TB of storage (up from 1TB in the previous model) and comes with FireWire 400 and FireWire 800 connections. It costs $340.

The last item in the lineup is a new FreeAgent Go Dock+ docking station designed to quickly accommodate any FreeAgent Go and FreeAgent Go for Mac portable hard drives. It works with both Macs and Windows computers. The dock also works as a bus-powered USB hub, offering three additional USB ports. It costs $40.

All Seagate FreeAgent for Mac solutions come formatted as HSF+ for Mac OS X and are Time Machine ready. They are available for purchase immediately.

The FreeAgent Go Dock+ docking station.

(Credit: Seagate)

Originally posted at Crave

Way-too-intimate pics of NEC 22-inch monitor

Eric Franklin — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 09:30:00 PDT

While I would not call these pics of the NEC MultiSync EA221WM creepy per se, some of them are pretty intimate. I feel the NEC and I really got to know each other during this photo shoot. Really, I think I've made a friend for life.

Hey, I guess that's what you get when you combine a couple of bottles of wine, friendly debates about David Sedaris books, and some good-natured teasing thrown in for good measure.

Anyway look for a review of my new BFF later this week, but for now, behold...your muse!

Originally posted at Crave

Laptop gets (overly) warm welcome in Hanoi

Dong Ngo — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 08:00:00 PDT

On summer nights in Hanoi, people escape to air-conditioned ATM kiosks for relief from the oppressive heat.

(Credit: Viet Dung)

HANOI, Vietnam--A word of advice for travelers: turn off your laptop when you leave the room.

This isn't the first time I've been back to Vietnam, but it's the first time since I left the country some 10 years ago that I've come back during summer. It's really hot in Hanoi during the day, often 100 degrees or more. And as it has always been the case with me when traveling, stuff happens.

After about 48 hours of traveling and coming to terms with the jetlag, I turned my laptop on for the first time. There were so many things to download: new episodes of podcasts, RSS feeds of different news sources, videos--and of course the 3.0 firmware for the iPhone.

As the Wi-Fi I got hooked up to was running at just around 60Kbps, these essential updates of my digital life (though most of them I can't find time to enjoy) would require hours to download. Like usual, I had a huge urge to download all of the data right away and decided to leave the computer running and go out for a jog. After all, it was almost midday and sunny outside.

Here is part of my gum supply for the trip. I may never chew gum during summer again.

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET)

I started the downloads, opened a pack of Orbit gum, took a piece, and left the rest on my new loaded Dell XPS M1530 (for this trip, I upgraded from the smaller XPS M1330, mostly because my eyes are worse now). Before leaving the room, being a good citizen of the world, I turned off the air conditioning.

The moment I opened the door of the room, a wave of stifling heat engulfed me. Outside, the sky was high and pure, and it was so sunny I felt I could hear how bright it was. Or maybe it was the sound of my sweat starting to ooze out.

Unlike the dry and lovely San Francisco Bay Area or somewhat humid New York City, it's so humid in Hanoi that once outside there's no way you can escape the heat during hot days. It's hot when it's calm, and it's hot when it's windy, and fans won't do anything. The breeze actually helps the heat traverse to every corner. Once in a while a quick and so-heavy-that-you-can't-see-anything downpour comes, only to accentuate the heat when the sky is clear again.

For a lot of local people, there's no way to stay away from the heat, as air conditioners are still considered a luxurious commodity that most can't afford. (Plus, they have survived many years without one.) The water in outdoor swimming pools gets so hot that by midday you can't swim in them. During some extremely hot days, you'll even find people staying inside air-conditioned ATM booths to enjoy some free cooling.

After just about a few minutes of jogging, my glasses started to get blurred by steam and sweat and I had to take them off. Four miles later, I looked and felt like I had never worked out so hard before: my T-shirt and baseball cap were completely soaked with sweat and my forehead was dripping.

As I slowly walked back, I stopped by a familiar beer stand to enjoy a few well-deserved glasses of "Bia Hoi," under a common makeshift cooling system: a net of copper pipes that spray water mist in the air. Bia Hoi is a kind of light draft beer that the Hanoi Brewery never produces enough of during summertime. It made all of my sweating and sun-hating activities worthwhile.

A couple of hours later, I returned to my room imagining a cool shower and getting my stuff synced to my iPhone. Instead, I was greeted with a sight of horror: the computer displayed a Blue Screen of Death and I heard the CPU fan roaring to life. The worst of all, the sweet mint chewing gum had melted into some mushy and sticky substance that spilled all over part of the keyboard and completely covered the biometric reader. Some even dripped onto the bedsheet. The laptop was so hot that I couldn't touch it for more than a few seconds.

I immediately turned the thing off and wondered what would have happened if I came back an hour later and especially why the machine just didn't turn off by itself before it was hot enough to melt the gum. In most of my previous over heat experiences, the computer would just shut down.

All freaked out, I brought the machine to the repair shop I relied on during my last trip. Duy, the same man I talked to seven months ago, told me he has received quite a few calls about computer overheating since summer started. "I can't even play online games at home anymore, my computer would just poop out after 15 minutes or so," he said. He did tell me, however, that my accident was very "special" and that it was a big waste of gum.

(People in Hanoi are big fans of Orbit gum, by the way. Each trip here, I bring along a plentiful supply, mostly to give away. This time I picked up a $300 batch from Costco. That's a lot of gum.)

The sticky mess turned out to be not that difficult to clean. After leaving the laptop inside a fridge for about five minutes, the gum congealed and could be removed fairly easily, though the job was time-consuming. After about an hour, my computer was back to its previous gum-free state. Unfortunately, out of panic, I forgot to bring my camera along this time around.

Duy didn't charge me for the job, but gladly took a brand new (and unmelted) pack of gum that I offered. "You wrote about me and my shop last time. My girlfriend saw the article online and was very happy... Thank you very much! And welcome to Hanoi!"

That was indeed a warm welcome. Now I just have to download my digital fix again. Or maybe I should just skip that and leave time for some real-life interactions.

Originally posted at Crave

Two 20-inch monitors vie for my (and your) attention

Eric Franklin — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 06:00:00 PDT

The LG Flatron W2053TQ mocks you with its aspect ratio.

(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET)

A couple of months back, I asked what I thought was a pretty good question about the need for a 16:9 aspect ratio on a 20-inch monitor.

While I still feel there's little need, if any, for 16:9 on such a small screen, that doesn't mean said monitors can't be useful in their own right.

This week I take a look at the HP 2009m and the LG Flatron W2053TQ. Both are 20-inchers. Both include a 16:9 aspect ratio, which translates to 1600x900 resolution. Both also transform into kid-size robots and battle it out for your entertainment.

OK, the last one was a fib ("Transformers" on the brain this week), but if you really wanna know what I think of these two check out the reviews. Also take a look at the LCD computer monitor hub, for all things, well, LCD computer monitors.

Originally posted at Crave