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Philips VisionPlus Headlight Bulbs

Yesterday, as I was driving out from the basement parking at work, I kind of noticed something amiss with my headlights. I couldn’t place it until later when I noticed from my headlights’ reflection on the car in front of me that my left headlight was dim. The bulb was busted. Thankfully, I was able to get home without any incident (mulcting cops come to mind).

So this noon, Paul and I went to Han’s at Shangri-La to get replacement bulbs. Paul had recently upgraded his headlight bulbs to brighter Philips DiamondVision white-light bulbs. His headlights looked absolutely great and I have decided I’ll also get Philips bulbs though not the white-light version. Also something that doesn’t require upgrading to ceramic sockets and relays which he needed to do because of his bulbs’ higher wattage.

Luckily for me, Philips has just such a product: the VisionPlus. It has 50% brighter than stock bulbs without requiring the aforementioned ceramic sockets and relays. We installed the bulbs earlier this evening just before leaving the office. It was pretty easy and in no time they were installed. I flicked the switch and lo and behold: There was LIGHT! I’m not sure if it’s 50% brighter but it sure is brighter. They work just as advertised and, considering the importance of light, I don’t see why people shouldn’t go for these bulbs when their stock bulbs eventually fail.

Rating: 5/5

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New Trackpoint Cap

A week ago, my friend Drawde finally delivered the Trackpoint caps I asked him to get me a few months ago during one of his not-too-infrequent trips to Japan. Unfortunately, he had misplaced it and only found it last week. He gave me the tiny plastic bag and there they are: three perfectly-shaped Trackpoint caps. These are the textured flat-headed caps, not the easily worn down eraser-head caps that I have been using (there is a third type: rimmed flat-headed caps). I immediately replaced my current cap which I had just installed not too long ago. The new cap fit snugly in place and definitely improves control by providing a bigger point of contact and better traction. And although it looks pretty durable, the insurance provided by two spare caps is very comforting.

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Played Airsoft Again

Yesterday, I spent an afternoon playing airsoft. It was the best time I’ve had playing airsoft in months. Granted, I haven’t been playing all that much but during those times when I did play, I had been turned-off by the crowded game sites, the generally poor quality of opponents (tactics, ethics, personality, etc), the emphasis on form (costumes, gizmo guns, etc), and politics. Yesterday was different. There was just six of us but all were tactically-oriented people. And although there is still an element of form involved, the primary focus was on tactics. This resulted us playing a lot of fast-paced games. The repetition honing our tactical sense and the fast pace giving us a bit of a workout. It was quite refreshing.

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Creative SBS 350

The subwoofer of my old Logitech 4.1 speaker system had given up the ghost a few month back. I haven’t found a reason to replace it then. But lately I’ve been listening to music. And with the holy week then coming up, there’s the inevitable marathon of TV show episodes. Listening to limited-bass sound for a lengthy duration, though quite feasible, is not entirely palatable. So I decided to get an SBS 350. It’s a 2.1 system. I decided on 2.1 because I hadn’t been using the 2 speakers from my old Logitech system. The speaker units are black, elegant-looking and well-made. They matched my Thinkpad quite well. Installation was a snap. There was sufficient length of wiring to position the satellites and the subwoofer anywhere within reason. At a total of 20W power, it’s more than sufficient for solo listening or even for a small room. Just don’t expect surround. The bass can be overwhelming at times but you can tone it down with the graphic equalizer available in any media player software. It’s not the best speaker system there is but for most bang for your buck, it can’t be beat.

Rating: 4/5

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Timing and Marketing

Timing is one of the most important things. And timing in marketing is one of those important things. For example, those street peddlers’ product of the season (they’ve sold fishing rods, binoculars, and dog leashes in the past) seem to be cowboy hats. What better time to sell cowboy hats than when summer is upon us, right? Unfortunately, it was only recently when Brokeback Mountain was shown at the cinemas. So who’s gonna buy those cowboy hats now? At the very least that cuts the market for the hats by half :P