Why tablets (iPad, Android) are not for me

Over the past couple months, I have had a few chances to use tablets. In fact, I bought a number of them(iPad, Playbook, Android HoneyComb and Froyo) and found myself returning them within a few days. While they can be used for browsing, playing simple games, watching videos etc, there is a lot that cannot be done:

• Typing like a regular keyboard
• Using a spreadsheet
• Keeping my neck more less straight
• Multi-tasking ( works more less well on the Android and Playbook, but less automatic switching like in Windows)
• Proper browsing - the mouseover function is brilliant; let us not forget the ease of double clicking a word and then right click - "Open in a new tab" etc. 
• Simple connection to a monitor or TV ( again it was possible with the Android and Playbook devices, but I never got a mini-HDMI cable ) 
• Keeping the screen clean!

AMD A10-5800k Reviews

I have been trying to find the best settings for overclocking my AMD A10-5800k Trinity. While I can reach 4.7GHz with the CPU on air, I haven't been very lucky with the iGPU only reaching 1050 Mhz. I believe the latter will translate to a more important performance boost when gaming. Given I paired the 7660d with a Radeon 6770 DDR3, games in DirectX 11 perform well, however I should make a comparison to see which GPU actually performs better. For example, The Witcher 2 is a DX9 game. It is quite demanding on the GPU. In the AMD Performance Monitor, I see that the 6770 is almost fully loaded, while the 7660d does not seem to be used at all. Given my system RAM is 2133MHz and the iGPU can overclock, I may get an improvement from using the 7660d alone.

This article on overclocking by tamjinhang is excellent. Given the BIOS configuration for each motherboard is different, you will have to adjust accordingly.

Tweaking of the voltage and the frequencies is time consuming and can be frustrating. I wish that there were a simple version of Linux used only for testing benchmarks and stability of an overclocked system. Windows 8 doesn't deal well with multiple reboots without proper recoveries : not uncommon when overclocking.

While I like the concept of Dual Graphics, there doesn't seem to be enough titles out there that justify DX 11. The chicken and the egg debate continues.


The articles below are not all linked to the first page of the articles. Hover you mouse cursor above to see the publisher URL.

As for the articles on the AMD A10-5800k, here they are :

Vortez Tony Le Bourne

PC World New Zealand Review: AMD A10-5800K

AMD Trinity A10-5800K Review - Testing & Conclusions | Widescreen Gaming Forum
AMD A10-5800K Unlocked "Trinity" Quad Core APU Review
AMD A10-5800K + Radeon 7660D Tested 
Dual Graphics, Influence mémoire - AMD A10-5800K et A8-5600K : APU desktop, deuxième ! - HardWare.fr
[M] AMD Trinity A10 5800K APU Review
AMD Trinity A10-5800K APU Review 
AMD A10-5800K and A8-5600K APUs for Socket FM2 Review | techPowerUp
AMD 2nd Generation A10 5800 & A8 5600 Desktop APU Review » Page 5 - Test Setup and Overclocking - Overclockers Club
AMD Trinity for Desktops. Part 2: Socket FM2 Platform and AMD A10-5800K Processor Review. Page 10 - X-bit labs 
Review: AMD A10-5800K Dual Graphics evaluation - CPU - HEXUS.net - Page 3
AMD Trinity A10-5800K Review | Pure Overclock
AMD's Trinity APU Efficiency: Undervolted And Overclocked : Trinity: Great Gamer, But What About Power? 
AMD Trinity A10-5800K APUReview | Overclockers
AMD A10-5800K review | Processors Reviews | TechRadar
Rage3D.com : AMD A10 5800K Launch Review [ Battlefield 3 / Sniper Elite v2 ] 
AMD A10-5800K APU Performance Review - Introduction
AMD Trinity: A10-5800K & A8-5600K 2nd Gen APUs | silentpcreview.com
ocaholic - CPU Charts: 29 CPUs - updated AMD A10 5800K 3.8 GHz Trinity - Charts - Reviews 

AMD Trinity Review - AMD vs Intel - A10 5800K vs Core i3 3220
AMD Trinity A10 5800K APU | AMD Trinity A10 5800K APU Review
AMD A10 and A8 Trinity APU: Virgo Desktop Experience - HotHardware
AnandTech - AMD A10-5800K & A8-5600K Review: Trinity on the Desktop, Part 2

If you have any articles that you would like to add, in any language, please do not hesitate to post it in a message below.

China will never use its missiles against Taiwan

Although the majority of this blog is about PC related solving and not politics, I have chose to give myself the opportunity to write about my opinion regarding the question of unification across the Strait of Taiwan.

Unfortunately, I never pursued a doctorate in my field to have a position that would be considered valid in the world of academia regarding the recognition of Taiwan, however, I will still state my opinion in the few following sentences. Although the people of Taiwan have a distinct political history for the past hundreds of years, the greater part of of the culture has been closer to China than it has been to Japan or even to the United States.

Will computers be able to excite me once again?

About 10-15 years ago, I found that computers had little to offer. Yes, the graphics were improving, laser printers were reasonably fast and creating decent page layouts was not a task that required a great deal of technical know-how, however I find myself once again at a point where I realise that the majority of my learning is done through low tech methods : reading print, looking at pictures, going for a hike in different seasons, hanging out with friends, cooking and working with the delicate intricacies of rough or primitive tools and equipment. Understanding how to control a set of variables which are recognizable but not identified is gratifying.

Holding you next to me

If there is one thing that we are not yet able to translate, it would be the expression of love. We have all lived it, yet writing it in another language gives us a sense of failure.

Would I be writing this in code, that would make very, very little sense, however that may be the only language that my device would understand.

The technological dream of machines feeling love from their masters is absurd: we may love our cars, computers, phones or other tools, but objects which have wiring diagrams, predictable behaviours and a wide range of physical limitations are simply uninteresting.

Ads in Windows 8 !

Seeing ads on this blog should not cause an outrage, just about any newspaper, or blog site has them. On my Android device, I have blocked ads, so do I in browser with Adblock Plus.

There is some irony this post. I cannot say that ads provide me any revenue : I have not yet met the minimum number of page views to claim revenue. Microsoft mission is to provide tools to improve productivity. They have succeeded with Windows, office suites and a whole range of products. As for having ads in the weather app, I am not insulted, but a little surprised. I rarely have to make my way to the last section of the weather report, but a phantoms lurks in the background.

Amazon.com Promotional Credit Scam

If you have received a message from Amazon.com for a 5$ of promotional credit, be very very careful.

I just got burned.

The selection to which the credit can be applied is limited to a single product, which I encourage you to look up. There is a 5$ credit that can be used towards a purchase of a product priced at 4.99$ : lo and behold, there is only one product priced at 4.99$.

I should have read more carefully but something really did not seem right. Now I know.