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Today is the day that I turned 26 of age, but everything feel so surreal as there are so much things in my life that changed over the past few months and I haven't really been thinking much about my birthday. All I had was a journey that I was clearly not prepared for, but I went ahead with, anyways.

Click on the following links to read up on what happened previously, 

1) A Look at 2014 New Year Resolutions! - What did I achieve in 1 year?

2) A Trip to ShenZhen - When is the right time to be adventurous?

3) Quarter-Life Crisis: In Search of Passion - What exactly do I want in LIFE?

The PC Show 2015 is gona take place over this weekend, 4-7 Jun 2015 at EXPO Hall 5/6 from 12pm to 9pm. If you wana take a look at some of the tech offers / brochures, you can click --> HERE

Source: www.thepcshow.com.sg

If you know what you want, take a look at the floor plan & navigate your way there.

Speaking as a West-sider in SG, the thought of travelling to EXPO always put me off whenever I think about it and I become unsure if all the effort will be worth the savings. If you live in the East, just go be part of the crowd and take a look for the fun of it!!

Anyway, I'm still gona stand by my recommendations in my I.T Show 2015 post:

Source: www.tgs.vn

1) ASUS UX305FA - now also available in Ceramic White, but with limited stock*.

Source: Lenovo

2) Lenovo YOGA 3 - $1,099 model for the most value out of the system.

Source: Microsoft

Moving on~~

If you've already gotten your laptops, there's more to the PC Show than simply Laptops / Desktops and I'll recommend the following categories this time round:

Source: M1 / I've recently recontracted with M1 in May '15 for $39/mth, but this is a definitely a better deal than mine

1) Home Fibre Broadband - M1's 1Gbps
With Fibre Broadband readily available in SG, 1 Gbps at as low as $39/mth is becoming the norm for all households very soon, but which of the Telco should we commit to a 2 year contract? According to HWZ's article on the typical download / upload speeds of Fiber Broadband speed across all Telcos*, M1 and Singtel came up as one of the most stable Telcos at around 800 Mbps. Do take into account of the premiums that comes with the plan and top up for a new router, if applicable!!

Note:
ViewQwest - offers Value Added Service (VAS) of FreedomVPN
*MyRepublic - No typical download speed stated



2) Routers (Networking) - Aztech FG7008GR / AC2400
With the Fibre Broadband outta the way, NEW routers are needed to fully utilize the 1 Gbps that you have just signed up. Otherwise, there won't be any improvement at all in terms of surfing speed. All you gotta look out for is the AC (1200 /1750 /1900 /2400 /3200). Of coz the higher number the better, but they come in different price tiers of $200+ /$300+ /$400+. Looking at the ASUS AC1750 that I bought at $259 just 1 week ago, the Aztech AC2400 is one of the #cheapfinds, selling at $249 instead of $329 at the PC Show 2015.

Source: Creative

3) Desktop Audio - Creative ZiiSound T6
T-minus 1 day before the PC Show 2015, my Creative Inspire S2 Wireless decided to fail on me & caused me much inconvenience to the daily usage of my computer. Since the previous served me well, I was looking at the Creative deals and the answer was clear. If I'm able to get the $100 voucher at the Blastermania Jackpot, I'll get myself the Creative ZiiSound T6, a set of 5.1 ready speakers.

Source: Creative

Wired vs Wireless - T3 vs (T4 & T6)?
Wired speakers can only be connected through cables. GigaWorks T3 is a 2.1 system that lacks Wireless (Bluetooth function) & other added features.

Wireless Speakers - T4 vs T6?
Creative T4 Wireless: First of all, the T4 has the added features of NFC, HD Audio and AAC that not everyone will be able to notice in their daily use. Second, the difference lies in the "Wireless". Just to be clear, BOTH of them have Wireless capability as implied by being in the same category, but T4 can connect 2 Bluetooth devices at 1 time while T6 can only connect to 1 at any given time.
ZiiSound T6: The appealing point of T6 is it being a set of 5.1 ready speakers and the price, T6 - $249 vs T4 - $299.

Any others? I really can't figure out any other differences. Perhaps, they are clearing out the final batch of ZiiSound T6 and will only sell the slightly re-branded Creative T6 Series II in the future. That could only mean NOW is the best time to buy it!!



Notable Mentions: Fujifilm X-T10
Fujifilm's X series is a line of visually attractive cameras that gives off a vintage look and most of the cameras comes with a DSLR sensor in a mirrorless body. X-T10 vs X-T1, both with XF18-55mm f/2.8 - 4.0 will cost about $1,799 vs $2,499, respectively. Which is better? Let's leave the discussion to another day.

Hey, Tech-Savy people!!

The LG G4 has officially arrived in SG as of 30 May 2015 and you can get one at M1, Singtel, StarHub if you've previously register your interest with the respective telcos. Otherwise, you might have to try your luck at authorised LG Mobile retailers.

Source: hardwarezone

Since the LG G4 was revealed 1 month ago, many were able to "See the Great. Feel the Great." However, there's only a handful of people around the globe to #TRYTHEGREAT and I wasn't fortunate enough to be part of the lucky few. Hope I have better luck next time!

Anyway, let me go through the TOP 3 Unique Selling Point (USP) that you need to know before you go queuing at the telcos.

1) It is all about the CAMERA!

The LG G4 packs a punch with a F/1.8 lens, Colour Spectrum Laser sensor, OIS 2.0, Manual mode and can even shoot in RAW format. I wouldn't say it can totally replace a camera, but its lightweight and convenience can very factors that will swoop you over from buying DSLRs.

and like many photographers say,
"The best camera is the one you always have with you."

2) Genuine Leather Back Cover

Rather than following the trend of having a aluminum unibody, LG has found its identity by going for leather as one of the options for its back covers. Leather itself, is a very durable and premium material that highlights one's character when it ages through time.

Through my purchase of the Mi 4i, I noticed some of the good practices of an online store and of course some of the standard hiccups, but I would like to point them out as more of a compliment to Xiaomi's efforts.

Prior to the setup of the Xiaomi SG online store, consumers can only get Xiaomi products through resellers via e.g Qoo10.sg or personally import from China through other means; the downside to such arrangements doesn't assure the authenticity of the products and will normally result in a higher selling price which may sometimes defeat the notion of getting Xiaomi at an affordable price. Even when the online store was up and running, there still isn't much of a compelling reason for me to buy from the site because of the limited range of products that was offered to SG. However, it was the global premiere #MiLaunch2015 that had me set sights on the Mi 4i and I purchased it last week the moment it was available in SG.

Account Creation

Setting up an account can be the most dreadful thing that shoppers can go through whenever they come across a new platform, but Xiaomi has simplified the steps and only needed minimum information. From the above image, it is very easy to get an account and proceed with the shopping spree~ To shorten the process and avoid any unwanted disappointment, I made the necessary preparations by simply creating an account, updating all the possible fields that is needed in the settings portion and logging in way before the actual launch time.



Adding to Shopping Cart
At 12 pm of the launch, the site was slightly flooded with traffic and it only loaded after a few constant refreshes with the "Buy Now" still grayed out. When it was finally available, I was kinda disappointed not to see the full selection of colour choices that was advertised and the worst feeling gotta be seeing that the "Grey" option was already SOLD OUT. What's left was only the "White" option and I was almost ready to give up on the phone.



For a moment, I thought that it could be an error and tried to access it through my phone, but I guessed Xiaomi rectify their mistake by totally removing the "Grey" option and replacing with a few different bundles instead.



Minutes after, I got over it and moved on to the "Next" step. I didn't buy any of the bundles or any accessories as I have already added the ones I needed beforehand, but I guess this is useful to present another opportunity to sell their products.



The amazing part was actually an ID is tagged to every item that is added to the cart and that gives you 2 hours to checkout before the ID expires. Upon checkout, consumers get a 12 hours period to make payment before it is probably cancelled and goes back to the inventory (Try at the potential risk of getting blacklisted)? Overall, I think this system prevents Xiaomi from facing out-of-stock situation after completing payment and that deserves some credit!



Once all the Item ID have been given out, new purchase requests will automatically enter their "Queuing system" where a lightbox will show a looping animation of being in the queue. Basically the wait will continue until the product is being SOLD-OUT and the system will notify everyone in the queue about it.



Before Checkout of Shopping Cart
Xiaomi will recommend Great deals based on items in the cart that have on-going promotion.


Payment & Post-Purchase

Basically, this 2 stages don't really matter as payment is pretty standard through credit cards or Paypal and post-purchase is just to keep a copy of the receipt in the email.


Delivery
Xiaomi promises to deliver normally within 5 days and 7-8 days maximum. For me, I got my items within 4 and I'm a happy customer!

Total Damage
Since this is the my first purchase on Xiaomi SG online store, I made full use of the free delivery for purchases over $50 and bought all the products that I wanted all along for a total of $344.98!!!

Disclaimer: This review is based off the Mi 4i launch and does not take into account of any other Xiaomi events / launches.