Happy 牛 Year!!!

新年快乐，牛劲十足！



Wishing you all a happy and prosperous new year!!!

Let's get a Moooo on!

ps: Artificial cows from Kenting, Taiwan. Mooo....

Logitech G9 Laser Gaming Mouse Mini Review

For fanatic gamers, high sensitivity is never enough. Master of peripherals, Logitech heard us and introduced its ultimate laser gaming device at the end of 2007: the G9 Laser gaming mouse; after the success of its smaller brother, the G5. Logitech G9 Laser spots a whooping 3200DPI laser sensor, 1000Hz polling rate, swappable grips, MicroGear scroll wheel, on-the-fly DPI switching, custom LED colors, on-board memory for custom profiles, tiltable scroll wheel... heaps of next-gen features at your disposal. The bundled SetPoint 5.0 software lets you customize the G9 with overwhelming options. This, is my replacement of the decayed Razer Copperhead.

Technological beauty: G9 Laser on Precision Grip.

So first things first, though I've explained what's polling rate in the Copperhead review, here's the recap:

Polling Rate
It's the number of times the mouse sends reports to the computer every second.
Over USB it's normally 125Hz i.e. 125 times a second. Which means that there's a lag of 1/125th of a second or 8ms between the mouse and the system. Polling rate of 1000Hz = 1/1000 which means a lag of 1ms.

Seeing top notch gaming mice nowadays are mostly 1000Hz capable, this is a must-have feature. Note that it will consume certain amount of CPU usage. Worry not, the effect is insignificant with today's latest processors.

The Setpoint 5.0 software (look at the choices for custom LED colors!)

The G9 laser has normal left/right buttons, clickable scroll wheel capable of tilting left/right sideways, DPI increase/decrease (+/-) buttons under the LED DPI level indicator and 2 side buttons. The LED color is customizable in the Setpoint software. I prefer green as it's matching to my green Mantis Speed mousepad. Notice the braided cable, it is to reduce friction against the surface it's touching.

G9 Laser with green DPI indicator LED.

Frankly speaking, 3200DPI speed is far too high for normal first person shooter gaming. I only use up to about 2000 to 2200DPI normally. It is always good to know that you have much more "room" to go faster nonetheless (good for huge screens, too).

Under the mouse, there are MicroGear and Profile buttons. The former enables you to switch the scroll wheel between the traditional clicky mode and the free spin mode. Free spin mode is capable of spinning up to 16 seconds non-stop per flick (personal record), which is good for browsing long pages, spreadsheets and anything you can make use of. The Profile button switches between stored profiles with different mouse settings in the on-board memory.

Gaming Grade Laser capable of 3200DPI tracking.

One of the revolutionary design of the G9 laser is its interchangeable grips namely the "Wide Load" and "Precision Dry Grip". Wide Load, as its name suggests, is a smooth satin finished wide body kit with thumb rest which caters for comfort use. The Precision Grip features a slimmer, compact design for higher precision finger control mode (now we are talking!). Coated with the Logitech DryGrip technology, it prevents sweat forming on the mouse surface for better grips. I love the precision grip very much 'cos finger control is always my thingy.

Wide Load and Precision Grip.


The G9 Laser with its grip removed.

That's not all. The G9 comes with customizable weight tuning system too. There are four 4g and four 7g weights respectively. Users could add up to 28g depending on their preferences. I prefer light mouse for higher speed therefore I put none.

G9 Laser with adjustable weight balancing system.

There were no major improvements in games as I've used the Copperhead 2000DPI. The G9 is as sensitive and accurate as, if not better, than the Razer Copperhead. Been using this mouse in all FPS gamings and normal tasks for a year plus now (since launch, Oct 2007) and the buttons are still very responsive. I am very impressed with Logitech G9's robust and high quality design. Though it came with a hefty price of RM300+, with its fully packed features, 3-years warranty, it is definitely worth every single cent spent.

GAMENiAC's verdict (10 max):
Performance: 10
Built Quality: 9.5 (Minor issue: middle LED is bit dimmer than the rest. No performance hit)
Features: 10
Value for money: 8


¤¤¤ GAMENiAC's Choice: Ultimate Fragging Device Award! ¤¤¤

Interested in getting your own G9 laser? Contact me for special price! (while stocks last)

台湾的老街与夜市 Taiwan Old Street & Night Market. Part 1

台湾有好多好多的夜市。它们已成为台湾最具代表性的文化。夜市里有种类繁多的小吃， 地方特产，服装衣织品等。今天要為大家介紹座落在台北市著名的士林夜市。

Night market is another interesting scene in Taiwan. One could find famous local refection, latest fashions, accessories and sorts. (Plus lots of leng loi's to see see...)

Shilin night market. One of the largest night market located in Taipei. One could reach there using the MRT to JianTan station (劍潭站) along the Danshui MRT line (淡水線). This is the nearest station to the market, don't take the Shilin Station, otherwise you would end up further away.

就让图片说故事吧。。。

Look at the crowd! There're already tons of people before night fall.

好多人呀！！！名副其實的人山人海。

士林夜市的美食区

Shops and stalls...

Famous "Frog lay egg" Taiwanese "pearl" drink. 著名王记青蛙下蛋粉圆爱玉饮料。

Pineapple fried prawn balls.

Classic theatre and more stalls.

到处都是人啊。。。

好好吃的凉圆 (有绿茶，巧克力，豆沙口味等等) 和烤肉串。

I don't know how to call this icy cold round thingy with different flavours in english on the left. Cool balls? LMAO! Everyone should try it. Very nice! BBQ meat (pork, beef and lamb) on the right.

BBQ huge sausages. yum yum...

Baked patato with cheese and corn. This one just so so...

Super huge chicken chop. Only 'bout RM5.50. Cheap eh?

看看那些人潮。。。呵呵。。。

The crowd at the market and those crossing roads...

This is one of the must-go night market in Taipei. It will not only feast your stomach, but your eyes, too. Don't miss it when you hit Taipei city. More Taiwan night market scenes coming up...


Wait, where's my reward from Taiwan tourism board? hehe...