Converse Scoreboard Watch review

In case you did not know, Converse the show company better known for its basket ball shoes also makes watches. Bought this watch from TK Maxx today. It is the Converse Scoreboard watch. They come in a variety of colours but it is the first time I have seen one with a camouflage design and I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the price which was well below its retail price of £65. So I just grabbed the watch.

It has a rectangular black LCD screen which is around 43 mm across and about 12 mm thick. The strap is made of silicone and really comfortable. The watch is water resistant to 50m. The watch is powered by a Japanese quartz movement and is made in China.

It has a chronograph and you can set two different time zones - I have set mine to GMT and Malaysian time.

As for the negatives, the chronograph only times for 30 minutes and the light only lasts for about 3 seconds once you press the light button but looking at the bright side, I guess that it will not drain the battery much.

I had a similar Nike watch some time back which lasted for slightly more than a year before the battery ran out. I would be happy if this watch last for around a year.

Update: 9 Jan 2014.

I have had this watch for a while now. It does stand out and I have had a few people curious about the brand and compliment me on the design. However, I noticed a few design issues. The mode button (right bottom) is quite sensitive and I often find that the display has changed to the chronograph or to the other time and have to change it back.



Found another nice design on Amazon UK:

Advanced Personal Weather Station review

One of my daily rituals in the morning right after waking up is to check the weather, even though I might have checked the weather forecast the night before. There are a few personal weather sensors out there but the problem is that you do not really get accurate readings as they are normally placed inside where it is warm and dry. So I was delighted when I received the perfect gift - the Advanced Weather Station, my own personal weatherman from Paramountzone.com.

It is much more advanced than similar gadgets in the market as it has a wireless sensor which you place outside. So you can see the minimum and maximum temperatures (in °C or °F) inside and outside the house. Moreover, it gives you the air pressure (in mb/hPa or in Hg) and provides the weather forecast for the next 12-24 hour - shown as easy to understand graphics. The gadget does this by using the air pressure data for the last 4 hours. However, it is recommended that you leave the gadget on for at least 12 hours to get accurate forecasts.

That's not all. The weather station has an alarm clock feature and tells you the sunrise and sunset hours. It also gives you the moon phases automatically based on your location. This brings me to one of the two things I was not happy about this gadget. It has a list of 160 major cities in Europe but this list does not include Coventry and I had to use the nearest city, Birmingham. Another thing I was not happy about was the display lighting. In order to activate it, you have to press the big snooze/light button at the back. However, it only comes on for 5 seconds and I wish there was a way I could extend the time. On the positive side, I guess this extends the battery life but this is not a problem if you use electricity to power using the mains adapter.

To view the relative air pressure history for the past 12 hours, press the "HISTORY" button at the back.

Setting up the Weather Station was quite easy. I just followed the steps in the manual. First of all, after connecting the station to the mains, I set the date and time by pressing the "SET" button on the back and using the "up" and "down" buttons. I did not want to get disturbed and deactivated the 2 alarms.

Outdoor Sensor
I then put batteries (2 x AAA) to the outdoor sensor and then selected the channel. It was already set up at channel 1 by default. As I was not sure how weather proof the sensor was, I left it near the window for the time being and I noticed that it does give me different temperature readings.

It is definitely better than the old one. Yes! I already have another weather station but it is quite basic compared to the latest one. So if you know someone like me - who's into the weather channel, you know what to get them this Christmas. I guess it is really popular as it is currently out of stock but you can have them notify you when it is back in stock.

If you still do not know what to get for your favourite guy - Paramount Zone Has lots of Christmas gifts for him Hurry.

Unboxing the HP Car Camcorder f200

Delighted with my early x-mas gift - the HP Car Camcorder f200. Will be reviewing it in detail later but here are the unboxing pics.

Clockwise from left bottom corner: Camera, car mount, USB connector, audio/ video connector cables and car adaptor.

Full HD Camera (1920 x 1080 @30fps)with 128° wide angle lens.

2.4" LCD colour screen

Micro SDHC card slot

Comes with motion detection and built in G-sensor. Will automatically record in case collision is detected. The camera supports micro SDHC cards up to 32GB.

Read the review on Car News - Auto Lah