Protip: Sony MDR-XD300 replacement ear pads

Disgusting, old peeling ear pad from an MDR-XD300

I enjoy listening to music as much as the next poor student does, and like the other poor students, I'm not particularly fond of replacing (slightly) costly gear just because some replaceable part is breaking and at it's end of life. When ear pads begin to deteriorate and break down, it's time to find replacements. Hours of searching for replacement ear pads for my MDR-XD300s turned out to be worthless, seems like Sony EoL'd it while I wasn't looking, replacement pads for the MDR-XD series seems to be nonexistent.

Third party replacement pads for the MDR-RD925 installed
on the MDR-XD300

So I did the next best thing: measure the ear pads and get the closest pair, which happens to be the pads for Sony's wireless headphones (MDR-RF925 and MDR-RF9). One ebay purchase and a few weeks later, I have new ear pads for one of my most favorite headphones, installing was easy, since it was made for a different model, though I had to stretch the pleather a tiny, tiny bit to make it fit. It does feel slightly different than the original Sony ones, but hey, I'm not gonna complain too much since it actually fit something it wasn't advertised for.

I hope this helps anyone looking for repacement ear pads for MDR-XD300s out, that you can use the replacement pads from the MDR-RD925 for this*

*results may vary depending from headphone to headphone, regardless of model and make, this applies for ear pads as well

Update: The feel for it is more hard than the stock set. and the link is dead.

Protective Case for Kindle 3 (Black) Review

I really see no point in giving this a score, it does what it's supposed to, and does it right. Plus, it's too simple to me to really say anything (positive or negative) about it aside from price.

Blah blah blah Bought a Kindle while on vacation near Buffalo last year, blah blah don't want to spend so much on a case, etc. It's not made with real leather, so you can feel good that you aren't protecting your piece of tech with animal skin.

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Front of the case:

Real simple design, mailman caused a bit of damage to the packaging, again.


Back of the case:

Nothing much to say here, it's the back. It's simple.

Inside of the case, with my kindle:

Includes a tiny pocket thing to hold small sheets of paper or something, in case you need to put anything near your kindle.

Reading mode: Engaged:

It's as if I'm actually reading a book!

LG Optimus 7Q (Quantum) Review

The LG Optimus 7Q was one of 2 LG phones released in 2010. It's now avaliable at Walmarts across Canada for $78+Tax, YMMV (your milage may vary) of course.
Since this deal was hotter than the flames of the sun, I quickly jumped on it and obtained one the day where the 7.5 update, codename Mango was released. The package includes the phone, a micro-usb cable with AC adapter, a Bell SIM card, and a decent pair of earphones.

Appearance
Unlike the Chocolate and Neon, LG designed this beast with durability over style in mind, but still more stylish than many phones on the market. It sports a gorilla glass capacitive touchscreen and a rubberized body and a metal backplate. It contains 2 capacitive buttons for BACK and SEARCH, as well as a physical "Start" button (Home menu button). It's got these tiny volume control buttons on the side along with the camera shutter button. On the other side, it has a micro-usb port that is used for both charging and synching content. On the top, it has the power/lock button and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

Sliding out the keyboard, we've got nice, big keys, but the FN and Shift buttons are placed a bit awkwardly, reducing typing efficency, for me, at least.

Overall, the design of this is really nice, other than the placement of the Start button, FN and Shift keys, it's really well though out compared to older LG phones, and unlike older LG phones, this phone actually looks like it can withstand physical torture.

Appearance - 4/5, because of the FN/Shift keys, which really should be either larger and lower, a bit less awkward to tap.


Quality - I will be splitting this section into 2, software and hardware, each worth 2.5.

Software
This phone sports Windows Phone 7, the successor to Windows Mobile 6.5. Thanks to Microsoft's strict hardware requirements, performance on the phone is fluid and snappy, it even plays 720p h264 videos, something that I have never had on a phone before. The mango update further improves on the performance, decreasing the size of the actual system along with  improving software, such as the web browser, to include HTML5. The Mango update is what WP7 should have been at launch, but hey, at least Microsoft delivered. The only complaints I have about software are that my SMS timestamps are off, since I'm using this on the Rogers/Fido network, and that despite it being adversited as being able to post update, I still can not connect to Hidden SSID networks. This is probably Bell or LGs fault, but nontheless takes away from the experience of the phone.

Software Quality - 2/2.5, the lack of hidden SSID support is infurating.

Hardware
The Quantum sports a 1ghz 1st generation snapdragon processor, 512mb of ram and 16gb flash memory. The gorialla glass touchscreen is also fairly accurate and navigates like a charm. Nothing more to say here.

Hardware Quality - 2.5/2.5, high end smartphone hardware, low end smartphone price.


Usefulness
It does what it's supposed to, recieves text messages, email, and browses the web with a decent standby life of around 3 days. Zune player is also better than iTunes in my opinion.

Usefulness - 5/5, does what it's supposed to, and dose it well.


Durability
Since I don't want to destroy a new phone, I will not be testing this, thus not assigning a score for this. Although it looks like you can get away with not using a case for it, it looks and feels like a brick. It would hurt if I threw it at someone, but I wouldn't risk it.

Durability - n/a/5, nuh-uh, I'm not throwing it at anyone.


Idiot-proof
Windows Phone 7 is as idiot-proof as a smartphone will get. It's locked down system makes even the most technologically impaired people feel how easy it is to operate it. The buttoms all have a symbol on it representing what it does.

Idiot-proof - 5/5, doesn't get any simpler than this.

Total-  18.5/20, 90%. If you can find it at the price of $78+Tax, it is definitely worth it.

Displayport to HDMI Adapter Review

Ok, so this will be my first review, of a somewhat useful item; a Displayport to HDMI adapter. The purchase link is below and at the bottom, with more (but less wordy) reviews if you're interested. Each category is scored out of 5, and I'll try to not be as biased as possible. 

Like it? Purchase Here


Appearance

Well, it looks like an Displayport to HDMI adapter all right. You'll have to bear with the semi-blurry photo, I have quite the shaky hands. My photos all say "Seagulls Everywhere" because, you know, some people like taking credit for everything that's not theirs.
On one end, it's obviously a Displayport male, it's got the rectangular/trapezoid shape, along with the clips to ensure it doesn't fall out in the middle of a movie or game or something.

On the other, it's obviously a HDMI female, it even came with a nice little cap for keeping out dust when you're not using it.

Overall, this adapter is really simplistic, thus achieving an appealing appearance for the end user.

Score- 5/5

Quality
The adapter cord is made out of, you guessed it, plastic. The DP (Displayport) and HDMI sections are gold or something that looks like gold plated. The cord itself makes a funny noise when you bend it, even a little, so that gives me reason to deduct a point.

Score- 4/5

Usefulness
The cord itself is pretty useful, I'll show you why.


So first, I bring out my trusty Lenovo Thinkpad T520 and attach the DP male onto it.
Then, I plug the HDMI cable normally used for my PS3 Slim into the HDMI Female. The HDMI cable does not go fully in, but once it's in there, it actually takes some force to pull it out.Then BAM! I can use my 27" monitor as a secondary display using only the HDMI cable and adapter. Did I mention that sound is also transferred? Great for audiosurf or beat hazard on a large monitor, even better if you use a home theater system to output sound.
Score- 4/5

Durability
The adapter feels durable, looks durable and probably is durable. While the DP hooks might wear out over time, considering how small they are, the rest of the adapter will probably last a long time. Each side of the adapter is covered with a strong plastic that wouldn't break even after I sat on it.

Score- 4/5

Idiot-proof.
The item is idiot proof, to some extent. The DP male section clearly sports the Displayport logo, along with the word "Source". The HDMI female section on the other hand, has nothing.

Score- 4/5


Overall
This item is great for those with Thinkpads who just want to use a large monitor or use their HDTV for entertainment purposes, audiosurf is so much better on a 46" HDTV, am I right? The main flaw is that the HDMI cable is not fully inserted in when in use, and pulling the HDMI cable out is somewhat a pain, but that is easily solved by just keeping it in, since HDMI cable prices are so low anyways. The price is unbeatable compared to retail, my local computer store sells the exact same item for $21.99 (CAD). Shipping on the other hand, it took me 3 weeks to receive this item since it shipped from China, and Canada Post is slower than usual thanks to the recent strike, so I'll be deducting half a point for that.

Total Score- 21.5/25 or 82% 

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