Acer Predator 15 gaming notebook review — new kid on the block

Acer is well known in the tech industry, with some budget smartphones and affordable notebooks. It’s presence in the gaming industry is all but non-existent. Acer did dip their toes in the water some time back with the Acer Aspire Predator desktop models which came in a bright orange paint job which you either found striking or just plain garish. Fast forward to more recent times, the Acer V Nitro was an interesting mid-range gaming notebook which caught the attention of many gamers who needed an affordable notebook with sufficient grunt for gaming. After officially launching the Acer Predator Gaming Series in Malaysia back in December, it looks like Acer is ready to face the veterans of the industry with their new line-up. We got the Predator 15 here with us, a powerful gaming notebook which sports great performance with the looks to boot. Let’s check it out.

Unboxing
I don’t usually write about the unboxing of laptops because most of the time I don’t see anything interesting to talk about regarding the packaging. However in the case of the Acer Predator 15, I was actually compelled to write a little about the great packaging it came in.

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The outer packaging sports a fancy image of the notebook along with the red polygons that is the theme for the Predator series. Nothing really special here since notebooks boxes aren’t often on display at shops anyway.

Opening it up we see three smaller boxes, with the box labeled Predator 15 being protected by thick foam blocks. No prize for guessing what’s in it.

The three compartments hold the power supply, the Acer Predator 15 itself, documentation and the Predator FrostCore module. We will talk more about the FrostCore module in the Performance section.

The notebook is kept in this tough cardboard box, well protected from the harsh world outside. A thick plastic wrapper envelops the Acer Predator 15, while also offering a tab to remove the notebook easily from the tough cardboard cocoon. I have tried reinserting the notebook without the plastic wrapper into the box and it was impossible to remove it unless I flipped the box over and allowed gravity to assist my effort. I do wish for a reusable fabric sleeve instead of the plastic wrapper though.

Here’s everything in the package. My review sample didn’t come with any documentation but you should expect the usual set of user manuals and warranty cards with your purchase.

Appearance
The Acer Predator 15 is the Taiwanese company’s first real gaming notebook but they aren’t shy to intimidate the competition with an aggressive outlook.

The lid is plastic with a soft-touch finishing. The emblems are made of metal with a mild brushed finishing, allowing it to reflect light in a special way that plastic will never be able to. Real classy. Two huge vents dominate the lower half of the Acer Predator 15, providing both form and function to a powerful gaming notebook like this. I really love big vents on gaming notebooks, and this being the biggest I have seen will definitely score it a few extra points.

Opening up, you will see the 15.6″ display. Acer apparently still finds a need to flaunt the fact that the Acer Predator 15 sports a Full HD 1080p display in 2015-16 with a sticker. The palm rest area also features the same soft-touch finishing the lid has, and surprisingly it is a lot more resistant to fingerprints and smudges than I expected.

The keyboard features the WASD cluster and arrow keys highlighted with red edging to enhance the gamer look. A row of hotkeys above the keyboard allows quick access to certain functions like boosting the fan speed and can also be programmed to run macros.

Taking a look at the underside of the Acer Predator 15, we see the intakes at the top. The finishing here is also the same soft-touch finishing. Kudos to Acer for being so consistent. The center portion is a service door which allows easier upgrading of the Acer Predator 15’s storage and RAM. The three little triangles warn you about a Heat Blast as there is where the exhaust vents are located. I do not see the point of putting the warning signs under the notebook where no one ever sees, but oh well at least it makes the bottom panel a little more interesting.

Turn it on and the Predator logo lights up. Light or dark, the Predator 15 will definitely make its presence known. Since it’s on, let’s play!

Specifications

CPU
Intel Core i7-6700HQ @ 2.6 GHz (up to 3.5 GHz)

RAM
16GB (2 x 8GB) 2133 MHz DDR4 (2 slots available)

GPU
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M 3GB GDDR5

Storage
1 x 128GB TOSHIBA THNSNJ128G8NU M.2 SATA SSD
1 x 1TB HGST Travelstar 7K1000 HDD

Software
Microsoft Windows 10 Home
364.51 WHQL NVIDIA Game Ready Driver
Acer PredatorSense
Dolby Audio
Killer Network Manager
Acer Care Center
Acer DustDefender

Connectivity
Killer™ Wireless-AC 1535 and Killer™ E2400 LAN (Killer DoubleShot Pro)
Bluetooth 4.1
4 x USB 3.0
1 x USB 3.1 Type-C (doubles as Thunderbolt 3 port)
SD card reader

Display
15.6″ FHD AH-IPS (1920 x 1080) LG Philips LP156WF6-SPP1 panel
1 x HDMI

Audio
2.1 Predator SoundPound audio (Stereo speakers, 1 subwoofer)
1 x 3.5mm microphone input
1 x 3.5mm audio output (support for headphones with up to 600 Ω impedance)

Power
180W AC adapter, 8 cell battery (non-removable)

Dimensions
38.1 x 29.9 x 3.85 cm

Weight
3.4 kg

Performance
The Acer Predator 15 was ready to go very quickly after pushing the power button, typical of a SSD-equipped system. However for a true measure of storage performance, we turn to our usual benchmark, CrystalDiskMark to throw us some figures.

The 128GB M.2 SATA SSD is a lot slower than the the NVMe M.2 PCIe SSD found in the MSI GT72s 6QE Dominator Pro G. It is still a lot faster than any HDD but are a far cry from the speeds that M.2 PCIe SSDs can offer. In any case, 128GB is just about enough for the OS and some huge software and not much else. If you need more space or speed, you can add another M.2 SSD as the Acer Predator 15 has two M.2 slots. You can also upgrade the Acer Predator 15 with a M.2 PCIe SSD like the Samsung 950 Pro if you want to, but be prepared to part with some serious cash.

The 1TB HDD is of the 7200 rpm variety, so it does go faster than the usual 5400 rpm 2.5″ drives. Conventional HDDs are still a very valid storage option in 2016 as it is still a bit too costly to get 1TB SSDs. You may want to make use of this storage to keep your less used software and media.

Ah the CPU. While the Skylake architecture is the way forward for Intel CPUs, the raw performance achieved in Cinebench seems to have taken a step back from Broadwell. That can be explained by the higher boost clocks especially when running on all four cores that the Broadwell i7 5700HQ has (3.5 GHz), which is more than 10% faster than the 3.1 GHz that the Skylake i7 6700HQ runs at with all four cores active. Clearly the IPC improvements that Skylake brought about isn’t enough to offset this difference in clock speeds, resulting in it scoring less than the older Broadwell model.

In our Unigine Heaven Benchmark, the GeForce GTX 970M 3GB GDDR5 returns scores that shows a big gap in performance between the Maxwell GM204 silicon and the first generation Maxwell GM107 GPUs that are marketed as the GTX 860M/960M. It is also quite a bit weaker than the GTX 980M but then notebooks with the GTX 980M often sport price tags much heftier than those with GTX 970Ms.
Let’s get on with the gaming benchmarks. Note that the temperatures obtained here may be higher than usual because of the seriously insane ambient temperatures in Malaysia of above 30 degrees Celcius now.

DotA 2 isn’t really a GPU-intensive game, and here we see the Acer Predator 15 push 124 frames per second, almost matching the performance of the GTX 980M found in the MSI GT72s Dominator Pro G. In my opinion, anything faster than the GTX 960M is overkill for DotA 2 anyway.

In Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege, we can see the difference in performance between the 970M and 980M. The 970M is capable of around 30 fps less than the 980M in the GT72s. This isn’t really a big issue as anything above 60 fps is already very playable in my book. The 3GB VRAM may have been a bottleneck too as when I changed to the Ultra preset, the in-game VRAM meter already predicted that I will use more than the 3GB available. Ignoring it and just going ahead to run the benchmark yielded these figures. I also played a few very enjoyable multiplayer games, during which I encountered no stutter or lag.

The most intense game in my library, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt really taxes the hardware of Acer Predator 15. The CPU temperatures are really close to TJMax and in fact according to HWiNFO the CPU throttled down to only 2900 MHz. It is rather alarming to see this but I believe it will fare better if put into a cooler environment than my unair-conditioned living quarters.The frame rate is plenty playable as the Witcher 3’s story is enjoyable even at 30 fps.

Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain features some amazing graphics, although the expansive deserts the game is set in is lot less stressful to the hardware compared to The Witcher’s environments which are loaded with foliage, buildings and tonnes of NPCs. The smooth frame rate here is especially vital when trying to snipe moving fodder. The Acer Predator 15’s hardware pulled it off very well and the experience was great.

CS:GO is a popular competitive game but you won’t need the highest end hardware to play it. The Acer Predator 15 gets a respectable 140 fps in this game.
The Acer Predator 15’s cooling system uses two heatpipes which are connected to two large heatsinks on both ends. While its looks may draw attention, the Acer Predator 15 noise output is a lot more stealthy. The blower fans are also less noisy compared to some of the competition, especially when running at full tilt. A whooshing sound is you hear. If not set to run at maximum speed, the fans are almost inaudible when using the Acer Predator 15 for simple web browsing. Cooling performance wise, the Acer Predator 15 may benefit from dedicated heatpipes to draw heat away from the powerful hardware more effectively. The cooling system of the Acer Predator 15 comes with a unique feature, which is the Predator FrostCore module which was developed in partnership with Cooler Master.

It allows you to simply swap out the DVD drive reader for the Predator FrostCore if you need additional cooling performance. The FrostCore is also relatively silent and was largely masked by the noise of the bigger rear fans.

Now for the moment of truth, did the Predator FrostCore affect the temperatures? After running Furmark and Intel Burn Test multiple times to test it out, I am disappointed to report that it made no difference. I had suspected an extra fan on the front will not make much of a difference if any when all the other parts of the cooling system is all located on the rear end of the Acer Predator 15, and sadly I was not proven wrong.
For such a powerful notebook, the 2 hour 20 minutes time I got on the battery was surprising. I used the Acer Predator 15 for some light Photoshop and mainly surfing with Chrome with the brightness set to 50% and Balanced power profile active. At 20%, Windows claims that it is still good for another 29 minutes. I guess the efficiency improvements brought about with the Skylake architecture is no tall claim.

User Experience
The Acer Predator 15 is nearly 4 cm thick and weighs 3.4 kg. This puts the Acer Predator 15 in quite a tight spot as 15-inchers are often chosen for their portability. If you aren’t going to use it while on the go often, it would be better to choose the bigger Predator 17 as the bigger model will prove more comfortable to use at a desk thanks to the extra viewing area it offers. In any case, the Acer Predator 15 is sturdy enough to be carried from one place to another in a decent laptop bag. Whether you find the weight and size feasible to carry around is another story altogether.

The Acer Predator 15 comes with a two-color backlit keyboard. The numpad area lights up in blue while the rest of the keyboard glows red. The red backlighting is on the weak side too with no option to adjust the brightness which means you won’t really be able to see it illuminated in well lit environments. I don’t need RGB backlighting on my laptop but I find the decision to throw in the blue backlighting for the numpad area weird. Why not just go with a uniform red backlighting for all the keys? Speaking of which, the little green light you see below the keyboard is the touchpad switch. When enabled it glows green, and if you disable the touchpad it will glow red. And oh it will also disable the Windows key at the same time. Acer’s decision to link both functions is beyond me. Lighting aside, the keyboard and touchpad are both excellent.

The keyboard has a nice amount of key travel and tactile feedback while making just enough noise for you to know you pressed a key, but silent enough to not be an annoyance. This is a keyboard I will not hesitate to use during gaming. However I would have preferred a larger Ctrl key for easier crouching in first-person shooters. Typing or gaming feels fine on it and coupled with the excellent cooling system of the Acer Predator 15, the keyboard and palm rest areas do not warm up uncomfortably even during long gaming sessions.

The touchpad is fairly accurate and sports a few common gestures like two finger scrolling and pinch zooming. The buttons are separate from the touch sensitive area and has a sufficient amount of key travel and is very silent unlike certain touchpad buttons I have found. Such a nice touchpad is quite a waste on a gaming notebook like the Acer Predator 15 since any gamer will definitely own a proper mouse.

The key labelled with the stylized P switches between the three hotkey profiles. The 5 hotkeys at the top can cycle through three profiles, each of which will have a different colored backlighting.

Above the keyboard there is a long strip of clear plastic. On the right there are three status LEDs which indicate drive activity, power supply state and power. I think that is a very nice place to put it as it is unobtrusive when you are doing other stuff yet easily visible when you want to see it, even when the Acer Predator 15 is closed.

On the right we have the single USB Type-C port which does double duty as a Thunderbolt 3 port, two USB 3.0 ports, a full-szed HDMI and DisplayPort to add more displays and also the Killer E2400 LAN jack. There is a lot of empty space left and I wish Acer had added more USB ports. Never are there too many USB ports.

On the left flank we have the power connector, 2 more USB 3.0 ports, the standard 3.5 mm audio jacks which are gold plated, SD card reader and the DVD Super Multi drive. The SD card reader is connected via a USB 3.0 interface so you should be able to take advantage of the faster cards’ transfer rates. My single complaint is that the USB ports are located a bit too far back and is too near the power connector.

Here we replaced the DVD drive with the Predator FrostCore instead. Note the Cooler Master emblem.

The Acer Predator 15 comes with an 15.6″ 1080p IPS display. It is bright enough to be visible most conditions except maybe under direct sunlight. In fact, I am most comfortable using it at only 50% brightness. The pedestrian refresh rate of only 60 Hz means no NVIDIA G Sync with the built-in display. You do have the option of connecting an external display with support for G Sync via the DisplayPort output. The display also seems to have reasonably accurate colors and as an IPS display, it definitely comes with wider viewing angles than any TN panel out there.

[ /panel]
[panel title="Acer PredatorSense"]
PredatorSense is Acer’s management software for the Acer Predator 15. We get the usual temperature, fan speed, CPU frequency readouts on the default page. Going deeper by clicking the gear icon at the top right corner brings up a Gaming Configuration page, which neatly provides an easy way to disable Sticky Keys. Two thumbs up for Acer!
The option to always use the discrete GPU is also quite unique. There are several “multimedia modes” which will adjust the display and audio settings to suit different scenarios hidden here too. Closing it and clicking the large Edit button brings up another array of options. Aside from the hotkey and macro manager, Acer hid the lighting configuration here too, but then it is quite meaningless as it only allows you to toggle the lighting in four zones.
Other software included in the Acer Predator 15 is the Acer DustDefender which make the fans run in reverse to prevent dust accumulation every 3 hours provided the notebook isn’t under heavy load or you can also manually force it to run. In charge of the soundDolby Audio which offers several presets as well as an equalizer for you to fine-tune the audio ouput to your liking.

The Predator SoundPound audio system in the Acer Predator 15 consists of one speaker per channel and a subwoofer. The stereo speakers are located on the front edge of the notebook, hidden behind a nice red honeycomb grille. The sound is crystal clear and REALLY loud too. Being no stranger to the multimedia laptop scene, Acer also threw in Dolby Audio enhancement software to boost the fidelity of the audio output.

The subwoofer is under this red chunk of metal which is engraved with the word. Would have preferred a less obvious engraving like “Predator SoundPound”. While small in size, it does endow the Acer Predator 15 with better bass quality than most notebooks. Watching movies or gaming on the Acer Predator 15, I didn’t feel a need to connect headphones for better enjoyment, unlike with some other gaming notebooks I have reviewed. With that said, connecting my cheap Edifier H840 headphones yielded excellent sound from the 3.5 mm output.

Conclusion

Acer didn’t sacrifice performance for a slimmer body, instead designing one of the thickest and heaviest 15.6″ notebooks I have ever seen. However that may also be its downfall as the thickness and weight seriously reduces its portability which I believe is an important factor when choosing a 15-incher. The implementation of the backlit keyboard seems like an afterthought with the weird color combination of red and blue. Performance wise, it is faultless.
The Predator FrostCore is gimmicky at best as I didn’t observe any improvements using it. In its credit, it does have a well-designed cooling system, with or without the FrostCore, keeping the keyboard and palm rest areas comfortable even under heavy loads. The high CPU temperatures are a little alarming but then the ambient temperatures here are also partly to blame. The audio system and display are also pretty good, allowing me to enjoy multimedia on it with zero complains. Overall, the Acer Predator 15 is a pretty decent gaming notebook packing some serious firepower into its chunky yet sexy body. I will award it the Silver Pokdeward. The Acer Predator 15 costs RM6999.

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AMD Ryzen 7000 Series CPUs Now Available in Malaysia

AMD today announces the general availability of its latest Ryzen 7000 series processors, now available on AMD.com and various retailers.

Powered by latest “Zen 4” architecture, the Ryzen 7000 family of CPUs provides breathtaking performance for gamers, enthusiasts and content creators. With up to 16 cores and 32 threads and the 5nm process node, the Ryzen 7000 Series offers up to 15% faster gaming performance and 27% higher performance-per-watt, while the Ryzen 9 7950X is 47% more efficient than competition.

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Beginning 28th September, customers will be able to purchase the CPUs with pricing as follows:

Processor SKU
Pricing (tax included)

Ryzen 9 7950X
RM3,399

Ryzen 9 7900X
RM2,699

Ryzen 7 7700X
RM1,899

Ryzen 5 7600X
RM1,399

Pokdepinion: We’ll have to see what Intel offers later on and decide which ones are better overall – so far it’s looking like a very tight competition…
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ASUS Hosts Extendable Router Giveaway, $5,000+ Prize Pool Up For Grabs

Another giveaway is live courtesy of ASUS – the “Worry-Free WiFi” giveaway campaign contains prize pool of more than $5,000 which includes various ASUS AiMesh-powered extendable routers as well as the grand prize, a Zenbook 14 OLED laptop. The giveaway is available worldwide, and comes in two sections: completing tasks, or purchasing select router models (the latter of which is not available in certain regions, including Malaysia, due to No Purchase Necessary Laws.)
For Malaysians – here’s what you need to do to enter the contest. Head to the ASUS extendable routers microsite here, and scroll down – you should see two sections each labeled as “Join The Contest” and “Register Your Product”. Ignore the latter: under the Join The Contest section, click “Click to join”, and you’ll be greeted with a series of tasks that you can complete individually.

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The tasks include visiting the microsite, answering a question, complete a survey and finally, or write a review of the ASUS router you own on select social media platforms or forums. The more tasks you complete, the better your chances are.
This campaign starts right now and will run until July 23, 2023 – and winners will be announced August 18, 2023 09:00 PM (UTC+8, Malaysian time). Here are the prizes available to win in this giveaway:
1st prize: Zenbook 14 OLED (1 winner)
2nd prize: RT-AX86U Pro (10 winners)
3rd prize: RT-AX57 (20 winners)
Pokdepinion: Good luck to everyone!
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Xiaomi’s Global Vice President Hugo Barra Leaving the Company; Heading Back to Silicon Valley

A big change is coming to Xiaomi as Hugo Barra leaves the company for Silicon Valley.
No one will stay with a company until the end, unless it’s one’s own company. Faces will change and it’s inevitable. This seems to be the case for Xiaomi as their global vice president, Hugo Barra, is set to leave the company.

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Hugo Barra Leaving Xiaomi to Return to Silicon Valley

The former Android executive first joined Xiaomi about 3.5 years ago. Now that he’s about to leave the company, a lot of people are wondering why he’s doing so. This year is the first time Xiaomi refused to disclose their annual sales figures, admitting that it grew too fast.
This raises doubt on whether Xiaomi can replicate their past success which gave the company a valuation of $45 billion 2 years ago. Hugo did note that the company’s global footprint is “in a very good place” at the moment. Hugo Barra announced his departure in a Facebook post, stating that he feels homesick and plans to move back to California.
Hugo Barra said:
What I’ve realized is that the last few years of living in such a singular environment have taken a huge toll on my life and started affecting my health. My friends, what I consider to be my home, and my life are back in Silicon Valley, which is also much closer to my family. Seeing how much I’ve left behind these past few years, it is clear to me that the time has come to return.
Xiaomi’s CEO Lei Jun recently spoke about his desire to further expand the company’s global reach but no mention on how far it has got on so far. Now that Hugo Barra is leaving, Xiaomi is now faced with the challenge of replacing him, a guy who is respected and liked across the industry thanks to his experience on Android. They need someone who can take further help globalize the company.
Xiaomi’s co-founder Bin Lin payed tribute to Hugo Barra:

When Hugo joined us 3.5 years ago, we started an amazing adventure to turn Xiaomi into a global player. We have come a long way since, and I couldn’t thank him enough for contributing so much to Xiaomi’s journey. As much as we would love to have Hugo stay with us in Beijing for a much longer time, we understand his personal challenges and wish him all the best in his future endeavors.
Hugo Barra is set to leave the company in February, after Chinese New Year. He plans on returning home and take some time off first before “embarking on a new adventure back in Silicon Valley.”

Pokdepinion: Some changes are happening in Xiaomi. Now we’ll see if this will make or break the company. It’s definitely tough to replicate the success they had in the past, especially with other smartphone makers capable of offering good quality, yet affordable smartphones. I’m more curious to see what Hugo Barra will do when he’s back in Silicon Valley.
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Genshin Impact Leakers Share Details on Scaramouche, Yaoyao, Dendro, and More

Recently, a Reddit AMA was held featuring several notable Genshin Impact leakers like abc64, Ubatcha, and Sukuna. As a result, we learned an extensive amount of details on the game, and here’s what you need to know.
Genshin Impact Leakers Share Details in Reddit AMA

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Previously, a number of Genshin Impact leakers have thrown in the towel and quit. This led to many gamers being worried as they might not be able to get their inside scoop on upcoming things. However, a bunch of them gathered for a Reddit AMA which allowed us to learn an extensive amount of details on the game.

When will Scaramouche release?
Sukuna had mentioned in their final leak that Scaramouche will not be releasing in the next one year. This has been confirmed as fake, but it is also noted that it will not be releasing anytime soon.
Is Dendro coming out in 2.3?
Rumors had pointed towards Dendro coming out in 2.3, but that has been confirmed as fake. It is noted that if it happens, it will be merely coincidence. That being said, it is further mentioned that the only
“dendro related character information available is Traveler’s constellation changing color to green, no skills have been added relating to dendro at all,” which possibly hints towards the fact that it is still far away.
Updates on Baizhu and Yaoyao
The leakers have refused to have any information about Baizhu being the poster character for Chasm. For Yaoyao, they mention that it was “datamined during CBT1/CBT2 era. Dendro Catalyst, although never been seen. Model exists, but no other data outside of some mentions in in-game text and voice-overs.”
Yunjin Details
It is mentioned that Yunjin was originally a Geo polearm but now has possibly been changed to Anemo or Cryo. Its model exists and “only other references are in-game text and voice-overs.”

Genshin Impact is currently available for free on the PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Android, iOS, and PC. A Nintendo Switch port of the game coming in the near future.
Source
Pokdepinion: Called it. Even if these leakers were to really quit, there are bound to be more information leaking out still, and it’s probably never going to stop.
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unifi Mobile now starts from as low as RM19/month — still features separate quotas for 4G and 3G data though

TM has just announced their newest plans for unifi Mobile. Starting from RM19/month, these new plans are a part of unifi Mobile’s Value Plan offerings, separate from the Ultimate Plan which is unifi Mobile’s RM99/month unlimited plan.

4G LTE quota
3G quota
Voice
SMS

unifi Mobile 19
1GB
1GB
5 minutes
25

unifi Mobile 29
2GB
1GB
50 minutes
25

unifi Mobile 39
4GB
1GB
50 minutes
25

unifi Mobile 59
9GB
1GB
100 minutes
25

The new Value Plans range from as low as RM19/month to RM59/month, with separate quotas for 4G LTE and 3G data. Customers can also use add-ons to topup their quota, which also comes in divided doses for 4G LTE and 3G data.

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All you need to do is order the SIM, and TM will deliver the SIM to you free of charge. What do you think of the latest Value Plans from unifi Mobile?
Pokdepinion: I hope the 5 minutes talktime for the RM19/month plan is a typo on TM’s end…
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Intel Xe-HPG may match GeForce RTX 3070 performance

The recent Intel Xe Graphics architecture does seem very promising, with the 11th Gen Intel Core processors offering GPU performance that rendered the NVIDIA’s GeForce MX350 and below irrelevant. Now, Raja Koduri is teasing a GPU that’s presumably the Intel Xe-HPG, with more than 20x faster performance than Intel’s Crystal Well iGPUs from back in 2013.
Crystal Well refers to the Intel Iris Pro 5200 integrated graphics that were a part of the higher-end Haswell-based mobile processors. They were pretty powerful integrated graphics at the time, even sporting an embedded DRAM cache to reduce the need of shuttling data between the iGPU and memory. For reference, it reportedly scores around 1450 in 3DMark Fire Strike.

From 2012 to 2021 – same Intel Folsom lab, many of the same engineers with more grey hair , I was at Apple back then, getting hands on with pre-production crystalwell, 9 years later playing with a GPU that’s >20x faster! pic.twitter.com/RgmRJuhOXw
— Raja Koduri (@Rajaontheedge) March 12, 2021

If the Intel Xe HPG can really deliver a 20x higher score, we would be looking at a score of around 29 000, which will be in the ballpark of the GeForce RTX 3070. Intel has previously revealed that they will be launching the Intel Xe-HPG GPUs in 2021, with features like raytracing baked in.

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What remains to be seen is the actual gaming performance, which will also be influenced by driver maturity and game optimizations. So far as we have seen, both NVIDIA and AMD support developers to get them to optimize their games for their GPUs, which has resulted in some rather stark differences in performance when the games are run on the opposing camp’s graphics cards.

With that said, Intel definitely has the potential to bring the fight to NVIDIA and AMD, especially as both giants are severely affected by supply issues now. If Intel is able to nail the price-performance ratio and also make them available, they might have a winner in their hands.
Source
Pokdepinion: I sure hope Intel can come in strong with their GPU!
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Arm Cortex-X1 is 30% faster than last-gen Cortex-A77

With almost no mobile chipmaker developing their own CPU core architectures anymore, all eyes are on Arm. Qualcomm’s last chip with their fully custom CPU architectures was the ill-fated Snapdragon 820 series, and then began to adopt semi-custom Arm Cortex cores back in 2016 after that. Samsung which has held out for quite some time with their Mongoose custom CPU architecture, has also shuttered their custom CPU division late last year, marking an end to in-house core designs. To allow their partners to remain competitive against one another, Arm has announced the Cortex-X Custom (CXC) program.
Arm Cortex-X1
The first CPU core as part of the CXC program is the Arm Cortex-X1, which delivers up to 30% higher peak performance than the last-gen Cortex-A77 architecture. In the CXC program, Arm’s partners can define their own balance of efficiency and performance by defining their own PPA (performance, power and area) targets.

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So while Samsung and Qualcomm may both use Arm Cortex-X cores in their upcoming chipsets, the performance and power efficiency metrics might be quite significantly different. The program allows for close collaboration between Arm’s engineering teams and the chipmakers, to design a chip that will meet their specific demands.

This change comes as Arm’s optimized PPA designs in the Cortex-A series like the Cortex-A77 do not hold a candle to Apple’s CPU architectures. It goes without saying that the Arm Cortex-X1 will be significantly more power hungry and also much larger (1.5x) than the Cortex-A series designs, but it does have the performance to back it up.
Arm Cortex-A78

While the Cortex-X1 may be used for the Prime core, or the one core to drive single-core performance through the roof, the current way of designing modern chipsets will most probably also make use of multiple Arm Cortex-A78 cores to flesh out its “big” core cluster.  That’s where the optimized PPA metrics of the Arm Cortex-A series will come into play. The Cortex-A78 will deliver a 20% improvement in sustained performance over the Cortex-A77 in the same power envelope, despite the PPA constraints.

These gains are expected to be delivered in conjunction with the jump to the 5nm process node. Overall, the Cortex-A78 is expected to fill in the gap between the Cortex-X series and the Cortex-A77, with a focus on improving efficiency and optimizing the area by cutting down on core design elements that have a low performance-to-area ratio. A smaller core means that chipsets based on these cores will be more economical to produce too.
It seems that while Samsung has ceased the development of their custom core architecture, mobile chipsets aren’t going to be boring any time soon.
Source
Pokdepinion: I am quite interested to see how will Arm’s partners take advantage of the CXC program.
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MSI Creator Z16 arrives with 100% DCI-P3 QHD+ display, miniLED RGB keyboard for RM11 999

MSI’s latest laptop designed for content creators is now finally available in Malaysia. To live up to their “Tech Meets Aesthetic” ethos, the MSI Creator Z16 packs amazing specifications and features into its sleek 15.9mm CNC-milled aluminum chassis. The entire package weighs just 2.2kg, making it really portable for its specifications.

Speaking of which, the MSI Creator Z16 packs the latest 11th Gen Intel Core i7-11800H paired with the GeForce RTX 3060 graphics. This is cooled by the Cooler Boost Trinity+ cooling system, which boasts a network of five heatpipes, four fin arrays and an unconventional three fans. Other specifications include 16GB RAM and 1TB of PCIe storage. This laptop is also a part of the NVIDIA Studio program, so you are assured of flawless compatibility with all the top content creation apps out there.

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However the main highlight of this laptop is its display. MSI equipped the MSI Creator Z16 with a 16:10 display, which they claim to “echo the principle of 1.618 that represents the beauty of mathematics and geometry.” Fancy marketing fluff aside, the 16:10 panel offers 11% more viewing area than a standard 16:9 display, which is pretty significant, especially when you consider that the MSI Creator Z16 isn’t much larger than your standard 15.6″ laptop thanks to its razor-thin bezels.
In addition to its unique aspect ratio, the panel here offers a QHD+ resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. Each MSI Creator Z16 is calibrated individually to meet Delta E < 2 at the factory, ensuring that content creators get the most accurate colors right out of the box. That’s not all though, as this laptop also comes with a touchscreen to let you interact with your apps more intuitively.

Another nice touch is its keyboard. While many content creator laptops might feature a boring white LED backlighting for the keyboard, MSI went all out for the MSI Creator Z16. It features a MiniLED backlit keyboard with per-key RGB customization powered by the SteelSeries Engine3. I am not sure how well will the miniLEDs light up the keyboard, but it sure sounds interesting to an RGB enthusiast like yours truly.
MSI Creator Z16 Specs and Price in Malaysia

MSI Creator Z16 A11UET 207

Processor
Intel Core i7-11800H, 8C/16T @ up to 4.6GHz, 45W TDP, 10nm SuperFin

RAM
16GB DDR4-3200 (2*8GB DDR4-3200 SO-DIMM)

GPU
Intel UHD Graphics
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU 6GB GDDR6, max. 65W TDP

Storage
1 x 1TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe SSD
1 x vacant M.2 slot

Connectivity
Intel WiFi 6E + Bluetooth 5.2
2 x Thunderbolt 4 USB-C (40Gbps)
2 x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A (10Gbps)
1 x microSD reader

Display
16″ QHD+ (2560 x 1600) 16:10 120Hz IPS-level display, 100% DCI-P3, True Pixel, True Color, Calman Verified
2 x DisplayPort Alt Mode (Type-C)

Power
180W power adapter
90WHr battery

Dimensions
359 x 256 x 15.9 mm

Weight
2.2kg

Price
RM11 999

The MSI Creator Z16 is currently available for pre-order, with the expected arrival set for 24th to 27th August. You can get it from Lazada as well as MSI’s official online store.
Pokdepinion: The trackpad looks rather small for a laptop of this category, but I guess that’s what the touchscreen is for?
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Three New PlayStation 4 Bundles Will Be Coming to Malaysia

If you have not gotten yourself a PS4 console just yet, then I have some good news for you. Sony Interactive Entertainment Singapore has announced that three new PlayStation 4 bundles will be making their way to Malaysia. The bundles are the PS4 Pro Party Bundle, PlayStation 4 Party Bundle, and the Mega Pack.
The Party Bundle

Both Party Bundles will come with two DualShock 4 controllers, Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled, FIFA 20, and 1+1 years extended warranty. The only difference between the two is that one comes with a 1TB PS4 Pro and the other comes with a 500GB PS4 Slim. Both consoles will be in Jet Black.
The PS4 Pro Party Bundle will retail for RM1,899 while the PlayStation 4 Party Bundle will retail for RM1,499. Both PlayStation 4 Bundles will be available in Malaysia starting 22nd November 2019.

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The Mega Pack

The PlayStation 4 Mega Pack will include a 1TB Jet Black PS4 Slim, a DualShock 4 controller, God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn, and Grand Theft Auto V Premium Edition. Moreover, the Fortnite Neo Versa Bundle DLC and 3-month PS Plus subscription will be included in the Mega Pack.
The new PlayStation 4 Mega Pack will be available in Malaysia starting 22nd November 2019 with a retail price of RM1,349.
PS Plus Special Promo

For existing customers, there will be a PS Plus special promo that you can enjoy. If you purchase a 12-month PS Plus subscription, you will get an additional two months at no extra charge. This will only be applicable for purchases and redemptions from 22nd November to 2nd December 2019.
Pokdepinion: I like how the bundles include two controllers instead of one. Personally, the Mega Pack seems to be the better buy unless you want a PS4 Pro.
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Exact Rollout Dates for Red Dead Online in Red Dead Redemption 2 Confirmed

As a follow up to our earlier post on Red Dead Online coming to Red Dead Redemption 2 possibly this week, we now have received word on the exact dates for when it will be coming. Do keep in mind that this will differ depending on which edition of the game you currently own.
It appears that it will indeed be coming out this week. Rockstar Games has announced a staggered rollout that will give certain people priority access, depending on what version they own and when they last played. The earliest someone can play is 27th November 2018, with general access opening on 30th November 2018.

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Here are the exact dates that Red Dead Online will be available for each edition of the game:

27th November 2018: Red Dead Redemption Ultimate Edition owners can begin playing through the online mode.
28th November 2018: People who played Red Dead Redemption 2 on 26th October 2018, launch day, can begin going online.
29th November 2018: Anyone who played Red Dead Redemption 2 between 26th October to 29th October 2018 will have access to Red Dead Online.
30th November 2018: Everyone who owns Red Dead Redemption 2 can play Red Dead Online.

Do keep in mind that due to time zone differences, there could be a difference of up to 1 day from the above dates.
The online mode will allow players to create a custom character and play online alone or with friends, exploring areas they have seen in Red Dead Redemption 2. You can have up to seven people in a group together to enjoy the game.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is available for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Source: Siliconera
Pokdepinion: Can’t wait for it. It’s hitting anytime now.
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HONOR MagicWatch 2 Sakura Gold Variant Coming This 7 April 2020

HONOR Malaysia has announced that their HONOR MagicWatch 2 (42mm) will be coming in a new color variant, Sakura Gold this 7th of April 2020.
HONOR MagicWatch 2 Sakura Gold

The HONOR MagicWatch 2 Sakura Gold comes with a Milanese strap alongside a stainless-steel casing. An AMOLED touchscreen display is used, which offers a resolution of 390 x 390 pixels.
It features GPS and GLONASS tracking system, 15 goal-based fitness modes, 13 different running courses, as well as real-time VoiceOver guidance. Not to forget, there’s the heart-rate monitor, sleep monitor, and stress monitor.

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As for entertainment, it supports storage and playback of over 500 songs. HONOR has claimed that the device can last up to 7-days, thanks to the Kirin A1 chipset. Other than that, an update will be coming to the HONOR MagicWatch 2 (42mm) where it will provide SpO2 monitor and female cycle tracking.
For more details on the HONOR MagicWatch 2 Sakura Gold, you can visit hihonor here.
You can also check out our full review on the HONOR MagicWatch 2 right here.
Pokdepinion: One for the ladies I presume? Will you be getting one? Let us know.
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Celcom users may suffer from connectivity issues until tomorrow

Celcom users are currently suffering from connectivity issues, with Celcom acknowledging the issues on their Twitter channel. The good thing is that since they are aware of the problem, Celcom are already working to fix their network.

Customers in parts of Peninsular Malaysia may find their browsing and some data services experience affected. Our technical team is working to resolve this issue and services are expected to return to normal by 6:00am tomorrow, 8 May 2020.
— Celcom Axiata #StayIn (@Celcom) May 7, 2020

Celcom subscribers can expect the services to return to normal by 6 am tomorrow, which is about 12 hours from now. Stay strong Celcom users, especially those who are working from home on a Celcom connection.

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Pokdepinion: A source close to me has reported that the connection is so slow that she can’t even load Spotify.
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Apple mulling move to Malaysia for iPhone production

With the US-China trade wars ongoing, Apple doesn’t want to be caught in the middle of all that. The Cupertino-based trillion dollar company is reportedly asking its suppliers and manufacturing partners to move around 15% to 30% of their production to Southeast Asia. The countries being considered for diversification include Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and India, with the latter two among the favorites in discussion.

5 million Chinese rely on jobs made by Apple’s presence in the country, but the US-China trade wars has Apple worried. Especially given that Trump has threatened to levy a heavier tax on electronics, which is Apple’s main business. Apple’s partners Foxconn, Pegatron, Wistron, Quanta Computer, Compal Electronics, Inventec, Luxshare-ICT and Goertek has all been requested to consider manufacturing plants outside China.

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So far, Wistron has assembled cheaper iPhones in India since 2017, and Foxconn has already commenced production in India, but at a very small scale. Over 90% of Apple products are currently assembled in China. 41 of Apple’s suppliers are based in China and Hong Kong, out of 200. A transition away from China will not be an easy task for Apple. Analysts expect at least 18 months before production can begin, and that’s after choosing a location.
Malaysia has been reportedly enjoying the fallout of the US-China trade wars, with Malaysia’s investment boosted by 73.4% year-on-year. Will we see Apple’s production plants add to that number?
Pokdepinion: The pride of seeing “Assembled in Malaysia” on the back of an iPhone might just make me get one!
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Qualcomm will serve GPU driver updates via the Play Store

Now not only do you need to update your computer’s drivers, you will also need to update your smartphone’s.While GPU driver updates aren’t exactly a new thing even in Android smartphones, they are generally delivered in OS updates. The latest development from Qualcomm will see them offered on the Play Store.
This new updating method is most probably enabled by Google’s Project Mainline which aims to make Android be more modular. With the driver updates decoupled from Android updates, you will be able to enjoy faster updates for optimized performance in the latest games, just like how NVIDIA and AMD do it.

Unfortunately, Qualcomm will only be supporting the driver updates via the Play Store on the latest Snapdragon 865, Snapdragon 765/G and other upcoming chipsets. The current lineup of Snapdragons won’t enjoy similar driver updates.

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There’s however another issue that Qualcomm may not be able to solve even with this new update method: slow OEMs. The updates will first have to be tested by individual OEMs against the specific smartphones before the updates will be released on the Play Store. If OEMs decide to not act on it, you are back to square one without any updates.
Pokdepinion: Oh well, at least it’s a step in the right direction.
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vivo V23e 5G Mirage Gold Variant Coming In Collaboration With L’Oréal Paris

A special vivo V23e 5G Mirage Gold variant is making its way to our shores on 11th February. This special colour variant is in collaboration with L’Oréal Paris to celebrate this year’s Valentine’s Day.
vivo V23e 5G Mirage Gold is coming

Designed for trendsetters, the new V23e 5G Mirage Gold was inspired by nature to provide users with a gleaming finish that complements their classy style and premium feel in their hands. The Mirage Gold is ultra-slim and lightweight, thanks to the AG Glass, and gives off posh vibes to its users regardless of style.

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In conjunction with Valentine’s Day, vivo collaborated with L’Oréal Paris Malaysia to provide customers with a day to remember their special ones through gifts that encourage them to ‘Be Authentic.’ For the occasion, be ‘You.’ The collaboration provides a one-of-a-kind Valentine’s Day gift box with the purchase of V23e 5G Mirage Gold.

The vivo V23e series is a selfie smartphone series that includes an up to 50MP AF Front Camera with Ultra Stabilisation mode, an elegant and slim design at only 7.36mm, a 4050mAh battery capacity with 44W FlashCharge, and Dual-mode 5G. The vivo V23e 5G Mirage Gold variant joins the other two vivo V23e colour options – Sunshine Coast and Moonlight Shadow.
The vivo V23e 5G retails at RM1,599 and the Mirage Gold variant is set to arrive in stores on 11th February.
Pokdepinion: NGL that gold colour looks really good. Unfortunately, it’s not my kind of thing.
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Genshin Impact 1.5 Leak Reveals Zhongli and Yanfei Banner Release Date

We’re less than 10 days from another major update so inevitably, we learned more about what’s coming in a new Genshin Impact 1.5 leak. This time, it has to do with a Zhongli banner rerun and a Yanfei banner.
Genshin Impact 1.5 Leak

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As many of you may know by now, miHoYo usually releases a major update every 6 weeks or so which includes new characters, quests, weapons, and / or places to explore. According to a new Genshin Impact 1.5 leak, it appears that we are getting a Zhongli banner rerun and the launch of the 4-star Yanfei banner.
Unfortunately, there isn’t much details on the rerun banner for now. From what know thus far, there will also be Diona and Noelle banners as well, which may disappoint a number of gamers given the regular appearance. Diona on the other hand is free in the 1.5 update, so it’s only valuable if you plan on upgrading her constellations.
The Zhongli banner rerun and the Genshin Impact 1.5 update will be coming on 28th April 2021. It will be available on the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Android, iOS, and PC.
Source
Pokdepinion: If it was me, I would rather save up but if you really want Zhongli in your team, this would be a good time for it.
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Qualcomm fires back at MediaTek for claiming that cheating is standard practice

MediaTek was caught red-handed cheating in benchmarks, but they were pretty defensive about their actions. They claimed that what they were doing was showcasing the full capabilities of a chipset. They also claimed that it was in line with the practices of other companies. Qualcomm has just refuted that and said that whitelisting is not part of their practice.

Qualcomm explained to Android Authority that they do not do whitelisting.

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Whitelisting refers to the technique of using the app name to determine whether to put the device into performance enhancement mode. The action of whitelisting a benchmark app is generally considered by the industry as cheating since it defeats the purpose of a benchmark, which is to reflect user experience for day to day use. Qualcomm does not whitelist.
Qualcomm was probably compelled to react after MediaTek called out their key competitor for having chipsets that operate in the exact same way. MediaTek might have been referring to HUAWEI or Samsung in that statement, but it goes without saying that Qualcomm is more direct competition to MediaTek than HUAWEI and Samsung.
And it also goes without saying that Qualcomm’s partners have done whitelisting and cheating in benchmarks, but I guess what Qualcomm really means is that they do not do so themselves. MediaTek’s whitelist was embedded in their Board Support Package (BSP) which is used by the OEMs, and is probably something which the OEMs themselves were unaware of.

It’s unfortunate that MediaTek had to partake in such practices as the MediaTek chipsets and their partner designs were getting quite interesting. With such sketchy ethics, I believe it would be hard for them to shake the stigma that MediaTek chipsets are inferior, even if they decide to go straight after this.
Pokdepinion: Ah I was hoping for more out of MediaTek…
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OPPO F9 to be the fastest charging mid-range smartphone?

OPPO’s VOOC Flash Charge has been renowned to be one of the fastest charging technologies. Usually reserved for the higher-end models like the OPPO R-series and the revived OPPO Find-series, it is now making a reappearance in the OPPO F-series, as it is coming to the OPPO F9.
The usual quick charging adapters push out about 18W, and even that is usually reserved for flagship devices. Mid-range devices usually settle for 10W chargers, but not the OPPO F9. OPPO claims up to 2 hours of talktime with just a 5-minute charge, via its blazing fast 20W charging, with VOOC Flash Charge technology.

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The combination of low voltage and high current allowed OPPO to keep the OPPO F9 cooler than competing fast-charging technologies can, while also delivering faster charging. Safety is also assured with five layers of protection.

Aside from this new technology, the OPPO F9 will feature a minimized notch, or as OPPO calls it, a Waterdrop Screen design, for a screen-to-body ratio of 90.8%. It will also be coming in three interesting colors. Will you be waiting for the OPPO F9? If you are, stay tuned, as we will keep you updated about OPPO’s upcoming device!
Pokdepinion: I loved VOOC when I was using the OPPO R9s, I am loving it in the OPPO Find X, and to see it hit what should be a more affordable device is definitely exciting!
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Enjoy RM100 Off OPPO Reno6 Series With My OPPO Members Anniversary

In celebration of their My OPPO App’s 2nd Anniversary Celebration campaign, OPPO Malaysia is offering you RM100 off their latest Reno series smartphones.
My OPPO App 2nd anniversary
If you’re not sure on what the app is all about, it is a program designed for OPPO users where it is preloaded on all new OPPO smartphones. With it, users can enjoy membership benefits at the tip of their fingers.
In addition to the RM100 off offer for the Reno series, OPPO is giving out rewards worth up to a total of RM4 million as well as deals as low as RM2, just for members of the app.

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To redeem the RM2 reward, you can head to the My OPPO App and select Voucher Redemption and choose whichever discount voucher that you wish to redeem.
They are also hosting a special lucky draw for new members. You can simply register and head to the My OPPO Members 2nd Anniversary Celebration Lucky Draw section and click GO and use 10 bonus points to get 1 chance to draw. Prizes includes a Find X3 Pro, PS5, GoPro Hero9 and more.
The campaign runs until the 31st of October 2021. You may head to the link right here for more details. For more on the latest tech and gaming news plus reviews, stay tuned to Pokde.net.
Pokdepinion: Don’t forget to check out our full review on the OPPO Reno6 Z and OPPO Reno6 Pro in case you aren’t aware of what they have to offer!
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POCO F1 MIUI 10 update coming next week — set to bring massive improvements to the user experience!

Xiaomi has pushed out MIUI 10 updates to most of their recent devices, including the Redmi Note 5, Mi 8, Mi MIX 2S and also the older Mi MIX 2. The POCO F1 MIUI 10 official update is yet to be seen though. Beta versions have been around for quite some time, but they have yet to release the Stable version. Well it is definitely getting the update very soon.
It has been announced on the MIUI Forum that the POCO F1 will be receiving the official release next week. Aside from this great announcement, Xiaomi also took the opportunity to address several other issues with the POCO F1, such as the notch interfering with PUBG Mobile as well as the incompatibility with Asphalt 9.

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Worth noting is that Xiaomi appears to be referring to the POCO F1 and POCOPHONE F1 as different devices. The former was launched in India, while the latter refers to the same hardware launched globally. So the POCO F1 MIUI 10 update coming next week might not apply globally, but just for the Indian variant. [UPDATE]: Mi Malaysia has hinted that Malaysian units of the POCOPHONE F1 will be getting the MIUI 10 update soon too!
Still, the POCOPHONE F1 MIUI 10 update shouldn’t be that far away, considering that the POCO F1 and POCOPHONE F1 are actually one and the same, aside from the naming. This update should fix the touch issues experienced by certain users, as well as the OK Google bug which is somewhat getting on my nerves now. Widevine L1 support is expected to be added soon too, solving a major sore point for movie fans.

Do you own a POCOPHONE F1? Did you install the MIUI 10 Beta updates to get an early taste of MIUI 10? Let us know!
Pokdepinion: I can’t wait for this update to arrive on my POCOPHONE F1! It’s currently my daily driver and I am loving it to bits!
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Razer Vows To Make The Future Greener And More Sustainable For Gamers

Popular gaming brand Razer has just announced a long-term commitment to a 10-year environmental roadmap. The programme will help conserve nature and protect the environment under the #GoGreenWithRazer banner, ensuring a cleaner, greener world for future generations.
Time to #GoGreenWithRazer
Among the programme’s targets include using 100% renewable energy by 2025, using recycled or recyclable materials in all products by 2030, and becoming carbon neutral by 2030. Razer is also mobilising the community that includes youth, millennials, and Gen Z communities to make a difference through a number of green initiatives as part of this movement. This involves recycling and being conscious of the company’s environmental impact.

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The company says that they will look for ways to incorporate sustainability plans into the company culture and the minds of its employees. Razer pledges to reduce and eliminate the use of single-use plastics in all offices in order to minimise greenhouse gas emissions, protect bio-habitats, and achieve carbon neutrality by 2030. Where reduce and renew is not possible, Razer will restore through investments in forestry and other environment-impact projects.
The company’s European headquarters in Hamburg, Germany, is currently powered by renewable energy, and the new Razer SEA headquarters in Singapore, which will open shortly, will follow suit. All global offices will be powered entirely by renewable energy by 2025.

By the year 2025, the gaming brand company will guarantee that all of its products are recyclable. This covers both consumers and worldwide distributors’ disposal and recycling of their products. Customers are encouraged to recycle their old Razer peripherals for free at any RazerStore around the world.
Razer will also enforce strict waste disposal practises in its global offices and repair centres, and by 2030, it plans to use recycled or recyclable materials in all of its products. The brand’s hardware will be made with PCR plastics and will have an environmentally friendly design, including FSC-certified biodegradable packaging. the company will also dispose e-waste responsibly in compliance with local and international environmental, safety, and health regulations.

In addition, Razer will use #GoGreenWithRazer as a global corporate social responsibility focus to inspire and encourage the community to contribute to and support the global green movement, with their popular mascot Sneki Snek leading the charge.
The company recently partnered with Conservation International to protect 1 million trees through the sale of Sneki Snek plushies and eco-friendly merchandise. The gaming brand company will reveal a new piece of Sneki Snek merch at every 250,000 trees mark to galvanise fan support. Every piece of Sneki Snek merchandise sold will help save ten trees, bringing the total number of trees saved to one million.
Razer will work towards expanding its #GoGreenWithRazer campaign and will endeavour to do more for the environment to create a safe world for all to play in. For more information, please visit their official website here.
Pokdepinion: It’ll be great to see more companies go green with initiatives that’ll reduce their carbon footprints. We all know that our planet is in dire need of some healing. Fantastic job, Razer. You have my respect.
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Apple is Doubling Down on User Privacy on Data Privacy Day

To promote the ability to control data privacy, Apple is running a special in-store course for it and has a short film with a notable star from Ted Lasso.
Apple Emphasizes on You Taking Charge of Your Privacy on the iPhone

28th January 2023 sounds like any ordinary day for most of you out there but little did you know, it is the date for Data Privacy Day. In conjunction with it, Apple is offering an in-person session at their stores called “Taking Charge of Your Privacy on iPhone” where iPhone users can learn about the device’s privacy settings and how to adjust them.
The session is roughly 30 minutes long and registration can be done online. Before attending, customers can also watch Apple’s new video on the daily interactions that impact data privacy, “A Day in the Life of an Average Person’s Data” starring Ted Lasso’s own Nick Mohammed, which is available on the Apple homepage and YouTube.

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Apple has integrated privacy controls into its operating systems over time and is offering new in-person sessions, “Taking Charge of Your Privacy on iPhone,” to show users how to utilize these features and understand the importance of privacy. Moreover, the company has released iOS 16.3, iPadOS 16.3, and macOS Ventura 13.2, which expands on Advanced Data Protection for users outside the US and include support for physical security keys.
Data Privacy Day, which originated in Europe in 2007 and was recognized in the US in 2009, is a day observed by institutions to raise awareness about personal data protection. To learn more about Apple’s stance on user privacy and the OS features that help protect your data, visit their official website by clicking right here.
Source
Pokdepinion: As the world continues to be more connected than ever, more of people’s own personal data gets out there, both knowingly and unknowingly. Despite how dangerous it can be, it’s still a threat that is often underestimated given that it’s a slow burn rather than an immediate one.
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God of War Ragnarok Has Bigger File Size on PS4 Than PS5

The launch of God of War Ragnarok is just around the corner and interestingly, the game’s file size on the PS4 appears to be bigger than on the PS5.
God of War Ragnarok File Size

🚨 Update for God Of War Ragnarök Size :
🟥 PS4 Exact Size : 106.734 GB
🟧 PS5 Exact Size : 83.921 GB
🟨 Looks like some EU countries same download size with US
🟫 #GodofWarRagnarok https://t.co/1MbZ26mFzx pic.twitter.com/0AuKRzhTXG
— PlayStation Game Size (@PlaystationSize) October 22, 2022

According to renowned Twitter account @PlayStationSize, the file size of God of War Ragnarok is 106.734GB for the PS4 version whereas the PS5 version is a slightly smaller 83.921GB. The details have said to come from the official PlayStation database.

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While this may seem odd, there is a chance that things could change come launch day with the Day 1 patch. It’s also worth noting that the file size could differ between regions as well, but that should also be slight, if any.

God of War Ragnarok will be coming to the PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 on 9th November 2022. There is even a special DualSense controller themed after the game available as well.
Source
Pokdepinion: This could very well be the biggest PlayStation hit of this year. Of all time? That’s still very hard to say.
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foodpanda may now be the lowest rated app on the Play Store

The Google Play Store may have just gotten a dark mode, but probably even gloomier is foodpanda. The app is now probably the lowest rated app on the Play Store, as netizens decided to not only vote with their wallet, but also with their Google accounts.
Initially, users were calling for a boycott of the app by uninstalling the apps from their devices en masse in support of the riders. However some bright ones then suggested giving the foodpanda app a low rating, with the goal being the removal of the app from the Play Store by Google given the low ratings.
This was at 12pm 12th October… How low can it go?
The whole fiasco started when foodpanda decided to adjust their riders’ salary structure, although it was probably worse when foodpanda Malaysia’s Managing Director added even more fuel to the fire when questioned about the decision by malaysiakini.

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Just for laughs, I Googled for the “lowest rated play store app” and stumbled upon the One Star App: The Lowest Rated App. And guess what, it got a better rating at 1.6/5.0. So yeah, I do believe the headline is pretty accurate.

We doubt Google will remove the app since foodpanda is a legit company. Meanwhile, over on Apple’s App Store, the app still enjoys a strong 3.7 star rating. I guess there are more Android users in support of this movement than iOS users?
Pokdepinion: Well, that’s what you get for inciting the anger of the public…
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Razer Raiju Ultimate Review – The Ultimate Gamepad for PS4 and PC

Unboxing the Razer Raiju Ultimate
Razer Raiju Ultimate Review – Box

When you purchase the Razer Raiju Ultimate, you will find the following items inside the box:
Razer Raiju Ultimate Review – Box content
USB to MicroUSB cableUser guide and warrantyProtective carrying caseRounded thumbstickTaller thumbstickAlternate D-padRazer Raiju Ultimate gamepad
Appearance
Razer Raiju Ultimate Review – Original Raiju on the left, Raiju Ultimate on the right.
The Razer Raiju Ultimate looks like a more premium version of the original Raiju controller. There are some notable changes that makes this particular one special, but we’ll go over that one by one. For starters, you have the button layout in the style of the DualShock 4. The D-pad on the upper-left side, left analog stick on the lower-left, right analog stick on the lower-right, and the PlayStation buttons on the upper-right side.
Razer Raiju Ultimate Review
Apart from that, you have the Options button on the right side, Share button on the left side, the PS4 touchbar with RGB lighting in between the two buttons, the PS button sandwiched between the two analog sticks, and four additional buttons below it. These four buttons are Profile / Remap, Configure, Lighting, and Lock. As you can tell, it’s rather big, and the surface here is somewhat rubberized for improved grip.

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Razer Raiju Ultimate Review – The right analog stick is also removable
It’s also worth noting that the analog sticks and the D-pad can be removed. Razer has included another D-pad module as well as two extra thumbsticks; one that’s more rounded and another with extra height. The two D-pad modules will let you choose between having a tilting D-pad or a D-pad with individual buttons. We’ll talk more about this in the User Experience section.
Razer Raiju Ultimate Review – Shoulder buttons and triggers
Moving to the top, you have the usual shoulder buttons for R1 and L1, shoulder triggers for R2 and L2, and two additional programmable buttons on the left and right side for M1 and M2. The MicroUSB port is right at the center here, with the Razer typography sitting right above it.
Razer Raiju Ultimate Review – 3.5mm audio jack
On the bottom here, you have a 3.5mm audio jack for you to connect your headphones / earphones in. You can also make use of voice chat assuming your headset uses a 3.5mm audio connector, and the microphone connector isn’t its own separate plug.
Razer Raiju Ultimate Review – Rear
Moving to the back, you have the product descriptions, switches to adjust the R2 and L2 trigger stops, two programmable bumpers for M3 and M4, and a Mode Switcher for PS4 Bluetooth, PC Bluetooth, and USB. It’s also worth noting that there is a bit of a pattern with the rubber finish of the grips. This is to further improve grip so it’s easier to hold on to.
Overall, the Razer Raiju Ultimate is a spectacular-looking gamepad with a number of options to enhance your gaming experience. The design choice alone has a clear, major improvement of the DualShock 4 in every way, and this time without the need to sacrifice the convenience of wireless connection. While the RGB lighting may seem a bit extra, it does improve the overall aesthetics.
Specifications
SwitchesRazer Mecha-tactile buttonsExtra Buttons4 multi-function buttonsDirectional KeysAnalog and D-pad with interchangeable thumbsticks and D-padConnectivityWired3.5mm audio jack for audio and microphoneMicroUSB portWirelessBluetoothCable Length3 meters, braided fiber cable, detachableDimensions106 x 155 x 66 mmWeight370gCompatibilityPS4, PC
User Experience
Razer Raiju Ultimate Review – Setting up on Acer Predator Helios 700 via USB
Setting up the Razer Raiju Ultimate on both PC and PS4 is an easy task. If you plan on using it wired, just set the Mode Switcher to USB and you’re good to go. On PC, you simply have to wait for Windows to necessary drivers, which only takes a couple of minutes. If you’re planning to play wirelessly on the PS4, it can seem confusing at first especially if you are impatient.
Razer Raiju Ultimate Review – PS4 Setup
Essentially, you have two choices; either use a DualShock 4 or use it on USB mode first and navigate to Settings > Devices > Bluetooth. Ensure that it’s on PS4 BT mode, and then hold both the PS and Share buttons for 5 seconds. When the status indicator starts to blink rapidly, it will be in pairing mode. You will then have the option to connect your PS4 to the gamepad.
After pairing it for the first time, you can use the Razer Raiju Ultimate to power on your PS4, just like the DualShock 4.
Razer Raiju Ultimate Review – PC Setup
As for using wireless connection on PC, set the Razer Raiju Ultimate to PC BT mode and hold both the PS and Options buttons for 5 seconds. When it rapidly blinks, it’s in pairing mode. Afterwards, just head to your Settings > Devices > Bluetooth on Windows 10, click on “Add Bluetooth or other device”. Select the first option (Bluetooth) and the Razer Raiju Ultimate will appear. Choose that and it will automatically connect.
The next time you want to use the gamepad, it will automatically pair again for as long as it’s set to PC BT mode and it’s powered on. When gaming on Steam, it will be recognized as a PS4 controller.
Razer Raiju Ultimate Review – Wrong Wireless Setup
I’m aware that in the past, people had trouble connecting the Razer Raiju Ultimate on PC via Bluetooth wireless connection. Razer has released a new firmware, v1.0.5, which has fixed the issue. Mine came with the new firmware by default and I had no issues. If it appears on Bluetooth devices as anything other than “Razer Raiju Ultimate” on both PS4 and PC like in the picture above, you’ve most likely used the wrong way to connect it.
Razer Raiju Ultimate Review – MicroUSB
One thing I do not like with the Razer Raiju Ultimate is the MicroUSB cable. Not only do I wish it was USB-C, but not every MicroUSB cable can be used to connect to the gamepad. The connector isn’t immediately exposed as you has to go through a hole to reach the port. If your own cable is too wide, you can’t use it as it won’t fit. Not opting for USB-C is still understandable as PS4 controllers are using MicroUSB.
Razer Raiju Ultimate Review – Face buttons
I personally find the Razer Raiju Ultimate very comfortable to use. It fits perfectly in my hands and it also grips well. It may be a bit on the heavy side but it’s a lot more comfortable to game, especially for long hours, compared to the DualShock 4. Given that this one is wireless, it’s also very convenient to use.
The mecha-tactile switches on the buttons are as amazing as always. It’s clicky and has a very short travel distance, allowing to execute actions faster. Actions that require precise execution such as the Electric Wind God Fist in Tekken 7 is easier to pull off thanks to the shorter travel distance. You may not like the feel at first, especially when you’re used to the DualShock 4, but give it a bit of time and it will be hard to game with anything else. The PS4 touchbar, PS, Options, and Share buttons work just fine.
Razer Raiju Ultimate Review – L1 and L2
Even the shoulder buttons (R1 and L1) have lesser travel distance, but both that and the trigger generally have more surface area, making it easier to press. The triggers have the additional benefit having switches to shorten the trigger stop, which is great for games that don’t require it to be pushed all the way down. I don’t really find myself using the M1 and M2 buttons as it’s a bit out of reach but what I really like is the M3 and M4 bumpers as they’re programmable and easy to reach.
Razer Raiju Ultimate Review – Two D-pad modules
As for directional input, you have the added versatility as you can swap out the D-pad module and thumbsticks. For general gaming, i prefer the D-pad with individual buttons as they feel more comfortable to use but for fighting games, I tend to use the tilting module as it’s easier to hit directions like down-left and down-right.
Razer Raiju Ultimate Review – Swappable analog sticks
For the analog sticks, you can swap out from the default ones to a taller thumbstick and a more-rounded thumbstick. I actually found that swapping the right analog stick with the rounded one more useful as I start to build this association in my head where the different surface means different functions.
I don’t really see the point of having the taller one, especially because it will make the analog sticks feel imbalanced due to different heights, but I’m not saying there is no value to it. Some gamers may prefer having a taller thumbstick for movement.
Either way, how you use it is up to you but I really like the idea of swappable modules. It’s not as robust as the Thrustmaster eSwap Pro, like the ability to switch D-pad and analog stick positions, but you do have some options. I was hoping there would be additional modules that can be purchased but doesn’t seem like that is the case.
Razer Raiju Ultimate Review – Playback device on PC
When it comes to the 3.5mm audio jack, it works perfectly fine on the PS4 (wireless) as well as on PC via USB. It even has support for microphone provided your headset uses a single connector as opposed to separate ones for audio and microphone. On PC BT mode however, the Razer Raiju Ultimate will not appear on your Playback Devices list. I don’t see it as a drawback, but definitely something to point out in case you want to use it with a headset while on wireless mode on PC.
Razer Raiju Ultimate Review – RGB
The RGB lighting may seem a little extra but it does have its uses. Apart from being a major eye candy, it can also be used to tell you when it’s in pairing mode or when the battery is running low. Without it, the battery life would be better but I find it more useful to be with the lighting than without.
Speaking of battery life, it seems to be consistently running for about 10 hours with RGB lighting on before the battery dies on me. This is close to Razer’s claim of an 11-hour battery life. Furthermore, it’s certainly better than the DualShock 4, which lasts about 6 to 8 hours per full charge. Charging time is its weak point however, as it takes about 3 to 4 hours to fully charge it with the PS4. With my TP-Link UH720, it takes about 2 hours, which is still pretty lengthy.
Razer Raiju Ultimate Verdict
Razer Raiju Ultimate Review
The Razer Raiju Ultimate is one of the best gamepads I have ever used thus far. It’s comfortable, the buttons can actuate fast, has RGB lighting, plenty of extra buttons, it’s wireless, and swappable D-pad modules as well as thumbsticks. In case you wanna bring it around, Razer has graciously included a protective carrying case. It’s great not just for the PS4, but also for PC gaming.
Not everyone would be keen on picking one up however as it is pricey, the buttons can feel awkward at first, you can’t connect it to just any MicroUSB cable, and it’s not as straightforward to setup as a DualShock 4 controller. If you can afford it and are at least patient enough to learn the proper way of setting it up as well as to get used to the feel of the buttons, then you’re going to have a great time with this gamepad.
If you prefer the Xbox-style directional input layout, you can opt for the Razer Raiju Tournament Edition instead.
With that, I award the Razer Raiju Ultimate with our Gold Pokdeward.

Big thanks to Razer Asia Pacific for letting us use this gamepad for the purpose of this review.
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Acer Day Play Music Together Promo — Deals Include A 144hz Curved Gaming Monitor For Just RM599!

Acer Day is back again this time around with the offers and deals lasting until the end of August 2018. The company hopes to connect people with music and color with this year’s theme of ‘Play Music Together’.
Acer Day Play Music Together

The event website, which was officially launched on 20th July 2018, allowed consumers to interact with people from around the glob, to create their own original music or paticipate in quizzes, and that’s not all. Consumers also can earn Cool Points which they can use to enter giveaways.

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Among the prizes up for grabs for Malaysia during the event is a 4D/3N trip for two to Taiwan, a Helios 300, and a Nitro 5 from their Predator gaming lineup, the ultra-light Swift 5 and also the Spin 5. There’s also 4 units of Iconia Tab 10, 4 roll-top junior backpacks and 10 units of Acer Day bluetooth speakers in the prize line-up.

If that’s not what you were looking for, fret not. Acer Malaysia will be hosting a roadshow in Mid Valley Megamall from the 30th to 5th August 2018 with several of their products on sale at cut-price. Deals include the  Curved Gaming Monitor which you can get at just RM599. It comes with a refresh rate of 144Hz and also FreeSync.
There’s also the KG271* monitor, which comes with a promo price of just RM499. Coming in at 27-inches with 1ms response time, it’s a great deal.
Other than that, if you’re looking for a mouse, they are offering the Predator Cestus 300 (RM49) and also the Cestus 500 (RM99) at lower prices respectively.
Besides the products that are being offered at cheaper prices, there will also be special performances by Amoi Amoi and Bell Yu Tian lined up for the crowd.
For more information on the Flash Sale, you can check out Acer Malaysia’s official Facebook page.
*Flash Promo
Pokdepinion: Anyone else went for the previous carnival at Sunway Pyramid? Did you missed it? Well mark your calendars guys, great deals are waiting for you.
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EagleGet downloader review — Accelerate your download speed

I could say that almost computer users is using some form of download manager, and in most cases when I ask someone randomly what’s their favorite download manager, I have gotten pretty much the same answer every time, Internet Download Manager (IDM). Then I followed up my question with, “Did you buy it” and most of the replies I get are “No, I’m using cracked version”. Indeed I just can’t deny the fact that IDM is a great downloader but it is not freeware. You might be able to get a cracked version for free but I don’t want take any risks of getting hidden malware since I do a lot of shopping on eBay and other sites. One more thing is I don’t support using pirated software, please support the developer if you really want to use their software that badly, but it doesn’t come cheap though. So today I would like to give my opinion on EagleGet, an alternative free download manager and why it might be your favorite after this.

Interface
EagleGet is a free download manager which also serves as an accelerator. Even though there are more freeware like it but I like the fact that EagleGet is just so user-friendly, light-weight and customizable. I give them a thumbs up as soon as I started the software up. The interface is really clean and simple. Tor me that makes for an intuitive interface. All the icons are easily understandable and in the event you don’t understand them, just hover over the icon and a description will appear. Almost everything is just a click away. You can also customize the background like what I did below. I swear that image of networking cables boosted my download speeds.

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Pause and resume downloads
This is top priority feature I want in my downloader. Like IDM, EagleGet supports pause and resume function very well, given that the server you are downloading from supports it. I have heard people complaining that they have issue with it, but so far I’ve tested with multiples different file formats from everywhere, as long the server supports download resume feature, I’ve encountered no problems at all.

Media Grabber
This is the most erratic tools in EagleGet. At first when I tried using it I faced, failed process, unresponsiveness, and even sometimes EagleGet crashes or I need to kill the process. I don’t know what’s the reason actually, but on some other days I gave it another try and it worked perfectly even though its processing speed is still slow when you try to download YouTube video. For your information, the media grabber is a tool that can grab any media files such as video files from any URL that you insert in the search bar.

 Scheduler
This is another great feature in EagleGet. With this tool I can easily schedule when I want to download files. Not only can you schedule the download, but you can also set the computer to automatically shut down after all downloads are completed. Sounds almost like IDM right?

Browser Integration
Everybody loves to download videos from YouTube, Vimeo and other video hosting sites. Like IDM, EagleGet browser integration work seamlessly and fast. It can detect almost any video stream and a download button will pop up, from there which you can choose the format you want the video in before starting the download.

Once you clicked the button it will give you two categories to choose from. The upper category contains complete videos with audio but they are limited up to 720p resolution. If you want to download 1080p and beyond resolution, you need to choose from the lower category from which you have to download the video and audio separately and combine it later with FFMpeg.

Speed?
I never complained about the speed when using this software. It’s stable and really fast, using up my internet bandwidth efficiently. Compared to Chrome or Firefox default downloaders, I only got around 300-450 KBps, but with EagleGet, I always get the maximum speed possible and sometimes it can hit up to 1 MBps (that’s 1000 KBps) peak download speed. I’m using TMnet 8 Mbps internet package with D-Link DSL-2750E ADSL modem which I will review soon.

Ask yourself what features you really need out of your ideal download manager. For me all the features I mentioned above are the main features I really need. When I started using EagleGet some time ago, it was really buggy and feels unpolished, not to mention the UI just looks cheap. But time moved fast and there are a lot improvements, which is the reason I always recommend people to use EagleGet now instead of IDM and save some money (or the risk of being infected with malware from cracks). I award the Silver Award to EagleGet downloader. It works great, but there is still room for improvement, such as the media grabber feature.

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Shopee Offers Up To 85% Discount On Electronic Products This 29 September

With Shopee 10.10 Brands Festival arriving soon, Shopee Malaysia has announced that you can enjoy up to 85% discount on electronic products this 29 September 2020.
Shopee 10.10 Brands Festival promo

The promo will be a one-day only offer, where you can enjoy discounts on products from brands such as Xiaomi, realme, HP, VinnFier, Belkin, ANKER, Beko, Garmin, to name a few. Aside from the products being 100% from Shopee Mall official stores, you can expect a 15-day free return policy.
Interested to see what they have to offer? You can check the table below:

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ProductRRPPromorealme Buds AirRM299RM199realme BandRM129RM79realme Buds Air NeoRM199RM149realme Buds Wireless (Tuned by Alan Walker)RM149RM79realme 10000mAh Power Bank 2 RM129RM79Vinnfier Momento 3 True Wireless Stereo EarbudsRM229RM89Vinnfier Neo Boom 2020 Portable Bluetooth Speaker RM229RM105Belkin Mastercube E9H110vsaCWRM89RM59Belkin Lightning Audio + Charge RockstarRM219RM189Garmin Vivoactive 3 Element GPS SmartwatchRM999RM799Garmin Instinct Rugged Outdoor GPS SmartwatchRM1,299RM1,199Xiaomi Mijia Youpin Onemoon Air Fryer 4.5LRM599RM199Deerma F323 Air HumidifierRM355RM49.99MBH Geminus Wireless HumidifierRM199RM28.90Beko 10KG Automatic Top-Loading Washing Machine RM1,349RM949Beko 8KG Automatic Top-Loading Washing MachineRM999RM739HP GK320 RGB USB Wired Gaming KeyboardRM149RM94.50HP GK520 Mechanical Gaming KeyboardRM219RM109.80SanDisk MicroSD CardRM20RM10.90Sandisk Pendrive Blade CZ50RM22.60RM10.60Official Redragon Titan 24000DPI Gaming MouseRM69RM59Anker A8843 Special Edition 24K Gold USB C to Lightning CableRM499RM359
From now till the 10th of October, the Shopee 10.10 Brands Festival will allow you to enjoy RM10 deals, free shipping with a minimum of RM10 spend and more. For more details on the 10.10 Brands Festival, you can head to the link here.
Pokdepinion: There’s plenty of products to choose from, see one that you fancy?
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POCO F2 Pro to launch in Malaysia tomorrow

POCO Malaysia has officially posted a teaser for the POCO F2 Pro‘s Malaysian launch. We will finally know the price of the much anticipated flagship killer here in Malaysia, and I must say I am quite excited for it.

The Snapdragon 865-powered POCO F2 Pro will probably be quite significantly pricier than its predecessor, but it does serve up a lot more niceties than the device that kickstarted the whole #BaikBeliPOCO frenzy. There’s a much better camera sensor, a much costlier 5G chipset under the hood, and a much more premium design, complete with an OLED display in front.
While it’s going to be more expensive, you can expect POCO to still deliver great value for your money. Here’s the POCO F2 specifications, in case you haven’t check it out:

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POCO F2 Pro Specs

Snapdragon 865, octa-core up to 2.84 GHz, 7nm
Up to 8GB LPDDR5 RAM
Up to 256GB UFS 3.1 storage
6.67″ FHD+ AMOLED display, HDR10+, 1200-nits peak brightness
64MP Sony IMX 686 + 13MP ultra-wide + 5MP telemacro + 2MP depth sensor
20MP selfie camera
4700 mAh battery, 30W Fast Charging
6GB+128GB: €499 (~RM2343)
8GB + 256GB: €599 (~RM2815)

The EU pricing is quite significantly higher than the Chinese pricing for the Redmi K30 Pro, of which the POCO F2 Pro is a rebrand of. Well, as the teaser pointed out, the wait is not much longer. Let’s see how much it will cost here in Malaysia. We will be updating this post with more information as we get them, so stay tuned!
Pokdepinion: I can’t wait!
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MyPay Coming Soon In January 2019 — One-stop Platform To Settle Your Government Payment

Today we took the time to have a look at the beta version of MyPay, an online platform where you can access your government services as well as make your necessary payments there. The platform will soon be arriving in late January 2019.
Other than that, you can have easy access to services such as stats checking and information viewing through your account. There, you can check important agencies such as PDRM, PTPTN, JPJ, LPPSA, PTGS, SPR, MBPJ, MPSJ, JIM, and JPN to name a few. They will also be bringing in KWSP and PNB sections too in the near future.
For now, the platform is only accessible on mobile.

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So if you are interested in using MyPay, you can use “MYPAYPREVIEW” as the early access code and here are the steps that you’d need to follow in order to utilize the platform;

Log on to MyPay and sign up with your IC no. and personal details.
Click on the Agency tabs that appear in your home screen
Check your status, view information or make payments online

The platform is free to use. You might be wondering on how they make an income with the platform. Well for every transactions that you make on MyPay, they will charge you from RM0.50 to a maximum of RM1. If you are easily just checking on your information, for example your PTPTN loan amount, then you can do so without spending a single cent.
Pokdepinion: People might compare it to another platform that does something similar, but after using MyPay for myself, I’d say that it has more options in terms of agencies that is listed there. This is really a one-stop platform that’s on hand for you anytime, albeit once it’s launched in January 2019 that is.
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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950 Ti in the works

While I have previously thought NVIDIA will launch the GTX 950 Ti with a Pascal GPU, apparently they have decided to milk the GM206 core once again, with a NVIDIA GTX 950 Ti apparently in the works.While no official information has been released by NVIDIA’s channels, it looks like the NVIDIA GTX 950 Ti will sport 896 stream processors and will offer performance between the GTX 950 and the GTX 960. In comparison, the GTX 950 has 768 stream processors, while the GTX 960 with the full GM206 silicon has 1024 SP.

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If the GeForce GTX 950 Ti comes with the GM206 silicon, it will support DirectX 12, OpenGL 4.3, OpenCL 1.1, Vulkan and other NVIDIA’s proprietary technologies. Moreover, the product will also be ideal for HTPC enthusiasts since it supports hardware H.265 (HEVC) encoding/decoding and is compatible with HDCP 2.2 content protection over HDMI 2.0, a set of technologies that will be required to playback Ultra HD Blu-ray content.

SOURCE: KitGuru

Pokdepinion: It is uncertain whether this rumor will come to fruition, but to me, the GTX 950 Ti may be a rather unnecessary card as the GTX 960 and GTX 950 already offer competitive performance in their respective price range. Have a look at our review of the ASUS Strix GTX 960 to see how the full GM206 GPU performs.
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