Technofranki's blog

The last week, Playstation Blog have blogged tips on Playstation 3 use.

PlayStation Tips #5 – DIY Hard Drive upgrade

It’s actually easy to upgrade the harddrive on Playstation 3. You can use a standard 2.5″ SATA drive. Well, they posted a link to a guide on how to change the harddrive; goto Asia.Cnet.com.

I have a HP Pavilion dv6000 (dv6525eo to be exact). It’s a great laptop by the way. The dv6525 have video output for both HDMI, VGA and S-video.

Normaly I use HDMI with my HDTV. But since it’s Christmas holiday, I’m at my parents house, and they only have a SDTV. So I have to use the S-video output.

It was then that I ran in to my problem. I couldn’t get a picture on the TV at first. But after some trail and errors, I got a picture, but it was only black and white. I updated the drivers. It did not help. A search on the Internet showed that many other had the same problem.

So what do you when you don’t get it to work? You try some more. The S-video out on the HP laptop is 7 pin. I tried both a S-video cable from the laptop to the TV, and S-video to RCA connector, but not much help there. So I tried to take the pin on the RCA, make contact with the outer metal on the S-video to RCA, as the picture below shows. Guess what? I got a colour picture.

My father had a S-video to componet cable (as the last picture shows). If I use that in my laptop and connect it to the TV with the RCA-cable connected to the blue-connector on the S-video to component cable, I can watch my laptop on the TV in full colour.

So if you have problems with TV-out on the S-video connection, try a S-video to component adapter and connect it on the blue connector.

Ebay is a good place to look for cheap adapters.

Here’s a list of best sellers on Play-Asia.com, listed by consoles. This is the list of December 30.

Xbox 360

1. Assassin’s Creed (US – regionfree)
2. MX vs ATV: Untamed (Asian – regionfree)
3. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (US- regionfree)
4. Gears of War (Platinum Collection) (Asian – regionfree)
5. HORI Fighting Stick EX2: Virtua Fighter 5 Limited Edition

PlayStation 3

1. Dual Shock 3 (Black)
2. Dual Shock 3 (Ceramic White)
3. Gran Turismo 5 Prologue (Japanese – regionfree)
4. Unreal Tournament III (US – regionfree)
5. Winning Eleven 2008 (Japanese – regionfree)

Nintendo Wii

1. Component AV Cable
2. Naruto Shippuuden: Gekitou Ninja Taisen EX 2 (Japanese version)
3. Nintendo Wii (for Japanese games only)
4. Super Mario Galaxy (US version)
5. Wii Remote Control

Nintendo DS

1. Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2 (Japanese)
2. Jump Ultimate Stars (Japanese)
3. Liquid Crystal Filter DS Lite
4. Kanji Sonomama Rakubiki Jiten (Japanese)
5. Nintendo DS Character Touch Pen Super Mario Bros.

Sony PSP

1. Bleach: Heat the Soul 4 (Japanese)
2. GPS Receiver
3. Chotto Shot (w/ Camera) (Japanese)
4. Star Ocean: The First Departure (Eternal Edition w/ PSP-2000 Console)
5. DJ Max Portable 2 (Korean – English text)

PC

1. Söldner-X: Himmelsstürmer [First Print Limited Edition]
2. Super Joy Box 3 Pro
3. Super Joybox 5 Pro
4. Crysis Collector’s Edition (DVD-ROM)
5. Super Dual Box Pro

Next Wednesday, January 2, 2008, Metal Slug 3 is coming to Xbox Live Arcade. The game will cost you 800 points. (source: MajorNelson.com)

METAL SLUG 3 ™

Marco, Tarma, Eri, and Fio, the four veterans of the elite Sparrows Unit now come to Xbox LIVE® in METAL SLUG 3™! The popular action shooting series is in all of its original arcade glory, with gorgeous graphics and all the run-and-gun action you can handle. There is no time for indecision. General Morden is on the warpath and you must prevent him from creating the New World Order. Stop the Rebel Army!

• Multiple routes: Different routes through the stages allow for extended replayability.
• Different metal slugs: Various slugs are available for help in battle. Handle all the different slugs to learn their capabilities and complete the mission.
• Individual enemies: Different enemies appear depending on which route the player takes, and each enemy has its own unique characteristics.
• Classic arcade graphics: The classic graphics are faithfully reproduced for your gaming enjoyment.

Do you like candy? If you do, you should try some Japanese. I’ve bought some Japanese candy that taste good. I can recommand Shuwa Puccho Soda Stick Candy, Shuwa Puccho Cola Stick Candy and Meiji Uruou Ume NodoameCandy. I usualy order a candy or two when I buy games/accessories at Play-Asia.com. It’s too expensive just to import candy.

This was a deal I couldn’t say NO to. Amazon.com have a Buy 1 – get 1 HD DVD free now. And among the titles was the first four Harry Potter movies (three of these and some other movies are no longer a part of this deal).

I’m still reading the first Harry Potter book. I haven’t seen any of the movies before, so I hope they are good. I do like the book. I have to read on, so I can watch this movies soon.

Just to get them listed, this is the movies I bought:

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Amazon.com have yet again some great deals on HD DVD and Blu-ray movies. They have Buy 1 – get 1 free HD DVD and upto 50% on selected Blu-ray movies. It doesn’t say how long these deals will last, so go and get some movies while you can.