How to Spot a Fake Casio F-91W in 2019

I ordered online the classic Casio F-91W. It took 3 weeks to arrive in the Philippines from the overseas provider.

It was a long wait and when it arrived, I noticed instantly that the display of the numbers were perfectly vertical instead of usual slightly slanted or italicized numbers on Casio watches. A red flag for me.

The box it came with had the F-91W displayed but it also had on big letters announcing it as an "Analog" watch where in fact it is most popular "digital" watch in the world even for terrorists that after almost 3 decades of production since 1991, still sells around 3 million units a year for Casio. In fact, Barack Obama and Osama Bin Laden both own this watch. For terrorists, if you wear a Casio F-91W or its metal variant A-158W, it means you have the skills to use it to time a bomb.

So I tried these two tests:

• Long press on the 12h/24h button. It displayed "CASIo"   - PASSED
• Long press all three buttons. All the LCD segments activated.   - PASSED

It passed both tests that many YouTube videos suggested on how to determine it you have a fake or original F-91W. Well I guess the counterfeiters also watched those videos and learned from it.

But upon closer inspection of the LCD segments, there are font serifs missing on the day display that an original F-91W should have. Then the second digit of the minute numbers should have two segments at the top "8" segment. Only 1 solid segment was there. I encircled these two differences in  LCD segment details in the fake watch image below.

These plus some other minor observations confirmed that what I got was a fake Casio F-91W.
I returned it and got my refund thankfully.

I don't know if there are other counterfeiters out there are able to copy these small details in the LCD segmentation. They are really getting better.

Be careful when buying. Cheers!

               

Sparc TechBook S1 In Depth Review

Box:

A pretty simple box. Only a thin clear front plastic cover and bubble wrap protects the laptop. Unlike mall branded laptops with full on corrugated cardboard box and foam on all sides. But it was delivered damaged free naman.

Specs:

• It's Intel Atom Z8350 processor with Intel HD Graphics is faster than Atom Z3735 series processor on the more expensive 10-incher Cherry Mobile Cubix CubeBook or 2015 Acer Switch 10 laptops. Local laptops with the same processor cost more. The latest Acer branded laptops with Z83xx series processor costs 24,000 and up.
• 1366 x 768 resolution TN display
• 2GB RAM, 32GB storage expandable by SD card (64GB max)
• 1 full size USB 2.0
• 1 full size USB 3.0
• 1 mini HDMI port
• Wi-Fi b/g/n
• Bluetooth 4.0
• 0.3MP front camera
• Large multitouch touchpad
• Full size keys, non-illuminated 
• Windows 10 Home, 64-bit

First boot:

It took 2 hours in blue screen with spinning dots before the login screen appeared. Then another hour of busy cursor after logging in as Admin where you can’t do anything but wiggle the cursor from time to time. Nabato after 1 hour at nag long press na sa power button for forced shutdown. The succeeding Windows boot took less than 30 seconds na consistently. Fast boot.

Available user space:

17.8 GB free before any software install.

Can install 64GB SD card max and configure Windows to use it for future installs and file saves. Of course this depends if the app for install supports storage selection.

Power supply:

Power brick is small, parang pang cellphone. Cord length is short. Di ka makalayo sa outlet compared to those extra long cables ng conventional laptops.

Trickle charging lang if plugged in while turned ON. To expedite charging you need to turn it off.

Battery life is 8 hours. Longer if wifi and bluetooth off.

Screen:

Comes with a screen protector with side 1 already attached. Just peel off side 2 plastic.

Screen brightness good and sufficient even when outdoors. No dead pixels.

Horizontal viewing angles are good. Vertical viewing angle is confined which is expected of TN panels. It's not IPS so expect what TN panels offer. Very good for its price and size.

Illumination flickers sometime. Sana wag mag black out later.

Audio:

Speaker volume is audible but tinny. Zero mids and lows. Headphone jack works.

2 noise cancelling microphones are sensitive enough for Cortana to hear me and respond when I give her tasks.

Bluetooth:

Zippy connection to BT speakers. Clean output.

USB ports:

1 full size USB 2.0 and 1 full size USB 3.0. The USB ports are upside down compared to “normal” laptops. Ingat connecting your USB thingy baka pwersahin nyo pag di pumasok. Just flip it over.

HDMI port:

Mini HDMI port works well with TV, projectors and extended monitors.

Wireless display connection:

Can wirelessly connect to a SmartTV with wireless display or Miracast support. Just press windows+P then select connect to a wireless display. Works great. No wires.

Thermals:

No noisy fan. No hot spots while in use. Warm lang. Di makakaluto ng itlog.

LCD back panel illuminated logo:

Looks cool when dark. When against the light (example, morning sun) and you have a black wallpaper, the logo outline is visible from the front. Lipat ka na nag ng pwesto.

Weight:

Magaan. Sarap dalhin.

Dimensions:

Similar to 1st generation Macbook Air in thickness. Looks cool. Bagay itabi sa iPhone.

Program loading and response:

Fast response for MS Office 2016 applications, iTunes and email apps. Light gaming ok. Very usable for school/office work, web browsing, social media, YouTube, downloading and playing movies and music.

Live USB:

Can boot to Linux and other live OS.

External HDD:

OK. Can read/write.

Windows update:

First few tries to update were fails. Downloaded Windows update troubleshooter from Microsoft and it fixed it. Windows update was a breeze afterwards. Was able to upgrade legitimately to Windows Fall Creators Update (version 1709). Be sure to do Windows disk cleanup to free up disk space once the update is completed.

For a price similar to a Cherry Mobile budget phone, it’s a very good deal indeed. Same performance as well branded smaller 10” windows laptop with the same processor and memory config. But those cost more.

Baguio in 3 days (Part 3)

My parents woke up early to have a hot cup of coffee and my brothers took an early morning bath to knock the cold away. We packed up our stuffs after breakfast and checked out of Assumption for our final pasyal point and the long drive home. We went out late in the morning but traffic was still heavy from Baguio to La Trinidad.

 

We just admired how houses were sticking out of the mountains with very steep stairs to go up and down. We wondered how they bring big appliances way up the steep stairs to where their live.

 

An hour before lunch we reached Benguet State University strawberry farm. We made this our last stop so we can take home strawberries and other vegetable produce and reach home while they are still fresh.

My mom was surprised on how a strawberry plant looked like. It was her first time to see it and she quipped "nakakita rin ako ng totoong strawberry na halaman. Ganyan lang pala yan."

 

We started our drive home right after buying some produce and eating strawberry ice cream, lumpia and strawberry pie. "Di masarap ang strawberry pie" sabi ni Ian.

 

And as promised, we headed back to S.O.U.L. Cafe for a relaxed lunch and for papa's papaitan. He said it was good and "ilokanong ilocano ang lasa."

 

The rest of us had our choice of steaks while Hannah of course had her all-time anytime anywhere favorite - cheese burger. Along the way home we bought tupig which is also a first time my parents and brothers. Good thing Lilia thought of stopping by one the kids selling tupig along the road.

 

Dinner was in Shell of Asia along NLEX, less than 20 Km away from Balintawak. We opted for Mang Inasal because about a month ago I discovered that papa and mama have not tried Mang Inasal yet.

It was a long drive home so we spent the night in papa and mama's house before heading home to our own house the next day.

3 days  -  789 kilometers  -  all good fun

thank you God

Baguio in 3 days (Part 2)

Our first night in Baguio was a big change from our nights at home. No need for air-con or electric fan in Baguio. The temperature dropped to 17 degrees C that summer night. And unlike home, no way to throttle the temp to a cozy 23 to 24 degrees C. It was a good experience for my parents and brothers as their first time.

 

Sunday began early with a 7:30 AM Holy Mass in Assumption. We came in early just as the others are coming in. It was followed by breakfast then LnP worship then Lunch.

 

Group pictures were taken before everyone went on separate ways for the rest of the weekend. Some already needed to go back home with an optional detour to Our Lady of Manaoag while some stayed to experience more of Baguio.

 

Mines View on a Sunday is crowded with people. Parking was along the streets only because no parking area is available.

   

There are a lot of pasalubong stalls all around including the classic wooden barrel man with the big surprise. There are also photo ops with horses that have pink manes or Saint Bernard dogs wearing shades.

 

For pasalubong and take home goodies we passed by Good Shepherd Convent that is located near Mines View Park. The price is a bit higher but aside from their good quality products, you get the good feeling that part of what you pay for goes to the education of the convent's scholars. You can see some of them in the upper left corner of the photo above. Their ube Jam is very smooth and creamy. You can make home-made ube hopia by spreading this on pan de sal. They don't have an ube jam version with chunky bits in it. Their peanut brittle really deserve the name "peanut brittle" because it easily breaks when bitten lightly - no stress or effort needed, just the joy in consuming caramelized finely ground peanuts. It is far better than some other peanut brittle that should be more appropriately named "peanut rocks". Lengua de Gato was out of stocks.

 

Merienda was next. We had it in Cafe by the Ruins which is very close to our next point of interest.

 

A merienda of croissant, fancy turon, leche flan and Jose Rizal's favorite tsokolate-e.

 

Last stop for the day was a cool leisurely late afternoon stroll in Burnham Park. The man-made lake reminded me of the lake in NUVALI. But instead of boat riding, NUVALI lake have another purpose.

 

Some of the sunflowers were already starting to wilt so I guess late March is the best time to see all of them in full bloom. Sunflower bloom signal the start of summer. As the sun said goodbye, we headed back to Assumption for dinner.

 

Assumption make very good hototay soup and it made me return to get some more - twice. The dinner and hot soup was a good combo before settling in for the cold night.