Samsung Galaxy Tab A with S-Pen review

Have I told you I have a soft spot for phones or tablets with styluses? First there was the Note 7 FE and now I got myself a Samsung Galaxy Tab A with S-Pen. It’s an older secondhand model so the top and bottom bezels are humongous. But the most important thing is of course the included S-Pen.









Spec-wise, it’s a pretty mediocre tablet. The processor was below average and the screen quality is nothing to shout about. I attempted to install PUBG Mobile on it once but the game lag so much, it was basically unplayable. In short, playing any heavy or graphic-intensive games on this tab is out of the question.








So what else can you do with this tablet? Not much really except watching movies or browsing on the Internet. It does got 4G LTE so you can put your SIM card inside. I thought I would use the stylus a lot but just like the Note FE, I use it rather sparingly if not at all. At 8.0”, the screen is just right, small enough to carry around everywhere. But the huge chins betray its older design when newer Samsung tabs have minimum bezel around them. Hence the reason I keep neglecting this tab over time and in the end, rather than let is gather dust in my drawer, I sold it off before the resale value go any lower.

Touch n Go RFID

When Touch N Go started to launch their RFID service, I was amongst the first to sign up on their website. Too poor to afford regular SmartTag, the free RFID is godsend. About two weeks or so after registering my interest, I got an invite to set up an appointment for the RFID installation. I quickly picked out a date and location and around two weeks later, bring my car to a “fitment” centre near KL.



The only thing you need to bring is your identity card and a copy of your vehicle registration papers. The installation took less than 5 minutes. Once the personnel placed the sticker on my headlamp, he gave it a couple of waves with his receiver to try and then we're done. They could install it on the windscreen but you can’t have any tint films on that. Same applies to the headlamp. Any tint films would disrupt the radio transmission/identification.



First impressions - it was really convenient. I just need to reload my Touch N Go eWallet app and then it will deducted whenever I pass through an RFID enabled toll plaza. Although not as numerous as SmartTag, their numbers grow every year. So far the success rate is about 98% which is pretty good. I can only remember one time when the beam didn’t lift up while using RFID. Maybe I was driving too fast, maybe the tag malfunctioned. Either way that was pretty rare. Most of the time, I pass through without any problems.



Apart from paying for tolls, I can use the eWallet app to pay for retail purchases at many retail outlets and restaurants. Heck I even see some night market traders offering purchase via the eWallet app. Reloading the app is convenient, you can use online banking or credit/debit card. The only downside that I can think off is that there’s no RFID toll plazas yet along the North-South Highway (PLUS). As of writing, it is looking increasingly unlikely since the highway owners is at odds with the Touch N Go owner (CIMB) over the whole cashless payment system.



If you would like convenience and faster entry/exit at many toll plazas, Touch N Go’s RFID is a no brainer. Find out how you can register for your on Touch n Go RFID from this website.

The case for Unifi Mobile #Bebas

I was a great proponent of Webe postpaid plan (now known as Unifi Mobile Postpaid). For just RM79 a month you get unlimited everything - voice, SMS and most importantly data. No other telco in their right mind would ever offer that kind of generous plan for such an affordable price. Well almost no other telco except UMobile, but you know how bad their coverage is.

Now Unifi Mobile is introducing their brand new prepaid Unifi Mobile #Bebas plan with even more affordable plan for the rest of us. The introductory promo include giving out free prepaid starter SIM packs with 20GB free data, 10 minutes voice and 10 SMS. What’s more, the prepaid doesn’t expire for as long as you use any of the voice, SMS or data service once in 90 days, for real. Pretty good deal huh? Gone are the days where you have to reload at least 30 ringgit every month just to keep your prepaid line active whether you use it or not.

So I got myself 5 free SIM cards, two for myself and one for each of my children. Coverage-wise, they’re pretty similar to their postpaid line. Sometimes you get good 4G coverage, other times it drops to 3G. The only downside that I notice is that the data plan is a bit on the expensive side. RM30 only gets you 4GB of quota and they are further divided into 2GB LTE and 2GB 3G. Since their 4G coverage is not that good, you’ll use up your 3G quota a lot faster. Digi prepaid for example offers a generous 35GB of combined Internet and streaming quota and Hotlink offers 6GB of Internet and unlimited social media apps use for the same price.

That said, this Unifi Mobile #Bebas is perfect for me because I only need this prepaid line on my other phone which I use mainly for games, video streaming and social media (read: Instagram). Most of the time I use either the home or office wi-fi or my mobile broadband MiFi device. So you see, I rarely finish my month 4GB data quota not to mention the voice and SMS quotas. I usually reload once in 3 or 4 months. It’s the perfect plan for me. As of now I don’t see any other telco offering similar never-expire plans.

While the never-expire plan works great for me, I have to mention that the 4G data coverage and availability are pretty poor compared to other telcos like Maxis, Celcom and Digi. Many times, I can’t depend on my Unifi Mobile prepaid line to Waze for locations or stream videos because the signal is only 3G, especially away from the cities. It’s a compromise you had to make for the price or is it the non-expiry feature? So if you don’t want to reload your prepaid line every month like me, Unifi Mobile prepaid is perfect for you. If you value availability and reliable Internet connection more, look for the other telcos.