Lowyat.NET: Latest topics by lostintransition

Kayu Jatuh?

lostintransition — Mon, 27 Jan 2014 14:55:37 +0800

Hi all;
I am about to enter into a contract with a carpentar to build a book rack to be mounted onto the wall in my study room. According to him, the book rack is made from a type of solid wood known as KAYU JATUH (from the sound of it).

Well, the name itself is abit weird. I corrected him and told him the pronunciation is supposed to be Kayu Jati (teak wood) and he told me it is NOT Kayu Jati (teak wood) as it is too expensive but it is indeed KAYU JATUH.

Have anyone heard of Kayu Jatuh before?

Also, anyone knows good carpentar in Penang island? Need to be a customised book rack to mount onto the wall in my study room.

1/f Yuragi fan from Panasonic/ KDK?

lostintransition — Tue, 21 Jan 2014 09:55:25 +0800

Hi all reno sifus,
Just asking, i currently own a KDK ceiling fan - K14x5. Somehow, hands got itchy and wanna replace this with the 1/f Yuragi fan from Panasonic. Do you think it is worth it? Some forumers told me the Yuragi is just a marketing gimmick. Not really practical.

Furthermore, will the 3D blade design really help??? Or just another gimmick???

A fan is just a fan is just a fan...

What wall color to match pine wood furnitures?

lostintransition — Fri, 17 Jan 2014 11:03:14 +0800

Hi all;
Need some help. Trying to match the wall paint with the two pine wood furnitures in my small bedroom.
Bedroom size is 10 feet vs. 10 feet.
Pine wood wardrobe and
Pine wood bedframe.
(Picture of the furnitures shown here - 2nd picture to the bottom).

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=656...&type=1&theater

Trying to create the effect that the wall will serve as a backdrop - the wall will not catch the eyes - but rather to showcase/ bring out the beauty of both the pine wood wardrobe and pine wood bedframe.

I have already told the painter to use Nippon paint (blue color);
Color code: Clear blue 442 for the 3x walls and Bluet 7245P for one wall?

Now, i start to regret it because it seems Nippon cream color (cream 860) is the best - per the advice of the furniture seller.

What are your comments? Nippon Cream color 860 for all four walls or
Clear blue 442 for the 3x walls and Bluet 7245P for one wall?

2.1 or 5.1 Surround Sound System for a small room?

lostintransition — Wed, 15 Jan 2014 17:41:48 +0800

Hi all audiophiles,
I would like to install a good surround sound system in my bedroom. The problem is that:
- my room size is small - 10 feet by 10 feet,
- there is no place to position the speakers - except on the wall using wall mounting brackets or on the study desk, and
- will be running the 2.1 or 5.1 system from the Lenovo Y580 laptop.

A few questions that need your clarification:

Question 1: 5.1 vs. 2.1 system:
Given that the room size is pretty small (10 feet by 10 feet), i wonder if a 5.1 system prove to be an overkill? The room is small and this resulted in a less than optimal positioning of the 5 speakers. Hence, the 2.1 (with sound virtualisation) may do the trick and possibly "replace" the rear speakers.

Question 2: What happens to the sound quality by mounting all the 4 satellite speakers on the wall?
Due to the lack of space, i am planning to mount the four speakers at all four corners near to the ceilings to avoid clashing with the furnitures. How would that affect the sound quality? As far as possible, i will try to place the 2 frontal satellite speakers & 1x middle speaker on the study table.

Question 3: Which is the best surround sound system for 2.1?
My budget is around the price range for Logitech Z623. Any comments on Logitech Z623? How about any incremental upgrades to Logitech Z623.

Question 4: External sound card.
Someone mentioned that we can enhance the sound quality of the 2.1 system by purchasing an external USB sound card (Example: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1 Pro USB Sound Card) and plug the 2.1 system to the external USB sound card (instead of plugging it to the Laptop).

Will this approach yield any difference to the sound quality if compared to plugging 2.1 system to the laptop?

Need Insurance advice

lostintransition — Thu, 26 Dec 2013 10:57:24 +0800

Hi all;
Currently, I am in the market looking to procure a health/ medical insurance and the AIA A-Plus Med seems attractive. However, there is a clause that states

"Out-Patient Kidney Dialysis Treatment and Out-Patient Cancer Treatment (per Lifetime) of RM375K". Please refer to the attachment as per below.

This is supposed to be excluded from the recurring annual limit RM150K.

Just asking, if touch wood and i contracted cancer, do you guys think that RM375K per lifetime is sufficient?
What is the reason for this exclusion of "Out-Patient Kidney Dialysis/ Cancer treatment" from the recurring annual limit?

My best guess is that both of these treatments are very expensive if compared to other treatments and insurance companies wanna save up on this.

PS: Currently, I have a 3 years old insurance policy from Great Eastern - Smart Medic. Currently, my medical plan - SmartMedic - with GreatEastern includes the outpatient cancer treatment and kidney dialysis as part of the recurring annual limit. Shopping around to top up my medical insurance. Either going to look for enhancement within GreatEastern or to switch over to AIA.

Good spray shops in Penang Island

lostintransition — Mon, 23 Dec 2013 10:14:02 +0800

Hi all - anyone can advice a good spray shop in Penang island? Complete with the address and phone number. So far, i managed to locate these:
- Nanyang,
- Eng Spray, and
- Kim Seah.

Anymore to add to the list?

"Medical bill" for old Proton Wira 1994 (M)

lostintransition — Fri, 13 Dec 2013 14:03:27 +0800

Hi all sifus,

I am an owner of an old Proton Wira 1994 (Manual) and torn between either buying a new car or just spend money to maintain this old ride.

Total Wira “medical bill” = RM10K to RM12K.

RM5.5K to RM6K is what the paint shop guy quoted me.

Type of paint used: full set – Standox brand (from Germany).

Defect #1: the rooftop is rusting. They need to peel off the rooftop, replace the 4 steel bars, apply a layer of glue and replace it with a brand new original rooftop.

Defect #2: the side panel of the car (left side) - the paint is peeling off like crazy. You can see patches of the car’s steel panels/ “bones”, extremely rough surface caused by paint degradation/ breakage.

5 years warranty against color fading, paint peeling, paint breakage – but no warranty against bird shit.

Paint quotation:
RM1,200 to RM1,500 – to replace the entire rooftop – defect #1
RM3,800 – to spray the entire car and rectify defect #2
RM350 – to replace front and back bumper and spray primer, paint, etc…

RM5,000 for the engine major overhaul/ rebuild.

This is the quotation from Maddriver garage and he is quite famous here on Lowyat. From what he told me – it is a complete engine rebuild.

What is the difference between engine major overhaul, engine rebuild, blue printing? What are the right questions to ask the mechanic? This is the best answer I got from the internet:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qi...01131023AA5EtJ2

So, what is your take? Spend about RM11K on this Wira or just buy new car? Very headache.

Looking for a good car spray shop in Penang

lostintransition — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 21:31:57 +0800

Hi all,
I am looking for a good car spray shop in Penang to spray my Proton Wira (already 15+ years old liaw ~ bought in 1995). This involves;
- spray the outside of the entire Wira body,
- clear off the old paint ~ somehow, the old paint pecah liaw due to poor quality used. I want to clear off the old paint so the new layer of paint will look nicer on the Wira body,
- replace the rooftop. Rooftop kena cancer ~ pecah everywhere.
Any good recommendations?

Change "save as" location for Libraries in W8

lostintransition — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 14:07:22 +0800

Hi all;
Please help. My laptop is running on 2x drives;
- C Drive: 120GB SSD, and
- D Drive: 500GB HDD.
Naturally, i want store the following
- My Documents,
- My Music,
- My Photos,
- My Videos and
- Games
...in D Drive (HDD drive) and still be able to access them in "Libraries".

The problem is the directory for the above files are in C Drive. Can anyone help to show me how to set these up in D Drive? A step by step explanation is very much welcomed and appreciated.

Windows 7 Home Basic vs. Home Premium

lostintransition — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 22:22:05 +0800

Just a few questions concerning WIndows 7 Home Basic vs. Home Premium.

QUestion 1:
Is there any performance difference between WIndows 7 Home Basic versus WIndows 7 Home Premium??? Just a hearsay...someone mentioned WIndows 7 Basic is slightly lags behind Windows 7 Home Premium.

QUestion 2:
How to enable the FULL Windows Aero in WIndows 7 Basic? Any patches to "unlock" the FULL WIndows Aero in Windows Basic?

Question 3:
SInce WIndows 7 Home Basic limits the user to 8GB of RAM, is 8GB RAM sufficient for the foreseeable future?? Trying to future proof my laptop here.

Reason for asking: GOing to purchase a new Lenovo Y580 IdeaPad laptop -

Thanks alot....

P.S.: Please don't flame me for posting this on a WIndows 8 forum........

Windows 7 Home Basic vs. Home Premium

lostintransition — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 22:21:42 +0800

Performance btw. Windows 7 Home Basic vs. Premium

lostintransition — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 19:17:27 +0800

Hi all;
I am about to purchase Lenovo IdeaPad Y580 which comes preinstalled with Windows 7 Home Basic. Needs some advice on the following:

- Is there any performance difference between Windows 7 Home Basic versus Home Premium? Just a hearsay that Windows 7 Home Basic is lagging behind Home Premium. Don't know how true is that...

- How to enable Windows Aero in Windows 7 Home Basic?

How to increase rental yield?

lostintransition — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 17:28:37 +0800

HI all sifus,
I am currently considering to purchase an apartment about RM180k which currently yields RM800 per month rental. However, problem is that this will create negative cash flows.

Any ideas on how to increase the rental yield from RM800 to RM1200? Besides asking the agent to work real hard, of course.....

The apartment unit is good because
- located at the side of the hill, facing the sea....
- peaceful, quiet and tranquil, and good neighbourhood
- partially renovated, &
- previous owner takes good care of this apartment.

Any ideas?
My renovation budget is estimated at RM10k. What else should i do?

Property investing in Penang

lostintransition — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 09:52:00 +0800

Hi, fellow sifus…
Please advice….. I am about to purchase my first investment property.

Type of property – landed, residential, 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, double storey, intermediate

Location – at the exit of Penang 2nd bridge, Batu Kawan on the mainland, Peninsular. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batu_Kawan
Growth potential of Batu Kawan – low for the first 5 years, moderate to strong from Yr. 6 to Yr. 10,
Batu Kawan has been earmarked as a new township to be developed by PDC, a Penang state development corporation.

Purchase price = RM245,000 (it is next to impossible to find this in Penang island)
Loan to value ratio (LVR) = 90% , Loan package = BLR – 1.9% = 6.3%-1.9% = 4.4%; Public bank; Monthly installment = RM1,102

Expected outcome after Yr. 10;
Property price = RM350,000 (very prudent estimate)
Assumption,
Prudent/ conservative appreciation of about RM100,000 given the township of Batu Kawan at Yr. 10
Monthly installment = RM500 (tenant’s portion) + RM600 (my contribution)
10% down payment = RM25,000

Sales price at Yr. 10 = RM350,000
Total payout (my contribution) = RM97,000 = RM25,000 downpayment + RM600per month x 120 months
Loan principal pending to clear with bank = RM175,632.90
Gains = RM77,367 at Yr. 10

Problem with this;
Negative cash flow of RM600 per month (assuming no rental increase for 10 years)
Maybe hard to find tenants during the first 2 years – the place is abit remote;
Currently, the location is just a palm tree plantation but has got a huge growth potential as it is the exit of Penang second link.
Have not calculated miscellaneous costs yet.

Any opinions / feedback on the viability of this investment?