Running from March 12th to 15th (today to this Sunday), the IT Show takes up floors one to six of the Suntec convention centre. The show opens daily at 12pm and ends at 9pm during this four-day period.

IT Show is really huge this year. All three Singapore telcos have big booths. M1 and SingTel are on floor 2, and StarHub is on floor 3. Floor 4 is the main hall with all the big consumer brands like HP, Canon and Samsung, whilst floor 6 hosts all the small chapalang IT gadgets vendors, from computer games to memory cards to GPS gadgets.

It might be a down economy, but it sure didn’t seem like it as the place was thronged with people this morning when I went. In certain places — especially on the fourth floor near the popular booths — you will get stuck in a human traffic jam trying to squeeze past the milling crowd. This weekend will be a nightmare to find parking if you’re visiting the show, so public transport is advised.

Typically, computer show prices are similar to prices you can get in retail at outside stores, but with one exception: freebies. And Singaporeans love the freebies and lelongs that are part and parcel of any computer show.

Here’s some stuff that caught my eye:

The LG R410L laptop, priced at $1,199 is an Intel Core 2 Duo processor T4200 laptop, with Intel 960 GML Express Chipset 3D Graphics,14.1 WXGA screen, 4GB DDR2 RAM, 250GB SATA hard drive, bluetooth, wi-fi 8021.11 b/g/n, built-in webcam, stereo speakers and 5-in-1-reader. It’s an OK deal.

However, it’s the freebies that really caught my eye. It comes with a free 500GB Western Digital MyBook 3.5 inch external HDD, LG optical mouse, and Norton Intenet Security 2009. Not a bad list! Offer is at the LG booth on hall 4.

Canon’s camcorders range from $799 to $2599 but again it’s really the freebies that make the offers quite tempting.

Besides the free dry cabinet, tripod, video bag, SD card reader, battery, SDHC 8GB memory card (pictured on the right), Canon is also giving a free digital camera per purchase!

Depending on what make of camcorders that you buy, you can get a free Powershot camera or even the Ixus 870 IS (retail price according to Canon is $549). Buy camcorder, get free digital camera is the pitch at the main Canon booth on hall 4.

At the Audiohouse booth (the distributor for Philips products), the sales folks were touting prices of up to 60 per cent discount that can only be found at the IT Show. For example, the 42 inch Philips HD LCD TV was going at $1,499 at the show compared to the usual outside retail price of $2,399.

On top of that, they were giving away a free Shinco DVD player (picture on right) for every HD LCD TV bought.

One tempting deal comes from Samsung, which is selling its new 14.7-megapixel NV100HD camera for S$599, with loads of freebies thrown in. 3 x 4GB SD card, card reader, 5-in-1 cleaning kit, extra lithium battery, tripod, etc and etc, anyone?

This nifty little number (see below) also shoots HD videos and has a nice 28mm wide-angle lens. And it also has a handy 3-inch touch-screen as well. Besides the wide-angle option, this is a worthy update over and seems a better buy than Samsung’s own S$549 NV24HD, which comes with an older 10-meg lens but better 24mm wide-angle.

Also found at one of the few Samsung booths, this nice YP-U4 stick MP3 player with a four-line OLED display. 2GB for S$89 and 4GB for S$129. Great for those long jogs if you don’t want your sweaty palms on your precious iPod.

As expected, netbooks were out on force from Lenovo, Toshiba and of course, Asus, which started all the craze for these tiny, affordable portables last year.

Do note though that Asus’ top model (Eee PC S101, see below) running Windows XP and with a pretty, glossy finish to match most ultraportables is going for a hefty S$1,098, possibly more than what you’d pay for a regular laptop.

All the attention on netbooks, however, does not take the gloss away from the “real” ultraportables out there. Sony’s “carbon-fibred”, 13-inch, Vaio Z for professionals (see below) was snapped up in no time, especially the S$3,199 base model with Intel Centrino 2, Core2 Duo P9500, and 3GB of RAM.

Damn, I had just bought my Fujitsu S6520 at the last show at the same price and this fella looks so much sharper.

If looks and portability don’t matter so much to you, then the bargain of the show in terms of laptops could be the S$899 Compaq Presario V3703AU. Sporting the regular Compaq Presario look, this 14-incher has a modest 1GB of RAM and runs on AMD’s TK57 Turion chip.

If you want a bit more power, and I’d suggest it since you’ll be running Windows Vista, there is the Presario V3844TU with Intel Core 2 Duo T8100 and 1GB of RAM going for S$100 more at S$999. Both are good deals for those looking for no-frills notebooks.

In this article, we’ll be looking at some of the other gadgets that our readers picked, and why they picked these devices.

The second most picked gadget was the Asus Ee Pc, which trailblazed a new trend towards cheap and affordable mini-laptops this year. Even though other laptops like MSI Win and Apple’s Mac Pro were mentioned, amongst mini-laptops the Asus Ee PC drew the most votes.

Here are some comments from the readers on the Asus Ee PC:

Dennis Yeo from Simei Rise

The Asus Eee PC made mobile computing accessible to the masses with an affordable price price tag and totally caught fellow PC manufacturers unaware by raking in massive profits from this product. It caused a huge urgency for them to come up with similar offerings to catch on to the netbook trend and to try to usurp the throne taken by the Asus Eee PC.

Zulfukri Razali from Tampines

With the current financial instability in the world, consumers need something cheap and good. Most of the people in the world are fascinated by resources in the world wide web so most of them need a laptop as they are always mobile.

The Asus Eee PC is the most affordable yet powerful IT equipment. You get enough performance to surf, check emails and update your blog/photo sharing websites — the 3 most common actions done on a laptop. And at such an affordable price for this well designed beauty, it’s just a must have item in your house or on the go.

Tied for third spot was the Sony Playstation 3 and the Nikon D90 DSLR. The PS3 beat other gaming consoles like the Sony PSP and the Nintendo Wii to take mindshare, and the Nikon D90 emerged champion amongst digital cameras like the Panasonic Lumix LZ8.

Beyond handphones, laptops, gaming consoles and digital cameras, we had a slew of other gadgets in many other different categories, from DVD projectors (R2-D2) to microwave ovens (Sharp R-888).

In fact, we even had one reader send us a poem on his OSIM uSpace chair!

Khoo Kay Boon from Hougang

As I lay me down to sleep,
I am serenaded by a wonder ‘Chair’ that’s mine to keep.

A family-oriented gadget that’s handsome and strong;
One that my whole family can enjoy and desire to use very long;
One who obeys but does not speaks;
One who’ll call out to me every day of the week.

In my household, I know it’s gainfully employed,
When I push its button it won’t be annoyed;
Relaxes my mind and lights up my moody core,
Massages my tired muscles and begs to do more.

Oh this gadget will nurture our body and mind,
Makes us leave all our stress behind;
I pray that this gadget will last us to the end,
And always be our very best friend.

A cleaning wipe and a polish of leather wax,
This gadget will keep me and my family forever relax;
Sure it’s luxurious and cost me serious cash,
Yet its worth is proven as it makes our life great without health-crash.

uSpace’s intelligent and a worthy expense,
with quality innovation and craftsmanship that enhance the senses.;
Intelligent, stylish and crafted for deep user-satisfaction,
It’s where engineering revolution creates harmonious protection.

Last but not least, a few wrap-up comments on how we the goondus are going to pick an eventual winner from all the entries. Firstly, a big thank you to all readers who participated in the contest.

Unfortunately, we have only one LG TV to give away, so the choice of eventual winner will be decided by a democratic vote by the goondus. It will probably boil down to individual taste and who we felt argued the best on why their entry should win, popularity of device notwithstanding.

Stay tuned in the following few week or so as we finalize the results. Feel free to post a note in the comments section, and we hope you’ve enjoyed this contest as much as we did organizing it!

From left to right: LG KC910, Sony Ericsson Cyber-shot C905and Samsung innov8

The high-end, 8-megapixel camera phones war looks set to escalate soon in Singapore. This month should see the launch of the LG KC910, while Sony Ericsson is expected to step into the ring with its Cyber-shot C905 soon, before year-end. They join the Samsung innov8, launched here last month.

Sweet? I have not laid hands on the innov8 yet, so dunno how good it is. But for these phones to replace my regular camera, the aging 8.6 megapixel Leica D-Lux 2, they better have a snappy user interface, fast write times, not too jarring noise artifacts, no shutter lag and be great at indoor shots without flash. These are typical archilles heels of today’s crop, and are many mid-end digicams’ failings too.

Win an LG 42-inch LCD TV now.
Contest closes Nov 12, 2008.

…

A little late but better late than never … Sigma yesterday announced the DP2 compact digital camera – barely 6 months after the launch of the ground-breaking DP1.

In case you didn’t know, the DP1 was its first kick ass FOVEON sensor point and shoot that soon became every amateur photographer’s dream P&S. I’d love to have one so I need not have to lug around my EOS 350D DSLR with a 18-50mm, especially on those days when I think I might take some photos but really end up just taking the cam out for some fresh air.

Now the DP2 gets the same 14 megapixel FOVEON sensor as used in the DP1 and the SD14 DSLR. Sounds like too many megapix? Well, don’t forget its a FOVEON sensor so pixel resolution-wise, its actually 2,652×1,768×3 layers. And the key thing is that for a compact cam, this sensor is physically big: 20.7mm x 13.8mm.

So the key difference here is the lens. The DP2 is paired to a fixed focal length 24.2mm F2.8 lens, which it says is equivalent to a 41mm on a 35mm SLR cam, it sounds just nice – slightly wider than a “nifty fifty”. The DP1 has a 16.6mm F4 lens, which is equivalent to 28mm in 35mm camera terms.

The DP2 also boasts of a new “True II” (as opposed to just “True”) image processor.

OK, how do I get my hands on one?

When I went down today to Comex at noon, and the crowd was already building up. Some good buys/price drops include:

1. D-Link DIR-655 Wireless N router – S$169
No need to trade in your router, no need to bargain. You can even get a pair of (presumably cheapo) speakers for free when you buy one of these mean fellas that can handle loads of Bit-torrent downloads. Original price was S$189 if you trade in an old router.

2. Microsoft Bluetooth Notebook Mouse 500 – S$50 with UOB card
This small Bluetooth mouse for laptop users has a small on-off switch, so you can power if off when you are not using it to save battery. Was S$60, but now extra S$10 off for UOB card holders

3. Suzuki Larisa 141 1 E Li -S$699
Why buy a Netbook that has a slower processor when you can get a full-power notebook for the same price or less? Suzuki’s 14-inch laptop comes with Intel dual-core T2390, 2Gb of RAM, 160GB hard disk and a 6-cell battery for just S$699. No OS included – you pay an additional S$100 for Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic.

4. Garmin nuvi 205 – S$299
The GPS system was being lelong’d at S$299 at booth #6296 around 1.30pm. Yes, the screen is small, but the touch-screen and turn-by-turn voice prompts will be useful to drivers who are hopeless with directions. Good deal for the price.

5. Samsung NV24HD camera – S$449
Attractive offer from Mustapha @ Level 6. The original was S$599, then slashed to S$499 for the show, and now S$449. The 10-meg camera has a good 24mm ultra-wide angle lens and records HD movies as well with stereo sound. With the deal comes freebies like:
-8GB SD card + card reader
-cleaning kit
-screen protector
-mini tripod
-extra lithium battery + camera case
-SPF-75H digital photo frame (this is the real sweetener!)

Oh, by the way, also spotted at the show: these bling bling Toshiba Qosmio portable gaming/AV computers (I won’t call them laptops coz they are too heavy to be sitting on your lap!). Strictly for people who want bling to the max.

NOTE: There is a Nike race going on in town this afternoon and the whole place around Marina/City Hall is totally congested. Driving is not advisable. When I got back at 3pm, the CTE was jammed up all the way to Bradell exit.