Tools of my Trade, A few of my favorite things!

As you can see my blog title up there is punctuated by an exclamation mark! I'm putting emphasis on my favorite things because they deserve it. They are my lifeblood and help me greatly in conducting my trade: Public Relations, Marketing, Events and Internet Viral Marketing. I'm in the communications & media business and I see to it that my & my clients' messages get across instantaneously and with our own selfish perspectives! :)

Now allow me to pay tribute to my tools of the trade!

Public Relations is by and large the business of creating perspectives. So the tools of the trade should be primarily designed for communicating within the standards of excellence.

My first and main gadget would be my trusty laptop, an HP Compaq Presario with a 500 Gig of storage space (enough as of now for my storage needs) and a speedy Intel Core 2 Duo processor (a wee bit too much actually for my current processing requirements). The graphics are definitely high tech as it is running on an Intel Graphics Media Accelerator on a High Definition Brightview Widescreen Display* platform, an *HP trademark by the way. When it comes to Imaging, i think HP is definitely up there if not the best. I would burn the midnight oil doing proposals, media and PR plans, strat papers, press releases in this all-in-one, multi-tasking gadget. I also do leisure time such as surfing the net for my fave sites, reading the news, playing strategy-based games and downloading stuff on this laptop.

The HP Compaq Presario on my work desk waiting for its master dutifully

My second gadget err gadgets are my cant-leave-home-without-it cellphones. My top dog is the Nokia E-72. Its all I could ask for for a business and personal phone. The features and applications are astounding. From e-mails, text messages, web browsing, video streaming to even creating documents, spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations, this is a fantastic piece of very small and compact hardware. Theres even a dictionary to boot. I can also download third party applications which are very useful from Ovi.com, Nokia's online apps store.

Its actually a small replica of my laptop and is a very good substitute if I'm lazy to lug my main hardware around. And since I'm a loyal Nokia user through the years, I'm very comfortable with its user interface and the operating system that comes with it, a no-frills, no-nonsense Symbian 60.


I don't like touchscreens and I'm a big fan of qwerty-type bar phones due to its businesslike status so the E72 fits my personality nicely. Aside from the applications, it also has an excellent autofocus 5 megapixel camera that takes good point-and-shoot-like quality photos similar to high end digicams.

My cellphones atop a bunch of files, my typical work desk clutter, which I cant leave home without: (from left) a Samsung GT-E1080 , a Nokia E-72 and a Nokia 1680c-2

My two phone deputies are a Samsung GT-1080 and a Nokia 1680c-2 which have mostly basic features. My second phone is the Samsung which houses my Globe and wireless landline numbers. While the Nokia 1680 is my third and what i call emergency phone. My Smart Load Allowance is contained in this phone which powers my primary phone. I hate post-paid plans because I can't monitor my usage and I always end up with an astounding bill. Although my Globe phone is on post-paid due to the wireless landline it offers, a convenient and bright idea by the way. However, Globe needs to improve this service as call quality is suspect and dropped calls & party lines are prevalent.

The Samsung GT-1080 is really designed for texting and calling and is very easy to use, nothing fancy. I love to text with its soft and excellently-textured keys. I seldom commit typing errors with this phone. The ergonomic design fits & cradles perfectly in my hand. In fact I would rate this phone as 'the perfect texting phone'. Even the call quality is great: loud,clear and crisp. And there is a torchlight to boot for emergency cases.

The Nokia 1680c is also meant for call/text features but has some added functions like a VGA camera w/ flash, WAP (for emergency internet) and some financial apps like an Expense Manager and Converter. I seldom use this phone except when I need to reload my E-72 but I always carry it in my bag. The downsides to this phone is its hard-to-press keyboard and its very slow and always hanging UI. That's why I relegated this as my phone of last resort (READ: used during extreme cases of emergency!)

And lastly, I always bring my HP SB360 12 Megapixel Digital Camera with me to capture sudden great moments and of course for emergency client shoots or photo opportunities. According to a CNET Review, its actually one of the thinnest and lightest digicams in the market. As I've said earlier, when it comes to IMAGING, nothing beats Hewlett Packard.

My main imaging partner, an HP SB360 12 Megapixel Digital Camera. However, I sometimes take photos with my Nokia E-72 if there's an urgency since its camera quality is comparable to point-and-shoot digicams

Its a point and shoot digicam which has all the features that I need such as zoom functions (both digital and optical), an array of diverse settings for various requirements (a lot actually for a digicam!), smile & blink detection, multitude of shooting modes, red eye reduction and specs that are to my mind impressive in its class. I can even upload immediately the videos and pix to my YouTube and Facebook accounts since its YouTube Video-ready. On top of these, it has Digital Image Stabilization, an autofocus-like feature that takes steady photos even if your hands are shaking.

So now you know who are my real albeit lifeless partners in business! Although there is a multitude of equipment that helps me get through the day such as my all-in-one HP Printer (Im a big fan of HP evidently!), wireless router, mini Flash disks, memory cards, earphones etc., I think these are the gadgets I can't live without.



By Paolo Angelo Florenda