Archive for the ‘Hardware’ Category

3 Ways to Speed Up Any Slow PC

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

Slow computers are extremely common, and are actually caused by more-or-less the same issues all the time. This means that if you’re able to repair the various issues that cause Windows computers to run slow, you should be able to make your computer run extremely fast again. Not many people realize this and think that computers will just run slow for a random reason… but fortunately, there are 3 easy steps you can take to speed up any Windows computer:

1) Uninstall Any Unused Programs – Applications are a great feature of Windows, but they also cause it to run extremely slowly. The problem is that many applications, when installed, will just run in the “background” of your system, taking up precious system resources as they do. The likes of Instant Messenger programs and email applications are the worst culprits for this – as they will continually run on your PC without you opening them. To fix this, you need to be able to uninstall the various programs that you don’t need / use on your PC any more – which will not only free up hard drive space, but will also make your PC run much smoother as well.

2) Clean Out Viruses – Whether you have an antivirus program or not, it’s important you clean out any possible virus infections from your PC. Viruses are basically small applications which install onto your computer and then try and do various things to stop it from working properly. These are a huge menace, and can slow your PC down dramatically depending on which infection you have. To fix this, you need to be able to use an antivirus tool to perform a “deep” scan on your system, which will allow it to look through the most damaged files on your PC & remove them.

3) Repair The Registry – The ‘registry’ is a large database inside your computer, which is also the main cause of Windows’ slow speed. The problem is that this part of your system is continually being saved incorrectly, causing Windows to take longer to read the important files that it has inside. The registry is used 100’s of times a day by your computer, to help it run extremely smoothly and quickly – and is where the likes of your desktop wallpaper, latest emails and even your screen resolution settings are kept. This database is extremely important for your computer, and is also the reason why it’s running slowly as well. The problem is that Windows often uses so many registry settings that it will get confused with the ones it has open, and will save many of them in the wrong way. This means that your PC then wants to read one of these settings, it will have to take longer to find it, slowing your computer down. This is the main reason why Windows runs slow, and can be fixed by using a ‘registry repair’ application to fix the damaged settings inside it.

How to Download and Read Comic Books on Your iPad

Wednesday, June 16th, 2010

There are many uses for the Apple iPad, and what ups the cool factor of this clever gadget is how well it carries out these functions. One such function that has grabbed many people’s attention is the way the Apple iPad reads and displays comic books.

That’s right! Comic issues from Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Image and other publishers, starring world renowned superheroes like Spider-Man, Iron Man, Superman, Batman, the Mighty Thor, the Avengers, the Justice League of America, and the likes.

It seems that the Apple iPad’s screen is perfect for displaying comic art. It’s just the right size. And the colors of each page jump out from the screen to mesmerize the readers.

So fantastic is the Apple iPad’s capability to display comic books that major publishers like Marvel and DC have rethought their distribution strategy and have included digital delivery as part of their publication schedule.

What does this mean for the iPad user? Thousands upon thousands of comics he can read and enjoy!

And what does this mean for the sequential art industry? A renaissance of sorts that hasn’t been experienced since the so-called Silver Age of the medium, heralded by the coming of the modern day Flash.

How can a user read comic books on his iPad?

Basically, a digital comic can come in 3 file formats. These are CBR, CBZ and PDF. Of these formats, CBR and CBZ are the more popular.

There are many iPad apps that can read these comic book formats. Some, like Comic Zeal 4 and Comic Viewer, can be bought from the iTunes Store. Others, like Cloudreaders, can be downloaded for free.

The best option, however, is an iPad app called Stanza. It is primarily an eBook reader designed to read PDF files. But amazingly, this iPad app can also read CBR and CBZ quite well. Furthermore, Stanza is available for free from the iTunes Store. You can readily download it anytime that’s convenient for you. Given the amazing value and functionality of this iPad application, however, you might already have it in your iPad.

There are select websites on the internet where you can download comic book files in CBR, CBZ and even PDF formats. Once you have the right application, your iPad will be ready to read these comic book files, and you can enjoy the funnies without having to worry about damaging its pages or its spine and ruining its mint condition.

Keep your real comic magazines with cardboards and their plastics, and read the stories through your iPad.

You can download comic books for free at http://www.ComicBookDownloads.info.

HP Pavilion Elite HPE-150t Coupons – Learn All About This Impressive PC and How You Can Save

Tuesday, March 30th, 2010

The HP Pavilion Elite HPE-150t is a reliable PC that offers great performance and speed. Whether you want to edit high definition content, stream videos, play games, or chat, you can expect this series to deliver great performance! It is also expandable, so you can easily upgrade and add additional hardware for increased power and speed. If you ever need to expand in the future, you’ll be glad to know that you will have the flexibility for doing so.

Like many HP desktops, this one has a pretty neat design. It has a glossy black finish, silver and chrome accents, center grille HP logo, etc. It will look great in your office or room with any display. Speaking of displays, the company is now offering a HP Pavilion Elite HPE-150t discount to help save on a 21.5″ widescreen monitor! Imagine being able to watch movies and play games on a widescreen, high definition display.

Want to hook it up to the big screen? Well, this system comes with HDMI, DVI, and VGA capabilities, so you can connect it to a high definition TV or projector. This is a great option if a 21.5″ monitor isn’t large enough for you. You can also add a Blu-ray player and writer to your order. With integrated HD audio and THX, you’ll get some amazing sound quality coming from this computer!

HP Pavilion Elite HPE-150t coupons are currently available for upgrades. The price starts at $799.99, and you won’t have to worry about it rising too much if you take advantage of discounts. You can get a free 6 GB RAM upgrade, 640 GB hard drive upgrade, 15 month Norton Security subscription, instant rebate, and other savings. These are offered by HP itself. There are other coupons you can find online to help you save extra even more.

This PC is essentially an entertainment hub that is ready for the most challenging applications and multimedia. It’s designed for high definition videos, graphics, music, photo editing, and a number of other features. With a discrete graphic card, you will be able to play the most demanding online games, such as LOTRO and Guild Wars.

Overall, this desktop computer exceeds expectations. Whatever you want to do, you will be able to do easily with this system. It’s fully loaded with everything you could ever need in a multimedia PC. Even if you want to work, you will have everything you need for productivity. And, with HP Pavilion Elite HPE-150t discounts and free upgrades, you will be able to get all of this power and speed at an affordable price!

Cheap LCD Monitors – “Prices That Surprise”

Monday, March 22nd, 2010

LCD’s are electronic devices which are used for display of information in from of text or visuals. They are generally not as thick as regular monitors and are more like thin panels. They are used in various ways; as television screens, as monitors for desktops etc. These LCDs are so popular because they have the advantages namely those of lesser weights and portability. They take up very less space and are amazingly stylish. LCD’s though are very much to your advantage they generally have a huge price. There are a lot of cheap LCD monitors available in the market, and since the demand of such monitors has increased, the prices have become more and more competitive.

Many branded companies are now cashing on the increasing market for such monitors. Leading the pack is BENQ. The company provides monitors at rates from Rs. 5000 to Rs. 12000. Then there also are companies like ACER and Hewlett Packard who also offer monitors are good rates. Cheap LCD monitors are available in the market but they are often difficult to find and tricky to choose. A lot of things have to be kept in mind before choosing your cheap LCD monitor. Cheap LCD monitors are generally what they profess to be, cheap. They are generally without either an HDMI or a DVI. These are connectors which are responsible for a quality picture in the LCD monitors and support of different formats of videos. Then it may also happen that the speakers on the panels are not included at all.

It is always advisable to test the LCD monitor before one actually buys it. A lot also depends on the size. If the size of the screen is small then the LCD costs come down. The resolution of the monitor is also another factor which makes a LCD cheap or not. Different resolutions like VGA, SVGA, XGA, SXGA or UXGA, WXGA/WUXGA are different resolutions of the screens. The visual quality depends a lot on it. But the performance is something that should never be compromised with. There is another factor known as the response time which is very important given the different kinds of tasks to be performed using the said style of screen. For people using an LCD screen for gaming need the response time has to lower than 20ms while for people who need the LCD for official work the response time can be 24ms. Things like these have to be kept in mind while choosing the screen best for you.

Saving Our Green and Your Green

Friday, March 19th, 2010

In today’s economic and social climate, many people are concerned with saving two things: money and the environment. On an individual scale, you may be focusing more so on the saving money aspect than the environment; however, even small actions can amount to large results. Recycling, reusing, and reducing are all great ways to contribute to the global effort to go green. Another small action that you can take is to preserve energy in your home-which will not only help save our green, but your green as well.

One of the best ways to conserve energy in your home is by efficiently heating and cooling it year round. In the winter months, simply keeping your blinds and drapes open on south-facing windows will allow the sun’s warmth to naturally heat your home. The warmer the surface area is, the fewer times the heat turns on, and the more energy is conserved. While it’s beneficial to leave your blinds open during the day, it’s detrimental to leave them open at night because all the heat will quickly go outside as cool air comes in; make sure to close all blinds and drapes at night to insulate the heat inside of your home. In the summer, you’ll want to do the opposite and close the blinds and drapes during the day in order to keep the hot sunshine out. It’s also a good idea to have either ceiling fans or portable fans placed throughout your house, which move the air and immediately cool down a space. Doing a few things such as adjusting your window coverings and using fans may sound too simple; but that’s the greatest part, because it really is just that easy to save energy and money.

Klipsch Image S4 Headphones

Monday, March 15th, 2010

My entry into the canalphone-type headphones was in the form of the popular Sennheiser CX300’s. I didn’t have a need for anything too extravagant, as I had my full-size headphones for home use that were sure to outperform all but the finest canalphones. However, owning an expensive pair of full-size headphones left me wary of what sort of portable ones I’d be willing to endure, and I knew I needed a happy medium. The CX300’s were in a reasonable price range for what I sought, but I was never totally satisfied with them. I told myself it must have been purely that they were $80 and I’d become spoiled with my various full-size sets ranging from $400-600.

It wasn’t until I had the pleasure of listening to the Klipsch Image S4 headphones I would get some additional perspective.

CHARACTERISTICS

I apparently have small ear canals, as every headphone of this type I have tried has required the smallest plug size. The smallest size on the S4 worked the best of the three, but I still had some minor issues getting and maintaining a proper seal while wearing them. That said, though, they were comfortable once in place.

The plugs themselves go in deeper than the CX300’s did, which surprisingly is no less comfortable and easier to maintain a good seal with. I imagine this also improves sound quality, given the way these type of headphones work.

The cord is a “Y” design, which I like. The CX300’s I used previously employed a “J” design, that is to say one side was long than the other as to be wrapped around the back of your neck and head up to the ear. This can relieve cord tension or make it harder to pull out accidentally, but I found it cumbersome. The S4’s cord is relatively thin, but no more so than any other cord in their class of headphones.

An all-plastic design is used, which makes them less resilient than other models that use metal. There have been reviewers in the past complaining of the part that connects the speaker chamber to the rubber earpiece snapping, but it feels pretty sturdy to me nonetheless.

THE SOUND

With a proper seal, these headphones have a pretty solid performance across the spectrum. The low-end is deep and the impact is good, coming as a nice surprise from my previous CX300’s. Their bass (CX300) was thick but somewhat muddy, and overall lacked a real sense of impact. On the contrary, the Image S4’s bass is tight with a reasonable volume across any genre of music.

One of the most glaring downfalls of the Sennheiser CX300’s was the upper mids being several decibels hot (particularly 6KHz – 8KHz). This made guitars sound harsh and cymbals sound artificial. This is not so with the S4’s. While there’s nothing noteworthy in this area, at least giving an average performance bring them ahead here as they are not fatiguing like the CX300’s were in this region.

The vocals are very clear and forward without detracting from instrumentation. Female voices are smooth and sexy, and male voices are full bodied and well represented. The Klipsch sound is definitely present in these headphones, which is to say the bass is tight and warm, and the highs are a bit bright. Still, at no time did I find them fatiguing for long listening sessions.

CONCLUSION

I admit I was curious what a Klipsch headphone would sound like given their respectable reputation in speakers. I’m impressed, especially given that they outperformed a Sennheiser-which has an equally respectable reputation in headphones.

Simply put, I find the S4’s superior to the CX300’s in every way. They’re more comfortable, stay in the ear better, and have better sound in every category. Given that they’re essentially the same price, this creates quite a sense of value. The fact that there was a big to-do about counterfeit CX300’s online and even in various retailers a year or so ago doesn’t help, either. Really, Klipsch has just made a superior product and a solid contender in the headphone market.

Do they sound as good as my full-size headphones? Certainly not. But I never expected a headphone at this price point would. For the money, though, these are genuinely pleasurable to listen to while I’m at work or out somewhere. I don’t find any particular area lacking, and while they’re not my Denon AH-D5000’s I certainly don’t find myself constantly thinking “I’m user a cheaper headphone”. Klipsch has really made a great middle-of-the-road headphone here, which should appeal to casual listeners with a sub $100 budget as well as more serious listeners looking for something portable with a decent price to sound ratio.

How to Keep Your Computer in Tip Top Shape With High Quality Hardware

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

It is quite surprising how little that we all know about the technology that we use every day. Whether it’s our automobile, our microwave, or our personal computer, we have surprisingly little knowledge of how the internals of the products we own actually work. For instance, you’re most likely pressing on the keys of your keyboard at this very moment, and utilizing your mouse to move the cursor around, yet you don’t have a clue how the signals actually get sent to your computer, and how the computer processes the information. Simply because you are so familiar with them, you may never consider them in their essential form as highly sophisticated personal computer hardware. And there are entire arrays of component and subcomponents that you will never see, all whirring and operating in the background where we never notice.

But our advanced computer technology does come to our attention when things don’t quite work the way they should. In particular, we notice when our computer is running very slowly right at the most crucial times when we need it to run quickly. The way to prevent this type of situation is of course to always purchase the highest quality and most state-of-the-art computer hardware that we can afford. I know you’re saying that you’re not a computer professional, so you don’t need the most expensive highest-quality components in your computer. This is a perfectly reasonable assessment. But the difference between high-quality components and shoddy components is often times surprisingly smaller than you expect. The maxim is true, you do get what you pay for. That being said, you do not need to buy the most ridiculously expensive computer hardware available on the market. Just make sure you try to stick with name brands whenever possible, and to buy from reputable shops and dealers. Big-name stores are usually good bets. Try not to compromise on the quality of essential components such as memory chips and hard drives, which tend to have high failure rates relative to other computer components.

And just because you paid a lot for a computer part doesn’t necessarily mean that it will work flawlessly. Be careful of unscrupulous dealers who overcharge you on inexpensive parts. It is also possible for any component, even a quality component from a reputable company, to fail suddenly without reason. That is the nature of technology today. The good news is, if any part fails, it usually fails within the first few days of operation. That means that you are typically covered under warranty, or you can simply take it back to the shop for an exchange.

Nowadays, the best deals on computer hardware can of course be found on the Internet. You do not even need to leave your house to buy computer parts anymore. Computer hardware websites or so commonplace and successful these days, that it’s probably your best bet for locating and buying the parts that you need. It is also very convenient to do quick comparison shopping to get the lowest price and to make sure you’re not getting ripped off. Consider your budget carefully whenever buying new computer parts. Try to go for the highest quality parts that you can afford. It is understood that computers quickly become obsolete in this day and age, but that applies mainly for gamers and power users. If you mainly surf the web and do some word processing, a good computer comprised of quality parts can easily serve you well for five years or more.

How to Get LCD Screen Optimal Resolution

Friday, February 26th, 2010

A few years ago, 1024×768 was the most common display resolution. Now HD (high definition) resolution of 2560×1600 is used in 30″ or bigger LCD monitors. Special medical monitors have been designed for 3280×2048 resolution. The term “display resolution” is used to describe simply the physical number of columns and rows of pixels creating the display, for example, 1280×1024, in other words, size of the display. However, the meaning of the word “resolution” here is misleading. Such using “display resolution” means pixel dimensions which does not tell about a real resolution of the display. Technically, display resolution is measured in pixels per inch.

In digital imaging, a pixel (pic’s-el, or picture element) is a single smallest point or unit of picture which can be controlled. Pixels are normally arranged in a 2-dimensional grid, and are often represented using dots or squares. Dots per inch (DPI) is a measure of spatial printing or video dot density, in particular the number of individual dots that can be placed in a line within the span of one inch (2.54 cm). As it was mentioned above, DPI is often confused with image size, leading to expressions such as 1024×768 resolution.

What screen resolution is optimal? A higher screen resolution reduces the size of items on your screen and increases the relative space on your desktop. But on the other hand, you may feel uncomfortable if fonts are too small to read a text. Another parameter is aspect ratio (the relative numbers of horizontal and vertical pixels). Traditional displays built with 4:3 aspect ratio. New wide-screen monitors may use almost 2:1 ratio. The best way to find the perfect resolution and aspect ratio that are optimal for you and your monitor is to try different settings.

To change your screen resolution in Windows OS, open Display in Control Panel. On the Settings tab, under Screen resolution, drag the slider, and then click Apply. When prompted to apply the settings, click OK. Your screen will turn black for a moment. Once your screen resolution changes, you have 15 seconds to confirm the change. Click Yes to confirm the change; click No or do nothing to revert to your previous setting. Your monitor and graphics card (video adapter) determine how much you can change your screen resolution; normally, it is a limited list of standard settings.

In general, a computer display resolution can be set higher or lower than the physical screen resolution. However, if old CRT monitors provided a variability in resolution, LCD displays are not so easy adjustable because they have a fixed physical resolution. You may be unable to increase the resolution of LCD display above a certain level (normally better than native resolution). The “native” resolution is the same as a screen maximum resolution if a correct video driver installed. Be aware that using a non-native low resolution on LCD may result in a poorer image, due to dropping of pixels to make the image fit (if using DVI) or insufficient sampling of the analog signal (if using VGA).

The Economical HP LaserJet 1020 Printer

Tuesday, February 9th, 2010

The economical HP LaserJet 1020 printer looks to be designed by the company to be applicable to the needs of most home office users who have a once in a while print job but nothing too out of the ordinary. It delivers good quality text printing and its overall cost per page is nice and low, owing in part to its retail price. It’s one of a number of 1000-series printers offered by Hewlett-Packard.

In particular, this laser jet printer offers its services in monochrome and at a fairly decent print speed of 14 pages in a minute. This is about par for the course for a unit at this price point and in this particular market segment. Keep in mind that the 1020 looks to be mainly for use as a personal printer and not an office-typewriter and there should be little to fuss about over print speed.

The 1020 can be hooked up easily to a PC via its attached USB connection port, which is the only method available to hook up the machine to a computer, as a matter of fact. It’s not Mac-compatible, as well, so remember that if finding a low-priced black-and-white laser jet printer for one of Apple’s computers is the aim. There are other HP printers in the lineup that are suitable for that particular role.

When it comes to the print quality that the 1020 is capable of producing, it’s more than acceptable at 600 dpi resolution. It also will emerge from the printer and fairly rapid order, with the first printed page coming out in about 10 seconds after the print job has been sent from the computer to the printer. HP includes one of its image enhancement technology suites to keep print product looking good.

The only onboard memory available with the 1020 is 2 MB of RAM, but that’s because the computer it’s attached to will handle most all of its printing processes. A 234 MHz processor is included by Hewlett-Packard to ensure that all of these print jobs are handled quickly and efficiently and in order to get that print task output down to that very-nice 10 seconds.

In terms of the kinds of media stock that 1020 can print out on, the variety is certainly wide enough and includes business card stock as well as labels, plain paper and envelopes along with transparencies. It stores about 150 sheets in its auto load input tray and it has a durability of about 5000 pages per month maximum duty. This is actually a fairly robust number for a small personal printer.

The 1020 uses a single black laser toner cartridge, and it can make good use of a variety of different Windows-based operating systems. This includes Windows ME as well as windows XP and XP Professional. Additionally, Hewlett-Packard Supplies the 1020 with a one-year warranty that can be stretched out past the time for payment of a small fee. It looks to be a durable little printer in the Hewlett-Packard lineup.

Computer Maintenance – How to Maintain Hard Disks Correctly

Thursday, January 28th, 2010

As a matter of fact, a hard disk can be used for a long time if you maintain it very well. Now, I will tell you how to do that correctly.

Though many users have known that regular defragmentation does good to computer, they do not realize what “regular” really means. If they think it can speed up computer as long as computer performs disk defragmenting program hourly, it is completely wrong. As a matter of fact, frequent defragmentation may reduce the efficiency of disk usage. In the long run, it may slow down computer speed.

What is good for disks and computer is to defragment properly. If you do not defragment disk regularly, a number of file fragments are piling up in the hard disk. Then, when you visit some of them in the future, it may take much time to read these files. As time goes by, it can reduce files visiting speed and also harm disk tracks probably.

And when copying files, some prefer to copy several files at one time but do not know that the disks are overburdening and you may find hard disk creaking loudly. Therefore, you should use anti-virus software to protect your disks.

Besides, do not try to use disk compressing technology in the system tools. At present, disk capacity is large enough to support the computer running. It is really unnecessary to save disk space by compressing hard disks. What is more, it can slow down disk read-write data speed and affect disk usage indirectly. If you urgently want to free up disk space, it is better for you to get rid of junk files such as temporary and swap ones firstly.