Hardware

What Would A Computer Be Without Hardware?

When the first PCs started turning up in the late seventies and early eighties they where designed to help businesses manage spreadsheets and if you were lucky help you write a letter to the bank manager asking, no doubt for more money, because you needed to re-mortgage the house for the latest breakthrough in cutting edge computing.

Nowadays computers come in all shapes and sizes and are capable of far more than just adding up a couple of sums. You can surf the web, play games, edit photos, listen to your music, make music even, oh and still of course get them to help you with your spread sheets and perhaps rather than a letter to your bank manager, simply manage your bank account online yourself.

But hardware doesn’t just cover computers and laptops but the multitude of accessories to go with it. The latest monitors that let you enjoy your desktop more, the 1TB hard drives that let you store all the data. Then there are the keyboards and mice that let you control it and that’s before you’ve got to the speakers to let you listen to it, the network modems that let you connect to the internet or the other massive plethora of USB devices that will do everything from letting you read a memory card to warming up a pair of slippers so you don’t get cold feet when doing your work.

The ultimate computer set up at home in my mind would consist of the following:

Apple MacBook Pro laptop.

Apple’s MacBook Pro laptop is one of the best laptops around allowing you to manage your work and play on the go with ease. Using the Apple Leopard OS you don’t have to worry about viruses as the system is so far know to be immune to them. Additionally the software just works letting you get on with your work and play. Used by creative types around the world the laptop is great for managing music and images. Time Machine, its backup software solution is by far the best offering out there meaning your data will be safe always.

Seagate hard drive.

If you’ve got lots of data and you backup regularly (which of course you should, it goes without saying) then you’ll need a decent hard drive to back up to. Seagate’s range of FreeAgent drives come in sizes of up to 750GB, more than ample enough, and offer fast performance for both Mac and PC users via USB 2.0 or Firewire.

Samsung 22-inch monitor.

Your laptop might come with its own screen, but you’ll want to maximise your working capabilities in the office with a massive monitor. Get yourself a widescreen monitor with a good resolution. You can then use your laptop monitor as a second screen for chat or email windows leaving the main large screen solely for working on documents or whatever your main focus should be. And before you eek with “isn’t it going to be expensive?” the answer is no – you can get a 24-inch for under 250 pounds.

Logitech Keyboard and Mouse.

Logitech have long been making decent keyboards and mice so it’s good to invest in something from the company. Mac owners might do better to opt for a Mac keyboard and a Logitech mouse however to get the best of both worlds. Something like the MX revolution or the MX Air.

Computers form a vital component in our lives today and with the wide selection of hardware out there this trend is only set to continue.

Technology expert Thomas Pretty looks into the importance of hardware reviews when looking at buying additional components for your computer.

Printers; Far Removed From The Dot Matrixes Of Old

My first printer was a dot matrix model that looked and was the size of a vacuum cleaner. In fact it made about as much noise as one to. Today however and printers are very different beasts coming in a variety of shapes and sizes and offering to meet a variety of demands from the office machines that churn out 1000s of pages a minute to photo printers at home that save us from having to go to the developing lab to print out of favourite images of family and friends.

So what’s what in the printer world? Well HP has a range of photo printers that promise to get the job done. The company has two ranges that it focuses on – its all in one models aimed at small medium businesses such as home workers looking to print, scan, copy and sometimes fax documents and a portable range of printers that are the size of a large wash bag. The portable range fondly known within the industry as the toaster range will let consumers print 6×4-inch prints quickly via a computer, a camera through PictBridge or via a memory card. Most of the company’s models feature touchscreen’s so you can see the picture you are printing as well as make slight adjustments like fixing Red-eye.

But HP aren’t the only company to offer printing solutions with a difference, some of Lexmark’s printers come with CD drives built in so you can back up your images without the need for a computer at all. It also means you can print directly from the disk, again without the need for a computer.

Kodak’s unique selling point over its rivals is its price. Ink, which is always expensive, promises to be 50% cheaper from Kodak making a big difference when it comes to managing a budget in an office. The Kodak models might be cheaper to run, but they are big beasts.

The same can’t be said for the Polaroid PoGo. A pocket sized portable printer that comes without ink and is tiny. In development for over 10 years, the printer offers users the chance to print business card sized (2 x 3 inch) colour photos from their mobile phone via Bluetooth or digital camera via PictBridge without the need for a computer. The size of a large smartphone (0.93 x 2.83 x 4.72 inches), the Polaroid PoGo printer uses thermal printing meaning there is no ink needed.

Instead users will use Polaroid’s specially designed paper, which will cost an expensive 3 pounds for 10 sheets. The process takes just 60 seconds from pressing go to a print in your hand and the photo paper will have a sticky back so you can stick them to your mates, the wall or anything that moves. The printer does come with a lithium-ion battery, however it will be able to print just 15 images before needing a recharge.

Of course if none of those sound your cup of tea you could always opt to get everything printed online. Kodak, Photobox and a number of other companies offer to print your images for you and then send them in the post. You can even use the image galleries online to publish books, t-shirts, photo mugs or wall paper with your ugly mug on it as well as push them to a digital photo frame saving you having to print them at all. All this is a long way from my first dot matrix.

Technology expert studies the importance of valid printer reviews when buying a new printing device.

Choosing The Right Components To Build A Custom Computer

Many people now opt to build their own computer so that they are more in control of the specifications they want and save more than just a few dollars. There are a multitude of DIYs found all over the Internet, and yes, it is possible to build one yourself! But before doing so, you must choose the right components for your computer. Here are some of the very basic components you need to get:

Computer Case

Computer cases now come in a variety of designs and colours. Some now even come with a panel window where you can see the inside parts through. What is important when buying a case is that the size of the case should support the size of the motherboard. A mid-tower case is highly recommended as it has enough room for all the hardware.

Power Supply

The power supply must provide you at least 300 watts and fit right into the computer case you choose. If you are one of those who extreme users or gamers, you may want to buy a bigger power supply to feed additional cooling, USB devices and case lighting.

Processor

The processor is the most important choice you need to make in setting up your own computer. You have to know exactly what kind and how fast you need. There are a variety of options from AMD and Intel, for example: AMD Athlon, AMD Sempron, AMD Duron, Intel Celeron, Intel Core Duo, among others. If you only use the computer to surf the web, do word processing, gaming and some graphics editing, the 1.8 GHz – 2.0 GHz might be enough. Extreme gaming, 3D rendering and video editing would need at least a 2.4GHz processor.

CPU Cooler

Processors usually come with a fan and a heat sink. But it is best to get a cooler that is more efficient and quieter than the one included in the package. Remember to get a thermal compound to put onto the CPU core.

Motherboard

Choose a motherboard that matches your processor’s socket type and supports the same bus speed as the CPU.

RAM

Similarly, choose a RAM that is compatible with the motherboard’s bus speed. Get at least 512MB of RAM.

Hard Disk Drive (HDD)

The HDD is your permanent storage for system files, applications, documents, games and so on. Get the largest hard drive capacity that you can afford. If you are on a tight budget, you can get at least a 60GB. Most motherboards have IDE slots for hard drives. Newer ones also have SATA connectors for SATA HDDs, which are quite faster than IDE HDDs.

Graphics Card

If you use the computer for regular office work, you can get a motherboard with a built-in video card. If you use it for gaming, you might want to buy a separate video card. Video cards usually use an AGP slot or a PCI Express slot on the motherboard.

Sound Card

Most motherboards have built-in sound cards which generally have good quality. If you use sound mixing or audio/video editing, you can get at least a 24-bit sound card for better quality.

CD/DVD

Of optical drives, it is best to seek for a DVD/CD-RW combo or a DVD+-RW; the latter is a better choice. DVDs have larger capacity to allow you to store more music and movie files and back-up data. If you do not expect to burn disks, you can opt for a CD-R or a DVD-R drive.

This article is distributed by MDofPC LLC MDofPC Custom Computers and Download Software

How to Choose a Gaming Motherboard

If you love computer games and just can’t get enough of it, you should choose the right computer with the best gaming motherboard. A computer’s motherboard is the core of the entire computer system. It connects all other parts of the computer and allows them to interact and run the machine effectively.

There are some important factors to consider when building a gaming computer. The best gaming motherboard will be dependent on how extensive your gaming requirement will be. But all in all, you need to get a good CPU to start with to maximize your motherboard’s performance.

Some Tips in Choosing the Best Gaming Motherboard

* Determine the type of CPU to be able to determine the correct motherboard and vice versa. These two components are crucial in building a computer system especially for gaming purposes. There are computer components that may or may not fit and work for specific motherboard types, so it is important to check it first.

* Check if your CPU has an overclocking feature. If it does, you need to look for a motherboard that allows minimal increments in FSB speed and CPU voltage.

* Currently, the latest RAM in the market is DDR2, so opt for motherboard that has at least 4 memory slots and up to a maximum of 8Gigabytes of RAM. This allows you to upgrade your computer system if the need arises.

* Opt for crossfire-ready motherboards to be able to use two identical high performance graphics cards. This type of motherboard supports and enhances advanced gaming graphics for optimum image display.

* Opt for a motherboard that supports SATA 2 device. Gaming requires speed and SATA 2 can provide the optimum speed for faster data transfers.

* Additional features such as integrated LAN, front panel LED, firewire and USB ports are essential. Extra graphics and sound cards are also must-haves for gaming computers.

Choosing the best gaming mother board shouldn’t be too hard. Just always remember the first two computer components during your search – the CPU is always in sync with the motherboard and vice versa.

When you are searching for the best gaming motherboard, think of maximum performance as your computer needs extra effort and power during gaming to produce high quality graphics, sounds, the works.

The motherboard is an important component of a computer system, and finding the ideal if not the best gaming motherboard, will definitely allow you to maximize your gaming experience.

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The Amazing Quad Core Computer

Let us discuss the two main quad core computers launched by Intel and AMD. Intel was the first one to launch this computer under the name of Kentsfield, which is also called Core 2 Extreme quad-core QX6700, and it is no less than 80% faster than Conroe or Core 2 Extreme X6800.

The chips of these quad core computers are based on the latest `Core` micro architecture technology. It is not just low powered but also gives high performance. But don`t be fooled into thinking that Kentsfield is a power-saving computer by any means.

This computer with a 2.66GHz chip having a 1066MHz front-side bus (FSB) is ideally suited for those users that require heavy or highly accurate scientific calculations. It is generally used in the fields of actuarial sciences, digital content creation, financial applications and engineering analysis, like CAD. The director of Intel`s operations for digital enterprise group, Mr. Steve Smith, has claimed that this quad core computer will be 58% faster for crating digital content system, and for video, digital audio and photo editing.

To talk in simple words, Kentsfield and other such computers are not meant for ordinary people`s desk. They are more suited for high-tech workstations and desktops. It will not be wise to think that the average customer who needs a computer for general applications like word, PowerPoint, games or internet and etc., will go for a complex, complicated and expensive computer like this. For these purposes, there are many other types of products made by Intel. Apart from this, as you must have guessed by now that this high-tech computer needs a lot of power and this feature makes it practically useless for people on the go. Perhaps it will take some more research and modifications before the quad core computer becomes popular as a laptop.

Intel has launched the mainstream and commercial version of these computers. This computer is known as Core 2 Quad Q6600. It runs at 2.4GHz and it is currently priced at around $210. This budget quad-core computer is estimated to have a somewhat smaller thermal envelope, and will be at 105 watts as compared to 130 watts of the Kentsfield Core 2 Extreme quad-core QX6700.

AMD`s Quad Core computer is built on a 65mn process. They are using a new technology called Silicon-on-Insulator process. It allows faster transistors that have lower power leakage to be easily used and this unique feature helps greatly in reducing wasted heat and power. For more energy saving, each core of this computer is allowed to run at entirely different speeds or can be turned off totally with the help of the new `Enhanced Power Now` feature. This computer is also packed with an enhanced `Crossbar Switch` that enables the users to access different parts of cores at the same time. Some other vital features include the integrated memory controller along with the latest `Direct Connect Architecture 2.0` that allows much faster `Hyper Transport` speeds.

Though these features can extract exclamations of wonder and happiness from any geek but the fact remains that for the average PC buyer, this still means Latin and Greek. Definitely many more core computers using this technology are on their way and will revolutionize the computer industry but it will be some time before people embrace this technology as a part and parcel of their life. Computer makers claim that within a few years the popularity of quad core computers will triple itself.

This article can also be accessed in portuguese from the Article section of page www.polomercantil.com.br/computador-pc.php
Roberto Sedycias works as IT consultant for www.PoloMercantil.com.br