PhotoSmart p1000 Inkjet Printer (output devices)

If you are searching for an easy to use color printer that prints great quality photo prints, all at a relatively low price, then you’ll love the HP PhotoSmart p1000 ink-jet printer. The PhotoSmart p1000 is a great printer if you’re looking to print photos from your digital camera. You’ll enjoy the built in memory card slot that this printer has-you can completely bypass the computer if you just want to print out some of your digital photos. Photo printing enthusiasts will also enjoy using the special 4 X 6 inch paper tray that the p1000 has. Unlike most printers that specialize in photo printing, this printer also does a great job printing text. Do be aware that ink cartridges for the HP PhotoSmart p1000 are pretty costly and also keep in mind that there are quieter and more compact color printers on the market. But if size or noise isn’t an issue, then hurry up a buy this printer while they are still being made.

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Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000 (1 Tb) (Storage Device)

The terabyte race for consumer desktop hard drives has been on for a long time, now the first generation of drives is here. On April 25th, Hitachi announced that it would begin shipping the Deskstar 7K1000, their latest series of consumer hard drives, weighting in at 750GB and a monstrous 1000GB (1TB). The 1TB version which we are reviewing today is slated at $399, a serious price tag for this colossal amount of storage.

The Deskstar 7K1000 represents a milestone for Hitachi and for the hard drive industry as a whole, as it is the first drive to offer a 1 terabyte capacity. Honestly, I expected that it would be Seagate who would deliver the first 1TB hard drive since they were the first to reach the 500GB mark. However, Hitachi has not simply grabbed five 200GB platters and stuck them together to create a 1TB hard drive. Rather, there is much more to the Deskstar 7K1000, such as its Serial ATA II interface and the massive 32MB memory buffer. This is also the first desktop Hitachi drive to feature PMR technology (Perpendicular Magnetic Recording).

Perpendicular recording is said to deliver up to 10x the storage density of longitudinal recording, on the same recording media. There was some interest in using the system in floppy disks in the 1980s, but the technology was never reliable. Today, there is renewed interest in using it for hard drives, which are rapidly reaching their fundamental limits.

Current hard disk technology with longitudinal recording has an estimated limit of 100 to 200GB per square inch due to the superparamagnetic effect, though this estimate is constantly changing. Perpendicular recording is predicted to allow information densities of up to around 1TB/sq. inch.

Depending on how you see it, this 1TB Hitachi is realistically a 935.5 GB hard drive. Operating systems such as Windows use the binary approach to measure capacity. Hard drive manufacturers measure capacity using a decimal system instead, which means a single kilobyte equals 1000 bytes (the binary approach measures one kilobyte to equal 1024 bytes). Hard drive manufacturers have been using the decimal system as a form of advertising because it allows them to claim larger capacities. The issue of whether or not this is ethical can be argued, but these days it has just been accepted the way things are.

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Logitech MX1000 (Input Device)

Logitech’s flagship mouse was the first we tested. Boasting a laser sensor, the MX1000 gives 20 times the tracking power of a regular optical mouse according to Logitech; not surprisingly it’s the most expensive of the pack but undoubtedly is the one that differentiates the most as well.

Although regular optical mice have improved over the past few years, the laser equipped MX1000 excelled when testing it on a variety of surfaces. We randomly grabbed items such as sheets of paper, folders, glass, and even a t-shirt, and the mouse was still able to function. The mouse comes with a battery meter on the side that displays how much battery life is left, a handy feature that we would expect to see more often in newer mice. As with optical mice, if you don’t make use of it for several seconds, the battery indicator turns off and the mouse goes into power saving mode.

The shape of the mouse may seem a bit odd at first, but it is easy to get used to. On the left side of the mouse, there is an indentation that makes a perfect location to place the thumb.

Although Microsoft was the first to jump into the side-to-side scrolling bandwagon, it didn’t take long for Logitech to catch up; this is another of the features in the MX1000. Once the mouse is configured properly using Logitech's SetPoint software, the side-to-side scrolling is a wonderful feature especially when web browsing or in other applications such as Photoshop, or even in games once you get used to, you could make good use of it for scrolling through inventory, among a number of different other uses. Although the mouse does work without installing any drivers, Logitech includes their own SetPoint software which allows user customization of the 8 buttons available.

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AMD vs. INTEL

There are a lot of debates about these 2 Processors and it was a never ending debate on which of the 2 Processors runs faster and have a better performance. AMD have their Phenom Processors and Intel have their Quad Core Processors. Everyone of us who wants to purchase a new Personal Computer is sometimes confused on what Processor are we going to choose.



In my own opinion (there’s nothing wrong in making my own opinion, hehe), I choose AMD than Intel. I’ve been impressed with the performance of AMD Processors. Previously, my friend told me that AMD Processors heat very fast and they recommend me using an Intel Processor. That was before. It was a bug with AMD Processor that it easily heats up. That’s why Intel Processors were more marketed than AMD Processors. However, this time around, AMD had fixed their bugs on their Processors and now it’s even better. It does not heat up easily and the performance is great.



I, as a personal technician (hoho, I am just claiming) for real but not licensed to, recommend my friend to use AMD Processors. Some of my friends wants to get ideas from me before purchasing a Personal Computer because they thought that I know more on the Personal Computer stuff. Not that I really know, but I just read reviews from the websites just to check which is the best among the best.

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Best Browser

One of the best browsers around the Internet today is Mozilla Firefox. It got very reliable and secure accessing the Internet. I also use Mozilla Firefox because it can access the Internet faster. And I can compare it Internet Explorer. Internet Explorer got some errors and bugs most of the time while Mozilla Firefox does not. I cannot say that Mozilla Firefox does not have bugs but not like the Internet Explorer.



Here are some features on why I like Mozilla Firefox and why I am recommending you to use it. It has tabbed browsing, spell checker, incremental find, live bookmarking, an integrated download manager, keyboard shortcuts, and an integrated search system that uses the user’s desired search engine. Also, the add-ons of Mozilla Firefox can be customized. There are a lot of features Mozilla Firefox have and I cannot tell you all because I have not used all the features of Mozilla Firefox.



Currently, Microsoft had changed their Internet Explorer and followed the features of Mozilla Firefox like the tabbed browsing. However, they cannot match with the speed of Mozilla Firefox. As Mozilla said, using Internet Explorer is too 2006. We are already on the year 2009 and going to 2010. Switch now to Mozilla Firefox.

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How to maintain Personal Computer?

There are lots of ways on how to maintain the personal computer. Maintaining your personal computer would make your system perform faster and process faster on your data. Most of us don’t want to maintain our personal computer because we don’t know how to do it. Now, you don’t have to worry because I will be giving you some basic steps on how to maintain your personal computer. This only applies to Microsoft Windows XP and Windows Vista.



One way to maintain your personal computer and the most important thing to do to make your system go faster in processing files is to clean up your disk. Not literally the hard disk but the inside of your disk. You need to clean up the temporary files and other non useful files. Here is how to do it.



1. Click Start, then go to All Programs, then go to Accessories, then System Tools.

2. Select and click Disk Cleanup.

3. Select the Hard Drive where your Operating System is installed to cleanup. Most likely, it is on Drive C which is the default drive.

4. Place a check on all boxes on which items to cleanup.

5. Then Click OK to proceed with the cleanup.



This cleanup process would normally takes a lot of time to clean depending on how big is your temporary files on your system. After cleaning up your disk with those temporary files, we need to defrag the files on your system. Fragmented files makes your system go slow that’s why we need to defrag it. Here is how to do it:



1. Click Start, then go to All Programs, then go to Accessories, then System Tools.

2. Select and click Disk Defragmenter.

3. Select the drive to defrag and click on defrag.



This process will really take a long time depending on how many fragmented files you have. You don’t have to worry because we are maintaing your personal computer to boost up its performace. The faster the better. Why not trying now?

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How to Reformat a PC?

Most of the people right now do know how to use their Desktops or Notebooks but most of us don’t know how to reformat their Desktop or Notebook. If your Personal Computer or Notebook is branded then you don’t have to read this article. It is only for those people who manually assemble their Personal Computer.



I will teach you how to reformat your Personal Computer step by step. This does not requires expert technical skills just to reformat your Personal Computer. First, we need to prepare things needed for us to reformat your Personal Computer. You must have the following materials:



* DVD-ROM

* Microsoft Windows XP CD/Vista DVD

* Product Key for your Operating System (you will be able to find on the sticker which was provided by Microsoft or you can check on your CD/DVD case)



Next is you need to configure your bios to boot directly to your DVD. There are different ways to configure your bios because there are different kinds of bios. I hope you can just get my idea. If you are confused, just try to ask me. Here are the steps:



1. Turn on your Personal Computer. When you see the prompt that you need to press a key to enter setup, please press the appropriate key.

2. Go to Boot Menu (most likely it is found 2nd to the last menu). And configure the Boot Configuration and make sure that the DVD-ROM is on top of the boot sequence.

3. Save your settings and exit bios.



Now your bios settings is set and next thing is on reformatting your Personal Computer. Here are the steps to reformat your Personal Computer:



1. Insert the Microsft Windows XP CD/Vista DVD to your DVD-ROM before your system boots up.

2. It will ask you to press any key to boot for the CD/DVD. Press any key to access it.



After that, you will be able to see easy instructions to follow and just follow them your Personal Computer will be reformatted approximately 30 minutes to 1 hour.

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How Computer Monitors Work

Because we use them daily, many of us have a lot of questions about our monitors and may not even realize it. What does "aspect ratio" mean? What is dot pitch? How much power does a display use? What is the difference between CRT and LCD? What does "refresh rate" mean?

Monitor Display Technology
Often referred to as a monitor when packaged in a separate case, the display is the most-used output device on a computer. The display provides instant feedback by showing you text and graphic images as you work or play.
Most desktop displays use liquid crystal display (LCD) or cathode ray tube (CRT) technology, while nearly all portable computing devices such as laptops incorporate LCD technology. Because of their slimmer design and lower energy consumption, monitors using LCD technology (also called flat panel or flat screen displays) are replacing the venerable CRT on most desktops.Resolution refers to the number of individual dots of color, known as pixels, contained on a display. Resolution is expressed by identifying the number of pixels on the horizontal axis (rows) and the number on the vertical axis (columns), such as 800x600. Resolution is affected by a number of factors, including the size of the screen.
As monitor sizes have increased over the years, display standards and resolutions have changed. In addition, some manufacturers offer widescreen displays designed for viewing DVD movies.

Aspect Ratio and Viewable Area
Two measures describe the size of your display: the aspect ratio and the screen size. Historically, computer displays, like most televisions, have had an aspect ratio of 4:3. This means that the ratio of the width of the display screen to the height is 4 to 3.
For widescreen LCD monitors, the aspect ratio is 16:9 (or sometimes 16:10 or 15:9). Widescreen LCD displays are useful for viewing DVD movies in widescreen format, playing games and displaying multiple windows side by side. High definition television (HDTV) also uses a widescreen aspect ratio.
All types of displays include a projection surface, commonly referred to as the screen. Screen sizes are normally measured in inches from one corner to the corner diagonally across from it. This diagonal measuring system actually came about because the early television manufacturers wanted to make the screen size of their TVs sound more impressive.
Interestingly, the way in which the screen size is measured for CRT and LCD monitors is different. For CRT monitors, screen size is measured diagonally from outside edges of the display casing. In other words, the exterior casing is included in the measurement as seen below.

CRT screen size

For LCD monitors, screen size is measured diagonally from the inside of the beveled edge. The measurement does not include the casing as indicated in the image below.

LCD screen size


­Because of the differences in how CRT and LCD monitors are measured, a 17-inch LCD display is comparable to a 19-inch CRT display. For a more accurate representation of a CRT's size, find out its viewable screen size. This is the measurement of a CRT display without its outside casing.
­ Popular screen sizes are 15, 17, 19 and 21 inches. Notebook screen sizes are smaller, typically ranging from 12 to 17 inches. As technologies improve in both desktop and notebook displays, even larger screen sizes are becoming available. For professional applications, such as medical imaging or public information displays, some LCD monitors are 40 inches or larger!
Obviously, the size of the display directly affects resolution. The same pixel resolution is sharper on a smaller monitor and fuzzier on a larger monitor because the same number of pixels is spread out over a larger number of inches. An image on a 21-inch monitor with an 800x600 resolution will not appear nearly as sharp as it would on a 15-inch display at 800x600. ­

Analog and DVI Connections
To display information on a monitor, your computer sends the monitor a signal. The signal can be in analog or digital format.
Analog (VGA) ConnectionBecause most CRT monitors require the signal information in analog (continuous electrical signals or waves) form and not digital (pulses equivalent to the binary digits 0 and 1), they typically use an analog connection.
However, computers work in a digital world. The computer and video adapter convert digital data into analog format. A video adapter is an expansion card or component that provides the ability to convert display information into a signal that is sent to the monitor. It can also be called a graphics adapter, video card or graphics card.
Once the display information is in analog form, it is sent to the monitor through a VGA cable. The cable connects at the back of the computer to an analog connector (also known as a D-Sub connector) that has 15 pins in three rows. See the diagram below:

You can see that a VGA connector like this has three separate lines for the red, green and blue color signals, and two lines for horizontal and vertical sync signals. In a normal television, all of these signals are combined into a single composite video signal. The separation of the signals is one reason why a computer monitor can have so many more pixels than a TV set.
Because a VGA (analog) connector does not support the use of digital monitors, the Digital Video Interface (DVI) standard was developed.




DVI Connection
DVI keeps data in digital form from the computer to the monitor. There's no need to convert data from digital information to analog information. LCD monitors work in a digital mode and support the DVI format. (Although, some also accept analog information, which is then converted to digital format.) At one time, a digital signal offered better image quality compared to analog technology. However, analog signal processing technology has improved over the years and the difference in quality is now minimal.
The DVI specification is based on Silicon Image's Transition Minimized Differential Signaling (TMDS) and provides a high-speed digital interface. A transmitter on the video adapter sends the digital information to a receiver in the monitor. TMDS takes the signal from the video adapter, determines the resolution and refresh rate that the monitor is using, and spreads the signal out over the available bandwidth to optimize the data transfer from computer to monitor.
DVI cables can be a single link cable that uses one TMDS transmitter or a dual link cable with two transmitters. A single link DVI cable and connection supports a 1920x1080 image, and a dual link cable/connection supports up to a 2048x1536 image.







There are two main types of DVI connections:

• DVI-digital (DVI-D) is a digital-only format. It requires a video adapter with a DVI-D connection and a monitor with a DVI-D input. The connector contains 24 pins/receptacles in 3 rows of 8 plus a grounding slot for dual-link support. For single-link support, the connector contains 18 pins/receptacles.





• DVI-integrated (DVI-I) supports both digital and analog transmissions. This gives you the option to connect a monitor that accepts digital input or analog input. In addition to the pins/receptacles found on the DVI-D connector for digital support, a DVI-I connector has 4 additional pins/receptacles to carry an analog signal.
  

DVI-D connectors carry a digital-only signal and DVI-I adds four pins for analog capability. Both connectors can be used with a single-link or a dual-link cable, depending upon the requirements of the display.

If you buy a monitor with only a DVI (digital) connection, make sure that you have a video adapter with a DVI-D or DVI-I connection. If your video adapter has only an analog (VGA) connection, look for a monitor that supports the analog format.

Color Depth
The combination of the display modes supported by your graphics adapter and the color capability of your monitor determine how many colors it displays. For example, a display that operates in SuperVGA (SVGA) mode can display up to 16,777,216 (usually rounded to 16.8 million) colors because it can process a 24-bit-long description of a pixel. The number of bits used to describe a pixel is known as its bit depth.
With a 24-bit bit depth, eight bits are dedicated to each of the three additive primary colors -- red, green and blue. This bit depth is also called true color because it can produce the 10,000,000 colors discernible to the human eye, while a 16-bit display is only capable of producing 65,536 colors. Displays jumped from 16-bit color to 24-bit color because working in eight-bit increments makes things a whole lot easier for developers and programmers.
Simply put, color bit depth refers to the number of bits used to describe the color of a single pixel. The bit depth determines the number of colors that can be displayed at one time. Take a look at the following chart to see the number of colors different bit depths can produce:

Notice that the last entry in the chart is for 32 bits. This is a special graphics mode used by digital video, animation and video games to achieve certain effects. Essentially, 24 bits are used for color and the other eight bits are used as a separate layer for representing levels of translucency in an object or image. Nearly every monitor sold today can handle 24-bit color using a standard VGA connector.
To create a single colored pixel, an LCD display uses three subpixels with red, green and blue filters. Through the careful control and variation of the voltage applied, the intensity of each subpixel can range over 256 shades. Combining the subpixels produces a possible palette of 16.8 million colors (256 shades of red x 256 shades of green x 256 shades of blue).
Now that you have a general idea of the technology behind computer monitors, let's take a closer look at LCD monitors, CRT monitors, and the general buying considerations for both.

LCD Monitors
Liquid crystal display technology works by blocking light. Specifically, an LCD is made of two pieces of polarized glass (also called substrate) that contain a liquid crystal material between them. A backlight creates light that passes through the first substrate. At the same time, electrical currents cause the liquid crystal molecules to align to allow varying levels of light to pass through to the second substrate and create the colors and images that you see.

Active and Passive Matrix DisplaysMost LCD displays use active matrix technology. A thin film transistor (TFT) arranges tiny transistors and capacitors in a matrix on the glass of the display. To address a particular pixel, the proper row is switched on, and then a charge is sent down the correct column. Since all of the other rows that the column intersects are turned off, only the capacitor at the designated pixel receives a charge. The capacitor is able to hold the charge until the next refresh cycle.
The other type of LCD technology is passive matrix. This type of LCD display uses a grid of conductive metal to charge each pixel. Although they are less expensive to produce, passive matrix monitors are rarely used today due to the technology's slow response time and imprecise voltage control compared to active matrix technology.
Now that you have an understanding of how LCD technology works, let's look at some specific features unique to LCD monitors.

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How is the LCD in a laptop computer so bright?

Most computer Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) panels are lit with built-in fluorescent tubes above, beside and sometimes behind the LCD. A white diffusion panel behind the LCD redirects and scatters the light evenly to ensure a uniform display. This is known as a backlight.
A fluorescent light is most often a long straight glass tube that produces white light. Inside the glass tube there is a low-pressure mercury vapor. When ionized, mercury vapor emits ultraviolet light. Human eyes are not sensitive to ultraviolet light (although human skin is). The inside of a fluorescent light is coated with phosphor. Phosphor is a substance that can accept energy in one form and emit the energy in the form of visible light. For example, energy from a high-speed electron in a TV tube is absorbed by the phosphors that make up the pixels. The light we see from a fluorescent tube is the light given off by the phosphor coating the inside of the tube. The phosphor fluoresces when energized, hence the name.

A typical laptop display uses a tiny Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp (CCFL) for the backlight. One of these small tubes is able to provide a bright white light source that can be diffused by the panel behind the LCD. In addition to providing ample light, CCFLs do not rise far above the ambient temperature. This makes them ideal for LCD panels since the light source is in close proximity to other components that could be ruined by excessive heat.
One amazing thing about these lamps is their incredible size. They are very thin and the board that drives the lamp is very small as well. However, it is not that hard to break them, which is why your display may go dark if you drop your laptop.

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