Sunday, October 7, 2007

 

Expert Review of the New Dell Vostro 1400 Notebook

The Vostro 1400, part of a new Dell notebook line, is designed right from the base level to appeal to the specific needs of small-business customers. The Vostro 1400 weighing 2.45 kilograms has its power from a 2-GHz Core 2 Duo processor and 2GB of RAM, enabling the system to provide impressive performance. From tune-up and network-assistant tools to an easy online-backup solution using Dell DataSafe, using the Vostro 1400 is like having a 24X7 IT guy inside your system. Plus, you also get all of the multimedia amenities like a 2.0 megapixel webcam (optional), multimedia controls, 8-in-1 card reader that bogs down other brands. The notebook is very business looking and has some tough features which include a magnesium alloy chassis, spill proof keyboard, and shock resistant hard drive.


Pros:


Cons:


Specifications:

Summary

The Dell Vostro 1400 is an excellent choice for the price targeting the small business group. It offers a wide variety of special features and also provides impressive battery life for its size and price. The Vostro 1400 is tailor-made for its audience and worthy of its own sub-brand. It's a powerful laptop that's as easy to use as it is to maintain.



Deals of Interest

Emerson 32" LCD HDTV with Digital Tuner, LC320EM8


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# posted by Lia Tjandra @ 9:28 PM 0 Comments  
 

Expert Review of the New Mac Mini

As the lowest-cost personal computer ever sold by Apple, the Mini also represents a big change in Apple's business model. The Mac Mini, built in Taiwan to Apple's specifications, has the potential to boost Apple's business again, just as the iMac had done earlier in the 1990's. The New Mac Mini comes as a great offer with 1.83 GHz processor, 160 GB hard drive, CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive, modem and combination analog/digital video port, which enables to switch in many big, beautiful monitors through 32 MB of devoted video memory driven by an ATI Radeon 9200 chipset and the bundled software package. It is available in 2 configurations and the package consists of applications like Mail, Address Book and iCal along with the basic components.


Strengths:



Drawbacks:



Specifications:

1.83GHz or 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor

Intel GMA 950 Graphics Processor

Apple Remote with Front Row

160GB Hard Drive

Up to 2GB memory

DVI connector, VGA adapter

Slot-loading Optical Drive

Analog and Digital audio

Built-in Gigabit Ethernet

Wireless 802.11g and Bluetooth 2.0

Expansion via USB and FireWire

iLife ’08, Mac OS X v10.4 Tiger


Summary:

Mac mini makes it easy and affordable to work with digital photos, movies, music, and the web, it all happens with the blazing speed of the Intel Core 2 Duo processor. Apple Mac Mini is a well designed, superbly useful option at a very attractive price. It is a great selection for a broad range of applications and requirement, but for its success amidst competition, Apple needs to deal with the two most noteworthy issues: inferior analog video output and the lack of FireWire 800 support. If your goal is saving space, the Mac Mini is a winner. If you'd rather get the best deal, there are better options like Dell and HP.



Great Deals

Emerson 32" LCD HDTV with Digital Tuner, LC320EM8


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TigerDirect's Liquidation Sale!

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Take advantage of online coupon savings at Office Depot.

Save 30% - 50% on Select Clearance Items at Office Depot! While Supplies Last!

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# posted by Lia Tjandra @ 9:28 PM 0 Comments  

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

 

Expert Review of the New Toshiba Portege R500 Notebook PC Series

The Toshiba Portege R500 is the world’s thinnest notebook series and the first notebook to include a 7mm optical drive and a 12.1 inch widescreen with trans-reflective backlit LED screen. Toshiba claims that the Portege R500 has the world’s longest battery life amongst all other notebook class with a 12.1 inch widescreen.

The Toshiba Portege R500 is built with a 64-bit Intel Core 2 Duo U7600 ultra-low voltage processor with a clock speed of 1.20GHz, 2MB L2 cache, and 533MHz FSB. The ultra-portable R500 is based on Mobile Intel 945 GMS Express chipset with integrated 950 Chipset Graphic Media Accelerator to manage the 12.1 inch 1280×800 LED backlight display. The R500 supports up to 2GB of DDR2 system memory and comes with 120GB 5400rpm SATA hard disk drive and an ultra-thin 7mm optical drive as a DVD burner.


Features that make the R500 impressive:


Drawbacks:


Specifications:


Summary:

The performance of Toshiba Portege R500 is very positive, while there are some minor concerns with build quality, absence of mobile broadband yet the R500 is remarkably well built for such a small ultra-portable notebook. There is no doubt that one can expect the R500 to provide solid business performance.




Deals of Interest

Emerson 32" LCD HDTV with Digital Tuner, LC320EM8


Top Brand HDTVs at Walmart.com from $384

TigerDirect's Liquidation Sale!

Save 30%-50% Off Select Clearance Items! Shop now and Save! (While Supplies Last)

Take advantage of online coupon savings at Office Depot.

Save 30% - 50% on Select Clearance Items at Office Depot! While Supplies Last!

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# posted by Lia Tjandra @ 9:30 PM 0 Comments  

Sunday, September 30, 2007

 

The Current Status of Ultra-Mobile PCs

The Ultra-Mobile PC (UMPC) is a fully functional computer running Microsoft Windows XP Tablet PC Edition. The UMPC has all the functionality of Microsoft Windows XP Professional with additional functionality of the Tablet PC Future versions of the UMPC will run Windows Vista in continuation with the use of the Tablet PC features.

From a user point of view this means that there is no need of extra learning. The UMPC is portable, mobile and does anything that desktop, laptops and notebook PCs can do. Apart from accomplishing what many portable devices do today, everything you could do on large computers because it runs the full Windows XP operating system. Users work on the same operating system as well as use the same applications which were previously available only on desktop PCs, laptops and notebook computers. Beyond these features, the ultra-portable size; lower cost; inbuilt Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Ethernet Ports and support for technologies like GPS, makes the UMPC suitable to a wider range of compelling mobile PC experiences.


Some important features of the UMPC which is helping it in gradually capturing a sizeable share in the market are:



The benefits available to users are endless. Some of them are:



Current Base Specification of a UMPC


While the exact specifications varies between Original Equipment Manufacturers’ (OEM), but the baseline specifications for UMPC are:



Despite issues with a short battery life, In the near future Ultra-mobile PCs will eventually become essential and omnipresent as mobile phones are today.


Deals of Interest

Emerson 32" LCD HDTV with Digital Tuner, LC320EM8


Top Brand HDTVs at Walmart.com from $384

TigerDirect's Liquidation Sale!

Save 30%-50% Off Select Clearance Items! Shop now and Save! (While Supplies Last)

Take advantage of online coupon savings at Office Depot.

Save 30% - 50% on Select Clearance Items at Office Depot! While Supplies Last!

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# posted by Lia Tjandra @ 9:47 PM 0 Comments  
 

Expert Review of the New HP Pavilion IQ770

The new HP Pavilion TouchSmart IQ770 incorporates a PC, a 19 inch touch screen, a wireless keyboard and a mouse. The IQ770 is a HP’s new venture in home computing. The system is loaded with genuine Windows Vista Home Premium. The PC has an AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-52 dual-core processor, large and impressive 2GB of memory and a 320GB hard disk for storing lots of data, music, videos and digital photos. The HP IQ770 has a built-in DVD burner with LightScribe, a TV turner card and a built-in 1.3 megapixel camera.


The IQ770 runs the new Media Center Interface with the new HP SmartCenter front page. HP SmartCenter leverages the touchscreen, making the IQ770 a centralized information appliance. It displays information on the local weather, TV programs, music, games and many more. This is truly an all-in-one media center.


Pros:



Cons:


Specifications:

Processor: AMD Turion 64 X 2 Dual Core TL52 with AMD LIVE! Technology

Memory: 2 GB DDR2 SDRAM

Hard Drive: 320 GB 7200 rpm SATA

OS: Windows Vista Home Premium

Network Communication: 802.11 a/b/g and Gigabit Ethernet

Monitor: 19” LCD Touch Enabled

TV Tuner: NTSC and HDTV Tuner

Sound: Integrated Audio with 6 speakers and 2 built-in 12W speakers

Optical Drive: Multi drive DVD Burner

Web Camera: 1.3 megapixel

Ports: 2 USB and 1 IEEE 1394

Media Card: 8-in-1 media card reader


Summary:

HP Pavilion TouchSmart IQ770 is a great all in one system and uses the new technologies in Windows Vista quite effectively. It is suitable for those looking for a home PC to organize family schedules, or to have some entertainment media served up in the kitchen or another small room.


Deals of Interest

Emerson 32" LCD HDTV with Digital Tuner, LC320EM8


Top Brand HDTVs at Walmart.com from $384

TigerDirect's Liquidation Sale!

Save 30%-50% Off Select Clearance Items! Shop now and Save! (While Supplies Last)

Take advantage of online coupon savings at Office Depot.

Save 30% - 50% on Select Clearance Items at Office Depot! While Supplies Last!

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# posted by Lia Tjandra @ 9:45 PM 0 Comments  
 

Expert Review of the New Mac Pro

The New Mac Pro is the world’s first 3.0GHz, 8-core Intel Xeon-based workstation. Based on Intel's 64-bit Xeon CPU, the Mac Pro has two dual-core processors. The new Mac Pro is the final Macintosh in Apple's line-up to make the shift from PowerPC processors to Intel processors. The standard configuration of the New Mac Pro consists of 2.66-GHz Xeon processors, 1GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive, a single 16x SuperDrive and the Nvidia GeForce 7300 GT graphics card with 256MB of video RAM. The Mac Pro not only runs Mac OS X and OS X applications at absolutely blazing speeds, but also Windows XP via Apple’s Boot Camp, the Mac Pro makes a better Windows workstation than almost any other Windows desktop.


Pros:


Cons:


Specifications:


Summary:

Apple’s Mac Pro consists of really awesome hardware features which provides great performance at a reasonable price. Particularly for 3D design, there is requirement of special configuration options but otherwise the Mac Pro can be considered as a professional class PC. With the new Mac Pro your imaginations finally meets its match.


Deals of Interest

Emerson 32" LCD HDTV with Digital Tuner, LC320EM8


Top Brand HDTVs at Walmart.com from $384

TigerDirect's Liquidation Sale!

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Take advantage of online coupon savings at Office Depot.

Save 30% - 50% on Select Clearance Items at Office Depot! While Supplies Last!

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# posted by Lia Tjandra @ 9:41 PM 0 Comments  
 

Expert Review of the New Apple MacBook Pro

The new Apple MacBook Pro gets easily placed in the elite class of laptops, with its high-end performance, features and built on Intel’s new attempt of dominating the notebooks market segment with its Core 2 Duo processor. The MacBook Pro is available in two models of 15.4 inches and 17 inch, at a starting price tag of US$1,999. The solid and well-built similarity with its aluminum-clad precursor versions and its thin frame makes it easily stuffed onto smaller laptop bags. It is provided with the minimalist layout characteristic feature with single power button, a full-scale keyboard, a considerably sized touchpad with the only mouse button, stereo speakers and built-in iSight camera.


Strengths:


Drawbacks:


Specifications of the two MacBook Pro Models:

15.4 Inch MacBook Pro

17 inch MacBook Pro

Processor

2.2GHz or 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

Memory

2 GB

2 GB

Hard Drive

Up to 200 GB

Up to 250 GB

Weight

5.4 Pounds

6.8 Pounds

USB Ports

2 - USB 2.0 Ports

3 – USB 2.0 Ports

Network Support

Gigabit Ethernet

Wi-Fi 802.11n

Bluetooth 2.0+EDR

Gigabit Ethernet

Wi-Fi 802.11n

Bluetooth 2.0+EDR

Optical Drive

8x double-layer-burning SuperDrive

8x double-layer-burning SuperDrive

Video Card

NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT

NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT

Keyboard

Illuminated Keyboard

Illuminated Keyboard

TrackPad

Scrolling

Scrolling


Summary:

The MacBook Pro conveys ultimate fashion, comes with an exclusive set of features and software, 802.11n Wi-Fi delivers up to five times the performance and two times the range compared to the 802.11g standard.. But a few transitional performance concerns prevents it from being amongst the most powerful laptops. It is one of the most suited laptop for power users but doesn’t come cheap.



Deals of Interest

Emerson 32" LCD HDTV with Digital Tuner, LC320EM8


Top Brand HDTVs at Walmart.com from $384

TigerDirect's Liquidation Sale!

Save 30%-50% Off Select Clearance Items! Shop now and Save! (While Supplies Last)

Take advantage of online coupon savings at Office Depot.

Save 30% - 50% on Select Clearance Items at Office Depot! While Supplies Last!

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# posted by Lia Tjandra @ 9:36 PM 0 Comments  

Friday, September 14, 2007

 

The future of computing, and what is the latest and greatest currently with computers

Taking into consideration the rapid rate of change in computer and related technologies today, what is in store for us in the future? Several new computer designs are currently being researched by leading PC manufacturers. Some of these designs have yielded promising test results, and possibly will lead to new types of computer architecture some of which are listed below.

  1. Quantum Computing Model: It is based on reading the alignments of individual atoms in a magnetic field. They aren't limited by the binary nature of the classical physical world of bits, however they depend on observing the state an atom or quantum bits that might represent a one or a zero, for reasons that atoms change energy states very quickly, much quickly than even the fastest computer processors.

  2. Molecular Computing Model: On this architecture researchers are trying to create tiny circuits out of single molecules instead of the current transistors we are using. Its effect will reduce the size of a computer processor to the size of a molecule.

  3. DNA Computing Model: The DNA model is based on reading the condition of a DNA molecule as either “open” or “closed”.

All the models potentially reduce the size of the basic processor to the nanometer (billionth of a meter) range, thereby providing for power computing, complex problem solving and computers to be smaller than the size of a living cell. Hewlett Packard (HP) has won the Nano-chip Patent.

The latest and the greatest processor I currently find in the computer world is the new Intel Core 2 Quad Processor. I find it to be the most powerful processor available in the market right now. One could use it to do almost anything, from creating multimedia, wiping out your gaming enemies, or running computer intensive applications at one time, the new Intel quad-core processor will change the way you do everything.

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# posted by Lia Tjandra @ 9:05 PM 0 Comments  

Monday, September 10, 2007

 

A Brief History of Computers, from First Creation Until Today

The development of the modern day computer was the result of advances in technologies and man's need to quantify. The history of computer development is often referred to in reference to the different generations of computing devices which were used over a period of time. Each generation of computer is characterized by a major technological development that fundamentally changed the way computers operate, resulting in increasingly smaller, cheaper, more powerful and more efficient and reliable devices.

Abacus is considered the first computer which was developed by the Chinese in 3000 B.C. Abacus is a counting board which could only perform addition and subtractions.

There are five generations of computers:

First Generation:

The computers built during the period 1940 to 1956 are referred to as the first generation computers. The first computers used vacuum tubes for circuitry and magnetic drums to store data. Due to the use of these components their size was massive taking up almost an entire room. They were very expensive to operate and in addition used a great deal of electricity, generated a lot of heat due to which they had a low MTBF (mean time between failure), which was often the cause of malfunctions. First generation computers relied on machine language in the form of 0’s and 1’s to perform operations, and they could only solve one problem at a time. Input was based on punched cards and paper tapes, and output was displayed on printouts.
The UNIVAC (Universal Automatic Computer) and ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator) are examples of first-generation computing devices.

Second Generation:

The computers built between the year 1956 and 1963 are called the second generation computers. These computers were built with transistors which replaced vacuum tubes of the first generation. The transistor was far superior to the vacuum tube, allowing computers to become smaller, faster, cheaper, more energy-efficient and more reliable than their first-generation predecessors. Though the transistor still generated a great deal of heat that subjected the computer to damage, it was a vast improvement over the vacuum tube.

Second-generation computers still relied on punched cards for input and printouts for output.
Second-generation computers used assembly languages which allowed programmers to specify instructions in words. During the time when assembly language programming was going on High level Programming languages like COBOL (Common Business Oriented Language) and FORTRAN (Formula Translator) were being developed. The second generation computers were the first that stored their instructions in their memory, which used magnetic core technology instead of the Magnetic drum. The computers of this generation were developed for the atomic energy industry.

Third Generation:

The computers built during the period 1964 to 1971 were referred to as third generation computers. The third generation computers replaced the transistor which was used in second generation computers with Integrated Circuits (ICs). The ICs are miniature transistors placed on silicon chips which were called semiconductors. This drastically increased the speed and efficiency and decreased the size and cost of computers.

Instead of punched cards and printouts, users interacted with third generation computers through keyboards, monitor and an operating system acted as a medium to take the input, get it processed and provide the output. This system allowed the computers to run many different applications at one time with a central program that monitored the memory. During this generation computers for the first time became acceptable to a mass audience because they were smaller, cheaper and could be easily programmed unlike their predecessors. The language used by this generation computers was High Level Language (HLL) which was easy to understand as it hand English words.

The “LILLIAC IV” is an example of a third generation computer.

Fourth Generation:

The computers built from the year 1971 to date are referred to as the fourth and some as the fifth generation computers. The microprocessor which was a thousands of ICs built onto a single silicon chip was used. The size reduced drastically. Computers which were as big as an entire room were now small and could fit in the palm of the hand. The Intel 4004 chip, developed in 1971, had all the components of a computer namely the central processing unit (CPU), memory to input/output controls, all on a single chip.

In 1981 IBM introduced its first computer for the home user and following steps in 1984 Apple introduced the Macintosh. Microprocessors also moved out of the sphere of desktop computers and moved into many areas of life as more and more everyday products like (Refrigerators, Microwave Ovens, Mobile Phones, and Washing Machines) began to use microprocessors.

As these small computers became more powerful, they could be linked together to form a network and this eventually led to the development of the Internet. Fourth generation computers also saw the development of Graphical User Interfaces (Windows), the mouse (pointing device) and handheld devices (mobile phones).

Fifth Generation:

Fifth generation computing devices work on artificial intelligence and are still in development, though there are some applications which purely belong to the fifth generation such as voice recognition that are being used today. The use of parallel processing and superconductors is helping to make artificial intelligence a reality. Quantum Computers, Molecular Computers and the use of nanotechnology in the fifth generation will completely change the face of computers in years to come. The goal of fifth generation computing is to develop devices that responds to natural language as inputs and are capable of learning, self organizing and providing the output. Many of this generation computers operate without the help of humans.

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# posted by Lia Tjandra @ 5:30 PM 0 Comments  

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