New Technology Could Repalce HDMI Cables
Posted by admin on Nov 19, 2010
Taken from PC World Magazine, September 2010 Edition
Are HDMI’s days numbered? They might be if a new audio/video (A/V) cable standard developed by four tech companies catches on. The recently finalized cable technology, known as HDBaseT, transfers both audio and video signals over ordinary RJ-45 ethernet cables. The standard is the result of an effort – by LG, Samsung, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Valens Semiconductor – that started more than six months ago.
While HDMI has several advantages over other sorts of A/V cables, it does have his problems. The technology frequently suffers from switching delays and is known for its limitations on cable length – problems that HDBaseT could solve. In addition, HDBaseT will be able to delivery full HD video, audio, Web connectivity and power over one cable simultaneously.
Breathe New Life Into Your Laptop’s Battery
Posted by admin on Sep 1, 2010
Taken from PC World Magazine, July 2010
Eventually and unavoidable, laptop batteries die. Proper care can delay the inevitable. With luck, your battery could last until you need to replace your aging notebook (perhaps with a laptop that has a longer battery life).
Don’t Run It Down – Squeezing every drop of juice out of a lithium ion battery strains and weakens it. Doing this just once or twice won’t kill the battery, but the cumulative effect of frequently emptying your notebook’s battery will be to shorten its life span. Make sure your battery is fully charged when you head out on the road.
Keep It Cool – Heat breaks down the battery and reduces its overall life. When you use your laptop, make sure that the vents are unblocked. Never work with the laptop on pillows or cushions. If possible, put it on a raised stand that permits plenty of airflow. Also, clean the vents every so often with a can of compressed air; (ICS Computers has them for sale).
Give It A Rest – If you’re going to be working exclusively on AC power for a week or more, remove the laptop’s battery first. Otherwise, you’ll wear out the battery – constantly charging and discharging it – at a time when you don’t need to use it at all. You don’t want it to be empty when you take it out. An unused battery loses power over time, and you don’t want all the power to drain away, so make sure that the battery is at least half-charged when you remove it.
If you do find yourself in need of a new battery, give us a call and ask about used or remanufactured batteries that will save you some money, and buy you some time until you invest in a new notebook.
Speed up the Internet with OpenDNS
Posted by admin on Jul 9, 2009
OpenDNS is a replacement DNS server for your computer or router. In a nutshell, DNS is the phone book for the Internet. It translates an internet address (www.icscomputers.ca) into a routable IP address, which your computer then uses to navigate the Internet. Each time you visit a new website, a DNS query is issued in the background, and you’re none the wiser. Internet service providers supply DNS to all their customers, but these servers tend to be overpopulated. Generally, the OpenDNS server is faster and more stable than the one provided by your ISP.
Change your current DNS settings to…
Primary: 208.67.222.222
Secondary: 208.67.220.220
Each operating system and router is different, so it is difficult to put how-to instructions in the post. Sorry.
Hack your Wi-Fi Antenna
Posted by admin on Mar 5, 2009
If you want to get more range from your wireless router, and like playing with electronics, then this might be the project for you. It works for petty much any wireless antenna, and costs about 5 cents to make. I have not tried it yet, but it looks pretty nifty!
http://www.instructables.com/id/WIFI-Antenna-Hack!/
Asus’s Unusually Compact Eee Box PC
Posted by admin on Nov 4, 2008
Taken from PCWorld Magazine, November 2008 Edition
Asus’s Eee Box features a smaller footprint and a slimmer profile than the average laptop – and yet it’s designed to sit on your desk. The Eee Box is a bargain as a basic home PC, but the machine’s performance is not high-end.
The Eee Box comes with a 1.6 Ghz Atom processor, 1GB of RAM, and a 80GB Hard Drive. It also has an integrated Intel GMA 950 graphics chip that relies on shared video memory.
Though the Eee Box will do fine for browsing online and for word processing, it is hardly a robust unit. In some ways, though, performance is not the point: The system is designed to be a basic, power-saving network-attached device. Asus says that the Box draws just 15 to 20 watts of power – a smaller amount than most laptops use.
The Eee Box is a great value that’s geared toward students, as well as home and small-office users. That the system comes with Windows XP Home, Microsoft Works and StarOffice only sweetens the deal.
ICS Note: These small systems can even be mounted on the back of an LCD Monitor, making a very compact and user-friendly workstation.
What Does $1000 Really Buy?
Posted by admin on Mar 22, 2008
Taken from PC World Magazine, April 2008 Edition
Budget Price? Expect Budget Speed – Cheap machines are fast enough for everyday jobs such as e-mail and Web surfing, but they can be noticeable slow at handling heavier workloads such as multitasking in several windows at once, especially if one involves some type of multimedia.
Fewer Upgrades – With any laptop, cheap or not, you almost always have only two upgrade options: replace the hard drive or add memory. With a budget PC, however, you will likely sacrifice some expandability. For example, don’t expect to find the expansion slots you see in power and gaming towers.
Missed Connections – Though you should have more than enough to get by, you’ll have fewer slots, ports, and features in general. For instance, many sub-$1000 laptops lack Bluetooth or Firewire. Also expect fewer Firewire and USB ports on desktops, and generally none of the new, high-end connections like eSata.
Cheap PCs Got No Game – Budget PCs rarely have dedicated graphics cards, which are necessary for games and multimedia applications. The cheaper the system, the more likely it will rely on video memory that is shared with main system RAM, and that’s especially true with laptops.
Plainer Looks – Cheaper laptops tend to come enclosed in a lower-grade plastic, and some desktops have cheap cases with small, buzzy fans and components that are held in by cheap screws. Though some budget computers clearly look a bit more elegant than others, most have designs that that trend toward the utilitarian, to put it politely.
Windows: It Hungers for RAM
Posted by admin on Dec 16, 2007
Everyone knows that PCs sold today have more RAM than they did in the olden days. The question is, why? Applications grow hungrier and RAM prices keep falling, of course, but operating system bloat is the biggest reason. A review of systems that PC World Test Centrehas evaluated since 1999 reveals that the average RAM provision has grown from 96MB to about 2GB, spiking whenever Microsoft releases a new version of Windows. For example, when Windows XP machines started appearing, system RAM increased, on average, from about 128MB to more than 256MB. When Windows Vista started shipping, our test PC’s RAM jumped from slightly more than 1GB to about 2GB. Windows’ minimum system requirements ballooned from 16MB to 1GB over the same period. So when you are ready to upgrade your PC and your OS, you can assume that you’ll need substantially more RAM.
written by Alan Stafford of PC World Magazine
Who cares about quad-core?
Posted by admin on Dec 13, 2007
Taken from an article by Robert Dutt in CRN Magazine (www.crncanada.ca)
It can be easy with technology to get lost in feeds and speeds, or to ask oneself just what the latest addition of megahertz to a processor mean in the real world. Put simply – quad-core is great, but really – who cares if their processor has one core, or two, or four?
“It’s like eight processors of pur love”, said Jason Pohl, head designer or Orange County Chopper. “This is the first time I’ve had a workstation that can keep up with me. There’s no more waiting for my computer, it’s more an extension of my left and right arms.’ Read the rest of this entry »
Video Technologies Explained
Posted by admin on Nov 16, 2007
There are lots of different types of electronic screens on the market today, and it is really hard to figure out what they are all about. Here is a small explanation of them.
CRT
Cathode Ray Tube technology has been used since the very first TVs. It basically uses three tubes beside each other (red, blue, green), to create an image that is ‘fired’ onto a glass screen. The cathode or ‘gun’ fires an invisible electron beam at coloured phosphors that are on the glass screen. These phosphors glow in their respective colour (red, blue, green) to produce the picture. These displays are inexpensive, very reliable, and have the best colour reproduction. The problem is that they are big and heavy, and consume a large amount of electricity.
USB 2.0
Posted by admin on Oct 25, 2007
USB 2.0 is now out. What is the difference with your current USB 1.1 port? Speed – plain and simple. Our research has shown that you do not get 40x the speed, as advertised. At full bandwidth, the 2.0 ports are supposed to get 480 mbps, while the older 1.1 ports are supposed to get 12 mbps transfers. The actual rates achieved are closer to 375 mbps. This is still much faster than the older style ports. If you are going to connect high speed devices such as digital cameras, external hard drives, CD-RW drives, etc. then you will want to upgrade your computer to include a USB 2.0 port. These new ports will still support all the 1.1 style devices as well.
