What Is Partitioning?

Partitioning is the practice of dividing your drive into multiple segments, much like sections of a library. They belong to the same library, but different types of books are stored in each section. You have one section for fiction, one section for science, and another for history, as well as others for different subjects. Partitioning a hard disk creates different areas in which you can store data, much like a directory.

The main difference, and main advantage, is that you can access each partition as an individual hard disk on your computer. When you click “Computer” from the Start menu in Windows 7, you’ll see each partition with its own drive letter.

Why Partition?

Your hard drive is simply a collection of plates that store data by means of magnetic read/write heads that run around the disk. Look at the image below for an example:

The background of the image is a piece of the surface of the drive platter, on which all your data is stored. It’s difficult to imagine how, in that space, there are tens of thousands – if not millions – of bits of data stored. If you can imagine that, you can realize just how fragile the drive itself is, and how it can easily be corrupt. Are you willing to take such a risk?

If you’re willing to risk data loss because you believe your hard drive is durable, you probably don’t know how a hard drive works, or believe that the data you’re protecting isn’t worth the resources you would put into new storage.

First of all, hard drives aren’t as durable as you may believe. Read/write heads on hard drives are so close to their platters (less than the thickness of a hair on your head) that you’d be amazed at how it manages not to ever touch the surface. Actually, there’s an ultra-thin lubricant (much like teflon) on every platter, and read/write heads tend to skid off when they do that. Sometimes, though, the read/write head touches the drive platter at such an angle in which the lubricant really won’t have much of an effect and will scratch the drive.

Then there’s another problem. Did you know that ambient air cannot enter a hard drive? Even the smallest speck of dust will likely corrupt data on your drive and scratch the platter so one entire sector of it will turn bad and refuse to run. This kind of thing happens every day to unsuspecting users of any device that has a hard disk. You see, the hard disk does allow for a small amount of air to enter it, so it can equalize with the atmospheric pressure. The drive has a filter around it to ensure that no particles get trapped inside. After a while, this filter isn’t going to be as efficient as it used to be.

To get an idea of what kind of damage could happen to your disk, let’s have a look at this image:

Take note that the entire surface has to be homogeneous. That stripe on the surface is a scratch that was made in a split second, rendering a chunk of the drive unreadable. With a partition closer to the center of the drive, some of the data is still recoverable. Partitions like that sit at the “end” of the drive.

Windows functions like this: It treats each partition as its own volume of data.

Let’s say you have a disk with two partitions and the system partition is no longer accessible. If you install the hard drive on another computer with Windows, it will read the unaffected partition perfectly, allowing you to take some, if not all, of that data out. If you had all of your disk on one partition, you’ve pretty much arrived at a dead end.

Aren’t You Supposed to Plan a Partition Scheme Before Installing Windows 7?

You’re in luck! Windows Vista and 7 both have the ability to create partitions on the fly while still maintaining drive integrity. For this, you should always back up your drive into another one before you start. You never know if you’d end up losing data that’s valuable to you. Install a drive cloning utility and back up the drive if you want to. If you don’t have that kind of money, you won’t have to worry. Partitioning usually doesn’t result in data loss.

In Windows Vista and 7, you can shrink a partition to make room for another one. Go ahead and check it out in the disk management utility. Type “Disk Management” in your Start menu’s search box and you’ll find it. When you right-click a partition, click “Shrink Volume.”

Another Useful Tool In Case of a Drive Apocalypse

Ever heard of Symform? It’s a Cloud-based storage platform that safely puts your data into several redundant arrays spread across the world by people like you! You can get up to 200 GB of storage for free, as long as you contribute that much of your drive space to the service. The costs of getting a new 200 GB drive for this kind of thing is much less than the price you’d pay for traditional Cloud storage. They use a RAID-96 array to ensure that your files are securely stored within another contributor’s computer. Give it a shot!

You get 10 GB of storage, initially, without any contribution. As long as you contribute 20 GB or more, you’re set for a higher amount of data storage. This is more than enough to store all your important personal files. No one will have a peek at them, since only small encrypted fragments of each file are placed in one computer at any given time.

Got Any Suggestions?

Help us add to this by submitting your own ideas and experiences in the comments section below!

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Despite the fact that the only televisions sold now are high-definition (HDTV), none of the seven televisions in my home are high-def. Yet, because of the fact I make a living writing about entertainment and technology, I decided I needed to get with the program and update. I had to do a little research to find out what I was looking at as I compared all the options I was seeing at a store and decided to share my findings. Here are some things you’ll want to look for on a television if you’re planning on getting the most out of the technology available today.

Plasma, LCD, or LED

The first thing to consider is the type of HDTV you get, whether it be plasma, LCD, or LED-backlit. This refers to the type of screen. Plasma isn’t offered as much anymore, but they can still be found at the stores. LCD is the new standard, and LED-backlit is the newest option. If you’re concerned about viewing angle, you might want to consider a plasma screen. However, running a plasma screen HDTV can cost three times as much as running an LCD. One of the cons of an LCD can be how dark black colors can appear, but that’s where an LED-backlit display can come in. It fixes that issue, yet doesn’t cost as much to run as a plasma screen.

780p, 1080i, and 1080p and 60Hz, 120Hz, and 240Hz

This first set of numbers refers to the number of pixels in the display. Most likely you wouldn’t ever notice the difference in any of these except in larger screens. In that case, if the incoming source has more pixels than your display, you could lose some sharpness, although it wouldn’t be enough to be disappointed. If the incoming sources has fewer pixels, you won’t gain anything extra in the process. This last set of numbers refers to the refresh rate. For the most part, again, you won’t notice the difference. However, for a smoother motion, such as with action movies, sports, and 3D, you’ll want a higher number. Yet for most everything, 120Hz will suffice.

HDMI and RCA Connections

The next thing to consider is the type and amount of connections on the HDTV set. RCA connections are those old-style sets of three plugs that have a yellow, white, and red. HDMI are the newer type of plug with pin connections in it. You need to make sure your HDTV has the appropriate amount of outlets, whether HDMI or RCA, to connect to your devices, such as your Blu-Ray/DVD player, a set-top box for your cable or satellite, a computer, gaming system, or media-streaming device.

Ethernet or WiFi

The next consideration is whether you will carry the Internet to your HDTV through WiFi or Ethernet. Most likely you’ll be using whichever way you carry the Internet to your computer. If via WiFi, there should be instructions with the HDTV telling you how to get the set to accept your WiFi, just as you do with a computer. If via Ethernet, you will need to hard-wire your TV to your computer.

Flash Drives and SD Cards

Some high-def TVs have additional outlets to plug in flash drives and/or SD cards. This enables you to view other media such as videos or pictures directly on your television. You can cut out the middleman of having to view these through your computer and just get them straight from the sources. The flash drive would obviously plug into a USB, and an SD card would plug into an appropriate SD card slot.

Networking Included

Most people will want to use their Internet-enabled HDTV to view movies through their Netflix account, and may also want to view content from services such as YouTube, Facebook, or Twitter. Some sets come equipped with apps built in for this. After you’re connected to your Internet, there is no other networking necessary. However, those extra options can be costly. You can achieve the same thing through a media-streaming device that would connect through an RCA cable or HDMI, such as a Roku or Apple TV. Both of these devices are under a hundred dollars; however, it will be taking up another valuable connection port.

Image Credit:
Wikimedia Commons
Wikimedia Commons
Wikimedia Commons
Wikimedia Commons

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Technology is always evolving, fast. The computer that you bought last year is now obsolete and you are planning to get a new one. Before you walk into the store and pay big bucks to the retailers for the latest PC in town, check out this guide on how you can get a better computer, with more juice and power, without breaking the bank.

For those of us who are not geeky in nature, the easiest (and the most expensive) way of getting a computer is to walk into the retail store and pay for the computer on the shelf. The truth is that, the price of that computer is often twice (or more) its actual cost price. To make it worst, that expensive computer you are getting may not even be the latest model. By selling you an older model, the retailers are making sure that you will have to go back again the next year to upgrade your PC. If this sound familiar to you, stop for a while and think, how can I get a better computer with paying an extra dime for what it should cost?

Build Your Own Computer

It may sound like a complicated task meant only for the geek, but apparently, it is not. With a little research and effort, anyone can build their own computer. The biggest benefit of building your own computer is that you can pack a beast into the computer case for only a fraction of what you are going to pay in the retail store. To make it even better, you can mix and match the different hardware and customize the computer to suit your needs and not the other way round.

The difficult part of building your own computer lies in the sourcing of the various hardware. There are different brands and models of motherboard, CPU, RAMs, hard drive etc and they are all interdependent. Choosing the best combination will require you to do plenty of research. As usual, Google is your best friend. Make full use of it for your research. Once you overcome that, putting them together is just a piece of cake.

Buying the hardware

The essential parts that make up a computer are the motherboard, CPU (with cooling fan), Memory RAM, hard drive, computer case, power supply, keyboard, mouse and monitor. Optional parts include the graphics card, sound card, wireless adaptor (if your motherboard doesn’t come with it), DVD-ROM, extra cooling fans, speakers and various gaming controllers if you are into gaming.

You will want to invest in the motherboard, CPU and RAM. This is the backbone of your computer. The motherboard will determine which type of CPU and RAM you can use. The CPU will determine the speed of your computer and the RAM determines the response time of your applications. My order of preference: first choose the CPU, follow by the motherboard, and then the RAM.

Rule of thumb: don’t get the latest release of the CPU. They might boost the highest speed and latest technology, but they are often very expensive and most of the OS and software are not optimized to fully utilize it yet. Instead, go for the second (or third) best, but choose a motherboard that allows you to upgrade the CPU in the future.

As for the RAM, if possible, fill it up to the maximum that your motherboard can support. If not, try to get a minimum of 8GB RAM. You won’t regret on this.

Use Linux Rather Than Windows

If you are not looking to buy a new computer, but are thinking of boosting the performance of your existing PC, you might want to consider switching your primary OS to Linux (my recommendation is either Ubuntu or Linux Mint for middle to high end computer, and Lubuntu for low-end computer). In my experience of using both Linux and Windows, I have found that Linux has always outperformed Windows in terms of speed, stability and hardware compatibility. This is not to say that Linux is better than Windows, but just that the way that Linux is built makes it suitable for all type of hardware, particularly a low-end computer. If you are building your own computer, using Linux also means that you will save up money on getting a Windows license, so it is killing two birds with one stone.

However, switching to Linux is not as easy as it seems. You have to prepare to learn everything from scratch as the user interface and inner working of Linux is significantly different from Windows. Ubuntu has made it easy to use, but still, it is different from Windows. In addition, if you have a particular software that you need and it is only Windows compatible, switching to Linux is definitely not a good idea. In this case, the best solution you have is to optimize your Windows for the best performance.

Optimizing your OS and Regular Maintenance

Last but not least, your computer will work best if you maintain it regularly and optimize it for the best performance. In Windows, this means clearing the Recycle bin, un-installing unnecessary programs, cleaning up the registry and temporary folders, removing unnecessary services from startup etc. You will be surprised how much speed you can gain by cleaning up you computer regularly. If necessary, reformat your hard disk and re-install Windows again. That will clean up everything and give it a brand new life. The same applies to Linux as well.

Other than that, you should also clean up the internal of your computer (hardware). Open up the computer case and vacuum the internal clean. Keep it dust free and you will find that the fan is no longer as noisy and the CPU is no longer heating up as fast.

Image credit:
Desktop Computer by BigStockPhoto
Hands Installing Computer Parts by BigStockPhoto
two businessmen passing each other money by BigStockPhoto

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I’m still surprised myself that I chose to not stick with the Apple branding. However, when I compared the two choices, it seemed like I wouldn’t be getting everything I wanted from the Apple TV. To get what I wanted, I had to go with the Roku. Now having used the Roku, I haven’t regretted that decision once.

The largest stumbling block with the Apple TV is that it only works with HDTV. Sure, some people have found some workarounds, but they don’t seem like altogether good options. While searching for the Apple TV on Amazon, I found the Roku. Unlike Apple, it can be used on either HDTV or standard. I decided it was my best option, and then had to decide between the three Roku models. I’m not a big gamer, and that seemed to be the selling point of the most expensive model. Since the only difference between the mid-range and low-range models was high-definition, my decision was already made for me.

When you’re used to cable boxes and DVDs, the Roku seems very small. It’s not much bigger than a hockey puck. It comes with the power cord, an AV cable to connect it to a standard TV, and a remote. If you’re connecting to HDTV, or if you don’t have wireless Internet, those cables can be purchased separately. After plugging the Roku in, it displays a screen that asks you to enter a short code on the Roku website on your computer. Once you do this and start a Roku account, the setup is complete. You will need a credit card to set up your account, but the only time you will be charged is if you decide to purchase content or channels. The included remote allows you to select channels, play, pause, forward, reverse, etc.

There are a handful of channels already included on your Roku, such as Netflix, Hulu, Pandora, and Facebook, but more can be added. Some of the additional changes you can add are free, and some of them will cost a few dollars. Likewise, some of the services on these channels charge a monthly fee, such as Netflix, and some of them are free, such as Pandora.

With the entertainment channels, you can stream movies and TV episodes to your television. With Pandora, you can stream music that matches your tastes. What I particularly enjoy is streaming photos from my Facebook account, both my own and those of the people on my Friends list. It’s something I’m using the Roku for that I didn’t expect to.

If you have an iOS device, such as an iPhone or iPad, you can download a Roku app to act as the remote. It can make it a little more handy since you are most likely already sitting with your device next to you anyway. It’s only slightly clunkier to use, and it eliminates the need for one more device to be sitting next to you.

What I miss out on by not getting the Apple TV is not having streaming access to my iTunes library. That was the only reason I considered not getting the Roku. In the end, I decided if I could listen to my music on all my other devices, it wasn’t that important. And I don’t download TV and movies from iTunes anyway, just music. I can still listen to music I enjoy on Pandora. I hated to break away from my tradition of Apple, but for my uses, the Roku was the most sound decision, and after purchasing it, I haven’t regretted the decision.

What about you? Would you prefer Roku or Apple TV?

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Still, I have often wondered if a small iPhone keyboard would be useful, so when given the chance to try the iPhone 4 compatible Nuu MiniKeyboard, I seized the opportunity to take it for a spin.

First Impressions

When first unpacking the Nuu MiniKey, it’s fair to say I was impressed. Though constructed from plastic, the build quality is excellent. An iPhone 4 slots securely into the top of the MiniKey and once safely housed in the cradle, the whole mechanism snapped shut with a satisfying click, feeling solid and well designed. The keyboard acts as a case for the bottom half of your iPhone (at least for mild bumps and scratches anyway, I wouldn’t want to drop it) and all your iPhone’s buttons are accessible, as is the camera. To be sure, the MiniKey adds a significant size to your iPhone, making it roughly twice the depth, though this is to be expected due to the design of the device.

Holding the MiniKey is a little awkward compared to the compact elegance of the iPhone 4, but not overly so and the keys are well laid out. The only complaints I’ve got is that my unit’s keys seemed a little too stiff for comfort and the placement of the apostrophe was awkward. The MiniKey is powered by an internal rechargeable battery which is charged via a small USB lead, I found it to be excellent and it didn’t fully drain from a full charge in the five days I used it.

Using The Keyboard

The MiniKey works via a Bluetooth connection to the iPhone 4 and this is achieved simply enough with the usual technique of adding a Bluetooth device. The MiniKey has an intelligent method of sleeping and conserving battery and I didn’t notice too much of a drain on the phone. It also has an excellent backlit display, which is a nice touch and one which helps highlight its higher quality when compared to some cheaper competitors.

At first I found it very difficult to type on the keyboard after being used to Apple’s on-screen virtual keyboard. However, after some time spent persisting using the MiniKey, I found that I eventually got the hang of it and began to type at a reasonable speed, albeit with significant!y more typos than I would usually expect. Though a completely unscientific and subjective test, I wanted to try the keyboard on some other people so asked a few tech-savvy friends to try the MiniKey for a few minutes: On average, these friends seemed to adapt to the small hardware keys much quicker than myself (though I do have very large hands).

A big plus point when using the MiniKey is that you reclaim a quite considerable area of screen real estate due to the virtual keyboard no longer popping up and this helped compel me to use it even when I felt the virtual keyboard would be quicker.

Compatibility

As one might expect, the MiniKey is fully compatible with iOS and works well with all your favourite apps like Simplenote, Writeroom and Taskpaper, etc – though bear in mind that Apple inexplicably does not allow Pages to be used in landscape mode so the MiniKey cannot yet be used effectively with that app, not through any fault of Nuu, it has to be said. Using the MiniKey does not feel like a ‘hack’ and it is really quite a slick experience overall. Features like a button which toggles the virtual keyboard on and off and small touches like the timed backlit keys all help to strengthen this impression.

Who Should Buy The MiniKey?

Despite being impressed with the MiniKey, I can’t quite bring myself to recommend most people rush out and buy it. It really is a testament to the iOS virtual keyboard design that it’s preferable to a well made hardware keyboard almost all of the time, but that is the case.

However, if you’re an iPhone 4 owner who has never quite gotten the hang of a virtual keyboard, or you just want a physical one for whatever reason, I feel it’s reasonable to state that the MiniKey appears to be the best currently on offer and probably as good as an attachable iPhone keyboard will get in the near future – at least unless Apple does the unlikely and makes its own.

Conclusion

After almost a week of using it at home and on the move, I can’t say that the MiniKey has enabled me to become very much more productive, though it certainly had made me see my iPhone from a different perspective and I’ve enjoyed the experience. Does the MiniKey grant my wish of making the iPhone into a real word processor capable of serious work? Not yet. Though the MiniKey is a product which I really like, it doesn’t quite beat the iPhone’s own virtual keyboard and thus is not all that useful, at least for myself. For those who struggle with a virtual keyboard however, it might be worth considering purchasing a MiniKey.

The Nuu Minikey can be purchased from a variety of online and offline stores, click here for more details.

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In actual fact, the SD card that I am reviewing today (Samsung microSD card) is far from indestructible. It can be easily destroyed if you place it in the fire or grind it in the grinder. But what makes it different is its high durability that can withstand water, shock and magnet. Once again, that was what I were told. Let’s find out if it is true.

First of all, this Samsung brand SD card is available at MemoryZoo.com and if you visit their site, you can see the big word ‘Indestructible Memory‘. I got myself an 8GB micro SD card (Class 4) and run it through several tests to see if it is really as good as it sounds.

This is the photo of the SD card still in the packaging. Notice at the bottom of the package where they specify that it is water, shock and magnet proof? We shall see…

A close up of the SD card:

The front of the SD card:

The back of the SD card:

The Tests

Before we carry out the rigorous test, the first thing is to transfer files in and out of the SD card and insert it into several devices to make sure that it is working and all the files can be read from the card. Simple stuff.

Here comes the first test. With data in the SD card, I place the SD card in a glass of water for half a day.

Next, I took out the SD card, dry it and test it on several devices. It mounted itself as per normal and all the data were intact, readable and writable.

Water proof test: Passed.

For the second test, I place the SD card beside a magnet. Since this is a small magnet (that is the only one I can find in my house), I placed it for one full day before I test it again on several devices again. The SD card functions as per normal.

Magnet proof test: Passed

The last test that I did was to tape the SD card to a tennis ball and throw it around.

Is the card dented? No. Is the card still readable/writable? Also No. In this test, the SD card failed to survive. While the physical shape remains the same, the card is no longer accessible by any device.

Shock proof test: Failed

Conclusion

How many times do you test the claims made by manufacturers (or marketers) when you purchase a product? In this case, the SD card was stated as water, magnet and shock proof, but the fact that it doesn’t survive the shock test prove that you can’t believe everything that is stated.

Other than that, if you don’t see yourself throwing the SD card around, it can still be a good product. It may not be the cheapest (or best) option, but at least you know it can survive if it get into the water.

Check out the SD card at MemoryZoom.

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Samsung Galaxy S WiFi is an Android device that has the same functionality as all Android phones, except making call, sending SMS and connect to 3G network. In short, it is the iPod Touch equivalent for Android. The Samsung Galaxy S WiFi comes in two different sizes, mainly the 4.0 (4-inches screen) and 5.0 (5-inches screen).

Hardware Specification

As you can see, the hardware specification is pretty up to the mark. It has a 1GHz processor and an internal memory of 8GB, extensible to 32GB via MicroSD card. There is a 3.2 megapixel camera at the rear and a VGA camera on the front. The 5.0 version comes with a flash in the rear. Since it doesn’t come with any sim card slot, you won’t be able to use any 3G connection on it. Instead, it comes with Wifi 802.11 (b/g/n) and Bluetooth 3.0. The 1200mAh battery can last up to 36 hours of music playback or 5 hrs of continuous video playback.

Android OS

The device is running Android 2.2 – Froyo. The press release does mention that there is a possibility to upgrade to Gingerbread (Android 2.3), though there is no mention of the dateline. Seriously, I am rather disappointed that it is shipped with Froyo rather than Gingerbread, since Gingerbread has already been around for quite some time and Samsung has not been known for providing prompt upgrade.

Functionality

If you have used any Samsung Android device before, you will be familiar with this Galaxy S Wifi as well. The clear LCD screen is one feature that I like most. The screen is bright and is able to display vibrant color well. It is always a joy to surf web and watch videos with this screen.

The applications that come with the device include the Samsung own Appstore (Samsung App), Qik video, ThinkFree Office, Samsung Social hub, Task Manager, AllShare (for sharing file to other devices), Skype and an FM radio. Of course, there is those default Google apps such as Gmail, Gtalk, Youtube, Calendar, Maps etc.

The Samsung Social Hub app is a central place for you to connect your various social networks together. You can simultaneously post message and pictures to Flickr, Facebook and Twitter and it can syncs your personal contacts and calendar.

One surprise addition is the inclusion of Qik and Skype. Both seems to be a replacement for the missing calling feature in the device. As long as you are connected via WiFi, you can still make VoIP calls and video calls.

Conclusion

The price of Samsung Galaxy S Wifi in Singapore is S$328, the same as the 8GB iPod Touch. If you are looking for a lightweight device wtih full web surfing capability, able to serve as a great media player or even as a portable camera or HD video camcorder, but without the hefty 2 years contract (and you are not an Apple fan), Samsung Galaxy S Wifi is a great choice.

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7,200 RPM hard drives offer a good alternative to SSD’s, as though they cannot reach the blistering speeds seen by solid state drives, the user will enjoy increased speed without the cost per gigabyte incurred with SSD’s. There may be some negligible loss in battery power and a small increase in noise upon fitting a 7,200 RPM hard drive, but honestly, the newer models are so well designed that I’ve never seen any significant difference in either. Naturally, your results may vary depending on model.

Choosing The Correct Hard Drive For Your Needs

Like batteries, cheap hard drives are a false economy and not worth entrusting your cherished data with, so buying from a reputable source is essential. Though it is not necessary to buy a drive specifically marketed toward Apple notebooks, a 2.5” SATA hard drive is needed in order for it to fit properly within the MacBook’s tight enclosure. I decided to go for a 750GB Seagate Momentus and am more than happy with my purchase but it’s worth spending some time reading reviews to make an informed decision.

Prepare Your Mac

You must decide whether to perform a fresh install or completely clone your hard drive (you could use Carbon Copy Cloner) or backup with Time Machine. Personally I chose cloning all my data to an external disk, as this gives the option of copying your data exactly as it was onto the new drive. It’s worth reading the steps below in full before beginning, especially because I’ll cover some less-likely issues which can crop up when upgrading a MacBook’s hard drive.

Materials needed:

• Torx Screwdriver
• Phillips Screwdriver
• A coin (or something similarly shaped)

Installing Your Hard Drive

First switch off your MacBook and let it cool down for about 30 minutes. Ensuring you are using a suitable workspace, place the MacBook face-down and use a coin to turn the notch which is adjacent to the MacBook’s battery bay clockwise. The MacBook’s battery should pop out slightly and, using your fingernails, prise the battery out. We won’t need the coin again until we’re finished.

The picture above shows the empty battery bay, which is surrounded by a thin L shaped strip of metal. This metal strip is affixed with three small screws which need to be removed carefully and placed in a safe place, such as a cup. Directly behind the L shape are the MacBook’s two RAM bays, accessible by pulling on the two small levers visible below. However, we want to go to the area left of the picture, where the hard drive is stored.

To remove the hard drive, feel for a small plastic tag which should be tucked underneath the hard drive. Taking care to hold the MacBook in place, pull this tag gently toward you while keeping an even amount of force until it is safely removed.

Unless your new hard drive comes attached with a bracket already affixed, you will need to remove the old drive’s bracket and attach it to the 7,200 PRM one. For this, you should use a torx screwdriver, though while definitely not recommended, in a pinch I have used pliers to loosen the bracket screws when no torx was at hand. Remove all four screws and take care to place your new hard drive in the enclosure in the exact way the previous one was sat.

Installing New 7,200 RPM Hard Drive

Taking care to ensure the 7,200 PRM hard drive is facing the correct way up, slowly push it into the slot, applying even force and it should slot in nice and firmly. Ensure the tag is tucked back in underneath the drive, then place the L shaped strip of metal in its correct position. Now insert the screws and make sure the L shape strip of metal is firmly in place. Now place the battery back into the bay and turn the coin counter clockwise until it is back on.

Potential Issues

If when attempting to boot your Mac, you get a series of beeps and it fails load, this means that your RAM has become loose when removing the L shaped strip. Repeat the above steps to access the RAM and make sure it is pushed firmly in.

Missing plastic tag – if, for whatever reason, the small plastic tag is missing, it is still possible to pry out the hard drive with some care. Just use a pair of thin nosed pliers to grab hold of the hard drive’s edge and pull it out very gently.

Final Thoughts

Hopefully the above method of installing a 7,200 PRM hard drive will help breathe life into your MacBook and enable you to hold on to it for a few more years yet. There’s a lot of other steps you can take, such as maxing out your RAM, performing a fresh installation and making sure to repair permissions, along with software aimed at optimising your Mac’s system. I’ll be discussing all of these in future articles but please let us know in the comments if you have any good tips on keeping your MacBook running quickly.

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Hardware spec

The hardware specification of Asus Transformer is pretty standard. You get almost everything you need for a tablet. It uses a Nvidia Tegra 2 dual core CPU, 1GB RAM, 16 or 32 GB Storage and a 10.1-inch capacitive IPS display at a decent HD resolution of 1280×800. It also comes with a 5MP rear camera and a 1.2MP front-facing camera.

On the tablet itself, there is an audio jack, mini HDMI output port and a min-SD card slot. If you get the keyboard dock, you get yourself 2 extra USB ports and a SD card slot, which can be used to transfer your camera’s photos over.

The dimension of the transformer is 271 x 171 x 12.98 mm which makes it bigger, wider and thicker than iPad 2 (241.2 x 185.7 X 8.8 mm). Weighing at 680g, it is also much heavier than iPad 2 (601g). This is one thing that I feel it can be improved. I definitely feel that the thickness and weight can be further reduced. Right now, if you hold a iPad 2 on one hand and Asus Transformer on the other, you can definitely feel the difference in weight.

As for the battery life, the tablet itself can last for a whole 9 hours. Together with the keyboard dock, the battery life get extended to 16 hours. For your info, my Lenovo netbook comes with a 6-cell battery can only last a maximum of 4 hours. For a tablet that is half its weight, 16 hours of battery life is really a godsend.

Other standard items include G-Sensor, Light Sensor, Gyroscope, E-Compass and GPS.

Operating System

When Asus Transformer was first launched, it was running Android Honeycomb 3.0. However, the later version all came with the upgraded Honeycomb 3.1, which fixed a great deal of bugs and sluggishness. Honeycomb 3.1 also has a better support for Adobe flash which runs well in the tablet. And if you set the Flash to load on-demand (rather than always ON), it doesn’t suck battery as much as what many claim.

If you have deal with an Android phone before, you will have no problem getting use to the Honeycomb interface. Unlike Android phone, there is no notification pulldown bar. Instead, the notification bar is moved to the right bottom corner.

Applications

Other than the default Google applications that come with Honeycomb, Asus has also packed in several applications. PolarisOffice allows you to create and edit documents (word, spreadsheet, presentation) on the tablet while MyNet turns the the Transformer into a DLNA device.

Other applications include:

• MyNet – turn your tablet into a DLNA device
• MyCloud – Sync your files and documents to the cloud. Asus’s equivalent of Apple’s iCloud.
• MyLibrary – ebook reader

Performance

In general, the Asus Transformer is a joy to use. Honeycomb 3.1 is fast and responsive and the bright color screen is very comforting to the eye. Being able to place widgets on the Home screen is one great experience it has over iOS. The ability to resize the widgets makes it even better.

Browsing

The native browser supports both tabs and desktop mode so you can access your favorite website in full. I am also able to login to my WordPress dashboard and write and edit posts. As a web worker, this means that
I can use it for work purpose as well, rather than just for casual browsing and reading.

Watching Video

The inbuilt video player can support avi, mp4 and some other common video formats. However, if you have video files in mkv, vob formats, you are out of luck. You might want to install third party apps like RockPlayer of MoboPlayer (free) to play your videos.

Camera

There is only one word to describe – it sucks. For a 5MP camera, I were surprised to see grainy and unclear pictures. The contrast is not there and the color looks dull. The same goes for the video. Its ability to capture 720p video doesn’t auto-translate into high quality video. The conclusion is, don’t expect quality photos or videos from this device.

keyboard Dock

In my opinion, the keyboard dock is what made the Transformer great. When attached to the dock, the transformer can double as a netbook where you can type comfortably. The best part is, even when it is docked, it also supports the touch screen. Personally, I love to use my finger to swipe and navigate and use the keyboard to type.

Attaching and detaching the tablet is an easy task. There is a silver latch that clicks when the connection is in place. You can attach/detach at any time and it won’t affect what you are doing.

When your tablet is attached to the dock, the keyboard power pack will charge the tablet so that it is always at maximum power on tablet mode.

In addition, the keyboard also comes with useful shortcut keys like Home button, brightness and volume control, lockscreen button etc. It even support shortcut like “Ctrl + T” to open new tab. “Ctrl + C”, “Ctrl + V” to copy/paste text.

Pros – What we like

• Responsive
• useful keyboard
• affordable price
• long battery life, especially with the keyboard dock

Cons – What we dislike

• Bad camera
• USB port only available on keyboard
• The thickness and weight could be reduced further
• Short charging cable
• Plenty of apps not optimized for tablet (not really Asus’s fault)

Conclusion

Asus Eee Pad Transformer is selling in the USA for US$399 (without the keyboard dock). At this price, it is a steal. And the best is, low price doesn’t equate to inferior product. Asus Transformer is a quality build. Until newer, better and cheaper tablets arrive, with this price and quality, Asus Eee Pad Transformer is easily the best Android tablet out there. If you are getting the Asus Transformer, do get the keyboard dock as well. Without it, the transformer tablet is just a …er…plain simple tablet.

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So what makes the Logitech case so great? Everything. It not only keeps the iPad safe, it turns it into a small laptop. The case is made of sturdy aluminum on the outside, and has a cushioned interior. It’s hard to really call it a case, however, as it’s really only one-sided. More than anything else, the part of an iPad you want to keep most protected is the screen. This design allows you to place the iPad face down inside it. While you would think it wouldn’t be safe, the case actually grabs onto the iPad and holds it tightly. You can turn it upside down and it doesn’t fall out. I still wouldn’t drop it intentionally, but I feel much better about its chances should it happen to fall.

Yet the protective aspects of the Logitech case are really a minor benefit. The case also doubles as a stand. It has a small easel at the back that allows the iPad to stand in either portrait or landscape mode. It’s great for listening to music and watching videos. It has a couple of different positions. The easel flips up when you’re using it, and when you’re done, you simply have to flip it down. When the iPad is placed face down to store it away, it automatically goes into sleep mode, and when you take it out, it automatically wakes up.

The best feature of the Logitech case, however, is the keyboard. Built into the base of it is a full keyboard. It’s slightly narrower than a standard keyboard on a laptop, but it doesn’t take that much to get used to it. If you do a lot of typing, it can be very hard to do that on an iPad. Not just because of the stand, but because of the virtual keyboard that makes it hard to tell if you’re hitting the right keys or not. 

You can “feel” the keys, which puts you back in touch-typing mode and out of the thumb-typing texting method. Additionally, it has all the special keys that you miss from a regular computer keyboard, such as Caps Lock, Tab, Command, Option, Control, and iPod controls. It has some iPad-specific keys such as Lock, Home, Search, Photos, and a button to bring up the virtual keyboard should you want to work with that. There are also some additional function keys for editing with Cut, Copy, Paste, Undo, and Redo. But really the best addition is the arrow keys. That’s something I always miss when typing with my iPhone, the chance to move through the copy with the arrows.

With the keyboard on the case, it makes the iPad truly just like a laptop. It makes having an iPad the best of both worlds. Not only do you get the ease of using an iPad, you get it along with the parts of a laptop that are hard to do without. Although there are still one or two things I can’t do on the iPad, the Logitech case makes it so that I rarely have to use my laptop. I can do almost everything on the iPad. In fact, with a lot of help from the Logitech keyboard, I wrote this entire article.

Logitech Keyboard Case for iPad 2.

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What is Thunderbolt technology

I am sure you must have heard of and used a USB port before (unless you are still using a 486MHz PC). A USB port allows you to plug in a device to your computer and instantly access it from the system. Each USB port only allows one device (while you can use a USB hub to extend it to support multiple devices, it is still theoretically a one-one connection) and everytime you buy a new laptop, you have to wonder how many USB ports it comes with. Thunderbolt eliminates all these problems and adds a new dimension to how you connect your external devices to your computer.

Thunderbolt technology is a new breakthrough technology that work like (much better than) the USB port, but allows you to daisy chain multiple devices (up to 6 devices) together. All Thunderbolt devices use the same connector (unlike USB technology that uses a male – female type of connection), so you can connect one device to another with interoperable cables. You just need one Thunderbolt port to chain them all, and you don’t have to worry how many USB ports your computer comes with, and whether you need a USB hub or not.

The true advantage of Thunderbolt technology

The ability to daisy chain multiple devices together is only a small part of what Thunderbolt can do. The true advantage of Thunderbolt technology is the communication speed between itself and the connected devices. The Thunderbolt technology can transfer data at the rate of 10Gbps (compared to USB 2.0 – 120MBps and USB 3.0 – 400MBps). To illustrate how fast it is:

• it take a mere 30 seconds to transfer a full-length HD movies (around 1.5 – 2.5 GB in size), or
• a mere 10 minutes to transfer a year of continuous MP3 playback.

That is how fast Thunderbolt technology is. What makes it even better is that it is bi-directional, which means that you can transfer and receive data at the same time, both with the same 10Gbps bandwidth. Best of all, the last device in the daisy chain will enjoy the full bandwidth as well. Imagine the massive library of music and videos you have in your computer, you can now transfer them in/out at lightning speed.

Using Thunderbolt port for your monitor?

In today’s technology, you still need a dedicated port to connect your monitor to the computer. Be it the obsolete VGA, or DVI or the latest HDMI connection, there is still no way you can connect your HD-capable monitor to the USB port.

The Thunderbolt port utilizes the DisplayPort protocol to deliver high display performance on your PC. With the use of adapter, it can also support the existing VGA, DVI, DisplayPort and HDMI interface. This means that you can now hook up your monitor onto the Thunderbolt port and enjoy HD performance.

How will the Thunderbolt Technology benefit you?

End user will definitely benefit from the fast transfer speed that comes with Thunderbolt. You can now backup your terabytes of data in seconds, or even do video editing and get it to sync on the fly.

In today’s technologies, the more powerful your computer is, the bigger is the size of the computer terminal. With Thunderbolt technology, a powerful computer can now come in small-form factor. You no longer need dedicated slots for graphic card, sound card or even a Gigabit ethernet card. All these hardware can now exist as external devices and hook up via the Thunderbolt port. Your next netbook, or mobile device could just be the most powerful computer in the world. Imagine a dual-core (or quad-core) iPad with a Thunderbolt port; you could hook it up with an external graphics card and HD-capable monitor and use it as a high end gaming machine. How does that sound to you?

Image credit: Eli Hodapp

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Most people are unaware of the components that go into building a personal computer. You have probably heard words like “motherboard”, “CPU”, and “RAM”, but have little idea about what they mean, how they affect the speed at which information is processed, or how many files you can store at once. In fact, you have probably never seen the inside of your computer casing (unless your PC failed and you had to call tech support to come in and check it out). However, even the layperson can add memory to their computer with relative ease (and that doesn’t mean replacing your computer, either). With just a few simple steps, you can get exactly what you need to ensure that your computer functions properly to meet your current and future needs.

1. Determine the kind of memory you need. There are two types of memory you may want to add – RAM (Random Access Memory) and hard drive space. RAM is easily accessed by the CPU (Central Processing Unit). Generally, the more RAM you have, the faster is your PC. The more hard drive space you have, the more files you can store.

2. Determine if you can add memory. Before you can add memory, you need to see if you have the space to do so. Many computers come with additional empty slots in the motherboard reserved for RAM. To check how much RAM you currently have, simply access your Start menu, enter the Control Panel, and then go to the Systems tab. From there, you should see a heading for RAM that will tell you how much installed memory you have. Then you can check it against the owner’s manual, which should reveal the computer’s capacity for RAM (in other words, how much free space you have available).

3. Buy new memory cards. RAM can be purchased in a variety of sizes in the form of physical cards, and if you write down the model of computer you have, a retailer should be able to tell you what kind of RAM to purchase. The next best way is to remove your memory card from your computer and take it with you to the store as a sample. Once you have your new RAM, it’s time to install!

4. Turn off your computer and unplug it before installation. This may sound pretty self-evident, but you’d be surprised how many people skip this crucial step. Avoid possible injury from electrocution by ALWAYS unplugging electronics that you’re working on.

5. Open case and install memory. From there, installation is a snap. Simply open up your computer casing (you generally need a screwdriver to do this) and find the slot for memory. Although it will probably be labeled, it could have a variety of titles (usually matching the type of memory card). An easier method to find the slot is to simply see where the memory card fits (it should be readily apparent).

6. Boot up and check for install. Once you’ve inserted the card, plug your computer back in and boot up. Follow the instructions listed in step 2 to once again check your RAM. If it is installed correctly, the added memory should be reflected in the control panel.

Of course, you may simply need more storage space, not more speed. This problem is easily solved by simply purchasing an external hard drive or offloading older files to disc (those that you don’t access often but wish to save) and then erasing them from your hard drive. Whatever the case, it’s probably a lot easier than you think to increase the memory in your PC. You don’t need to pay a professional to do it for you. By following a few simple steps, you can quickly and easily have your computer running faster or incorporate the extra storage you need.

Image credit: wwarby

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The flaky PC (as it is often referred) is a computer which acts normally most of the time, but occasionally quits active programs, delivers obscure error messages, or restarts entirely. So, what causes flaky PC syndrome? Although there is no single answer, one of the most common causes is due to bad random access memory (RAM for short).

Random Access Memory (RAM)

Random access memory is the hardware component within your PC which is responsible for executing and running software (whether it be software applications such as Microsoft Word and Adobe Photoshop or operating systems such as Windows Vista and Windows 7). The problem is that once this RAM has become wholly or partly faulty, your machine will suddenly attempt to execute or run computer instructions which no longer make sense. In an overly simple world, double clicking on Microsoft Word would tell your computer to load up Microsoft Word (into RAM) so you could then use it. However, a computer with bad RAM may only load part of Microsoft Word correctly. Consequently, at some point in time, it will come across a bunch of information that it doesn’t understand, and crash.

Generally, determining whether a particular hardware component is in need of repair is quite difficult. Luckily, with regards to RAM, there are several well-tested, reasonably reliable, free applications which will perform the necessary testing with little user input.

Testing RAM

Two of the tops choices for RAM testing are: Memtest and Windows Memory Diagnostic (we will focus on the latter in this particular article). Windows Memory Diagnostic is a program which basically goes through your RAM and checks each section of it. It does this by writing a piece of information, say the words “computer repair” to RAM and then reading this information back. If the RAM returns the appropriate information, “computer repair” in our example, then this section is fine. If, however, RAM returns something else, like “cats” then there is a fundamental flaw and you will likely need to purchase new memory from your local computer shop.

So how does one use Windows Memory Diagnostic anyways? Head over to the Windows Memory Diagnostic webpage and download the mtinst.exe file.

1. Double click the downloaded file to run the Windows Memory Diagnostic Setup (you will have to accept the agreement before you can move on).

2. At the main setup window, you have to choose the “Save CD Image to disk” option (unless you are still using a floppy disk in your computer). You will be prompted to choose a location to save the windiag.iso file.

3. Burn this iso file to a CD/DVD.

4. Restart your computer and boot it up with this CD or DVD. You might need to go to your BIOS to change the bootup sequence in order to boot from the CD-ROM.

Now all you have to do is wait and watch. Wait for Windows Memory Diagnostic to complete one pass and then look at the bottom of the screen for any error messages. If error messages occur then your computer’s RAM is likely toasted and you will have to get it serviced by a computer repair shop or replace the memory yourself. If no error messages occur, then your memory is likely ok, and you will need to look elsewhere in regards to your computer’s problems.

Finally, once you are done make sure to turn your computer off, as Windows Memory Diagnostic will continue to run until you manually stop it.

That’s it.

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1. Part 1: Knowing your CPU, find out the factors that affect its performance
2. Part 2: Intel vs AMD, which is better

There is no such thing as the “best” in CPU. What may seem the best for a casual user maybe mediocre for a hardcore gamer. For a gamer, you don’t want to have a CPU that is only good enough for word processing. What you really want is one that has a great deal of power to run the latest games out there. On the other hand, you won’t want to break the bank just to get the highest-end CPU in the market. They are often very expensive and and is ways ahead of the software technology. The more important thing is how you can strike a balance between performance and price. Here are three steps to choose your CPU.

1. Determine your budget

The last thing that you want to do is to max out your credit limit to get the most expensive CPU out there. Before you even start shopping, first determine how much money are you willing to spend on the CPU. While there is always a CPU for almost every price range, you may want to set aside about $150 – $200 for a decent CPU, and more if you are getting one for your gaming PC.

2. Select the brand

Choosing either a Intel or AMD CPU is really based on one preferences. Many benchmarking reports have shown that Intel scores better than AMD in term of performance and heat generation, but it is more expensive. If you are low on budget, you may want to choose AMD CPU since it costs at only 3/4 of the price of a equivalent Intel CPU and still give you the performance you want. Gamers may want to consider getting the AMD and ATI cpu/graphics card combination.

3. Select the model

When choosing the model, focus on the number of cores, L2/L3 cache, speed, and price. Check out forums/review/benchmarking sites to see how that particular model performs. If you are upgrading the CPU for your existing system, make sure the CPU uses the same socket as the one in your motherboard.

How to Save Money When Buying A CPU?

If you don’t have $1000 to throw around on a processor, that’s fine. There are many processors of different price range and you don’t necessary have to get the most expensive one. Here are some ways to save a few bucks.

Buy the next best processor

You don’t necessary need to get the latest processors in the market. More often than that, they are expensive and the support from other hardware is also not mature yet. You can easily save quite a bit of money simply by getting the next best (or the third best) processor.

Get a AMD CPU

For the same specification, AMD CPUs are generally cheaper than Intel CPUs. While many benchmarking reports have shown that Intel CPUs are better, the truth is that the differences is too small for you to notice.

Our recommendations

Intel: Intel Core i7 Processor i7-930 2.80GHz 8 MB LGA1366 CPU

This Intel processor features a quad core of 2.8GHz chip and a 8MB of L3 cache and is one of the popular CPU around. It uses the LGA 1366 socket.

AMD: AMD Phenom II 1090T Black Edition Six Core Processor

If you think quad cores is powerful, wait till you have tried six cores. This most popular AMD cpu features a six-core 3.2GHz chip and a 6MB L3 cache. It uses the AM3 socket and supports DDR3 RAM.

This comes to the end of this complete guide to choose a CPU. If you have any comments, opinions, questions or even doubts, feel free to leave your comment below.

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When it comes to CPU, there are only two main players in the market: Intel and AMD. You may have seen reports saying that Intel is better, and on the next day, another report saying AMD is better.

You are confused…which one is better? AMD or Intel?

Both AMD and Intel CPUs are built on different circuitry and for that, it is impossible to compare apple to apple. If you were to ask me which one is better, I can only say that both are equally good and whether you choose an Intel or AMD CPU depends entirely on your needs and preferences.

Below we will discuss the unique features of each CPU brand.

Core Frequency

If you have noticed, Intel’s speed always seems to be higher than AMD. Be careful, this does not imply that the Intel CPU is better.

The higher clocker speed simply means that there are more work cycles per second, not the amount of work done per second. Intel CPU has the tendency to divide its task into many small parts for easy processing. As such, the amount of work done per cycle is relatively small. On the contrast, AMD has lesser work cycle, but it processes more data per cycle. Thus, when it adds up, the amount of work done can be quite significant.

Unless we do benchmarking to determine the performance of each AMD and Intel CPU, it is definitely not a good idea to say that a particular Intel model is better than another AMD model just because it has a higher clock speed.

Socket Type

The main reason why you can’t use an AMD and Intel CPU on the same motherboard is because they don’t have the same pin configuration. Because of the different in circuitry, the number of connection pins for both brands of CPU is also different. Even within the same brand, a specific model might use different pin configuration from another model.

The newer generation of AMD chip has 938 pins and uses the AM3 socket. Intel chip (the newer generation) has 1366 pins and uses the LGA1366 socket on the motherboard. Thus, when choosing the CPU, it is important to bear in mind the socket type used by your motherboard.

Price

When comparing an Intel and AMD CPU of about the same specification, AMD processors always come out cheaper (probably because Intel uses more L2/L3 cache in their CPUs). If you are looking to save money without affecting the performance, get an AMD processor.

Performance

As soon as AMD acquired ATI, they started to integrate the graphical processing capability to the CPU core and that effort has paid off. If you are using an AMD chip for gaming, you will generally get a better graphical performance than an equivalent Intel chip (assuming you are using an ATI graphics card).

When it comes to multi-tasking, Intel have an edge over AMD with its HyperTreading technology. However, that advantage is only valid if the software/application supports multi-tasking (the ability to split its tasks into smaller pieces).

Summary

In general, for equivalent models, Intel will give a (slightly) better performance than AMD, but at a higher price range. For gaming purpose, if you are using the AMD-ATI cpu graphics card combination, it could yield a better performance than an equivalent Intel cpu.

In the next and last article of the Hardware CPU guide, we will show you how to choose a CPU that suits your needs and won’t break your bank.

Keep in tunes.

Image credit: Wikimedia

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In this three part guide, we will give you a good overview of “the factors that affect a CPU’s performance”, the differences between an Intel and AMD CPU and how you should go about choosing the the CPU that is best suited to your needs.

This is the first part of the CPU guide.

What is a CPU?

The CPU (Central Processing Unit), or sometimes known as processor, is one of the most important component in a computer system. Being the brain of the computer system, its task is to take care of all the data calculation and make sure they are processed in the fastest time possible.

CPU is not something you can see from the outside of the computer. In fact, you won’t be able to see the CPU on a fully-assembled PC. To see it, you have to remove the computer casing, unplug the wire and remove the heatsink (and fan), only then can you see the surface of the CPU. The shape of the CPU is a small square chip with lot of connector pin underneath.

The images below show the back and the top of a CPU.

How CPU works

To keep it simple, the way a CPU works can be illustrated with the following 3 steps:

1. When you click to execute an application, the raw instruction is first fetched from the hard disk (sometimes from the memory) and sent to the CPU for processing.
2. When the CPU receives the instruction, it will execute the logic and compute the result.
3. Once the CPU finishes processing, it will send the result to the respective device to output to the user.

While it may seems easy, all these 3 steps must be completed in split seconds. Delay in any of these steps will result in a lag in the computer.

Factors that affect a CPU performance

It is easy to think that the speed of the CPU is directly link to the performance of the CPU. This is only true to a certain extent. A CPU with fast speed will not be efficient if it has only a limited data to process. To achieve maximum efficiency, the hardware (especially the hard drive and memory) that are linked to the CPU must supply data as fast as the CPU speed. Failure to do this will result in a lagging computer, regardless how fast the CPU is.

1. CPU Clock Speed

The operating frequency of the CPU (also known as the clock speed) determines how fast it can process instruction.

The speed is measured in terms of Hertz, and it is usually lies in the megaHertz (MHz) or gigaHertz (GHz) range. A megaHertz means that the CPU can process one million instruction per second whereas a gigahertz CPU has the capability to process one billion instructions per second. In today technology, all CPUs run in the gigahertz range and you seldom see CPU with speed in the MHz range anymore.

Theoretically, a 500 MHz CPU is six times slower than a 3 GHz CPU and a 3.6 GHz CPU is faster than a 3 GHz or a 3.4 GHz CPU. In general, the higher the frequency of a CPU, the faster the speed of the computer.

2. Cache

Remember we mentioned above that for the CPU to work at its maximum efficiency, the data transfer from the other hardware must be as fast as its speed. The purpose of a cache is to ensure this smooth and fast transition of data transfer from the hardware to the CPU.

To understand the importance of a cache, it is necessary to understand how the whole process works. The main bulk of information comes from the hard drive. When an application is requested, the motherboard will fetch the required information from the hard drive and deliver it to the CPU for processing.

Since the hard drive processing speed is much slower than the CPU, data transfer often takes a long time. To speed thing up, the RAM is used to store temporary information from the hard drive. Instead of heading straight to the hard drive, the motherboard now checks and retrieves the data from the RAM. Only when the required information is not found in the RAM then will the motherboard go to the hard drive.

As CPU speed increased to the point where the RAM is no longer able to catch up, the transferring of information again become a serious problem. To solve this issue, a cache, which was effectively a small and extremely fast memory, was added to the processor to store immediate instruction from the RAM. Since the cache runs at the same speed of the CPU, it can rapidly provide information to the CPU at the shortest time without any lag.

There are different levels of cache. Level 1 (L1) cache is the most basic form of cache and is found on every processor. Level 2 (L2) cache has a bigger memory size and is used to store more immediate instructions. In general, the L1 cache caches the L2 cache which in turn caches the RAM which in turn caches the hard disk data. With the newer multi-core technology, there is even a L3 cache that is bigger in size and is shared among the various cores.

L2/L3 cache plays the greatest part in improving the performance of the processors. The larger the cache size, the faster the data transfer and the better the CPU performance. However, cache is very costly. That is why you don’t find 1GB of cache in your system. The typical cache size is between 512KB to 8MB. The latest Intel Core i7 Extreme Processor comes with a 12MB L3 cache, which also explains its hefty price tag of approx. $1,000.

3. Multi-Core

In the past, if you want to get a faster computer, you have to get a faster CPU. Today, this is only partially true. The reason being, CPU speed can’t increase forever. There is limitation as to how fast the transistors can run. When it reaches a plateau, you won’t be able to increase the speed anymore.

To tackle this problem, CPU manufacturers adopted a multi-core technology, which literally means putting multiple cores in a CPU chip. While increasing the CPU speed resulted in faster data calculation, putting more cores in a chip resulted in more work done at the same time.

What’s next?

This ends the first part of the CPU guide. In the second part of the series, we will cover “the differences between Intel and AMD chips” and which one you should choose.

Image credit: steve.grosbois

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Tonido is a free software that turns your desktop into a personal server and allows you to access and share your files, media, calendar and apps from everywhere. Be it Windows, Mac or Linux, you simply install the software and have your own personal cloud server up and running in no time. Forget all the complicated stuffs you have heard about creating your own server. There are no technical skills required to set up and run Tonido. The best thing is – all the data resides in your own computer and there is no need to worry about security or even data loss (unless your own computer crashes).

Introducing TonidoPlug

On the other hand, if all your important data resides on your external backup drive and you wish to have your own cloud server running at all times without having to turn on your computer everytime, then TonidoPlug is the one for you.

TonidoPlug is the hardware version of Tonido. It is a tiny, low power, low cost home server and NAS device powered by Tonido software. It comes with its own RAM and CPU (and preinstalled with Ubuntu). All you need to do is to plug it into the power socket and there you are, a server ready at your beckoning. It integrates nicely with all the features found in the Tonido software and allows you to access your files, music, pictures from anywhere.

Setting up TonidoPlug

Once you have connected up the respective cables (there are only 3 cables that you need to connect: the power cable, LAN cable and the USB cable), power it up. On any computer that are linked to the home network, go to the URL: http://tonidoplug.com/ip. This will detect your Tonido Plug. In some cases where it doesn’t detect, you can enter the MAC address (at the back of the plug) to get it identified by the network.

Once the plug is detected, you will have to create a new profile for the Tonido. Those who already have an existing profile can use this method to import them into the Plug.

In the dashboard, you will find the exact same interface as the Tonido. The software available in TonidoPlug is as follow:

Many of these apps should be familiar to already Tonido users, (Jukebox, Photos, Search, Thots, Workspace). The newer apps are WebsharePro, Torrent, Explorer and Plug Admin.

Here’s a quick summary of these applications.

1. WebsharePro: All the power of Tonido Webshare, plus the ability to upload, setting upload quotas for users, zip downloads, viewing currently downloading lists, change thumbnail and photo slide show image size
2. Torrent: Download Torrent files to your plug and control torrents via your web browser from anywhere
3. Explorer: Web based File manager and browser that allows common file operations like rename, delete, copy files and folders and even uploads
4. Plug Admin: Manage your TonidoPlug hardware, recover Tonido Profile passwords, Manage attached USB drives, Share USB drives over the network for access, Monitor CPU loads etc

If you are not in your own home networks, you can also connect to your TonidoPlug via the public URL: http://yourprofilename.tonido.com:10001.

In addition, TonidoPlug is also a DLNA device, which means you are able to connect to your PS3, Xbox, or even XBMC software and stream music over the cloud.

The Tonido software is free to download and use, but the TonidoPlug comes at a price of $99.

Considering that most Web servers with the same hardware spec as the TonidoPlug can easily cost you up to $40-50 per month, at a mere price of $99, TonidoPlug is really a great bargain; not to mention the unlimited amount of storage device you can attach to it and the security issue that you never have to worry about. This is really a no-brainer deal.

Note 1: Thanks to Venkat for sending in a test unit for review and providing a prompt support for all my doubts.
Note 2: MakeTechEasier is not affiliated in any way to CodeLathe, the company behind TonidoPlug, nor do we benefit from any sale of TonidoPlug generated from this article.

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Often, just the words “computer network” are enough to draw up images of some complicated mess of cables and boxes with blinking lights. People see acronyms like LAN, WAN, TCP/IP and a host of others, and think this whole network thing must be the domain of pocket-protector wielding geeks. The truth is, once you get the basic idea of how it all fits together, you’ll find that it’s really not that complicated, and home networking can be done by just about anyone.

IP Addressing

Way back in the day, when I first switched from dialup to broadband, I was thrilled. Not only did everything go so much faster, but I had heard that my computer and my family’s computer could be online at the same time! Gasp! So naturally, on the day it was hooked up, I tried to get both computers online. To my surprise, it didn’t work. Each one could get online when they were the only computer connected, but as soon as I tried connecting both through a hub, it failed.

It was then that I began learning the world of IP addresses. Every device on the internet, from desktop computers to cell phones to smart toasters, has an IP address. Typically, this is a unique number assigned to each of those devices. IP addresses come in the form of “x.x.x.x”, each x being a number from 0 to 254. For example, the server that’s hosting Google.com has an IP address of 74.125.45.100. If you were to type that number into your web browser’s address bar, you’d get the Google homepage.

Places like Google, Yahoo, and of course MakeTechEasier.com keep the same IP address all the time. This is because they’re providing content to the world, and we want to make it as easy as possible for people and devices to find us.

Your home computer, on the other hand, is probably not serving web pages or providing some kind of content to the outside world. This means that your internet provider does not have to worry about giving you the same address every time you connect. Each time you connect to the internet, your computer asks your ISP for an address to use. Most of the time, it’s not the same one you had a few days, weeks, or months earlier. They see your computer’s request for an address, search in their system for an available one, and assign you the first unused address they have. For the sake of simplicity in this article, I’m going to use “9.9.9.1″ to represent the IP address given to you by your ISP.

Back to my old internet sharing problem: what was going on was that my internet provider was only giving me ONE address. I could hook up 2, 10, or 700 computers but my ISP was still only giving me ONE address. Well how in the world was I to hook up all my computers when I only have 1 address to use? Network Address Translation.

Network Address Translation

It’s a fancy name for a pretty simple concept. NAT basically means converting that one, single, internet address (9.9.9.1 in our example) into seperate addresses for your home network. To make this easier to understand, I’m going to compare internet routing to the existing postal system here in the US.

In the preceding example picture, we have College University as the destination for our letter. Even though the college is split into multiple buildings, it has a single street address. When the mail room gets a letter, it checks the letter to see which building it should go to, and which department in that building. Compare that to a similar example of an incoming internet data packet:

As you can see, it follows a very similar method to the postal example. The outside world sees every computer in your home only under your “main” IP address, in this case “9.9.9.1″. The router, which equates to the Mail Room in our example, checks all the incoming data to figure out which computer it should go to.

Note: I won’t be covering exactly how it figures that out, as that’s a bit beyond the scope of what I’m covering here, and the postal-to-internet analogy isn’t a perfect 1:1 comparison

You may be wondering about the IP addresses shown in the example. As I said earlier, every device on the internet has an IP address, but your ISP usually only gives you one at a time. Where did these other ones come from?

In short, IP addresses starting with “192.168.x.x” are private addresses. They only exist inside your home network. This is the key part of NAT. Even though you only have one “real” IP address of 9.9.9.1, your router basically “makes up” new ones for all your computers.

I know, I know, we’re getting into the complicated stuff and I said it wouldn’t be complicated. Essentially, what happens is that all the websites you visit or people you chat with on AIM/Yahoo/Skype/etc only see that your “street address”, your real IP of 9.9.9.1. When they send you a message, they send it to 9.9.9.1. It’s your router that knows, when it gets that message, which computer to send it to. The rest of the world doesn’t need to know anything but your main outside IP address. All the 192.168.x.x addresses are completely private and nothing but your router knows, or cares, that they exist.

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Though manufactured by different companies, GPU-Z from TechPowerUp does look a lot like the aforementioned CPU-Z. The interface is eerily similar and the name is a perfect match. On the positive side, these two Windows applications bring incredible value at a price that can’t be beat – free! The pair complement each other as incredible tools to have on your belt.

Let me take you on a tour of this powerful graphics card information utility.

Also in line with CPU-Z, this product doesn’t come with an installer. You simply download GPU-Z from the TechPowerUp website, save it to a folder and run it. At the time this article was published, the current version was 0.3.2

Vista users may experience a warning from the UAC security system, which asks if you are sure you want to run the file. No worries, click Run and wait for the application to load. You should see a splash screen while the information about your graphics card is collected.

Now the fun begins. The main window is divided into three tabs. There is the Graphics Card tab, the Sensors tab, and the Validation tab.

The Graphics Card tab is the default tab that loads when the application starts. It also contains the most information about your graphics card. Everything you ever wanted to know, and more, is displayed here.

As you can see in the image below, this tab tells you which graphics card you are using, the GPU, BIOS Version, Bus Interface, Memory Type and Size, Clock Frequencies, and much more. It has everything but the kitchen sink.

This information is great for anyone looking to upgrade their video card, or overclockers looking to get more performance out of their current setup. If you are running multiple video cards, the drop-down list at the bottom lets you select the card that you want to see the details for.

Moving right along in our tour, the next tab is the Sensors tab. There is no shocker here, this tab displays sensor data coming back from your video card.  Another great tool for overclockers, you can monitor things like Clock Speeds, GPU Temperature, PCB Temperature, and Fan Speeds.

There is also an option to log the data to a file and another to continue monitoring while GPU-Z is in the background. I like the last feature because it lets me monitor the change in my graphics card temperatures when I am in full screen gaming mode.

The last tab is labelled Validation, and it allows you to submit your information to the GPU-Z website. I couldn’t find any information as to the purpose of this feature, however it does let you share the details on the web and track changes to your graphics setup.

GPU-Z is another one of those lightweight, must-have tools that just about any user can make use of.  It really goes a long way to help you understand your graphics card.  You don’t have to take my word for it though, try it out for yourself!

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The information that it collects is quite detailed and is focused around you CPU, mainboard, memory and general system info about Windows and DirectX.

Throughout the rest of the post, I’m going to walk you through getting CPU-Z and harnessing it’s awesome power on your own PC.

To get started, head on over to the CPU-Z home page and download the latest version of the software (at the time this article was written, the current version was 1.50). The package comes as a zip file, so you’ll need to unzip it.  In situations like this, I tend to just create a folder on my desktop and extract the files from the zip archive into that folder.

This program doesn’t have a fancy installer because it doesn’t install itself into your system.  You simply extract the zip contents to a folder and run it from there.  When you don’t want CPU-Z any more, you just delete the folder.

Once you have the folder set up and you are ready to go, start CPU-Z by double-clicking on the cpuz.exe file.

You should see the following image on your screen while the program is loading.

Once loaded, the information is readily accessible in and easy to navigate format.  The window is laid out as a series of tabs that sort information into logical categories.  The tabs are labelled CPU, Cache, Mainboard, Memory, SPD, and About.  This can be seen in the image below.

Selecting each tab will open up a world of information, including some things that you never even wanted to know.  Try not to be overwhelmed by the data and focus in on what you want to see.

For example, on the CPU tab the average user will be interested in the Name of the CPU, Specification,  Instructions, Core Speed, Bus Speed, and Level 2 Cache size. Power users will likely be interested in the rest of the information for various purposes.

The Cache tab elaborates on the cache information from the CPU tab. I’ve never had a lot of use for this data, but it’s here and you never know when it might come in handy.

On the Mainboard tab, you will find a lot of information that is useful when upgrading or replacing components.  This covers things like the motherboard manufacturer, chipset, BIOS, and graphics interface.  From the screenshot below, we can see that I am using an nForce4 based motherboard that supports x16 PCI-Express.

What that means is that my video card is PCI-E based and not AGP. This is important to know if I was upgrading the video card.  Unfortunately for this example, CPU-Z was unable to detect my motherboard manufacturer.  This a rare occurrence and I have only ever seen the problem with this particular board.

The Memory tab is also very useful because most people that upgrade their computers add more memory. In the image above, you can see that I have 2 GB of memory in this system (2048 MB). The memory is DDR (as opposed to DDR2 or DDR3), and that it is running in dual channel mode. Most of the other info on this tab is for advanced users. I find it particularly helpful when overclocking.

To complete a memory upgrade, you would probably need a little bit more information. The SPD tab has the rest of it. This tab shows information about the memory stick in each specific slot on the motherboard. You can see the size of the chip, they type of RAM, and the frequency that it’s operating at. There’s also a timing table to show details based on the configuration.

Last, but not least, is the About tab. This tab gives details about the software and also some details about your system.  For example you can see the Windows version, Service Pack installed and DirectX version. From this tab you can also dump the data into an HTML file.

This application should be in everyone’s PC toolbox.  The data it provides is invaluable and the ease of use makes CPU-Z simple for anyone to operate.

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