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Showing posts with label Hardware. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hardware. Show all posts

Monitor in Explanation

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The computer monitor or visual display unit is the device that displays information that the computer program presents to you. It is your eye into the computer. There are three types of monitors; the CRT (Cathode Ray Tube), the LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), and the Plasma Display. 

The CRT is the oldest technology; it is your old large TV tube and is being replaced by the LCD and Plasma displays. The Plasma display is more expensive and heavier, therefore lending itself to situations that require much larger displays. 

The LCD display is what you see when you look for computer monitors at the store. This is the most popular display technology nowadays. You will have to consider the specifications when selecting a monitor. The specs you should be concerned with are; the width, resolution, brightness, contrast ratio, response time, the interface, and the viewing angle.

The width is the first item you look at when selecting a monitor. The question you ask is; how big a monitor do you want? The width is measured diagonally from opposite corners. Also, think about the viewing area, sometimes there is an unused area at the edge of the display.

Resolution refers to the quality of the picture. How small are the details that you can see. This is determined by the pixel size, as well as the pixel pitch. A pixel is the smallest piece of information in an image. You will have better resolution with a smaller pixel size. The pixel pitch measures how many pixels per inch. Again, you will have better resolution with a larger number of pixels per inch.

Brightness is the amount of light that is emitted from the monitor. Think about viewing the monitor in a darkened room, and then viewing the monitor in bright sunlight. Where will you see the picture better? Which display works better in a well lighted room? You begin to see that the display with the greater brightness has the advantage. Brightness is measured in nits or candelas per square meter. Looking at the retail offerings you see that many monitors have 300 nits of brightness. This is good for most applications.

Contrast Ratio is the ratio of the light emitted by the brightest color (white) to that of the darkest color (black). The higher the ratio the clearer you see the image.

Response Time is the amount of time a pixel in an LCD monitor takes to go from black to white and back to black again. It is measured in milliseconds (ms). Lower numbers mean faster transitions and less ghosting.

The Interface is the connector and cable used to connect the computer monitor to the computer. The LCD display can use an analogue VGA connection or a digital interface like DVI, HDMI, or DisplayPort. DisplayPort is not readily available at this time.

The Viewing Angle is the maximum angle at which a display can be viewed with acceptable visual performance.

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Backup Data with 4 Simple Ways

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Data loss is a big problem for anyone who uses a computer to work. Fires happen, computers crash (with alarming frequency), and virus programmers have become more advanced than ever before.  Each of these situations presents its own uniques threat, but there is one way to deal with the most devastating outcome- file backup.

We can easily summarize the backup method into four major kinds, namely
  1. Backup by OS Backup System
  2. Backup by Optical Drive (CD/DVD)
  3. Backup by External HDD
  4. Backup by Online Backup Service
Some operating systems come with a backup utility that allows you to create backup copies of your entire hard drive (or folders that you select) automatically.  The two most popular operating systems, Windows Vista and Mac OS X both come with backup utilities.  After a certain point, though, backing up files on the same computer that has the potential for crash can end up devastating your system.

Backing up files on CD or DVD is a viable option for anyone who has that capability and backs up once in a while.  The one major advantage to this method is that the CD or DVD is an external storage media, and it can be kept safe outside of the computer, or even the room the computer is in.  Many large companies do routine backups of important data and keep those disks in a fire-proof safe off site. This can still be a time consuming method, and each disk can only hold a fraction of the entire contents of a hard drive.

External hard drives offer the easiest and most reliable method of local backup storage, as they are available in very large capacities, connect easily, and can be physically isolated from the computer at any time.  Unless you keep your external hard drive locked up in a safe as well, it too can be destroyed by fire, flood, or storm should a disaster strike.  They are also prone to the same failure problems that plague internal drives.  

A solution for how to backup files is growing in popularity among home users as well as office IT managers and that solution is online backup.  This relatively new method of file backup is done online with a company that is physically miles away, yet the data is always available at the touch of a few keystrokes.  For a nominal fee, there are several companies that will store your data in heavily protected servers, often automatically as well.

Choosing a backup method is simply a matter of determining how much capacity and security you need.  Most people find that external hard drives and online services offer the best protection for the cost.

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Simple PC Buying Guide

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Personal Computers more commonly known as PCs, which you can keep it at home for your personal use, for your personal work such as checking and sending your emails, or may be do some office work and many more reasons. It is helpful to everybody, its use is not limited to any age, any gender, and any profession. The capabilities of the PC has changed a lot since its origin which has been defined as “an electronic machine that could manipulate data according to a list of instructions”, according to Wikipedia. 

Picking a PC is not that easy until you have a proper knowledge about the product, different companies in the market claim to be selling the best product, making things worse and confusing you. Depending on your needs, PC vendors allow you to customize and up-grade, the base models according to your requirements. Vendors give many options, for memory, for extra storage, softwares to be installed, and many other things and this makes it really difficult to purchase a PC. The guide given here can be of great help to you and may solve your problem to some extent. 

IMPORTANT PARTS 
  1. Motherboards: Popularly known as mainboard. Nobody would believe but it in itself contains one or more CPUs helping as an interface between CPU memory and input/ output peripheral circuits. 

  2. Power Supply Unit: This component is used to power up your PC and usually located on upper back side of your PC, it is vary on power range. Mainstream casing frequently equipped by PSU, so it won't be any problem.

  3. Processors or CPU: Means Central Processing Unit or known as the Heart of Computer because it controls the whole machine. It executes software program instructions. Any processor can work if you have to use your PC for office productivity and basic internet tasks. But if you want more power, the dual core processors will do best for you as they help in faster multitasking and speedy performance when dealing with graphics and video applications. Well for playing games, manipulating audio and video four core processors will be a great help.

  4. Memory: Is one the most important part of a PC used to store the currently executing program and immediately needed data. For better performance of the system and smooth running of applications, the only formula is more memory installed to your PC. It’s better to get it preinstalled while buying a PC, sometimes it proves to be worthless to buy it separately. For the new Vista as a warning, you need to have at least 1GB memory to run it properly. 

  5. Hard Drive: Hard Drives stores programs and data even when the machine is not working. In case you want to store digital images and multimedia files, it is like, the bigger the better. Most of the PCs these days have 200GB to 500GB but if you are regularly working with big databases, spreadsheets digital photos, music or video files one should have more than 750GB capacities.

  6. Graphic Cards: It has got many names, video card, graphic adapter or video adapter, it does the job of processing and rendering the graphics from the computer to the computer display. For games, graphics and other multimedia you necessarily need to have a graphic card.  

  7. Sound: This refers to the sound system or speakers. The sound systems are sufficient, but if you want a surround sound, you can upgrade with Dolby 5.1 support with a decent set speakers with subwoofers. 

  8. Removable Storage: All PCs require a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM to read CDs and DVDs. You can enjoy movies, songs by just inserting CDs or DVDs. It can also help you with data storage, as you can transfer important data to CDs. 

  9. Floppy Drive: Already obsolete but seldomly needed in case of emergency, used to read and write floppy drive (1,44").

  10. Communications: The new PCs come with dial-up internet access or Ethernet for broadband access, which helps with the internet connections. There is either a LAN card attached or external adapter. 

  11. Monitor: Technically known as Visual Display Unit (VDU) is a device that displays images and data generated by a computer. Don’t just go by the huge and beautiful displays keep in mind the resolution. There should be a minimum resolution of 1024 by 768 pixels to get better display. Then it comes to the screen size, it should be around 19- to 22- LCD, or you can even go for a digital one. 

  12. Keyboards and Mouse: The keyboard and the mouse accompany every PC, usually a 102-key keyboard and two-button mouse with a scroll wheel. Some new computers even have the feature of wireless keyboards and mouse. 
Hopefully, with this simple and general list, you could easily plann what you should buy to build your own PC's. Hence buying PC per component seems to be cheaper and more customizable than buying the built up PC.

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4 Reasons of Hard Drive Failure

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Knowing the signs of hard drive failure is important because ita is the number one cause of data loss on computers. If you know the signs and symptoms ahead of time, you can prepare for the inevitable computer crash and get your data backed up before it's too late. 

Of course you should be backing up your computer on a regular basis to begin with, but let's face it, very few of us actually do that. The next best thing is to know the warning signs so you can backup your data before it's too late. Here are a few signs of hard drive failure that should hopefully help you avoid catastrophic crashes.  

  • The Frozen Computer:  Screen is stuck, you can't type, your mouse doesn't move, and even the blessed Ctrl-Alt-Del combination is useless.  You've got to shut if off manually and restart, which of course makes the computer yell at you for not shutting down properly.

  • The Missing File:  Ever now and then, you might delete a file and not know you did it, but if files randomly start turning up missing, start worrying.  The next file to go AWOL may be an integral system file that the entire operating system hinges on.

  • Old Man Syndrome:  When your computer is simply slow.  Not just a little slower than normal, I mean ridiculously slow, and only when accessing the hard drive.  This is a tell tale sing things are about to turn south quickly.  Get thee some help.  

  • Stuck Stuck Stuck:  When it seems like your computer just can't seem to remember what to do on startup.  Sometimes it sticks for a little bit then continues, and sometimes it just freezes.  This is a big time warning that you are headed for trouble.  

A failed hard drive isn't actually that hard to spot.  It's kind of like a dead car, it just doesn't work.  Anyone who has worked on a PC long enough knows all about the blue screen.  When you get the blue screen, all bets are off, and you have lost the game. But don't worry, even when your hard drive dies, you can still recover some of the data- most of the time.  However, the process can be very expensive and there are no guarantees that you'll get all of your data back. In fact, in most cases you won't get 100% recovery.

It's best to take preventative measures such as using an online backup service or do it yourself using external hard drives.  It's worth the cost, and will save you money and time in the long run.  Don't wait for the signs of hard drive failure to turn into full blown catastrophe; implement a backup plan now!

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Broken Computer? Won't Be Any Problem

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For anyone who owns a PC, computer repairs or laptop repairs can be a nightmare. Not only can they be very costly, but it can also be difficult to find somebody who can fix your computer quickly, without a lot of hassles. And if you are one of the growing numbers of people who work out of your home, experiencing computer problems is not only an inconvenience, it can cost you plenty when it comes to a loss of production. So having a reliable source for computer repairs can be the difference between success and failure when it comes to a home based businesses.

So what are some things to look for in a service that performs computer repairs, laptop repairs or server repairs? For one thing, it should be staffed by people who know computers like the back of their hand. The last thing you need is to have your computer in the shop for days, or even weeks, only to eventually be told that the company is "unfamiliar" with the make or model so they won't be able to fix it. You should choose a repair service that offers a policy indicating that if they are unable to fix your computer for any reason, they will not charge you a fee.

And when it comes to computer repairs or laptop repairs, it can sometimes be an expensive proposition. That is why you should choose a service that charges a reasonable hourly rate, which is made clear before the repairs begin. There should never be any surprises at the end, like hidden fees or charges. Also, since every computer problem does not require a trip to the shop, it helps to use a service that offers free advice, either via email or live chat. This can be especially helpful if you have some basic technical knowledge, since you can save money by doing the simpler computer repairs yourself.

Perhaps the best way to ward off expensive computer issues is to stop them before they even start. A reputable computer repair service should offer a PC "health check," which can diagnose potential dangers like viruses, spyware, hard disk fragmentation, dusty components or just slow operation in general. There is a saying that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and nowhere is this more true than when it involves the health of your computer, laptop or server.

So, after reading this simple article, we should no longer rush in panic whenever encountering "computer illnes", there are lot of service centre out there and we just can ask them to fix our lovely computer, or if we can start to learn something about computer troubleshooting, strating from the easiest part (just like reinstalling OS, adding hardware, etc).

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