How to Arrange Home Audio and Video System

They have many satellites and a pile of cables (which you can get rid of following our guide). With all those satellites it’s pretty easy to get confused about which goes where. You have front right, front left, center subwoofer and the same for the back. I get confused even when I think of them. And I remember the first time I had to do this task…it was awful! My dorm room looked like a spider lair with wires running on every wall.

After much work and reading I managed to get it right, and thanks to this experience, I know first hand how hard it is to get it right. And that is why I try to give you some advice on how to do it, so you won’t have to fiddle so much with those speakers. I’ll try to explain the best I can which goes where and what is the optimum configuration for your sound system.

Center, Front Left and Right Speakers

If you’ve recently bought a 5.1 surround sound system, then you have to pay attention to where you mount your speakers. Position your TV in front of your sofa or the location where you will be sitting and from there, try to place as accurate as possible like so: the two front speakers for left and right channels should be placed on either side of the TV, at an angle of 22-30 degrees. Measure the angle by drawing a line from the very center of the TV to the center of the sofa you will be sitting on.

This will ensure that the speakers are at equal distance from you when you are sitting down. The left speaker will be at your left and the right speaker will be at your right, as you look towards your TV. The center speaker (or main speaker) should be placed on the 0 degrees line, to be exactly in front of you.

Subwoofer

The subwoofer is the speaker that gives you bass. And that speaker should be placed as low to the ground as possible, in the angle that you feel it gives the best sound. Usually, it is placed to the right or left of the screen, between the TV and the Front Right speaker, but it’s totally up to you where you like it (I found that the subwoofer generates the deepest bass if positioned in the corner of the rook, facing inwards at an angle of 45 degrees or the diagonal of the room). But there is no rule here, you can place it where ever you like, because bass sound is omnidirectional.

Middle Left and Right Speakers

In 5.1 audio systems you have two speakers that go in the middle of the room. These should be positioned at an angle of 90 – 110 degrees, slightly higher than ear level (30 cm or more). This will ensure a pleasant sound and it won’t seem unrealistic. Also, the same rule as with the front speakers applies here also: the Middle Left speaker goes to your left side and the Middle Right speaker goes to your right, as you are looking at the screen.

For 7.1 sound systems, there will be another set of rear speakers. These are the ones that go all the way to the rear of the room to create more realism. These should be placed at an angle of 135 – 150 degrees. By placing them as close to 180 degrees as possible, the sound can trick our ear or brain in thinking that the sound from the rear actually comes from the front.

Tips To Arrange  5.1 or 7.1 Sound Systems:

•  Never place speakers directly behind the screen, and here I’m talking about subwoofers and center speakers. This arrangement will distort the sound and result in poor sound quality.
• Never mount the speakers facing away from you. They should point towards the sitting area, otherwise the sound will sound fake.
• If you can, make your room as soundproof as possible and avoid echoes and surfaces that reflect sound. Place curtains on your windows, a nice thick rug on the floor or paintings on the walls. If the sound reflects off surfaces such as the walls or floor, the sound will have poor quality.
• Place the speakers at the same distance from the center point. This will ensure that the sound is equal in all directions.

Lighting

Lighting the room is very important, you should remember never to place your screen opposite to a light source such as a window. The reflective surface of the screen will reflect the light coming from the windows and it will give you bad images. Also, the room does not have to be completely dark, some small intensity light might create a good atmosphere, such as those used in movie theatres.

If you have other sound systems that are not 5.1 or 7.1 surround, such as 2.1 or something similar, all you have to do is follow the same rules as before. For a 2.1 sound system, you only have to mount the front speakers and the subwoofer, also for 2.0 systems, where you have no subwoofer. The principle is the same as with the other configurations.

Video System

As for the video system, well, here is entirely up to you. If you use a projector, then you have to look very closely on the manufacturer’s manual to see how far from the screen to place it. If you own a TV, it’s really up to you where you place it, but keep in mind never to place it opposite to a light source. Also, if your TV has ambilight capabilities, then you should think of placing it near a wall so you can enjoy the light show.

Viewing distance is very important; you can check that in your TV manual. Don’t place yourself too close or too far from the screen. If you’ve got a huge screen, then you can place your sofa as back as possible; if you have a medium-sized TV, the viewing distance shouldn’t be bigger than 3-4 meters.

These are my tips for arranging your multimedia system. All you have to do now is get to work and start measuring and mounting, and then, sit back and relax!

© Raju PP for Technically Personal!, 2012. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us, so we can take legal action immediately. If you are on Twitter you can follow me @rajupp! | Permalink |

It seems that, with all of these gadgets appearing day after day, tablets, smartphones, smart watches etc, we have forgotten of the one who was by our side all these song years and who is still alive and kicking: the humble PC. Yes, it’s big and not that mobile, but where else do we have the power to satisfy our need for performance? In tablets? They are useless (I sincerely believe that, they are utterly useless in every way possible, but this is my own opinion). In smartphones? They are good for talking and sending emails or talking on social networks, and that’s about it.

The Desktop PC Hasn’t Lost Its Charisma

No, these devices, regardless of what everyone thinks, will never replace the PC. I love my PC, I consider home wherever my PC is. And with all the commotion going on in the mobile market, with new devices springing out every other day, the PC seems to be a more feasible option if you want to have a powerful machine for a long period of time.

Some might say that a good PC will cost more (if you follow our PC buying guide, it might cost you less) than other devices, and that might be true, but in the long run, a PC is more economic. If you build it well from the beginning, it will require just a few minor upgrades from time to time to keep it working at a high enough level to satisfy our every need.

Building a good computer is the challenge it used to be. Now you have a vast array of components and accessories you can install and the technology is more inter-connectable than before. Also, even if the technology advances, you can still upgrade your computer more easily than you would a laptop for instance.

Build, Upgrade Your PC Without Spending a Lot

I will start from the surface of the PC and move downwards to its inner components and give you the information you need so you will be fully prepared when you will make your next build or upgrade. What you need to understand before we delve into the makings of a PC is that the more money you invest at first, the better it will be. Of course, you might argue that computer technology changes with time, but some aspects remain the same and having the latest tech will ensure that you won’t have to make a full upgrade in the future.

1. The Case

The case is one of the most important components of a PC.  Get this wrong and you will have to invest more money in the future to accommodate newer models of motherboards, coolers or Video Cards (and these get real big, so try to find something that has a minimum of 30 cm inner space for Video Cards). For this, you might want to take a look at bigger cases that accommodate all the motherboards today (even as far as XL-ATX or E-ATX). Also, space for CPU coolers and plenty of hard drives is benefit. Orient yourself to find a case that offers lots of cooling for your build and for future upgrades, and also support for water cooling.

2. Power Supply

The power supply is the one that gives your computer life. I won’t even bother with low end power supplies because of the low quality and low efficiency they have. Some Power Supplies offer a efficiency of over 90%. But it’s good to have a Power Supply with a Silver or Gold efficiency of minimum 80%. And as power goes, to accommodate future upgrades, look for something with a minimum of 850W. A modular PSU would also be a good idea because it lets you use only the cables you need and make a better wire management in your case.

3. The Motherboard

If the CPU is the brain of the PC, then the motherboard is its backbone. On it you will install all the components and future upgrades. Look towards a motherboard that has the latest features, such as USB 3.0, SATA III (6GB/s), PCI Express 2.1 or above (Intel will launch the new 22nm Ivy bridge microprocessor very quick, which has native PCIE 3.0 and 6GB/s SATA, so it might be a plus if you find some that have these features). Also, nothing under Dual Channel DDR3 is worth the money, so look for a minimum of this, or even Quad Channel and with a maximum of over 16 GB of RAM supportable.

The socket of the motherboards is also very important. Both Intel and AMD have switched a few sockets over time (Intel has developed a passion for this until the Ivy Bridge), so if you are fan of Intel, better stick to 1155, it promises lots of future upgrades and it also supports both Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge architecture. AMD also have FM1 and FM2 sockets (they might also release something for the AM3+ platform), and it seems that they want to stick the these, so an FM2 socket would be a great idea.

4. CPU

The CPU is the brain of the PC. And here is where you have to look towards a real powerful one. According to Moore’s Law, the power of computers doubles every 2 years, but a good processor can keep you going for even more than that. So try to get a latest socket and with all the new technology and with some power under the hood.

5. DDR Memory

DDR Memory is what makes your computer run faster. It’s basically a memory where your processor writes instructions to the memory to use them later. So with more memory, the more instructions the CPU can write on it. DDR3 is now the standard memory installed on computers, and a minimum of 4GB is recommended to run just about application. But I recommend to get no less than 8GB to keep you running for a few years to come.

6. Hard Disks

If you are like me, then the space on your PC is never enough. I manage to fill up any hard drive I have, and so, it’s natural to recommend the biggest space possible, and if budget permits, an SSD drive for your OS and multiple hard drives for storage, maybe even in RAID configuration.

7. Video Card

The Video Card is most probably the most expensive component you will buy for your PC, and most probably the first to be outdated. For gaming purposes, I would recommend the very best video card you can buy. This will keep you going for another 2-3 years before needing a an upgrade. But if you are not an avid gamer, then a mid level video card will be enough for you.

How to Plan a Cheap PC Upgrade

These are the main things to look for when buying a new PC. If you keep to this, then you will most likely use it for over 3 years with no need for upgrades. But what do you do if you only want to upgrade an old computer? Well, I don’t recommend buying a better component than what you have if it’s not modern technology. You will end up having to get even more. But a few pointers when upgrading:

1. More RAM

An increase in RAM memory can make your computer faster and more responsive. If you are fine with the actual RAM, don’t rush for the latest beasts in the market, wait for prices to fall down and plan a budget for that. Only buy what you think you really need.

2. Bigger HDD

A bigger hard drive will allow you to store more information on your old PC, and it can also be transferred to a new computer if you have the same interface. Just like with the RAM, don’t be deceived by the big amount. Select only the HDD that you need and remember that you can still store your files using free cloud storage.

3. Better CPU Cooler

If your CPU is working overtime, then better cooling will make it run a little bit smoother, but not something noticeable. You need to look through our list of top CPU coolers to choose what you like the most. The biggest advantage of a good aftermarket cooler is that you can use it for the next computer you build, thus saving some money (and they can be quite expensive).

If you follow these guidelines, you can save some money on your computer build or upgrade. however, this saving is not immediate, you will notice it in time.

“My PC is human, even as I, because it is my life. Thus, I will learn it as a brother. I will learn its weaknesses, its strength, its parts, its accessories, its connectors and its frequencies. I will keep my PC clean and ready, even as I am clean and ready. We will become part of each other. We will…”

© Raju PP for Technically Personal!, 2012. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us, so we can take legal action immediately. If you are on Twitter you can follow me @rajupp! | Permalink |

iPhone has a massive number of users worldwide and some of them have been in the search to get stuff for free on their iPhones, and here I’m talking about music, ringtones and apps. And many methods have appeared over time. Now I’ll try to cover this topic.

5 Solutions to Create and Upload Ringtones on Jailbroken iPhone

The process is fairly simple and there are quite a few methods to do this. For an iPhone that has JailBreak on it, the process is simple, and you can use any mp3 or other music file that the iPhone recognizes. To do this, you have a few options:

1.Direct file transfer

Using this method, you can transfer music files from your computer to the /Library/Ringtones folder. By this method you can use mp3s, mp4s and any other format that iPhone can play.

2.iBrickr

This program is designed for Windows users that own iPhones. As we all know, for Mac users there are lots of tools for customizing their iPhones, but for Windows, that number is limited. And iBrickr is one of those limited number of apps that can help customize your iPhone with ringtones, apps and many others. iBrickr can convert mp3s to ringtone files (.m4r) that your iPhone can use.

3.iFuntastic

A great program for customizing iPhones, available for Mac users. This allows you to simply drag and drop any audio file that the iPhone can play into the /Library/Ringtones folder.

4. Other Music Converters

An ordinary music convertor that lets you cut and modify music. You can make truly custom ringtones in any readable format and drag-and-drop them into the Ringtones folder.

5. Burning iTunes Music

If you purchased music from the iTunes store and want to save it in mp3 format, you must burn a CD and then reburn it with another software as mp3. I recommend Windows Media Player/Winamp Pro to do this.

These are the options for Jailbroken iPhones, I don’t think anyone will ever look at them because it’s too easy to put custom ringtones on the JB iPhone. The real hustle starts when you do not have Jailbreak on your iPhone, but don’t want to spend more money on ringtones, especially if you already paid for your music on iTunes.

4 Ways to Create and Upload Ringtones on Non-Jailbroken iPhone

1. Using iTunes

Many don’t know that you can create and upload ringtones on the iPhone with no jailbreak using iTunes. This, in my opinion is the best and safest way. It works with both normal mp3 files and also with purchased music from the iTunes store. To this, there are a few steps you must follow.

• Import (if you haven’t already) your music into iTunes – I recommend working with one ringtone at a time because it’s very easy to get something wrong if you have a full library.

• After importing your music, right click on the track you want, go to “Get Info”, navigate to Options and in the fields “Start Time” and “Stop Time” input from where to where you want your ringtone to be. Keep in mind that the ringtone has to be 40 seconds or less in order for iTunes to see it as a ringtone, my personal recommendation is to not use round numbers (0:20, 0:30) but make your ringtone somthing like 0:31 minutes or 0:29 minutes and hit “OK”.

• After doing this, right click on your song, and click “Create AAC version”. This will create the almost ready ringtone.

• The ringtone is almost done, now you have to get to the file and rename it. Do do this, right click on the newly created ringtone and click “Show In Finder”(for Mac) or “Show in Windows Explorer”(for Windows). The folder containing the file will be opened. You will notice that the file has a .m4a extension, you will have to make it to .m4r format in order to use it in iTunes. Right click on the file, select “Rename” and change the extension to .m4r.

• Now you have to go back into iTunes and delete the file you created earlier. Right click and select “Delete”. When prompted by iTunes if you want to keep the original file, hit “Keep File”.

• Now go back to your newly renamed file, double click it and it will show in iTunes, under Ringtones. From here, the only thing left to do is to Sync your iPhone and you will see your ringtone on the device.

Note: If you do not have the “Create AAC Version” when you right click the music file, navigate to “Preferences” (Edit ->Preferences) and under the General tab, look for the section that says “When you insert a CD”. Beside the drop box you will see “Import Settings”, click on it and under “Import Using”, choose “AAC Encoder”. Setting: use iTunes Plus. Then hit OK. Now, when you right click on a music file, you will see the “Create AAC Version”.

2. Using Ringtone Remix Pro

This handy tool allows you to create and modify ringtones directly on your iPhone. All you have to do is lead any DRM-free song from your iPhone and slide the selectors from where to where you want your ringtone to be. The app also allows you to zoom on the waveform, for more precise selecting, so your ringtone can start and stop at the exact moment you want.

The app also features a “magic wand” kind of tool that can select automatically the best portion of the song and create your ringtone, although, I recommend doing it manually. After making your selection, hit “Save” and your .m4r file is available for sharing or uploading it on DropBox.

3. Using iToner

This program is available for Mac users and it allows them to create and upload ringtones to their iPhones, completely bypassing iTunes. It works pretty good with just about any file type and iPhone version.

4. iPhoneRingToneMaker

This is the Windows version of iToner. It does basically the same thing.

And here you are, the best methods to create and upload ringtones to your iPhone, for both JB iPhone and non-JB iPhone. Have fun and start customizing!

© Raju PP for Technically Personal!, 2012. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us, so we can take legal action immediately. If you are on Twitter you can follow me @rajupp! | Permalink |

How to Reduce Power Consumption on Your PC

We all know PC’s use a lot of power, especially if you have a gaming rig of multimedia station. These can have a big impact on your power bill, but fear not, there are ways to save some money. If you are worried that your PC is using too much power, then you should look up these simple tricks to reduce your electricity bill. I’ll try to talk about the best ways to do this, and here you have 3 main categories:

• Hardware upgrades
• Intelligent usage
• Software tweaks

First, we’ll look at what you can do to reduce your PC’s power consumption by altering your hardware and the way you use it. I know some of these will be counter intuitive, but bear with me and try them out for yourself. Some of you might ask: how is that possible? I’ll take you through each component that uses big amounts of power, and how to make them work with less.

1. CPU (Central Processing Unit)

The “brain” of your PC. This is a huge power user, averaging 100W (up to 150W in some high end CPUs). There are a few tricks you can try to reduce this power consumer.

Upgrade Your CPU, Get More Cores

Yes, that is correct. Some newer models of CPUs have better power management features that allow them to use less power, and there is the other benefit in having a better CPU: more performance. The bigger the numbers of cores, the better it is. First of all, the performance will drastically improve. But the most important, if you’ll have more cores, then your load management will decrese.

For example, if you have a single core CPU in full load (100%) it will use a great amount of power do work. If you have a quad core CPU (4 cores), each core only works at ~25%, so there you go. Your CPU will work at 25% load, that means lower temperature, a longer life for your CPU and less power consumed.

Built-in BIOS Power Saving 

Open your BIOS menu, CPU settings and find the power options, according to your CPU maker:

• C1E
• AMD Cool’n’Quiet
• Virtualization
• Intel SpeedStep
• ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface, where you will find 2 options: S1, it stands for “Sleep” and S3 “which stands for Hibernate”)

If you have access to these features, then it would be good to enable them for better power management. They regulate the power that the CPU uses depending on the lead it has. The less power it requires, the lower the temperature, lesser the coolers have to work and therefore, the CPU saves power.

Use Undervoltage

This is the opposite of overvoltage, which means an increase in the VCore (or Core Voltage) of your CPU. You have to lower the value of VCore in CPU settings. When you do an undervoltage, it means you decrease the voltage under the default value. Say, your CPU works at 2.375V, an undervoltage would mean making it work at 1.965V, or even less. But be careful when making changes to the voltages of your computer. Although there is not much harm you can cause, there is the risk of instability (for those who know what I’m talking about, this is the BSOD – Blue Screen of Death).

A BSOD is in itself harmless, it only relays that there is a problem with your computer. So I suggest after making ANY modification to your BIOS settings to do a stability test (with benchmark programs such as OCCT, SuperPI, Prime95 etc). These are the main ways to save power on your CPU. But keep in mind, if you want to overclock or benchmark your PC, then you might see a slight decrease in performance.

2. RAM Memory

As with the CPU, bigger RAM Memory is better for both the performance of your computer, but also as a power saver. In the RAM memory, your computer saves instructions that it uses regular. So it’s better to have more memory to store more instructions than for it to wipe and re-write them.

This will save a few Watts of power and it will also make a big difference in the performance of your PC. Also, you have to be careful how much RAM you use on your computer. As I will explain later on, more RAM will decrease the space of your HDD (Hard Disk Drive) in Hibernation Mode. But if you are not worried about this detail, then go with no less than 4 GB of DDR memory (I would recommend from 8-16 GB DDR3). Read more about our PC buying guide to find out what are the best options for you.

3. Bigger and Better HDD

Probably the most counter intuitive so far. How can a bigger HDD save more power? Well, the answer is simple when you know how a HDD works. If you have ever opened one before, you know that it looks like an old school record player. It has metal disks and a reading head that moves up and down the disks in order to find the information needed. Another thing you must know is the fact that the information is not in one place, but it’s spread on the entire surface of the disk (in tiny fragments).

A Bigger Hard Drive Saves Power

And so, in order to access that information, the reading head has to move on the entire occupied surface of the disk. Now, let’s imagine I have a 500GB HDD. The HDD is full and I want to watch a movie. The reading head of the HDD has to piece together the entire movie from the entire surface of the disk. That means that it has to move up and down the entire disk in order to read the information and find my movie. Now let’s imagine I want to watch the same movie on a 1TB HDD. Now, with 500GB, the HDD is only half full, the reading head has to move on only 50% of the disk in order to find the same information. That is half the distance it has to travel, which equals in less energy used.

Of course, you can find other solutions to the HDD problem, such as using a RAID configuration. For those who don’t know what RAID is, it’s the process of using 2 or more identical HDDs to store the same information. This will drastically increase the speed of your computer, and what that means is that the disks work for shorter periods, and therefore, they use less power.

SSD Provides Speed and Silence

Also in the Hard Drive section, I’ll mention another way to store your files that can save money in the long run: SSD (Solid State Drives). These are the fastest drives so far. They have no moving parts, they run lightning fast compared to HDDs, they are dead silent and use only a fraction of the power that a normal HDD uses, because they do not have complex mechanical systems, just integrated circuits.

The only downside of SSDs is the price. They cost wayyy more than HDDs and have much smaller sizes (32-256 GB, but there are a few that go up to 1.2 TB, but they cost a lot). But let’s think about it, if you do not have lots of files on your computer, you only use for web surfing and emailing, a 64GB SSD would be great for you. Top of the line performance with only a fraction of the power cost.

4. Video Card

Remember when I said the CPU uses an average of 100W of power? Well, that’s just a fraction of what video cards use. The latest models of video cards can push up to 200W power consumption, and the sad part about it is that you can’t do much about it. The only way to make your video card use less power is to do an undervoltage and reduce its frequency. This will lower your card’s performance but it will make it more power hungry (not by much though).

If you do not use your computer for gaming, then you might want to look towards a motherboard that has an integrated video card, that uses less power, but it does not have nearly as much performance as a regular card. Although, if you do decide to change the voltage or the frequency of your video card, remember to test its stability with dedicated programs such as MSI Afterburner and Kombustor, RivaTuner, OCCT etc. Also, be very careful! Unlike CPUs, you CAN break your video card if you do not know how to modify its parameters.

5. Power Supply

This is your best bet if you want to reduce the power consumption of your PC. If you have an older power supply, you might just want to throw it out the window and get yourself a new one. Older PSUs (Power Supply Unit) are not very efficient (somewhere at 50%), that means they only use 50% of the power drained from the socket to actually power your PC, the rest is wasted with heat. Newer PSUs have 80-90% efficiency, so they use the power more efficient and have lesser power loss. An added bonus of using a bigger and more efficient PSU is that it can power more equipment, so you won’t have to upgrade it when you upgrade your computer.

6. Monitor

Old CRT monitors use lots of power, so if you have one, it might be time to think of upgrading to a LCD monitor, that uses less power and does not hurt your eyes as much, or even to a LED backlit monitor, which has the best image quality available and the best power management possible. LED monitors are the best power savers of all displays.

Use Your PC Wisely

1. Peripherals

Even if you do not use the, the peripherals use power when in idle mode. External HDDs, printers, speakers and anything else uses power even if you do not use them. The best thing is to unplug them when you do not use them.

2. Don’t Let Computer Idle

If you are not using your computer, then you might want to put it on sleep or hibernate. Sleep uses less power than idle mode simply because it partially shuts down your computer. Although your computer is not powered off, it uses less power because the sleep mode keeps only the necessary components “awake”.

An even better way to reduce power consumption is to put your computer on hibernate when not in use. This freezes your last known configuration and stores it in the RAM memory. That is why the amount of RAM memory you have will be taken out of your HDD. Hibernate is the best way, short of unplugging your PC, to reduce its power drain.

3. Energy Efficient Products

You can see that these products have the Energy Efficient logo, and that means that the product has been tested and it uses less energy than a regular one. So look for the blue logo whenever buying a new product. You’re also helping mother nature with this choice.

4. Use Substitutes

Yes, if you have to send an email, or something that does not require a high performance machine, try using your smartphone or tablet to do so. Even your Laptop, they all consume less energy than your computer and they all get the job done. These are the main tweaks and upgrades you can make on the hardware of your computer to make it more energy efficient. Keep in mind that if you do only 1 or 2 of these, you might not see a big difference on your electrical bill.

Software Solutions

The key is to find a way to use most of these and then you will see a big difference in the long run. Hardware upgrades are very important in making your computer more energy efficient, but there are a few more tricks you can use to decrease your power consumption even more. That is to use the power management features that programs and operating systems provide. In the software part, you do not have as many options as on the hardware part. But they can make a difference.

1.  Windows Power Plans

If you configure your computer to enter sleep or hibernate when idle, dim your display or close your display, then you might save some power when not using it. But, if you have downloads or other tasks, then you can program your computer to sleep and wake up according to your schedule. This option is available from BIOS, under Power-Up.

2. Power Plan Softwares

You might want to check out PowerSlave, this program can automatically change your power plans according to the load of your computer. For instance, it will use Power Save for emailing, web browsing or typing, and automatically switch to Performance Mode when you start playing a game. Or, you can use WakeUpOnStandby app to put your computer to sleep and wake according to a predefined schedule.

3. Close Background Programs

This will make the load on your PC lesser. And that mean a lower load on your CPU, therefore, lower power consumption. Here, Task Manager is your best friend for closing those programs. You will be surprised too see how much do some programs eat up.

4. Don’t Use Softwares That Eat Resources

For instance, VLC Player will reduce the load of your CPU when playing a video, as opposed to Windows Media Player. Also, IE8 has a lesser impact on your CPU than other web browsers, but, then again, it’s not that secure. Let’s hope that Internet Explorer 10 in Windows 8 will make a better  job.

5. DO NOT Use Screen Savers

Yes, that’s right, screen savers use power, as specially graphic intensive screensavers. You are better off dimming your display or just closing the monitor when in stand by. If you are using an old CRT monitor, then until you change to an LCD or LED, try to avoid coloured desktop backgrounds or screensavers. It has been shown that black images reduce a CRT’s power consumption.

Ok, these are my tips to decrease your power bill, I would recommend using as many as possible of them in order to see a big difference in your overall computer power consumption. But the best way to consume less is to turn off your computer when you are not using it. If you do make these changes and still unplug it when you do not need it on, then you will see a great difference.

© Raju PP for Technically Personal!, 2012. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us, so we can take legal action immediately. If you are on Twitter you can follow me @rajupp! | Permalink |

Usually, when a website doesn’t load, there can be numerous problems and numerous solutions to fix them. I’ll try to explain what to do and what are the steps involved in figuring out what the problem is. You can also browse through our previous tips on how to access blocked websites.

The first step is to see on which end is the issue. Here, there are 3 possibilities:

• from your terminal
• from your ISP (Internet Service Provider)
• from the website’s own server.

How to Access Websites That Don’t Load

1. Google Cached Pages

There are a few tricks you can do to load websites you used to visit and are now unavailable. For instance, use Google at its true capacity. Google is the most powerful tool in your arsenal, so try to make use of Google’s services, even the ones that you are not aware of. A good example is cached pages.

Google makes a cache version of a web page when you access it, and if the website is unreachable, Google lets you access the cached version instead. You can do this one of two ways:

-  type in the search box in Google “cache: name of site” and it will load the last cached version of the page,

- or search for the page in Google, and click “cached”, above the preview. This will also load the last cached page.

An important aspect to keep mind of is the fact that Google does not cache images, so you might want to try the text-only version. Bing users also benefit from cached pages, and it works just like Google’s pages.

 2. CDN Services

Use a CDN (Content Delivery Network) service to access websites that are down due to high traffic. CoralCDN is a good example of such a service. CDN services make copies of multimedia files on a website on different services around the world and loads the files nearest to you. To use CoralCDN, type “.nyud.net” at the end of your website’s address.

 3. Wayback Machine

Access a previous version of the website using Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine. This service shows you all of the previous versions of the website in a chronological order. From here you can access the website if at the moment it’s down. Obviously, if you are interested in fresh news, this won’t help you out.

4. Is it Down Only For Me?

Check the availability of the website using http://www.isup.me/ or  http://www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com/.  There are many other websites that do this checking. This service tells you if the website is down only for you or if it’s not reachable at all. This might come in handy and it could save lots of trouble and time.

Website Not Loading Because of Your Computer or an External Issue

To determine if the problem is on your end (and in the vast majority of cases, it is), try to test each component to see where the problem is. I suggest trying to restart your computer and Internet connection first, it might just work, if it doesn’t, move on to the other steps:

1. Access the Website From Multiple Browsers

I usually have 3 web browsers installed on my computer, and if I come across this problem, I try loading the website from all of them. If the website loads from one or more web browsers, then you have found that the problem was in your browser. To repair it:

• look if your browser is up-to-date (if not, update)
• check in your extensions, maybe one extension is blocking the website you want to access
• clear cache and cookies
• the final solution, un-install the web browser, delete all preferences and add-ons and reinstall

2. Check your Antivirus and Firewall.

Antivirus programs usually block sites and set filters that might not let you visit certain websites. To find out if this is the problem, turn them off and try to load the website. If it works, then you have found your culprit. To fix this, just add the particular website to the “exceptions” or “trusted” category and you’re done.

3. Trace, Ping Using CMD to The Website

Windows offers the best debugging tool there is: Command Prompt, or CMD. Open CMD, under All Programs -> Accessories and type “ping” followed by the name of the website.

If you see that there is no loss in your connection, then the website makes a connection to your computer and the problem is from the software you have installed. On the other hand, if you see 100% loss, then you have to move on to some others debugging ideas. The same is true with “tracert“. This will show you the entire path the connection takes to reach the website.

4. Check Your Hosts File

This file is located in c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts, open it with Notepad (run it as Administrator to save changes) and see if the website you can’t load is blocked. If this is the case, then just delete the line where you see the website and you should be good to go.

5. Reset or Loop Tour Router.

If you use a router, then most likely, the problem is from there. Manually reset you router to factory defaults or add the website to “trusted” and see if this works. Usually, this is where the problem is, and after a reset, there should be no more errors loading the site. In order to see if the router is the cause of your problem, just unplug it and connect directly to the Internet cable or modem; if the website loads, then unplug the router from the power supply or reset it.

Can’t Access Websites Because of ISP/Location

If none of these work, then the problem is from your machine and you have no problems fixing it. But if you are still having problems, then it’s time to contact your ISP and see of the problem is from them.

There 2 main reasons why the website won’t load from your ISP:

• The ISP has blocked access to the website, in which case, there is not much you can do.
• The ISP’s DNS (Domain Name System) has a problem and cannot link the name of the website with the IP Address (Internet Protocol).

1. Google Public DNS

If this is the case, then the ISP will handle the problem or give you information on how to obtain a different DNS. Also, you can try using a public DNS. Google offers such a service: Google Public DNS.

To change your DNS, navigate your way to the network connection, and change the DNS address to Google’s (for IPv4, Primary Address: 8:8:8:8 and Secondary Address: 8:8:4:4) or other public DNS servers like these. But write down your old DNS address, just in case you need to revert back to it in the future.

If, on the other hand, the ISP has no problem, then you have to contact the website’s owner (if you still have their contact details) or server to see if the problem is from them.

2. Your IP Address Could be Banned or Blacklisted

If this is the case, then you cannot access the website from that IP Address, and you have to get in touch with your ISP and see if you can change it. Or you could use a proxy or even buy a different IP address, if you can.

2. Website Isn’t Reachable From Your Country

If this is the case, then you cannot do anything about it. There are some websites that can be viewed and accessed only from specific countries, from commercial matters. You could be able to access with a different IP address, but there’s no guarantee in that.

3. Website Server is Down

In this case, you might want to see if you can find a cached version of it on Google (like we told in the beginning of the article) or other websites that load older versions of the website, although, not up to date. To figure out if you have a problem with the website, or the problem is from your network, ISP or the website’s server, try to access it from other devices or computers from your network. If they load it, then the problem if from your machine.

4. WinSockXpFix

I am using a program called  WinSockXpFix, a totally free program. It was the best solution for me in many cases, since all the above advises didn’t work. There are folks that encounter problems using it, but I can guarantee that it works perfectly fine on my Windows 7 system. If none of the above works, try this last solution, it may be your savior.

© Raju PP for Technically Personal!, 2012. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us, so we can take legal action immediately. If you are on Twitter you can follow me @rajupp! | Permalink |

The 21st century is the age of speed: fast travel, fast communication, technology getting more and more mobile and of-course, faster. But even now, in the age of speed, some people still suffer from lack of a decent Internet connection. Although Internet speed has significantly improved over the last few years, some of us still suffer with slow connections and browsing the web can prove to be a daunting task. Although one cannot force the ISP to provide faster internet, there are some solutions to making the most of your existing Internet connection.

Tips & Tricks to speed up your Internet

1. Keep a clean and secured computer

Clean your hard drive as often as you can. Try using an anti-virus software, but a very resource demanding one (check our list of the best free antivirus programs and paid anti-virus programs), look for a anti adware/spyware program. These bugs can drastically lower your Internet speed, so scan your computer regularly, also, try using a simple firewall, but keep in mind, heavy firewalls (such as Zone Alarm) require a heavy duty Internet connection, so if you don’t want to make it worse, look towards a firewall that is not resource hungry.

Also,another important thing you can do to make your browser faster, is to clear your history and other useless data your browser stores on your computer (except temporary internet files for sites you usually access), clear your cache and also make it bigger. A bigger cache for your browser means more information stored on your computer and faster load time for your regularly accessed web sites. This is a great way to speed up your Internet connection.

2. Upgrade your computer

If you have an old computer, with a low-end processor and little memory, then your computer might be the problem, not your internet connection. Try adding some more RAM and/or a more powerful CPU. If these are old and slow, they load web-pages slowly and even more slowly if they have complex graphics.

Another upgrade to keep your mind on is your notwork card (LAN card) or Modem Card. These are also physical components, in which you plug in your Internet cables (standard telephone cable or RJ45 connectors). These cars have a maximum connection speed (check the model or the manual to find out how much). Some older models are 10/100 Mbps, and these models are slow, and if you have a faster connection, they will limit the speed to their maximum (it’s funny, just today I had a course at school about this). You should try to get a 10/100/1000 Gigabit LAN card for better connections.

3. Update your software

It’s important to keep your computer up to date and install the latest updates for all your software (including the OS). Updates normally include bug fixes and your programs should load and run faster, so keep an eye out for updates. But remember, never keep open programs you do not necessary need. Always have installed the latest version of your browser and OS, but also for flash player, shockwave and java.

4. Do not use slow programs

Try to get a fast web browser, this is the key for web surfing. Traditionally, Internet Explorer is considered to be very slow, specially the older versions. It also consumes more resources. Try using something like Opera, Firefox or Chrome (the fastest in my opinion). And another thing, do not get too many extensions, this advice is for any browser. Try to use only the necessary add-ons or extensions, because, if you pack your browser with them they will reduce your internet speed and your browser’s overall performance.

Resource hungry anti-virus and firewalls also have an impact on your computer and browser performance, so do not aim for something your computer can’t handle. Try to get some easy to use and resource friendly programs.

5. Keep an eye out for bandwidth consumption

Firewalls, anti-viruses, OS’s and other programs that use an internet connection eat up bandwidth, so try to set them to do only manual updates and close all unnecessary ones, this will free your bandwidth a great deal and you will see the difference. But remember to update them often, if they are out of date, than your performance will drop.

On the other hand, if you have a wireless network, protect it with a strong password. If other people connect to your wireless network, then your speed will definitely drop.

6. Try changing your DNS servers

It is wise to try changing the DNS configuration of your internet connection whenever you see a sudden drop in the internet speed. Here is a list of free and fast DNS servers which should be handy. Well worth giving this a try. Alternatively, try flushing DNS cache which can resolve the slow internet speed issues.

Extensions & Boosters

Extensions and programs that claim to offer you faster browsing are all over the Internet. The vast majority of them do not work, they don’t do anything to speed up your internet connection. But there are a few extensions and boosters that offer some boost in your browsing speed, although not quite noticeable.

However, here are the ones who have some impact on your Internet speed:

1. Webroot

Webroot is a great tool for getting rid of adware and spyware from your computer. It scans your computer with great precision and it consumes next to no resources. I recommend this tool in parallel with NOD 32. Both of these are really resource light and and do an excellent job keeping your computer clean and fast.

2. Opera Turbo

One of the best internet boosters I have ever seen, and the best part about it is that Opera has this tool integrated in their browser. This tool speeds up your internet browser’s loading time for websites quite a lot. If there was ever a real tool for internet speed-up, Opera Turbo is that.

3. FastestWeb

An extension developed for speed. FastestWeb is exactly that. It makes life easier for you by working in the background of your browser and making it surf the internet faster. Although this is not magic potion making your browser lightning fast, it does make it a little more faster and you should notice the difference. This extension is available for both Chrome (download link) of on Firefox (download link).

Common Sense

• Do not open new windows when clicking on a link, just open them in new tabs in the same window. This will conserve resources and make your overall browsing faster.
• Do not overcrowd your browser, try to keep enabled only the extensions you need and do not open lots of tabs either. They consume memory and therefore, your browser will work harder.
• Disable flash, there are lots of flash blockers available on the web store, and they do a really good job. Flash files are usually very big, so the use of one of these tools will definitely change your browsing speed.
• Learn keyboard shortcuts for your browser, each of them have their own shortcuts, but it saves you lots of time when browsing.

If you have a slow connection or a dial-up connection, contact your ISP (Internet Service Provider) and think of upgrading your connection to a better one. If there is no juice left in bandwidth, then you cannot squeeze more out of it.

Suggested Read:

• Browse Faster with Opera Mini Trick
• Simple Tips to Speed Up Your Broadband
• Firefox Hacks to Speed up your Internet
• 5 Ways to Speed Up Your Wireless Network

© Raju PP for Technically Personal!, 2012. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us, so we can take legal action immediately. If you are on Twitter you can follow me @rajupp! | Permalink |

• How to Buy a Printer
• How to Buy a Laptop
• How to Buy a Desktop PC

Digital Camera Buying Guide

First of all, you have to know the basic terms in the world of photography. Many of you are quite aware with most of them, but this can be quite helpful for the newbies. So, let’s recap:

1. DSLR (Digital Single-Lens Reflex)

This is a type of digital camera that usually has detachable lenses and a reflex mirror that allows live optical zoom through the lens taking the photo. Usually, DSLRs have better image quality that normal Point-and-Shoot cameras and allow you to manually adjust the picture you’re about to take.

2. Point-And-Shoot

As the name suggests, these digital cameras mainly operate in Auto mode, so all you have to do is point and take the picture and have to hustle with ISO’s and exposure and other things.

3. Megapixels

These represent the resolution of your camera, in the past, digital cameras used to have low resolution, so, the bigger the number of megapixels it had, the better it was. Now, the story changed, almost all digital cameras have at least 4-5Mpx and they do excellent pictures. So, do not get impressed by lots of megapixels.

The Megapixel Myth

It started a while back, when digital camera producers started to increase the number of megapixels a camera has, and convinced people that more is better. That is totally wrong! The amount of megapixels a camera has does not, in any way, determine the quality of a photo. For example, if you take a picture at 5Mpx, 8Mpx, and 13Mpx, then put them side by side, you won’t see big differences between them (except the file size of the picture itself). What megapixels mean, is that you have more dots in your image, thus, allowing you to crop your image and zoom into it very much. If you want to take landscapes and zoom in to particular areas, then a higher megapixel count would help, otherwise, not.

The Camera Sensor

The camera sensor is something you usually look for when buying a digital camera, there are 4 main types of sensors:

• CCD (Charge Coupled Device)
• EMCCD (Electron Multiplying CCD)
• CMOS (Complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor) 
• ICCD (Intensified CCD) 

Before your local dealer impresses you with the “ultra new CMOS sensor camera”, know that CMOS sensors represent the vast majority of digital cameras. While the other types feature new technology and improved quality, they are mostly consigned to special cameras, designed for science labs and not for the average user. Although, this being a rapidly changing market, we’ll soon see CCD sensor cameras available.

The ISO Setting

Another feature of a digital camera is the ISO setting, well, you may get impressed by high numbers, but many people don’t even know what ISO does. The simplest explanation is that ISO represents how sensitive the image sensor is to light. For example, if you want to take a picture in bright light, a lower ISO is required (100), but if you take one at night, you have to select a different ISO setting (800-1600). All of these options are available in DSLR cameras, where you have to manually adjust every setting, but in Point-and-Shoot, these settings are usually on Auto mode, so you don’t have to fiddle them.

These being the main features that all cameras have, now we’ll move on to what you should consider when buying a digital camera. As you are probably accustomed to from my previous tutorials, the main steps in every buying decision, especially when we’re talking about consumer technology, are:

1. What are you going to use your digital camera for? Pictures, video or both?
2. What is your budget?
3. What features you need on your camera?

Figuring out these 3 things will narrow down your search for the right digital camera for you.

Amateur vs Professional Photographer

The first step, what are you going to use your camera for? If you are an amateur photographer or you are interested in learning the art of digital photography, you might need a digital camera that will allow you to manually adjust the settings:

• ISO settings
• Exposure compensation
• Manual focus or flash

And if this is the case, then you should go for a DSLR camera. These cameras are bulkier and weigh a little more than Point-and-Shoot cameras, they usually have external flash and battery packs, tripods and many other. The prices are higher than other cameras, but they do pack a bunch, having many features and higher picture quality. For professional cameras, you have many options, but I thought a pro photographer already knows what he needs.

Your Digital Camera, a Daily Friend or Just an Event Buddy?

On the other hand, if you only need a digital camera to take casual pictures on special events or in your holiday and not have to take time to adjust all your settings, then a Point-and-Shoot digital camera is all you need. These light weight and compact cameras are perfect to take them everywhere you go and take pictures fast and with moderate quality.

Another aspect of the usage of your camera is the destination of your photos. If you want to take pictures and save them on your PC, upload them on the web or email them to friends, a Point-and-Shoot camera is more than enough. On the other hand, if you plan to print your pictures on photo paper, using a photo printer, you will want the resolution of your camera to be as big as possible, in this case, you have to look towards a DSLR camera.

Related Read: Ultimate Guide to Safeguard & Backup Digital Photos

What features do you need on your camera? Well, apart from the obvious (batteries or battery packs, tripods, cases and for DSLR cameras special lenses and filters) many cameras now come with SD storage, LCD screens, reduced red-eye effect on flash or glare, and some even have wireless or bluetooth, video playback and 30fps (frames per second) and up to HD 720p resolutions. I’ve seen cameras that have music playback, voice recorder or in-camera editing and even more weird features (such as World Clock).

How Much Will You Spend For Your Camera?

Moving on to budget, a very important aspect of any purchase. Nowadays, you can afford a pretty good camera with not that much money, as you may have guessed, DSLR cameras have higher prices. You can get a pretty good Point-and-Shoot camera anywhere from $150-$250 and you get a pretty good gadget for your money, with high resolution and excellent picture quality. As for DSLR cameras, they can range anywhere from $300 for entry level cameras and up to $1000 or more advanced professional cameras.

Keep in mind that for DSLR cameras you may likely need special lenses for Macro shots or Optical Zoom, so your budget will be extended slightly. There are many deals for these add-ons, or if you want to save some money, and if you have some of this gear at home from your older cameras, ask if they are compatible with some of the newer models (you will be surprised to see how many are).

Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for Advice When Buying a Digital Camera

These are the main things you should know about when buying a digital camera, remember the 3 steps in deciding what you need, then it’s a matter of searching on the web for reviews and prices on what you decided you need. Check dedicated web sites that have reviews of the camera you want to buy, see what it can do, so that the dealer won’t take you by surprise. Here are some very good web sites you might check out:

• www.dpreview.com
• www.digitalcamerareview.com
• www.digitalcamerainfo.com
• www.dcviews.com

Take all of this in consideration and you won’t have any problems in finding the right camera for you.

© Raju PP for Technically Personal!, 2011. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us, so we can take legal action immediately. If you are on Twitter you can follow me @rajupp! | Permalink |

Keeping in mind that Christmas is right around the corner, many of you must be looking for gifts or just to upgrade your old gear, whatever the situation, the decision of buying a new laptop can be a difficult to some people, but after figuring out what are you going to use your laptop for and how much are you willing to spend on it, you will see the pieces of this puzzle will fall into one.

Seeing that many of you had appreciated our Which Desktop PC to Buy article, we decided to shed some light on the difficult decision of buying a laptop. Depending on what type of work do you want your laptop to use, you can classify laptops in 3 major categories:

1. Entertainment Laptops

These laptops don’t need the most powerful components you can find, and for the majority of users, these will get the job done. However, if entertainment for you means Blu-Ray discs or Full HD ability, then you’ll have to pay some extra bucks for this pleasure.

2. Business Laptops

In this category fall the laptops that run special software and therefore, need more powerful components to bring the results you need. For some, business means software like AutoCAD while others need to have a lag-free laptop. Let’s say that business laptops are somewhere in the middle of the price and features range and can offer higher performance.

3. Gaming Laptops

Here are the most powerful laptops of all, gaming laptops require lots of resources to run games, and here you will find the most expensive ones. Many of you will think about Alienware laptops, but you should know that those are really pricey.

When you go on the web or in a store, under the picture of what you are looking for, you will see something like this:

• Intel Core i7 2860QM @2.5GHz
• 8 GB DDR3
• 500 Gb HDD
• 2GB GDDR5 nVidia GeForce GTX 580M,
• 17.3-inch Wide Full HD WLED display
• 1920×1080 resolution @120Hz
• 8 cell battery
• USB 3.0, 2Mpx WEB Cam, Card Reader, DVD-RW, Blu-Ray Drive

Now, to many of you, it looks like a random sequence of numbers and letters, but let’s take it step by step and see what everything means.

How to Buy a Laptop

1. Central Processing Unit

First of all, the processor, or CPU (Central Processing Unit). This little guy is the brain of any computer. For the laptop and the PC market the CPU manufactures are Intel and AMD, so you will probably see one of these names in the description. What processor do you need?

We’ll, take an Intel example: the main processors out from Intel (at the time of this writing) are the i3, i5 and i7. Each of these processors will do the job done, provided you know what you are going to use your laptop for. If you are just browsing the web, looking on your friends’ Facebook profile and occasionally watch a movie, then a Intel i3 CPU is more than enough for you.

If you have to use the laptop for work and need it to go faster and perform better, than the Intel i7 CPU is what you need. The Intel i5 CPU tries to bring some of the above together: it works faster than an i3, so it can be of help with your work, homework and such, but it lacks the ultra fast calculations times of the i7. If you are an hard-core gamer looking to play everywhere, well, you already know what you need.

2.Random Access Memory

Second in our list is the RAM (or Random Access Memory). RAM memory is a computer’s short term memory. Your computer stores information that it repetitively needs in the RAM memory, so it won’t search for it again and again, thus, working slow. So, the RAM needs to be as big as possible.

There are 2 types of memory available on the market: DDR2 and DDR3. No use of going in what each of these mean, what is important to know is that DDR3 is the new technology, and it’s better in every way than the DDR2. How much memory you need on your laptop, well, like with the processor it depends on what you need your laptop for. The minimum RAM memory you need is 3 GB DDR3 (equivalent to 4 GB DDR2) and it could go up to 32 GB (but that is way to much). As I said, the minimum is 3-4GB and for many users, it doesn’t need to be any more than that. If you, however, are using software that need lots of resources, then 8 GB will be enough for anything you could ever do.

3. Hard Drive

Moving on, the Hard Drive (HDD) is the next component you need to check out. If you were paying attention, earlier I said DDR is a computer’s short term memory, well, HDD is its long term one. On the HDD, a computer stores all the information it has: Operating System, files and folders and all your data like music, movies, photos that you should know how to safeguard and anything you have on your computer), so it stands out it has to be somewhat big.

Some usual sizes for HDD’s are 250 GB, 320 GB, 500 GB 750 GB, 1000 GB and so on. I would recommend a minimum of 320 GB – 500 GB (depending on your budget), but keep in mind bigger is better, when it comes to HDD’s and you will be surprised as to how quickly you will fill it up. You can always use the cloud to get extra storage, even up to 370 GB for free!

A new type of Hard Drives is now available, and that is SSD (Solid State Drive), and we recently reviewed one. That is a smaller (physically slimmer) and much more fast than an HDD, but the downside is the price, at the moment: SSD are way more expensive then HDD’s. It now depends on you, if you can afford a SSD, it would be fine, but for anything you will do with your computer, a HDD works just as well.

4. Graphics Card

The Video Card (Graphics card or GPU – graphical processing unit) may be something you’ll need to look at when buying a laptop. Video cards are used for rendering graphics (for games mostly) and provide a video stream to your display. Most laptops have an integrated video card on their motherboard (Intel has the GMA series and AMD has the HD series) and if you are not into games, these will do just fine. If, however, you are the occasional gamer, you might want to look for a laptop with an nVidia graphics card, but not older than a 200M series.

5. Screen Resolution and Dimension

Screen Resolution and Dimension is another very important aspect of a laptop. It mostly has to do with the physical dimensions of the screen, which are usually 15.4”, 17.3” or 19”. This is up to you, and how big do you want your laptop to be. But you might also want to look at the technology your screen has: LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), LED backlight, OLED or WLED. We won’t go into the specifics of each screen, because it would very much to explain, just know that the usual screens are LCD of LED backlight, if you have to option, go with a LED screen (OLED, WLED, LED backlight, anything that has LED in the name will do).

If you can afford a glasses-free 3D one, then it’s even better! As for the screen resolution, it means the amount of pixels/inch (ppi) and the most popular screen resolutions are 1920×1080 for Full HD, 1366×768 HD, any lower than these ones, I don’t recommend. And you can always get a wonderful projector to see movies or play games on your wall!

6. Battery

Another important component of any laptop is its battery. These come in standard sizes, measured in cells: 6 cells, 9 cells, 12 cells etc. Basically, the battery is made up of 6,9,12 etc smaller batteries. Here, once again, bigger is better, the most cells your battery has, the longer it will last. Something to remember is that producers usually mention what the battery life of their products is, but keep in mind those values where tested under ideal conditions, so don’t expect your battery to perform like it says on the box.

7. Additional Components

• USB 3.0

Other things you might want from your laptop are USB 3.0, this is the latest USB technology, and soon it will become standard, so look for laptops with USB 3.0 ports.

• Optical Drive

Every laptop comes with a Optical Drive, usually a DVD writer (DVD-RW), this allows you to burn CD’s and DVD’s. Some laptops come with Blu-Ray drives, and if you don’t know what Blu-Ray is by know, think of Ultra High Resolution or IMAX theatres. Blu-Ray is the latest technology, but it does come at a price, in my opinion, a Blu-Ray on a laptop is really not that necessary, just keep with a DVD-RW, nothing more.

• Web Camera

Some other additional components are found on a laptop, such as WEB Camera or card readers, both of which are great gadgets to have, so it would be plus if the laptop you found had one of them at least. These can also be bought separately from a laptop and used via USB cable. Some laptops come with built in WEB Cameras, this is most likely up to you, if you know you’ll chat a lot and make video calls, then you’ll have to look towards at a minimum of 2 Mpx and up to 5 Mpx, the bigger, the better quality of your video.

• Card Reader

The Card Reader allows you to read memory cards, such as the one in your digital camera or phone and it’s pretty handy if you don’t have the device’s data cable around.

• Operating System

And last, but not least, you will need an Operating System (or OS) to make it all work. OS’s usually depend on everyone’s preferences, so depending on what you are used to, you may want to install Windows 7 (you can use the God Mode on it) or a Linux distribution (Mint or Ubuntu are the most commonly used) or buy an Apple product. Or, if you are “crazy” enough, you can try and install Android on your laptop or PC!

These are all the major components of any laptop, and before you go out to buy one, remember to know what are you going to use it for: home entertainment, work or gaming. All of these categories have different components. And how much are you willing to spend on a laptop? If you have the means to buy the absolute best, then good for you, but if are on a tight budget, try to orient yourself for practical and what you need at the lowest price possible.

The Brand, Important Aspect when Buying a New Laptop

Another thing you might want to take a look at is the brand of the laptop, some are better than others. Here is a list of my personal favorites:

• Asus
• Dell
• Sony
• Toshiba
• HP

If you don’t want to hustle with all of these notions, and are prepared to pay a little extra, then you might consider an Apple laptop. The Apple MacBooks are a special breed of laptops, that come with pre-installed OS. They look good, but lack the customization of a regular laptop and they cost way too much. But, hey, it’s Apple, right?

© Raju PP for Technically Personal!, 2011. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us, so we can take legal action immediately. If you are on Twitter you can follow me @rajupp! | Permalink |

Chrome OS was announced by Google in July of 2009, they also announced Chromium in November which was the open source version of Chrome OS. Chrome/Chromium OS is based on Linux and it resembles Google’s popular web browser with the same name. Unlike Chromium OS which can be run on any hardware, Chrome only works with specific hardware partners of Google. Currently there are many Chromebooks which are being manufactured by various manufacturers and some of them are already available. A developer who goes by the name of Hexxeh was able to successfully port Chromium on Windows Desktops & Laptops. In this guide I will show you how to dual boot Chromium OS with Windows 7. This customized Chromium OS build is called as Flow, there are some bugs, but I am using it for some time now, and am happy with it.

Note:

• Please read the procedures more than twice before actually doing it.
• You need two USB drives with more than 2Gb of free space

Downloads:

• Download the the latest Chromium OS image for your pen-drive from here
• Download Image writer for Windows from here
• Download WinRAR from here (Skip this if you already have WinRAR installed)
• Download GRUB 4 DOS from here
• Download Gparted live .iso from here
• Download Tuxboot from here

Procedure:

Installing Grub4DOS

1. Extract all the contents of grub4dos.zip which you downloaded earlier to a folder, now copy the files grldr.mbr, grldr and menu.lst to your C drive (Not in any folder).
2. Open command prompt by typing cmd in the search area and pressing enter.
3. Give the following command: BCDEDIT.EXE /create /d “Google Chrome OS” /application bootsector
4. Now a GUID code will pop up on your screen, copy this code to notepad and keep the notepad open
5. Now give the following command: BCDEDIT.EXE /set {GUID code from notepad} device boot
6. Give another command: BCDEDIT.EXE /set {GUID code from notepad} path \grldr.mbr
7. Now give the command: BCDEDIT.EXE /displayorder {GUID code from notepad} /addlast

Installing Chromium OS to your USB drive

1. Insert USB drive, now install and open Windows Image writer application
2. Now go to the place where you downloaded the vanilla chromium OS and extract it to .IMG file using WinRAR
3. Go to image writer, choose the letter of your drive, now click on the folder icon and go to where you had saved the Chromium O.S image
4. Click on start, it will copy all the files to your pen drive and also will make your pen drive bootable

Installing Gparted on to a flash drive

1. Take another USB drive, insert it in your desktop/laptop (Remove the pen drive in which you installed Chromium OS)
2. Install and run Tuxboot
3. Select Gparted live from the dropdown list
4. Browse and select the Gparted live.iso which you had downloaded earlier
5. Now choose the USB drive which you had just inserted
6. Now click on OK and let it copy

Boot and test Chromium OS from USB drive

1. Remove the USB drive in which you had installed Gparted live
2. Now switch off your Desktop/Laptop with the USB drive in which you installed Chromium OS still attached
3. Boot into BIOS and choose to boot from USB drive in settings
4. Now do a reboot, you will be booting into Chromium OS (Be patient, it takes some time to boot)
5. Now if it does not load or if there is a problem then keep on trying 3-4 Chromium OS boots up, if it doesn’t you can come and ask us here (It took me 5 attempts to finally boot into Chromium OS the first time)

Running Gparted

1. Turn off your laptop/desktop
2. Now with Chrome USB and Gparted CD still inside the comp, boot to Gparted live CD
3. Now make a minimum of 4 GB of free space from your Windows partition using Gparted
4. Now using Gparted make 2 partitions of the 4Gb free space of which one will be ext2 of 1 Gb, rest of the partition will be in ext3 format
5. Now using Gparted copy the ext2 partition from the USB drive (Chromium OS) to the ext2 partition which we just created, and the ext3 partition of the USB drive(ChromiumOS) to the ext3 partition we just created

Select the Windows partition and set it up as session and resize/move

Let’s boot Chromium OS kernel using Grub4Dos, shall we?

1. Once you have done the above procedure, press exit and boot into Windows again
2. open menu.lst in your C drive with notepad in edit mode
3. now type in:

timeout 0
default 1
title ChromiumOS
root(hd0,2)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/sda3 rwnoresume noswap i915.modeset=1 loglevel=1 cros_debug
quiet

4. Save and reboot, now you will get the option to boot into Windows and Chromium OS
5. You will have to use an Ethernet cable the first time you boot into Chromium OS as it will ask your Gmail ID and password for signing in

I would like to thank Hexxeh for all his work in porting Chromium OS to laptops, desktops, etc!

Update: Our friend tfrendo has a fix for error 15. Quoting him directly from the comments section

Guys, even I encountered the error 15 but I resolved it by making a small change in menu.lst on the root parameter:

root (hd0,X)

Please note the SPACE after keyword root.

Also very important is the value of “X”. I got this from GRUB by typing the cmd “FIND” which listed all partitions.

On the kernel line the value of “sdaY” is also very important and has to be the partition called “C-ROOT”, the ext2 partition.

© Raju PP for Technically Personal!, 2011. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us, so we can take legal action immediately. If you are on Twitter you can follow me @rajupp! | Permalink |

Angry Birds has taken everyone by storm as a great comic game puzzler leaving children and adults outrageously addicted to it. It is all about a host of cute flightless birds intending to destroy all the egg-stealing pigs with a slingshot. The aim is to recover all the nest-stolen eggs by the evil herd of pigs who take shelter in certain structures made of glass, wood, stone, and some other materials. Using a catapult, you have to launch the birds to blow away these hide-outs and pigs, keeping in mind to have some of the birds available along the end of the game. With every level, you earn points and will be rated using starts from zero to three.

This game has gained so much appreciation that it has all that it takes to make for an entertaining addictive game puzzler. Well, it is no wonder that it is getting all the attention from the time it was released for the Apple’s iOS in December 2009. Since then, it has seen many upgrades to its original versions. It was brought to suit many platforms, first on iPhone, then on Android and now for all of its Windows users. Though there is still no sign of an exclusive Linux version of the game, all those Ubuntu users need not worry as there is another way out. You can install the game via Wine and play the addictive game all over again.

A Wine is a compatibility layer translating Windows system calls to Linux native calls, thus allowing those Windows applications to run on your Linux Software. Wine thus gives us the chance to run Windows-only games to run on Linux too. There are upgrades to Wine as well. If you choose to install the new version, there are two methods -

1. Using the Wine PPA – A straightforward way to install on your Ubuntu.
2. Compiling Wine from Source – Though many consider it is unnecessary, but it comes when the PPA repository gets delayed while new updates are done.

Now, you are good to go to install the Rovio’s Angry Birds on Ubuntu. Here is the step-by-step procedure to install and play it on Ubuntu -

1. Buy and Download the Angry Birds for Ubuntu.
2. Extract the file to get the contents you have downloaded on Ubuntu. Some files are to be copied to a particular location.
3. Install Wine PPA on your Ubuntu.
4. Then run your Angry Birds through Wine like any other Windows Application to start the game.

You can buy it for just $4.99 (worth your money) from Intel web store and load it onto your Ubuntu.

© Raju PP for Technically Personal!, 2011. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us, so we can take legal action immediately. If you are on Twitter you can follow me @rajupp! | Permalink |