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Archive for the 'Computers' Category

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Your next computer: Laptop, desktop, netbook or tablet?

April 4th, 2010, 8:52 am by

Stump the PC Club is a free tech-advice column written by members of the North Orange County Computer Club, which has been in existence since 1976. Visit the club’s site at noccc.org. And don’t forget to stop by the Gadgetress’ home for the PC Club, at ocregister.com/link/pcclub, to find out how to ask a question and read past answers.

QUESTION: I’m thinking of making my next PC a Notebook PC instead of a Desktop. What features should I consider and what are the pros and cons?

PC CLUB: Let’s start with some definitions:

Desktop PC –This is actually a misnomer since these types of PCs usually sit on the floor and the case is often referred to as a tower.

Notebook PC – These are often referred to as Laptops since that was their name when portables first arrived on the scene. They were too heavy to be totally portable and sat on your lap – hence the name Laptop.

Netbook PC – These recent arrivals are intended for the “Internet, Email and Word Processing” user. They are extremely portable due to their sub 3-pound weight. They have a relatively slow processor and lack a built-in CD/DVD drive.

Tablet PC –These are characterized by a touch screen and are available as Notebooks and Desktops. They allow you to draw directly on the screen using a stylus or your finger depending on the technology. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Computers • Stump the PC Club • • • • • • • • | 2 Comments »

Everything you always wanted to know about Standby, Sleep and Hibernate

March 27th, 2010, 8:29 am by

Stump the PC Club is a free tech-advice column written by members of the North Orange County Computer Club, which has been in existence since 1976. Visit the club’s site at noccc.org. And don’t forget to stop by the Gadgetress’ home for the PC Club, at ocregister.com/link/pcclub, to find out how to ask a question and read past answers.

QUESTION: Can you please explain the difference between Standby, Sleep and Hibernate and which mode do you recommend? Also, which modes are safer with regard to data loss and which mode conserves the most power?

PC CLUB: This is an interesting and often confusing subject for several reasons. There are differences in performance depending on whether you’re running XP, Vista or Windows 7 plus, the choices are different for desktops than they are for laptops.

Let’s begin with a few definitions. Windows XP uses the term Standby but Vista and Windows 7 use the newer term Sleep. In Addition, Vista introduced another mode called Hybrid Sleep which has been carried forward to Windows 7. The description of these modes is as follows: Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Computers • Stump the PC Club • • • • • • • | 1 Comment »

Yes, Apple announces its first tablet computer: The iPad

January 27th, 2010, 10:15 am by

Apple Announces Launch Of New Tablet ComIt’s official. Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs has announced the company’s first tablet computer: the iPad.

What can you do with it? Surf the Internet, send e-mail, share pictures, watch videos, listen to music, plays games and read eBooks, Jobs told the media crowd who showed up in San Francisco for this morning’s big announcement.

This is definitely what was rumored. And it does look like a giant iPhone. Jobs went on to show numerous publications that have built content fit for the iPad including the New York Times (which also made an appearance on stage), Time and  National Geographic.

UDPATE: Some prices revealed: $499 for the 16 GB version. The 32GB is $599 and 64GB is $699. These are all Wi-Fi versions. With 3G, add $130 to each model so the prices jump to $629 $729 and $829. Data plans start at $14.99/month for 250 mb of data or $29.99 for unlimited data. AT&T is providing the service plus offering free Wi-Fi hotspot access.

Apple iPad is 0.5-inch thin

The iPad begins shipping in 60 days for the non 3G versions. The 3G versions will ship in 90 days.

>> Watch Apple’s iPad video HERE.

It has interesting tweaks on the usual computer/phone features like calendar, Google Maps, contacts. Some featured services already built for iPad: Fandango movie tickets and MLB.com‘s baseball videos.

Take the poll:
OK. You’ve heard and read the buzz. We know it’s early — hey, you can’t even buy one yet — but we have to know …

So, will you buy one?
View Results

Jobs had a whole segment on, what else, iBooks. Harper Collins, Penguin, Simon & Schuster, Macmillan are some of the publishers named. It uses the ePub format, an open format so you might be able to upload your own books. According to iLounge.com, Jobs said:

Apple will go further than Kindle with a full-screen eBook reader called iBooks. iBooks has a bookshelf that inclues covers on a shelf. You can see two pages or one page at once as you prefer, and there’s a button at upper left to access the new iBook Store. Fully integrated with app to let you discover, purchase, download eBooks right on your iPad.

SPECS: It has Internet, of course. There’s also Bluetooth and Wi-Fi (802.11n), some will have 3G wireless service built in (see prices above). All 3G models will be unlocked. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Apple mania • Computers • Gadgets • • • • • • • • | 87 Comments »

Why Michael Jackson ‘This Is It’ USB is for true fans

January 26th, 2010, 2:30 am by

'Michael Jackson's This is It' movie on a USB drive.If you’re planning to buy the new “Michael Jackson’s This Is It” movie, out today on DVD and Blu-ray, true fans may want to consider the movie on a USB drive.

It’s  not  high-definition, and it can only be played on a Windows PC. And the movie is all that is included on the 2 GB drive.

But each of the “This is It” USB drives from Fountain Valley’s Kingston Technology is numbered, up to 75,000.

Kingston, which has released three other movies on USB drives, said this one is the first that will let owners share the movie on up to 3 computers. Kingston’s previous movie USB releases, which included “Star Trek” and “Transformers,” required the USB drive to remain plugged into the computer.

“It really is new territory for us.  It’s a way for a memory company like us to work with a big movie company,” said David Leong, Kingston’s spokesman.

Leong said that the $19.99 drive targets devices like netbooks, which don’t have an optical drive. But beyond the PC, many users may not be able to watch the movie on their big screen TV or other USB-friendly player because the movie only works with Windows Media Player.

“It’s for Michael Jackson fans,” he said.

But another feature of the USB version of the movie is that it can be shared with 3 computers. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Computers • Gadgets • Security • • • • • • • • • | 4 Comments »

What’s the real capacity of your hard drive?

January 19th, 2010, 3:15 pm by

Stump the PC Club is a free tech-advice column written by members of the North Orange County Computer Club, which has been in existence since 1976. Visit the club’s site at noccc.org. And don’t forget to stop by the Gadgetress’ home for the PC Club, at ocregister.com/link/pcclub, to find out how to ask a question and read past answers.

QUESTION: I have a PC running Vista Home Premium.  I have a 500 gigabyte hard drive with an actual capacity of 455 gigabytes. When I look at “Properties” for the C drive, it shows that I have used 444 gigabytes with 11 gigabytes remaining. However, when I use Windows Explorer and add up the sizes of each directory (e.g. Documents, Windows, Program Files, etc), I end up with 400 gigabytes used.  I have a gap of 44 gigabytes between what Properties says and what I added up.  What is in the hidden 44 gigabytes and how can I see what it is?

PC CLUB:  This is a common question since there’s a lot of confusion regarding advertised disk capacity versus the capacity reported by Windows. This confusion stems from the fact that 1 gigabyte is actually 1,073,741,824 bytes, or 230.  Therefore, if you open My Computer (or Computer in Vista or Windows 7) and examine the properties of a hard drive by right‑clicking it, you will see 2 numbers. Assuming the disk is advertised as a 500 gigabyte disk, the numbers will be listed as follows:

Capacity: 500,096,658,212            465 GB

This confusion led to a lawsuit several years ago resulting in disk drive manufactures having to place the following or similar statement on their packaging:

One megabyte (MB) = one million bytes, one gigabyte (GB) = one billion bytes. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Computers • Stump the PC Club • • • • • • • • • | 6 Comments »

How to fix a computer that has lost its sound

January 13th, 2010, 3:02 pm by

Stump the PC Club is a free tech-advice column written by members of the North Orange County Computer Club, which has been in existence since 1976. Visit the club’s site at noccc.org. And don’t forget to stop by the Gadgetress’ home for the PC Club, at ocregister.com/link/pcclub, to find out how to ask a question and read past answers.

QUESTION: The speakers that I have connected to my computer system stopped working a couple of weeks ago. Other than taking my system to a computer repair shop I don’t know what to do. For example, I can watch a PowerPoint presentation, but don’t get any sound, i.e., music. Any suggestions?

PC CLUB: There are several explanations for losing your sound from the very simple to an actual hardware failure. Here are some possible problems.

Connection Problem: Although it may sound obvious, the first thing I usually do in is check all of the connections to the computer. Most speakers use an AC adaptor that plugs into an outlet and have a cable that plugs into the green jack on the rear of the PC. After checking the connections, the next thing I do is try another set of speakers or even a headset if possible.

Hardware Problem: To see if you have a hardware problem you can open your Device Manager and check the sound hardware. Follow these steps:  Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Computers • Stump the PC Club • • • • • • | 1 Comment »

CrunchPad bites the dust… sniff, sniff

November 30th, 2009, 10:23 am by

CrunchPadNoted: The tablet computer was going to have an interesting year as influential tech news site TechCrunch decided to use its resources to build the perfect tablet, the CrunchPad.

But today, TechCrunch founder and co-editor Michael Arrington blogs that the CrunchPad is dead after shareholders for a partner on the project demanded a bit more.

…the entire project self destructed over nothing more than greed, jealousy and miscommunication.

Arrington lays it all out and it’s fascinating to read some of the behind the scenes of what brought down a tablet that geeks everywhere were looking forward to. He concludes:

“It’s a sad day at TechCrunch HQ. Hitting the publish button on this post, which makes all of this so … final … is a very hard thing to do. I’m enraged, embarrassed, and just … sad.”

Read Arrington’s post about the demise: “The end of the CrunchPad.”

Posted in: Computers • Gadgets • • • • • • | 4 Comments »

How to reinstall a deleted printer in Windows

November 24th, 2009, 4:10 pm by

Stump the PC Club is a free tech-advice column written by members of the North Orange County Computer Club, which has been in existence since 1976. Visit the club’s site at noccc.org. And don’t forget to stop by the Gadgetress’ home for the PC Club, at ocregister.com/link/pcclub, to find out how to ask a question and read past answers.

QUESTION: Is it possible to configure a Windows Vista computer to run a printer that was on the list of available printers but has been removed from the list?  A Vista type driver for this printer has been downloaded.

PC CLUB: I take it from your question that a printer was deleted and is no longer on the list of available printers. There are several ways to add a printer back to the list of available printers in Vista or XP.

The basic procedure for most printers is as follows: Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Computers • Stump the PC Club • • • • • | 1 Comment »

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