How Long will my Replacement Laptop Battery Last?

by Brandon Leibowitz

Often asked is how long with a replacement laptop battery last. This is a good question, which has many factors that can alter the results. All rechargeable batteries eventually wear out with time and usage. The more time a battery is used, the lower the performance you can expect from it. Noticeable slowdowns in runtime can be expected after two years of use. If the battery is constantly used, a slow down in runtime can be seen in 18 months. It is advisable to purchase a replacement battery when the runtime does not meet your expectations. It is not uncommon for batteries working at top performance to complete 1000 charge-discharge cycles before becoming unusable. Following the advice below should help you to maximize the lifespan of your replacement laptop battery. The runtime of a typical laptop battery is determined by the demands made by the laptop computer. If the computer is constantly used or the battery is not properly cooled off it will significantly shorten the batteries life span. Using the monitor at high levels of brightness for excessive periods of time will drain the battery.

Lowering the brightness will increase the batteries life span. Also lowering the screen resolution and color depth will increase the battery life. Changing these settings on your laptop is very easy and can save you significant battery life. Accessing the hard drive and use of other peripherals will also drain your laptop battery. Turning off unused devices on your computer will increase the batteries life. Disabling startup items can help reduce use of virtual memory, ultimately increasing the replacement laptop batteries life. The amount of battery life drained will be different for every end-user, as each person has specific settings and external variables that will affect the laptops battery life. It is suggested to use the laptop as needed and not to over use it.

A good determinant of better life can be accomplished looking at milliamp-hours. Every battery has two ratings, volts and milliamp-hours. Milliamp-hours are usually expressed by mAh, a description of the expected power capacity of the battery. The higher the mAh ranking, the longer the laptop battery will last. Avoid low mAh's as they will be short lived. Higher mAh rating is indicative of a longer run-time (higher capacity), and will not cause any incompatibilities. When purchasing a replacement laptop battery, the voltage of the original battery should match that of the replacement battery. The only exception to this is if the batteries consist of different chemistries. Ni-MH and Li-ion batteries have different voltage ratings, even if they are for the same exact laptop. Be careful not to confuse yourself with the different chemistries.

All batteries will eventually become obsolete after an extended period of use and abuse. Therefore it is a good idea to have a spare battery incase your battery suddenly dies out or loses its charging strength. Laptop users may chose to use their battery until it completely dies, but it is a better idea to have a replacement laptop battery ready to use when your original battery only runs at 30% of its original runtime when first purchased.

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Solutions for Slow Laptops

by Mullwani

Your laptop could be getting slow because it could be having hardware problems, presence of viruses or there is too much information stored on the hard disk. Whenever there's a problem, one has to look for a solution. Therefore, the some solutions to the stated problems are as follows:

Install anti-virus software: Whenever you purchase a computer, be it a desktop, laptop or even notebook computer (and I dare add…even phone), it would be important to install anti-virus software. This software is used to detect the presence of viruses in your computer and will delete it. The basic concept that the anti-virus software uses is to counter-attack the work of the virus. The more modern antivirus software can protect against a wide range of malware, including worms, rootkits, and Trojans. Technology has also increased such that we have a tool knows as a virus removal tool. Unlike the normal anti virus software, this is tool is actually a software program that is used to remove specific viruses more effectively than the normal anti-virus software.

Have enough storage space on the hard drive: Ensure that you have enough storage space on your laptop so that as the system is trying to locate files, it becomes easier. It will move through the empty spaces faster and will get your information quicker. You can store some of your data on external storage devices like USB flash disks, DVDs, CDs and even external hard disks.

Defragment your hard drive regularly: This involves putting together all the addresses that have information i.e. the addresses that have information on them are put into contiguous cell/ sectors. This means it will be faster to locate your files. How to do it: Right click on the 'My Computer' icon and choose 'Manage'. One of the options you will see on the side window under 'Computer Management' is 'Disk Defragmenter'. Click on it and on the right you will receive a window with an area for drives and another area below it with two buttons 'Analyze' and 'Defragment'. Choose the drive that you want to defragment and then click on the 'Defragment' button. That's it!

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Wireless Printer Cables Bring New Functionality to Your Smart Devices

by Arthur Best

A great wireless printer cable brings tremendous liberty to your computer workspace.

Freedom comes in the form of a terrific new wireless USB device which connects snugly into the USB port of your device and gives messages to and from your PC, or wireless router. This convenient tool transforms any printer with a standard port to a wireless product. Care to use your transformed wireless unit to print off your blackberry? That would be way cool, eh?

See the latest cable technology at Side by Side Printer Cables Deals and Pricing.

Computer peripherals and technology have come a long way in the last few years and the rapid leaps forward in wireless devices and connectivity are currently all the focus. With that in mind manufacturers make sure we have all sorts of smart phones that connect via the everyday USB port. The term "wireless printer cable" sounds like an oxy-moron, yet they are available, and people are buying them like crazy.

Wireless Device is Not Just for Your Printer.

Unusual thing is that the one device that performs as a wireless printer cable also can act as a wireless communication link between your computer and an external hard drive. Any USB device you currently connect to your laptop with a USB connector can be replaced by a... uhh... wireless printer cables. One company calls them... "dongles." Uhh yeah, I think I'll use the term wireless printer cables thank you.

I'm not entirely certain it is the right thing to watchlet our private data zooming around in the sky for someone ingenius enough to hack it, and I know others who feel the same. - see Have Wireless Printer Cables Become Obsolete? to read the thoughts of those who are afraid wireless printer cabless aren't necessarily a good idea for all accessories.

Nevertheless, it's here to stay and it does have its uses... and really - I wasn't ever too thrilled with fighting with obnoxious printer cables and losing my desktop space to a clumsy printer.

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Ipod As The Most Popular Mp3 Mp4 player

by Roberto Sedycias

This is an mp3 / mp4 player that music lovers acknowledge the most in the modern time. US-based Apple, one among the largest producers of computers, notebooks and computer hardware and software, introduced iPod in 2001 with a single model for the international music market. Apple kept on introducing new iPods for each generation. The latest one is the iPod 5G. Apple also came up with two different variants: the iPod Shuffle (without digital display), the iPod Nano (the smaller version of iPod). Recently, Apple came up with the new-generation of iPod, the iPhone that integrates the conventional MP3 and video player with an internet ready mobile phone.

This article compares each iPod by its special features. One of the most popular model is the iPod 5G that comes with 30 or 80 GB storage capacity. It is not just an mp3 / mp4 player, you can store, view and share complete music videos, movies, podcasts, play games, share photos, playback music and videos, connect to a video output device, and much more. It can play your favorite music for up to 20 hours as this iPod boasts of higher battery life.

The iPod Nano has many of the same features as the full-size iPod, but with much lesser storage capacity. It comes in 2 GB, 4 GB and 8 GB models. It has up to 24 hours of battery life and is comparatively lighter and smaller. It also suffers from some limitations; the iPod Nano doesn't support voice recording and media storage via third-party peripherals. iPod Nano is a great mp3 player for people who would just like to listen to audio files.

Apple's most-pocket friendly iPod is iPod Shuffle. It offers a host of advantages: it's affordable for everyone; its sound quality is as good as that of any other iPod; it has flash memory rather than a hard drive; and it's really portable. However, the disadvantage is that it doesn't include a screen for steering up to specific songs. It has a limited storage capacity, 512 MB to maximum 1 GB. So it's good for those who want to be in fashion, yet can compromise on memory space. But the size of this mp3 player is so small that you can easily clip it to your clothes.

With digital music being in-vogue, many portable jukeboxes hit the market, since Apple kick-started the music revolution of our time. Other portable MP3 and MP4 players, besides iPod, are available in the entertainment world of mp3 / mp4 players. There are many Chinese, Korean and Japanese brands manufacturing low cost players in bulk. These are much cheaper, but have their own set of advantages and disadvantages. The fact remains that iPods are the most popular among all, and hold the biggest share of this market. There are enough iPod users in the market and a lot of new things are getting developed around iPods.

Some people just can't do without their iPods, from jogging time to bed time. It sticks to their ears. Obviously, the battery drains out of the device. The latest buzz is that Andrew Schneider, a student from New York University, is exploring a solar-powered bikini that can charge iPods. Yes, it is true! The bikini will soak up the sun rays thru photovoltaic film strips. That means, while the iPod user is getting a sun tan, his mp3 / mp4 player is also getting a charge of 6.5 volts of solar power.

iPod has become a very desired mp3 / mp4 player around the world. iPod player just seems to be ahead of its competitors. Not just by delivering good quality products, but also in providing new solutions for eager electronic consumers. Let’s just wait what will be next in the iPod revolution.

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MP3 Players: How It All Began

by Alexander Johannes

You have probably seen some old movies where some unruly teenager carried on his shoulders one the first "portable" audio players—a blaring cassette-tape-playing two-speaker monster (if you're old enough, you may even have done this yourself). What can the desire of people to take their music with them do!

But the first truly portable audio player was the cassette-tape based Sony Walkman. That was extremely revolutionary in its time. This small plastic box (well, today it doesn’t seem to be very small any longer) with earphones brought on the dawn of the portable audio player and sparked a legion of imitators. The subsequent introduction of audio CDs and CD-based walkmans marked the start of the digital music age.

A relatively recent revolution in this area was the introduction of Apple’s portable music player, the iPod. Although portable mp3 players existed before it (the first mass market mp3 player, the Rio PMP300, was introduced in 1998), the iPod’s unique design, its user-friendliness, and Apple’s very good reputation for its sense of aesthetics created immense interest in the product. Soon iPod was catapulted to its current ubiquity. More than 7 out of 10 mp3 player owners today have an iPod.

Portable mp3 players today are a must-have in the “everyone-else-has-them-so-I-should-have-one-too” sense. Although they are indeed undoubtedly very handy. Especially among the younger half of the population, jumping aboard the portable music bandwagon is a way of staying cool and keeping up with the times.

MP3 format has been chosen as the most widespread. Songs of that format can be supported not only by iPods but by the majority of devices. You can enjoy MP3 music while walking, driving, cooking, or listening to your dull lectures.

The primary source of music in mp3 players today is still audio CDs, as it is now very easy to create mp3s from them (using Total Audio Converter’s rip CD option). The widespread availability of internet access, with the ability to download plenty of music (legally and illegally) is also a crucial factor in the spread of portable music players. Though there is the reverse of the medal. The songs in the web are of dozens different audio formats. What to do with some FLAC or APE song?

The solution is quite simple. Get some audio encoding/decoding tool to convert your songs to your favorite mp3. For example, Total Audio Converter is a brainlessly simple tool that supports almost all audio formats. No matter what source format your track is, Total Audio Converter will easily convert it to the format you need. What is important TAC was developed to be handy and suites any digital music newbie.

Today, 1 in 5 Americans, and about 11 out of 20 American teenagers, own at least one portable audio. More than 1 out of 10 older adults (aged 35-54) own an mp3 player as well. (Interestingly, two-thirds of mp3 player owners are male – girls, where are you?) From these stats alone, it’s easy to see that portable music players are definitely here to stay. And that is GREAT.

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Partition Loss In Windows Due To Lack Of Shutdown Notification

by Shally Spears

In the context of servers we aspire for better disk and system software performance than workstations. There are various options to achieve that. One is by using hard disks with faster drive interfaces like SCSI (Small Computer System Interface), more rpm (rotations per minute) like 15,000 rpm, larger drive cache or buffer like 32 MB. The SCSI Hard drives are made for Disk arrays like that of RAID and JBOD.

As a practical instance, a Windows server partition with fundamental disk signature, the scsiport.sys (SCSI port driver file) sends ‘hwStartIo SRB_FUNCTION_SHUTDOWN’ event to SCSI miniport for every partition. It enables the miniport to start the shutdown process.

For a partition with dynamic disk signatures, the expected ‘hwStartIo SRB_FUNCTION_SHUTDOWN’ event doesn’t take place for any of dynamic volumes if the ‘PORT_CONFIGURATION_INFORMATION CachesData=TRUE’ has been set.

It results as data loss. If you have built the caching controller, which is based upon the Microsoft specifications that declare that controllers would be informed before the shutdown event. You can build it as per the above command for appropriate working of cache or other inner operations.

Cause

In case of RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks), you may encounter the data loss and sometimes partitions loss situations due to one or more of the following reasons:

RAID controller relies upon the shutdown IRP (I/O Request Packet) for clearing write-back cache, which is permitted on hard drive. When the cache flush command is issued on the partition, it simply flushes controller cache and results into data loss.

The operating system sends the cache flush command even after ‘Shutdown IRP’ clears the controller cache. In this scenario, the data loss may occur as the data that gets written post last cache flush may get lost.

If you have enabled write-back cache on the partition and improper shutdown occurs, the file system may get corrupted and you may lose all Windows partitions and data from them.

Partition loss and data loss are the situations that can not be accepted by any computer user with valuable data and thus they need to be fixed. These situations are generally recoverable by using Partition Recovery tools.

Partition Recovery tools are third party software that are specifically designed to meet your Partition Recovery needs. Partition Recovery Software come equipped with interactive user interface and detailed documentation. A normal home user can use them easily as they don’t require any prior and sound technical knowledge.

Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery is the ultimate solution of all your partition loss related issues. This powerful Partition Recovery Software thoroughly scans your whole hard drive, locate the lost partitions and then recover them.

Phoenix Partition Recovery is compatible with the latest versions of Windows Vista, XP, 2003 and 2000. It supports Partition Recovery from FAT16, FAT32, VFAT, NTFS and NTFS5 file systems based Windows partitions.

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Why Anti Virus Software, A Must Have For Every Pc?

by Rakeshmeet

By definition, a virus is a computer program that is able to copy itself and infect other computers. The first one, according to Wikipedia, was seen almost half a century ago. The Creeper virus was detected in ARPANET, a predecessor of the World Wide Web. This code is compared to their virus dictionaries and if a match is found, the antivirus program attempts to clean the suspicious part, without damaging the original data. Another method of fighting viruses is to monitor computer activity, also known as heuristic analysis. It was using the modem connection to replicate on other PCs and when it achieved its goal, it displayed the following message IM THE CREEPER: CATCH ME IF YOU CAN. Anti virus software is another kind of computer programs that appeared because of the need to disinfect computers from viruses. Reaper was the first of its kind and its aim was the Creeper virus. You can visit Some people said that they might have shared the same creator, but this was never proved.

Since the first antivirus program, viruses and methods to fight them evolved rapidly. Most of the times, the next step in evolution is done by computer viruses and antivirus creators struggle to fight back and invent new ways to clean those pesky bugs. The common approach of antivirus software is to scan files, memory or registries from your computer and detect malicious code. This code is compared to their virus dictionaries and if a match is found, the antivirus program attempts to clean the suspicious part, without damaging the original data. Another method of fighting viruses is to monitor computer activity, also known as heuristic analysis. This includes monitoring memory and ports traffic for any signs of infection. A modern approach is the so called sandbox method. It involves running the suspicious file into a simulated operating system and analyzing the results. No matter the method, if a virus is found, the antivirus first attempts to disinfect the file. If its unsuccessful, or go to the infected file is quarantined (isolated from other programs) or in worst case, deleted.

Its very important to have a reliable antivirus program installed because there can be viruses on a file you download, inside an email attachment or even a website can include some malicious code to infect your PC. Some of the programs that are out there and can do the task are free, but most of them require payment. This code is compared to their virus dictionaries and if a match is found, the antivirus program attempts to clean the suspicious part, without damaging the original data. Reaper was the first of its kind and its aim was the Creeper virus. Another method of fighting viruses is to monitor computer activity, also known as heuristic analysis. Almost all include updates of their viruses database, to make sure your PC is protected to the newest threats. AVG AntiVirus Free, BitDefender Free, Comodo AntiVirus and PC Tools AntiVirus Free Edition are only a couple of the free antivirus programs available on the Internet.

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How To Have An Effective Antivirus Installation

by Joshep4au

So, you are looking for ways to protect your computer from the attack of perilous computer viruses. And for this, one of the sure shot ways is antivirus installation. If you are looking out for buying installation services for the same, you must search for kind of services, pricing, and features you are getting along. In case you are not abreast with technical aspects of desktops and laptops, you may consider availing help from online computer support resources which are 24x7 available to cater customer’s requirements.

People generally try to download free antivirus software program from the Internet. But it can be risky! You should not rely on the working of free antivirus programs, as they are never updated. And antivirus software is completely futile without proper updates. Also, all antivirus programs don’t possess the ability to deal with every kind of computer viruses. Thus, it makes sense to have experts by your side to help your computer fight against internal as well as external security threats.

You can also consider computer support professionals who will acquaint you with each and everything about perfect antivirus software. They can help you choose the program as well as install/configure/and upgrade it. There is some antivirus software which can affect efficiency of your computers and make them slower. Therefore, first know all the features of the software and then only buy it.

Antivirus installation is not the only service that you can avail from your computer support resource. There are several other companies which offer a complete array of PC support services for one flat rate. The best part of availing help from computer or technical support company is their 24x7 availability which is not to be found with local PC repair shops.

You just need starting your Internet and you will be surprised to see thousands of computer support companies offering you the best computer repair services at the most competitive prices.

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Hard Drive Selection

by JA Carpunky

Perhaps the biggest mistake people make when building their computer(s) is to underestimate the importance of the hard disk drive (HDD). In our modern society, bigger is synonymous with better, so when you go to buy a hard drive you look at how "big" it is, its data capacity. But is that all you should be considering when buying your hard drive?

Like every other component of your computer, the HDD is far too complex a system to describe in any sort of detail here, but hopefully by the end of this article you will know what to look for when you go to buy your new hard drive.

There are 4 primary aspects to look at in a hard drive (in order of importance):

1. Rotational frequency and average seek time
2. Buffer size
3. Internal/external transfer rates
4. Capacity

Rotational frequency has become a large selling point (5400/7200/10000/15000RPM) recently, so you shouldn't have too much difficulty finding out what the rotational frequency of your HDD is when you go to buy it. Now of course the faster it spins, the faster it can read from the disk (there are other advantages also), but be aware that the faster it spins, the more wear is put on the drive, and the more likely it is to encounter errors and malfunctions later in life. Hard drives are pretty much the only systems within your computer that have moving parts (CD-ROM, floppy disk drives, and fans also have moving parts, but they're all cheap and if they break you won't lose all the data you've accumulated over the course of owning your computer, be sure to back up your data regularly!).

If you know anything about physics or engineering, then you know that moving parts produce friction and wear, and a faster spinning platter (the part that holds the data and spins) means more friction, and therefore more wear on your drive. Of course the faster it spins the faster it can read data from the platter. So what can you do? well again you backup your data as much as possible and you get the fastest spinning drive money can buy (which is 7200RPM for ATA devices (the sort you are buying) and 15000RPM for SCSI and some Serial ATA devices (you might get Serial ATA, that depends on your motherboard)). So look for a "7200RPM" label on the drive you're thinking of getting, it's important!

The "buffer" I'm referring to is the transfer buffer that temporarily stores data to read from or write to the hard drive. The reason for this is that the bus (data channel between the hard drive and the motherboard) can only handle so much information at a time, and it takes a long time for the data to be found and retrieved from a platter (random seek time), so it takes a big chunk of the requested data and stores it in a very fast data buffer to be sent at the bus's convenience. So with a larger buffer you can queue more data for transfer over the bus without having to keep sending requests to slowly find more data from the platters. Some newer drives come with as much as 8MB of buffer capacity, but it is more common to see 2 or 4MB. Usually a drive with a large amount will use that as a selling point and print it on the box/website, otherwise you can assume it has a 2/4MB buffer. My advice is to find one with as much as you can afford.

Now for the transfer rates you're going to need to do some searching, the best way to find these numbers is to go to the manufacturer's website and look at specification sheet for the model you're looking to buy (actually this is the best way to get all the information I've talked about so far). One thing to look out for is that you may read something that says 133MB/s or ATA/133 or SATA150 or 150MB/s, and these are not the numbers you are looking for, those numbers describe the bus connecting the hard drive to the motherboard, and are theoretical peak numbers, which tell us virtually nothing. Also, if you are buying a Maxtor, don't bother looking up actual transfer rates, as Maxtor is apparently afraid to release such information. Not to say Maxtor's are bad drives, actually Maxtor has risen to the top in terms of technical support and they are much more willing to replace broken drives than some other companies, which is important since some ridiculously large amount (something like 10 or 15%) of hard drives are either dead on arrival or die within the first few weeks of use. As with the last two points, when looking at transfer speeds (if you can find them) always try to pick the one with the highest numbers you can afford.

Notice that the first three of the 4 major aspects were all speed related? That was done intentionally to give you a sense of the importance of speed in the hard drive, because they are very very slow creatures, and for your gaming experience you don't need an enormous hard drive so much as a fast one. To increase speed substantially more you can set up a RAID, which is a network of hard drives which (in RAID0 mode) share portions of the same data, such that accessing data takes 1/n time (n = number of hard drives attached) compared to 1 hard drive. To do this you really need a hardware RAID chipset, which are commonly included on higher-end mainboards.

Finally, capacity is an unnecessary nicety. The smallest hard drives you can buy today that are still within those higher speed classes are all about 30GB, which is more than enough for your games. But since games are not everything, and if you happen to be an iTunes member or like to download anime then you will really want some extra space. So I would recommend getting something between 60 and 120GB, any more and you're going to be paying through your teeth, any less and you might be looking to buy a supplementary hard drive in a couple years. And, oh yeah, 300GB hard drives from Maxtor are out, but they are comparatively slow, so I wouldn't recommend getting one for gaming, I like to stick to single platter drives (40-100GB usually), as they produce less heat and are less likely to break down on me.

That is really all you need to know in order to make a good choice when upgrading your hard drive or buying one for a new computer. Of course there are many other resources on the web if you would like more detail on the inner working of hard drives.

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How to Backup Windows XP Home Edition

by Stephen Bucaro

Your computer cost you from hundreds to thousands of dollars, but the computer itself is not the most valuable part. The data on the hard disk is the most valuable part. How many hours of work did you put into creating that data? One little event, like a power line spike from a lightning strike, and all that work could be lost. Unfortunately, backing up with Windows XP Home Edition is not as simple as it should be.

The first step is to choose a backup device. You might choose a tape drive or a DVD drive, but those devices might require drivers to be installed before you could restore from them. The simplest option is to install a second hard drive in your computer.

The second hard drive doesn't have to be equal to your main hard drive. You can use an older, smaller hard drive as the backup device, as long as the backup drive has more "Free Space" than the main hard drive has "Used Space".

Install a Second Hard Drive

When installing a second hard drive in your computer, it's important to configure the drives correctly. Your motherboard should have two ATA (sometimes called IDE) connectors. The primary connector should have a cable with two drive connectors. The end connector should go to your main hard drive, the middle connector can be used for a backup hard drive. The second motherboard ATA connector should go to your CD-ROM.

On the back of each hard drive is a jumper. The jumper on your main hard drive should be set to the "Master" position. The jumper on your backup hard drive should be set to "Slave" position. Most modern computers use "Cable Select", so you can set both jumpers to the "Cable Select" position. Don't forget the power connector for the second drive.

When you restart your computer, the second drive should be automatically recognized and be designated with the next drive letter available, usually E: (D: being used for the CD-ROM drive).

Format the Second Hard Drive

Generally, you will want to re-format the second hard drive after installation to remove any previously installed operating system and to remove any previous file access rights. To format the drive, select Start | Settings | Control Panel | Administration Tools | Computer Management. In the "Computer Management" window, under "Storage", click on "Disk Management".

Right click on the backup disk's drive letter. In the popup menu, select All Tasks | Format... In the Warning dialog box that appears, click on the "Yes" button. In the "Format" dialog box, in the "File system" drop-down list, select NTFS. Click on the "OK" button. Again, in the Warning dialog box that appears, click on the "Yes" button.

Install the Backup Utility

Windows XP Home Edition doesn't install the Backup utility by default. You'll need to install it manually from your Windows XP CD-ROM.

1. After inserting the CD-ROM, open Control Panel's "Add or Remove Programs" utility. In the "Add or Remove Programs" utility", click on the "Add New Programs" button, then click on the "CD or Floppy" button.

2. In the "Run Installation Program" dialog box that appears, navigate to the VALUEAD/MSFT/NTBACKUP folder on the CD-ROM and select the file NTBACKUP.MSI. Click on the "Finish" button. The Backup utility will be installed.

Perform a Full Backup

To perform a backup, select Start | Programs | Accessories | System Tools | Backup to open the Backup Utility.

Note: If you don't find Backup listed in System Tools, double click on the file name ntbackup.exe in the Windows\system32 folder.

In the "Backup or Restore Wizard", click on the "Advanced Mode" link. In the "Backup Utility" dialog box, select the "Backup" tab and set the checkbox next to the drive to backup (c:) and set the checkbox next to "System State".

In the "Backup media or file name" text box, enter the path to the file for the backup (example E:\Backup.bkf). Click on the "Start Backup" button.

In the "Backup Job Information" dialog box that appears, set the radio button next to "Replace the data on the media with this backup". Click on the "Start Backup" button. The "backup Progress" dialog box will appear.

Even when you backup to relatively fast media like hard disk, the process can take 30 minutes or longer depending upon how much data is on the main drive.

When the backup is complete, turn off the computer and remove the data and power cables from the backup drive. It doesn't make sense to leave the backup drive connected because if the cause of a failure is a power spike, it will take out both drives. Next time you want to backup you'll need to reinstall the cables.

How to Perform a Restore

In the unfortunate event that your computer crashes and you can't get it back by any other means, you'll need to reinstall Windows XP from the CD-ROM. (Automated System Recovery is not supported in Windows XP Home Edition.) You'll need to re-install the Backup utility. Then you'll need to shut down the computer to install the data and power cables to the backup drive. Restart the computer and use the Backup Utility to restore Windows XP from the backup file.

When using this backup method, it's important to be careful not to break any pins when you are removing and installing the data cable of the hard drive. And if your computer doesn't use "cable Select", don't forget to change the jumper on the main hard drive back to "Single".

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7 Reasons NOT to Take Your Laptop on Holiday!

by Steve Robson

Heading off on vacation soon?

Then perhaps you're tempted to take your trusty laptop along for the trip.

After all, you bought it for its mobility, and it's nice to stay in touch via email with your family and friends back home.

However, just before you start packing, its pays to consider the downside of traveling with a laptop, particularly if you're planning to go abroad:

1. Weight
A laptop (plus accessories) starts to feel heavy very quickly. And who really needs MORE luggage to carry around?

2. Security risk
To you, it's a laptop computer. To a thief, it's a bag of easy money. (About $1000). And that bag is something you have to guard every second of your vacation.

3. Power supply problems
You'll need a different power adaptor plug for each country you visit. And depending on your laptop power supply cable, you may also need a step-up / step-down voltage transformer.

4. Connection complications
You'll need to find a way of connecting to the Internet. If your laptop is suitably equipped and you can find a local hotspot, you can take advantage of wireless Internet access.

Otherwise you're stuck with dial-up modem access, which means a choice between:

- using your existing ISP's local call number in the country you're visiting (provided your ISP has a local number! AOL and Compuserve generally do.)

- making a long-distance telephone call to your regular dial-up number back home

- signing up with a local ISP (rarely practical in the short-term)

5. Telephone socket trouble
Different countries have different types of telephone socket. If you're planning on connecting via dial-up access, you'll have to bring a suitable telephone adaptor plug.

You'll also need a digital signal tester to test for higher- voltage digital telephones lines. Otherwise you could end up frying your modem and possibly the motherboard too.

6. Extra insurance cover
It's highly unlikely your travel insurance policy extends to laptop computers. You'll therefore need to arrange separate specialist insurance cover, which isn't cheap.

7. You're on holiday!
Do you really want your office with you on vacation? Aren't you supposed to be getting away from it all?
If you're beginning to think that traveling with a laptop computer is a major logistical exercise, then you're right. (Just ask any "road warrior"!)

However, there IS an alternative:

An Internet Cafe.

Almost every city and large town now has several Internet cafes. To locate one when you're abroad, just ask your hotel receptionist or a friendly taxi driver.

You'll also find Internet cafes in airports, railway stations, major hotels, business centers, public libraries, and even onboard cruise ships.

Before you leave on your travels, simply ensure you can access your email via a web browser. (This is known as "webmail". Most ISPs offer this option automatically - just ask them if you're unsure.)

Alternatively, set up a free webmail address (at hotmail.com or yahoo.com) for the duration of your trip and give it to anyone who might need to contact you.

With webmail set up, all you have to worry about is remembering your email login and password. Everything else - hardware, connectivity, security - is somebody else's problem.

To summarize:

Unless you have a very good reason for taking your laptop on holiday, you'd be wise to leave the darn thing at home and use an Internet cafe instead.

And who knows - maybe your laptop could use a vacation from you!

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Buying the Perfect Computer - The FIRST Time

by Dan Preston

So you’ve finally decided it’s time for a change. No matterwhat advice you follow that old work horse of a desktop computer you have has outlived its usefulness with slow loading applications and a continuous rise in operation noise.

Searching for that Perfect Computer can be about as much fun as purchasing a new car and about as frustrating also when sorting through the various brands while trying to decide which “bells and whistles” best fit your needs. Besides all that trying to return something that is so large can be both inconvenient and very difficult to do. So making the right decision the FIRST time is the wise path of choice.

For starters you’ll need to decide what you want to do with your computer. Are you into the video game scene or are you someone who likes to just surf the internet and occasionally do some book keeping with simple word processing software?

If you’re into video games you’re going to want a machine that can handle the high level of graphics and superior sound quality. On the other hand if you’re not into all that high adrenalin stuff you can probably get by with a less expensive system. Although, if you want to stay on the safe side I would recommend going with something more “high-end” so you don’t have to spend another large chunk of change to upgrade the system you just bought.

There are two basic routes you can take when purchasing a new computer.

1) Purchase a “Brand Name” Computer
2) Purchase a “Clone” Computer

A “BRAND-NAME” computer is one that is manufactured by a company that is recognizable by name.

Some Advantages/Disadvantages of “Brand-Name” computers include:

Advantages:

Customer Support- If you are experiencing problems with your computer you will have the option to contact a representative of the company that you purchased the PC from to get help in solving your problem.

Customer support is probably the best reason to buy a brand-name computer.

Warranty- Having a warranty is always nice since it acts as a type of security blanket for you.

In case a part on your computer should fail you should be able to get the item fixed at no charge just as long as the warranty has not expired.

Read and understand a company’s warranty policy BEFORE you purchase a computer from them.

This way you’ll have a good understanding of the procedures to follow in case a problem should arise.

Pre-installed Software- Many companies will include software packages that are all set up and ready to go for you on your computer.

Although, a disadvantage of buying a brand-name computer with software pre-installed is that you usually end up with more than fits your needs and usually just results with the wasting of space on your storage device.

Additional Support- Most brand-name computer companies are also able to provide you with web sites that may provide you with current software updates, user manuals, or basic troubleshooting help.

Disadvantages:

The use of Proprietary parts- the term Proprietary refers to products that are unique to an individual company and that company only.

So if a part was to malfunction on your computer after warranty and you needed to replace it you could not just go to your local computer store and purchase any old part even if it was intended for the same function as the item that failed.

You would be forced to buy the exact same item that came out of the computer or else the computer would more than likely cease to function correctly.

Having to buy proprietary parts usually involves the need to place an order which means you’ll have to wait for the part to arrive or you’ll have to send your computer into the company or an authorized dealer of that company for repairs.

People with a home based business would probably not be too happy with that situation at all.

Integrated/On-board parts- In the computer world when you hear the word integrated or on-board it means that a particular part such as the modem or sound port where you plug in your speakers, is built-in or part of the computer main board (Also known as the Motherboard).

This means that if any of these items should fail, you can’t just remove them from the computer and replace them with a new part. They are usually soldered directly to the main board and are stuck there.

Although, some computers do provide a way to disable a malfunctioning device which will allow you to install your own store bought device to take the place of the broken part.

From a computer technicians point of view this is not always easy to do.

It just depends on what brand of computer you currently have. Meaning some are easier to work on than others.

A “CLONE” computer is a clone or a copy of its brand-name counterpart with the exception that instead of company specific or proprietary parts, the items used to make a clone computer are from several different companies instead of only one.

Let’s say that if you were to go to a local company that builds “clone” computers, and you tell them what you need, chances are they don’t use parts that are specific to only that type of computer like the brand-name computer companies do.

This is a good thing because it means that they will probably use components that are interchangeable with many different brands and are easy to come by if needed.

Some Advantages/Disadvantages of “Clone” computers include:

Advantages:

Cost- compared to brand-name computers the clone will generally be easier on your pocket book when purchasing one with similar features as its brand-name counterpart.

This is most likely due to the money that is saved by not offering the high-end customer service. Although, that may not be the only reason for the lower prices.

Easily Accessible Replacement Parts- Since the clone computer was built with parts that are not any one company specific, you can buy parts for the clone computer that can be used even if the brand is different from the one that was in the computer when you originally bought it.

NOTE: Before you buy any parts, it is necessary to make sure that the replacement parts are compatible with your particular computers system requirements.

Either consult the manual that should have came with your computer or get help from a knowledgeable friend or repair person.

Disadvantages:

Warranties- Unless you purchase a service plan you will typically not have as an attractive warranty as you would with a brand-name computer company.

Whatever you do just make sure you understand how long the warranty is for and as to what kind of repairs the warranty covers before you make the purchase.

Customer Support- With brand-name computer companies you are usually provided with a 24-hour toll free number that you can call if you have questions or concerns with your computer.

Clone computers are more than likely not going to have a 24-hour help service, but rather you will be forced to only be able to call during regular business hours.

Also, it is more than likely that there will not be any one website that you can go to in order to find out information concerning troubleshooting questions you may have.

For service it may be necessary to take the computer back to the store that you bought it at or you may have to do some research on the individual parts that went into the computer and visit the manufacturer’s website for troubleshooting tips.

Finally, if all else fails you can certainly take what you have learned from this article and being that you know what you need now, but don’t know where to go and get that “Perfect Computer”, the best resource at your disposal are the very men and woman that work at your local electronics shop.

It is their duty to help you get hold of that “Perfect Computer” that best fits your needs. All you need to do is tell them what you plan on using that computer for and they should be more than happy to help you from there.

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Which MP3 Players are Best?

by Debra Brian hunt

There are over a thousand varieties of MP3 players in the market, as this is one device that almost everyone wants and thus every company has tried to fulfil this huge demand. The different MP3 players are all different in shape and size, and the functions they perform, making it difficult to choose one, especially if you are a novice where technology is concerned.

Here are the top MP3 players on the market to make it easier for you to choose from all the variety. The first four are the best ones to have for their small sizes, and the last four are the best where storage and performance is concerned.

Size:

1. Apple IPod Nano: Apple's IPods are undeniably the market leaders where MP3 players are concerned. The Nano is one of their newer additions to the IPod family, with an extremely thin body, and 2 GB and 4 GB storage. Like a hard-drive player, it prevents songs skipping but its size provides all the comforts of a flash player. It has a colour display and the famous click wheel for navigation.

2. Creative Labs Zen Nano Plus: The Zen Nano has Line-In encoding, for when you want to record directly from your CD player, as well as the ability to connect to your laptop directly with ease. It comes in 512 MB and 1 GB models, available in 10 colours.

3. Cowon iAudio U2: This MP3 player provides great quality sound, with its BBE sound system. It comes in three colours (red, black, blue) and the display even shows song lyrics. It comes with a built-in batter, which can be charged via USB or AC adapter.

4. Apple IPod Shuffle: The Shuffle weighs less than an ounce, and is the smaller IPod on the market. It's a great option if you're on a budget or love exercising while listening to music. There is no screen, and it plays songs on random, so it's great if you aren't one for making play lists and like being surprised. It connects to your computer via USB and randomly downloads a number of songs onto its memory, and so you'll never know what songs are on it till you listen.

Storage:

1. Apple IPod: Known as the Video IPod, this IPod comes in 30 GB and 60 GB sizes, in black or white. The display and the size make it possible for you to watch movies or TV shows on it as well as store your entire music collection.

2. Epson P-2000: This MP3 player will replace your CDs and your photo albums completely It has a 3.8 inch display, and a 40 GB hard drive which can download pictures directly from your camera.

3. Toshiba Gigabeat: This device transfers music really fast from your computer and can store 10, 20, 40 or 60 GB, depending on the model. It comes with a subscription service, and allows you to copy music from a CD with a touch of a button.

4. Iriver H10: This is an extremely durable MP3 player which comes with its own protective sleeve. It comes in 5, 6 or 20 GB varieties and a replaceable rechargeable battery.

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Smartphones - Beyond Voice to Information and Entertainment

by Sam Subramanian

Investments in shares of wireless technology companies and wireless service providers have been particularly profitable in the post-dot com era. The wireless industry is in a sweet spot of the technology space. Bountiful business opportunities exist as wireless usage continues to increase in both developed and emerging markets. And driving this usage higher are new products such as smartphones whose capabilities are being augmented by the deployment of third generation (3G) wireless networks.

Feature-Rich Smartphones.

Smartphones are more than mobile phones. A smartphone is a mobile phone with built-in functions of a personal digital assistant. Smartphones pack a diverse range of features and functionalities into the handset that makes them a mobile information center and entertainment device for the user.

Smartphones commonly include features such as web browsing, e-mail, and multimedia capabilities. Certain models have enough horse power to run complex software applications such as enterprise customer relationship software and car navigation programs.

A full-featured QWERTY-type keyboard, MP3 player, and Geo Positioning Systems capability are becoming common among higher-end smartphones. Instant messaging is a cool feature making its way into the mainstream.

Smartphones, A Growing Segment of the Handset Market.

Smartphones represent a small, yet rapidly growing, segment of the handset market. According to Strategy Analytics, smartphone sales at 17.5 million units in 2004 accounted for 3% of the worldwide sales of 684 million handsets. However, this represents a significant jump from the 8.2 million units sold in 2003.

The demand for smartphones is projected to grow rapidly in the coming years. By 2009, the number of smartphone units sold is estimated to reach 125 million or 16% of total handset sales worldwide. This implies a 48% compound annual growth rate in smartphone unit shipments over the 2004-2009 period.

Smartphone Early Adoption Led by Asia and Europe.

Adoption of smartphones has been particularly rapid in Asia and Europe. The aggressive deployment of advanced wireless networks in these regions has encouraged early adoption of smartphones.

The Asia Pacific region currently accounts for about 37% of global smartphone sales with South Korea and Japan being leaders in smartphone usage. The European market accounts for 27% of global smartphone sales. Analysts expect smartphone sales in Europe to exceed sales in the Asian market in the coming years. North America’s market share in smartphone sales was expected to reach 25% by the end of 2004.
Nokia, the 800 lb. Gorilla of Smartphones.

Nokia (NYSE: NOK) is by far the dominant global smartphone manufacturer. The Finnish company is currently estimated to command half to two-thirds share of the global smartphone market.

Nokia recently introduced its feature-rich Nokia 7710 smartphone in Europe and Africa. The wide-screen Nokia 7710 smartphone includes a full Internet browser, an integrated music player, a camera with 2x digital zoom, and a FM radio. One of the nifty features of the Nokia 7710 smartphone is its ability to make weblogging mobile. Users can post pictures and text from the Nokia 7710 smartphone directly to the web through the ‘moblog’ client.

Nokia is also expected to introduce the Nokia 3230 smartphone in the first quarter of 2005. The Nokia 3230 smartphone features a video recorder and ‘Movie Director’ that will allow 1 hour of video to be captured.

Nokia is now increasingly looking at software licensing deals to help differentiate itself from its competitors. Nokia has recently signed licensing deals with Macromedia and RealNetworks. Nokia is also said to be working on handsets that will receive wireless television feeds.

Smartphone Investment Implications.

The increasing adoption of smartphones augurs well not only for Nokia but also for other smartphone manufacturers like palmOne (Nasdaq: PLMO) and Research In Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM). palmOne recently introduced the GSM edition of its Treo 650 smartphone. Research in Motion recently released the latest model in its BlackBerry 7100 series, the 7100g.

The incorporation of additional features and functionalities that make smartphones the portable information center and entertainment device of choice has bullish implications beyond just manufacturers of smartphones.

Wireless service providers like Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) should see their average revenue per user being buffeted with increasing use of value-added services that smartphones enable.

Then too, the increasing adoption and usage of smartphones will require the rollout of 3G wireless networks in earnest, translating into business opportunities for wireless network equipment providers such as Ericsson (Nasdaq: ERICY).

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How To Buy An MP3 Player

by Gary Hendricks

Are you looking for an MP3 player but am not sure which type and model to buy? There is a wide variety of MP3 players out there, from flash memory based players to hard drive based players. Choosing a good player from the market is no easy task. What features should you look for? What are the key considerations? This article aims to answer those questions and more. Now, let’s see how we can pick the perfect MP3 player.

Types of MP3 player
There are essentially four types of MP3 players in the market today. These include flash-based players, hard-drive based players and MP3 CD players. Let’s look at them in turn.

Flash-based MP3 players
Flash-based MP3 players have a flash memory chip built-in. They tend to be very tiny, ultra-portable and have no moving parts. As a user, you can do all your sports activities without worrying about your music skipping a beat. The downside to flash players is their high cost per megabyte. These players range from 32MB to 2GB, and the most popular models tend to be those from the Creative Muvo line, the iRiver iFP series and more recently, the Apple iPod Shuffle.

Hard-drive based MP3 players
Hard-drive based MP3 players use a 1.8-inch hard disk drive to store your music. The hard disk can hold large amounts of music – we’re talking about 10GB and above. If you have a large music library and want to store tons of music, a hard-drive based MP3 player is the way to go. The cost per megabyte is very low. The downside? Well, due to the hard disk drive, which has moving parts, these players are not suited for rough physical activity or extreme sports. One of the most popular MP3 players in this category is the Apple iPod, which is selling like hot cakes out there.

Micro hard-drive based MP3 players
More recently, manufacturers have come up with micro hard-drive based MP3 players like the Apple iPod Mini, Creative Zen Micro and Rio Carbon. Featuring a smaller hard drive (which still gives ample storage space of about 4 to 5 GB), they have a much more compact design compared to full fledged hard disk players. The few models mentioned above are selling like crazy too.

MP3 CD players
MP3 CD players are another type of MP3 player. These units look and feel like regular CD players. You can burn up to 150 MP3 songs to fill one CD-R disc, then play it on the unit. The disadvantage of such players is their large size and their tendency to skip if jostled.

Key Features of MP3 Players
Having looked at the different types of MP3 players, let’s look at the key features of an MP3 player.

Size and weight: If you’re looking to bring your MP3 player on trips or on sporting activities, a small compact design is very important. In such cases, you should go for a small flash based player or one of the micro hard drive players.

Storage capacity: This is an important factor too. If you need to store your whole music library into the MP3 player, then you probably need a hard drive based player with 10GB of storage or above. If you only want a few select songs to listen to on the subway, then a flash based player would suffice. Do take note that some players offer expansion slots in the form of CompactFlash or SD cards.

Battery Life: This is often overlooked. Battery life is a very important consideration, especially if you’re out with your player and have no way to recharge. Hard disk players tend to have lithium-ion rechargeable batteries while some flash players offer AAA battery support. I personally own a Creative MuVo Micro N200 which uses AAA batteries. This is great for me because once it runs out, I can just pop in a new one – no hassles about finding some electrical socket to recharge.

Connectivity Options: The way the MP3 player connects to your computer is also an important factor. The latest models tend to support high-speed USB 2.0 transfers. The better ones like the Apple iPod also give Firewire support.

File Format Support: You will most likely be wanting to play MP3 songs on your player. However, if you want to listen to a wider variety of music files, like WMA or OGG Vorbis, then make sure you see it in the player specs.

Other Considerations
Many of the latest players also include features I’ve not covered in the above. For example, some players come with a built-in FM tuner, which is very useful if you get tired of your MP3 music. Other have a built-in voice recorder which allows you to record audio as WAV files.

Conclusion
As you can see, there are many considerations to think about when purchasing an MP3 player. To get the most suitable player, you want to think about how you will use the player. Usage should drive your purchase decision. The other thing to take note of is to shop around, both online and offline – compare prices before shelling out the cash. Good luck hunting for that MP3 player!

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Spyware - The Internet Devil Of Our Times!

by Julian Pereira

Spyware and Adware infest over 90 percent of computers in use today. Internet linked computers has made it easy for spybots, adware, and trojans to infiltrate and compromise online privacy. Installed toolbars can also contribute to browser hijacking and spyware related problems.

Spyware, malware, scumware, and trojans gather information about people and online activities. It is important to deny these “Internet Pests” the opportunity to infiltrate computers, so that computer privacy is intact. Everybody is entitled to enjoy online privacy and security.

There are serious consequences pertaining to unidentified spyware, which include identity theft, computer corruption, slow down of pc system, privacy issues, and annoying pop-up ads. Neglecting to stop spyware is a surefire way to invite computer infestations. Spyware removal software is a “must” for Internet privacy and security.

Spyware slips by anti-virus and firewall protection by piggybacking on seemingly legitimate downloads. These spyware files are stealthily installed on computer systems without anyone ever knowing it. Infestations often occur when people download freeware, shareware, file sharing or through email and instant messaging.

Spyware and adware are applications that intertwine with core computer functions and make manual removal, without system disruption, very difficult for most computer users. That is why it is important to have anti-spyware software installed.

A spyware scanner is a useful tool that protects computers at all times, so that people can enjoy surfing the net, without compromising privacy. Personal surfing habits, online chats and Internet activities are protected from those prying Internet eyes. Online identity theft is of great concern these days. Hence, it is a good idea to install spyware removal software, for online privacy. Protect yourself, from Internet snooping and stealing of personal information, for peace of mind.

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Interesting Facts About Cell Phones

by Roberto Sedycias

Cell phone (telefone celular) is a wireless, portable, long-range, electronic telephone, which during travel can seamlessly change antenna connections, from one radio reception cell to another radio reception cell, without dropping or losing the ongoing call.

Besides the standard voice function of a telephone, latest cell phones (telefone celular) have features such as SMS for text messages, MMS for multimedia messages, radio, games, internet connectivity for email, browsing, blogging, music (MP3) playback, memo recording, built-in cameras and camcorders, ringtones, personal organizers, Push-to-Talk (PTT), Bluetooth and infrared connectivity, call registers, streaming video, downloading video, video call, and also serve as wireless modems for PCs that can be connected to the Internet.

The power in a cell phone (telefone celular) is obtained from rechargeable batteries, which can be recharged from the mains, a USB port or a cigarette lighter port in an automobile. Nickel Metal Hydride were the most common types of batteries, which due to the "memory effect" (the user can recharge only when the entire battery is drained off) were replaced by Lithium-Ion batteries, which did not suffer from any memory effect.

Cell phones (telefone celular) came into existence because of the invention of hexagonal cells in 1947, for the base stations by Bell Labs engineers at AT&T. This was further developed during the 1960s by Bell Labs. During a call, the channel frequency could not be changed automatically from one cell (base station coverage area) to another cell (base station coverage area) as the person traveled from the area of one cell to the area of another cell. Amos Joel of Bell Labs invented a breakthrough invention and called it as the `call handoff` by which the channel frequency could be changed automatically from one cell to another cell, during the same call, as the mobile user traveled from one cell to another cell. Due to their heavy construction, these phones were used mainly in automobiles.

The first practical cell phone in a non-vehicle setting, and which could be handheld, was invented by Martin Cooper, the General Manager (Communications Division) of Motorola, who made the world`s first handheld cell phone (telefone celular) call on April 3, 1973.

The technology by which the cell phone (telefone celular) works depends on the mobile phone operator; however, all of them use electromagnetic radio waves, which are in touch with a cell site (base station). The base station is composed of several antennas which are mounted on a pole, tower, or building. Cell sites are spread at a distance of 5 to 8 miles (approx. 8 to 13 km) from each other. The low power transceiver from the cell phone transmits the voice and data to the nearest cell site. During movement, the cell phone will "handoff" the information to other cell site. Mobile phone operators use many technologies to maintain the smooth stream of digitized data from the cell phone to the cell site and vice versa.

The wireless telephone technologies are grouped under heads known as generations, starting from zero generation or 0G. The current generation going on is 4G; however, there are old cell phones (telefone celular) that still operate on 1G, 2G, and 3G technologies. The wireless telephone technologies used in each generation are as given below:

0G: PTT, MTS, IMTS, AMTS, OLT, MTD, Autotel/PALM, ARP

1G: NMT, AMPS/TACS/ETACS, Hicap, CDPD, Mobitex, DataTac

2G: GSM, iDEN, D-AMPS, IS-95/cdmaOne, PDC, CSD, PHS, GPRS, HSCSD, WiDEN, CDMA2000 1xRTT/IS-2000, EDGE (EGPRS)

3G: W-CDMA, UMTS (3GSM), FOMA, TD-CDMA/UMTS-TDD, 1xEV-DO/IS-856, TD-SCDMA, GAN (UMA), HSPA, HSDPA, HSUPA, HSPA+, HSOPA

4G : UMB, UMTS Revision 8 (LTE), WiMAX

Frequency bands: SMR, Cellular, PCS

The impact of cell phone (telefone celular) usage on human health has been of considerable worldwide concern. Research studies in Copenhagen, from the Danish Institute of Cancer Epidemiology, the National Cancer Institute, and the Institute of Cancer Research, do not establish any link between cancer and cell phone usage. However, an intergovernmental agency IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer) forming part of the World Health Organization of the United Nations, undertook a study of 4,500 users and found a statistically significant link between cell phone usage and tumor frequency. Further research is going on.

Cell phone (telefone celular) usage and driving is a common worldwide phenomenon. Some jurisdictions have banned usage of hand-held phones during driving, but allowed the hands-free fashion of cell phone usage while driving. However, studies have found out that the distraction is caused by the conversation itself; hence, both hand-held and hands-free cell phones contribute towards road traffic accidents. Further studies on cell phone usage and driving are going on.

Nokia Corporation is currently the world`s largest manufacturer of cell phones (telefone celular). Other notable cell phone manufacturers, in alphabetical order, are 3G, Audiovox (now UT Starcom), Benefon, BenQ-Siemens, Fujitsu, High Tech Computer Corporation (HTC), Kyocera, LG Mobile, Motorola, NEC, Panasonic (Matsushita Electric), Pantech Curitel, Philips, Research In Motion, Sagem, Samsung, Sanyo, Sharp, Siemens, Sierra Wireless, SK Teletech, Sony Ericsson, T&A Alcatel, Toshiba, and Verizon.

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Tips To Buy Good Quality Laptops

by Jessica Thomson

Number1 laptops is a popular business house dealing with the all types of laptops manufactured by the leading and renowned brands of the world like Acer laptops, Sony Laptops, Toshiba laptops, Fujitsu and Siemens laptops, HP laptops, Lenovo laptops, Dell laptops, Sharp Laptops, Compaq laptops and many other famous brands of the world. They claim to offer the cheapest prices compared to anyone in the market since they are the direct agent and distributer of many world known brands of laptops. Their prices and quality of any laptop is guaranteed in the entire market and they also provide an effective after sales services to the laptop of any brand and suitable accessories as well.

Their sales and marketing team is highly professional and well updated with the latest technological innovations ready to provide suitable solutions to any technical queries regarding the information technology. They also upgrade your existing laptop with the novel and quality accessories manufactured by the top brands in the world for the best workmanship so that you can use your laptop without any hassle. In the present world, laptop has become a significant device for everybody. People have started depending upon this mobile gadget either for business, study or get any other connectivity. It could perform as your mobile office. If connect properly, it can perform anywhere and does all your important tasks without any delay. There is lot of types of laptops now available in the wide local or international market suitable to every requirement in various sizes and budget.

It is always advised to buy a brand new laptop at a little higher value then to opt for a cheaper one as the new laptop bears the guarantee for a certain time period and if anything goes wrong during that period, the guarantee would help you for suitable replacement or free repairs where as the reconditioned or second hand laptop does not bear any type of guarantee and once it is out of order due to any technical error, it would be very difficult or expensive to get it repair and your work also would be interrupted.

Moreover, you must insist in buying the new laptop from the authorized dealer only so that in the case of problem, they would help you to repair or replace. You can also find the reliable laptop accessories from the appointed distributor so that you get the original spares that help to value your gadget while reselling it. If you are confused in buying the best or affordable laptop for your personal use, the expert team of professionals and technicians would assist you in suggesting which one would be the best suitable for your requirement.

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5 Tips For Buying An External Hard Drive

by Niall Roche

So you've finally decided to buy an external hard drive as a backup option for your computer. This is a great choice for you because you're making backing up your data faster and easier than you could ever have imagined. You're also making your data far more portable in larger quantities than before.

You'll no longer be limited to storing a few hundred megabytes or even several gigabytes. Nope. Now you can look forward to portable and reliable storage capacities ranging into terabytes. That frustrating desktop computer or network file server backup job just got a whole lot easier.
If you've never bought an external hard disk before then there's a few pointers here that may help to have on your shopping list before you go and make that final purchase.

1. Buy A Brand
Do yourself a huge favor and buy a brand name that you easily recognize. Sure these may cost a little more than brand x but with computer accessories like this you really do get what you pay for. If a Western Digital 100GB external drive costs $200 and another brand x 100GB drive costs $80 why do you think that is? Because the company likes you? Because they like making smaller profits? No it's because it's a cheaper drive made with inferior parts that's going to break a lot sooner than you might expect.

The other aspect of sticking with a brand is your warranty. For example Maxtor, Western Digital and Iomega are all reliable companies and well known for their external hard disks. If something goes wrong with your drive you can have it fixed. With brand x you'll probably not even be able to find an email address that you can contact the parent company on. Is saving a few dollars worth that risk?

2. Google It
Whatever brand or model you decide on make sure you do some research before purchasing. Always, always Google the exact brand and model of the drive you're considering buying. Look for reviews and especially any feedback on how reliable a drive is. You'll be very surprised to find that some companies have particularly bad reputations in terms of equipment reliability and what's known as the "click of death" in the external hard drive industry.

Spend time in Google checking out your prospective purchase. You'll be glad that you did.

3. Connectivity
When it comes to external hard drives you'll need to choose carefully when selecting your connection types. Your external hard drive will support either USB or Firewire. Firewire is the fastest option available at the moment but your computer may not support this. The vast majority of modern computers will, however, feature a USB port.

The next question now is what type of USB port do you have - USB 1.0 or 2.0? If your computer only has a USB 1.0 port then your external hard drive is going to transfer data VERY slowly. USB 2.0 is the minimum you should consider as connection options for both your computer and your external hard drive. If you don't have a USB 2.0 port (also called HiSpeed USB) on your computer you may need to get a USB 2.0 card fitted.

4. Speed
Now of course we need to talk about speed. The faster your hard drive operates the faster data will get transferred to your computer and vice versa. Without boggling you with comptuer jargon there's a couple of technical things you need to include on your shopping list.

Seek time - this needs to be 10ms (milliseconds) or less
Buffer size - more is better. Get a drive with at least a 4MB buffer.
RPM - higher is better. 5400rpm as a minimum. 7200rpm being preferred.
Stick to the above basic pointers and you'll do just fine.

5. Size
This is the simple part of the whole "buying an external hard drive" equation. Buy as much as you can afford. If you can afford 100GB then get it. However if you can afford 200GB then get it. Then again if you scraped together a few dollars more you could afford 300GB then do it.
This isn't a sales pitch. Far from it. There is simply no such thing as having too much data storage space. The 160GB drive that I have here was filled up in a little under a month. Currently a terabye option sounds good for my future needs.

Always add 50% to your data storage requirements. Honestly. You'll thanks yourself within the first 90 days of buying your external drive.


Hopefully now you'll be better prepared for purchasing your new external hard drive. It's one of the best purchases you'll ever make.

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