Thursday, September 6, 2007
It used to be that to get all the computing power you needed, you needed a desktop. But would you be surprised to know that today, a notebook computer is not only as powerful but is even more useful?
And with the many technology advances we've seen in recent months, notebooks are now very affordable.
So as you look at that big clunker taking up all the desk space, why not consider a notebook computer?
All the big manufacturers make them: Dell, Gateway, Toshiba, HP, Sony, Lenovo, Compaq and, of course, Apple computer with its like of MacBook and MacBook pro computers.
First, though, just what is a notebook computer?
A lot of people - even come computer manufacturers - use the words laptop and notebook interchangably. If you do, that's okay. But the terms are really different. While both are portable computers meant to be carried from place to place, a notebook is generally smaller than a laptop. It gets the term from a sheet of note paper.
And that's a pretty good rule of thumb to use in defining it. A notebook is about the size of a sheet of 9-by-11-inch note paper and generally about an inch-and-a-half thick and less five pounds in weight. Anything bigger than that can reliably be called a laptop. Other than size, there are no other significant differences between a laptop and notebook so if you want to use the same term for both, no one is going to quibble.
There are two classes of notebooks. Notebooks with 12 or 14 inch screens are standard-sized. Smaller notebooks - those with 9 and 10 inch screens and weighing around two pounds - are called ultraportables. Ultraportable notebooks usually have smaller keyboards, don't have built-in CD or DVD drives and hard drives that typically have 20 to 40 MB capacities
Technology has made notebooks smaller, more powerful and much more affordable today than even a year ago. You can expect to fiind a solid, reliable notebook for well under $1,000, with fully-featured powerhorse models listing out at a tad over $2,000.
Notebooks can easily be used as replacements for desktop computers. Many fit into docking stations that hook them up to larger screens, power supplies and bigger keyboards and mice. A docking station at home or in the office is a great convenience.
But so is a notebook. That's why for many, it's their main computer. Taken from home to office to school, on business trips and vacations and - with wi-fi Internet connectivity or PC card modems that patch into the cellular phone network - notebooks provide always-available computing and Internet access. All your files, all your programs, are always with you.
As you can see, notebook computers make a lot of sense as replacements for desktop PCs. So start shopping. Once you have one, you'll be glad you did and wonder how you got along with one for so long.
The author is publisher of NotebookScoop.com (http://notebookscoop.com) a site devoted to notebook computers, and YourInfoConnection.com (http://yourinfoconnection.com), which is an online resource for facts and shopping advice.
The author publishes www.notebookscoop.com, a resource site dealing with notebook computers, and Tech Tips Today (http://techtipstoday.com), a tech tips blog.
Why Use OEM Maintenance Kits?
An OEM maintenance kit is a preventative medicine for your laser printer. Through extensive testing, HP engineers have identified laser printer parts that experience similar wear patterns over time. These parts -- used by HP service personnel to repair printers like yours -- are the same parts contained in your maintenance kit.
OEM maintenance kits are the most convenient and economical way to maintain and repair your HP LaserJet line of printers. Each OEM kit contains the parts most commonly used to repair and rebuild HP LaserJet printers at considerable savings off their individual purchase price. Regardless of the size of your business, regular use of OEM Printer Maintenance Kits for HP printers helps to maximize laser printer performance and eliminate repeat service calls.
It is essential to know why you should use the HP OEM Maintenance Kits. Although not required, regular insertion of an OEM maintenance kit in your HP printer helps you eliminate repeat service calls and maximize the paper feed and print quality performance of your laser printer. In addition, maintenance kits are priced substantially lower than if you were to purchase these same parts individually.
What are OEM LaserJet maintenance kits?
OEM LaserJet Maintenance Kits contain the parts most commonly used to repair and rebuild HP LaserJet printers, at a considerable savings from the cost of the individual parts. A typical laser printer maintenance kit contains paper pickup rollers, paper feed/separation rollers, a transfer roller, and the fuser assembly.
The fuser assembly uses heat and pressure to fuse or melt the toner into the paper. Due to the heat and pressure this assembly is subject to mechanical wear. The heating element is also subject to electrical failure.
The Transfer Roller is the black/gray sponge like roller, which runs the width of the paper path and is positioned just below the toner cartridge. During the printing process, this roller is electrically charged and as the paper passes between this roller and the drum in the toner cartridge, the toner from the drum is transferred to the paper. It is subject to mechanical wear and degradation of its ability to hold a uniform charge. It also accumulates paper dust.
The Paper Pickup or feed/separation roller is used to pickup and feed the paper and is subject to mechanical wear and oxidation. The rubber compound used to manufacture these critical parts is important and you can use original equipment parts here since the manufacturer has invested heavily in determining the best material to use.
How & when to install a new OEM maintenance kit?
The recommended replacement interval varies depending on the printer. Usually, you should install a new OEM maintenance kit every 25,000 to 350,000 pages. On some machines, a message appears on the display to indicate that maintenance is required. You can continue to use the printer, but for optimum performance it is recommended that the maintenance kit be installed. Once the maintenance kit is installed you can reset the display message with the instructions included. The OEM parts included in these kits have varying estimated service lives -- depending on the kit. These estimates may vary, however, depending upon such things as printer user maintenance, printer application, operating environment, and the print media used. Any printer servicing should include inspection of the components.
Computers..How to tell if your getting a rabbit not a turtle
Normally you go to your local computer retailer to buy a new computer. The salesman may boast looky here this one has a such & such speed, this much memory, a huge hard drive, etc. You read the box and sure enough it seems like a powerhouse. But is it?
What the salesman or the box for that matter, fail to tell you is all computers run on whats called Front Side Bus (FSB). In a nutshell its how fast each component can communicate with each other. FSB's
can be anywhere from 100MHz to 2000MHz.(even 33MHz or 66MHz on very old systems) Its like trying to fill a swimming pool with 1 garden hose as compared to trying it with a few fire trucks with fire hoses. Hence the higher the FSB the faster all of your data tranfers to all the hardware components. For instance the CPU, Motherboard, Memory(ram), Graphics card, Hard drive etc. all are made with different speeds and have a different speed FSB.
Here is an example of various CPU's
SPEED - INTERFACE - FRONT SIDE BUS SPEED - PRICE
64 3200+ / 2.00GHz Socket AM2 2000MHz $84.99
64 3500+ / 2.20GHz Socket AM2 2000MHz $94.99
64 3800+ / 2.40GHz Socket AM2 2000MHz $114.99
64 3800+ / 2.40GHz Socket AM2 2000MHz $116.99
SP 2800+ / 1.60GHz Socket AM2 800MHz $55.97
SP 3200+ / 1.80GHz Socket AM2 1600MHz $69.99
SP 3400+ / 1.8GHz Socket AM2 1600MHz $75.99
SP 3600+ / 2.0GHz Socket AM2 1600MHz $107.99
355 / 3.33GHz Socket 775 533MHz $69.99
351 / 3.20GHz Socket 775 533MHz $39.99*
As you can see in this example The first cpu on the list(64 3200+) runs at 2 Gigs and has a FSB of 2000MHz. The last cpu on the list(351) is a 3.2 Gig and runs on a FSB of 533. In fact i have seen low end computer makers boast of a computer with a fast cpu but with further examination the motherboard could only run a FSB of 100. The end result is a bottle-necked system. The Cpu does a fast job every few milliseconds only to wait on the data to travel to the other components at turtle speed. You want a system that basically runs at the same or near the same FSB speeds on all the components. That goes for the CPU, Motherboard, Memory and somewhat the Hard Drive.
In the fowolling example i will show the differences in the speed of various Hard Drives.(NOTE by no means am i trying to refer one hard drive manufactorer over the other. I picked these at random. These manufactorers make various hard drives with varying capacities and speeds!)
1.Seagate / 20GB / 5400 / 2MB / ATA-100 / IDE / OEM / Hard Drive
2.Seagate / Barracuda 7200.10 / 400GB / 7200 / 16MB / ATA-100 / EIDE / OEM / Hard Drive
3.Hitachi / Deskstar 7K160 / 80GB / 7200 / 2MB / ATA-133 / EIDE / OEM / Hard Drive
1. The seagate in this example holds 20 gigs of data/ spins at 5400rpm/(ATA-100) has a FSB of 100.
2. The seagate barracuda in this example holds 400gigs of data/spins at 7200rpm wich is 33% faster than 5400. So it delivers data to the mainstream 33% faster and boots up 33% faster. But it only has a FSB of 100.
3. The hitachi in this example holds 80gigs of data/spins at 7200rpm and has a FSB of 133 wich is by far the quickest of the three. So you can see from this example its not the size(gigs) of the drive but the spindle speed and FSB that make it fast.You can even get a SATA Hard Drive wich deliver data even quicker.
I could go on and on with various examples with other computer components but by now you should be getting a good idea by now. Of why some computers give blazing speed while others crawl along showing the hourglass as you wait.
But how do you get this information you ask? Its easy, buy your next system online. At TigerDirect You can purchase a Deeply discounted hi-quality system. Whereas you can check on the speed of each component to be sure you are truly getting a rabbit and not a turtle!
Personally i repair, build and upgrade computers, After years of looking for the best sources of parts, I chose Tigerdirect. Just compare the quality and prices with any other store or site and im sure that you will agree that Tigerdirect is the best.
The author(webmaster)operates an article directory http://www.articles-and.bestfinancenews.com/index ... A informative Hybrid Cars site. http://www.activehybrid.com And proudly refers TigerDirect http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=TsLMFyxXF2o&offerid=102327&type=3&subid=0 For hi-quality, lowest cost computer systems and accesories.
