For digital video editing or management of huge databases, one will need a Power desktop. For gaming purposes, such desktop must be chosen that has nice graphics. Manufacture of gaming PCs has acquired the status of an industry these days; this is why there are nice gaming desktops available in the market in much lesser price than the top brands. Also, many dealers will allow one to upgrade the desktop with almost whatever feature one wants. One can pick a greater hard drive for more storage availability, choose a larger memory size e.g. 3 or 4 GB of RAM, selecting an optical drive that suits the needs best, etc.

Larger HDD and speedier processor are not the only factors that determine the quality of a desktop. There are certain other features that establish how functional a desktop is. Let us have a look at those factors:

1. Usual office chores and internet browsing is what almost every desktop is good at. But if more power is required, one must go for Intel Core 2 Duo processor instead of an AMD Athlon 64 X2 chip. Intel is a better competitor despite the fact that both chips are dual core, thus offering multitasking. If the requirement further touches power PC or gaming processor limit, then choices such as dual-core 2.93-GHz Core 2 Extreme X6800 or quad-core 3-GHz Intel Core 2 Extreme Processor QX6850.

2. RAM determines how smoothly your PC can run while running multiple applications. Greater amount of memory makes your PC speedier, and its working smoother. Consider at least 2 GB RAM for nice performance.

3. A fresher motherboard will do a lot good to your PC. You will experience a new performance level with a nice new motherboard. Make sure you check the important and required ports and sockets.

4. Casing must simplify your tasks as well as give the desktop a little portability. One must leave room for expansion in future.

5. Give a good though to what kind of graphics do you need in your PC? Can you do well with a removable expansion board or do you need an integrated card?

6. Hard drive is another important factor. A little time ago, 60 and 80 GB hard drives were considered enough; but these days 200 – 500 GB is common. This depends solely upon the needs and requirements of user. Terabyte is a new comer in this field, but will cost you much.

7. Other important factors to be noticed include optical drive, communications, sound, keyboard, mouse, OS etc.

Some Tips:

• Check out the warranty time period.
• An OS, Antivirus software and an Office suite is necessary to purchase. Other software must not be purchased unless one requires.
• Go for the desktop with front USB ports for handy connectivity.

This was a short account for important factors to keep in mind before and while buying a desktop PC. It depends upon your needs and requirements; analyze your wants and go for the one that suits you best.

Source: pcworld

There are few things which must be kept in consideration if you are going to buy a digital camcorder soon. You might not be familiar with most of the terminologies and the main technologies used therein, thus you must get know-how about this kind of consumer goods before spending your hard earned money on one. Today, I shall provide you with some very valuable tips regarding digital camcorders that will help you a lot while buying one for you.

Formats:

There are different kinds of storage which modern camcorders use. You should decide whether you want one based on tape, mini-DVD, hard drive, flash storage, or SD/SDHC card. Each of these has its own pros and cons.

• Tape Camcorders:

This kind of camcorder is cheaper than the others, yet it offers the best video quality till date. It is easy to transfer data to PCs. Drawbacks include need of a proper place to store these tapes, costly repeated buying, and that the tapes degrade with the passage of time.

• Mini DVD:

These camcorders are larger than all the other kinds. The mini DVDs are hard to find and expensive, though. Result is not as good as Tape camcorders. You can take it out of the camcorder and put it in a DVD player immediately.

• Hard Drive and Flash Drive:

The benefit of such camcorders is that you do not have to buy new tapes or DVDs repeatedly; instead you can constantly offload the data into your PC. This kind is the future of digital camcorders. You can access the data randomly, unlike tapes.

• SD/SDHC Card:

These are quite popular camcorders as the memory card readers can be found in most of the laptops, recent desktops, and HDTVs too. Vendors have begun offering SD/SDHC card slot as an optional storage in tape, mini DVD, hard drive and flash drive based camcorders.

High Definition or Standard Definition?

It is completely your own choice whether you would like to have a high definition recorder or a standard definition recorder. Regardless of the stunning video quality, important to note are the serious limitations attached to high definition videos.

• High definition camcorders are pricey.
• Not all video editing software allows editing HD recording.
• Few of them use AVCHD (Advanced Video Codec High Definition) compression, which requires higher-end editing suites.
• Computers take more time to render HDV or AVCHD files than standard-definition, DV-format files.

Buying tips:

• Screen must be wide to give you better view of what you are about to shoot, and greater playback experience.
• Consider camcorders with both an LCD and a viewfinder; the latter to use in emergency situations.
• Go for the Optical zoom than the digital one.
• A 10x optical zoom is quite adequate.
• Go for the Optical Image Stabilization than the electronic one.
• Specially note the battery life.
• Opt for those camcorders that have the microphone situated on the front side.
• The camcorder should be one that allows still photography.
• The bigger the camcorder, the easier to handle the controls.
• Watch out for the low light modes.
• Do not choose a heavy one.
• The camcorder you are going to buy must be equipped with great deal of connectivity ports.
• Check out the LCD in daylight.
• External microphone would work well for better sound.

Now, when you are well informed with the Dos and Don’ts about buying a camcorder; you should be pretty confident while going to the camera store, and picking the one that suits you best in the price range you need. Remember: you cannot find perfection, but can get something at least close to it.

Specs:

7.2” x 7.1” x 1.2”
1.1 lbs
System requirements: RAM 256 MB
EPA Energy Star Compliant

1 year limited warranty

Features:

It is available in three versions, currently; with 250 GB FreeAgent Go storage drive, with 500 GB FreeAgent Go storage drive, and the third model is cheaper as it comes without a FreeAgent Go storage drive. It has an integrated slot. The media files will be dragged onto the FreeAgent Go storage drive by connecting it to the computer or laptop. The included software has a user friendly interface, and helps transfer process. Once it is done, slide the FreeAgent Go storage drive in to the integrated slot, and enjoy your media files on the big screen.

The media player allows users to attach their digital cameras to it via the USB port, and watch their photos and videos (with some reservations) directly on their TV. The content stored on the hard drive or other attached devices will be shown up in an onscreen menu system or GUI (graphical user interface), which is very user friendly. It shows the preview of selected file on the right side of the screen. It will take a little long to load all the media content, though, but it isn’t enough delay to frustrate you.

As far as connecting the media player to your TV is concerned, there are few options. For HD-resolution video of 720p or 1080i, the user will have to use the component video connection. Then, there are options for an S-video hookup, or one can use the included composite AV cables that are also used to pass analog stereo audio. A coaxial connection onboard allows running Dolby Digital surround sound, for digital audio. A small remote control is also present.

Supported File Formats:

Video:

MPEG-1, MPEG-2 (AVI/VOB/ISO/MKV), MPEG-4 (AVI/DivX/Xvid)

Photo:

JPEG files up to 20 megapixels

Audio:

MP3, WMA, OGG, AC3 (Dolby Digital), WAV, WMA, M3U

Product’s Unique Selling Points:

Integrated slot for FreeAgent Go storage drive
Compact modish design
Up to two mass USB storage devices, including a camera, can be attached at one time

720p/1080i HD output

Limitations:

Can’t play back as many file types as competing products

No HDMI output

Final Words:

It has a user friendly nice interface, and displays solid photos, though it doesn’t support many file formats, which is a drawback. Overall, it is a fine gadget for playing your media files on TV.

]]> http://www.productusp.com/seagate-freeagent-theater-hd-media-player-solution.html/feed 0 http://www.productusp.com/asus-eee-pc-1000he-with-95-hours-of-battery.html http://www.productusp.com/asus-eee-pc-1000he-with-95-hours-of-battery.html#comments Wed, 25 Mar 2009 09:19:45 +0000 Anees http://www.productusp.com/?p=2629 Asus has grown pretty speedily over the past decade. Eee PC brand has played the role of a catalyst in its growth. Asus, Europe’s 3rd biggest notebook brand after HP and Acer, has introduced a new Eee PC model 1000 HE recently. This new Eee Pc boasts a 9.5 hours battery, which is expected to be cherished globally.

Specs:

This net book has following specifications:

• Dimensions: 266 x 28.5 – 38 x 191.2

• Weight: 1.45 kg

• Display Resolution: 1024 x 600

• Processor: Intel Atom N270 / N280

• Ram type: DDR2

• HDD Capacity: 160 GB (10 GB Eee PC Storage )

• Operating System: Windows XP Home

• Installed Ram: 1 GB

• Connectivity: Analogue Input, Headphone Output, RJ-45, USB 2.0, VGA Output, Bluetooth

• Installed Graphics Type: Onboard Graphics

• Number of USB Ports: 3

• Speaker Details: Stereo speaker / Digital Array Mic

• Built in devices: 1.3 Mega Pixel camera / Memory card reader ( MMC / SD / SDHC )

Features:

This is an ultra portable net book with weight as light as 1.45 kg. Such a light weight allows the user to travel with it anywhere without much trouble. The user will not face any problem while journey due to its small size. With 1024×600 native resolution display screen, picture quality is quite good.

There is Intel Atom N270 / N280 inside this net book and the working is quite reasonable. Storage capacity is good enough for a small sized ultra portable with 160 GB of hard drive. Windows XP runs as the operating system for this net book, as Vista is too heavy for these petite ultra portable computers. This one is quite affordable with price range around £300.

The keyboard looks a lot like MacBook’s Keyboard. Keys are nicely placed at a distance from each other so as to prevent typing mistakes as happens in most of the smaller portables, and they lie flat with the base. It is almost 92 % of a standard keyboard.

Battery Life:

Asus claims that this net book has a longer battery life per charge i.e. 9.5 hours. This is indeed a long time compared to other net books. This computer comes with a sticker that says, “All Day Computing.”  If it really works for such a long time, it would be a perfect machine to accompany everyone to the 9-5 job.

Product’s Unique Selling Points:

A longer battery life i.e. 9.5 hours per charge
A large keyboard with nicely spaced and easy to use keys
Bright display screen
Web cam, memory card reader and 3 USB ports

Costs around £300

Limitations:

As is swanked, battery doesn’t long “all day” at all

Build is not very fine

Final Words:

A net book with 9.5 hours battery is rare to find. If long working hours are your concern, this net book will surely attend to your needs.

It is a pretty bulky computer packed with a great deal of functional features. It has an Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 processor (2, 8 GHz, 3 MB L2 Cache, 1066 MHz FSB), NVIDIA GeForce GT140 DirectX 10 graphics card, 4GB of DDR2 memory, Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium 32 bit with new Media Centre GUI, and a huge storage with 1 terabyte (1000GB) hard drive. This is enough to store almost anything in your desk top.

It has a Multiformat Burner that supports all current DVD/CD standards, including dual layer DVD-R and DVD+R. with the 8-channel high-definition audio, one can experience lively and powerful 8-channel surround sound from all sides. Also, it has the latest wireless LAN 802.11n draft technology for wireless internet connectivity.

A number of software is also included, like Works 9.0, Microsoft Office Home and Student Edition 2007 (trial version), Corel Draw Essentials 3, Nero Burning ROM 8 Essentials, Nero Recode 3 SE Essentials, Nero Express 8 Essentials, Nero Vision 5 Essentials, Corel MediaOne, and BullGuard Internet Security package etc.

For £489.99, you will get all essentials of a top-notch computer. This is a must have for those who are still into desktops.

Specifications:

First of all, let’s talk about the key feature of MacBook Pro 17”; the strong and long lasting battery life. It is a uniquely designed built-in battery which can last up to 8 hours after being fully charged once. This battery can be charged for 1000 times, which makes its life almost 5 years, much longer than any other notebook of present era.

This laptop has been created from a single mass of aluminum. This uni-body structure has not only helped making it the thinnest 17” laptop (0.98 inches), but has strengthened it, too. Sturdiness allows user to use it fearlessly on rough routes. It is also world’s lightest 17” laptop with merely 6.6 pounds. Thus, it is looks plus strength.

Apple claims that this is “the most powerful Mac notebook yet.” With Intel Core 2 Duo Processor running at 2.3 GHz, 45-nm process technology, advanced Core micro architecture, 1066 MHz front side bus and 6MB of shared L2 cache; this claim doesn’t appear baseless.

MacBook Pro comes with 320 GB Hard Drive, and offers an elective 128 or 256 GB solid state drive. Thus, there is a lot of room for important files, projects, photos, software, songs, movies, books and much more.

This Wi-Fi and Bluetooth enabled notebook gives instant access to internet everywhere. It has the latest 802.11n wireless technology, and the laptop automatically detects the wireless networks available around the user. Express Card/34 slot and 3G wireless card fill up the lacuna wherever there is no Wi-Fi network accessible. Therefore, one doesn’t miss important emails, or get disconnected from loved ones.

Here comes the key-section! The keyboard has been carved in that same single aluminum block, and the keys are nicely spaced, keeping in consideration the importance of error-free typing. It is an illuminated keyboard which enables the user to work in dim-lit areas such as airplanes, meeting halls, conference rooms etc.

Whole touchpad is a single glass button, giving an extra-wide space for the fingers to play. Configure an area and make it right-click button.

The LED-backlit 17” display has 1920×1200 pixels resolution, providing a blissful experience while viewing photos, watching videos or just looking at the background wallpaper. Black is blacker, and white is brighter with this notebook. With NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics processor, gaming is a whole new experience.

Pros:

1. Sturdy body
2. Most powerful Mac Notebook yet
3. Amazing battery power
4. Brilliant graphics
5. Brighter and clearer display
6. Longer battery life

Cons:

• No Blu-Ray option included
• An expensive laptop

Though a bit burden-on-the-pocket, this amazingly functional laptop is worth the price.

Exterior is of brushed silver aluminum, and is a scratch resistant sturdy surface, enabling it to stand up against the rigorous handling during a journey. It comes with a 1.6GHz Intel Atom Processor N270, a 1/2GB of RAM, and a 160 GB hard drive.

The 2140 has 10.1 inch diagonal HP Illumi-Lite LED SD, Mobile Intel GMA 950 for graphics, and an integrated VGA camera.

Regarding ports, the new Mini 2140 has 2 USB 2.0 ports, 1 microphone in, 1 headphone lineout, 1 external VGA monitor, 1 RJ-45 and 1 AC power ports. Also, it has a full Express Card/54 slot.

It is equipped with Stereo speakers, integrated stereo microphones, stereo headphone/ lineout, stereo microphone in and high definition audio.

The minimum weight of this net book is 2.6lb, and its dimensions are 10.3 x 6.5 x 1.05 inches. Marvell Ethernet Integrated Controller is the network interface used in 2140. Also, the gadget has HP Integrated Module with Bluetooth 2.0 Wireless technology.

With the typical HP wider and bigger keyboard and a broader touchpad, HP Mini 2140 has caught attention in the industry. The beautifully constructed easy to use keyboards have always been a hallmark of HP notebooks, though there have been reservations regarding the new shape of touch pad.

Security Management comes in an improved manner in this net book. It has a Configuration Control Hardware, Memory change alert, Ownership tag, Setup password, Power-on password and a Kensington lock slot.

Two kinds of battery are available; 3-cell and 6-cell. With hard drive, battery is up to 4 hours with 3-cell, and 8.5 hours with 6-cell. With SSD, battery can keep up to 5 hours with 3-cell, and 10 hours with 6-cell.

HP Services include a one-year standard parts and labor warranty, pick-up or carry-in, and toll-free 7×24 hardware technical phone support. On-site service and warranty upgrades are also available.

This nice Mini 2140 Net book is available for $499; not a very huge amount to be spent on such a fine thing. According to HP, this net book is partially aimed at the education market, though the design appeals to business travelers, too. Making the net book more durable are its metal alloy hinges complete with hardened steel pin axles; HP claims this build can tolerate closing and opening of the lid ten times a day for six years.

In a staggering move, the Scotts Valley based tech firm announced that William Watkins, who had been serving as chief executive since 04, and Dave Wickersham, who was the chief operating officer and president of the company, would leave the company immediately.

Seagate also said that the company is planning for cutting its 8000 US based jobs. Currently, more than 53,000 employees are working for Seagate worldwide.

Stephen Luczo, who has been serving as the company’s CEO from 1998-04, says that soon there will be a familiar face to fill the vacant CEO slot.

Robert Whitmore, who is chief technology officer and vice president of the company, is being named for taking Wickersham’s office.

Seagate is quite well-known as the world’s biggest computer hard drive maker and has the 30% share of the worldwide hard disk drive market. But just like many other big players of the tech industry, economic slowdown has also affected Seagate business badly. Similarly, oversupply is another factor that has proved quite damaging for Seagate as well as other disk makers of the tech industry. Seagate will report its full quarterly results on 21st Jan.