After twelve years of owning desktop computers, I finally opted for a laptop so I would no longer be chained to my desk. After months of research and weighing various makes and models, I settled on the Dell Inspiron 600m Notebook Computer. This particular model has exceeded all of my expectations and at a price that is hundreds of dollars lower than many competing brands.

For several months I agonized over my next computer purchase. I knew I needed to be more mobile and only a notebook computer would permit me to take my “show on the road.” Still, the decision making process was not easy as the number of different makes and models out there is mind boggling. Ultimately, I settled on a Dell in part because of previous good experience with the company as well as affordability of their product line.

The model I chose was the Inspiron 600m. As with almost everything that Dell builds, it is a “new” model; at least the 600m designation is. That is one of the confusing things about Dell and some other manufacturers: every month Dell introduces new models and you need a scorecard to compare one model with all the others. Fortunately, Dell’s website allows you to do just that.

Key features of the Inspiron 600m include:

Lightweight: Just over five pounds.

Mobile Centrino Technology is standard.

14.1 inch screen

Pentium M 725 Processor

24X CD Burner/DVD Combo Drive

256MB DDR SDRAM 1 Dimm Memory

Wireless Network Card

Extended Battery

Microsoft Windows XP Home Addition

WordPerfect Productivity Pack

I kept my computer fairly basic but I did opt for the latest version of Norton Security, a surge protected cable, a wirless router, and a wireless mouse. I selected the wireless mouse as I thought the keyboard’s mouse would be difficult to use. After two days I quit using the wireless mouse as I quickly got used to the built in one.

The screen is bright and the keyboard is solid. The mouse keys, however are noisy, almost clunky; you wonder if Dell could have used a quieter spring for each key.

The battery lasts at least four hours without recharging and when I do need to recharge I can go from nearly dead to fully charged in less than one hour.

For the price — I paid just over $1100. for everything including shipping and local taxes — the Dell cannot be beat. I haven’t had to call customer service yet, so I cannot comment on that although in years past your call would be routed to a technician in India. This model comes with a standard one year limited warranty; I avoided a later sales pitch over the phone to get a three year warranty. Their top of the line warranty sends a technician to your house to fix your computer, so it can be option for those of you who do not want to ship — and thereby lose the use of — your computer back to Dell for repairs.

You will find the Inspiron 600m to be adequate for standard business work. Check out their myriad of other models if you do plenty of graphic design or if you need a larger screen. I am happy with the 14.1 screen, but you may prefer their 17″ model.

Matt Keegan is The Article Writer who writes on a variety of topics including: aviation, business, customer service, health, marketing, product review, sales, technology, and more. Please visit http://www.thearticlewriter.com to review his portfolio online.

Computer memory, also known as RAM (random access memory) is the place in the computer where the operating system stores information about applications and data in current use so that they can be quickly reached by the computers processor.

RAM is much faster to read from and write to than the other kinds of storage in a computer, the hard disk, floppy disk, and CD-ROM. However, the data in RAM only stays there only as long as your computer is running. When you turn the computer off, RAM loses its data. When you turn your computer on again, your operating system and other files are once again loaded into RAM, usually from your hard disk. There is technology in the works to fix this problem, but that will take a while to reach the rest of us.

Computer memory can be compared to a persons short-term memory, and the hard disk to the long-term memory. The short-term memory focuses on work at hand, but can only keep so many facts in view at one time. Long term memory is much more abundant, and lasts much longer.

Computers work much like this as well, RAM takes care of the current workload, and the hard drive stores long term data. The faster these two can work, the faster your computer can calculate.

There are three types of computer memory.

Every year, before schools and college institutions begin their classes, students from around the country visit department stores and major electronics chains in an effort to get all those necessities that will allow them to complete successfully their studies. So, if you have recently been accepted to college and you are not exactly sure which your computing needs will be, buying a notebook computer is not a luxury purchase, but actually a necessity. In fact, anyone who has to cover frequent travel concerns, from college students to frequent business travelers, should possess a laptop, given the fact that it provides a mobile and light-weight computing experience for computer users around the world.

Recent research indicates that laptops are in fact used extensively as people need to own computer systems that are as mobile as they are. Buying an effective machine that can also be easy to carry around has increased considerably the laptop sales over the last decade, considering the lower manufacturer and assembly costs. Deals between hardware developers and software engineers have resulted in improved notebook systems that incorporate the ability of them being transferred easily from one place to another, as well as being able to compute much more than the main software functions, like reading and composing emails, operating spreadsheets, or using word processing applications. In fact, whether one needs to take work from one office location to another or do some work while onboard, today’s laptops can accomplish almost any task.

But if you are still contemplating on whether or not you actually do need a laptop to perform your computer-related college work, it is useful to consider the vast capabilities of these travel-ready devices as well as your current needs and ability to operate them. Owning a highly portable workstation can provide you with entertainment, productivity and ease of use. Forget about long messy cords and mouse pads. Easy to navigate by just using your fingers, today’s laptop models need no more than their rechargeable batteries or just an outlet to connect to their AC adapter and you are good to go.

Listening to music, playing games, watching videos, or writing a paper has never been easier. Laptop computers allow college students to manage their daily busy schedules instead of loosing time and effort. Some models offer screens that are only visible to the person that seats directly across them, eliminating the chances of one being able to visibly access your files and folders. Headphones and microphones, as used with desktop publishers are used to provide an efficient but considerate experience. Keep in mind that most of the available models come with software applications already in place making Internet browsing or working on a project a simple and easy process of starting up the machine. Finally, since laptop computers have become a mainstream device, many affordable models are offered in electronic superstores or are available to be ordered directly from the laptops manufacturers’ websites.

A sun powered battery charger is a convenient way of saving money while using natural resources. This transportable battery charger can go almost anywhere. They are easy to operate and do not require a technology degree to set up. Because the sun powers this type of charger, you will always have power available to use. Solar chargers are the wave of the future and they are quickly showing up in households across the world.

Sun power is one of the strongest free energy sources available today. By using a solar charger for your batteries and other electrical devices, you will eliminate the need for electricity. Solar power can be used to charge your batteries, but if you have a large amount of solar panels, you can also use solar energy to operate most any electrical device. Even on cloudy days, a solar battery charger will still be able to charge your batteries.

Portable solar chargers are smaller and do not offer as much power. They are most commonly used to charge battery packs and other small devices like cellular phones. A portable charger usually consists of one solar cell panel that you can connect to the equipment you want to use. It can take several hours for a portable solar charger to work. You may need to plan ahead and have batteries constantly charging, so they will be ready when you need them.

Many people today are afraid to try any new technology. As a society, we have already had to adjust to so many technological ideas that some people just do not want to have to learn about another gadget. However, solar chargers are easy to operate. You do not have to have specific technical skills to use a solar charger. Most portable chargers come ready to use and you simply have to plug them into your device or battery charger.

Because solar chargers are so easy to use, they are becoming more and more popular around the world. Backpackers are carrying them on long hiking trips. Car travelers are keeping portable chargers on their dashboards. There are even houses that are entirely run off of solar energy.

It can be intimidating to venture into a new technology like solar power. Once you buy your first charger, you will be hooked. Because they are so easy to use, many people end up buying several portable chargers to use with their battery chargers and other small electrical devices. Solar energy is a free source of power, which in today’s world of high electric prices, is just what many households are looking for.

Try out a portable solar charger for yourself. You will see that they are easy to use and very convenient. First, decide what you want to use your solar charger for, and then get a portable charger that will fit those needs. Having solar energy available is another gift that we should all take advantage of. It does not matter whether you decide to use a portable charger for charging your batteries. You can decide to connect your entire household to solar power. Using a renewable energy source such as the sun is a great start to being environmentally responsible.

All computers require memory to operate. The main computer memory is Random Access Memory, or RAM for short. It is called this because the data contained in it can be accessed in any, or random, order. It is produced on small circuit boards in the form of sticks, which are often referred to as sticks of memory. Information is stored in the memory as it awaits being processed by the central processing unit, or CPU. It is essential to have the right type and speed of memory to ensure your system is operating optimally.

The main type of memory used today in desktop computer systems is Synchronous Dynamic RAM (SDRAM). With in the past several years, Double Data Rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM, or simply DDR) has become the standard for most systems, with older memory now being referred to as Single Data Rate (SDR SDRAM). Occasionally, systems use Rambus Dynamic RAM (RDRAM) or DDR2 RAM, which are slightly different and are outside of the scope of this article.

SDRAM is different from other forms of asynchronous memory because it waits for each clock, or computing cycle, before it responds to inputs. These clocks happen very fast in computers (millions of times a second) but still the speed of the memory is ultimately limited by the computer bus. This is the wiring on the main- or motherboard in the system that connects all the components. The processor and memory can both handle high clock speeds, but if the speed of the system bus is low, they will be limited by the lowest speed. It is important that they all operate at similar speeds to operate most efficiently. For example, SDR SDRAM comes in PC66, PC100 and PC133; these numbers refer to the clock speed of the RAM in megahertz (a million cycles a second): 66 MHz, 100 MHz and so forth. If the system bus speed is rated at 100 MHz and the memory at 66 MHz, then the memory isn’t operating as quickly as it could and PC100 memory should be purchased. Of course, if PC133 were purchased for this same system, the extra 33 MHz would simply be wasted because the system bus can only handle 100 MHz.

Double Data Rate (DDR) memory is very similar to traditional SDRAM except it transfers data twice during each clock cycle. This doubles the transfer rate of the memory while the system bus stays the same. So a 100 MHz system bus that handles DDR memory can effectively use 200 MHz RAM. DDR comes in many speeds, each with two designations. On the box or somewhere in the specifications, the memory will be referred to as DDR-xxx, where the xxx is replaced by the effective clock speed of the memory, such as 200 as in the previous example. It will also list a PC-xxxx number, where xxxx represents the bandwidth of the entire stick of memory. This is not particularly important to understand for novices. The most common are: DDR-200/PC-1600, which operates at a clock speed of 100 MHz (effectively 200 MHz), DDR-266/PC-2100, which operates at 133 MHz (effectively 266 MHz), DDR-333/PC-2700, operating at 166 MHz (333 MHz) and DDR-400/PC-3200, which operates at 200 MHz (400 MHz).

It is very important to know which type (SDR or DDR SDRAM) and speed of memory your system uses and to always purchase this type when upgrading or replacing your memory. You can usually find this information in the manual or contact the manufacturer.

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Computer Memory

All capacitors have a certain amount of resistance to the passage of AC current. ESR (Equivalent Series Resistance) is the sum of all internal resistances of a capacitor measured in Ohms. An ideal capacitor has ZERO ohms ESR. From the diagram below you can see a resistor in series
with a “PERFECT CAPACITOR”. The value of the resistor is called ESR.
Electrolytic Capacitors have a tendency to increase its ESR overtime due to drying or corrosion. High ESR is a frequent problem in today’s electronic circuit. Even a 1 or 2 ohms rise in ESR can cause complicated problems. Under normal conditions the ESR has a very low value, which stays that way
for many years unless the rubber seal is defective, in which case the electrolyte’s water component gradually dries out and the ESR creeps up with time. The increase in ESR increases both voltage drops within the capacitor and the heat, produced in the capacitors due to resistive heating. If you don’t check for ESR, you may be in for a “TOUGH DOG” repair. High ESR is the first sign of a capacitor failure. High ESR will cause complete circuit failure, over heating of capacitor, loading
of the circuit, overstressing of other circuit components and other undesirable effects.

Why should I use an ESR?

Because measuring an electrolytic capacitor with an analog or digital capacitance meter can MISLEAD
a technician into believing that a defective capacitor is good. This can waste your precious time and
you are unable to repair the equipment. Which means you can’t charge your customer! If you don’t
test for ESR on the capacitor, you will always miss the bad capacitor. Normally, these bad capacitors
have high ESR reading which your normal multimeter or digital capacitance meter can’t measure.
Only by using the ESR meter, you will be able to measure the ESR on the capacitor and you will not
be fooled by capacitors with bad ESR. ESR meter can even work IN-CIRCUIT, which means you don’t
have to solder out the capacitor in order to measure it using normal capacitor tester, which would not
be accurate anyway.

Do you know that ESR meters can perform other wonders besides checking the ESR of a capacitor?
Some digital ESR meter have the features of checking:

ป Low ohms resistor such as 0.22 ohm, 0.33 ohm and etc.

ป Horizontal yoke coil winding of a picture tube, inductor and primary winding of a transformer – If a
shorted turn is present, the inductance drops dramatically and the meter will show the ohms reading.

ป Horizontal output transistor (HOT) in a monitor or TV – If an open-circuit reading is obtained, the
short-circuit is elsewhere. If the short-circuit remains, the transistor is faulty.

ป Short-circuit in the track, usually trace to the components - You can use the ESR meter to locate
short-circuits on printed circuit boards by measuring the actual track resistance. If the reading
increases as you probe further along the track, you know you’re going in the wrong direction!

ป Speakers, amplifier etc - The pulses have a fast rise/fall time, so it would probably make a crude
RF signal injector as well.

ป The condition of both the normal and rechargeable batteries – Flat and faulty battery will have high
ESR.

Jestine Yong is a electronic repairer and writer. For more information about electronic repair please visit his website at http://www.noahtec.com

If you’re a computer enthusiast who’s ready to mod your current computer with the latest and greatest computer hardware, or if you’re someone who just can’t stand the noise your computer is constantly making, you’re in luck. Below are the top five tips on building a quiet pc.

1.) Power Supply - This is the device that produces the power for your computer. Unfortunately, this is almost always the noisiest part your computer includes. It usually contains one or two fans which are used to cool the device down. Fortunately, with today’s technology, you can now buy power supplies which only use their fans when the temperature reaches a set point. This will both reduce noise, and save energy.

2.) Case Fans - The reasons for having case fans are obvious, to create proper airflow. Unfortunately, for some computers, they’re only there to create obnoxious noise. If your computer is mainly used for documents, internet, and e-mail, chances are you don’t need more than one case fan. A system used for the latest computer games on the other hand, will need proper airflow to bring internal temperatures down to a safe operating level.

3.) Disk Drives - If this is your noise issue, there isn’t too much you can do, except invest in a CD or DVD drive known for being a quieter model, or insert acoustic padding around them. If you’re having issues with floppy drive noises, I’ll just tell you now, you’re way behind in technology. A memory card reader is far faster, and is completely silent.

4.) Hard Drives - Hard drive noises are often difficult to suppress as well. The common hard drive noises are heard when the device is in use, opening a program, installing software, etc. Often the noises are the vibrations between your hard drive, and your hard drives mount. Cushioning your device with padding like silica gel can often reduce some of the noise. If you’re hard drive is making unusual and highly noticeable noises while not in use, there’s a chance it could be failing. Please consult a service technician if this is the case.

5.) Computer Case - This is often forgotten about. There are many types of cases engineered in all sorts of ways. You can even purchase a case with sound padding materials included in it. Consider the material of the case itself. An aluminum case can by flimsy, and can increase noise levels from its vibrations. A steel case however, is more solid, and is less prone to creating vibrations. The down side of a steel case would be its weight. Whichever case you decide to use, adding acoustic sound padding, silica gel, and foam blocks, will significantly reduce vibrations.

Building a quiet pc isn’t for everyone. If you own a brand name computer, you’ll likely have a hard time following the tips shown above. Modifications to a brand name computer could potentially void a warranty. I would suggest researching this first before using my tips. You must also remember that your computer must run at safe operating temperature to avoid any device malfunctions, or even failure. Testing and research is always recommended.

This article has been provided courtesy of http://www.build-quiet-pc.com. You have our authorization to reprint this item anywhere on the internet, or even in your ezine or newsletter. If you decide to reprint this article, make sure the author information and this courtesy notice is included.

LCD monitors are not the same size as CRT monitors. LCD monitors are actually larger for the same sized CRT monitor! Monitor measurements are measured diagonally. Since the advent of the television, this has been the industry standard for screen measurements. When computer monitors hit the scene, the measurement became the diagonal measurement of the tube itself, not the actual viewable screen. When you look at your monitor, there is a plastic box that houses your CRT tube and other components, but when you look at the front of your monitor, there is probably an inch or more of framework around your picture tube. This hides the rest of the CRT tube that is enclosed within the box.

Now take a ruler or tape measure, and measure the actual image you are viewing, measure diagonally, and you will see that the actual measurement is smaller than the monitors claimed size. For example, my 19 inch CRT monitor, measuring the actual image from the bottom left hand corner of the picture to the upper right hand corner is actually 17.25 inches, or in other words, only .25 inches larger than 17 inches, if the monitor measurement were the actual viewing screen this 19 inch monitor would only qualify as a 17 inch LCD monitor. This is where the LCD measurement comes in.

LCD monitors are measured by actual viewable area of the screen. They do not have a large rounded out tube beyond the screen, it is a flat panel of Liquid Crystals behind which are a series of tube lights that shine through the color crystals to illuminate your display. A 17 inch LCD monitor is 17 inches diagonally, a 19 inch monitor is 19 inches diagonal or about 1.75 inches larger than my example of the CRT tube.

Another little known glich in monitor measurements is how the diagonal measurement of a widescreen monitor reduces the overall height of the monitor which in turn reduces the actual size of a standard 4:3 to a smaller size. Example: If you purchase a 32 inch widescreen TV and watch a standard broadcast movie in it’s original format, you in essence are watching a 26 inch television. A more in depth look at how this measurement effects the full screen format, please read my Widescreen article.

Science-Fiction meets reality with this new video display technology.

The Heliodisplay includes patented and patent pending technology to transform normal ambient air and display video images into free-space. Some Heliodisplay models are interactive allowing a finger or hand to move images around in the air as if one were grabbing a tangible object.

The Heliodisplay requires a power outlet, and a computer, TV, DVD or alternate video source. The current version of the Heliodisplay projects a 22′ to 42′ (depending on model) diagonal image that floats above the device.

The Heliodisplay system is backward compatible and accepts most 2D video sources (PC,TV, DVD, HDTV, Video game consoles). For connection to a computer, the Heliodisplay uses a standard monitor VGA connection; for TV or DVD viewing, it connects using a standard RGB video cable.

Interest in this new technology has been so strong, that curious visitors have crashed IO2Technology’s website.

Obvious Applications :

Less Obvious Examples:

While the new video capability will doubtless usher in a new era in computing and home entertainment, I wouldn’t rush out and buy one just yet. That is, unless of course you have a burning desire to part with some extra cash in hurry.

I haven’t seen the system in person, so I can’t say for sure, but the old computer axiom of “Never buy version 1.0 of anything.” probably applies here.

Odds are that the price is out of line for most people. Also, all the kinks in the system are most likely not perfected yet.

I get this impression because IO2Technology is taking only limited numbers of orders right now. This tells me that the company has limited production capacity and is not fully prepared for demand. They probably haven’t sold enough units yet, to account for all possible system configurations and usage scenarios. So for now, I’d steer clear of buying one for home or small business.

Still, the announcement is impressive because it is bound to create another era of “Star Trek” type innovations and change some of the ways that we react with our computers and televisions.

Visit The Heliodisplay Website

Discuss The Heliodisplay On The PDA and Mobile Today Forum

Steve Bralovich runs a Pocket PC and Smartphone development company. Visit the weblog at: http://pdatoday.blogspot.com for lots of information on Computers, PDAs, Notebooks and SmartPhones.

There are many components that make a computer run, but the hard drive is of course one of the most important. If the hard drive fails, the computer will quickly become unusable, so it is important to choose this vital component with care, and to shop around for it carefully.

Of course the computer will come with a hard drive already installed, but in many cases the size of this drive will not be sufficient. As more and more of us download music, movies and photographs to our personal computers, the need for storage space has increased exponentially, creating a need for bigger and bigger hard drives.

Fortunately, as the need for storage space has increased, the price of that storage space has been steadily decreasing. When personal computers first hit the market, the cost of storage space was one of the biggest stumbling blocks, and in many cases it simply was not possible to build an affordable machine that would also be able to store large amounts of information.

As technology has increased, however, the prices of this storage have dropped dramatically, and many of those thumb drives we carry around these days have a greater storage capacity than some of the earliest hard drives. What this means to you as a hard drive shopper is that you should always buy the largest hard drive you can afford. No computer owner has ever regretted having too much storage space, but many of them have regretted not having enough.

The speed of the hard drive is another important consideration, and it is a good idea to look for the fastest hard drive you can find. The speed of the hard drive will be expressed as an average seek time reading, and this reading will be expressed in milliseconds. The lower that seek time number, the faster the hard drive will run, and it will likely be more efficient as well.

The brand name of hard drive is important as well, and many computer users have their own favorite brand of drive. It is a good idea to purchase hard drives only from established and reputable companies, since off brand drives may not be manufactured to the high quality standards of the largest manufacturers. Seagate and Western Digital are two of the largest drive manufacturers, but there are a number of other excellent brands as well.

No matter what type of drive you purchase, or where you buy it, it is important to implement some type of backup program for the valuable data the hard drive will soon hold. The backup device can be anything from a simple CD burner, to a DVD burner or even an external hard drive. The key is to backup your most important files on a regular basis in order to protect yourself from the failure of the drive or other computer components. The hard drive is the lifeblood of the personal computer, and it is important to protect it, and to back up your valuable files.