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Laser printers offer great speed and reliability for demanding business and home users. At their best when put to work in a network setting, laser printers allow multiple users to take advantage of the high speeds and duplexing capabilities of the printer. 
But how to weigh those advantages? Weve got some tips on shopping for a laser printer if youre in the market for one this holiday season. And weve got a trio of recommendations for models that passed muster in our tests. 

Laser printer buying advice

Consider the cost Most quality laser printers run in the range of US$400 to $600 and are on the heavy side (around 50 pounds). They are a bigger investment than standard printers and require more room to operate. Most come with longer warranties than typical inkjet printers, however. 
Two sides are better than one Printers that offer duplexing can print on both sides of the page–a useful feature for users who want to maximize speed and efficiency. And printing on both sides of a page ultimately saves you money on paper. 

On a related note, laser printers cost less per page to print than their inkjet counterparts; theyre also more environmentally friendly. 
What to look for When judging a laser printer, there are two key factors you should focus on–speed and text quality. Macworld Lab includes both time trials and jury ratings in our laser printer reviews–make sure to look at both when deciding which model to buy. 
A quality laser printer typically prints 10 pages in around 30 to 45 seconds. As for our jury tests of printing quality–which also include ratings on the quality of image and graphics output–a quality laser printer score a rating of “very good” or better in our text-quality test. 
Ponder Postscript Postscript capability or emulation is an important ability to consider. Postscript is a print description language that enables laser printers to handle high-quality graphics alongside text. No longer an absolute necessity, Postscript printing is still important as it takes the load off your computers CPU and allows the use of certain types of fonts. 

Our favorite laser printers

The Oki C6150dn produces great-looking prints and includes built-in duplexing. It also offers easy network connectivity and quick printing speeds. Its particularly ideal for printing top-quality brochures and handouts with photo elements. 
The Brother HL-4070CDW is a color laser printer perfect for a small-to-midsize workgroup and comes packed with a ton of useful features–wireless networking, duplexing capabilities, and PostScript compatibility (via emulation). It also delivers speedy performance, ease of use, and excellent print quality for a relatively low price for laser printers. 
The Xerox Phaser 6180/DN is a color laser printer thats also aimed at the small- to midsize-business crowd. It produces clean, crisp copy and features 10/100BaseTX Ethernet networking capability, automatic duplexing, and Adobe PostScript 3 compatibility. Though its been on the market for a while, the Phaser 6180/DN remains one of the most user-friendly printers out there.

You know that a regularly scheduled simple maintenance may help keep your computer in shape and there are plenty of third-party programs to help you keep your computer in peak form. However, Microsoft Windows provides you with a solid toolbox of built-in programs to help you keep your computer in shape.

Check out the Windows START menu, through the PROGRAMS area, then ACCESSORIES, will reveal a group of computerhard-drive helpers called SYSTEM TOOLS.

Backing Up Your Computer Files
One of the System Tools is the Backup program. Backup may not be part of your default Windows installations. If is not installed on your computer system, it may be found and installed from your Windows system CD-ROM.

Backing up your computers data on a regular bases, including bookmarks, e-mail folders and personal documents, is an important task if you want peace of mind about your computer system. Once you start the Backup program, click on the files you want to copy — or pick one of the other options Windows offers, including backing up all of your files — and then choose where you want to save the files. If you lose a file, you can also restore it from the Backup program.

Your computer system can be backed up by a variety of other devices: this may be an external tape, CDs, anther hard drive or removable-cartridge drives like the Iomega Peerless. Regardless of what method you use, making a backup of your files that matter the most can save you aggravation or despair in the event that something happens to your computer.

Although it will not recover personal files like email or spreadsheets, the Microsoft Windows SYSTEM RESTORE tool may restore files for individuals who have accidentally deleted vital system files or tinkered so much that their computer has failed to operate properly. Windows Restore creates a series of backup points at regular intervals that the user can roll back to in an emergency.

Cleaning Your Computer Hard Drive
Once you have backed up your important system files, you should delete the files that you no longer use. Windows users can remove old unused software with the Add/Remove Programs function (from the START menu, then SETTINGS, then CONTROL PANEL). Or you may use commercial software to safely remove old software.

Commercial utility software will not only uninstall old programs but can also clean up unintentional clutter around your hard drive. Temporary files, bits of previously viewed Web pages, disconnected shortcuts, browser-history files and other digital detritus hog space that you can safely reclaim.

The Windows DISK CLEANUP tool in the System Tools menu does a good job deleting unneeded files, but commercial utility software like LIUtilities’ WinBackup, Norton CleanSweep or McAfee QuickClean may do a more thorough job.

Checking Your Computer System
If you have ever suffered a crash while working in Windows, you are probably acquainted with ScanDisk. The ScanDisk utility is run after an “unscheduled” computer system interruption. It checks the hard drive for file system errors, cross-linked files and other problems.

ScanDisk can do a lot more to your hard drive. It can seek out and find bad spots on the drive where data cannot safely be stored, and then prevent Windows from using the damaged space and possibly losing data. ScanDisk is standard with all recent Microsoft Windows operating systems and may appear automatically in times of your computers failure. It may also be launched from your System Tools menu (unless you use Windows XP).

ScanDisk offers two testing options: Standard and Thorough. The Standard test checks for file and folder errors, and checks the hard drives surface as well. If you choose the Automatically Fix Errors option, you may want to find something else to do while ScanDisk does its job. It can take quite a while to run fix options.

If you have Windows XP, you may check your hard drive by going to MY COMPUTER, clicking on the drive in question and then going to the FILE menu and selecting PROPERTIES. Under the TOOLS tab is the error-checking utility.

Many commercial utility software packages provide a variety of disk-checking and repair tools. LIUtilities’ SpeedUpMyPC and Norton SystemWorks suite by Symantec are two of the more popular utility packages.

Buffing Your Computer System
Once the computer has been checked out and cleaned up, a good defragmentation session can tune it up further. Operating systems tend to fragment and scatter files around the hard drive as they are used. This causes slower performance over time because the system has to look all over the drive for those file parts. Defragmenting the drive puts everything back together. Windows has a built-in Disk Defragmenter program on the SYSTEM TOOLS menu, and many of the non-Microsoft utility programs mentioned above also provide a defragmenter option.

If you find that your computer keeps starting the process over and over, try booting your computer in “Safe Mode” to turn off all programs before trying to run the Defragmenter again. Microsoft’s Safe Mode is a Windows diagnostics mode. When you start the computer in Safe mode, only the specific components that are needed to run your computer’s operating system are loaded. Safe mode does not load software applications automatically and does not allow some functions, such as connecting to the Internet.

Under Safe Mode, you are running your computer’s Windows operating system at its most basic level. To activate Microsoft’s Safe Mode, power-up your computer. Watch for a blank black screen. When you see “Starting Windows,” immediately press the F8 key. Windows then proceeds to start in Safe Mode.

If you are running under Windows XP, Click START, and then click RUN. A RUN dialog box appears. Type “msconfig” (do not type the “) and then click OK. The System Configuration Utility appears. Select the BOOT.INI tab then check the “/SAFEBOOT” option, and then click OK. The time needed to perform all of these system checks and cleanup procedures will vary, depending on the size of your hard drive and the amount of data stored on it. Each task could take just 10 minutes or so, but it is not unheard of for it to take several hours to complete all of them.

If you would rather be sleeping or playing softball, you can automate many of the cleaning chores with the Maintenance Wizard or, in some later versions of Windows, the Scheduled Tasks function. Both are found in the System Tools area.

Here are three most important steps that you must do to protect your valuable computer files: 

1. Regularly Backup Key Files: Save valuable computer data on a separate drive, CD, or disk, such as a Zip(R) disk. After files are backed up, remove the disks from the computer and keep them in a safe place removed from your computer.
   
   
2. Install and Update Anti-Virus Software: Make sure any anti-virus program runs from the start menu and updates the program on a regular basis. 
   
   
3. Carefully Review all email Attachments: Dont open e-mail attachments unless you know the source. Also, to minimize the potential impact of an email attachment to your hard drive, transfer attachments to a CD or Zip(R) disk before opening.
   

Taking care of your computer with a little regular maintenance may just pay you dividends down the road.

This driver supports all ALC series audio chipsets from ALC101 up to ALC861. It is used as onboard sound on many motherboards. Chips covered include ALC101 /201/ 202/ 203/ 250/ 650/ 653/ 655/ 658/ 861.

It is highly recommended to always use the most recent driver version available.
Do not forget to check with our site as often as possible in order to stay updated on the latest version.

Try to set a system restore point before installing a device driver. This will help if you installed a wrong driver. Problems can arise when your hardware device is too old or not supported any longer 

Well it looks like the Apple rumor wheels are spinning one again, this time their are a growing number of whispers that 32gb iPhone s will be gracing the top-end iPhone package. One of the biggest indicators that this is coming is the fact that the 8GB inventory is beginning to dry up without being replaced, you know the whole shift of memory size. All I know is that those 8gb people probably will be just as pissed as the people who originally got the 4gb version right before it got dropped.

One thing that is a bit strange is the fact this would happen right after the Let’s Rock iPod event and the fact the ipods are getting restructured in response to all the Zune news. AppleInsider even goes as far to say that Apple is also preparing to go back to in-home activation but thats still a pretty much baseless rumor because their aren’t even hints at it, well besides the fact that dropping in-home activation did absolutely nothing to stem third party cracking and distribution networks.

Source: Engadget

Windows Vista is Microsoft’s next operating system after its highly successful predecessor, Windows XP. I bought an OEM copy of Windows Vista Home Premium a few months ago alongside some computer hardware that were meant for a pc upgrade. As expected, the installation was a breeze, but there is a security feature in Windows Vista that made me felt uneasy, which is the User Account Control that pops-up every time you want to install or run an application.

So, how to disable the User Account Control in Windows Vista?
Here are the solutions that I’ve tested to be successfully working:

Method 1 : Using msconfig utility

1.Go to run/start search menu. Type in “msconfig” (without quotes) and press enter run the utility.
2.Click on Tools tab. Click on Disable UAC and then “Launch”. A command prompt window will open stating that the operation has completed successfully.
3.Restart your computer.

Method 2 : Using Control Panel

1.From start menu, go to Control Panel
2.Click on Add/Remove User Account
3.Click on “go to the main User Account page” link.
4.Click on Turn User Account Control on or off. Unchecked the check box that will appear next.
5.Reboot your computer.

This driver supports all ALC series audio chipsets from ALC101 up to ALC861. It is used as onboard sound on many motherboards. Chips covered include ALC101 /201/ 202/ 203/ 250/ 650/ 653/ 655/ 658/ 861.

It is highly recommended to always use the most recent driver version available.
Do not forget to check with our site as often as possible in order to stay updated on the latest version.

Try to set a system restore point before installing a device driver. This will help if you installed a wrong driver. Problems can arise when your hardware device is too old or not supported any longer 

The USB standard that all of us are currently using to power our mice, MP3 players, scanners, printers and assorted other peripherals is technically USB1.1. When it was originally introduced it was a heck of a lot faster than anything else around. Now USB1.1 is dated and ready to be usurped by a newer, faster standard you may have heard rumblings about. That new standard is called USB 2.0.

USB 2.0 operates at 480Mbps, about 40X times faster than USB 1.1 which currently works at a snails pace of just 12Mbps. For arguments sake, IEEE 1394 Firewire has transfer speeds of 400Mbps and has been around for a year or two now. Having had a taste of Firewire which has seen itself largely segmented to the digital video marketplace, USB2.0 is an exciting development. While there have been many devices launched under FireWire that enabled computers to have hard drives, CD-burners and similar devices located externally, the mainstream PC market never really seemed to embrace it – possibly due to the fact that it has become a standard on Mac computers.

While I have yet to see any mainstream manufacturer, or any for that matter drop IEEE 1394 FireWire onto a motherboard, MSI have already done the very same with USB 2.0 – a very good sign that it will see wide implementation amongst PC makers.

Wide implementation opens up the doors for more external devices like hard drives, CD-burners, DVD drives and other data-have devices. While this was technically possible with USB1.1, the data transfer times were so slow that it became impractical vs. IDE. With speeds of 480Mbps, USB2.0 takes care of these issues in almost the same manner that FireWire has. The main benefit is of course the backwards compatibility (both in terms of devices and interfaces) and lower cost of implementation USB2.0 brings to the table. USB2.0 uses the exact same cables and ports.

Standard	Transfer Speed
USB 2.0	480 Mbps
USB 1.1	12 Mbps
Firewire (IEEE1394)	400 Mbps
Parallel Port	1 Mbps
Serial Port	0.115 Mbps

At the moment, USB2.0 drivers are not native to Windows XP. This may change with subsequent updates, and as more devices make the upgrade to the new standard. Intel have recently announced the D850MV-SE, a USB2.0 enabled Pentium 4 (RDRAM), and MSI have the 845Pro2-RU with USB2.0 support via NEC chipset. The groundwork is also there for USB2.0 networking, which would offer fast connectivity between PCs like MSIs PC-to-PC technology currently does on the USB1.1 standard.

Companies currently offering USB2.0 peripherals include: ACOM, Adaptec, Addonics, ADS Technologies, Archos, Argosy Research, ATEN Technology, Belkin, BusLink, DataFab Systems, DoTop Technology, Dura Micro, Fellowes Manufacturing, Fujitsu, Good Way Technology, I-O Data Device, Iogear, LaCie, Maxtor, Melco, Microtek International, Opteon Corp, Orange Micro, Pacific Digital, Plextor, QPS, Quik Tech Solutions, Ratox Systems, RocketPod, Seiko Epson, Siig, Sony, System Talks, and Yamaha who have a 20X CD-RW Recorder.

With the Wolfdale core Intel pours more power into a Core 2 Duo package. The 45nm process allowed Intel to reduce the power needed to 65W. Lower power means lower CPU heat, which translates to lower system heat and longer system life. They also packed more features into the chip.

L2 cache has been bumped to 6MB and the Front Side Bus has been pushed to 1333MHz. You can now use both DDR2 and the hot new DDR3 memory for extreme performance. They also boosted memory access and execution speed with the Wide Dynamic Execution and Smart Memory Access. These combine to let the processor compute more instructions with more data per clock cycle. Youd better watch out; your enemies will be shooting back faster now.

The Advanced Digital Media Boost feature has been enhanced with the addition of the SSE4 instruction set and Intel HD Boost. This will give your entertainment experience a boost with better audio and video processing. It will also help with speech recognition, engineering and scientific applications. Perhaps most important of all will be the boost to security with increased encryption power and speed.

Pros: fast, runs cool, low voltage requirement, fast, 6 meg L2 cache, overclocks like nothing ive ever seen.

Cons: some will say price, but im really happy with the price/performance ratio on this thing. much faster than my old E6320 and only a few bucks more. maybe i could have gotten it a little cheaper elsewhere, but Newegg got it to my house next day with free shipping. no complaints here.

Other Thoughts: most people will probably have to update their BIOS to run this, but thats not a big deal. these processors appear to consistently and reliably overclock to 4 GHz and beyond if youre so inclined. my oldish motherboard is limited to 425 FSB so i cant clock mine over 3.825 GHz, but thats okay. i can run 3.825 at a miserly 1.225 Vcore. im impressed. 3DMark06 score of 17,606 with this and my dual Radeon HD3870s. my computer levitates about two inches above my desk now. i think its self-aware.

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 is one of the 45 nm dual-core models Intel will launch at the beginning of next year. It sports a 1333 MHz FSB, 6MB L2 cache, 47 new SSE4 instructions, and various technological improvements over the current 65 nm Conroe-based processors. The Core 2 Duo E8400 runs at 3.0 GHz, but there will be models running at both higher and lower frequencies at the launch. This specific model is estimated to cost around $180, which also makes it fairly affordable. Over at Expreview theyve posted a preview of the Core 2 Duo E8400, where they run benchmarks, measure temperatures and power consumption, and overclock it to 4 Ghz on air without much hassle. 
Just as Yorkfield runs cooler and consumes less power than Kentsfield, Wolfdale performs the same way when compared to Conroe. And if 4 GHz with air cooling is going to this easy with the retail CPUs, Intel has a real winner on its hands here. 

Wolfdale Engineering Sample 
The overall performance of the chip is very much resembling that of the Yorkfield-based processors. Slightly better than the predecessor, but not breathtaking. The largest improvements are with the lower temperatures and power consumption, and of the course the improved overclocking potential.

This is a tutorial web book. All 152 pages of the large paperback book with 96 diagrams are on 38 web pages here.

Even if you know nothing about electronics, you have come to the right place.

If you are wondering how microprocessors work, you have come to the right place. A microprocessor is a small processor.

If you already know something about electronics, dont be put off by the fact that the book starts out very simple and uses relays instead of transistors. You will get through the first chapter quickly. See web page 24, below, for just how complex it gets.

If you have a very fast connection (DSL or cable modem), then you can click the following link to see an easier to read (PDF) version of the book. It is 783 kilobytes, so it will take a while.

PDF version

With a regular (56K) modem, it will take about 3 or 4 minutes to be displayed.

If you print this book (How Computers Work: Processor and Main Memory) out, it will be easier to follow when it gets to large, relatively-complex diagrams.

If you would like a free electronic copy of the book (How Computers Work: Processor and Main Memory) (152 pages) for easier reading and printing for personal use, then you can download a (pdf) file called bookbpdf.pdf that almost any computer can read. Simply download the pdf file and find it with the desktop My Computer icon and simply double click on the file icon. It uses Adobe Acrobat Reader. Or you can download a file called bookb.doc that you can read with Microsoft Word 2000. You can download either of these files by clicking on the following link: Free Electronic Copies of the Book then clicking on the file you want to download.

You can also email me and ask for the .pdf file if you want it to be sent as an attachment to an email. Please email questions or comments to me (Roger Young) at:

young@fastchip.net

You can also reach this page with the simple (redirected) web address howcomputers.com in case you want to tell anyone about it.

Last updated: May 24, 2008

About The Author

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Introduction

Computers are the most complex machines that have ever been created. Very few people really know how they work. This book will tell you how they work and no technical knowledge is required. It explains the operation of a simple, but fully functional, computer in complete detail. The simple computer described consists mainly of a processor and main memory. Relays, which are explained, are used in the circuitry instead of transistors for simplicity. This book does not cover peripherals like modems, mice, disk drives, or monitors.

Did you ever wonder what a bit, a pixel, a latch, a word (of memory), a data bus, an address bus, a memory, a register, a processor, a timing diagram, a clock (of a processor), an instruction, or machine code is? Though most explanations of how computers work are a lot of analogies or require a background in electrical engineering, this book will tell you precisely what each of them is and how each of them works without requiring any previous knowledge of computers or electronics. However, this book starts out very easy and gets harder as it goes along. You must read the book starting at the first page and not skip around because later topics depend on understanding earlier topics. How far you can get may depend on your background. A junior high school science background should be enough. There is no mathematics required other than simple addition and multiplication. This is a short book, but it must be studied carefully. This means that you will have to read some parts more than once to understand them. Get as far as you can. You will be much more knowledgeable about how computers work when you are done than when you started, even if you are not able to get through the whole text. This is a technical book though it is aimed at a non-technical audience. Though this book takes considerable effort to understand, it is very easy for what it explains. After you have studied this book, if you go back and read it, it will seem simple. Good Luck!

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CONTENTS

Click the page number to view the page.
Each page is a few book pages.

BASICS . 2 . 3 . 4 . 5 . 6

MEMORY . 7 . 8 . 9 . 10 . 11

INSTRUCTIONS . 12 . 13 . 14 . 15 . 16

PROCESSOR . 17 . 18 . 19 . 20 . 21 . 22 . 23 . 24

PROGRAMMING . 25 . 26 . 27 . 28 . 29 . 30 . 31 . 32 . 33 . 34 . 35 . 36 . 37

MISCELLANEOUS . 38

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book cover

Starting in August, 2002, this book is ALSO available in 8.25″ X 11″ paperback book form direct from the publisher for $9.50 plus shipping and handling. The book at the publisher (AuthorHouse (was 1stBooks Library)) is at http://www.1stbooks.com/bookview/11434. The publisher is at http://www.authorhouse.com/home.aspx .

The book has a list price of $14.50 and is also available from Amazon.com (my favorite book and software supplier) and Barnes and Noble.com and can be ordered through most any bookstore.

• Intel 945GM chipset with ICH7-M DH
  
• Dual-channel DDR2 667MHz support
  
• Intel Gigabit LAN
  
• Integrated Intel GMA 950 graphics
  
• Realtek ALC 882M audio codec
  
• 2x SATA with RAID 0, 1
  
• 2x SATA2 with RAID 0, 1
  
• 1x external SATA

The N4L-VM DH is certified for Intels Viiv technology, but surprisingly, doesnt seem to be able to deliver quite enough to be a true media PC. With the integrated GMA 950 graphics, the board is unable to decode high definition H.264 in hardware, which should be on the list of any new PC with a focus on home theater experiences. However, those who are concerned with audio will be happy to know that the N4L-VM DH supports Dolby Digital Live, which allows the motherboard to output a Dolby Digital 5.1 signal. This has been a highly requested feature ever since NVIDIA first launched its SoundStorm enabled nForce chipset several years ago. The board uses a Realtek ALC 882M codec for audio duties, which is able to output an impressive 192kHz/24-bit signal on all 8 channels (analog).

ASUS says:

Even with the compact size, the Intel Viiv-ready and Windows MCE-compatible N4L-VM DH comes with robust multimedia features. The TV Out connector embedded on the motherboard provides a gateway to view memorable digital media on big screen such as LCD TV, while the ALC 882M 8-CH high definition audio with S/PDIF Out completes the experience for overall audible pleasure with Dolby Master Studio. Additionally, with the purchase of ASUS R-DVI-ADD2 card, DVI output is made available for the finest viewing solution.

Supporting both Core Solo and Core Duo processors, as well as the latest memory technology, audio technology, the N4L-VM DH may be the right product for those looking to start a good home theater PC. For those who are looking for more serious video performance, one of the recent PCI Express products from ATI or NVIDIA will have to be used. Those who are content with the onboard graphics can purchase ASUS R-DVI-ADD2 board, which will provide DVI output for full digital output

GTX 200 Architecture Features

The chip powering these two new graphics cards, called the GTX 200 chip, is an absolute monster of a processor. Nvidia proudly proclaims that its the biggest processor TSMC (Nvidias primary chip fabrication partner) has ever built. Its not just a clocked-up or expanded version of the G92 chip powering Nvidias most recent high-end cards, but a totally new architecture.

The basic layout of the GTX 280 looks like this: You have a geometry shader processing unit, vertex shader, and setup/raster units. These feed into the unified shader array of no less than 240 stream processing units. Thats 10 blocks of 24 shader units, each block is three groups of eight.

Some L2 texture cache sits between these and the memory interface units, typically referred to as “ROPs” or render back-ends (eight “blocks” of those with four-per-block, which is double the ROP power of the G92).

click on image for full view

Each stream processor includes a register file twice the size of those in the stream processors of earlier Nvidia chips, along with a floating point compute unit, an integer compute unit, and a move/compare unit. Theres also a double-precision floating point unit (IEEE compliant), which is useful for some GP-GPU tasks but not particularly handy for graphics.

Call that configuration one processing “core,” if you will. Eight of them each access a 16K block of local shared memory. Three of those eight-processor groups together access the same bank of L1 cache, creating a 24-unit processing “block.” The block has eight texture address/filter units associated with it. The GTX 280 chip has 10 of these blocks, for a total of 240 stream processors and 80 texture units.

A block diagram of the GTX 200 GPU’s stream processing unit, 24 compute cores. (source: Nvidia)

In the GeForce GTX 280 products, all of these functional elements are enabled. In the GeForce GTX 260 products, some of the units are disabled. These are typically called “salvage chips,” where GPUs that had some defects can have certain parts disabled and still function well as lower-performing parts, allowing Nvidia to effectively use some of the “bad” chips on a wafer.

In this case, the GeForce GTX 260 cards have two blocks of stream processors disabled for a total of 192 stream processors and 64 texture mapping/filtering units. One of the memory access/ROP units is also disabled, for 24 render back-ends instead of 32.

Whether or not you consider the GTX 200 GPU an extension of the G92 class or not is a matter of perspective. Certainly some of the capabilities are similar, and there are no added support for features present in DirectX 10.1, for instance. On the other hand, there are some significant tweaks to the design.

The scheduler has been upgraded to handle more threads at once, which it would need to do to effectively utilize all those stream processing units. We already mentioned the larger register file and support for double precision floating point math. Instruction co-issuing in the stream processors is now more efficient. Texture filter units employ a more efficient scheduler, which Nvidia claims is 22% more efficient than those in the G92 chip.

The blend rate of the ROP units is doubled (per-ROP) compared to previous generation chips. Geometry shading performance, a real sore spot of the G80 and G92 generation GPUs, has been massively improved in the GTX 200 GPU

The PS/2 standard, introduced by IBM in 1987, stands for Personal System/2. A PS/2 port is an electronic receptacle or plug found on computers. It accepts a PS/2 cable with a mini-DIN connector, and is most often used to plug in a keyboard or mouse.  
The PS/2 port is female while the mini-DIN cable is male. The connector is small with a diameter of about 1/3 inch (9.5mm). It features a metal sleeve that is notched to ensure proper alignment when inserting it into the PS/2 port. This protects the circular pins inside the DIN connector from becoming bent. 

The PS/2 port was initially a large DIN plug used for a keyboard, while the mouse was commonly plugged into a serial port. However, as modems also used serial ports, configuration conflicts between mouse and modem became a common problem as each tried to share the same IRQ or memory address. To fix the problem, one could purchase a “bus mouse,” or a card that could be installed in the computer and featured a rear PS/2 port for the mouse. The PS/2 mouse was a popular solution because it worked independent of the serial port and avoided configuration problems. Eventually, computers incorporated two built-in PS/2 ports, one for the keyboard and one for a mouse.  
If buying extension cable for your PS/2 keyboard or mouse, be sure to check the pin configuration to ensure you are purchasing the correct PS/2 cable. There are seven different configurations for mini-DIN plugs that all look like standard PS/2 port plugs at a glance. The cable should specify what equipment is it made for. S-Video cable looks similar to mini-DIN cables, for example, but the keyed notch in the metal sleeve and pin arrangement differ. 

Although PS/2 ports remain in widespread use, subsequent technologies have lessened the need for a PS/2 port. For example, many manufacturers of keyboards and mice have introduced models that utilize USB (Universal Serial Bus) ports instead. Other models are wireless. This gives the consumer the choice to bypass the PS/2 port all together.

Well some industry insiders are having some interesting thoughts considering Intel might be courting Microsoft for the Next Xbox360. Microsoft is already developing the next xbox in fact they have been for a very long time kind of right after the xbox360 was released. We’ve known for a while already that Microsoft Research has been toiling away at the next CPU for the next xbox project. But the question has been what will they do for the GPU.

They’ve worked with NVIDIA and ATI… but theirs another player in the market Intel… and their apparently very anxious to push usage of their Larrabee GPU into the market in as wide a deployment as possible. What it basically comes down to is the more consoles and pc’s that have a chip the more developers will specifically target that platform and be able to fully take advantage of it best. By pushing it out to millions of PC’s and tens of millions of every “xbox720” they would basically push the developers hands to cater to the Larabee

Intel REALLY wants this done so much that the rumors go as far to say that Intel is willing to sign over the rights so Microsoft can have the GPU made by their own manufacturer which is the reason they went with ATI this generation. On top of that the rumor also goes as far as saying they will do the leg work and calculations on the thermal design for the next box so that we don’t have have another over heading issue as the first 360’s had.

Like watching picture frames in a mirror theirs a reflection of the deal over at Sony with Intel trying to hedge its bets, but I can almost guarantee if it comes to Microsoft choosing Larabee it will most likely be a modified expanded Larrabee for the 360 and a definite exclusive deal to block Sony. For Intel it’s basically get the console deal or bust, with Nvidia and ATI being such heavy players in the console market and games going to console before PC they are the targeted platforms and Intel gets left out in the dust. If Intel can land the Xbox/PS deal they would guarantee a decent update and developer uptake on Larrabee and set the way for Larrabee 2

Source: TheInquirer

With analog technologies moving to digital, youre probably cringing at the prospect of your entire VHS collection crumbling over time. Buying and installing a capture card— as well as figuring out how to use your PC to convert these tapes to digital format, is way complicated—but theres a superb alternative. The Sony DVDirect VRD-MC5  is the easiest way to convert your entire VHS collection (as well as video from your camcorder and photos from your digital camera) into DVD format, with one click of a button. All of this is done without the use of a PC, and you can see whats being recorded on its 2.5-inch LCD screen. Its worthy of an Editors Choice, just like its predecessor, the VRD-MC1, though this new model is unique in the market.

The lifespan of a Dell Inspiron laptop is usually quite substantial, sometimes to the point where it becomes long in the tooth. Thus its unusual to be mourning the loss of the Dell Inspiron 1520 after only six months on the market. Stepping into the spotlight to replace it is the revamped Dell Inspiron 1525. While theres no miracle weight loss here, the 6-pound frame is nearly half a pound lighter than the 1520s, and the tapering design gives it a slimmer silhouette (similar to that of the Dell XPS M1530). An unpleasant side effect of going small, however, is that powerful graphics cards will not be offered as an option—only integrated graphics.

 

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T77 ($299.99 direct) is a beauty. Its compact design, metallic features, and touch screen make it feel like a luxury item. Aside from color fringing in the corners of images, most users will find the shots they take dazzling. The cameras 3-inch LCD touch screen is very responsive, and the user interface is more intuitive than those of competing touch-screen models, such as the Nikon Coolpix S60 or the Kodak EasyShare v1073. The less-expensive Canon PowerShot SD790 IS ($249) and Nikon Coolpix S610c deliver images that are on a par with T77s, but they dont have touch screens and fun in-camera retouching options. Beyond that, this Cyber-shot is just handsome. Of course, as with any camera that employs a touch screen, battery life suffers.

PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) and AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) are two different technologies used to connect expansion cards – such as video, sound, and graphics cards – to your PC. The main difference between the two is speed, particularly when it comes to processing graphics. Gone are the days of simple words and numbers – these days we expect our business, entertainment and educational software to impress us with fancy images, charts, icons, textures, and 3-D graphics. Software developers, aware of our expectations for graphics intensive applications, are continually pushing the technology envelope by incorporating larger and more complex images into their programs. As programs become more graphics intensive, they require more bandwidth and memory to display each screen and image. If bandwidth and memory resources are limited, a bottleneck occurs, causing the software, and generally the PC, to slow to a crawl while the graphics are processed. In the past, several attempts have been made to reduce the bottlenecks associated with graphics processing. A significant breakthrough occurred in 1993 when Intel introduced the PCI bus. The PCI standard uses a technique called bus mastering, which allows the CPU and expansion cards to process information simultaneously. The bus operates at a bandwidth of 66MHz, and PCI cards can communicate with the PC using 32- or 64-bit data. PCI provides fast communication between the CPU and peripherals, but peripheral devices have to compete with each other for bandwidth. The PCI bus is currently the highest performing general I/O bus used in PCs, and it provides adequate acceleration and processing features for most games, video and multimedia applications. PCI is able to handle 2D images and general business graphics quite competently, but it can be challenged by intense 3D graphics. Thats where AGP comes in. To create 3D images, the graphics controller must be able to manage texture data and z-buffer information. Texture data produces the digital representation of the surface of an object and generates properties such as transparency, which makes the object look more realistic; z-buffer information provides depth, which also increases realism. Both of these data sets are memory intensive, and unfortunately, both compete for the same memory space. Intel introduced AGP in 1996 in an attempt to solve this dilemma. The AGP specification is based on the PCI 2.1 specification, but unlike PCI, AGP is designed solely for use with graphics cards. Its not intended to replace the PCI interface as the general I/O interface bus; its primary purpose is to deliver high-performance graphics, including 3D imaging. AGP has the ability to quadruple the theoretical bandwidth of current PCI buses, and has the potential to perform even higher. This increased performance is achieved by introducing a dedicated point-to-point channel that gives the graphics controller direct access to main system memory. In addition, the AGP channel is 32 bits wide and runs at 66MHz, which translates into a total bandwidth of 266MBps. AGP also supports two fast modes, 2x and 4x, which have throughputs of 533MBps and 1.07GBps respectively. Features such as texturing and pipelining further enhance the graphics processing ability of AGP. Texturing, also called Direct Memory Execute mode, allows texture data to be stored in main memory. Pipelining is a process that enables the graphics card to send several instructions together instead of sending one at a time. AGP improves the overall performance of a PC in several ways: 1. Graphics operations are faster because they dont have to share bus bandwidth with other peripherals. 2. Peripheral devices are also faster because they dont have to share the PCI bus with the bandwidth intensive graphics operations. AGP operates concurrently with, and independent from, most transactions on the PCI bus. Since the AGP bus is handling all graphics tasks, the PCI bus is free to serve devices such as disk controllers, modems and network cards. 3. The quality of the 3D graphics created using AGP is very high, and since they are extremely realistic, the quality of both 2-D and 3-D software is improved.

Unfortunately, like most computer parts, computer hard drives have been appointed names and descriptions that are nearly always based on hi-tech gobble-de-gook terms. When looking at purchasing a new hard drive this will be your first issue to handle. And, the first term youll need to come to grips with is, “Do you want an IDE, ATA, or SATA hard drive??  Yes, sometimes shopping for computer parts can be a real head banging exercise.
                            
Recent years have seen many changes in hard drive technology. Like most things related to computers nearly of these changes have related to speed and size. To be more precise, faster (as to how quickly a hard drive can access and move information backwards and forwards) rather than slower and, larger (in the amount of data it can hold) rather than smaller. So, because performance is such an important selling point a large part of a hard drives description relates to either its particular size or speed.

ATA, SATA and SATA II
The terms ‘ATA’ (Advanced Technology Attachment), ‘SATA’ (Serial ATA) and ‘SATA ll  (Serial ATA 2) refer to both a measurement standard and an electronic method of transferring information (data) backwards and forwards between the hard drive and the rest of the computer. Kind of like the water pipe system between your house and the city water department – except in this case the water goes both ways. ATA in our water example would represent a method by which your cities water department can take water out of a reservoir and get it to your kitchen tap measured in minutes and gallons. The ATA computer standard is just one recognised method by which your hard drive can do a similar job, only with data, and in milliseconds and megabytes.

ATA hard drives (also generally known as IDE or Integrated Drive Electronics – the terms actually mean the same thing) have been the most common standard for hard drives manufactured since 1986. However, the ATA standard has been consistently developing over these years and there have been several changes to better the size and speed of the hard drives which it can support.

ATA Development Phases
All in all, the ATA standard has moved through seven recognised phases, (ATA-1, 2, 3, etc) and in 2001 stage 7 ATA hard drives came on the market (commonly called Ultra ATA-133). These could make data transfer rates of up to133 MB/sec (megabytes per second). ATA-7 is thought to be the last stage of development before Serial ATA took over. At this stage to make clear the distinction between ATA and the newer SATA standard, the older ATA standard was redefined and named Parallel ATA (or PATA). In other words ATA, PATA and IDE are all different names for the same thing. And, as youll probably hear of these at some time you may as well know that IDE, FASATA and ULTRA ATA are all different company names for their particular branding of the current ATA technology at the time.

Confused? Like I said at the beginning there is so much jargon in the computer world. It really doesnt help when there are several different hi-tech names that all refer to the same thing. It just goes to show how much competition (and money) there is amongst computer related companies to have their particular brand of the current technology accepted as the world standard. However, they all dipped out as plain old ATA became the accepted term.

SATA Arrives
Anyway, in the year 2000, hard drive technology came up with a new hard drive standard called Serial ATA, more commonly known as ‘SATA’. The SATA hard drives proved superior in several important areas and within a short period of time SATA had become the new standard.

For the more technical here are the differences between ATA (or PATA) and SATA. Advanced Technology Attachment (ATA) is based on a 16 bit parallel interface and is normally used to control computer hard drives. However, Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) is a single bit serial advancement of the Parallel ATA. The cable connecting an ATA hard drive uses a ribbon cable with 40 wires (looks a bit like a licorice strap) as opposed to a SATA cable which only has 7 wires. Because of this it is easy to tell a SATA hard drive from an ATA hard drive by the much smaller power and data connections used on the back of the two different hard drives.

When comparing PATA against SATA, SATA hard disk drives have several performance benefits which distinguish them from ATA hard drives. Notably SATA hard drives operate cooler and on higher bandwidths which equates to faster data transfer. The latest models of PATA hard drives (ATA-7) offer data transfer rates of 133 MB/second. The first SATA standard provided an immediate data transfer boost of up to 150 MB/second, and as of 2004 the new SATA II standard allows for transfer rates of 300 MB/second.

Lets sum all this up:

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  PATA and ATA mean the same. They both stand for “Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment. The P was added to make the difference clearer when SATA came along. ATA is still the more common term.
  

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  Late model ATA hard drives are still fulfilling most requirements. SATA hard drives are the next step up, ie – slightly better performance. And SATA II hard drives are the highest performing models. However, generally speaking unless you are running large, high demand programs you most likely will not notice any advantage.
  
  
  
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  When you hear ATA vs SATA you now know that the difference between the latest ATA hard drives and the newer SATA hard drives is a performance boost of about 5%. (Considerably more for SATA II hard drives but youll also need several other changes within your computer to take advantage of them).
  
  
  
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  When it comes to SATA vs IDE hard drives (or ide vs sata), we are in fact actually talking about SATA vs ATA as IDE is simply a company brand name that has stuck that means the same as ATA
  
  
  
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  ATA 100 and 133 hard drives (also known as ULTRA  – the latest of the ATA hard drives) are still more common in new computers than SATA because of their lower price.
  

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  Technology advancement never stops. If you are worried that if you purchase a new hard drive now youll miss out on something better tomorrow then you will never get one. The new hard drives on the market today were most likely developed 2 to 3 years ago – thats just the way it is.

When it comes to making your new hard drive purchase then in most cases an ATA 100 or 133 harddrive will be quite adequate. However, in a couple of years its likely that ATA technology will disappear and SATA will become the accepted standard. In my opinion purchasing a 7200 rpm SATA hard drive is the current entry level for a new hard drive, not necessarily for the performance but primarily for the compatibility with future systems and components. And, If you are a gammer or a video editor then the additional benefits of faster performance should see the extra money for a SATA II drive well spent.