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Phones

Phones

Onhop is a good place to get cell phones and their accessories.

We offer a wide range of choices to fit your needs and your budget. You will also find accessories that allow hands-free use, or find Blackberry, Palm, and other smartphone handsets that provide a convenient solution for travelers who need a reliable wireless connection to email, and to use calendars and internet services.

If you have not looked into computer-based telephony lately, we should mention that VoIP (or Voice over Internet Protocol) solutions have improved enormously over the last few years -- provided, of course, that you have a broadband (DSL, satellite or Cable) connection. You will notice that many of our offerings are designed specifically to work with a VoIP service called www.skype.com, which is currently the leading provider. You must first download the Skype program, which is free. Then with Skype, computer-to-computer calls will be all and always completely free. Skype's slogan is: "Talk, listen, watch, read, write to anyone, anywhere in the world without worrying about cost, distance or time." With Skype, computer to telephone calls are not free, but they are quite significantly cheaper than with the regular long distance providers. In practically no time you will have saved the cost of your Skype-friendly equipment, and from then on the savings will mount year after year.

Of course you can and should check out the ratings given to our offerings by consulting Consumer Reports (www.ConsumerReports.org). You can also access free Consumer Reports online courtesy of your local library (www.accessmylibrary.com). As well, you can consult the Consumers' Web Watch (www.consumerwebwatch.org), the Consumers' Union (www.consumersunion.org), and do not forget the Consumer Electronics Net (www.consumerelectronicsnet.com). A happy shopper is an informed shopper, and we want you to be happy.

Lamps

Lamps
Think of these as computer supplies rather than computer parts. Like the light bulbs in your house, they must be replaced periodically.

Cellular Phones

Cellular Phones

Manufacturers of mobil phones use lots of tricks to force users to stick with them, and this includes creating a wide variety of connector styles and voltages, most of which are incompatible with other manufacturers’ phones. Sometimes, even though the connector may fit, the actual charging parameters may not, which can produce an inadequate charge or even permanent damage to the device. As we’ve been saying in the business world ever since ancient Roman times, Caveat Emptor (let the buyer beware!). Carefully check the specs. for both the phone and the charger that interests you, and you should be just fine.

Here at Onhop.com, we never forget who provides the money that lets us butter our parsnips – it is you, the satisfied customer who keeps on coming back because we treated you right. We’re on your side for that very good reason.

Docking Stations

Docking Stations
Since the advent of the PC, we have been thinking about what it consists of as components. The docking station takes that concept a new step forward, by providing separable components. A docking station is a hardware frame and set of electrical connection interfaces that enable a notebook computer to effectively serve as a desktop computer. You remove the computer from the station when you want to maximize portability, and set it back into the station when you want to maximize capability. Thus the docking station gives you the best of both possible worlds. Given that these devices are a relatively new product, their terminology has not yet achieved a standard form. Some manufacturers refer to such devices as dock stations, expansion bases, ultrabases, MiniDocks, etc. Whatever the terminology, the purpose is to expand the functionality of an ultralight computing device. Typically, it allows the notebook or tablet PC to communicate with a local printer, with larger storage or backup drives, and possibly other devices not usually taken along with a notebook computer. Docking stations may also include a network interface card (NIC) that attaches the notebook to a local area network (LAN). One may distinguish docking stations from port replicators, in that the latter devices simply add more ports, but otherwise do not increase the computer’s capabilities. A port replicator is a scaled down version of a docking station. That is, docking stations provide additional slots for adding expansion boards and storage devices. Docking stations let you use your laptop or tablet very much like a desktop PC. How this works is that you hook up several peripheral devices, such as a large, high definition monitor, a full-size keyboard, a mouse, one or more disk drives, printers, etc., to the station. Then you simply plug the portable PC into the dock. This lets you make only one single connection to gain the capabilities of all those peripherals instead of having to plug them all into the PC individually. The cost to buy a docking station is usually not much more than $150, and can be considerably less. Because of the enhanced flexibility, mobility and versatility they provide, they tend to be great bargains. This is a technology whose time has come. If you never need a computer “to-go,” then this obviously is not for you. But if you want to combine desktop capabilities with easy computer portability, you will need one version or another of this device. People typically buy a portable computer and a docking station together. Make sure they are compatible with each other. Look for the capabilities you need. Those who have this device often cannot imagine how they previously made do without it. If you need it, get one now.

Monitor Accessories and Parts

Monitor Accessories and Parts

What should you look for in computer accessories?

If your monitor is a CRT type, look for massive carrying capacity; if your monitor is a LCD type, look for easy adjustability. With a LCD type monitor, because one needs to be looking at it very straightforwardly, you may find you will need to twist it on its stand fairly often to show the screen to another person.

Position your monitor so that light and glare from inside lights or from windows do not reflect from the monitor, which usually means positioning the screen at right angles to the nearest window. If you use a document stand, ensure that it is in much the same position as your monitor, and only slightly off center, so that you can look at either without having to make much change in your own sitting position.

Ergonomically, the best fit between you and your monitor is that the monitor should be about arm’s length away and the top of the monitor should be at eye level, or just slightly below. This is necessary to let you read the screen without having to pull your neck forward or push it back. People who use bifocal glasses, whether progressive or not, will have to experiment a bit to find the correct distance, which will mean that you can read the screen best without having to twist your head out of its normal upright position.

When looking for a monitor stand you first need to determine how high it should be. That is, measure the height of your monitor itself plus the height of whatever furniture it will be resting upon, and then figure out how much it should be raised to meet the exact height requirements specified above. Only now will you be able to address the question of whether a particular stand will get the monitor up to the right height. Look at the stand’s detailed specifications, which should tell you whether the height is adjustable, and if so by how much. Do not buy a stand that will not meet your exact personal requirements.

Now, you could accomplish these relationships with a stack of old newspapers as your stand. So why buy a stand at all? One reason is esthetics. Another is to ensure that your monitor rests safely on a solid platform. The most important reason is to let you reclaim some storage space underneath the monitor, perhaps for your keyboard.

Think of what materials you use most often, and ensure that these are close at hand, say no more than one foot away (call this zone 1). Materials that you use a lot, but less frequently than those in zone 1, you could store, say, two feet away, in zone 2. Materials you use most infrequently can be stored still further away, possibly even so far that you will have to get up from your sitting position to reach them, in zone 3. Zones 1 and 2 will help prevent unnecessary motion, while zone 3 will force you to abandon your fixed posture while you do a bit of stretching and give yourself a break that will help to prevent cumulative trauma to the back, neck and shoulders.

It is best if what the computer monitor stand sits on has rounded corners. Why, you might ask. Well, it has been scientifically determined and proven beyond any possible doubt that the absolutely most perfect instrument for finding furniture in a dark room is the human shinbone.

Monitor Stands

Monitor Stands

What should you look for in a computer monitor stand?

If your monitor is a CRT type, look for massive carrying capacity; if your monitor is a LCD type, look for easy adjustability. With a LCD type monitor, because one needs to be looking at it very straightforwardly, you may find you will need to twist it on its stand fairly often to show the screen to another person.

Position your monitor so that light and glare from inside lights or from windows do not reflect from the monitor, which usually means positioning the screen at right angles to the nearest window. If you use a document stand, ensure that it is in much the same position as your monitor, and only slightly off center, so that you can look at either without having to make much change in your own sitting position.

Ergonomically, the best fit between you and your monitor is that the monitor should be about arm’s length away and the top of the monitor should be at eye level, or just slightly below. This is necessary to let you read the screen without having to pull your neck forward or push it back. People who use bifocal glasses, whether progressive or not, will have to experiment a bit to find the correct distance, which will mean that you can read the screen best without having to twist your head out of its normal upright position.

When looking for a monitor stand you first need to determine how high it should be. That is, measure the height of your monitor itself plus the height of whatever furniture it will be resting upon, and then figure out how much it should be raised to meet the exact height requirements just mentioned. Only now will you be able to address the question of whether a particular stand will get the monitor up to the right height. Look at the stand’s detailed specifications, which should tell you whether the height is adjustable, and if so by how much. Do not part with your hard-earned money to buy a stand that will not meet your exact personal requirements.

Now, you could accomplish these relationships with a stack of old newspapers as your stand. So why buy a stand at all? One reason is esthetics. Another is to ensure that your monitor rests safely on a solid platform. The most important reason is to let you reclaim some storage space underneath the monitor, perhaps to store your mousepad and keyboard.

Think of what materials you use most often, and ensure that you store these close at hand, say no more than one foot away (call this zone 1). Materials that you use a lot, but less frequently than those in zone 1, you could store, say, two feet away, in zone 2. Materials and parts you use most infrequently you can store still further away, possibly even so far that you will have to get up from your sitting position to reach them, in zone 3. Zones 1 and 2 will help prevent unnecessary motion, while zone 3 will force you to abandon your fixed posture while you do a bit of stretching and give yourself a break that will help to prevent cumulative trauma to the back, neck and shoulders.

It is best if what the computer monitor stand sits on has rounded corners. Why, you might ask. Well, it has been scientifically determined and repeatedly proven beyond any possible doubt that, worldwide, the absolutely most perfect instrument for finding furniture in a dark room is the human shinbone.

Computer Cases

Computer Cases

Computer cabinets are fitted with doors and side panels which may or may not be removable.

Cabinets enclose a rack, which is a frame that provides a means for mounting electronic equipment and parts. Cabinets come in a variety of styles, colors, and many contain baffles, fans, and other features. The rack refers specifically to the inside frame that provides a means for mounting electronic equipment, while a cabinet is fitted with doors and side panels. The cabinet must allow air to come in and, after it has done its work cooling the parts that would otherwise overheat, to go out. The cabinet should permit the mounting of a filter to keep dirt, dust, smoke, human and pet hair, etc., out of the computer works. The average computer has two fans, one in the power supply and one attached to the computer chip that constitutes the main processor. Without a filter, the fans will deposit a lot of dirt throughout the cabinet, and onto and possibly even into the drives. This may eventually produce read/write errors, and place those errors onto your backup media as well; lost data is the result. It is also possible that eventually your fans will get so clogged up that they will fail and permit the computer to overheat, slowing performance, producing lockups, and eventually shutting you down completely.

Your cabinet should be tough, and it should have a sturdy locking device so that you can control access to your computer. These two characteristics are especially important whenever critical data needs to be protected. Make sure that the cabinet contains all of the rack capabilities you will require, and that it is rated for the correct wattage of power. Some of them come with the power supply already installed.

Flash Drives

Flash Drives

Introduction

The USB flash drive is the technological, logical and honorably worthy successor to the floppy disk drive. It is removable so that you can transfer the data it stores from one computer to another, simply by removing it from one and plugging it into another. Flash drives use a standard type-A USB connection, and are “plug and play,” in the sense that as soon as you plug one into a computer, the computer recognizes that it has just acquired another drive, which it usually designates as “drive E.” On the other hand, it is always possible to format the flash drive, and even to partition it like a hard disk on a PC or a Mac. Also, they don’t mind at all being formatted in Linux or Unix.

Normally, the flash drive’s data becomes immediately accessible, just as though you had inserted a floppy disk into a floppy disk drive. Although the flash drive acts just like any other disk drive, to call it a drive is a misnomer, because it has no moving parts, and so nothing is being “driven.” Although it relies on solid-state circuitry, nonetheless, the name “drive” has stuck. Flash drives are to be distinguished from the Flash Cards used in digital cameras or MP3 players. Other names for flash drives are: Thumb Drives, Jump Drives, Pocket Drives, and Pen Drives.

These “drives” are almost all compatible with both Universal Serial Bus specifications 1.1 and USB 2.0, which replaced 1.1 in 2001, so they should run on any PC or Mac that actually has one or more USB receptacles or slots into which they may be plugged, which is most of the computers out there today. To determine whether your PC’s USB slots are 1.1 or 2.0, open device manager and expand the Universal Serial Bus section. There should be an “Enhanced” USB host controller present if USB 2.0 is in place.

On the older machines, most flash drives just default to the USB 1.1 specs., and so run a bit more slowly. As a practical matter, fast USB host can in actual practice achieve transfer rates of up to 30-40 Mbs. per second, while the older specification permits a (theoretical) maximum of only 12 Mbs. per second, but in practice tends to function at just about 1 Mb per second. To upgrade to the faster speed, if you have a free slot you can just pop in a USB 2.0 PCI card, which will do the trick.

Uses

Uses are as varied as your imagination. These Swiss army knives are often favored by system operators and network administrators, who load them up with configuration information and software that they use for system maintenance, troubleshooting, and data recovery. People in the PC repair field use them to transfer recovery and antivirus software to infected PCs, while allowing a part of the host machine’s data to be archived in case of emergency. If you plan to use one for this purpose, be sure that it can be set with write protection. Not all drives are write protectable, but if you are going after a virus, this is a very important feature.

Many people use flash drives to carry applications that run on a host computer without requiring installation. Flash drive vendors support U3 by offering API to flash drive-specific functions. A free, open source, software platform called Portableapps allows U3-like functionality on non-U3 drives. The Mozilla’s Firefox, and the Opera browser, each have a configuration for flash drives. There is also a Creative MuVo, a small solid-state digital audio player that comes in a flash drive form.

To boot ailing operating systems is another use. Much like the way used in LiveCD, one can launch any operating system from a bootable flash drive, known as LiveUSB. In Windows Vista, the “ReadyBoost” feature allows use of some flash drives to augment system memory, which makes it one of life’s cheapest possible system upgrades.

An increasingly popular use of flash drives is for people to carry their entire medical history, lists of ailments, medications, allergies, etc., on their key chains for hospital use should a medical emergency arise.

Of course, the most common use is to transport and store personal files such as documents, pictures, music and video.

Buying considerations concern:

Capacity – the 32 and 64 Megabytes are being phased out. Go for a larger drive instead.

Speed – This is usually quoted either in Megabytes or Megabits per second to read and to write. There are 8 Megabits in one Megabyte.

Physical size – they range from the size of 3 “C” batteries down to that of a pack of gum, or even smaller. This is important because of the fact that USB slots are usually very close to each other, so a physically large flash drive could block another USB slot. You can, of course overcome this problem with an adapter.

Design – Most units have protective covers for the USB plug. Some fit on key rings or have small cables to fit with lanyards or to hang from hooks, etc.

Built-in Features – some have a LED that lights up to indicate when data is being transferred.

Compatibility – Almost all will work with Windows 2000, Mac OS 9.0, and Linux 2.4.10 or higher without any special drivers. Most work with Windows 98SE and Mac OS 8.6 with a download from the manufacturer.

Warrantee – Many units have a 1 to 5 year warrantee. Some even come with a lifetime warrantee.

How to Choose

Since this technology is the successor of the floppy disk, and since it comes in a variety of speeds, capacities, etc., you should buy have on hand several of these drives for various purposes. If you are just moving data between computers, the speed is relatively unimportant. If, however, you are using the drive to make a presentation loaded with graphics to an important audience, then be sure you have an extra drive with the same information, and go for the maximum speed and capacity you can afford. One size does not fit all. If you are distributing data to a lot of older machines, then make absolutely sure that your drive is in fact backward compatible (most are, but please be sure).

Like any other kind of drive, these flash drives need to be backed up in some way. However, because these drives are extremely rugged, and due to their lack of moving parts are extremely reliable, you might choose to view the warrantee as a lesser consideration than the other main characteristics. They are virtually impervious to the dust and scratches that afflicted previous forms of portable storage, such as CDs and floppy disks, and top of the line flash drives can store more data than a DVD. The flash drives’ robust nature and low price make them both extremely reliable, and certainly a wholly worthy successor to the now obsolescent though still dearly lamented floppy disk drive. [Moment of Respectful Silence; imagine the smell of lilys and the sound of subdued organ music]

Batteries

Batteries

Once, nickel-cadmium (NiCad) was the only suitable battery for portable equipment from wireless communications to mobile computing.

Nickel-metal-hydride (NiMH) and lithium-ion (Li-Ion) batteries emerged in the early 1990s. Today, lithium-ion is the leading battery chemistry. lithium is the lightest of all metals, has the greatest electrochemical potential. It provides the largest energy density for weight, typically twice that of NiCad, and its self-discharge is less than half the NiCad rate. Li-Ion cells cause virtually no environmental harm when disposed.

Many Li-Ion manufacturers remain silent about aging, but some capacity deterioration occurs after a year, whether the battery is used or not. Maximum current life expectancy is in actual practice about 700 full recharges, or five years, whichever comes first. You can recharge a NiMH battery up to 1,000 times. However Li-Ion batteries are rapidly improving, so their life expectancy may be approaching that of NiMH. Store your battery (whatever its chemistry) in a cool place (ideally at about 15^oc) when not using it, and keep it about 40 persent charged when it remains idle to maximize its life. It is important to protect any battery from extremes of heat or cold.

Tablet PCs

Tablet PCs

The basic design of a tablet PC rests on the idea of separable components. This ultralight notebook also seeks to bring back the writing tablet, the oldest and most natural form of non-verbal communication. Its built-in digitizer pen acts in place of a mouse, and also lets one write B either left or right handed B on the screen. Otherwise a tablet works just like a standard notebook, except that with an optional docking station one can gain virtually all of the capabilities of a desktop. You can run all of your favorite programs on tablets.

Tablets do get fairly warm, so if you are using it on your lap for very long you might want to put some insulation, say a washcloth or two, between your thighs and the machine. Since the tablets= first introduction in 2002, prices have come down considerably, along with the amount of heat, and most now come with a lot of bells and whistles.

The tablet PC represents a major advance in the evolution of personal computing devices. One can use a tablet PC, suitably configured, to run any standard Windows program that will run on a desktop B except for Windows itself, which comes in a format of XP or Vista specially designed for tablets. The Microsoft Office suite also now has a built-in stylus or pen functionality.

By themselves, tablets typically weigh slightly more or sometimes even less than 4 pounds, and typically they have small (9" or 10") screens, though widescreen displays are available. How much hard drive space (and whether it is internal or external) to get is up to you. Similarly, how much memory you get will depend upon your needs and budget. Remember that although processor speed is the most important factor determining a computer=s overall speed, the amount of memory is a close second. Try to get lots of both.

Here are some basic characteristics:

1. Many come with regular keyboards, and all are keyboard compatible, but the stylus is very intuitive and you will quickly master its use.

2. One can use a regular mouse if you wish, though one quickly discovers that the stylus or pen is a natural and highly efficient tool, and one that lets you be mobile to the maximum degree. 3. You may also plug-and-play any standard Universal Serial Bus or USB device. 4. Tablets all have built-in wireless (Bluetooth 802.11x) Internet capabilities.

5. Usually an undocked tablet=s central processing unit or CPU will be slightly slower than that of a desktop, but wholly adequate for virtually any task you can think of.

6. Tablets have amazingly accurate capabilities through sound recognition and through optical character recognition (OCR) to make files out of voice and handwriting input. 7. Lightness is often combined with the rugged construction required by military standards.

8. With respect to mobility and extended battery life, these machines are outstanding.

Tablets come in two basic forms, slates and convertibles. Convertibles have a screen that tilts 180 degrees, for use in either portrait or landscape mode, and it folds down over a keyboard. Slates have no keyboard except, when placed in an optional docking station or when purchased as an optional accessory. The idea is that you need only to carry with you what you need to get the job done. Now that’s progress.

Early adaptors include music composers, graphic designers, student notetakers, traveling salespersons, realtors, and anyone who works “in the field.” They often find that by eliminating many trips back and forth to and from home and/or office, their tablets save them the purchase price in less than a year.

www.lifehacker.com conducted a survey in February, 2008 that shows quite clearly the rapid trend toward portable computing. It asked users were asked whether they owned a desktop (22.8%), laptop (29.6%), or both (47.6%). The next question was, if shopping now whether the respondent would buy a laptop (58.2%) or a desktop (27.6%) or both (14.1%).

This survey left out the possibility of having the best of all possible worlds without the necessity to struggle with two completely separate sets of files, and all the headaches that brings for problems such as version control.

The new and very sensible solution is to buy a tablet or light notebook PC or Mac, and use it as such in the field, but when in the home or office to plug it into a docking station, which in effect turns it into a full-featured desktop machine.

* Because the files are all on the mobile computer’s hard disk, keeping track of them becomes immensely simpler.

* A tablet PC together with a docking station will typically cost much less than both a desktop and a mobile computer that function wholly separately.

* It’s almost like having your cake and eating it too.

OnHop lists docking stations separately, so please be sure to read about them in their own category on this website.

www.nuancesystems.ca quotes Scott Leforce, President of Realty World of Northern California and Nevada. Leforce, expressing the wave of the future, when he said: “Give your laptop to your kids because you don’t need it anymore; it slows you down.”

It is now time for you seriously to consider buying a tablet PC.

LCD and CRT Monitors

LCD and CRT Monitors

Monitors are the computers’ windows.

They show us everything we can see of what is going on inside the computer as we work or play. One’s budget should be the primary guide in choosing a monitor, but what type should one buy? The primary choices are between those based upon cathode ray tubes or CRTs, and those using liquid crystal displays or LCDs. Each has its strengths and weaknesses. If you want the best possible realism in the pictures displayed, buy a CRT. If you are primarily concerned with reading text, buy an LCD.

To learn more, scroll down. CRTs

CRT technology has proven to be a very reliable and high quality standard. Television screens have been using this technology for a very long time with great success. The process works by moving an electron beam across the back of the screen, lighting up phosphor points on the inside of the large glass tube, resulting in a sharp, clear image.

Although an older technology, CRTs remain unsurpassed for the realism of the pictures displayed, especially in terms of the contrast ratios, the depth and true rendering of colors, which are now available in the millions. If you work primarily with graphics and/or photographs and/or videos, or if you otherwise deal with color production, including any print media, then you will likely find a CRT to be your best bet. Likewise, CRTs remain the monitor of choice for those involved with medical imaging, and virtually anyone involved in the world of art.

Although the LCDs are improving in this regard, you still cannot get the degree of realism that a new CRT offers from even a high end LCD. Note the term NEW just used, because CRT displays do slowly degrade over time as the phosphors inside the tube gradually break down, and those parts are not cheap to replace.

Another advantage CRTs still have is their easy scalability to different resolutions. Resolution refers to the total number of pixels (short for “picture elements”) that the monitor can display horizontally x vertically. You can adjust the electron beam in the tube to lower resolutions while enlarging the picture and keeping its clarity intact. Conversely, as resolution goes up there is a natural tradeoff – that the image size must scale down to permit more information to be displayed on the same-sized screen, so there are some practical limits to the resolutions that one can view easily on various sized monitors.

For example, one should be highly suspicious of a 15” monitor that claims to show, say, 1,600 x 1,200 pixels. Perhaps it can deliver technically, but the image would be too small to make for ready comprehension, and so would in practice be unusable. Here are some recommended resolutions for various sized monitors, measured diagonally from the upper right to the lower left (or vice versa). Multiply the horizontal pixels times the vertical pixels to get the total number of picture elements used to draw the screen, e.g., 800 x 600 = 480,000 pixels.

15” – 800 x 600 to 1,024 x 768 pixels

17” – 1,280 x 1024 pixels

19” – 1,280 x 1,024 pixels

21” – 1,600 x 1,200 pixels

23” – 1,768 x 992 to 1,920 x 1,080 pixels

25” – 1,920 x 1,440 pixels

27” – 2,048 x 1,536 pixels

Please bear in mind that your monitor must match the computer’s video card. It should be capable of displaying the resolutions and colors that the adapter can produce. Conversely, if your monitor is capable of displaying resolutions much higher than the card can generate, you will get only what the card can produce, not what the monitor could show with a better video card. Any mismatch between the monitor and the video card will add up to money wasted.

Relatively flat screen CRTs are now the standard. Flat CRTs are designed to reduce the glare and distortion created by conventional CRT monitors. The flat tube increases image clarity while reducing glare from light sources within the room. Nonetheless, you will still likely need to buy a glare reduction screen cover. Consider it an essential part of your CRT monitor.

Also, CRTs offer a much larger viewing angle as opposed to LCDs, which is especially important when more than one person is viewing the screen, as when you want to use the monitor in conjunction with a home entertainment centre. Another advantage is the CRT’s extremely fast refresh rate, typically 70-85 hertz or cycles per second. This refers to how quickly a pixel can turn on and off. If this rate is low, fast motion will appear blurred, or even leave “trails.”

Try to ensure that your CRT monitor supports refresh rates above 70 Hz; anything less approaches the AC power frequency of 60 Hz. Low refresh rates result in screen flicker and cause eye strain. If you use your monitor more than a few minutes a day, simply don’t go there.

The distance between pixels is called dot pitch, and is measured in millimeters. The distance between pixels has a lot to do with the quality of the image. CRTs come with a range of dot pitches. If the one you are considering is above .28 mm, we’d suggest, again, just don’t go there. You want and need a monitor with a dot pitch of .28 or preferably less.

Another "don’t go there" concerns the interlacing/non-inter-lacing issue. If the scanning beam hits each and every line of pixels in succession, on each pass, the monitor is non-interlaced. The interlaced monitor scans the odd numbered lines on one pass, and then it scans the even lines on the second pass. This results in an almost imperceivable flicker, which will eventually result in eye-strain, blurred vision, sore eyes, headaches and perhaps even nausea. Make sure the CRT you are considering is non-interlaced. Avoid interlaced monitors like the bubonic plague.

When buying a computer monitor for your home, consider where it will be placed. Should desk space be an issue you'll want to choose an LCD display with a small footprint that will easily leave enough room on your desk for a keyboard and mouse pad. Like to watch DVD movies? You can save space in your home by watching them on your computer monitor instead of on a TV. If this interests you be sure to buy the largest-sized screen you can afford.

The CRT’s disadvantages must of course include its bulkiness and weight. This is not a highly mobile computer peripheral. Another disadvantage for those who use the monitor hour after hour is glare. While glare can be minimized through adjusting the set, it can only be wholly corrected with an anti-glare shield, which is an extra cost that should definitely be factored into a decision to buy a CRT. In terms of the long term costs of the monitor, a clear disadvantage is the much greater power consumption of CRTs as compared with the other technologies. To minimize this, set the screen saver to come on rather quickly, and consider skipping the fancy screen saver programs; a blank screen while you are away will do quite nicely. A final disadvantage, which in the midst of a Canadian winter can be quite welcome, is that they generate, store and disseminate a lot of heat.

LCDs

This is the newish technology, and like any other it’s sexy and cool. LCDs are some 80% less bulky than CRTs, and commensurately lighter, and therefore much more portable; in fact, virtually all laptops and notebooks have them. The latest high end LCDs have crisp image quality and are easy on the eyes. A primary advantage they have over CRTs will interest anyone who works primarily with text. That is, the pixels you find on LCDs have nicely defined edges – and this produces sharp and well-focused letters on the screen. If you are a writer, editor, proof-reader, etc., your best bet is a LCD.

LCDs have almost closed some of the gap with the CRTs in color rendering, especially at the high cost end, and of course the size and weight differences are huge. LCD screens tend to cause less eye fatigue and strain than CRTs without anti-glare screens. The LCDs are immensely more energy efficient, being an almost costless part to operate. The energy savings may not be much for an individual user, but if you are looking at a corporate office where 50 displays are in use, the energy savings might be more of an issue.

LCDs vary considerably in their response times, the speed with which they can turn pixels on, then off, then on again. Older and budget LCDs are so slow that they badly blur movies and fast action games. Although the gap is lessening, for many LCD monitors, especially at the low end, there is reduced color clarity as compared with CRTs. This is because the technology involves different ways to deal with the problem of low response times that are essentially “work arounds” rather than true solutions. For general use, get a monitor up to 24” with a response time of 16 milliseconds or less. For gamers, people using multimedia and color professionals, a response time of 12 milliseconds is the minimum. For hard-core gamers and video professionals, Look for a response time of 8 milliseconds or less.

There are two distinct types of LCD technology available today: active matrix and passive matrix. The preferred format is the active matrix, which uses a TFT (thin film transmitter) to produce a more secure picture with a relatively wide angle of view. TFT provides the best resolution of all of the flat panel technologies, but it's also the most expensive. There is enough difference in these formats that we can decisively say with respect to the passive matrix, just don't go there. Manufacturers are slowly phasing out passive matrix technology, due to its slow response time and overall lackluster performance.

LCDs offer two aspect ratios: standard format (4:3) or widescreen format (16:9 or 16:10). This online computer store recommends widescreen, because it allows you to view multiple windows side-by-side, and thereby see more of what you are writing or working on, or else to work with more than one application. Also, the widescreen format is taking over with high definition TVs, DVD movies, etc., so one might as well move with the times. Your monitor will likely last for a long time, and the widescreen format has already virtually arrived.

As is especially obvious with notebooks, because LCDs use polarized pixels, the effective viewing angle (technically, the viewing direction) can be quite narrow. This means that one must be pretty much directly in front of the screen to see anything clearly. This also means that one will often need to have a very highly adjustable stand to support the monitor, which should be factored in as an additional cost.

LCD monitors are not all created equal. PVA (patterned vertical alignment) and S-PVA (super patterned vertical alignment) are alternative versions of MVA technology, and some have a very high contrast ratios such as 3000:1. PVA panels all use at least true 8-bit color electronics and do not use any color simulation methods. Some S-PVA panels use even 10-bit color internally, which enables gamma and other corrections without banding. PVA and S-PVA can offer good black depth, wide viewing angles and S-PVA can offer additionally fast response times thanks to modern RTC technologies. At the moment, PVA and S-PVA monitors are the only LCDs that offer a wide viewing angle. Unfortunately, they usually cost about 30 per cent more than the others, so in this case you do get what you pay for.

Sometimes MVA and PVA type displays are categorized as VA type displays.

LCD monitors have a disadvantage compared with CRTs in that they can only function effectively at their “native” resolution. The screen can truly display only the number of pixels in its matrix, no more, no less. It can “display” a lower resolution, either by using a fraction of the available pixels, or by blending multiple pixels together to simulate a single smaller pixel. Either way, you get blurry or fuzzy images, especially with text, so plan to leave your LCD set at its native resolution. A potential problem is that if your graphics card does not support the display’s native resolution, you may get poor quality images or perhaps no images at all, so check this out before you part with your monitor dollars.

Because each LCD pixel is separately driven, one can have individual defective pixels that are either stuck on or else are dead. The computer industry has never fully agreed [ISO 13406-2 notwithstanding] on the maximum acceptable number of defective pixels. In practice, a SVGA LCD panel with 4 defective pixels is usually considered defective, and customers should request an exchange for a new one, especially if the defective pixels are close together or near the center of the screen. Some manufacturers now have a “zero defective pixel guarantee,” and will replace such screens for free.

LCD panels also may have or develop defects known as Mura, which look like small-scale cracks with very small changes in luminance or color. Consumers should reject such a screen.

As Wikipedia tells us: “Although LCDs typically have more vibrant images and better “real world” contrast ratios (the ability to maintain contrast and variation of color in bright environments) than CRTs, they do have lower contrast ratios than CRTs in terms of how deep their blacks are. A contrast ratio is the difference between a completely on (white) and off (black) pixel. Also, LCDs can have ‘blacklight bleed” where light (usually seen around corners of the screen leaks out and turns black into gray.” Another problem that Wikipedia notes is that “Some LCD monitors can cause migraines and eyestrain problems due to flicker from florescent backlights fed at 50 or 60 Hz. "

Typically, brightness is not a concern with CRT monitors, but because LCD monitors are backlit they have different brightness levels. The brightness rating for an LCD is commonly referred to as 'nits' and it commonly ranges from 70 to 250 nits. The higher the nits, the brighter the display.

The Bottom Line

Unfortunately the industry is very poor about properly listing the specifications for monitors to help buyers understand and compare them. At a given resolution, there is virtually no cost difference between CRTs and LCDs. The many announcements of the death of the CRT are slightly exaggerated. However, if you choose to buy a CRT online, bear in mind that they are bulky and heavy, which makes them expensive to ship. The massive and ongoing move toward buying from online computer stores is driving a lot of people toward LCDs, mainly for this reason.

Manufacturers add bells and whistles to help sell their products. Some features, like media card readers and USB hubs are nice to have but not always necessary. Others, such as multiple video inputs, are much more necessary. Most monitors have at least two video inputs, usually a VGA-style (analog) connection and a DVI (digital) connection; these will meet the needs for most users. Some monitors also support the newer HDMI connection. If you plan to watch high definition content, make sure that the DVI and/or HDMI connections are "HDCP-compliant." It is also of fundamental importance that the monitor stand should be sufficiently adjustable to meet your ergonomic needs. Make sure that any software needed to setup or control the monitor will be included in the monitor’s cost.

Generally avoid bundled computer deals that include a monitor, because the majority of such deals bundle in whatever is left over in stock, last year’s model, or a no-name loss-leader brand with poor specifications.

Warranties range from 90 days to one year. Read the fine print.

Do not be dazzled by extras, such as USB cards and built-in speakers. When shopping for a monitor, always bear in mind that the most important thing you are seeking is image quality, pure and simple. Even if you actually buy from an online store to save money (and usually you will save a lot), go to a local store to check out with your own eyes which models deliver the best image quality. You can always add extras, but you cannot increase the monitor’s basic performance.

Hard Drives

Hard Drives

How to buy a DVD drive.

The two new optical drive formats, Blu-ray and HD DVD, are being backed by Enterprise titans, Sony and Microsoft respectively. One may confidently expect that neither will wholly prevail, and that therefore one day soon drive makers will come up with drives that are compatible with both. There will always be some people who want to be early adopters. They tend to be technologically savvy, and probably do not need to read our simple how-to buy tips.

What are the rest of us to do?

Regular DVD drives remain an inexpensive option. They are being continually improved, and some new ones can write DVD disks as quickly as 20X – which is faster than the mass marketed media (disks) can receive. There are two kinds of disks, write once (R) and rewritable (RW). Use the write once for videos or albums you are collecting, and the rewritable for incremental data backups.

There are also two kinds of disks, single (SL) and dual layer (DL). Each single-layer disk can store up to 4.7GB, and each double-layer or dual-layer disk can store up to 8.5GB. These disks are inexpensive, though the latter costs more because they are more difficult to produce. Eight point five gigs is enough to store a two hour-long video. Think about just how much storage you really need.

· Dual-layer disks burn at up to the maximum that most disks can receive the incoming data, which is 8X. Some drives can now write dual-layer disks at 10X speed, but with them you must use only compatible disks.

· Single layer R (write once) DVD-R and DVD+R disks write at up to 20X, DVD-R DL at up to 8X, and DVD+R DL at up to 10X.

· Single-layer rewritable DVD-RAM disks burn at up to 12X, DVD+RW disks at 8X, and DVD-RW disks at 6X.

· Most DVD drives can write to CD-R disks at speeds of 48X to 52X, that is, their top speeds are roughly comparable.

While speed is an asset, remember this rule (a variant on the rule that you cannot eat your cake and have it too): the more slowly you burn your disks, the more perfect your recording is likely to be.

The compatibility factor.

Most DVD drives support reading from and writing to the major incompatible formats, DVD-RW and DVD+RW, and many also support DVD-RAM as well. These last may be called super multi drives. The drive you buy simply must support both of the first two formats for inter-machine compatible reasons. It probably should support DVD-RAM as well, because this format has the most robust error correction available, and it will give you random access to a rewritable disk, much like a hard drive does. While DVD-RAM is the least compatible with the drives that are out there in consumerland, it has yet another advantage. Using RW disks, it can rewrite up to 100,000 times, which in practice, and barring some accident, means that your disks will last for a lifetime or two or three. DVD-RW and DVD+RW formats can only rewrite up to about 1,000 times.

A popular frill.

Hewlett Packard’s LightScribe Direct Disk Labeling technology eliminates sloppy ink labeling by using the burner’s laser to etch a monochromatic label directly onto the disk’s top surface. It requires specially coated LightScribe media. An elaborate label can take up to 20 minutes to etch.

Software considerations

All legitimate retail drives include video DVD authoring software that permits you to create menus and to encode analog video to MPEG-2, so that you can play the video DVD on a standard TV-top DVD player. All such drives also can create data DVDs with the mastering and packet-writing software that comes in the bundle. Some common bundles include scaled down OEM [Original Equipment Manufacturer] versions of Nero, such as Nero Ultra 7 Enhanced, or Roxio’s Easy Media Creator 9, so look for a bundle that offers the most full-featured version of such software. Also see if the package includes backup software and additional video or image editing software. Because, at a given speed, all burners are created essentially equal, you may wish to pick the one that offers the most software or the most attractive software.

Caveat Emptor (Let the buyer beware)

Do not be tempted by a drive that is drastically underpriced. If the bargain seems too good to be true, you can bet your sweet bippy that it is. This drive probably will come without any software, no warranty, and none of the necessary firmware updates. Such a drive is probably one that was initially intended to be sold as a bare OEM drive. Sold separately, it is likely to give you considerable grief. Please just say no. Summon up massive amounts of willpower, and resolutely just don’t go there.

To help yourself do this, please remember a most fundamental law that in Uncle Remus’ story Br’er Rabbit discovered when he assaulted the Tar Baby: Anything is much easier to take apart than it is to put together.

Line Conditioners

Line conditioner

A line or power conditioner is a device you need to protect your computer from variations in the power supply, such as spikes and brownouts. You connect it to the wall outlet, and then plug the computer into it. Unfortunately, in Canada it remains even to this day more a necessity than a luxury, especially for people living outside our few major cities. If you live in downtown Montreal, Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary or Vancouver, forget it. Otherwise, take note: it works like a surge protector, but it also maintains a continuous voltage (called conditioning) fed to the computer during temporary voltage reductions, such as a brownout.

This is a very much underappreciated product. If everybody using a computer in Canada were using one, we would have, literally, vast mountains of fewer dead computer carcasses to recycle as flower-pot stands or toxic landfill. These units pay for themselves, big time. You owe this kind life insurance to your trusty and beloved computer, so get one!

Accessories and Parts

Accessories

CD Drives

CD Drives
This technology is by now quite venerable and familiar. However, there is one possibly important point that people often overlook. There is a tradeoff between speed on the one hand, and sleekness and portability on the other. The slimline models tend to be only about half as fast as the regular ones. Set your priorities accordingly.

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