Tech Tips And Tricks

Canon IXUS 960 IS

2009-10-05T01:11:00.003+05:30

The new Canon IXUS 960 IS easily holds its own against competition With camera-phones inching towards the 10 megapixel count, is it game over for dedicated shooters? Not if you’re considering the Canon IXUS 960 IS — the latest in the line of premium compacts from Canon holds its own against the competition, and then some.

There’s much to like — the sturdy and polished titanium body, limit-pushing 12.1-megapixel CCD sensor and 3.7x optical zoom lens. All the features of the previous IXUS models are present — face-tracking detects and exposes correctly for the people in the frame, and the IS in the model name stands for image stabilisation, allowing you to take hand-held shots in far lower light than you’d normally be able to manage.

More serious photographers won’t be too frustrated by the 960’s feature set either. As well as the very capable image stabilisation — you get three metering modes, including spot metering, and image review options include a histogram breakdown and warnings for over-exposed areas. Manual mode is a little limited though, and there’s no way of setting shutter speed aside from +/-2EV exposure compensation, and no manual aperture control at all. That, and the fact that the lens’s maximum wide-angle setting of 35mm-equivalent is rather regular for a compact, but it would nice to see a move to 28mm on higher-end models for a true wide-angle view.

Fancy-schmancy features aside, one department where the 960 IS really excels is image quality — excellent colour reproduction, with accurate and well-saturated tones, and exposures that tend to be accurate, even in some tough situations where it would have been a hit and miss for most compacts. And the biggest bugbear for cameras this size, the 960 IS manages to keep ISO image noise under control all the way through till ISO 400, and images are worth printing even at ISO 800. It’s pricey, but you get what you pay for — rock solid build quality and exceptional performance.

• Rating: 8/10

• Price: Rs 24,995 with a two-year warranty

• URL: http://site-in.canon-asia.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=digitalcamera&prod_type=ixus960is

World Of Warcraft Secrets

2009-09-14T23:05:00.006+05:30

Dear World of Warcraft Gamer,

If you're sick and tired of running around totally broke while other players get epic flying mounts and the most expensive gear, this information is for you.

You've probably always wondered why you can't seem to make as much gold as the other players on your server.

I used to wonder the same thing. I thought,

"Where are these people making gold?"

"Are they buying it on ebay?"

"What are they selling?"

So I set out to spy on all the successful players I could find to see just what they did to earn all of their gold.

I spent months using stealth tactics to track high level players everywhere from the auction house to their favorite gold farming spots and back.

I discovered just what it was they were doing to make extreme amounts of gold- and then improved upon their methods myself and even created amazingly profitable new ones.

They never suspected a thing, that is, until I started making more gold than all of them...If they found out that I spied on them- they would hate me even more!

They Laughed at You!

I didn't just spy on other players, but I interrogated them as well. Any time I saw wealthy players I would strike up a conversation so I could learn all their secrets for myself.

The most common reaction from these players was to laugh about how easy it was to make gold and how stupid people were for not doing it too. Most of them wouldn't tell me their secrets, but slowly a few of them started to crack and let me have little tips about what they were doing.

I Was Amazed

Their strategies were so stupid simple I was amazed I hadn't thought of them first, many of them made money in places I had been to many times.

Many of them had "secret" places to find loot or materials that I had never been to.

(If you're like me you're going to freak out once you learn these places!)

And even more of them made money but never left the auction house. They knew just what to buy and sell for insane profits. (and it's not what you think!)

I'm NOT Keeping the Secret

Since I've first discovered these secrets, I've spent years improving them, tweaking them, creating my own, and tossing out the ones that no longer work.

I now have numerous level 80, 70 and level 60+ characters all with very healthy amounts of gold! In fact, I used to share my character info right here on this page so I could talk to other gamers like you.

Pretty soon, I was getting thousands of e-mails and hundreds of people were begging me for gold. I was like a World of Warcraft rock star... everyone wanted my gold secrets!Things got so crazy- I stopped playing that character! It was totally out of control. Even more amazing...

Gold Sellers Hate Me!

When I started sharing these secrets, I had no idea just how incredibly mad it was going to make the World of Warcraft gold selling companies. I soon found out...

Since first publishing these strategies, I've had my account attacked, been sent hundreds of viruses and trojans (actually this happens pretty much daily) and the corrupt gold sellers even pressured the biggest gaming news sites to pull all my links! (because the gold sellers spend tens of thousands advertising with them)

Frankly, it's extremely dangerous for me to even reveal these secrets anymore- the gold sellers are madder than ever and are doing everything they can to stop me and make my life totally miserable!

But I won't quit that easily.

These Secrets Must be Revealed...

To get your copy now...

Click Here!

When You Get Your Copy of the Gold Secrets Guide Today, Here are Just Some of the Things You Will Learn:

Why 99% of players are using the worst methods to make gold and how to avoid making the same mistakes- and earn incredible gold!

Extremely effective ways for lower level players to earn gold, even if you're just getting started with your first character.

How I earned all the gold for my epic mount in just 2 days using a secret farming system! (this is so simple once you learn it)

How you can be guaranteed to get fun rare items like the "dancing" flute and even your very own rare chicken pet. Yes, it's real!

The story of one player who made over 3000 gold using only other players' skills, and how you can do the same. These tactics will make your head spin the moment you discover them!

How to make huge profits selling items you can buy from vendors. (this often brings a profit in only minutes when you know where to look)

How to learn what items are going to be worth massive gold soon- so you can buy them now and sell them later for massive profit!

How to farm rare patterns that sell for hundreds of gold- or you can keep the patterns and profit from selling the rare items!

How you can double your profits from common items like cloth. I felt like an idiot when I discovered this- and once you learn this you'll be blown away!

Where to find the best items with the least competition even if your server is packed with other people competing with you.

Where to go to find items that everyone wants and needs but can't easily get- but you can once you get your hands on this guide!

Mobs that you can repeatedly kill for massive gold fast that on one else is bothering with. (even the Chinese gold-farmers don't know all of these)

How to quickly identify items that are selling for way too little and easily sell them for huge gold (you'll be amazed at what you can "flip" once you discover this!).

Why there is big gold in items that no longer exist and how to get them- this will blow you away!

The best item farming paths for both old Azeroth, the Burning Crusade and Wrath of Lich King. If you decide to farm materials it won't be boring when you know the fastest and most profitable routes through the world.

How to maximize the gold generated from daily quests. Even if you don't need reputation gains these quests can put gold in your pocket while you do other things.

Detailed maps and images of the most profitable paths and locations. It's as if I were right beside you guiding you, unlike other maps that leave you scratching your head. I show you step by step exactly where to go.

and much more...

Lenovo Netbooks

2009-08-28T22:59:00.002+05:30

Another day, another netbook. Even the basic specs invoke a sense of déjà vu — a 10-inCH screen, an Intel Atom Processor running at 1.6 GHz, a three-cell battery, 1 gigabyte of memory, and a 5,400-rpm hard drive. Does the Lenovo IdeaPad S10 netbook flock to the herd, or does it manage to stand out?

It’s a bit of both really. The basic design of the S10 holds no surprises, although it is a far cry from the toy-like appearance of the Asus Eee PC 701 which started it all over a year ago. Much like the Dell Inspiron Mini 9, the S10 looks and feels solid — typically ‘Lenovo’, which is a good thing to inherit. And with the semi-glossy ivory finish and the matte-steel finish hinges, the S10 looks very classy and minimalistic, almost making some of the other 10-inch netbooks look big and bulky in comparison. The nice bit — the plastic casing is shiny, but not glossy, and it resists fingerprints. Enough of the highly overrated piano finish, I say. The clean lines almost remind me of a shrunk down MacBook and the blue status lights and colour-coordinated wire mesh cover for the speakers makes the Lenovo looks far more future proof than the already dated looking designs of some of the other netbooks.

Now for most, an area of concern for netbooks tends to be the keyboard and mousepad — if you cant use them easily, you’re not going to be using your netbook much, will you? At 85 per cent of full size, the S10’s keyboard is more spacious and comfortable than those found on most 9-inch netbooks, but it isn’t good enough to topple the MSI Wind from its top spot in this department. If you’re a touch typist, you will need time to acclimatise your hands to the smaller keys. Most of us expect to hunt and peck around on netbooks in any case, so your mileage may vary if you expect to do a lot of typing on this. In such a case, may I recommend an external keyboard and mouse – kinda defeats

the purpose of the netbook, if you ask me. The touchpad is well-sized for a netbook, and tracks well across the surface. A trackpoint a la the ThinkPads would have been nice though.

The matte 10.2” WSVGA (1024x600 pixel) AntiGlare TFT display on the S10 is nice and vibrant, and you get rich colours and good contrast. The matte finish on the screen glare and reflections, which help, make the screen easier to read under bright sunlight. So is it just a pretty looking netbook? Well, it does pack in a 160 GB, 5400 RPM hard disk, and 1 GB of RAM running at 667 MHz, so there’s plenty of power under the hood for most netbook needs and Windows XP chugs along just fine on the S10. From browsing the Internet on Firefox to working on Microsoft Office, transferring files over Bluetooth and listening to music over Wi-Fi, or even watching a movie, the experience was very good. Should you wish to add more power, the S10 is fairly easy to disassemble and upgrade. Plus, it also comes packed to the gills with USB, VGA-out (for projectors and external screens), a multi-card reader, and even adds built-in Bluetooth and an ExpressCard slot for additional connectivity.

It’s not without its flaws, though. It runs hot, so I’d recommend only short sessions of use on the lap. The three-cell battery lasts a bit under three hours, so keep that in mind if you intend to use it a lot outdoors (or invest in a 6-cell battery!). An additional USB port wouldn't hurt, either.

In the end, it’s a sleek addition to the burgeoning pile of netbooks already out in the market, and if you care particularly for the Lenovo brand, it can be had for a reasonable price, and it’s well worth the money.

Quick Specs:

Processor: 1.6 GHz Intel Atom N270, 512KB L2 Cache
RAM: 1GB DDR2 SDRAM - 667 MHz
Hard Drive: 160GB, 5400 RPM
Screen: 10.2" TFT active matrix, 1024x600 resolution with LED Backlight
Graphics: Intel GMA 945 Express Chipset Technology
Interfaces/ Connectivity: 2 x USB, 1 x ExpressCard/34, Ethernet, Wi-Fi 802.11g/b, 1.3 MP webcam, speakers and mic, VGA-out, Bluetooth, 3in-1 multi card reader
Battery: 3 Cell Lithium-Ion
Operating System: Windows XP SP3 Home Edition with OneKey Rescue System
Dimensions: 9.8" x 7.2" x 1.2"
Weight: 1.17 kg
Rating: 8/10
Rs. 24,490/-

URL: http://www.lenovo.com/in/en/index.html

Blackberry Storm

2009-06-22T23:08:00.003+05:30

A touch-screen BlackBerry? And no keyboard? Silence, you infidel!” I can almost imagine conversations like these happening in hushed whispers until a few months ago.

To its fiercest advocates, the physical keyboard was the last bastion from which they would shower scorn on the iPhone and its inefficient virtual keyboard. And then Research in Motion’s BlackBerry did the unthinkable — it brewed a Storm (almost) with the launch of the keyboard-less, full touch-screen Storm, where typing and navigating require tapping on glass, much like the iPhone and a slew of devices that were launched in its wake.

From a distance, there’s very little that sets the Storm apart from the increasingly crowded field of touch-based devices. It’s black and has (ho-hum) grey and silver accents. Run-of- the- mill stuff really.It’s about as wide as the iPhone, but the added girth around the waist makes it feel way bigger in your hand.

It’s big, surprisingly heavy and a tad on the clunky side. The weight does make it feel robust, and inspires confidence in its ability to take a licking. Even with four dedicated buttons at the base of the screen, you have to keep both hands free — this is most definitely a two-handed phone.

The size affords the Storm a gorgeous 3.25-in (480 x 360) touchscreen, the biggest and highest resolution screen to come with a BlackBerry model. It’s not as stunning as the Bold but it’s punchy and beautiful, and the BlackBerry OS and video look fantastic on it. Almost like holding a personal media player in your hand.

The capacitive touchscreen is fairly responsive, and here’s where the Storm stands out from the rest of the pack. Unlike the feedback-less iPhone and the haptic (vibration feedback) you get with the Nokia 5800 and the Samsung Omnia, the Storm utilises a completely unique “click” technology called SurePress that actually allows you to click the screen down like a mouse button.

Yes, the whole screen is one large button, and clicking it down is much like clicking a laptop mouse button. So, not only can you hover around the screen without actually selecting anything, there’s also the physical sensation of clicking a button when you type or navigate. It’s very well implemented in the hardware — you won’t accidentally press it when you don’t mean to, but you don’t have to hammer it either.

Now, just how usable is this? To answer that, one has to look at the OS that has been bundled into the Storm. Visually very similar to previous devices from BlackBerry, the Storm features version 4.7 of the OS, where the company has added touch functionality to take the place of trackball movements.

Translated, what this means is that unlike the iPhone, the Storm’s UI is not custom built for touch navigation. It’s almost like they’ve packed in touch navigation as an afterthought. The natural flow that has become now almost legendary on the iPhone — flicking and scrolling, pinching and panning — feel inelegant on the Storm. You’re never really fully in control of device, and the occasional lag you experience when using the phone for any serious use reinforces that fact.

So, to answer the question on everybody’s mind — does this phone have a true BlackBerry soul? It’s a BlackBerry, so yes, the Storm is everything you’d expect from one in the e-mail and security department, and the new Application Center is a step in the right direction. More power to certified third party applications, I say.

But for someone who uses their BlackBerry for a lot of e-mail, this is a serious letdown. I hate to say this, but typing is no fun on this device. Even after a number of days of using the device, pushing the screen in over and over requires so much more effort than simply gliding my fingers around a good touch keyboard.

If you’re in love with the BlackBerry keyboard, this will not do. It is downright tiring, even with the excellent onscreen SureType keyboard taking the smarts out of typing in the right word. And my biggest gripe — no WiFi! On a corporate device, that’s a no-no. On a consumer-oriented device, that’s downright suicidal.

If you’re intent on snapping up the Storm, bear the following in mind. You will need to take your time to get to know the Storm, it’s not an easy transition from the previous Berries.

Once you learn how it likes to be rotated, tapped and swiped, learn the shortcuts, only then can you really start to decide whether or not it’s for you. It’s not the average touchscreen device. Also, accept the fact that you may be sacrificing some amount of efficiency for that gorgeous screen and all that multimedia goodness. As long as you realise the Storm is not the ultimate BlackBerry, and there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all-device, you’ll love the Storm.

Quick Specs

• Networks: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, GSM/GPRS networks
• Display: 3.25-in 480 x 360 pixel Transmissive TFT LCD colour display with ambient light sensor
• Data Input/Navigation: SurePress touchscreen, On screen keyboard: portrait SureType and Multi-tap, QWERTY landscape
• Audio: 3.5mm stereo headset capable, A2DP compatible
• Camera: 3.2 MP camera with auto flash, auto focus, 2x digital zoom
• Memory: Expandable memory — Support for microSD card, 1GB onboard memory, 128 MB Flash (flash memory)
• Battery and battery life: 1400 mAhr battery; Standby time: 356 hours, talktime: 6 hours
• Dimensions (H x W x D): 112.5 mm x 62.2 mm x 13.95 mm
• Weight: 155gm
• Rating: 8/10
• Price: Rs 27,990. Available only on Vodafone
•URL:http://www.vodafone.in/existingusers/vbs/pages/blackberry_ind_storm.aspx

AVG Antivirus 8.5

2009-06-07T13:07:00.016+05:30

AVG Anti-Virus & Anti-Spyware

Antivirus and antispyware protection for Windows from the world's most trusted security company. Use the Internet with confidence in your home or small office.

Easy to download, install and use
Protection against viruses, spyware, adware, worms and trojans
Real-time security while you surf and chat online
Top-quality protection that does not slow your system down
Free support and service around the clock and across the globe
Compatible with Windows Vista and Windows XP

Integrated protection

Anti-Virus: protection against viruses, worms and trojans
Anti-Spyware: protection against spyware, adware and identity-theft
Anti-Rootkit: protection against hidden threats (rootkits)
Web Shield & LinkScanner: protection against malicious websites

Easy-to-use, automated protection

Real-time protection, automatic updates, low-impact background scanning for on-line threats, and instant quarantining or removal of infected files ensures maximum protection. Every interaction between your computer and the Internet is monitored, so nothing can get onto your system without your knowledge. AVG scans in real time:

All files including documents, pictures and applications
E-mails (all major email clients supported)
Instant messaging and P2P communications
File downloads and online transactions such as shopping and banking
Search results and any other links you click on

Internet use with peace of mind

The new web shield checks every web page at the moment you click on the link to ensure you’re not hit by a stealthy drive-by download or any other exploits. All links on search results pages in Google, Yahoo, and MSN are analyzed and their current threat level is reported in real time before you click on the link and visit the site.

The best Windows protection - trusted by millions of users

AVG's award-winning antivirus technology protects millions of users and is certified by major antivirus testing organizations (VB100%, ICSA, West Coast Labs Checkmark).

No hidden costs

When you purchase an AVG product, everything you need is included in the price for the full license duration - virus updates.

Flexible licensing

AVG Anti-Virus can be purchased online in license packs for 1-10 computers.
One or two year subscriptions available.

1 year Subscription USD 34.99
2 years Subscription USD 51.99

Download The Latest AVG 8.5 Antivirus Here

Download Now

Special Wallet Friendly Edition Of AVG Antivirus & Spyware 8.5 License (2009 Edition)

With Daily Antivirus Updates from AVG's website until your license expires.

But without

24/7 customer care and technical support.

This special offer license will last 9 years. Yes, you heard it right and will cost just $45. That's just $5 per year.

After you have paid the seller, e-mail him (the email address can be seen when making payments with paypal) with:

Sub-AVG Antivirus & Spyware 8.5 9 yrs license

Body-

Name : Your Name

Date of Purchase: mm/dd/yyyy

The seller would verify that you have made the payment and e-mail back the license code within 2 hours time.

Buyers may leave a comment about their experience of AVG 8.5

Shop Safe Online & Paypal

2009-06-07T12:15:00.003+05:30

You’ve stumbled upon a rare edition of Tolkien’s The Hobbit on eBay and, the bibliophile that you are, you know you must grab it before anyone else does. The only hitch is that you are too scared to use your credit card on the Internet.

On a travel site, you have found the perfect deal for your summer holiday and you know you won’t get a better one at the ticket counter. The only way you can book is online. And for that you need a credit card, something you don’t have.

There are people who persistently refuse to make online transactions, like our friend the bibliophile, because they fear their credit card number will be stolen. There are others who simply don’t believe in plastic.

The fear of your credit card number being stolen is not mere paranoia. There have been many instances of such online theft. This usually happens either because the computer user is using a pirated version of Windows, or he does not have adequate protection in the form of an Internet Security suite that protects him from viruses and online thieves. However, those of you who choose not to use a credit card in your daily life need not shy away from using one in the virtual world!

Just create a virtual credit card. It is both secure and easy. You can then use your virtual card number to buy anything online easily and without any fear. The best part is that you can fix a credit limit also.

To create a virtual card you need either a MasterCard or Visa credit card from your bank. You could even use your debit card. And you must be Internet banking enabled.

Creating a virtual credit card involves a simple three-step process. Go to your bank’s Internet site. See if it has the option for creating a virtual credit card. HDFC Bank has and it is called NetSafe. All it requires is a one-time registration. After that you can log in and generate any number of these temporary credit cards.

First you need to accept the terms and conditions (please read them carefully). Next key in your debit card number and your ATM PIN. If you are using a credit card you have to insert the three-digit number printed in the signature space on the back of most credit cards. It is called the CVV or Card Verification Value. On American Express Cards it is a four-digit code. Your date of birth and the date of expiry of your card also need to be filled in. Fill in your personal details and create a username and password of your choice. This completes the registration process and now you can log in to NetSafe.

Finally, you need to specify the account from which the money is to be debited, and the credit limit. That’s it. Your virtual credit card will contain your card limit, your unique one-time card number and finally the CVV.

The card lapses on use, thus preventing any theft. You must use your card within 24 hours of creating it. If you want to make more purchases online just make another virtual credit card by logging in to your NetSafe account.

Receiving payments

We have talked about buying securely using a virtual credit card. But what if you want receive payment for work done? For this PayPal is a very good option. Open an account by signing up in www.paypal.com. Link your virtual card to this account. Once your account is ready you can even make payments through PayPal.

A basic PayPal account is free. You can send funds to anyone with an e-mail address, whether they have a PayPal account or not. They’ll get a message from PayPal about the funds, and then they just have to sign up for their own account.

Funds transferred via PayPal reside in a PayPal account until the holder of the funds retrieves them or spends them. If the user has entered and verified the bank account information, the funds can be transferred directly into their account. For the money to be transferred to your bank account you will need the MICR code to identify your bank branch. You can get this information from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) website. Just search for “RBI micr number” and the first result will get you the relevant code.

To Get Yourself A Business Paypal Account and start accepting credit cards click on the image below.

No start-up or monthly fees, no cancellation fees, and no minimum payments.
Just Sign up and get started in minutes.

When Windows Don't Load

2009-06-05T12:46:00.002+05:30

One of the major problems faced by all PC users is when Windows simply refuses to load. Try as you might, in Safe Mode or Normal Mode, the PC will just not respond. You can keep pressing the computer’s switch till your fingers turn sore, but it stays dead.

Your vendor will probably tell you to format the hard drive and reload Windows. But this is easier said than done. You may think your precious pictures, programs and songs, not to talk about the important documents, are lost forever. This is when you need a bootable CD to kick start your computer and deal with the problem.

Ideally, a recovery disc should act as a safety net if anything bad happens to you

r PC’s hard drive or its data. This can occur because of a program crash, a virus or spyware attack, or even from a corrupt driver. A good recovery disc allows you to reinstall Windows to fix a minor problem without having to format the hard drive.

But there is a hitch in making a bootable Windows CD with the latest drivers and patches. Once you upgrade your Windows XP to Service Pack 3, the operating system will never allow you to install an older version (includin

g earlier editions of XP) without wiping the hard drive. The solution is to create a new installation disc from your Windows installer CD and a special version of SP3, using a process known as slipstreaming.

Before you begin creating a bootable CD make sure you have three things: a genuine XP CD, a valid Windows product key, and about 1.5 GB of free space on

your hard drive. Your Windows XP CD can be SP1 or SP2 or even the original release from 2001.

Now let us begin the process of creating a bootable Windows CD. First make a new folder called XPSetup in the C:\ of your hard drive. Insert your original XP CD, start Windows Explorer, and then navigate to your CD drive. Highlight everything in the root folder of the CD, and copy all of it to the C:\XPSetup folder you just made.

Next, create a second new folder in C:\ and name it SP3. Go to http://www.microsoft.com/downloads /Results.aspx?displaylang=en&nr=50 and click the link for Windows XP Service Pack 3 Network Installation Package for IT Professionals and Developers. Download the 324MB file, WindowsXP-KB936929-SP3-x86-ENU.exe, and save it to the new C:\SP3 folder.

From the Start menu, select Run and type the following command at the prompt C:\SP3\WindowsXP-KB936929-SP3-x86-ENU /integrate:C:\XPSetup. Make sure there is only a single space between ENU and /integrate — there should be no other spaces. Otherwise, you will get all kinds of error messages. If everything is done right you should get a “Completed” message box after a while. On some computers this process takes several minutes to complete.

Now we will create what is called

an “answer file” to enter your product key automatically so that you do not have to type it manually later on. On your original Win XP CD (Professional Edition only), navigate to the \Support\Tools folder, double-click Deploy.cab, and then double-click Setupmgr.exe to open the Windows Setup Manager Wizard. When prompted, choose Create a new answer file and then Windows Unattended Installation. For the User Interaction Level, choose Provide Defaults, and when asked about the Distribution Folder, answer No. Finally, you’ll see a new window, into which you can specify defaults; select Providing the Product Key on the left and then type your product key in the text fields on the right. When you’re done, save the file Unattend.txt into your C:\XPSetup folder.

The final step has yet to be done. You have to extract the boot loader from your old Windows XP disc so that you can make the new one bootable. The best way to do this is to download a free software called ImgBurn from www.imgburn.com.

Install ImgBurn, start the program, and click Write files/folders to disc on the first screen. Choose the Advanced tab, followed by the Bootable Disc tab, and from the Extract Boot Image list select the drive containing your XP disc. Click the Save icon and save the BootImage.ima file to your C:\SP3 folder. Now all that you have to do is burn a new CD.

In ImgBurn, choose the Advanced tab, followed by the Bootable Disc tab, and turn on the Make Image Bootable option. If prompted to choose a bootable disc emulation type, select no emulation. (Use 0x7C0 for the load segment, and 4 for the sector count. Make sure you are using the Joliet file system). Specify the BootImage.ima file you just created as the boot image; drag the entire contents of the C:\XPSetup folder into your CD project and burn the CD.

Keep this disk in a safe place. The next time your Windows does not load use it so that your computer recovers.

Sleek Mac

2009-05-24T23:48:00.002+05:30

It’s a real museum piece. It has cutting-edge looks and technology. Apple has shown that it not only makes shiny white or black devices that fit into your pocket but that CEO Steve Jobs knows what people want even before we know it ourselves.

Yes, I am talking about the brand new iMac, Apple’s flagship product that has been long due for a makeover. Built from aluminium and glass, the iMac is just a monitor with a keyboard and mouse. There is no CPU. It is all in the monitor, including the hard disk. This three-piece unit is a delight without the clutter of wires that you find in all PCs. The overall look of the iMac resembles that of an LCD television you might have in your room. The glossy display and slim design are bound to sweep you off your feet.

This all-in-one new iMac desktop will take care of all your digital needs. It is priced between Rs 65,000 and Rs 94,000, depending on the model and configuration. Currently, it comes in two sizes — with 20- and 24-inch screens — and 1 GB memory. This memory is expandable to 4 GB. The 20-inch model has a 250GB hard drive. The 24-inch one has 320GB. Since it has an Intel-based processor, you can run Windows too.

If your budget permits, I would suggest you get one of these iMacs. They can even be mounted on a wall. This is ideal for watching movies. You can control the unit with the remote that comes with the desktop. If you want to see a live demonstration of this, just visit Imagine, the Apple shop at the Salt Lake City Centre, Calcutta.

Accompanying the new machines are overhauled versions of the company’s consumer software suites, iLife 08 and iWork 08, including — among other new features — a spreadsheet program called Numbers designed to lure users from Microsoft’s Excel. I find Keynote particularly easy to use. It is equivalent to PowerPoint in Windows computers. And of course, there is Pages, a word processor just as good as Microsoft Word.

One of the best things about the iMac is the keyboard. It has been radically redesigned. It uses the same type of keys as does the MacBook, but they are placed atop a thin aluminium piece that matches the iMac’s body. The keyboard’s thin design gives it a sleek and modern look. It has a built-in USB 2.0 port on the side.

The new iMac has a new iSight camera that blends into the black screen border of the monitor. The camera — with a resolution of 640 by 480 pixels — provides fairly good video and still photographs. The microphone is also at the top of the monitor and is very good in picking up sound. You will never face a problem during a video chat.

The back of the monitor, too, is very interesting. For one, it looks good in matte black with a shiny black Apple logo. Then there are the ports. There is an analog and digital audio output port, an analog and digital audio input port, three USB 2.0 ports, one Firewire 800 port, a Gigabit Ethernet port and a mini-DVI connector.

The new iMacs have the latest Intel Core2 Duo processors with speeds varying from 2GHz to 2.4GHz, depending on the model you choose. There is an option to upgrade this to 2.8GHz Core 2 Duo Extreme should you want a more powerful model.

When you buy a Mac, make sure you become a member of .Mac. For around Rs 4000, you will get 10GB of storage online and the ability to save large

files online from office, which you can later pluck from the net with your iMac. Other new .Mac features include Web Gallery — which enables immediate sharing of photos and movies from iLife with Mac, PC or iPhone owners; and the ability to incorporate live web widgets, such as Google Maps, into websites created

using iWeb.

For me, with its lower price, the new 24-inch model is the real winner. The larger screen makes all the difference.

Marvelous Blackberry

2009-05-24T23:31:00.003+05:30

When BlackBerry’s service goes down for several hours in the US, over five million people were struck by a curious malaise. The symptoms ranged from feelings of isolation and rage to severe longing, something very similar to drugs withdrawal. It just showed that people had become so thoroughly dependent — professionally — on their cherished wireless email that they even reacted emotionally, and some with paranoia, when deprived of this service. A woman even said it was easier to quit smoking than to be without a BlackBerry.

The BlackBerry phenomenon seems to have taken the world by storm. Earlier, many had avoided even looking at this mobile phone because of its clunky looks. But with the advent of the super slim BlackBerry Pearl, reactions changed overnight. The Canadian company, Research In Motion, which makes these phones, sold over 6.4 million sets in less than a year.

So what is it that makes the BlackBerry so captivating and addictive? It only has a 1.3 megapixel camera, which can’t even record videos. It, however, does have a decent video player. Its music player is basic, but with good sound quality. But the feature that gets you hooked to the device is its email. You can configure upto seven email accounts and synchronise with your company’s mail server. Those without a company email can subscribe to a BlackBerry account. It was this BlackBerry email blackout that caused heartburn across the world.

As you get to use this stylish and slim BlackBerry Pearl, you will find yourself constantly checking and sending email messages. Most people nowadays keep two phones — one for their calls and the Blackberry for email. Composing mails is fast with the QWERTY keyboard and SureType. SureType is much like T9 in other cell phones.

The Pearl with its EDGE connectivity lets you surf the Internet at a very good speed. A glowing trackball set just below the screen makes navigation a breeze. You can scroll vertically and horizontally smoothly without making a dent on your thumb which happens with other cell phones. Here are a few little-used shortcuts that you could use to enhance your BlackBerry experience.

Common shortcuts

In most applications in the phone you can use the following:

Move up: Press 3 to move up the screen.

Move down: Press 9 to move down the screen.

Top of page: Press 1 to move to the top of the page.

Bottom of page: Press 7 to go to the bottom of the page.

Home: To return to the Home screen, press the End key: The End key is the red coloured phone icon on your right beside the trackball.

Lock: To lock the keyboard, from the Home screen, hold the asterisk ( * )

key.

Unlock: To unlock the keyboard, hold the Send key and press the asterisk ( * ) key. Type your password. The Send key is the one with the green coloured phone icon.

Silent: To switch between the default and vibrate profiles, from the Home screen hold the pound ( # ) key.

Phone shortcuts

Put on hold: To place an active phone call on hold and answer a second incoming call, press Send.

Contacts: To view the contact list, hold the Send key.

Plus sign: To insert a plus sign ( + ) when typing a phone number, hold 0.

Message shortcuts

Compose: To compose a message from the message list, press comma ( , ).

Reply: To reply to a message, press the exclamation ( ! ) mark key.

Reply all: To reply to all, hit the question mark ( ? ) key.

Forward: To forward a message, hit the full stop ( . ) key.

Received: To view only received messages, hold Alt and press 3. The Alt key is the one on the bottom row extreme left.

SMS: To view SMSes only, hold Alt and press the question mark ( ? ) key.

All messages: To view your message list again, press Escape. The Escape or back key is just below the screen.

Typing shortcuts

Full stop: To insert a full stop, press the Space key twice. The next letter will be in capitals.

Numbers on: To type numbers only, hold the Shift key and press the Alt key. The Shift key is on the bottom row marked with a # sign.

Numbers off: To turn off NUM lock, press Alt.

@ sign: To insert an at sign ( @ ) in an email address field, press the Space key.

Select text: To select a line of text, press Shift and roll the trackball.

Cut: To cut selected text, hold Shift and press Delete.

Copy: To copy selected text, press Alt and click the trackball.

Paste: To paste the text, press Shift and click the trackball.

Windows Service Pack 3

2009-05-24T23:23:00.004+05:30

I have been waiting for it for ages and finally, it’s here. Windows XP Service Pack 3 has arrived. Vista was a non-starter from the very beginning. Everyone I spoke to has had nothing but remorse for upgrading to Vista.Windows 7 is in its infancy. I would certainly upgrade to this costly version when I am sure of its capability.

Windows XP with SP3 is much faster than Vista on the same hardware configuration and you can get by with much less RAM and hard disk space. For Vista Ultimate you needed at least 4GB of RAM. Vista’s Service Pack 1 was pathetic, but XP on SP3 makes your Windows run much smoother. For one, you will find Internet Explorer crashes less often.

Windows XP SP3 is available from Microsoft Windows Update (www.windowsupdate.microsoft.com) or from the Windows Download Centre.

Your PC must meet some minimum requirements before you can download XP’s SP3. Microsoft recommends installation of SP2 before SP3. The Windows XP SP2 website is at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=26347. Here is how you prepare your PC so that your installation of XP SP3 is perfect.

Start your computer and log on as an administrator. Administrators have unrestricted access to the operating system and its settings. To determine which group a user is set up for, click Start, click Control Panel, and then open User Accounts.

If your computer is running on battery power, plug it in so that your computer does not lose power during the installation. If you use Fast User Switching, make sure everyone else is logged off. As a precaution, back up your files on an external hard disk, DVD, CD, USB flash drive or network folder. You can use the Backup and Restore Wizard to back up documents, pictures and other files.

Close all open programs. This includes your Internet Security Suite or anti-virus and anti-spyware software. This is absolutely necessary because these virus protection programs prevent system files from being changed.

Now go to the Windows Update site and follow the wizard that appears on the screen. The download is around 70MB and installation will take around 30-45 minutes. My installation went without a hitch, including on an old PC that had been similarly updated to SP2. I was even able to update the Windows in my iMac that came with Boot Camp, although I was foxed for a while. A word of caution, though, if SP3 does not work for you remove it from Add Remove programs in the Control Panel.

You will not see any dramatic change in your computer's interface after you update. SP3 is the final one for XP. Hang onto to it up to 2010 till Windows 7 appears. The pack comprises a collection of previously released fixes and product enhancements, as well as a few new features that are unique to this release. You can apply SP3 to Windows XP Home Edition, Professional Edition, Tablet PC Edition (any version) or Media Centre Edition.

So what should you expect to see in SP3? Well, some basic features are upgraded, such as Microsoft Management Console to 3.0 and WPA (WiFi Protected Access) to 2, but Internet Explorer is not upgraded to version 7. You have to upgrade your Internet Explorer separately. Also added are two new features which help network administrators and another which ensures that data flow smoothly into your computer through routers.

Macs with Boot Camp

If you are running Windows XP SP2 on a Mac with Boot Camp you will not be able to install SP3 just like that. Go to http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/bootcampupdate21forwindowsxp.html first. You will find an update for Boot Camp here. Installation of Boot Camp 2.1 is required before installing Windows XP SP3. The update also addresses issues and improves compatibility with Microsoft Windows XP and Microsoft Windows Vista running on a Mac computer using Boot Camp. It is highly recommended for all Boot Camp users.

Those running Windows on Parallels on a Mac should not have any problem. If you do, download the disk image of the SP3 file. It is a very long url so I will not mention it here. Just search for “Windows XP Service Pack 3 — ISO-9660 CD Image File” in Google and you will find the link. Download the file and proceed with the installation by double clicking on it.

Disc Boot Failure

2009-05-24T23:08:00.004+05:30

How many of you have received the dreaded Disk Boot Failure notice the moment you open your personal computer? You could shut down and restart your PC, and everything suddenly seems to be all right. But the very next day you get palpitations when you see the same message. If by some stroke of luck your machine boots, you can run system diagnostics, but I assure you this will rarely find the root cause of the problem.

To rectify the problem, get into your BIOS settings. For this press F2, Delete or F10 as soon as you power on your PC. For older machines, it is usually the Delete key. For newer PCs, it is F2. For some others, it is F10.

Once you are in BIOS settings, I suggest you ensure that it is recognising each drive correctly on startup. The best way to do this is to restore everything to their default settings. Look around your BIOS settings to find out where you can do this. Once you find it, do not forget to save before exiting.

Boot failures can also occur owing to faulty cables. Shut down your PC completely. Remove the side of the case so that you get access to the drives and start with reinserting the cable to the drive and to the controller which plugs into the motherboard. It would help a great deal if you could get hold of a different IDE cable to see where the fault lies — with the cable or the drive itself.

Often boot failure could be because of a bad hard disk. Make sure you have at least a year’s warranty when you buy a disk. Formatting will rarely solve the problem because the disk could be damaged and full of bad sectors. If you are under warranty just get it replaced. Most vendors and manufacturers will tell you to only format the drive. Don’t believe them. If anything, formatting removes the chances of recovering your data from the drive.

Another reason for boot failure could be the power supply. Try replacing your power supply — maybe it is defective. Power loss to a hard disk also displays disk boot failure and the system hangs from time to time. Even if you format your disk several times, your problem will not disappear if the power supply is defective.

Guide to filenames

When you are deleting files from your computer using Windows Explorer, there are certain files you should never delete. Files with any of the following extensions must be retained: EXE, DLL, DRV, VXD, COM, INI, 386, CPL, INF, OCX, SYS and some others. The exceptions are the installation files. Once you install a program, you can delete the downloaded installer file.

Help files usually have the extension HLP or CHM. It is a good idea to keep the help files; you never know when you might need them. The other files you should keep are your fonts files which are usually kept in the Fonts folder. They have extensions like TTF, TTC, FON or OTF. Those that are elsewhere — that is, not in the Fonts folder — are not available. Delete them or place them in the Fonts folder.

Files with the extension ICO or ICL are usually icons or a library of icons. I prefer to keep them.

Files that can be safely deleted all come with the extension TMP (temporary) or DMP (Dump). Some DMP files, however, may be useful for debugging. You can blindly delete the contents of a Temp or TMP folder. Always make it a point to delete the contents of your Temporary Internet Files folder.

Delete all BAT files and INI files if the size is more than 64 kilobytes. By definition, they must be less than 64K. INI files have the same mandatory size limitation. Files that come with the extension LOG can also be safely wiped out. Open them in Notepad and see their contents. If you think you need them keep them; otherwise just trash them. Do not forget to empty your Recycle Bin after you have cleared the trash from your computer.

n79 nice 3g phone

2009-05-02T22:36:00.005+05:30

Nokia brought about a new product packed with N79 candy bar multimedia smart phone which includes the Nokia N85 as the latest inclusions to the Nokia N-series range. This product offers a full range of 5-megapixel camera, multimedia capabilities, combined with navigation, high speed connectivity, music with FM transmitter, with the facilities of web browsing.

A very powerful smartphone with a 5 megapixel camera, assisted GPS, WiFi, 3G HSDPA and a 4GB memory card. The N79 gives you most of the features of the flagship N96 in a classic shape and at much lower cost. We highly recommend it!

This is aimed at style and status conscious users who do not forego the aspect of functionality. The Nokia N79 comes with Xpress-on smart covers that are made available in quintuples of colors which are coral red, light sea blue, white, olive green, and espresso brown. The three color combinations are available with each Nokia N79.

Specifications of Nokia N79 are Display size is 2.4 inches, Dimensions 110 x 49 x 15 mm, Resolution is 320 x 240 pixels, Weight is 97 grams, Brightness and color control, Volume is 74 cc, Volume keys and dedicated camera, 1200 mAh Li-Ion battery backup available up to 3 ½ hours, Talk time 5 ½ hours GSM, Standby time 372 hours GSM, Browsing time 5 hours 54 minutes with the compact data informations, Four hours gaming time, Twenty nine hours music playback time, 3 ½ hours video recording time, 2 ½ hours video calling time, video calling up to 640 x 480 pixels, 4 ½ hours video playback time, Enhanced data rate with Bluetooth version 2.0, Nokia Xpress print, Hands-free integrated speakerphone, Automatic redial, Dialing speed, Talking ring tones, dual LED flash, Conference calling up to six to seven participants, Multiple messages deletion, Auto focus with two-stage capture key, active toolbar, 4GB microSD card, Micro-USB connector with mass storage class support and high speed USB 2.0, AV connector 3.5 mm, Sliding lens cover helps to give protection to the lens when it is not in use, Integrated A-GPS, Mini map web browser providing navigation comes with three months integrated license, wallpapers, screensavers and many more features are available with this product for sale.

Friendster widgets are also available with Nokia N79 by means of the WidSets service. This allows user’s profiles to browse through friendster friends, post shout outs as well as viewing parameters. In addition to the other features the Nokia N79 offers Nokia downloads in the latest mobile gaming as well as dynamic and advanced applications. Nokia Company says that this product Nokia N79 is probably expected to be launched for market in European shops in the month of October 2008 for approximately 400 euros. In the month of November 2008 it is probably expected to be launched in the United States of America for nearly 600 dollars proportionately before incidence of tax as well as subsidy.

Thus, if you are taken a back by a huge size of previous N-series devices you can consider Nokia N79 system which makes no compromises when you encounter adherence to specifications and crowns itself as a model of unique mobile phone. this also involves bizarre specifications and is slated for launch with all the sizzle and glamour which entails such a product launch in a prestigious manner to make it sales jump from pillar to pillar to towering heights.

Highlights

5 megapixel with Carl Zeiss optics & Tessar lens
3G video calling
Music player, FM radio and FM transmitter
Assisted GPS with Nokia Maps
WiFi enabled
Standard 3.5mm headphone socket
HSDPA 3.6 Mbps
4GB memory card included (8GB max)

G-Mail Tips And Tricks

2009-05-01T10:45:00.004+05:30

Gmail

Users can enable or disable each new feature in Labs

Google is experimenting at a furious pace. Its most popular product, Gmail, has gone back to the lab for further improvements even before most of you could discover its fantastic hidden features. Here are some little-known features that will help to keep your inbox clutter free.

Skip inbox: This is a great way to filter your incoming messages. Click on Settings and then on Filter. At the bottom you will find ‘Create a new Filter’. Say, you want all your Facebook messages to be organised outside your Inbox. So, under ‘From’ put in Facebook and go to the next step. Tick ‘Skip the Inbox (Archive it)’. Next, tick ‘Apply Label’ and create a new label called Facebook. Finally, click on ‘Create Filter’ and apply it to all the previous emails you have received from Facebook. The next time you open your inbox, you will find all your messages from Facebook under Labels.

Labels is a very useful way to quickly get to mails that you regularly receive from certain friends or organisations. You will find the Labels tab under Settings.

Manage multiple accounts: Did you know you could use Gmail to send messages from your other email addresses? You do not have to leave Gmail and go to Yahoo mail, for instance, to send a message from there. You can do it from Gmail itself. This feature makes it easier to manage multiple accounts from the Gmail interface.

Click Settings along the top of any page, and open the ‘Accounts’ tab. Under ‘Send mail as’, click ‘Add another email address’. In the ‘Name’ field, enter your full name. In the ‘Email address’ field, enter the mail address you would like to send from.

When someone replies to your message using a custom ‘From:’ address, the reply will be delivered to the ‘From:’ address rather than your Gmail address. If you want replies to be delivered to Gmail or a third account, you will need to enter a ‘reply-to’ address. To do this, click ‘Specify a different reply-to address’ and enter the desired email address.

Click Next Step and then click Send Verification. Gmail will send a verification message to your other email address to confirm that you own it.

Open your other account and either click the link in the message Gmail sent or enter the confirmation code in the Accounts section of your Gmail settings.

POP3 Messages: To be able to receive your mails from Gmail in Outlook or Outlook Express, you will have to enable this by going to Settings and clicking on ‘Forwarding POP/IMAP’. Enable the relevant parts. You will find the Outlook and Outlook Express configuration instructions on this page too.

What is in the Lab? When you log in to your Gmail account, you will see a blue icon. Click on it. Among the new features introduced are:

• A quick-link tool that lets you bookmark specific Gmail messages. It adds a box to the left column that gives you one-click access to anything that you have bookmarked in Gmail. You can also use it for saving searches and important messages.

• You could always put a star on a mail, but now you can insert Superstars, by successive clicks of the mouse.

• The “e-mail addict” tool that lets you lock yourself out of your email account for 15 minutes.

• A fixed-width font option view adds a dropdown menu that lets you view a message in a fixed width font.

• Mouse gestures that let you take actions based on mouse movements. However, this works best in Windows. Don’t try it on a Mac.

• A ‘Signature tweak’ and a ‘Quoted signature’. The first lets you put a signature above the quoted reply and the second puts quotations at random. However, you cannot use both at the same time

• The option to upload your picture so that people can see who they are chatting with.

If you encounter any problems with your account while using labs there is an escape hatch type in http://mail.google.com/ mail/?labs=0

iPhone Killer n97

2009-02-01T21:03:00.008+05:30

Nokia takes on the iPhone with the new touch-screen multimedia N97 smartphone

The Finnish mobile phone giant has dubbed its new N97 handset the "world's most advanced mobile computer", and promises it will bring users closer to the internet on the move.

The device combines a large 3.5in touch-screen, similar to that found on the Apple iPhone, with a slide-out Qwerty keyboard reminiscent of the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 and the T-Mobile G1. Unlike the Apple iPhone, the N97 will be able to play the Flash videos used on many websites, including our own Telegraph news pages. It also supports instant-messaging and email on the go, boasts a five-megapixel camera, and a huge 48GB of memory, capable of storing thousands more songs than the Apple iPhone and many other leading devices.

"From the desktop to the laptop and now to your pocket, the Nokia N97 is the most powerful, multi-sensory mobile computer in existence," said Jonas Geust, a vice president at Nokia. "The Nokia N97 mobile computer adjusts to the world around us, helping stay connected to the people and things that matter most."

Nokia has put high-speed web access at the heart of its new device, along with one-button, 'always-on' access to social-networking sites such as Facebook. The phone also uses its built-in GPS technology to provide location-specific information. Nokia, which calls the service 'social location', said that it will enable N97 users to update their social-networking profiles with precise details about their location and find nearby friends.

"Today, we are at the threshold of another profound change in the way we connect and interact with each other and with our world," said Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, chief executive of Nokia. "This is a world where you will have the power to tailor and personalise your internet how and when you like, to make your day-to-day life easier and more fulfilling."

The new N97 will tie in closely with Nokia's Ovi platform of software and services, which include music downloads, photo-sharing services and mapping software. A new-look Nokia Maps program on the N97 will allow users to pre-plan a journey on their computer and then synchronise the route across to their mobile phone.

Nokia has also promised that it will follow the lead of Apple, Google and Research in Motion, makers of the BlackBerry, by making it easier for third-party developers to write additonal software and programs for Nokia handsets. Owners of the N97, which runs the Symbian operating system, can already download thousands of applications to their phone, and Nokia said it is creating "new opportunities" for third parties to develop innovative widgets and internet service applications for Nokia devices.

The Nokia N97 is expected to go on sale in the first half of 2009, and will cost around $800 without a contract.

Nokia, which has more than a billion customers worldwide, faces stiff competition from newcomers to the mobile phone market, such as Apple, with its hugely popular iPhone, and even Google, which has helped to develop the open-source Android operating system that will be running on several phones next year, and which promises to bring the desktop computing experience to mobile devices.

Although some technology commentators and analysts are sceptical whether the Nokia N97 has the potential to be an 'iPhone killer', others are more upbeat about its prospects.

"With the N97, Nokia has produced the first phone that will truly challenge, and even transcend, Apple's best," said Robin Landy, of mobile phone review website Omio.com. "Nokia has brought together a lot of common smartphone features, such as GPS, Wi-Fi and 3G internet, in one gorgeous device. Crucially though, they've combined the standard stuff with features that really matter to users, but are often missing from rival handsets.

"A proper Qwerty keyboard will make a huge difference to the everyday user experience, and the huge amount of memory means that even people with large music collections can leave their iPods at home.

"The N97 lacks the in-your-face dazzle of the iPhone, but it does strike a balance between understated good looks and functional practicality."

n97 wins over the iphone because of its good 5 mp camera and video recording.You can add songs to it from any source. But on iphone you have to buy from apple store. iphone also lacks sms and copy-paste feature.

Other good Nseries Phones:

N78 N95 N81

Which one would you go for??

Back to XP from Vista

2009-01-23T00:18:00.006+05:30

Microsoft will have almost one billion users on Windows by the end of this year, most running Windows XP, after the total failure of Vista. Those who tried to upgrade their PCs feel cheated.

But, of course, they would feel that way. Windows XP is much faster than Vista on the same hardware, and works using much less RAM and hard drive space. Service Pack 3 makes XP even faster. However, the same cannot be said of Vista Service Pack 1.

So we need to step down. The problem is downgrading a Vista PC to Windows XP can be a tedious process, the more so if you want to do it without reformatting your hard disk.

This is how you go about it.

Make sure you have several gigabytes of free space on your C:\ drive from where your computer will boot. You will need a genuine Windows XP installation CD; if all you have is a recovery disc that came with your computer, use the “Start from Scratch” process.

Option 1

Back up your entire hard drive; if you have Vista Business or Ultimate, you can do it with the Complete PC Backup and Restore tool. There is a reason for this. Should this process run into a snag you can jump back into Windows.

Take a deep breath. Insert the XP disc into your drive and turn on your PC, then press the spacebar when it says “Press any key to boot from CD...”.

(If you don’t see this message, you will have to enter your PC’s BIOS setup. Change the boot options so that your CD drive appears above your hard drive in the boot sequence list.)

When XP Setup starts, press R on the first page to open the Recovery Console. If you are asked to choose a Windows installation, type a number (usually 1) and press Enter. In some cases, you may be asked for the Administrator password at this point. At the Recovery Console command prompt, type the following commands to prepare your hard disk for XP:

fixboot

fixmbr

cd \

ren windows winvista

exit

When your PC restarts, boot into your XP CD once again, and then proceed with setup normally. When you are through, copy your My Documents folder, the contents of your desktop, and any other personal data that you will need from Vista’s now-defunct C:\Users folder into XP’s C:\Documents and Settings folder. Also, reinstall all your applications and device drivers, and finally delete the abandoned C:\Winvista folder.

Option 2

Start from Scratch: Without a proper XP Setup disc, you cannot use the Recovery Console. Your best bet is to use your PC’s recovery disc, applicable, if your PC originally came with Windows XP.

Again, back up any files you want to keep. Unfortunately, you cannot use any of Vista’s built-in backup software for this, because XP does not have any tools that can read Vista backups. The best way to go about this is to copy your data onto an external hard disk manually so that you can easily get it back once XP is up and running.

Make sure you back up the entire C:\Users folder, which will have your Documents directory, anything on your desktop, and application data such as stored e-mail.

There are several recovery procedures depending on the make of your PC, so consult your PC’s manual for details. Typically, the recovery software cleans the hard drive and places a preinstalled copy of Windows onto the drive. It will have all the drivers and demo software that you got with your PC when it was new. When it’s done, connect to your backup drive and copy the files back into their respective positions.

Option 3

Virtual Machine: The other option, and a good one, is to use a virtual machine, such as Microsoft Virtual PC (free from www.microsoft.com/virtualpc) or VMware Workstation (30-day trial at www.vmware.com) to run XP in a window from within Vista. To set it up in Virtual PC, click New, and then use the New Virtual Machine Wizard to create a virtual machine. When prompted, choose Windows XP as the platform and specify at least 512MB of RAM. Complete the wizard, and click Start to open the new virtual machine. Insert your Windows XP Setup CD, and from the CD menu, select Use Physical Drive D:.

Now you will be able to install XP as if the drive D: were a separate computer. When you’re done, you will have a functional virtual XP PC that you can start from your Vista desktop any time you need it; you can even copy and paste between both platforms and share files over its virtual network interface.

Mac Myths

2008-11-16T23:24:00.009+05:30

Mac Advantages

India is slowly, but certainly, turning into a country of Mac-heads. Lending a huge helping hand in this is Microsoft’s Vista with complaints of slow performance and refusal to do even the simplest of tusks.

So what is the choice for new computer buyers? You have two options. Either move to Linux or stay with Windows XP. Linux is not that easy to use and getting a genuine copy of Windows XP is getting more difficult by the day.

There is a third option. It is no coincidence that Apple launched its new range of MacBooks in India just 10 days after the company’s CEO Steve Jobs showed off its best-ever laptops in the US. After all, India is Apple’s fastest growing market.

There was a time not very long ago when a MacBook or an iMac cost almost Rs 1 lakh. Now the very basic MacBook costs just Rs 56,580. And the entry level iMac comes for Rs 57,600. The machine comes loaded with the operating system OS X Leopard and a host of software for which you pay nothing. Support used to be an issue, but that is no longer the case. Apple trained engineers are present in all major cities. If a fault is found with your computer it is either replaced or repaired within 3 to 5 days.

For all those hesitant to leave Windows let me dispel a few myths.

Myth: Apple’s iPods are fantastic, but its computers are not

Truth: Once you see an Apple computer, its ease of use and sheer speed will impress you.

Myth: I will lose all my windows files.

Truth: You can run almost anything on Macs. With Boot Camp from Apple, you can dual boot your system into either Mac OS X or Windows XP. You can also use virtualization software such as Parallels with which you can run Windows XP, Linux or any other operating system simultaneously with Mac OS X.

Myth: Microsoft Office especially Word, PowerPoint and Excel will not run on a Mac.

Truth: Did you know that there is a whole Microsoft division in Apple’s Office in Cupertino? There work is to ensure that all Microsoft products work on a Mac. Thus Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac OS X gives you Word, PowerPoint and Excel with the same familiar interfaces. If you write your copy on a Mac it will open seamlessly on a PC. Not only that, it will also warn you if the version you are saving will have any compatibility issues. The same goes for PowerPoint and Excel.

Myth: I cannot play games on a Mac.

Truth: The new metal MacBook Pro is now the best gaming machine available in the market. It has stunning display with 3d graphics processor. The revolutionary processor, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M is integrated into the motherboard. In addition, there is a separate and more powerful NVIDIA GeForce 9600M processor with 512 DDR3 Video Memory to provide robust support for 3d games and even faster performance.

For those who want a bigger screen for games, Apple provides a stunning 24-inch LED Backlit widescreen display. MacBook users can connect to this easily. This Cinema display includes a video camera, microphone and speakers.

Myth: Macs are expensive.

Truth: Yes, of course, they are. But Apple hardware and software offer value for money. Steve Jobs was asked whether he would make a cheaper Netbook, a laptop with fewer features, given the gloom all around. He answered: “We don’t make junk.” So it is better to save up and go in for a machine that will not drain your money every other month.

Myth: Macs are proprietary.

Truth: Mac OS X is an open architecture, based on industry standards. It is an open source variant of FreeBSD Unix and developed entirely with openness and interoperability in mind.

Myth: Macs are susceptible to virus, spyware and malware.

Truth: You don’t need any anti-virus software for Macs. Hackers don’t even try to implant viruses because the underlying Unix is tough to crack and there are fewer Macs in the world than Windows. They would rather attack Windows because of its inherent weaknesses.

Myth: Macs won’t fit into my existing network.

Truth: Mac OS X can talk to every major file server protocol on every major server platform on the market today. Leopard includes the major networking protocols for accessing Windows, Linux and Unix. You can wirelessly connect your Mac to any computer in your existing network using Airport Express or Airport Extreme. Both are Wi-Fi routers that give you a speed of 130Mbps.

Vista Alternative

Top Vista and XP Wallpapers

2008-11-13T23:14:00.007+05:30

Hot Wallpapers

2008-11-13T22:02:00.017+05:30

Pen Drive Wonder

2008-11-12T23:17:00.004+05:30

Thumb drive, pen drive, flash drive — call it what you will, but beyond doubt, the diminutive device has come a long way from being an expensive alternative to floppy disks. Today, they’re much more than NAND-type flash memory encased in a plastic shell with a USB (universal serial bus) interface, they’re part of our lives, the modern day file folder, holding inside them our data (and our livelihood)!

Did you know then that your thumb drive can do much more than ferry data from Point A to Point B? Here’s our pick of the top five things (you probably didn’t know) your thumb drive can do:

Portable applications: Can’t install Firefox at work? Do you pine for your programmes, set up your own way, everywhere you go? Software gurus have reworked versions of assorted applications so that they run directly off your thumb drive. Among my favourites — portable editions of the Firefox browser, Thunderbird e-mail programme, and OpenOffice suite. Preferences, data files, an d the like all stay on the portable device, so you don’t leave any traces of your browsing history or passwords on the host computer. A one-stop shop for portable applications is at Portable Applications (http://portableapps.com/), which includes a freeware portable application launcher that offers a ton of portable applications, ranging from Office software to web browsers, even music players. This site also offers the Portable Apps Suite, which includes a web browser, e-mail client, web editor, office suite, word processor, calendar/scheduler, instant messaging client and FTP client and weighs in at a mere 117 megabytes (44MB for the Lite version).

Of course, armed with the right software, you can be the neighbourhood Dr Fix-It too — load up the AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic (http://www.free-av.com/) and rid the locality of viruses of the electronic kind. It’s free, runs off a thumb drive, and can be loaded on the PC after it’s cleaned, too.

Carry Data Securely: If thumb drives are easy to carry, they’re also easy to misplace. Built-in tools on drives like the Lexar JumpDrive Secure II drives and the Kingston DataTraveler Elite drives let you protect your files with 256-bit AES encryption. In fact, you can even create a partition on the drive that encrypts any file dropped into it and that appears onscreen under a different drive letter. Of course, if security is really that important to you, pick up a thumb drive with a built-in fingerprint scanner, which will secure your data until you swipe the appropriate finger against it.

Experiment with Linux: Most engineering students want to tinker with the popular open-source operating system, but many stay away for fear of modifying their hard drives. An easy option is to download Damn Small Linux, which installs the basic operating system and a bevy of productivity applications — for free of course, in as little as 256MB — that’s the smallest flash drive I’ve got, and it’s been with me for the past seven years!

Carry Windows with you: If you’re paranoid (or ultra-finicky), you can even carry an entire installation of Windows with you. Yes, Windows! It takes a little while to set up, but it’s mostly just moving files around, and you need the original Windows XP install CD, and easy to follow instructions are available at http://www.ngine.de/index.jsp?pageid=4176. Of course, your computer must have the ability to boot from USB, which is usually not a problem if you’ve bought it within the past three to four years.

Speed up Windows Vista: If you’ve got a spare USB drive laying around with some free space, you could use it to make Windows Vista work a little bit faster. Using a little-known feature called ReadyBoost, a spare USB 2.0 thumb drive with enough space can speed up the OS performance. Just plug in your drive and choose “Speed up my system” from the AutoPlay menu to enable ReadyBoost, which uses some fancy disk-caching to make Windows a bit snappier. Just keep in mind that for the drive to be ReadyBoost ready, it needs to be over 256MB, have an access time faster than 1ms, be capable of 2.5 MB/s reads and 1.75 MB/s writes — all the stuff you can find on the thumb drive manual.

Automatic back-ups: Yes, we promised five tips, but one more (for free) couldn’t hurt in these times, could it? Make your drive do more as well — if you use your USB thumb drive as a back-up device to hold your important documents, why not make the process easier? Install Allway Sync(http:// allwaysync.com/) or Microsoft SyncToy (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/prophoto/synctoy.mspx). Both can let you sync files on your computer with your USB pen drive with ease. You don’t have to do manual copy and paste files — just insert, click and you’re done!

Hard Disc Scavenger

2008-11-12T22:47:00.008+05:30

What is your worse digital nightmare? Without doubt it is a hard disk crash that can completely disrupt your life, financial records, and even your entertainment in the form of songs and movies.

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So how does one deal with this potentially dreaded disaster? There are two possible ways a hard drive can become corrupt. One is a hardware failure-when something mechanically goes wrong within the drive. The other is a logical failure- the drive physically works, but data on the drive are corrupted (this can be caused by viruses or a corrupt file)

Hardware drive failures are by far more difficult to retrieve data form, but logical failures, while not easy, are recoverable through third-party software, or costly services that specialize in data recovery. Either way, there is no guarantee that you can get your data back completely.

Here I should warn you that if the data are extremely important to you do not attempt to recover them yourself. You might end up damaging the drive further. You need to take your hard drive to experts and, believe me, it will be a very costly affair.

However, I discovered something free that Windows users cannot do without. Knoppix is a Free and Open Source Live Linux CD. Knoppix is a Linux distribution that boots and run completely from CD. It concludes recent Linux software and desktop environments, with programs such as OpenOffice.org, Abiword, The GimpKonqueror, Mozilla, Apache, PHP, MySQL and hundreds of other quality open source programs.

Knoppix allows you to restore corrupted system files.Using this I was able to instruct someone on how to replace a deleted explore.exe on a Windows XP installation which was preventing Windows from booting. One of the most useful aspects is the ability to boot Knoppix and access a Windows hard drive to back up or retrieve important data. This is useful when you can not boot into Windows because a virus , malware, or user mistake has rendered the hard drive inaccessible. This is by far the best way to get data back from a crashed hard drive. By using Knoppix you can safely back up your data before your disk blows everything away.

With the Resize Windows Partitions there is no need to purchase a third party tool like Partition Magic if you need to reconfigure your hard drive partitions. Likewise, the Clone Hard Drives makes it easy for the users to back up an entire hard drive, or migrate to a new larger one without the use of third party software that needs to be paid for.

Windows users can also scan their machine for viruses offline (with Linux running from the CD), without fear of infecting the machine further, infecting other machines on network, or sending keystrokes(and passwords) to someone else. You can also download patches from Microsoft’s website and put them on the Windows partition so that you can apply them from within Windows when you are not connected on the network. This is useful because a freshly installed Windows XP machine, on an unprotected network-like those that exist in most users homes-can be infected in a few minutes.

There are also some very unconventional methods to get your data back.

Freezing the drive: You can place the hard drive in a sealed bag and leave it in the freezer for a few hours. This can work for some types of problems, but I would only perform this as the last resort.

Positional change: Placing the drive in different positions can also help. Some drives read only when placed upside down or placed on their side. If you get the drive to read , but it begins to overheat while recovering the data, it can be very helpful to cool it down. You could use an ice pack or a fan as long as you are extremely careful not to introduce any moisture, condensation or water which can destroy the drive.

If you get the drive working but start running into errors while copying the data, you might want to try a free program call “Unstoppable Copy” which will continue copying files even when it encounters a bad file. This can be really helpful especially for copying large picture or music folders that have a few corrupted files in them.

Seagate Hard Disc

Good Computer Configuration

sitemap

2008-11-10T23:49:00.001+05:30

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The Vista Upgraded Windows 7

2008-10-27T23:06:00.010+05:30

Taking a leaf from Apple’s book

The Windows 7

Like a flamboyant cricketer in its prime Microsoft peaked as a company and industry leader with launch of Windows 98. With Windows 98 and the follow-up Windows 2000, the company was on a roll. Then came the blockbuster Windows XP. Patchy at first, it finally stabilized. Then the cricketer turned arrogant and sloppy and dropped dolly catches. It became complacent.

Windows Vista is basically an old concept with bad lipstick and too much make-up. With almost 70 million lines of code, it is heavy and slow. It is terribly resource hungry. With billions of computers on Windows, people need a leader to fulfill their needs in computing. Microsoft is no more that leader. Instead, it has become a follower, copying at random from Apple’s concepts. Vista is nothing but a bad copy of Apple’s old OS X called Tiger.

With Bill Gates’ exit from Microsoft the new public icon is Steve Jobs. No wonder people are moving in droves to Apple’s range of MacBooks and iMacs, iP
hone. Microsoft must do something drastic to regain its leadership. Hence the hype surrounding Windows 7, which is still two years away. Nobody really knows what it will comprise, but Bill Gates revealed a bit in a recent speech in Japan. He said Windows would be “low power, take less memory, be more efficient, and have lots more connections with your mobile phone.”
He added, networking between computers would be easier. “If you have two PCs, your files are automatically synchronized; you won’t have a lot of work to move that data back and forth.” Sounds much like Apple’s current operating system, Leopard.
So why is it called Windows 7? If you have Windows XP, go to Start-Run and type in cmd. A dialog box, called the Command Prompt, will open up. Now type ver. The version number displayed is 5.1.2600. In Vista, the version number displayed is 6.0.6001.

New features:

• The forth coming Windows 7 will be built around a more modular copy of the Vista kernel. The kernel is the central part of many
computer operating systems which manages resources and communication between hardware and software components. It has been christened the Min Win kernel and will fill just 25 MB of disk space and run with 40 MB of memory. It will have networking built in, but Microsoft has to add a sleek interface or keep it minimal for use on low-end PCs. It will have a much less installation time-just 10 minutes, they claim.

• Multitouch technology is certain to be included-possibly a touch screen keyboard to input data by just gesturing your finger tips. You will be able to zoom into pictures by pinching motion of your fingers and move pictures and data icons around your Desktop by just touching and moving them.

• There will be an automated backup system, a step to catch up with Apple’s Time Machine.

• For easy sharing of pictures, movies, files and documents and printers the networking setup will be called HomeGroup. Apple is ahead here, too. I already use Apple’s Bongour for Windows to print wirelessly to my printer.

• “Live Mesh” will allow you to share and synchronise folders on the web, learn the status of your friends and sync data with your mobile devices.

• You can access your files from anywhere, just as in Apple’s Back to my Mac feature.

• You will have better home entertainment tools through a project codenamed Fiji, which may include support so that you can get digital cable TV signals in your PC without a set-top box.

• Microsoft has some of the best designed but least known technologies. One of them is its support for Unicode. Unicode is an industry standard whose goal is to provide the means by which text of all forms and languages in the world can be encoded for use across computers, regardless of the make or operating system. Windows 7 will enhance this further. So typing in local languages will not be a pain as it is now because many software makers have not fallen in line with Microsoft’s standards. Now they will be forced to.

Vista Wallpapers

Fast and furious Brett Lee

2008-10-13T22:03:00.004+05:30

Is he the nicest guy on the international cricket circuit? Or is he an aggressive demon sending down thunderbolts that aim to rip out wickets and batsmen with merciless speed? And is he, at speeds up to 161 kmph, the world’s fastest bowler.

Certainly Aussies speedstar Brett Lee is having the time of his life. He has joined an exclusive club of bowlers after taking 250 wickets – only the ninth Australian to do so. And, after years of being the third or even the fourth pace bowler in the Australian team, he’s now the speedy star, the man who’s given the ball to put fear in the hearts of opposing batsmen. What’s more, only Shoaib Akhtar can claim to be faster than him – and there are fewer questions about Lee’s action.

For Lee the comeback began in July 2005 when he returned to the Australian team after an enforced 18-month rest because of injuries. Suddenly, under the captaincy of Ricky Ponting, Lee was a transformed man on the field turning out fiery spells that ripped the guts of some opposing teams. The transformation showed in his bowling figures when he turned in stupendous figures of 63 wickets in just 13 matches. “What separates cricketers with potential from great cricketers is how much pain they can withstand and still push it”, says the speedstar who has been laid up with injuries for more than one spell during his career.

His new found form has been recognized by everyone in the international cricketing world. He has been named – along with captain Ricky Ponting – one of five Wisden Cricketers of the Year for 2006. Even sceptics in the press gallery have been impressed by his performance. “He’s a missile delivery system with orders to take out South African batsmen”, said a South African newspaper after he cut through the Proteas’ batsmen. In a slightly more balanced tone the Australian delivered the verdict that: “He has established himself as the best performing quick in the world”.

He may be accused of being hostile as he sets stumps flying with breathtaking speeds, but he has a boyish charm and happy-go-lucky that belie his fierce on-field reputation. “An aggressive body with a healthy attitude is a must. But aggressive doesn’t mean abusive. I would rather concentrate on getting a wicket rather than abusing the bloke opposite me”, he says gently.

How fast is fast? Shoaib Akhtar, otherwise known as Rawalpindi Express has once bowled at 161 kmph. But Lee matched that in 2005. Says Lee: “I usually clock 150 kmph. My fastest ball in the summer 006 was 159.6 kmph in Durban against South Africa. The fastest so far has been the 161 kmph at which I bowled in summer 2005 against New Zealand.”

But Lee has been hitting the high notes in more ways than one since 2005 July. He’s turning something of an all-rounder and has been wielding the willow in a swashbuckling fashion on more than one occasion. His aggressive style has netted him many fours and sixes, including one gigantic hit which flew out of Gabba (Brisbane).Amazingly, cricket commentators say that it was the biggest six to ever be hit at that ground.

The pin-up boy of Australian cricket is also a favourite with advertisers and his return to form helps that too. He was in India recently, dressed in a stylish sherwani and dhoti for the launch of a new range of Timex watches for which he is a brand ambassador.

But it hasn’t been easy at any stage. Lee made his debut in the Australian Unde-19 team that toured India in 1994 but was then laid up with injuries. For years later he played for New South Wales for the domestic Sheffield Shield Tournament. Soon after, the word began to get around that he was probably the fastest bowler in Australia.

Lee burst onto the international cricket scene soon afterwards by taking 5 wickets for 47 against India. But he has always been hit badly by illness. He has had, “a complete fracture through the vertebrae”, when he was 19 and again when he was 23 years old. He was forced to wear a huge frame to help him recover. A combination of pilates, yoga and exercise helped him strengthen his back. Says Lee: “Sometimes you can’t possibly help what happens. I keep in shape by training my abdominals and lower back. I do a lot of stretching to make sure that my hamstrings and cords are always strong.”

Nursing a broken back however didn’t mean that Lee sat idle at home. He was out of one job but had another – as a suit salesman at a retailer called Barclay’s Menswear in Sydney. Amazingly, Lee, the feared fast bowler and star of the Australian team still sells suits as he has been doing for the past 14 years.

“My motto in life is that if someone gives you a start in life, make sure that you stay committed to them. Being loyal is the most important thing in life. Richard Bowman (the owner of Barclay’s) gave me the job when I was barely 19. I was playing first grade cricket and I wasn’t even in the state team”, recalls Lee who had gone to get measure up for the junior Australian team jersey with his mother when he received the offer from Bowman.

It was at the store that he learnt about the nitty-gritty of fashion and fabrics, techniques, size and fittings. Lee fell straight into it. He became a “walking public relations machine” – whenever he was in the city he would dress up in Barclay’s suits and shirts. The 31 year old even has his own clothing range, Brett Lee-The Label. And he retails it only from Barclay’s.

The BL range started off as casual wear label “for the fit and the fashionable”, but it has also lately moved into corporate wear. “It’s not only my name that sells clothes. There are Europeans who come and buy them, people who possibly wouldn’t know anything about cricket or Brett Lee. It makes me feel nice. That apart, of course, my friends wear my clothes. A couple of Indian cricketers has been to Barclay’s and bought my label”, Lee says.

When Lee isn’t on tour or selling suits, he likes to make music with his band, Six and Out. But it’s not a solo act. There’s older brother Shane and their three friends who are also state cricketer. Younger brother occasionally joins them when they perform.

While on tour, Lee carries along his guitar. Apart from the bass and electric guitar, he plays the drums, piano and mouth organ.

Brought up in Wollongong, New South Wales, Lee is the second of three sons, the children of Bob and Helen Lee. The three brothers grew up in typical Australian fashion always staying outdoors playing soccer, basketball and skiing during their school holidays. Lee has never forgotten his first “real” cricket match. On a sunny Australian day he came blazing up to the wicket and ended up taking six wickets in one devastating over. Some members of the opposing team burst into tears and their parents complained he was bowling too fast. Lee, the torrid tormentor was all of nine years old.

With the endorsements like Timex, Boost, Travelex (foreign exchange), Weet Bix (health food), Kookaburra (cricket gear) and New Balance Shoes in his bag, Lee is clearly living the high life. The living proof of it is in the fact that Lee can sell anything within a few minutes of entering Barclay’s. “Richard can confirm that,” smiles the cricketer.

What next? Well, he’s about to get married next month to fiancée Elizabeth Kemp. “Getting engaged was the best thing that happened to me,” says Lee with a broad smile.

The wedding was a small family affair. He says: “Both our families were there. Liz is the best thing to happen to me. We met about seven years ago when we kind of fell for each other. And now that I am heading home off for five full months, I want to spend most of the time with her and my folks. If someone told me that I had to give up fashion, cricket and my music to guarantee my family’s health and happiness, I’d do it.”

Recently there has been decline in his performance which led Australia loosing the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to India 2-0 held in India. Lee accepted that his decline in performance was due to break up with Liz and the court case about the custody of his son.

Assembly Of God Church School,Class X (Purulia)

Laptops at less than Rs 20,000

2008-10-05T22:33:00.002+05:30

It’s an essential question-what makes us by? And when I look at so many of us literally breaking our backs (not to mention our bank accounts) on gleaming laptops which serve as mere document editors and web browsers that question gets even louder. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could get all you wanted in a truly portable computer? How about an option that’s wallet friendly as well – now that wouldn’t hurt, would it? Well then its time you gave your back (and bank account) a break and switched to a laptop that’s huggable, not just luggable!

Call them mini-notebooks, ultra portables – the product category no one would give a second glance to under a year ago has gone supernova!

You could thank the Asus Eee PC, the little 7-inch wonder that started it all towards the end of last year – though truth told this wasn’t the first stab at this hitherto elusive market. Previous generations crammed in cramped keyboards, sluggish performance at stratospheric price – not usually the recipe for success, wouldn’t you agree?

Where the Eee PC, and many others on this page innovated was with keeping price low – we are talking about under Rs 20,000 for some. All this while retaining screens that are not much bigger than a paperback book. Pocket friendly-check, back friendly – check. Which one is right for you lets find out.

So is a mini-note for you? While there’s no question that their size makes them much easier to carry than standard laptops, you’d have to see if screens and the reduced size keyboards work for you. Depending on when you decide to buy one, you may have to look around a bit, as not all brands make it to Indian shores. Judge each one on quality, price, portability and simplicity – all reasons which make this category so popular in the first place - and decide.

Clearly, mobile users with moderate performance needs and students are the obvious target, but then again, I’m considering one to supplement my desktop-replacement 17-inch notebook – for all the times I pack in a laptop just to stay connected while travelling, I’m investing in a far more important piece of my life . My Back!

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Asus Eee PC

Where it all started really. The Eee PC, which launched towards end 2007 with a low-end Intel Mobile CPU, 512MB of RAM, and a 4GB solid-state flash hard drive (versions with 8GB hard drives are now available, although India still only has the 4Gb version on offer)proved naysayers wrong and turned out to be highly portable Web surfing and office productivity machines. Even the choice of OS-Linux-did not deter first timers from lapping it up worldwide.

The same could not be said about it’s keyboard-too cramped for touch typing for any but the smallest hands. Over the span of this year, Asus has launched the Eee PC 900($550), an 8.9-in model with a big jump in resolution-up to 1024x600 pixels which makes a big difference in on –screen estate.

RAM has been doubled, and you get the option of Windows XP pre-installed, although there’s only a marginal improvement in terms of keyboard design. It’s hunt-and-peck friendly though still not at touch typing levels. And battery life is about the only chink in it’s armour worth mentioning, but it’s still be a significant chink.

At the time of writing, Asus has announced support for Intel’s new low-power chip in the Eee PC 901(and update to the 900), but the writing is on the wall for Asus-innovative or perish. It may still be one of the best implemented mini-notes but the competition catching up.

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HP 2133 Mini-Note
Setting its crosshairs square across Eee-territory is the HP 2133, also known as the Mini-Note. Clearly one of the best lookers of the lot,HP’s emphasis on design shows in its keyboard design.
Bucking the trend to fit the keys to the screen size, the 2133 sports a keyboard , manna from heaven for pecksore fingers. Due for launch soon in India, the Mini-Note ranges between $499 to$789 and operates either on Linux or Windows.

The base model has 4 gigabytes of flash memory storage instead of a hard drive while the top -of –the-line version comes with a 160 gigabyte hard drive. Built-in wireless and webcams are standard issue as well.

Where this baby suffers is under the hood-the 1.6 Ghz VIA processor is just not an even match for the preloaded Windows Vista, and as a result, it drags in places. Even the top-end model has the same processor, and at that price, the price-feature equation does not work in HP’s favour.
Nothing “personal” HP-just change the processor and the Mini-Note a fighting chance.

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Intel Classmate 2(2 Go PC)
Initially positioned as a basic, inexpensive computer to students in developing countries inside a moderately rugged, smaller- than-ultraportable case, the original Classmate PC met the brief well, and remains the toughest PC on this list. Blame commercial interests if you must, but clearly Intel saw the need to release a version designed for mature markets as well(read: the US and Western markets)- the Classmate 2($400).Toting a 9 -inch LCD display, six -cell battery , 512MB RAM, 30GB HDD, integrated webcam, 802.11b/g WiFi support, Windows XP or Linux OS and Intel Celeron M processor (future versions will move to Intel’s Atom platform), it retains some semblance of its education roots by providing mesh networking-so that laptops can piggyback their wireless and create ad hoc networks. The tough tag is well deserved –a nifty handle is velcroed on to the machine for carrying and has a “water resistant” keyboard. The screen however displays at a low 800x480 pixels, and the finish is rather, shall we say, key-oriented. Storage space, at around a half GB available to the user, is not nearly enough, and limits the number of serious consumers this will attract in the mainstream market.

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MSI Wind
No compromises. Aside from the name (WiFi Network Device, anyone?), the MSI Wind 100 is the first mini-note to sport Intel’s zippy new 1.6 GHz Atom chip, and looks and feels closest to a regular notebook. At 1 kg, it boasts a relatively large (nearly disqualifying it from our list) 10-inch and a keyboard that’s 80% of a full sized keyboard. Battery life is in the upper end of 4 hours on normal usage. 3 USB ports as well (shame MacBook Air!), as well as the option to boost the processor up to 1.9 GHz when plugged into mains power! Plus it runs Windows XP (its fast!) and priced extremely attractively at $499! Could anything go wrong?
That’s usually the cue for things to go wrong, but with the Wind, they don’t. It offers a complete package, and my only wish would be a higher resolution screen. If I had to pick one mini note over all others, this would be it.

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Upcoming models
With Intel recently announcing the availability of its low-power chip, appropriately named the Atom, the signs are clear that the age of the cheap Mini-Notebook is here and now. Intel and HP are not the only biggies with their fingers in this pie, with laptop major Acer announcing its Atom powered 900-grams Aspire One with a generous 8.9 inches of screen estate at a shade under $400. Even Dell’s CEO Michael Dell, whose held off from dipping his feet in this waters, was recently spotted at a conference with the cherry red number you see along side. Dell’s positioning this as the perfect device for the next billion Internet users. Apple’s likely to introduce a mini as well, although I can’t really see them price one so low, to be honest.

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Hard Disc Scavenger

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2008-10-04T22:28:00.007+05:30

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