Welcome to ListC.com is full of categories related to computer including links to artificial intelligence, bulletin board systems, computer science, system management, security, graphics, system management and much more.

Archive for the ‘Hardware’ Category

How to Back Up with External Tape Drives

Friday, January 21st, 2011

Backing up valuable information is a very important part of running a business or a group successfully. As more time passes, it is becoming smarter to save records of all the transactions and paperwork which go through the system in order to have protection against any discrepancies which may arise in the future. The question remains, which is the best way to save these records.

There are two main schools of thought when it comes to the best preservation methods. Most people are more familiar with the use of disc space to record and store all of their records. What many people don’t realize, however, is that the use of magnetic tape outweighs disc space by far.

Magnetic tape costs nearly 25 times less to record the same amount of information as it would cost on hard disc space. It also has the ability to last for over 30 years, making its shelf life incredibly valuable. The only issue comes in the form of the fact that most computer systems normally do not come with magnetic tape decks.

This means that if someone wanted to use magnetic tape to backup all of their documents, they would need to install a tape drive into their system. Thankfully, an external tape drive is available, making the use of one of these systems incredibly easy for any user.

By installing an external tape drive, one simply needs to hook the unit up to the computer and run some software to make the unit compatible.

Sticking a blank magnetic tape into the external tape drive makes it then available for the unit to record and store the data necessary, with only a minimal amount of work on the part of the computer user. These external tape drives can be a lifesaver when it comes to the storage of all of the important data.

External tape drives will often end up saving the company a great deal of money as well, when compared to saving the equivalent amount of data on discs. The cheapest of these drives can be found for a little over $100, while some of the more quality, top-end brands can go all the way up to $900.

Whichever external tape drive is purchased, however, the company will quickly begin to save money. The tapes which are required to store the information are much cheaper and will hold much more than the disc space that could be required. In this manner, it will not take long for the company to make up the difference they would have been spending on all of the disc space and begin to save money, therefore killing two birds with one stone, with the external tape drives!

Pinnaclemicro.com, based in Santa Ana, California has been selling new and refurbished computer, telecom and medical products. Additionally, they repair tape drives, optical drives and printers. Their customers range from computer resellers to self maintainers to corporations to governmental and educational institutions. They will beat any advertised tape or optical drive repair price by 5%. To take advantage of this offer order your tape or optical drive repairs online via their Order Repairs Online form. In the comments section in their form mention our competitor and the location of their ad showing the repair price that they need to beat by 5%. Once you submit our online form they will reply with an email within 48 hours authorizing your repair and the discounted rate.

How to Buy Computer Hardware

Thursday, September 9th, 2010

There is a continuous debate on the benefits between buying computer components to build your own customized personal computer and choosing a store-built, ready-to-use computer at your local store. Apparently, store-built computers provide you the convenience of selecting the model of the PC that closely measures up to your specification, then you bring it home or to the office and plug it and voila! It’s ready for use. Buying computer components on the other hand, gives you the liberty to set up your own PC according to the exact specification using branded parts that are more durable and easier to replace when you want to upgrade your system.

The hardware inside your computer including the box that houses all of these comes from different individual manufacturers, and these parts are assembled together under an operating system which is a software that is usually run by Microsoft. To keep the prices of store-built computers popular, distributors would normally utilize the generic parts that may be of inferior quality, and because they have to cater to a standard market, it is difficult to find a personal computer that is tailor fit unless you result to buying computer components instead.

You purpose of buying a computer may be categorized according to the following needs:

For basic computer tasks – these include doing Microsoft office functions like Word and Excel, internet access for email, getting in touch with friends and family through social media, browsing or research, online shopping, online banking, music downloads, video viewing, etc…
Gaming – from simple card games, simulation games such as flying a plane or driving fast speed cars or motorcycles, platform games like the famous Mario, Action-adventure games that can be categorized as hard core games requiring high resolution videos, etc…For video-animation work, graphic design, and watching high density movies – to get the best results for these categories, you will need high intensity computer components.

Here is a list of the basic computer hardware to guide you in choosing the kind of personal computer that will best suit your needs:

Random Access Memory or RAM – this allows your computer to read data faster, thus a higher ram accelerates the speed of your computer system the capacity of which is measured in gigabytes. A 2 gigabyte ram or 2GB can already provide a good speed for your computer system.

Hard Disk Drive – this is the hardware that stores the primary information and data. So even if you do basic tasks only, you will still be collecting an assortment of data that you would want to keep and logically, your stored files will continue to increase through time. Choose a hard disk that has at least 160 GB to ensure a large capacity for storage. External hard drives are also available should you need more space for storage of large files including your back-up files. You can ask your computer store about this when buying computer components.

Central Processing Unit – also called as the microprocessor is the brain or your computer where the functions of a program are executed. The CPU triggers your operating system that boots your computer. Most microprocessors are manufactured by Intel and AMD, but Intel continues to be the more popular choice. When buying computer components such as your CPU, you look at the clock speed, the cache memory and the bus speeds. These factors determine respectively how fast your computer will run, how much data can be stored, and the speed your CPU executes in transferring data to and from the other components. For basic computer tasks, an Intel Dual Core is usually recommended.

Mother Board – this is where most of the major components of your computer are embedded such as the microprocessor, memory cards, video card, power supply, drive connectors and other computer components. The type of mother board is essential when buying computer components because you need to choose one that will allow you to upgrade the peripherals installed on it.

Video/Graphic Cards – this computer hardware is very important for gaming and for video and graphic uses because it is the component that processes image data that comes out on your monitor. You can choose from the less expensive 2D graphic images or you can go for the latest output of 3D images. A highly recommended graphic card is the nVidia 1GB graphic card with an Asus motherboard and a hard disk capacity of 500GB which you can specify when buying computer components.