XQD - The high-End Memory

Many memory card formats have vanished unable to cope up with the taking over of SD cards. CompactFlash has managed to survive because of its high capacity and transfer rate. But to be competitive, it needed improvement.

The newly designed cards with XQD format use PCI express technology to achieve astonishing 2.5 GB per second transfer rate initially and 5 GB per second later. These cards will write data at a minimum speed of 125 MBps. CompactFlash cards found today top out at about 100MBps. CompactFlash card users will have a wide variety of memory options available. The new design will be licensed in early 2012

 

Smartphones Can Reduce Your Phone Bill

By installing a few smart apps on your phone, you can start making free calls to any other phone or computer connected to the internet. Skype for instance is a free computer to computer call service provider which is now being implemented on most of the smart phones. This application only uses the internet connection of your phone to connect and call to other people. So, just subscribe for the unlimited data plan and you are done with your phone bill. There are Google Voice and Skype applications built for desktops and smart phones. So you can now take advantage of internet connectivity of your mobile phone to make phone calls to computers and phone numbers around the world. By doing this you can greatly cut down the cost. The amount charged by services like Skype is much less than the amount charged by your service provider for making international calls.

How To Choose The Best Tape Drive Repair Depot

When your tape drive breaks and your backup is down it can become a critical decision making process choosing a tape drive repair company since so much rests on backing up your computers data. Many selection factors should be considered before you ship your backup device off to a tape drive repair depot if it is near by or across the continent. Some times the nearest repair company is not the best one.

The first point to consider involves the turnaround time or time it will take to get the repair done. Some depot repair houses for tape drives can get the work done in 1 or 2 days for an extra expedite fee. Some repair houses could take up to 4 weeks if they do not have the parts and need to order parts. Most reputable repair facilities can repair your drive in about a week. Make sure you know if they have ample parts to do the work before sending your drive in. And consider that this time period is not including shipping time into the facility or back to your location. So if you are in a hurry do not ship the drive across country via UPS Ground which could take 5 days to arrive at the destination. It might pay to ship the drive in overnight and have it shipped back overnight. The shipping in and back is paid by you not the repair house unless you make that part of the price.

The second point to go over involves the warranty on the repair. Is it 1 month, 3 months or 6 months in length or longer? Naturally, the longer the warranty the better. If you can buy an extended warranty even better. So compare apples with apples when it comes to the length of the warranty when choosing a repair vendor and comparing pricing.

Third, find out what is covered under the warranty? Does the warranty cover just parts replaced or does it cover the whole drive or unit? If it is only the parts replaced then make sure you know which parts were replaced. Ask for a detailed breakdown on the parts replaced when you get a bill or invoice. You may need this information if you have a warranty issue in the future. If the warranty does cover the whole unit the process is much clearer but do know what parts the warranty covers before you ship your drive out.

Fourth factor, find out how long the repair company you are considering has been in business, how long they have been repairing tape drives and how good is their reputation? This can be done easily by asking the company and checking via the Better Business Bureau and checking online. The longer the company has been in business and the better their reputation the more likely you are to get your repair done quickly and professionally. A tape drive repair company that is not well established may not be around next year to honor the warranty that you paid for. The company should have an established return RMA numbering process. The return material authorization (RMA) number should be assigned to your repair job in advance and that number is put on your shipping box and referenced if needed via communications with the repair house. Some vendors have this process online which is very convenient.

Lastly, when you add in all the above factors, how competitive is the price quoted for the repair job? Is the price a flat fixed rate or will there be extra costs added on later? Is the price quoted including the tape drive head? Note a complete fixed price or flat rate price will include the head but some vendors will get your drive in to their facility and then start adding costs on after they get your drive so ask in advance or get them to commit to a flat rate price even if the head is bad before you send the drive in. If the drive cannot be repaired do find out if a bench fee will apply also or not. If the repair is on an estimated basis or labor plus parts basis do get all the details on how that works before you ship.

Armed with the above information about your depot tape drive repair company you will be better equipped to choose or select the best place for your broken tape drive to be fixed.

Visit tape drive repairs to get more information on Pinnaclemicro's tape drive, autoloader and tape library repair services. All major types of drives are supported 4mm, 8mm, DLT, SDLT, LTO, MLR They guarantee to beat any competitors price by 5%.

AIT Tape Drive Repair - Not all AIT Tape Drive Repair Companies Are Equal

One of the possible reasons you are reading this article is that you are searching for a guide on choosing an AIT tape drive repairs center. Or you are on this page because you have consulted a repair center previously that maybe you were not satisfied with their services and or products.

Some times it is really a tough challenge to choose a repair company especially now a days. It seems there are lots of repair center that can fool you by saying they are the best and they can fix anything under the sun. So, you need to put time and efforts into just finding the right service center that really specializes in tape backup products such as libraries, autoloaders and tape drives.

The right repair center must be able to provide repair, sales and support. The company should be able to diagnose, evaluate, repair and test the unit. It should also provide products for sale so that the spare parts that might be needed by your unit are readily available and so then you don’t have to wait for a number of days for the spare parts to arrive.

How To Select The Best Tape Drive Repair Company

When your tape drive breaks and your backup is down it can become a critical decision making process choosing a tape drive repair company since so much rests on backing up your computers data. Many selection factors should be considered before you ship your backup device off to a repair depot if it is near by or across the continent. Some times the nearest repair company is not the best one.

The first point to consider involves the turnaround time or time it will take to get the repair done. Some depot repair houses for tape drives can get the work done in 1 or 2 days for an extra expedite fee. Some repair houses could take up to 4 weeks if they do not have the parts and need to order parts. Most reputable repair facilities can repair your drive in about a week. Make sure you know if they have ample parts to do the work before sending your drive in. And consider that this time period is not including shipping time into the facility or back to your location. So if you are in a hurry do not ship the drive across country via UPS Ground which could take 5 days to arrive at the destination. It might pay to ship the drive in overnight and have it shipped back overnight. The shipping in and back is paid by you not the repair house unless you make that part of the price.

The second point to go over involves the warranty on the repair. Is it 1 month, 3 months or 6 months in length or longer? Naturally, the longer the warranty the better. If you can buy an extended warranty even better. So compare apples with apples when it comes to the length of the warranty when choosing a repair vendor and comparing pricing.

Third, find out what is covered under the warranty? Does the warranty cover just parts replaced or does it cover the whole drive or unit? If it is only the parts replaced then make sure you know which parts were replaced. Ask for a detailed breakdown on the parts replaced when you get a bill or invoice. You may need this information if you have a warranty issue in the future. If the warranty does cover the whole unit the process is much clearer but do know what parts the warranty covers before you ship your drive out.

Fourth factor, find out how long the repair company you are considering has been in business, how long they have been repairing your type of tape drive ( 4MM DAT, 8MM DAT, DLT, SDLT SuperDLT, Ultrium, LTO, Travan, Data Cassette, MLR, 9-Track, VXA, 3480, 3490, 3490E ) and how good is their reputation? This can be done easily by asking the company and checking via the Better Business Bureau and checking online. The longer the company has been in business and the better their reputation the more likely you are to get your repair done quickly and professionally. A company that is not well established may not be around next year to honor the warranty that you paid for. The company should have an established return RMA numbering process. The return material authorization (RMA) number should be assigned to your repair job in advance and that number is put on your shipping box and referenced if needed via communications with the repair house. Some vendors have this process online which is very convenient.

Lastly, when you add in all the above factors, how competitive is the price quoted for the repair job? Is the price truly a flat fixed rate or will there be extra costs added on later? Is the price quoted including the tape drive head or not? Note a complete fixed price or flat rate repair should include the head but some vendors will get your drive in to their facility and then start adding costs on after they get your tape drive for the head and other parts. So always ask in advance or get them to commit to a flat rate fixed price even if the head turns out to be bad after you send the drive in. If the drive cannot be repaired do find out if a bench fee will apply also or not. If the repair is on an estimated basis or labor plus parts basis do get all the details on how that works before you ship.

Armed with the above information about your depot tape drive repair company you will be better equipped to choose or select the best place for your broken tape drive to be fixed.

Plasma TVs : What To Consider When Buying One

If you have made the decision to buy a plasma television, you may be finding that choosing your particular model isn't so easy. There are an array of choices and decisions that you will need to make. The first thing to do is consider some different aspects concerning your personal usage of this television. What may be best for one person might not be best for another. Some of the issues that you will need to consider are 1080p vs. 720p, TV screen sizes, and choice of plasma television brand.

The sizes of plasma range quite dramatically. Plasma televisions start at 32 inches and you can find them as large as 63 inches. Of course, it is no surprise that you will need to take into account the size of the space where your plasma will be placed. If you have a very tiny living room, a 63-inch screen might seem overwhelming. By the same token, a 32-inch plasma can look too small in a huge open space. You might also want to take into account whether or not you want the television to be the focal point of the room. Be sure to leave room for speakers as well. If you want to get the most out of your home theatre experience, high quality speakers on the side of the television are an absolute must.

You will have two basic options for your plasma TV screen quality. These are 720p and 1080p. The less expensive sets are probably 720p and the more expensive sets are 1080p. Of course, if you want the best picture quality available, you will want to purchase a 1080p plasma TV. The colors will be very vibrant and stunning due to the higher resolution. Remember that 1080p sets only display 1080p quality when this is what they receive. These television sets are great choice (and are probably worth the extra money) if you enjoy watching Blu-Ray movies.

Finally, you will need to decide the specific brand that you want to purchase. Many find that reading consumer review websites can help them narrow their choices. There are many high quality brands of plasma TVs available including Samsung, LG and Panasonic. The choice of which to choose is yours. Choosing a plasma TV requires determining your needed size, quality and brand of set. If you spend a bit of advance time considering your needs, you will be more likely to be completely satisfied with the outcome.

Continue : Cheap Plasma TVs

Advantages of Online Backup

You may be wondering why there is a need for online backup such as keepit online backup provides, when you can keep duplicate copies of your important files in optical discs, another hard drive, or flash drives.  It should be pointed out that one important benefit of using web storage is that the user is not required to do anything during the backup process.  What this means is that once you have specified the files to be backed up on a regular basis and the days when the backup process should be done, you do not have to worry about it anymore.  As long as your Internet file storage provider is one of the best, they will conduct the backup procedure in such a manner that you may not even notice that it is being performed.  This is done by taking advantage of the idle times for the computer system and the Internet connection.

Still another primary advantage of online backup is that the duplicate copies are stored in a remote location.  This eliminates the need to bring your backup copies to another location to keep them safe in case something happens to the location of your computer system, such as a fire, burglary, earthquake and other unexpected incidents.  Moreover, the disaster recovery process will be much simpler, such as accessing the files stored in the provider’s server.  Some providers may even permit backup of the operating system, which makes the recovery process even easier. 

Another important benefit of online backup is the use of advanced encryption technologies to prevent illegal access to the files.  Of course, you may also use these encryption techniques manually for backup copies kept in physical media like CDs, hard drives and flash drives.  However, the benefit provided by the web service is that this is also done automatically.  You do not have to be concerned that you might neglect to encrypt the backup files because this is automatically done in your computer before they are sent to the data center of the provider via the Internet.  Another benefit is that even if Internet connection is lost while you are working on a file, this is not a problem because sync software will automatically modify the backup copy once Internet access is restored.

Meanwhile, a possible disadvantage is that the Internet connection may slowly down substantially if the file to be processed is too big.  Some providers try to avoid this problem by specifying a limit to the size of an individual file.  Moreover, it is also possible to set up the schedule of the backup during those times when you are not using the computer. Try Clicking here for more info.

Portrait Digital Photography Secrets

Perhaps you have wanted to make taking pictures a more enjoyable experience? Would you like to be the go to person for wedding photos,family parties, vacation shots,sporting events and people tricky night shots? Then you need to obtain Digital Photography Secrets.It is a must have to having great photo shots and I suggest that you simply go to http://www.hot-digitalcameras.com get your copy.

David Peterson takes the time and covers how you can make ordinary picture taking,into the 1 in a million shot you always desired. Photography has been David’s passion for years and he’s excited to have a chance to share that passion along with you with a new book that he believes can transform you into a great photographer.

David has been a photographer using film cameras since he was a young boy. When he bought his first digital camera,he began shooting pictures of everything . Eagerly, he moved his first shots to his computer and printed them.

He wasn’t too happy with his results. They didn’t look like the professional photos he saw every day in magazines. his camera was expensive enough,He wondered “why didn’t my pictures look like a million dollars?”

Well here is his answer. This book will teach you how to get deeper contrast and color,how to get balanced photos. forget about blurry images. It shows you how to add that sparkle to your shots.

We're talking insider secrets, tricks of the trade that experienced photographers attempted to keep to themselves to protect their jobs. This book tells you what you need to take low light shots, how to use your camera on manual not automatic. You will be shown maintenance tricks to keep you camera clean and also what you should never use to wash your camera. Become familiar with how to dodge red eyeshots, and what to tell photo labs so your prints come out correctly. This book is amazing!!! A must have for any photographer and currently available at http://www.hot-digitalcameras.com. Even if you’re a novice or a pro, Digital photography secrets can help provide you with to the next level.

Vista to Windows 7 File Transfer

Each 2-3 years, PC users can enjoy a new version of the Microsoft Windows OS. So most computer's users will buy the latest OS and install it on their computer. So lots of PC users will be glad to upgrade their Windows system the moment a new updated version is made available to them. If you do try to upgrade your Windows OS on the same computer (or on a different one let's say), you are more than aware that it is not an easy task to move all your old files to the new installation. It might prove a total challenge for many users to manually move their old files into a new computer system. The same problem will happen to PC users trying to move files (and programs) from a Windows Vista installation to a Windows 7 one. You should know that the documentation concerning Win 7 is not full. You have to find an easy method (other than doing it manually) to copy all those applications and files. Check out this Vista to Windows 7 File site or Windows Vista to Windows 7 Data Transfer guide. They both cover great ways to do the transfer.

Good news is that there are programs available on the market to help you transfer files from one OS to another. A know program to do that is PC Mover. It will move files and programs easily, quickly and you won't have to do it manually at all. In order to download and install PC Mover, you only have to pay a small fee.

PC Mover makes it possible to move files within the same computer to a different hard drive or to a different installation of a newer Windows operating system. To transfer your files to a new PC, you can do this with an USB cable. The process is easy and takes little time, as PC Mover will copy files in increments of 4GB each to maximize speed and minimize data loss. Along with files, PC Mover also transfers registry settings, programs and personal user settings such as browser settings, desktop background, favorites and bookmarks. Your pictures, videos, media playlists and your Internet (and network) settings can also be transferred to a new installation of Windows 7 using PC Mover. You can learn more about this or download your copy in this Data transfer guide.

PC Mover is simply a great program. You will save lots of time and it will be a lot easier transferring any kind of files from your old Window Vista to the new Windows 7. It works like a charm and you won't even think you are but transferring files.

Pocket PC GPS Receiver Is The Greatest Gadget To Own

A PDA or personal digital assistant is often referred to as pocket PC GPS because it  combines a Microsoft software for PDA and a GPS device. Pocket PC systems are considered superior to Palm units in terms of functionality  but a Palm is easier to use and comes with a larger range of accessories. There are several elements that  define a Pocket PC GPS starting from the Bluetooth and the compact flash and ending with integrated features and the GPS  cabling if necessary. Each of these elements can influence the efficiency of the whole, and therefore, they  deserve separate investigations.

Without an external compact memory card, the GPS unit will consume the battery power of the  Pocket PC GPS and make it inoperable. Moreover, The association of the GPS memory card with the PDA could make the operational system slower in  terms of task response. There follows the Bluetooth technology that, if incorporated, saves the problem of cables. Through a  wireless system, a GPS receiver located in a backpack could be linked to a hand-held PDA. From this perspective, the Pocket PC GPS brings superior flexibility particularly since  for car usage, a clear view of the sky is a must.

Since the Bluetooth technology increases the usage flexibility, its adaptation to the Pocket PC GPS solution is a bit more  expensive.  Even so, many people consider the investment worth making. The Pocket PC allows for connection with a car-powered GPS unit. Cheaper than the self standing GPS units,  these GPS receivers are known as mouse-type. Besides the low cost, the system has the advantage of saving  battery power. The  main downside of this type of Pocket PC GPS is the in-car usage limitation.

For varied GPS usage you should consider a hand-held system of  navigation that can be cabled with the Pocket PC. This Pocket PC GPS  improvisation proves a good idea for outdoor usage. The hand-held receiver can be used separately or in  combination with the PDA for map display. Having two gadgets could be annoying and uncomfortable particularly since they  are wired, but unless you can afford a more sophisticated solution, you can very well do with it. Other than this handling difficulty, the Pocket PC with the included GPS  device provide both good hardware options, Windows Mobile software and lots of mapping possibilities. The Pocket PC GPS unit of the future will share all these features in one unit alone.