Archive for Hardware

SONY VAIO Dual Core Notebook! Save $100!

Monday, January 17, 2011 Alerts, coupon codes, Laptops/Notebooks, Other PC No comments
Sony VAIO VPCEE31FX/BJ Notebook PC

The Sony VAIO VPCEE31FX/BJ Notebook PC is available for $499! That’s a $100 off its regular price at $600. Use coupon code QBM17377 at checkout to get this offer. Offer ends midnight Jan. 17, 2011.

This Sony VAIO Notebook is a fantastic package! I’m not usually that excited about Sony notebooks, but this is a great price for these features. First, it has a sizeable 15.5” widescreen, PLUS an integrated “full” numeric keypad — which is a rarity on laptops and notebooks, but common to a desktop keyboard. Add to that it’s fast AMD® Athlon™II Dual Core P340 processor (CPU), 3GB (gigabytes) of DDR3 RAM (memory) — more than some desktop computers — and amazing picture quality with ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 4250 Graphics — suitable for many high-end games.

Sony VAIO VPCEE31FX/BJ Notebook PC

Sony VAIO VPCEE31FX/BJ Notebook PCThe Sony VAIO VPCEE31FX/BJ Notebook PC comes pre-installed with:

  • Genuine Microsoft® Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit
  • AMD® Athlon™ II Dual Core P340 processor (2.20GHz)
  • 3GB of pre-installed DDR3 system RAM (memory)
  • A large 320 GB hard drive (storage) for your documents, movies, photos, and music files
  • AMD® Vision ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD4250 graphics card
  • 15.5″ (1366×768) widescreen LED backlit display uses power-efficient LCD technology and delivers dazzling colors and picture clarity
  • Wired and the fastest Wireless-N Internet
  • Dual Layer DVD Burner (DVD RW)
  • Media card reader for your digital cameras and smartphones
  • Built in Sony Motion Eye webcam
  • A trial version of Microsoft Office 2010 is included
  • HDMI connector for attaching to a HD TV

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HP Photo Printers for Holiday Gift Giving

Tuesday, December 7, 2010 Printers No comments

Here’s a revised and updated version of my Nov. 18, 2008 post on Hewlett Packard Photo Printers. They make great gifts for the holidays.

Despite the economic downturn the holiday shopping season is approaching, and while some of us are wondering how its going to be this year, many of us acknowledge that we’re still going to need gifts for our families and closest friends. I was able to find them online for about $80 each.

Photosmart A516

Photosmart A516

In 2007, I gave several as gifts to my sister and my parents Hewlett Packard digital photo printers as gifts, specifically the HP Photosmart A516 (at right). The Photosmart printers are very small, compact, and lightweight. It measures roughtly 10 inches wide, 5 inches tall, and less than 6 inches deep. That’s about the size of a small loaf of bread. It weighs less than 6 pounds. (A slightly heavy loaf of bread).

The Photosmart printers print on 4×6 inch and 5×7 inch photo paper, and can hold about 20 sheets at a time. Me, my family and friends agree that the picture and color quality is fantastic. (We still use them nearly 3 years later! So they last! –RFS, 12/2010)

The other great thing about the Photosmart printers is that you don’t have to connect them to a computer to print your photos. They will accept most of the popular media memory cards (Memory Stick, Memory STick Duo, SD, xD, and MMC). Some printer models have an optional Bluetooth adapter so you can print wirelessly from your Bluetooth enabled cellphone. If your camera uses PictBridge technology you can plug your camera directly into the printer via a USB cable. Some models even allow printing from your iPod.

If I were to buy HP Photosmart printers this year, budget-minded as I am, I still give serious consideration to:

icon

HP Photosmart A536

(New, TigerDirect.com, $70)The Photosmart A530 series prints on sheets up to 5×7 inches in size, and accepts MemoryStick, MS Duo, SD, xD, and MMC media cards. So it will work with most Sony and Olympus cameras quite well. It doesn’t accept CompactFlash cards. The unit is light and small enough that you can consider it portable. I often take it with me when I go to parties at the homes of friends and relations. It accepts an HP 110 Tri Color printer cartridge. The print cartirdge sells for about $22. HP also packages the cartridge with 140 sheets of 4×6 paper for $42. Supported operating systems: Windows 2000; Windows XP Home; Windows XP Professional; Windows XP Professional x64; Certified for Windows Vista(TM), Windows 7; Mac OS X v 10.3.9 or higher.
HP Photosmart A616 Photo Printer (Remanufactured)

HP Photosmart A616 Photo Printer
$195 from Buy.com

Buy.com has the A616 selling for $195 with a one year warranty. In prints in as little as 39 seconds, accepts paper up to 5 x 7 inches. For media cards it accepts CompactFlash, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Duo, Secure Digital/MultiMediaCard and xD-Picture Card. It also supports Mini SD with an adapter. It has a 20-sheet input tray and wireless capability with an optional HP bt450 Bluetooth Wireless Printer adapter. Weight: 3.46 lbs. Supported operating systems: Windows 2000; Windows XP Home; Windows XP Professional; Windows XP Professional x64; Certified for Windows Vista(TM), Windows 7; Mac OS X v 10.3.9 or higher. Compatible cartridges: HP 110 Tri-color Ink Cartridge.

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Flirting With Disaster

Saturday, October 30, 2010 Peripherals, Retail, Tips No comments
Genesis Repertory Ensemble
Flirting with Disaster


Click this text to play

Flirting With Disaster may have been the title of a great song by Molly Hatchet, and a Ben Stiller movie, but its not something you should do with your computer files.

Yet its exactly what tens of thousands of people do every day by not having a file backup system.

So many people I know answer this by saying, “Well, I don’t have anything really important on my computer anyway.”

“So all those digital photos you’ve been taking on your family trips, vacations, and barbecues aren’t important to you? You won’t miss them if your hard drive crashes and you can never look at pictures of those memories again?”, I counter.

Genesis Repertory Ensemble

Me, top left, in black and gold, with the Genesis Repertory Ensemble

I continue, “I wish I felt that way since that time about 4 years ago when I lost 5 years of digital photos from my stage acting days with the Genesis Repertory Ensemble. I still wish I had backed them up to this day. Then there was that other time my hard drive failed and I “almost” lost about $1,500 in music files from iTunes. Fortunately, I had learned my lesson the first time, so I only lost about $100 worth of songs.”

That’s usually all it takes.

Have you been flirting with disaster? Are you willing to lose all those digital videos and photos you’ve taken? All those songs and movies you’ve downloaded? True, songs and movies can be purchased again, but your kids only graduate high school once, and you might never get to shoot photos on that once-in-a-lifetime vacation again.WD My Passport Elite, 320 GB HD

Western Digital External Hard DriveDodge disaster with a backup drive. Most people can get by with this little silver 320 GB external hard drive from Western Digitalicon which sells for about $70. Or if you want something a little flashier, you can pay an extra $10 more to get one in red, charcoal, or blue. They work with Windows (XP, Vista, or 7) and Macs, too. Just plug one into a USB port on your computer and you’ll be backing up your files in minutes. These 320 GB models are great for backing up laptops, too.

If 320 GB isn’t enough then consider one of these 500 GB external hard drivesicon. They’re available in a range of colors, too.

Need more storage space than that? You monster! How digital are you? Have you scanned every document you have? Well, you’re going to need a 1 TB or 1,000 GB external hard driveicon. Yes, 1 TB (terabyte) is 1,000 GB (gigabytes) or 1,000,000 MB (megabytes). They start around $100.

More?! Then you’ll have to be satisfied with one of these 1.5 and 2 TB external hard drivesicon. You might as well backup all your computers with one of those. Enjoy yourself.

Bonus: Read about my theater days here and here, and see what my friends are up to these days here on Facebook.

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