• home
• bookstore
• tips
• software
• archives

Archives: Hardware

This category includes anything I've written about PC hardware and peripherals (and the companies that make them), including information for the do-it-yourselfer.

A welcome change in Microsoft licensing terms

For the past few years, OEM copies of Windows and Office have been sold under licensing terms that are just plain silly. Yes, you could buy an OEM copy of either product, at a substantial savings over the retail versions, but you had to purchase a "qualifying non-peripheral computer hardware...

Dell pretends to change its policies

Jeff Jarvis says, "Dell has changed its policy on blogs." Well, not exactly. Read the comments at Jeff's site and you'll see that Dell still doesn't get it. Not even close. Personally, I'll know that Dell is beginning to wake up when I get an e-mail asking for more information about...

Tip of the day: Build your own external hard drive

For comprehensive backups, every PC owner should have an external hard drive. You can find ready-made drives at high prices, but I find it's much cheaper and easier to build your own. If you can handle a screwdriver, you do this DIY project. You need two pieces: Any hard drive....

New hardware or old?

A commenter on Scoble's site asks an interesting question: I've got a 4 year old PC running (barely) XP. My graphics card is a 64MB card, it's an AMD duron 850, 256MB of RAM. It runs XP fine now, why should I upgrade it to Vista and won't my upgrade...

Out, out, damned (Mac) FUD!

The Mac Observer gets all breathless in a short article that speculates (inaccurately) about the future of Windows Vista: When Windows Vista ships at the end of 2006, it may not run on the cut-rate PCs sold by Dell, Gateway and other companies. Gene Steinberg, in his latest column at...

The mini-multi-monitor

Last week I suggested a second monitor as a productivity-boosting device. This idea takes it to the extreme: SideWindow transforms your PDA into a virtual desktop extension, allowing you to drag applications such as your favorite picture viewer, media player and instant messaging applications to your PDA while freeing your...

Two thumbs up for Mwave

My new PC arrived on Saturday, and is now happily running Windows Vista Beta 1. Mwave did an excellent job building it and packing it for shipping. All the cable bundles were neatly tied down inside, and it runs nice and quiet. All in all, well worth the $80 cost of...

Tip of the day: Get a second monitor

Bigger isn't always better. If you're lusting after a 20- or 21-inch monitor to replace the old one on your desk (especially if the old one is a CRT), let me offer a different suggestion: Get two smaller flat-panel monitors instead. The advantages of two monitors are overwhelming. You can actually open...

In search of awesome external storage

If I'm going to be a charter member of the Terabyte Lifestyle club, I should probably get organized about it. Which is why I've been looking around at external hard drive enclosures lately. I've used IDE drives in external USB 2.0 drives for years with generally excellent results, but I know I can...

Why some people get Windows CDs and some don't

Following up on my earlier post about how Dell and HP make it difficult for customers to get a real Windows CD with their new PC... I went back and read a post I put together back in February (Everything you always wanted to know about Windows Product Activation), and...

Hidden partition vs. a real Windows CD

Hewlett-Packard has agreed to provide real Windows CDs to its customers instead of hiding the Windows files in a recovery partition, Engadget reports this morning: If you’re the owner of an HP PC purchased over the past few years, you may just be in line for a free Windows XP recovery...

Hey Dell, bundle this!

John Walkenbach has a few choice words about his new Dell laptop: I spent about two hours removing all of the excess crap that's installed on it. I thought I got it all, but when I booted it this morning, I was greeted with an advertisement featuring Scott Cook, from QuickBooks. The...

Pick your PC

In the comments, Peter Schroeder asks me to post the specs for the new PC I'm having built by Mwave.com. OK, here goes: Antec SLK1650B (Black) Mid Tower W/Smart Power 350W ATX Power Supply Intel Pentium D 830 3.0 Ghz 800MHz Retailed Bundle Intel Boxd 945 PSNLK Crucial 1GB (1024MB)...

New PC on order

I decided to let Mwave.com build me a new Intel 830-based (dual core) PC. See the updated version of this post for my reasons. Rumor has it that the beta of Windows Vista will be released tomorrow morning. With a little luck the hardware and software will arrive simultaneously....

Who should build my next PC?

With Longh.... er, Windows Vista Beta 1 just around the corner, I need to get a new PC. I've got a small checklist already: Dual core, either AMD or Intel 8xx, doesn't matter Fast graphics, PCI-E? Native SATA support Dual-layer DVD-writing Dell's new 9100 series would fill the bill just...

Dell shuts down Customer Service boards

On the home page of the Dell Community Forum: Ah, but inside: The Customer Service boards on the Dell Community Forum will be retiring at 3:30pm this Friday, July 8th. ... Customer Service FAQs will still be available to help answer your questions. If you need further assistance, you may contact...

Want to upgrade your 8300HD?

I'm moving out of Cox territory and into Comcast land, which means my Scientific Atlanta 8300HD is going back to the cable company. I've upgraded it with an external 300GB SATA drive and a hard-to-find SATA II cable (required). If you own an 8300HD and you're interested in this hardware, drop...

Dell, are you listening?

Dwight Silverman has written a post that every Dell executive, every Dell customer, and anyone who's thinking about buying a Dell should read. I won't even try to summarize it. Just go read the whole thing....

A is for Arrogant, B is for Bloggers, D is for Dell

Jeff Jarvis had a problem with his Dell computer. Dell's customer service did a terrible job of responding to him. He documented the whole affair here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here. (I may have missed one or more installments in the saga, and no doubt there will...

Josh Marshall loves his Tablet PC

Last year, political reporter Joshua Micah Marshall asked for advice on whether he should buy a Tablet PC or not. A lot of people (including me) e-mailed him with advice, encouragement, and specific recommendations. Based on that feedback, Josh bought a Motion Computing 1400. Yesterday, with a brief apology to his...

You want a really, really big external drive?

Forget USB and FireWire. I want one of these Terabyte Hot Drives from Evergreen Technologies: The TeraByte HotDrive is based on the latest Serial ATA RAID technology. By incorporating this new data transfer technology, the HotDrive delivers the large storage capacity demanded by today's data intensive computing at speeds that...

Is this the perfect Tablet PC?

Michael Gartenberg has convinced me to put the new X41 ThinkPad Tablet PC on my short list: This device is a no compromise system that's perfect for business use. The Tablet functionality simply adds a hugely powerful mobile feature to what is already a killer device. Want pen based functions....

Dude, where's your Tablet PC?

Robert McLaws grabs Dell by the collar and slaps them silly for not having a single Tablet PC in their lineup because "the market is too small." One of the main reasons the Tablet business is so small is because you're not playing in it yet. Wake up and smell...

The most expensive UPS ever

Summer thunderstorms can cause power outages. What will you do? What will you do? Hint: It helps if your office is near your garage....

Frustrated by power supplies for your gadgets? Here are three easy fixes

The Your Tech Weblog (whose author really needs to provide some bio information) recently served up this mini-rant, which I found courtesy of Ernest Miller at Corante: My current tech pet peeve: gadget power adapters that aren't properly labeled. An iRiver AC adapter, for instance, should read "iRiver" somewhere on...

Tim loves his 20-inch widescreen monitor

Tim Coyle is ga-ga for his Dell 2005FPW monitor: I got the monitor with a 14 Watt Sound Bar for $445 – including shipping. And let me tell you – this monitor is amazing. I am really digging wide screen – big time. I can see extra columns of data...

Tip of the day: Keep your computer cool

Sometimes the cause of Windows problems isn't software at all. If you suddenly begin experiencing mysterious crashes, pay attention to when they occur. Overheating inside your computer case can cause memory chips, CPUs, and other heat-sensitive parts to stop functioning properly. If your computer consistently begins crashing a short time...

What do you get when you cross a hard disk with a flash drive?

I spent 90 minutes in the Windows Hardware pavilion at WinHEC last night and saw some cool stuff. Most noteworthy was a hybrid disk drive that incorporates non-volatile flash memory into a conventional hard disk drive. The impact on performance is pretty huge, as you can imagine. This technology is still pretty early, but it...

Quieter, cooler PCs

I just got out of a fascinating session at WinHEC on designs for new Media Center PCs. Nvidia has been researching heat and noise in PC design, with a special emphasis on creating PCs that are quiet and cool enough to pass the living-room test. Heat comes from some surprising sources....

Auxiliary displays

Here's a feature you'll start to see on portable PCs around the end of next year. The auxiliary display is a tiny LCD-style screen (plus navigation buttons) embedded into the outside of a notebook or other portable computer. The idea is simple: You can check an appointment, look up a...

WinHEC: What's the opposite of liveblogging?

I was really looking forward to liveblogging Bill Gates’ keynote address at WinHEC today. I’m sure a few other folks were as well. But a funny thing happened when I made it into the exhibit hall. Someone had decided to (1) Disable Wi-Fi in the exhibit hall (but not announce...

Reporting from WinHEC 2005

I’m here in Seattle at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference, where Microsoft is laying out its vision of what sort of technology will be running your office and living room in the coming years. There’s lots of good stuff, including some nicely detailed looks at Longhorn. I’d be sharing all...

The $10,000 PC: Is this thing gold-plated?

Ars Technica has just unleashed their April 2005 Ars System Guide. Boring? I don't think so. We are not concerned with what you should be buying your 500-person company for your next mass upgrade. These are the systems that we, your fellow enthusiasts, either have, plan to have, or would...

Overclocking is bad for your PC's health

Microsoft's Raymond Chen (whose epitaph will no doubt include the words, "developer of the original Tweak UI utility for Windows") put up a fascinating post earlier this week. It's worth reading for two reasons. First, it details how Microsoft engineers really do use the data you submit when your Windows computer crashes. Second,...

Creative's powerful portable speakers

Last summer, I ran across a deal on the Creative TravelSound MP3 portable speaker system and, on an impulse, I bought one. It arrived via UPS a few days later, and I promptly set the box aside. Over the next few months, I took a few short trips, but never felt the motivation to throw this...

More stuff I saw at DEMO

Here are a few interesting products I saw yesterday at DEMO. Cloudmark (formerly SpamNet) showed off a browser add-on called SafetyBar for Internet Explorer. It’s a logical extension of their SafetyBar for Outlook and Outlook Express, which uses a community-based filtering system to very effectively block spam and viruses. The idea behind the SafetyBar...

More thoughts on DEMO

Dwight Silverman of the Houston Chronicle has resurrected his blog at the Houston Chronicle. That’s good news! (Dwight, where’s the RSS feed?) In one of his first posts, he points out that I was at Demo yesterday but not updating as frequently as he wishes I would have. I plead not guilty by reason of strategy....

A new Media Center contender?

Wired News has a solid story on the DEMO conference: Six Minutes to Stand Out. Reporter Daniel Terdiman singled out one company that also impressed me with its six-minute presentation: …cable TV companies may find themselves threatened by Mediabolic, whose network media player is designed to give TV viewers a previously unavailable...

Demo details

Jason, Marc, and the rest of the Weblogs,Inc. team are Blogging DEMO. I spent half of Monday at the show and will spend all of Tuesday. It’s an eclectic mix of products, most of them still under development and some of which might never see the light of day. But...

Indestructible notebooks

Scoble experiences what we all dread: I pulled my backpack out of the car, flipped it over my shoulder (I hadn't yet had my coffee) and I heard a sound that I had never heard before. Sounded like metal or glass sliding along concrete.I knew without looking what it was. My...

Get your own biometric desktop

No, not bionic. Biometric. As in Microsoft’s Optical Desktop with Fingerprint Reader. Amazon is currently selling this package, which includes a keyboard and optical mouse, for $59 with free shipping. A $10 mail-in rebate brings the net price to $49. My co-author Carl Siechert tested this for a chapter in our...

Got a notebook? Get this...

One of the best purchases I made in 2004 was Kensington's unusual and incredibly well designed notebook holder. It's a simple platform that contains USB, keyboard, and mouse ports. You slide your notebook PC into the bracket, plug in one USB connector and a power cable, and you've instantly transformed...

More Dell: For better or worse

I used to work with Jeff Prosise years ago, although we haven't seen each other in a while. So I felt a little extra twinge of sympatico when I read his account (via Scoble) of Dell Hell: A few weeks ago I wrote that my system was mysteriously rebooting itself...

A silent power supply

I have an office full of PCs, and the noise from various and sundry fans sometimes gets a little annoying. So I'm intrigued by this completely fanless PurePower Power Supply from Thermaltake. The heatpipe with glowing copper fins for thermal dissipation looks pretty cool, too. (Or maybe it just looks...

Memo to Dell CEO Kevin Rollins

CNET News interviewed Dell CEO Kevin Rollins: How's Dell doing on customer service these days? Customer service has been a challenge, but I think if you watch the scores now, we have hit the trough, and that's now coming back up. The whole company is focused on the customer experience,...

RAID 1 Q&A

Yesterday I offered Prof. Michael Froomkin my services as a Windows adviser. Today, he takes me up on the offer with this question: I’m never one to pass up the chance of free advice from a real expert. So, Ed, here’s a question that’s bugging me: My home computer runs...

More Dell woes

I guess when it rains it pours. I've previously chronicled the saga of my neighbor Jerry's Dimension 4100, whose case fan has failed and can't be replaced. Yesterday, he called me to tell me that his just-over-a-year-old Dimension 4600 won't start. We hauled the PC over to my office, where...

SP2: no performance problems

I often grit my teeth when I read "expert" advice on performance that has no relation to external reality. That's why I was very happy to see one Web site perform a comprehensive set of system benchmarks aimed at answering the question, "Does Service Pack 2 slow you down?" They...

Disenchanted with Dell

I've bought at least two dozen computers from Dell in the past five years. Three of them are still here in my office, including the PC I'm typing this post on and the server that runs my home network. I've lost count of the number of PCs I've bought from...

Setting up a new PC

John Walkenbach has some excellent observations based on his personal experience Setting Up A New Computer. I agree with about 98% of it. Glad I covered most of these topics in my new book....

Why your PC crashes

In an excellent article at Slate, Paul Boutin explains why your computer crashes: A few years ago, Microsoft set up the Windows Error Reporting Service to help find out where crashes come from. After a Windows application -- or your whole PC -- shuts down, a box pops up asking...