Home & Small Office Computer Guide

Anything that will rid the back of my office desk of the rat’s nest of cables and wires that come with having two computers set up there is always going to grab my attention. So more talk of wireless USB connections certainly got me interested.

Talk of wireless USB has been around for some time - it was first written about in 2004 and in January this year I suggested that it was closer than many people thought and as far back as January 2006 Belkin had released a cable free USB hub but despite that nothing much has happened with wireless USB until now.

Last week things began to change as Belkin announced the release of another wireless USB hub and Lenovo announced a notebook with wireless USB as an option.

More manufacturers are expected to announce wireless USB products in the coming weeks so perhaps we’re about to see wireless USB really begin to take off.

You can read more about it here 

I really hope that you’re not one of those people who opens email attachements - no matter how innocent they may appear - without first running them through a virus scanner.

Even if the email is addressed to you personally and comes to you at work you should take precautions because the attachement you open could compromise your computer and every other computer that’s networked to it. This story shows how nasty the situation is becoming.

If you happen to spend a lot of time on eBay - searching for computer bargains of course - then here’s the eBay Toolbar.

Check it out … it looks like it can save you time for other things … like searching for other bargains on eBay.

Hitachi shipped it’s first 1 terabyte hard drive several months ago and now Cnet is reporting that Seagate’s first 1 terabyte capacity hard drive will be available in the next month or so.

Seagate’s hard drive comes with a 5 year warranty and both Seagate and Hitachi have priced their units at $US399.

So scientific tests have shown that there are more germs and bacteria on computer keyboards and mice than there are on toilet seats but is there a solution?

Would you believe that there’s a keyboard and mouse that’s dishwasher safe?

Well there is and you can find them at Seal Shield.

The manufacturers, Via Technologies Inc. claim that this is the world’s smallest full featured x86motherboard. It’s designed for ultra compact embedded PCs, systems and appliances.

The mother board is designed to be used with Via Technologies C7 processor. These processors aren’t as powerful as Intel or AMD products but then the C& processors don’t use as much power.

A pocket sized PC running XP is said to last for around 5 hours on just one battery charge.

You can read more about the motherboard and the computer that it’s fitted to here

Are you thinking of increasing the amount of memory in your computer?

Well now might be the time to stop thinking about it and actually do it because experts suggest that the price for memory is near rock bottom and the only way left is up.

You can read the story here

… it all depends

When Windows Vista appeareed one of it’s selling points - aimed at those who use laptops - was that it would extend battery life. To some extent that has been the case and if you run Vista in it’s very basic form you can get better battery life than if you were running Windows XP.

However, if you have the hardware in your laptop to run Vista’s Aero Glass interface - you know, the one the brochures all show you and that looks so wonderful - then expect to drain your laptop’s battery rather quickly. The problem is so bad that several laptop producers have come up with their own power management settings rather than relying on those built into Vista.

You can find more about the story here.

… Microsoft to small business - too bad … it’s gone from the beginning of the year.

Well it seems that sales of Windows Vista haven’t been quite as stellar as the hype from Microsoft would have us believe. In fact in some markets, such as the small office/home office market, sales of Vista have been rather dismal as small businesses prefer to stick with an operating system that works with all their software.

Microsoft’s solution? Make sure there’s no other operating system the small office/home office people can buy. Windows XP in the OEM version will be withdrawn from sale by the end of the year.

There’s nothing quite like bludgeoning your clients into submission.

You can read the full story here

Here’s an interesting little problem that appears from time to time. You will notice that the screen has a decidely pink tinge to it

Now if you saw that on your monitor you might be excused for thinking that your monitor was about die and that you needed to buy a new monitor asap.

Fortunately this problem is usually not down to your monitor. In this instance it was caused by a fault inside the cable that runs from the monitor to the computer and it’s simple to test to see if it is the cable that’s at fault.

All you have to do is squeeze and roll the cable between your thumb and forefinger somewhere along it’s length. At the same time watch the monitor to see if it returns to it’s normal color display. If it does all you have to replace is the faulty cable.

If it doesn’t return to it’s normal color then make sure that the plugs at either end of the cable are firmly attached to the monitor and the computer. The other major cause of the pink screen monitor is a loose connection.

If neither of those remedies work then perhaps it is time to seek help from your friendly computer shop.