Why Don't DVD Recorders With Hard Drive Functionality Have Twin Digital Tuners? Part 2

เขียนโดย mamiya | 21:55

In part one of this series, we discovered why anything recorded onto the hard disk of DVD recorders with hard drive capability has to be in DVD quality. Here in part two we will see why this fact effectively prevents the viable manufacture of models with twin digital tuners.

The fact is that the process of converting digital broadcasts to DVD quality is very hard work, and there is a dedicated processor in the machine to carry it out. With twin tuners, assuming that any programme received could be recorded and then selected for burning to DVD, you would need two of these dedicated processors, which would put the price of the machine up a lot as the specification of the whole machine would need to be much higher.

But why not have one digital tuner just for watching live programmes in whatever quality they happen to be in, and a second digital tuner connected to the hard drive just for recording, which would have all its signals converted to DVD quality in the usual way?

This would seem sensible, because you would only need one dedicated processor to convert the signal from the one tuner into DVD quality; namely the one connected to the hard drive and DVD recorder. The tuner being viewed "live" could be viewed as it stands, as the signal would never be recorded to DVD and so would not need to be converted to DVD quality.

On the face of it, this sounds workable, but in practice it would be complicated for the average consumer. You would have no "pause live TV" function, because that requires hard disk use and everything on the hard disk has to be converted to DVD quality. You would also be able to record only from the one tuner and not from the other, so this would make the recording interface more complicated. It would appear as if the second tuner were completely separate from everything else in the box. It would look to the consumer as if it had been bolted on at the last minute rather than being an integral part of the machine.

So, as you can see, having twin tuners in DVD recorders with hard drive functionality is a complicated business and not something that can currently be achieved very satisfactorily without adding significantly to the cost of the machine.

Given that the average new LCD TV has a built-in digital tuner, DVD manufacturers probably reason that this is a good enough solution to the problem of how to watch one digital channel and record another. It avoids them having to build new and much more expensive DVD recorders with hard drive functionality to overcome the above complex technical issues.

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Tech Times Video: Lacie Rugged Mobile

เขียนโดย mamiya | 10:31

Tech Times' Video gives a two-minute overview of the Lacie Rugger Mobile external hard drive as shown on the lifestylecheck for tv5's The Evening News (TEN). Demo unit provided by Microwarehouse Philippines.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZIKlvddPcw&hl=en

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How to Prevent External Hard Drive Failure

เขียนโดย mamiya | 19:20

A method of data storage that has become increasingly popular is the use of external hard drives. Home computer users today have more data than ever, and many find that the storage capacity of
their computer's hard drive is not sufficient. As the usage of external hard drives increases, there is
also a rise in the number of external hard drive failures. Listed below are various physical problems
that cause external hard drive failure:

Accidentally Dropped the External Hard Drive

There have been many cases where the external drive has been accidentally dropped by the user.
Many of these hard drives are designed to sit upright on a flat surface. This can cause the drive to
be susceptible to tipping over. The easiest way to prevent this from happening is to allow the external hard drive to lay flat instead of upright. This can prevent tipping. Otherwise, you should place the drive in a safe location away from the edges of a surface.

Twisted Electrical Cords and Cables

Many times, twisted cords and cables can cause an external hard drive to be pulled off a surface onto the floor. It is always important to make sure cords and cables are not twisted and are a sufficient length to reach from the computer to an electrical outlet.

Using the Wrong Power Cord

If you have several different power cords in the vicinity of your external hard drive, it is important to make sure you are using the correct power cord with your hard drive. There have been many instances where a user has plugged a different power cord into their external hard drive causing a power surge which will overheat the hard drive.

Power Surges from Lightning Strikes

It is important to always power down and unplug your external hard drive during a lightning storm. A power surge from lightning strikes can cause external hard drive failure by overheating the hard drive.

Contact a Data Recovery Company If You Have Experienced External Hard Drive Failure

If the data on the hard drive is worth preserving, you can contact a data recovery company to recover the data. A data recovery lab can repair or replace the damaged internal parts of the hard disk and retrieve any existing data.

External hard drives are a popular method of data storage. By following the tips above, you can protect your external hard drive and ensure that your data remains safe.

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Computer Hard Drives - Hard Drive Problems and Symptoms

เขียนโดย mamiya | 09:10

Is your hard drive acting up? Do you fear the loss of data, downtime, and possible loss of revenue this could bring? Let's take a look at diagnosing hard drive problems, and what the symptoms are.

The surest sign of a major problem is this: when you write data to the disk, and retrieve it later, errors pop up. It might take the form of small amounts of data going missing, or being turned into gibberish. If this happens in more than one program, disk failure looms in the very near future.

Some users "cure" this problem by reformatting the drive, then re-installing the OS and all programs. Unfortunately, this doesn't correct the root cause of the trouble, and it will only be a matter of time before it pops up again, perhaps fatally.

Strange noises, particularly high pitched squeaks, are often attributed to the hard drive. In the majority of cases, these squeaks aren't coming from the drive, but from a case fan, or power supply fan.

Listen closely with one of the side panels removed to zero in on the sound. If necessary, unplug the drive's power cable, then turn the computer on. If you still hear the squeak, you know it's a fan. But if the squeak goes away, only to return when you boot the hard drive, you have a very serious problem.

If your hard drive seems to be working too much, constantly chugging away, always sending data to and from RAM, the problem isn't your drive. The odds are you need more RAM. Today's giant programs are memory hogs, immense in size, creating multi-megabyte files.

If your hard drive is slowing down there are a number of different causes. These won't lead to disk failure, but they can be frustrating.

The first, and easiest to deal with, is drive fragmentation. In XP and Vista it's easy to defragment a drive, requiring only a few mouse clicks, yet most users let months go by without doing it. They wait until their machines have slowed to a crawl before performing this most basic act of computer maintenance.

Another cause is the volume of data stored there. The more data on the disk, the slower retrieval and write-to rates become. The cure is obvious. Either do a bit of house cleaning, removing unneeded files, or add another drive.

Sometimes, a sluggish hard drive can be a symptom of spyware, adware, or a virus. A good security program can scan your drive, and tell you if you have one of these problems.

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Hackintosh "Installation"

เขียนโดย mamiya | 15:15

O hai! I found this video on my external hard drive of me installing osx86 on my laptop and decided I should post it. Uhh....enjoy?



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnYRwY_4y6U&hl=en

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PIONEER AVH-P4000DVD Ipod Touch Iphone Video Demo

เขียนโดย mamiya | 11:25

PIONEER AVH P4000DVD Ipod Touch 1G vs 2G Video Demo. You need to buy the Pioneer cdi-200 Cable interface for the Ipod Touch because Pioneer does not included it. The only interface that comes with the package is the USB Interface for flash drives or external hard drives. This unit is really a AVH-P4050DVD Unit. 6.1 Inch Wide LCD and also has Divx playback.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWcAGC5rew4&hl=en

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How To Build Your Own Computer

เขียนโดย mamiya | 12:45

Lets be honest, building a computer from scratch with no knowledge of how to go about it can be basically impossible.It is actually great fun building up and stripping a computer once you are able to understand how to do it.I am going to briefly explain in this article the important components of a computer and how to go about connecting them.

PC Components:Motherboard ,ram chips, AGP or PCI graphics card, CPU processer unit, Power supply, DVD roms and Hardrives.

Okay so lets briefly lay out the procedures below.

Firstly you need to attach the motherboard to the motherboard holding plate. This can be done by screwing it in in accordance with the holes or making use of the plastic stoppers.

Once the motherboard is attached you will need to insert the cpu processor unit into its socket with the pins carefully sliding into their holes.There is usually a small lever which you use to clip the cpu into place, so do this carefully.

The ram chips are next to be put into their respective sockets. Simply line them up with their sockets and clip them into place.

Next is the graphics card.Your graphics card might be AGP (requires Accelerated Graphics Port) or PCI so just make sure you know. The AGP port is usually a short grey port above the long white PCI ports,so plug that in too.

Now you can assemble the motherboard holding plate onto the pc box. Next you can insert the power supply. Make sure you have no live connections going when you do this! Simply place the power supply in its correct location designated and screw in.

There are different connections coming from the power supply so lets explain them.The ones with yellow,black and red wires with 5 connections are called standard peripheral power connectors.These get connected to the DVD roms and hard drives to give them power.There will also be a long connector from the power supply which is probably the main power connector which you will plug in on your motherboard.

The next type of cable you need is the 40 pin IDE cable which connects from your cd roms and hard drives to the Primary and Secondary IDE ports on the motherboard.You will have to decide which ones go where.

Another important set of connections is the front panel connectors.You need to make sure you plug them in correctly on the motherboard as they light up the corresponding LED lights for your reset button,hard drives and power button.Do this incorrectly and your pc will not boot at all.

Once all the internal connections have been done it's time for the external connections.Simply connect the monitor adapter to the Video card output, mouse and keyboard to their ports as well as any other printers and general hardware devices to their respective serial and parallel ports. If all is done correctly, you should have a working computer.

So basically those are the most important outlines you need to understand in order to build a computer. t is quite easy to get hold of pc building manuals on the internet.

If you would like to obtain a video tutorial on how to build a computer as well as repair it please check out the website below.

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Tips For Buying an External Hard Drive

เขียนโดย mamiya | 15:00

External hard drives are a great tool for anyone who owns a computer. They can do multiple things for anyone who not only uses their computer for work related tasks, but also personal things as well. For example, if you have files you do not want to lose, you can create copies of them and put them on an external hard drive, allowing you to keep all of your files safe from a computer crash. If you need extra space, you can use a drive as an effective second hard drive. There are a few tips to buying a drive, that can help you to make sure you get the best product to suit your needs.

Choosing Between New or Refurbished Hard Drives

The first thing that should be considered when buying a hard drive is whether or not to buy a new or refurbished one. Refurbished hard drives are often as good as new ones, as long as you take the time to understand what you are buying. Once you have made the decision between new or refurbished, you can go on with your search in a more specialized way.

Choose Your Size

Storage capacity is quite possibly the biggest decision to make when you are looking at buying an external hard drive. They come in a wide variety of sizes, anywhere from as small as 4GB to as large as 1TB. This wide range of storage sizes allows for a multitude of different storage options that you can choose from to meet your needs. Along with the storage capacity, come different prices. Prices are generally in direct proportion to the capacity of the drive, therefore, more storage equals a higher price. By knowing the size drive you need, you can make sure that you are not paying more than you have to. By not buying more storage than you need, you are essentially saving money you could allocate to other computing needs such as a web cam or a new wireless mouse.

Use the Internet to Your Advantage to Find You External Hard Drive

The Internet is an amazing tool you can use to find thousands of quality products to purchase, including your new external hard drive. There are hundreds of websites that offer quality hard drives that will meet your needs. If you do not mind paying full price, you can purchase directly from the company that makes them. If you don't want to purchase from a company, you can buy it from a computer "store" online that may offer sales and discounts. If you are looking at new hard drives or refurbished hard drives, you can purchase from online auction sites that allow users to bid for products.

Making sure you make the right purchase can mean all the difference in terms of how well your external hard drive performs. Make sure to compare prices once you have found the one you like, so you do not pay more than you have to. Purchasing one is easy, but by taking a few extra careful steps can help make sure you are getting exactly what you need.

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Small Desktop Computers

เขียนโดย mamiya | 00:45

Small desktop computers are smaller than traditional desktop models. It is a good choice in rooms where space is a problem. With small computers, users get sufficient space to keep other items like extra drives and circuit boards.

Small desktop computers are available as slim line models. The computer case is long and wide, similar to ordinary desktop models. The difference is in the height and thickness of the cases. These computers are designed using the same techniques and principles as in a generic computer system. It makes use of both internal and external storages. The system disc can be an internal storage unit. Backup devices and data storage discs can be external devices.

Small desktop computers have advanced features and capabilities unlike the ordinary digital computers. There are small computers with megabytes of memory and large disks. Some computers come with integrated monitor and keyboard. Some computers have robust design and thermal efficiency that can benefit the computers in a wide range of applications. These computers facilitate users to operate more than one processor at the same time. These computers can even function as a server.

Small desktop computers make use of microprocessors and other discrete electronic components. There can be electrostatic discharges from users to these devices. This discharge gets coupled at the circuit board that holds the microprocessor and other components. This may cause damage or destruction to the devices. There are a number of methods used in small computers to solve this problem. One way is to have metallic shields at the connecters of key boards or display interfaces to circuit boards.

Small desktop computers can be used for personal and business needs. It finds usage in areas where large volumes of information are to be stored. With computers, it is possible to perform three dimensional calculations with less computational expenses and to produce sophisticated graphics. In the medical field, these computers can be used to diagnose diseases.

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