DIYers IT Zone

After making a big fortune on their mp3 player Ipod, Apple come with a new product , the iPhone. Touted as a combination of a video iPod, a mobile phone and an Internet communicator, the Iphone sports a widescreen 3.5″ LCD and is encased in an ultra sleeky casing.

iPhone combines three products — a revolutionary mobile phone, a widescreen iPod with touch controls, and a breakthrough Internet communications device with desktop-class email, web browsing, maps, and searching — into one small and lightweight handheld device. iPhone also introduces an entirely new user interface based on a large multi-touch display and pioneering new software, letting you control everything with just your fingers. So it ushers in an era of software power and sophistication never before seen in a mobile device, completely redefining what you can do on a mobile phone.

Dell came out a new heavy duty laptop, Latitude ATG D620  which suite those people who working in rough environment. This laptop meets military standards for vibration, humidity, moisture and other elements that can potentially harm the laptop while out on the field.

It features a shock-mounted, removable hard drive, a shock-mounted LCD screen, a dust and spill-resistant keyboard, port covers and more. The Latitude ATG is prepared for dust, humidity, vibration and high altitudes, plus a lot of the accidental bumps and knocks that are part of the territory when you’re working in the field.

After i talked about the laptop categories in my previous post, now come to the part that what should we concern when buying laptop.

Previous Post:

Laptop Buying Guide ~ 1

Laptop Buying Guide ~ 2

Laptop Buying Guide ~ 3

Laptop Buying Guide ~ 4

1. Choose a type of laptop which suite your need and budget. Whether a mainstream, gaming or etc.
2.  If demo m/c available, try to lift up the laptop for 3 mins whether the weight suite you or not.

3. Notebook hardwares.

For those who plan to get a laptop with 512MB ram, do check that the ram module is 1X512MB, not 2X256MB so that next time if you want to upgrade your ram u will have extra slot. Because normally laptop only come with 2 so-dimms slot.
for ram.

Some laptop equipped with DASP ( Disk Anti Shock Protection )hardisk . This technology  provides further impact absorption for the hard disk in the event of a knock or drop.

Be sure to check that the laptop equipped with common port and connectors.

Some of the laptop come with built in bluetooth also, this suite those who like to sync their data between PC and hand phone.

4.  Battery Type

Continue Reading “Laptop Buying Guide ~ 5″

Are u tried of changing network configuration on your laptop ? Because WIndow XP only built in 1 set of network configuration. Therefore, whenever u are in office, you may use difference configuration compare to your home configuration. This make u have to change it everyday……….

Unless u are using Toshiba laptop which provided the Config Free which allow u to set difference profile & settings for your network. But the Toshiba Config Free software can only use in Toshiba laptop, other laptop it wouldnt allow u to install… ( *dont worry, i know how to crack it. I will post it when i’m free hehe )

But i found a freeware which have to features like Config Free, allow user to set up to 6 profile according to users’ needs.

NetSetMan is a network settings manager which can easily switch between 6 different, visually structured profiles including:

• IP Address
• Subnet Mask
• Default Gateway
• Preferred & Alternate DNS Server
• Computer Name
• Workgroup
• DNS Domain
• WINS Server
• Default Printer
• Run Scripts

Click Here To Download !

MediaMonkey is a music manager and jukebox for serious music collectors and iPod users. It catalogs your CDs, OGG, WMA, MPC, FLAC, APE, WAV and MP3 audio files. It offers an intelligent tag editor which looks up missing Album Art and track information via Freedb and the web, and an automated file and directory renamer to organize your music library. It includes a CD ripper, CD/DVD Burner, and audio converter for saving music, and manual or automated playlist editors for creating music mixes. Its player automatically adjusts volume levels so that you don’t have continually fiddle with the volume control and supports hundreds of Winamp plug-ins and visualizations; or if you prefer, it can use Winamp as the default player. It also includes portable audio device synchronization that allows you to quickly synch tracks and playlists with iPods and other portable audio devices.

Continue Reading “Media Monkey”

Ultraportable Laptops Ultraportables defy gravity by integrating every laptop component into the smallest frame possible. These laptops tend to have smaller keyboards and smaller screens, but still be efficient enough to do word processing, emailing and web surfing. Some of these laptops can even connect to cellular broadband wireless providers(EV-DO and EDGE) for the long road ahead. Longer battery life is favored over multiple connectivity ports and fast components.

Normally this kind of laptop equipped with smaller screen such as 12.1 and very light weight, less than 2kg. This suite those who travel a lots, no burden while carrying it.
Business and Workstation Laptops

Business laptops are most frequently determined by the manufacturers and what they deem to be their spe-cific ‘corporate’ line. For example, Dell’s Latitude line targets businesses, and so do HP’s Compaq line, To-shiba’s Tecra line, Gateway’s M Series line and so on. Most business laptops use stronger materials around their cases, such as magnesium alloy and carbon fiber. They’re more conservative in style and have added security, such as better hard drive protection and TPM security. These laptops also target the frequent flyer, so look for mobility features like light weights and wireless options that include integrated WAN (EV-DO and EDGE).

Some of the workstation laptop like Dell Precision M90, great for those who require extra workstation performance, 3D graphics capability and stunning wide screen displays in a durable mobile form factor. This kind of laptop come with powerful processor, large screen such as 17″ , large of amount of ram/memory, and a Nvidia Quadro graphic which good in creating 3D drawing and etc.

So, this thread finally covered all kinds of laptop categories. In next guide, i will show u all what we shall concern on buying laptop.

General Purpose/Home Laptops General-purpose laptops are a nice catch-all term for most mid-range, mainstream laptops. These systems are not off-the-charts in terms of style, components or pricing, but they’re not barebones either. These systems are equally comfortable in the home, home office, or small business environment. They can competently browse the Web and do e-mail, and they’re solid enough to let you archive your photos, play music and even watch movies. These laptops appeal to the broadest range of people.

This kind of laptop normally is the mainstream in the market, average price with up to date specs.

Cheap or Budget Laptops

Cheap laptops are anything but cheap: They’re inexpensive and defined by their value. They can be configured similarly to last year’s hot models

Normally this kind of laptop equipped with older processor such as sempron or celeron and less amount of ram such as 256MB only. We can find this kind of laptop with just RM1999 for branded laptop such as Toshiba & Acer. This budget laptop suite students for home working or surf net purpose.

Latest promotion from TM Net. For new subscriber for RM99 package for 2 years contract, will get a free HP PC worth RM1500.

Offer Until 31 January 2007. They are also free wireless gateway for first 250 successful applicants.

Gaming Laptops

Gaming laptops are classified by one thing: Graphics chipset or “discrete” graphics. Of course, a fiery paint job, blinking lights and rockin’ speakers add to the appeal of a gaming laptop. A 17-inch screen is also suggested for capturing every detail by playing with the most cutting edge games. A high clocking Intel Core Duo processor will take advantage of the multi-threaded games coming out. But

Example Of High End Gaming Laptop specification:

This kind of laptop comes with a great graphic card ( Nvidia GeForce GO series ), at least 1GB of memory, HD audio, 17″ screen. For processor, AMD Turion 64 X 2 will be better for gaming purpose.

Nowadays laptop price getting cheaper. U can easily get a nice branded lappie less than RM3000. Some more the emerge of WiFI technology, a lots of people like to group at those outlets that provide free WIFI internet access, such as Starbuck, Coffee Bean, and the famous so call “kopitiam” coffee shops in Ipoh. (* dunno why a lots of newly open coffee shop like to use the name of “kopitiam” )

Before we start, let us see there are how many type of laptop. Actually, there are a lots of differences type of laptop in the market. We can categories them into below.

• Media Center/TV Lovers’/Desktop Relacement Laptops
• Gaming Laptops
• General Purpose/Home Laptops
• Cheap or Budget Laptops
• Ultraportable Laptops
• Business and Workstation Laptops

Media Center/TV Lovers’/Desktop Relacement Laptops
It’s an entertainment center, a module for watching television, and a necessary vehicle for avid photographers and video editors. With the help of fast, speedy processors, plenty of screen width, strong graphics and large hard drives, you’ll be able to edit photos, burn music, and store and edit videos whenever and wherever you choose.

This kind of laptop normally equipped with Window Media Center Edition OS, larger screen, nice graphic & stereo system, some even equipped with tv tuner.

To be continue..