Introduction - docshare01.docshare.tipsdocshare01.docshare.tips/files/10894/108949042.pdfWhile large mainframe computers such as the System/360 increased storage and processing abilities,

netic core memory de-vices to solid-state static

and dynamic semiconduc-tor memory, which great-ly reduced the cost, size

and power consumption of computer devices.

Eventually the cost of in-tegrated circuit devices

became low enough that home computers and per-sonal computers became

widespread.

Computer hardware is

the collection of physical

elements that comprise a computer system. Com-puter hardware refers to

the physical parts or components of computer

such as monitor, key-board, hard disk, mouse,

etc. refers to objects that you can actually touch, like disks, disk drives,

display screens, key-boards, printers, boards,

and chips. In contrast, software is untouchable.

Software exists as ideas, application, concepts, and symbols, but it has

no substance. A combi-

nation of hardware and software forms a usable

computing system.

The history of com-

puting hardware start-

ing at 1960 is marked by

the conversion from vac-uum tube to solid state devices such as the tran-

sistor and later the inte-grated circuit. By 1959

discrete transistors were considered sufficiently

reliable and economical that they made further vacuum tube computers

uncompetitive. Comput-er main memory slowly

moved away from mag-

Introduction

History of Computing Hardware (1960s–present)

The mass increase in the

use of computers acceler-

ated with 'Third Genera-

tion' computers. These

generally relied on Jack

Kilby's invention of the

integrated circuit (or mi-

crochip), starting around

1965. However, the IBM

System/360 used hybrid

circuits, which were solid-

state devices interconnect-

ed on a substrate with dis-

crete wires.

28/08/2012 Computer Fundamentals

Computer Hardware

Special points of

interest:

Computer Hardware

Early History of

Computing Hard-

ware

Inside this issue:

Home Computing 5

ASUS takes a lead 6

Computer Hardware

for Gaming

7

Computer Hardware

for Professionals

10

Peripheral Equipment 11

Qubee’s New Offer 15

Interesting Story 16

Description: Data General NO-VA System

Date: 7 January 2011, Source: Goodwill Computer Mu-

seum

The first integrated cir-

cuit was produced in

September 1958 but

computers using them

didn't begin to appear

until 1963. Some of

their early uses were in

embedded systems, no-

tably used by NASA for

the Apollo Guidance

Computer, by the mili-

tary in the LGM-30

Minuteman interconti-

nental ballistic missile,

and in the Central Air

Data Computer used for

flight control in the US

Navy's F-14A Tomcat

fighter jet.

By 1971, the Illiac IV

supercomputer, which

was the fastest computer

in the world for several

years, used about a quar-

ter-million small-scale

ECL logic gate integrat-

ed circuits to make up

sixty-four parallel data

processors.[1]

were multiples of the 8-

bit byte. It was first to

employ medium-scale

integration (MSI) cir-

cuits from Fairchild

Semiconductor, with

subsequent models using

In 1969, Data General

shipped a total of 50,000

Novas at $8000 each.

The Nova was one of

the first 16-bit minicom-

puters and led the way

toward word lengths that

large-scale integrated

(LSI) circuits. Also nota-

ble was that the entire

central processor was

contained on one 15-

inch printed circuit

board.

Cont.…..

Nova: Minicomputers

Mainframe Computers

the 1960s and 1970s. It

brought computing power

to more people, not only

through more convenient

physical size but also

through broadening the

computer vendor field.

Digital Equipment Corpo-

ration became the number

two computer company

behind IBM with their

popular PDP and VAX

computer systems.

Smaller, affordable

hardware also brought

about the development

of important new operat-

ing systems like Unix.

While large mainframe

computers such as the

System/360 increased

storage and processing

abilities, the integrated

circuit also allowed de-

velopment of much

smaller computers. The

minicomputer was a sig-

nificant innovation in

Page 2

Computer Hardware

Illiac IV

“Quality is more

important than quantity, One home run is much better than two doubles” - Steve Jobs

Data General’s Nova

In 1973, the TV Type-

writer, designed by Don

Lancaster, provided

electronics hobbyists

with a display of alpha-

numeric information on

an ordinary television

set. It used $120 worth

of electronics compo-

nents, as outlined in the

September 1973 issue of

Radio Electronics maga-

zine. The original design

included two memory

boards and could gener-

ate and store 512 charac-

ters as 16 lines of 32

characters. A 90-minute

cassette tape provided

supplementary storage

for about 100 pages of

text. His design used

minimalistic hardware to

generate the timing of

the various signals need-

ed to create the TV sig-

nal. Clive Sinclair later

used the same approach

in his legendary Sinclair

ZX80.

cuitry, but computers

were developed around

it, with much of their

processing abilities pro-

vided by one small mi-

croprocessor chip. Cou-

pled with one of Intel's

other products - the

On November 15, 1971,

Intel released the world's

first commercial micro-

processor, the 4004. It

was developed for a Jap-

anese calculator compa-

ny, Busicom, as an alter-

native to hardwired cir-

RAM chip, based on an in-

vention by Robert Dennard of

IBM, (kilobits of memory on

one chip) - the microprocessor

allowed fourth generation

computers to be smaller and

faster than prior computers.

TV Typewriter

Intel’s Microprocessor

Fourth generation

Microprocessor-based

computers were origi-

nally very limited in

their computational abil-

ity and speed, and were

in no way an attempt to

downsize the minicom-

puter. They were ad-

dressing an entirely dif-

ferent market.

Although processing power

and storage capacities have

grown beyond all recognition

since the 1970s, the underlying

technology of large-scale inte-

gration (LSI) or very-large-

scale integration (VLSI) mi-

crochips has remained basical-

ly the same, so it is widely re-

garded that most of today's

computers still belong to the

fourth generation.

The basis of the fourth

generation was the in-

vention of the micropro-

cessor by a team at Intel.

Unlike third generation

minicomputers, which

were essentially scaled

down versions of main-

frame computers, the

fourth generation's ori-

gins are fundamentally

different[clarification needed].

Page 3

Computer Fundamentals

TV Typewriter by Don Lancaster

Intel 4004 Processor

“Do you want to spend the rest of your

life selling sugared water or do you want

a chance to change the world?” – Steve

Jobs

At the other end of the

computing spectrum

from the microcomput-

ers, the powerful super-

computers of the era al-

so used integrated cir-

cuit technology. In 1976

the Cray-1 was devel-

oped by Seymour Cray,

who had left Control

Data in 1972 to form his

own company. This ma-

chine, the first super-

computer to make vector

processing practical, had

a characteristic horse-

shoe shape, to speed

processing by shortening

circuit paths. Vector pro-

cessing, which uses one

instruction to perform

the same operation on

many arguments, has

been a fundamental su-

percomputer processing

method ever since. The

Cray-1 could calculate

150 million floating

point operations per se-

cond (150 megaflops).

85 were shipped at a

price of $5 million each.

The Cray-1 had a CPU

that was mostly con-

structed of SSI and MSI

ECL ICs.

Supercomputers: Cray-1

Microcomputer emerges

Byte Magazine)[10] began

the era of mass-market

home computers; much

less effort was required to

obtain an operating com-

puter, and applications

such as games, word pro-

cessing, and spreadsheets

began to proliferate. Dis-

tinct from computers used

in homes, small business

systems were typically

based on CP/M, until

IBM introduced the IBM-

PC, which was quickly

adopted. The PC was

heavily cloned, leading to

mass production and con-

sequent cost reduction

throughout the 1980s.

This expanded the PCs

presence in homes, re-

placing the home com-

puter category during

the 1990s and leading to

the current monoculture

of architecturally identi-

cal personal computers.

The advent of the micro-

processor and solid-state

memory made home

computing affordable.

Early hobby microcom-

puter systems such as

the Altair 8800 and Ap-

ple I introduced around

1975 marked the release

of low-cost 8-bit proces-

sor chips, which had

sufficient computing

power to be of interest

to hobby and experi-

mental users. By 1977

pre-assembled systems

such as the Apple II,

Commodore PET, and

TRS-80 (later dubbed

the "1977 Trinity" by

Page 4

Computer Hardware

Super computer: Cray-1

“Being the richest man

in the cemetery doesn’t

matter to me...Going to

bed at night saying

we’ve done something

wonderful– that’s what

matter to me” - Steve

Jobs

First Personal Computer by

Apple

New quad-core Intel

Core i5 processors are

standard on the new

iMac. Choose a 21.5-

inch iMac with a

2.5GHz or 2.7GHz quad

-core Intel Core i5. Or

expand your view with a

27-inch iMac featuring a

2.7GHz or 3.1GHz quad

-core Intel Core i5. You

can even configure iMac

with the fastest quad-

core processor available

— the Intel Core i7. All

models use Intel’s re-

cently refined chipsets.

That means the new

iMac performs nearly

twice as fast as the pre-

vious generation,1 add-

ing a new dimension of

speed to everything you

do. And since

Mac OS X is de-

signed to take ad-

vantage of each core,

it captures every last

bit of performance

from the processor.

Computer Hardware: Home Computing

Acer’s All in One: Z3 Series

HP’s Desktop PC

Featuring Windows 7

Home Premium and/or

other operating systems

The latest evolution of

HP’s TouchSmart soft-

ware makes it easier to

be entertained, get crea-

tive, and have fun. Enjoy

the award-winning multi

-touch technology suite

which makes it easier

than ever to personalize

and access your digital

content.

Elevate your listening experience

with premium music playback that

MP3 players can’t touch. Make it

sound the way you like it—the

Beats Audio Console allows you to

customize your output through a

powerful, easy-to-use equalizer.

The modern all-in-one design

keeps your world clutter free: just

plug it in and you’re ready to go. A

stunning 23” diagonal widescreen

display becomes the best canvas in

the house for all your family activi-

ties. Slide the 23" screen down to a 60º

angle for the most conformable

viewing position and touch interac-

tion.

Features 2nd Generation Intel(R)

Core(TM) i5-2400 quad-

core processor [3.1GHz,

6MB cache] 2nd Genera-

tion Intel(R) Core(TM)

i5-2500 quad-core pro-

cessor [3.3GHz, 6MB

cache] 2nd Generation

Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-

2600 quad-core proces-

sor w Turbo-Boost [up to

3.8GHz, 8MB cache]

Page 5

Computer Fundamentals

Apple iMac (Price

98,000-1,40,000)

HP TouchSmart 610-1250xt Desktop PC

“Be nice to nerds.

Chances are you'll end

up working for one. “

- Bill Gates

gives you cool, hands-on

The Acer Z3 Series is all-in-

one PCs feature intuitive

21.5" Full HD touchscreens1

lights up your digital life with

an exciting new look and feel.

The Acer TouchPortal pro-

vides a smarter way to access

your PC and the Internet, and

control of today's latest

HD multimedia and social

networking. Plus, premium

PC performance lets you

use all your favorite apps

at the same time -- multi-

task with multi-touch!

IdeaCentre desktops

come in all shapes and

sizes. There's the skinny

all-in-one that hides its

working bits, the tiny

nettop no larger than a

book, and the regular

desktop that traditional-

ists will view with satis-

faction.

”If you need a PC that

takes up as little physi-

cal space as possible,

this computer

(IdeaCentre Q150) gets

the job done and costs

next to nothing, too.”

—— WIRED

and service survey, users

ranked ASUS as the

leading choice for Win-

dows Desktops, citing

high satisfaction due to

reliability, value and

Asus desktop reflects a

tradition of the finest

product quality, innova-

tion and longevity.

Based on PCWorld

USA’s 2011 reliability

quiet operation. ASUS

desktops receive further

praise for performance,

design, upgradability

and connectivity.

ASUS takes a lead in Desktop’s World.

ASUS Desktops

office space fixture, the Desk-

tops fits just as well next to

your media center or in the

bedroom – it can go any-

where.

Get high quality surround

sound for realistic sonic expe-

riences. The Desktop Series

supports 8 channel surround,

giving you deeper auditory

enjoyment.

Desktop PCs embed

802.11b/g/n wireless, deliv-

ering high speed internet

connectivity. USB 3.0 with

625MB/s transfer speeds is

also included, up to ten

times faster than USB 2.0.

Feature:

The ASUS Desktops move

away from bulky traditional

PCs and transforms into a

simple, lightweight minia-

ture form. No matter where

you put it, it blends in and

reflects your lifestyle.

No longer a lonely study or

Page 6

Computer Hardware

IdeaCentre Desktops

“Success is a lousy

teacher. It seduces

smart people into

thinking they can't

lose.”

—Bill Gates

ASUS Desktop Series

Feature

Starting with a 3rd Genera-

tion Intel® Core™ i5 Pro-

cessor, this desktop PC has

the commanding power to

meet the growing organiza-

tion's needs of tomorrow.

Future-ready processor with

basic storage and memory

for everyday business needs

Built to handle any task

with a professional operat-

ing system

More memory and a video

card upgrade for improved

graphics performance.

Includes more storage and

memory

reach $25B in 2016. And gaming

is one of the most popular activi-

ties in China’s 160,000+ icafes.

Beyond gaming, GeForce pro-

cessors power the sleekest ultra-

books so users can do things like

edit movies, retouch photos and

play games without compromise.

Our heritage is in PC graphics,

and our GeForce® processors

deliver amazing visual experi-

ences to a booming gaming mar-

ket — opening week game sales

regularly outstrip sales of block-

buster Hollywood movies. The

PC gaming market is expected to

GeForce notebook GPUs also

efficiently power the MacBook

Pro and its dazzling 2880×1800

Retina display.

Dell: Vostro Tower Desktop Series

GEFORCE: AMAZING VISUAL EXPERIENCES

Computer Hardware: GAMING & Animation

Professionals use them to

create visual effects in mov-

ies and design everything

from golf clubs to jumbo

jets. And researchers utilize

GPUs to advance the fron-

tiers of science with high-

performance computers.

NVIDIA awakened the world to

computer graphics when it in-

vented the GPU in 1999. From

our roots in visual computing,

we’ve expanded into super, mo-

bile and cloud computing.

NVIDIA's mobile processors are

used in smartphones, tablets and

auto infotainment systems. PC

gamers rely on GPUs to enjoy

spectacularly immersive worlds.

Page 7

Computer Fundamentals

Dell: Vostro 470 Mini Tower Desktop

GeForce Motherboard

“The weapon of

choice for Gamers” —

-nVIDIA

In the early 2000s, our

invention of a program-

mable processor expand-

ed NVIDIA’s reach into

professional graphics.

Today, the majority of

the world’s cars and

planes, as well as a host

of consumer products

like tennis shoes and

shampoo bottles, are de-

signed using Quadro®

solutions. In film, Quad-

ro GPUs were behind all

of the “Best Visual Ef-

fects” Oscar nominees

for the past three years

running. With NVIDIA

Maximus technology,

designers and engineers

ous tasks — provides outstanding

performance and exceptional battery

life. The Asus Transformer Prime

tablet and super phones from HTC,

Fujitsu and ZTE are just a few of the

devices that feature the super chip.

NVIDIA continues to build on its ear-

ly tech leadership in the mobile com-

Tegra®, a mobile super chip, pow-

ers the next generation of mobile

devices, as well as in-car safety and

infotainment systems. Tegra 3’s 4-

PLUS-1 architecture — four power-

ful CPU cores handle demanding

tasks while a fifth low-power, bat-

tery-saver core manages less strenu-

puting revolution. In 2012, the num-

ber of Tegra phone design wins has

doubled, from 15 to 30; Tegra was

selected by Asus to power the

world’s first WinRT tablet; and

Google chose Tegra for its own An-

droid tablet, the Nexus 7.

QUADRO: THE PROFESSIONALS’ CHOICE

TEGRA: THE MOBILE SUPER CHIP

TESLA: ACCELERATING SCIENCE

quantum physics to finding

a cure for cancer. NVIDIA®

CUDA® architecture ena-

bles GPUs to work not just

with the pixels of an image,

but with numerical data.

NVIDIA Tesla processors

harness CUDA to make su-

percomputing more efficient

and more accessible. To-

day, CUDA is taught in

more than 560 universities.

On the June 2012 list of

Top500 supercomputers,

more than 50 systems were

powered by NVIDIA

GPUs, rising from 10 in

just 18 months.

NVIDIA’s expertise in

programmable GPUs has

led to breakthroughs in

parallel processing. Scien-

tists and researchers

around the world are using

Tesla® GPUs to tackle the

most complex challenges,

from climate modeling to

Page 8

Computer Hardware

nVIDIA Quadro Pro for Professionals

“As we look ahead into

the next century,

leaders will be those

who empower others. “

——-Bill Gates

GIGABYTE Technology Co.

LTD, a leading manufacturer

of motherboards and graphics

cards, is pleased to introduce

the latest own-designed gam-

ing graphics card, GV-

N66TOC-2GD. Based on the

innovative Kepler architec-

ture of NVIDIA, GIGA-

BYTE GV-N66TOC-2GD is

built with GeForce® GTX

660 Ti GPU which utilizes

the latest 28nm fabrication

process, GDDR5 memory

and 1344 CUDA cores. GV-

N66TOC-2GD is supported

with Microsoft DirectX® 11

and PCI-Express 3.0. These

features not only improve the

processing ability but provide

gamers a faster, smoother and

richer gaming experience.

GV-N66TOC-2GD repre-

sents “Kepler sweet spot"

which brings gaming experi-

ence with ultimate combina-

tion of performance, power effi-

ciency, and affordability. Support-

ed by NVIDIA® 3D Vision Sur-

round, 3D Vision™, PhysX® and

3-way SLI®, GV-N66TOC-2GD

guarantees an extreme experience.

Equipped with the innovative

Kepler GPU Dynamic Clocking

technology, GV-N66TOC-2GD

dynamically adjusts clock speeds

to bring out the best performance

for every gamer.

lon transistors on 28nm fabrication process

and GDDR5 memory. AMD RadeonTM HD

7970 GPU supports dual advanced program-

mable tessellation engines, Microsoft Di-

rectX® 11, AMD Eyefinity 2.0 technology,

AMD PowerTune technology, AMD Accel-

erated Parallel Processing (APP) technology,

and AMD HD3D technology. With these

features, AMD RadeonTM HD 7970 series

is proved to provide gamers an impressive

GIGABYTE Technology Co. LTD, a

leading manufacturer of motherboards

and graphics cards, is pleased to intro-

duce the latest GV-R797D5-3GD-B

and GV-R797OC-3GD graphics cards.

The GV-R797D5-3GD-B and GV-

R797OC-3GD are built with the highly

anticipated AMD RadeonTM HD 7970

GPU, which utilizes the latest 4.3 bil-

experience with non-compromise perfor-

mance and flawless graphics quality. Fur-

thermore, GV-R797OC-3GD is equipped

with GIGABYTE’s latest patent-pending

"Triangle Cool" Technology plus the exclu-

sive WINDFORCE™ 3X Cooling Technol-

ogy. GV-R797OC-3GD is designed espe-

cially for gamers to achieve an unbeatable

gaming performance and to meet a higher

standard more easily.

GIGABYTE Unveils GeForce® GTX 660 Ti WINDFORCE

GIGABYTE Presents World’s First 28nm Architecture Radeon™ HD 7970 Series Graphics Cards

GIGABYTE Ultra Durable™ 5 Technology

high current Ferrite Core

Chokes rated up to 60A,

which together are able to

deliver up to 60°C* cooler

temperatures than tradi-

tional motherboards. Fea-

tured on a range of new

motherboards based the

Intel® X79 and Z77 Ex-

press Chipsets, GIGA-

BYTE Ultra Durable™ 5

technology is the next evo-

lution in quality mother-

board design.

GIGABYTE Ultra Dura-

ble™ 5 technology includes

high current capable com-

ponents for the CPU pow-

er zone including the high-

est rated and awarded

IR3550 PowIRstage® ICs

from International Rectifi-

er, 2X Copper PCB and

Page 9

Computer Fundamentals

Gigabyte Graphics Card

“At Microsoft there

are lots of brilliant

ideas but the image is

that they all come from

the top - I'm afraid

that's not quite right. “

——-Bill Gates

The 15-inch MacBook Pro

features the new 2.3GHz

and 2.6GHz quad-core

Intel Core i7 processors

with 6MB of shared L3

cache and Turbo Boost

speeds up to 3.6GHz. And

you can configure it to be

even faster. Choose the

2.7GHz quad-core Intel

Core i7 with 8MB of cache

and Turbo Boost speeds up

to 3.7GHz. And go for the

new 512GB third-

generation SATA solid-

state drive, which is up to

4x faster than a traditional

hard drive. To increase

storage, upgrade to a 1TB

hard drive.

easier, laptop comes with a

numeric keypad and the inno-

vative Touchpad, made ex-

clusively for better precision

and improved gesture respon-

siveness. Plus, a battery life

of up to 9.25 hours and a

starting weight of 5.66 lb.

makes packing up and play-

ing at a friend’s easy.

Movies. Music. Games.

See every move on the wide

screen and hear every beat.

3rd generation Intel(R)

Core(TM) i5-3320M (2.4

GHz, 3MB L3 Cache ) 3rd

generation Intel(R) Core(TM)

i7-3612QM (2.1 GHz, 6MB

L3 Cache )

Featuring Windows 7

Home Premium and/or other

operating systems

Download media fast

and keep your Internet and

games running faster.

To make mobile gaming

Subwoofer for sound enhancing

entertainment.

Stay connected to what’s

important in your world. Keep up

with friends and chat in high defi-

nition with the HP TrueVision

HD[2] Webcam[3].

Access popular websites

with a swipe of a finger. HP Sim-

plePass with one-time password

provides secure online access.

Computer Hardware: Professionals, Entertainers

HP Entertainment Series

Sony VAIO E14A Series

touchpad and HD camera—

all of which adds up to a

notebook that will keep you

in style on the go.

Features:

An attractive notebook that

expresses your unique person-

ality

Long battery life

Superb sound quality

USB* charging of other de-

vices at any time

Ultra-fast USB 3.0 connec-

tivity

High-class performance

Hybrid Graphics System

VAIO E14A Series. The

distinctive wrap design,

accent color, and matching

accessories are sure to

catch the eye, and the

model also boasts long

battery life and superb

sound quality. Further

features include a large

Page 10

Computer Hardware

Apple MacBook Pro

“Life is not fair; get

used to it.“—Bill

Gates

HP Pavilion Notebook Enter-

tainment Series

Canon Printer

PIXMA All in

ones:

A PIXMA all-in-one offers you

everything you need for a home

or small office and beyond. Re-

place the need for multiple indi-

vidual devices with one compact

unit that can print, copy, scan

and fax amazing photos and

documents – saving both space

and cost.

Feature:

Perfectly precise

Lasting colours

Creative printing

Stay connected anywhere

Print wirelessly from iPh-

one

Multiple capabilities at

home or office

Ultra fast rendering

Environmental technology

High productivity

Intuitive control

ture.

Count on an extra rush of

speed when you need it

most with AMD Turbo

CORE Technology.

Reveal eye-boggling HD

detail and help render

complex characters in

real-time with support

for DirectX® 11.

See more of your sur-

Take the lead with the

world’s first native 8-

core desktop processor.

Overclock for a big

boost in performance and

speed1.

Perform mega-tasking

and get pure core perfor-

mance with new

“Bulldozer” architec-

roundings on up to six dis-

plays at once with AMD

Eyefinity Technology3.

Maximize your performance

with tuning controls in the

easy-to-use AMD Over-

Drive™ software1.

Enjoy stable, smooth perfor-

mance with impressive ener-

gy efficiency thanks to a

32nm die.

Computer Hardware: Peripheral Equipment

VISION FX Technology from AMD

Intel® Xeon® processor E5 family: powerful

performance, flexible features

managing these services

require systems that

scale to meet your ever

changing needs, while

delivering solutions to

the challenges IT man-

agers face every day.

Server and storage plat-

forms based on the In-

tel® Xeon® processor

E5 family are built to be

Today’s private clouds

enable greater business

agility and efficiency by

delivering innovative

and scalable services

that drive value back

into the organizations

they serve. Building and

Page 11

Computer Fundamentals

Caption describing picture

or graphic.

AMD latest Processor

“Innovation

distinguishes between

a leader and a

follower.”—- Steve

Jobs

Kingston® offers ex-

tremely reliable, high-

performance desktop

memory and sells more

notebook upgrade

memory than anyone in

the world. Every module

is customized and tested

to meet the exact speci-

fication requirements of

each system. Kingston

uses only the most relia-

ble and respected com-

ponents in the industry

to ensure maximum per-

formance and legendary

Kingston reliability.

than you’ve dreamt possi-

ble. Let the story come to

life with vivid colors and

crystal-clear detail.

Feature:

Breakthrough Pic-

ture Quality with

LED Technology

Samsung's LED monitors

deliver a visually stunning

picture quality that leaves

you speechless. Just as

you’ve seen in Samsung

LED TV’s, our LED moni-

tors make colors more rich

and the action more real

Consume Less Ener-

gy and Run Cooler

Ultra-Slim Design

Perfect Viewing

from Every Angle

Kingston: System-Specific Desktop/Notebook Memory

Samsung EX2020X 20" LED Monitor

Corsair is a worldwide designer and supplier of high-performance

components to the PC gaming hardware

tion for quality, compatibil-

ity and performance. Corsair

Dominator® memory has

consistently set world per-

formance records and won

numerous awards.

Corsair memory modules

are designed to support all

consumer usage models,

from daily productivity en-

hancement to build your

own one of a kind extreme

performance PC. Corsair

Dominator and XMS

memory modules are

available with a wide

range of heat spreaders

form factor and cooling

fans to support standard

operating temperature to

the most challenging ther-

mal condition.

Corsair has been a pioneer

in high-speed dynamic

memory module design

and manufacture since

1994, resulting in more

high-speed experience

than anyone in the indus-

try. Corsair has developed

an industry- wide reputa-

Page 12

Computer Hardware

Kingston RAM

"“Stay Hungry Stay

Foolish" —— Steve

Jobs

Samsung latest LED Monitor

A glass desk or shiny table

shouldn’t stand in the way

of your ability to work or

play.

With Logitech Dark field

Laser Tracking™, you’ve

got better precision on a

wider range of surfaces.

That means clear glass (4

mm minimum thickness)

and lacquered desks—

surfaces that stump optical

mice and standard laser

mice—are no obstacle.

Anywhere means use it on

virtually any surface. A

glass hotel table. The back

of your laptop bag bal-

anced on your lap.

So wherever you’re head-

ed and whatever you’re

mousing on, the world is

your mouse pad.

With the Logitech

Performance Mouse

MX, nothing stands in

your way. You can

conquer any surface

and task without a

second thought. With

your Logitech Perfor-

mance Mouse MX,

you’ve got the power

to achieve.

The easy-switching Blue-

tooth® connection makes

typing on your Mac and

switching to type on your

iPad or iPhone as simple

and easy as pushing a but-

ton.

The perfect match for your

Say good-bye to battery

hassles, this wireless key-

board is powered by any

light—low light and lamp

light, indoors and out. Ful-

ly charged, it works for at

least three months—even

in total darkness.

Mac, you get a familiar

layout with all the keys

you expect—Command,

Brightness and Eject keys

and more. And the slim,

minimalist design goes

wherever you go with your

Mac, iPad or iPhone.

Your mouse works where others don't—even on glass.

Logitech: Wireless Solar Keyboard K760

Apple Magic Mouse

smooth, seamless top

shell. It works wirelessly

using Bluetooth, so you

don’t have to worry about

cables or adapters clutter-

ing your workspace. And

built-in software lets you

configure Magic Mouse

any way you want.

The same Multi-Touch

technology first introduced

on the revolutionary iPh-

one comes to the mouse.

It’s called Magic Mouse,

and it’s the world’s first

Multi-Touch mouse. Click

anywhere, scroll in any

direction, and swipe

through images on its

Page 13

Computer Fundamentals

Logitech Latest Mouses

Logitech Wireless Solar Keyboard

“Just in terms of

allocation of time

resources, religion is

not very efficient.

There's a lot more I

could be doing on a

Sunday morning.”—-

Bill Gates

The incredibly thin Apple

Wireless Keyboard sits on

your desk surrounded by

nothing but glorious space.

It’s cable-free, so you’re

free to type wherever you

like — with the keyboard

in front of your computer

or even on your lap. Not

only does the Apple Wire-

less Keyboard come stand-

ard with the new iMac, it’s

perfect for any Bluetooth-

enabled Mac.

The Apple Wireless Key-

board now requires just

two AA batteries — one

less than the previous

model. And its intelligent

power management system

conserves battery life. So

when you’re not using it,

the keyboard automatically

powers down. The instant

you start typing, your key-

board turns on.

via your laptop's

USB port. It re-

quires no bulky

power adapters.

The Laptop Cooling

Pad's unique patented

wave design prevents

your laptop from over-

heating. It uses natural

convection to enhance

fan cooling, and ensures

low power consumption

Apple Wireless Keyboard: Nothing peripheral about it

Belkin: Laptop Cooling Pad

Logitech Wireless Speaker

your favorite speakers—

with better sound quality

than you can get from built-

in speakers.

Logitech software for Blue-

tooth configures your

Logitech Wireless Speaker

Adapter to work with your

smartphone or tablet, so it’s

easy to set up and use.

You have the flexibility to

use

almost any pair of pow-

ered speakers you like.

Attach Logitech Wireless

Speaker Adapter for Blue-

tooth audio devices to

your speakers using stand-

ard analog RCA or 3.5

mm jacks.

The sleek styling looks

good on a shelf or can be

hidden away discreetly.

The choice is yours.

Features:

Stream stereo audio in-

stantly from any Blue-

tooth smartphone or tab-

let. Your mobile device

stays mobile, and you

have the freedom to move

around with it.

Listen to music or other

audio from your

smartphone or tablet on

Page 14

Computer Hardware

Apple Wireless Keyboard

“Life is not fair; get

used to it.“— Bill Gates

Belkin Cooling Pad

A pocket size wireless

internet device. Use it

on the go to securely

connect to everything in

your life. It does all the

work, so you don’t have

to.

Feature:

Connects up to 5 de-

vices securely.

Enhanced 4G perfor-

mance with no interrup-

tions

Lasts up to four hours

on a single charge

700 Square Feet Cover-

age

Qubee: Pocket Wi-Fi Modem

Banglalion Wimax: Service Plan

BDT 1,999 for postpaid and BDT 2,499

for prepaid connections.

If you have the requirement of using the

connection in a fixed location, if you are

looking for stronger signal and if you like

to share your connection with others with-

in your premises, then

Indoor Modem is the

right device for you. The

selling price of Indoor

modem with built-in Wi-

Fi router is BDT 4,999

for postpaid connec-

tions.

Considering the requirement of

different types of users, Bang-

lalion offers two types of devices.

1. USB Modem

2. Indoor Modem

USB Modem is plug n play, small,

can be easily carried and no addi-

tional power required. Just plug it

into your PC or laptop. It will be

automatically installed and you are

ready to go!

Indoor modem is bigger in size,

has built-in Wi-Fi router, robust

and stable in performance.

The Right Device If you like to use your connection

in different locations under Bang-

lalion coverage area, if you like

mobility and cost effective device,

then the USB Modem is ideal for

you. The price of USB modem is

Page 15

Computer Fundamentals

“If I'd had some set

idea of a finish line,

don't you think I would

have crossed it years

ago? “—-Bill Gates

Business Name

installation program.

-An old DVD disc that has a True-

crypt rescue image. You stopped us-

ing Truecrypt a while ago.

-An old DVD disc with the Windows

7 installation program.

-Did I forgot to mention? Your lap-

top’s DVD drive is not working

properly. It is essentially broken but it

can sometimes read DVDs.

-Limited time. You need to solve this

quickly.

That’s all you have. Now let’s de-

scribe what happens when you try to

boot:

-Windows 8 tries to load but it

doesn’t respond after a while. It

doesn’t get to the point where you

can choose safe mode or any repair

options.

-Plop Boot Manager was overwritten

by the Windows installation.

-Your DVD drive doesn’t read the

Windows 7 installation DVD.

So, you can’t boot from the hard disk,

you can’t boot from a USB drive and

you can’t boot from the DVD. You

are stuck and frustrated. Is there a

solution using only what you have?

You try anyway with what’s left. You

try booting from the Truecrypt rescue

disk. Why? You don’t know why.

After many tries, your DVD drive

succeeds in reading the disc. The

Truecrypt rescue options appear. So

what? This has nothing to do with

What can you do when your PC fails

to boot, doesn’t load an OS, or crash-

es? Well, if you are up to the task you

can try to solve the problem yourself.

With some patience and perseverance

you can achieve this. So let’s make it

more difficult. Your resources, tools

and time to solve the problem are

limited. Let’s see an example story:

Multi-OS nightmare

You are writing a report on a quiet

Sunday evening. Although the report

is due on the next day, you are doing

well and only some minor details re-

main. You decide to take a break and

remember that the new Windows pre-

view was made available a few days

ago. You convince yourself that you

should give it a try. Only problem is

that your system is already dual-

booting Windows 7 and Crunchbang

Linux. So you think it would be easi-

er to install Windows 8 on a virtual

hard disk. You search for instructions

online and you find it easy enough.

You follow the instructions and sur-

prise surprise you can’t boot into any

of the three operating systems. Now

what? It’s clear something has gone

terribly wrong.

Now this might be a relatively easy

case if you had the time, resources

and tools to solve it. But you don’t.

Here is what you have:

-An old laptop with a BIOS that

doesn’t support booting from a usb

drive. You have been using Plop Boot

Manager for this.

-A USB drive with Crunchbang

Linux

-A USB drive with the Windows 8

encryption. You haven’t been using

Truecrypt anymore. Then out of curi-

osity you select the option to restore

the loader stored in the Truecrypt res-

cue image. You reboot and you sud-

denly see the Plop boot manager! It

seems that when you saved the True-

crypt rescue image you were also us-

ing Plop and it got saved too. Now

you can boot from a usb drive. So

you try to boot into the Windows 8

installation again but after a while it

stops responding too. What is going

on?! Next choice is to boot into a

Crunchbang Linux live session. This

works! You start GParted and see that

something is wrong with the parti-

tions of your hard drive. Your hard

disk’s partition table is all screwed

up. Gparted can’t solve this so you

try Testdisk. After spending some

time trying to find the correct parti-

tion table, you eventually succeed

and write the correct partition table.

You also fix the MBR. You reboot

into Linux again (Windows still not

working) and mount all the partitions,

which enables you to save all your

work before doing one last thing: for-

matting the Windows partition, rein-

stalling Windows and deleting the

virtual hard disk…

As you can see from this story com-

puter problem solving is sometimes

an art. You need to be creative and

find unexpected solutions. Also make

sure that you always have a USB

stick or DVD with rescue tools. You

never know when you’ll need them. I

could also tell you a story about a

time when the only solution was to

remove the hard drive while booting

and to hot-plug it in after that. Let’s

leave this for another day.

Hard drive and Computer problem solving: An interesting

story