Tech news, gadget reviews and how-tos on just about anything and everything.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Webmaster Tips

There are various forums and articles on the web that budding webmasters may use in order to help them in setting up their new web sites. A quick Google Search will almost always yield answers for them. Web sites such as web hosting review, which is not just another web hosting review website, is a great resource for budding webmasters.

Their article: Tips for Choosing A Domain Name, is a good start for a webmaster wanting to build a good website. Domain Names is the home of your website so choosing a good one would contribute to the success of your website.

There are other resources on the web. Like I said, webmaster forums is another good way to learn from other webmasters about the dos and don’t’s in building a website.

Opening OGG and MKV files

Now if you're an anime fanatic and if you've been searching anime forums for your favorite anime cartoons you must have come upon the file extension ogg or the file extension mkv (more info about these files on file-extension.com). These are the usual video files wherein your favorite anime cartoons or movie is converted to. Don't ask me why, but that's the way it is.

Anyway's if you're looking for ways to play these kind of files you can either download codecs so that your windows media player can open it for you or you can do it the easy and popular way: download VLC media player. VLC media player is the best media player in opening almost all kinds of video files. The codecs are already inside the player so you don't have to download it anymore. Plus if you have subtitles to go with your anime video, VLC can also play it for you.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Sony VAIO PCG-SRX87 Laptop


Due to the vast usage of Laptop, most electronic companies bring their 'Best' in the market using the latest technologies. Likewise, Sony has launched Sony VAIO PCG-SRX87 Laptop in the market with the most advanced functions. Browse through the review websites and read Sony Vaio Laptop reviews and choose the right Laptop with suitable speed and memory.

This Sony VAIO Laptop has 850 MHz Mobile Intel Pentium III Processor installed inside with 100 MHz System bus speed and the SD RAM storage capacity of this device is about 256 MB. One among the vital feature of this Sony Notebook is that it supports the operating system such as Windows XP Home Edition, and Bundled software comprises of Quicken 2002 New User Edition, Sony DV Gate, Microsoft word 2002, Sony Sonic Stage and Sony movie shaker. This Sony Notebook transfers the Data with amazing speed, so that you can avoid time consuming without any doubt. The Hard Drive size of this Laptop is 20 GB and has Intel 1815 EM Graphics Card, 11 MB Graphics RAM as well as this device is backed up using 1024 by 768 LCD Native Resolution. In addition to this, it has other remarkable features such as 10 Base-T/100 Base-TX Ethernet, 56 kbps Modem and more.

Sony products are Trust-worthy for its quality and durable nature. The clarity of the images and the audio features are unbeatable in the UK market. Sony VAIO PCG-SRX87 Laptop grabs the attention of others due to its slim and long lasting nature. This Notebook is available in the market at reasonable prices.

You can checkout reviews on latest laptops UK including Dell, Compaq, HP and Toshiba Laptops at Laptop reviews website.

Friday, August 22, 2008

Samsung PS-42P4 Plasma TV


Ever heard of a 42” magnificence in the form of a TV? If not, then you have to see the Samsung PS-42P4 Plasma TV performance, for knowing what it means when I say magnificence! With sparkling clarity and razor sharp images produced, the ecstasy of TV viewing is understood better in this TV.

An aspect ratio of 16:9, and resolution of a wonderful 1024 x 1024, the brightness peak for this TV comes to 1100cd/m2 with the contrast ratio coming to 1000:1. The viewing angle is 160 degree, which is a bit disappointing, compared to the size of the screen and similar models from Philips and other leading companies in the market giving higher viewing angles of about 176-178 degrees. The progressive scan option reduces the flickers produced in the TV, thus giving cleaner and distortion free images.

A Picture in Picture mode helps in watching two or more channels in a single screen, thus optimising the use of the wide screen. An audio output of 15W each comes with each speaker, a total of 2, along with a Virtual Dolby Sound decoder and SRS TruSurround sound options also are available. Preset sound modes like Music, Floor, Cinema, Standard, personal etc are set previously itself in the TV.

The TV also has a PC input that helps in viewing, multimedia and other contents in a PC, in the wide screen of the TV. The power consumption comes up to about 330W, which is again expensive, an affair. With the overall weight being about 35kg, it comes with a silver colour remote.

Overall, this model is a good one with all latest features and Samsung’s state of the art technologies used. Ignoring certain drawbacks, which any model would have, like the power consumption, weight of the unit etc, this TV is definitely recommended and a good choice!

You can read reviews of HD Plasma Televisions on Akai, Philips, LG, NEC and Pioneer Plasma TVs at Plasma TV reviews site.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

NEC LCD4620 LCD TV


NEC LCD4620 LCD TV gives a ‘WOW effect’ on video and audio features with maximum impact. The ‘Digital Signage Technology Suite’ display touts an ultra thin bezel, a built in expansion slot and HD resolution with the most of the advanced features. The screen size is 46 inches.

The technology type for NEC is TFT active matrix PVA LCD display technology. The resolution is 1366 x 768 pixels and the display format is 720p with the image aspect ratio of 16:9. The colour depth is 24 bit (16.7 million colours) and the image contrast ratio is 1200:1 with brightness of (700cd/m2).

It has the widescreen format of 16:9 with pitch pixel of 0.648 mm and the pixel response time is 8 ms. The maximum H-Sync rate is 91.1 KHz hertz and maximum V-Sync rate is 85 Hertz. It provides a viewing angle of 178 degrees from all the corners of a room with colour temperature control.

The video features of this NEC TV are analogue video input signals like NTSC, PAL and SECAM with input video formats like 1080/60p, 1080/50i, 480i, 480p and more. It accompanies with an infrared remote control. The sound output mode is stereo type with 30 Watt of external amplifier power.

NEC LCD4620 provides internal power supply of AC 120/230 V (50/60 Hz) with power consumption of 300 Watt. It also contains video interfaces such as HDMI, S-video, component, composite interface and PC interfaces like DVI and VGA (HD-15). It is HDCP compatible.

The dimensions of this product are 92 cm in width, 14 cm in depth and 53.2 cm in height. The weight of the product is 31.1 Kg and the colour available is pure black. The manufacturer warranty is provided for three years and the cost of this product is £1,944.87. With all 20 plus adjustable features, this NEC LCD TV offers an outstanding and unimaginable functions.

Checkout LCD Screen Reviews on Dell, Hitachi, Goodmans and Sanyo LCD Televisions at LCD TV Reviews site.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Home Theater Set-ups

I've been reading up about Home Theater set-ups and mulling over doing one myself. However, I still don't have enough savings to buy the equipment. My cousin, who's based in Atlanta on the other hand, already has enough money in his bank that he could set up his own within a week. The problem is that he's not really the do-it-yourself kind of guy so he's been browsing through directories for atlanta home theater providers.

I told him if he just read up on it he can probably set up his home theater on his own but the guy doesn't even know one end of the hammer from the other. So if any of you guys can recommend Home Theater providers in Atlanta, drop me a comment so that we could help the poor guy out.

LEXSOR LC20S15 LCD TV


The LEXOR LC20S15 LCD TV provides an astonishing performance in image quality and sound quality. The screen size is 20 inches and this product is ideally suited for halls, kitchens and bedrooms. It has arrived with most advanced features and superior audio functions. The design is fabulous with silver and black colour. You can compare LCD Television prices from leading brands and make the right choice.

This Lexor LCD TVs has the latest technology and provides resolution up to 1280 x 768 pixels. The contrast ratio is 500:1 and it has PIP (Picture in Picture) function to watch the multiple channels at the same time. The screen format is PAL (4:3).

It can support frequency up to 50 Hertz and the reflection angle of the product is 85 degrees. The sound output is natural and realistic as it contains NICAM stereo technology. The stereo type speakers are integrated with the unit with two SCART connections and the teletext feature allows scheduling programs in separate channels.

The manufacturer warranty and service support period are issued until one year. The cost of this LEXOR LC20S15 product is low and reasonable. It lacks some of the extra features and functions when compared with other LCD TVs. Anyhow; this LEXOR product offers the basic functionality of a LCD television.

You can read LCD Screen Reviews on 32 inch, 40 inch LCD TVs and brands including Daewoo, JVC and Evesham LCD TVs at LCD TV reviews site.

Monday, August 18, 2008

Opening .BUP files and other .UNKNOWN file extensions

I've been cleaning up some files on my hard drive as I'm getting ready to format it so I'm transferring some important files to my portable hard drive. I came upon the file extension bup. Now bup files are usually associated with DVD files. I may have ripped a DVD on my hard drive some time back, the proble was that some of the files were missing so I can't open it. Bup files usually comes with .ifo and .VOB files so you need to have a bunch of these files together in order to open it with a media player. Since the bup file was alone, I had to delete it since it was pretty much useless alone.

I also came upon some files when the file extension unknown message dialog box popped up. Now no file extension library nor any searches in Google came up with results on how to open that file and when I tried to open it with Notepad, gibberish was what appeared so I guess that means the files were useless.

Anyways, if you come upon any file extensions that you're not familiar with, it's always good to Google it first or visit a file extension library site since just deleting might cause a major problem with your PC.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Start looking for an Auto Loan because the Lexus LS 600h L Pebble Beach Edition is here


For those of you with unlimited financial resources, you might want to start looking for an Auto Loan right away in order to get your hands on the new Lexus LS 600h L Pebble Beach Edition. On my part, if I don't watch my gadget spending I might have to recourse to Bad Credit Car Loans in order to get my hands on this baby.

Production for the LS 600h hybrid luxury sedan is limited to only 50. The Lexus Pebble Beach LS hybrid will come with the Advanced Pre-Collision System and the first Driver Monitor System. The Lexus LS 600h Pebble Beach Edition is also equipped with an Advanced Parking Guidance System, and Rear-seat entertainment system.

Availability of the Lexus LS 600h Pebble Beach Edition is set on October 2008.

Saturday, August 16, 2008

More about the Bravia W4500 Series

Just gotten a hold of this info pictures of teh Bravia W4500 Series. Aside from the previously mentioned specs, lookis the the Bravia W4500 series is made from 100% recycled materials and other energy saving features such as auto-power off, light sensors that automatically adjust backlight in accordance with your room lighting, plus other power-saving modes. Check out the infographics below (click to view larger image):

Thursday, August 14, 2008

2009 Chrysler PT Dream Cruiser Series 5


Chrysler recently introduced at the 14th Annual Woodward Dream Cruise the limited Edition 2009 Chrysler PT Cruiser Series 5 model. The PT Cruiser series 5 comes in two fuel-efficient engines. The standard 2.4 liter, 16 valve engine which produces 150 horsepower and 165 lb. of torque and comes with a four speed automatic transmission and a 2.4 liter engine with a 180 horsepower engine which can produce 210 lb. of torque.

The 2009 Chrysler PT Dream Cruiser Series 5 model features new design elements such as a brilliant black crystal pearl painted roof and hoop spoiler. There's also a new cross-hatched, lower and uppoer solid billet aluminum grilles which is individually milled and machined. For those like me, who's never really into wordey description, here's some photos for you to peruse.


Chrysler set production for the PT Cruiser only at 1,750 units which will retail for $22,700. Can't wait for this baby to hit the used cars for sale market though I'm not getting my hopes up. Speaking of which, if you're looking to rate some cars, head on over to www.auto123.com and rate your car and you can win a free vacation.

Europe Gets the Bravia W4500 series


The Sony Bravia W4500 series will soon be coming in European countries. Sony recently announced their new Sony Bravia line which will be availabe in 3 screen sizes: 40, 46, 52 inches.

The new Sony Bravia W4500 series is of course capable of Fully HD 1080p plus smoother and faster moving scenes due to the Motionflow 100Hz with Image Blur Reduction technology. Simply put, this might be the best HD to get this upcoming Football season.

Gadgets, your credit, and personal loans

Now let's face it, there are just some people who are addicted in buying the latest gadgets. To some, it's like a video game addiction, smoking, or gambling. Harmless but could take a toll on your credit specially if you don't have the means to sustain your lifestyle and you rely on your credit card so that you can buy all your gadgets.

Now here's a tip which I've been using to save on my addiction to gadgets. Some retailers offer financing terms when buying a gadget, they offer you an installment term payable via your credit card. Now interests are of course higher and if you compute your total payments during the installment period, it always exceeds the regular price of the gadget. What I do is I apply for a Personal Loan so and pay it using the same terms, say 12 months, but my interest is lower, specially if I have good credit. The problem arises when you have bad credit. Now while there are companies offering Bad Credit Personal Loans such as personalloansmania.com, you will of course be charged with a higher interest.

The solution? Place your gadget addiction in the backseat for the meantime until you fix your credit.

Wi-Fi Hotspot Software announced by FON and Joikusoft

Joikusoft recently announced that they have collaborated with FON which led to an exclusive Wi-Fi hotspot software called FonSpot. Through the use of the FonSpot, your mobile phone will become a Wi-Fi hotspot. You may now use your iPod Touch, notebook computer, or any kind of Wi-Fi device to access the Internet with the help of the compatible mobile phone.

There is no need to get tangled with your USB, use cables, or Bluetooth devices. The FonSpot will allow you to connect to the World Wide Web using your mobile phone and a connection to the 3G network. You can also control who will be accessing your Wi-Fi connection as well.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Network Solutions for Businesses

The Internet has changed businesses everywhere. Now, entrepreneurs can own businesses without having to set up any brick and mortar stores. Plus, it has widened their reach and customer-base. Every business in the US nowadays is sure to have a website of their own. A business that doesn’t have a website is missing out on the opportunities that the world wide web can offer.

Because of the tools and software that developers came up with, setting up a website has now become very easy and you don’t even have to have HTML knowledge in order to set up a website. A quick tutorial plus with the help of Google or your favorite search engine, and all the information you need to start your own website is now at your fingertips.

Of course, if you’re uneasy setting up your own website yourself, you are not without recourse. The Internet is brimming with companies eager to help you out. network solutions, for example, a company used to be dedicated to selling domain names is now offering different services for businesses, tools, and information to help a business grow. Whatever you have planned for your business, one of the first thing you should do is just register your own domain name before somebody else grabs it.

Nikon COOLPIX S60


Nikon recently announced that they have a new product with a cutting-edge technology as well as a sleek façade. The COOLPIX S60 has integrated a touch-screen feature on its 3.5-inch display. The whole controls of the camera are now just a tap away.

Through the use of the touch-screen interface, users may also lock the exposure and the autofocus of their subject by tapping the location on the camera’s screen. If you want to have an excellent portrait, the COOLPIX S60 has a zoom function that commands the device to automatically capture photos of the subject. All these and more by simply using your fingertips!

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Film on Eyeglasses


So, can’t get enough of Iron Man Movie and you’ve just purchased all of the movie merchandise? Well how about going a step further and buy eyeglasses made out of your favorite movie film? These trendy eyeglasses are designed by Zakarias Tipton and he calls his eyeglasses the Cinematique eyewear.

Tipton together with his brother are based in Budapest and his eyeglasses collection is sold in Europe and North America. Tipton’s Cinematique eyewear frames are made using 35mm and 16mm movies. Customers can just order their favorite film on their eyeglasses and Tipton will ship the frames to them. He currently has a list of about 300 films to choose from.

Of course, since the Cinematique eyewear is unique and custom-made, expect to shell out a lot of money on just one pair of eyeglasses. However, if you’re really not into designer-made glasses and you’re just looking for cheap prescription eyeglasses, Clark Howard actually recommends a company that sells cheap eyeglasses, ZenniOptical.

ZenniOptical's $8 eyeglasses

For as low as $8, you can get your own prescription eyeglasses, more than half price of ordinary glasses sold in optical stores. With the current economic crisis, just about everyone needs all kinds of savings and if you can save on your prescription glasses, your money saved can be put to other use such as your mortgage payments.

Sony BDP-S550


Recently, Sony has released two new products. One of which is the Sony BDP-S550. The latest Blu-ray disc player from Sony has a 24p True Cinema to give the users a different home cinema experience. Moreover, it also allows the users to access the special contents of the disc such as interviews and movie trailers.

The Sony BDP-S550 also has a built-in BD-Java as well as BD-Live firmware. Users can also store their downloaded files from the Internet at the 1 GB USB storage as long as it is a BD-Live content.

The latest disc player can be purchased in United States for only $500.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

New Cooking Game for Wii


If you're waiting for the Wii Fit to become in stock again, why not just set your eyes on this new cooking game called Order Up! Order Up! Seems to be a service type game kinda like Diner Dash only of course, you have to do more than just click your fingers.

The gameplay involves the player crafting dishes in their hectic kitchen. The player has different stations like the grill, range, cutting board, etc which they need to manage in addition to managing assistant chefs in the kitchen. Players need to rise from the ranks of cooks and become a world-class chef. Check out the Order Up! Trailer.

Motorola MotoROKR EM30


If you want a mobile phone that would meet your demands as a music lover, then the latest product from Motorola is just right for you. The Motorola MotoRoKR EM30 is not just a sleek mobile phone but a cool music player at the same time.

The latest technology from Motorola called ModeShift allows the users to determine which phone feature they are currently using. The keyboard will illuminate with different colors depending on the feature. If your phone is red, this means that you are using the music features of the MotoRoKR EM30. On the other hand, if you are using the phone features of the MotoRoKR EM30, whether you are texting or calling, the keyboard will illuminate in color blue.

A pretty cool phone and would probably be cheaper than the ROKR E8.

How To Print Postcards at Home

Because inkjet printers comes cheaper and cheaper, it's now easy to print your own postcards at home. However, before delving into your own DIY project try to think about whether it’s more costly to print your own postcards or if it would be easier to just order pre-made postcards from sites such as Vistaprint.com. If you need 50 or more postcards, doing it yourself will probably cost more than just ordering one since you have to take into consideration the price of the specialty paper plus the ink you’re going to use. VistaPrint’s postcards can cost around $30 for 100 prints which will bring your cost per postcard to around 30 cents. Some specialty paper would run you around $20 and does not even guarantee that it is enough for 100 postcards.

Plus, ordering and customizing your postcard is easy enough using VistaPrint’s online tools. However, if you’re bent on this DIY project, here are just the things to consider:

The first thing you need is a software where you can design your own postcards. If you have a copy of Windows Publisher with you, that's a good choice. Other free software can be found at download.com under desktop publishing. If you're making postcards for your children, then try Postcard Maker 1.1, it has cute templates though not recommended for business use.

Next is choose the paper that you want to use. Do you want to use specialty paper, stationery, colored paper, etc? If using colored paper, be sure that the template you have used will be visible, it’s not a good idea to print the same colored template and paper. Also, be sure that your inkjet printer supports that type of paper. Try to see the documentation that came with your printer.

After that, then you can just print away to your heart's desire. Or at least, until your budget permits you.

Overview: Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-T700


Sony is making digital cameras more intelligent. First there's face detection, then smil shutter, and now the Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-T700 camera has a new feature that will virtually eliminate any closed-eyed photos. Sony calls this feature the anti-blink function. The Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-T700 takes two shots and using the face detection technology, it determines whether the subject has closed their eyes and only saves the one with the subject's eyes open. If both photos have the subject's eyes closed, the Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-T700 displays a warning so you can take another shot.

The Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-T700 can also double as a portable photo album. The DSC-T700 has 4GB of internal memory and users can search for photos by date, smile, or face and you can even share your photos through slide shows. The Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-T700's scrapbook function also lets you show off your pictures in a fun, scrapbook style.

Another new feature on the Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-T700 is the Picture Motion Browser which lets you downsize images from full resolution to VGA and export it to the camera's internal memory so that you can never run out of storage space.

The Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-T700 will be available in late September and comes in red, champagne gold, pink, dark gray and silver. The price of the DSC-T700 will be around $400.

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Dymo LetraTag Plus LT-100H


Okay, while most gadget sites would list their top back to school gadgets such as mobile phones, laptops, digital cameras, MP3 players, a new iPod, etc, some neglect to mention the very basic gadget that’s needed when going back to school. This gadget is specially useful for OC (obsessive-compulsive) individuals: a label maker.

What better way to tickle an obsessive-compulsive’s fancy but give them Color labels so that they can be highly organize. My favorite label maker from Dymo’s products is their personal label maker letra tag plus LT-100H.

The Dymo LetraTag Plus is an electronic label maker which features a large 13 character LCD display that lets you preview the font effects on the screen before printing. The Dymo LetraTag Plus features direct thermal print technology so you won’t need any ribbons or ink and also features a 2 line printing for those who really need to be specific when it comes to labeling. You can choose up to five font sizes, seven print styles and eight box styles for those who want to take labeling into an artistic level.

Some cons about this labeler include poor battery life and difficulty of finding available cartridges. But aside from that, I’m sure that this will be an obsessive-compulsive’s best friend.

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Kingston launched DataTraveler 101 and a few goodies in between

Kingston recently launched new products for all the road warriors who need their files to be with them all the time. They have announced that the DT400 with MigoSync, the DataTraveler 100, and the DataTraveler 101 will be in the market in the next few days.

The DT400 with MigoSync is the best solution for the travellers that needs to be update their files and other documents while they are on the road.

Meanwhile, the DT100 can store large data depending on the size that you choose. The capacity of the DT100 starts at 2 GB and the biggest is 16GB. The price varies depending on the size. Choose from three colors namely red, blue and black.

The DT101 can store as much as 8 GB only. It is available in 3 vibrant colors such as yellow, pink, and cyan.

Web Hosting with Blue Host

One of my domains parked with godaddy has gained a high PR. I've been updating that domain using Godaddy's quickblogcast but even though quickblogcast is easy, it's often times unreliable. Plus, I hate seeing Godaddy's big banner on top of my web site. Anyways, I've been checking out some of the web hosting reviews on the web and so far, most of them recommend Blue Host. However, based on web hosting geek's Blue Host Review, some users say that Blue Host is often down and has almost a non-existent customer service. Now while webhostinggeek.com gave Blue Host the second spot, user reviews just gave Blue Host 3 stars.

I actually believe in customer reviews since customers actually experienced the service though Blue Host's package seems tempting with unlimited web space and bandwidth. Anyways, now it's a toss up between Blue Host and Yahoo but someone in the Google Forums warned against using Yahoo--or maybe that was just a Google moderator. Anyways, if anybody can give me a good advice, feel free to leave a comment.