Saturday 30 March 2013

Portable Hard Drives - Good Option For Storage

Portable hard drives are now available in higher capacities and with the blazingly fast USB 3.0 interface. Here are some great options to carry all your movies and music along.


USB flash drives are most convenient for carrying small amounts of data, but when it comes to huge volumes of data, an external hard drive is the best option. External drives and multi-drive NAS devices with 3.5-inch form factor are great for storing terabytes of data. However, if you wish to carry up to 1 TB of data in a tiny device with instant connectivity, the only solution is a 2.5-inch portable drive. These tiny data banks don’t need an external power source and can transfer data at up to 30 MB/s. The latest generation drives use the new USB 3.0 interface, which can transfer data at up to 95 MB/s, which is as fast as a desktop hard drive. However, your motherboard should be equipped with USB 3.0 ports. If you have an older PC, you can still use it on the USB 2.0 port and harness the advantages of USB 3.0 when you upgrade. The prices of drives have also reduced, and today, buying a 500 GB drive is wiser than buying a 320 GB or a 250 GB drive because the price difference isn’t much.
In this roundup, we compared portable hard drives with capacities ranging from 500 GB to 1.5 TB. You’ll find all the information you need to pick the fastest drive, the one that offers the best value, or the one that offers the most attractive price-per-GB ratio.


SILICON POWER STREAM S10

The Stream S10 from Silicon Power has a curvy design with a rugged but dual-tone glossy exterior. It looks great and will definitely turn a few heads. The drive is built with 640 GB of internal storage, which is roomy enough for backing up most of your everyday documents as well as for casual media dumping. The Stream S10 sports a USB 3.0 interface port and is backward compatible with older USB 2.0 ports as well. The drive’s
performance suits those who are always in a rush and need to backup their data in a jiffy. On the performance front, if you have a look at the tables, the Stream S10 scores a splendid 99 out of 100. With scores almost equivalent to external drives with an eSATA interface or an internal desktop SATA hard drive, the Silicon Power Stream S10 is truly a great performer. The synthetic and real-world scores reveal this drive to be the ideal choice for those who usually backup large files and need it done fast. Sadly, the drive packs only a one-year warranty, while the rest of the contenders offer three years for their products. Also, bundled along with the drive is a backup and synchronization software for documents and email.


Verdict: A speedy drive with excellent linear write speeds. Ideal for daily backups.
For: Blazing performance, good build quality, looks good.
AGAINST: Only one-year warranty.





WD MY PASSPORT ESSENTIAL

The Western Digital My Passport Essential 500 GB won the Best Value title purely because it carried the lowest price amongst the contenders. The drive sports a very good build quality, with a rugged and sturdy case, but the high-glossy shell is a disappointment as it is very easily prone to scratches and fingerprints. Therefore, using it on a daily basis can
tarnish its exterior, making it look older than it actually is. The slim form factor and light weight make this drive a great choice for high portability. Though the WD My Passport Essential features a USB 3.0 port, performance is below average, but it is still twice as fast as conventional drives that feature the USB 2.0 interface. It was the lowest performing drive in the USB 3.0 category. The performance tests revealed the drive’s read speeds touching 62 MB/s and write speeds at 68 MB/s only (actual real-world performance). Based on the scores we received, the drive seems good enough for storing and porting media files and basic documents. The WD My Passport Essential carries a three-year warranty and bundles the WD SmartWare Software for intelligent and easy backups of your personal data.

Verdict: An ultra-portable 500 GB external storage drive with a USB 3.0 port.
For: Good price, sturdy shell, small form factor.
AGAINST: Glossy exterior is a fingerprint magnet.




Androids Phones In Our Budget

This roundup features 12 Android mobile handsets under Rs 20,000. Find out which ones are really worth their price tags. 


An Android phone resembles (or in fact it is) a miniature tablet PC which can be easily carried in your pocket. It features hardware components quite similar to a notebook or PC - processor, RAM, storage, display, networking, etc. These are smartphones and use the Android operating system, which is being developed by Google since 2005. The Android operating system is based on a modified kernel of the open-source Linux operating system.

Unlike the other mobile phone operating systems such as Symbian (Nokia), BlackBerry OS (RIM), Windows Mobile and Windows CE (Microsoft), Bada OS (Samsung) or iOS (Apple), the Android OS is open-source and can be tweaked for individual handsets. Because the Android operating system can be easily tweaked to increase its overall performance and productivity, it has quickly become the world’s fast selling smartphone platform. The year 2010 saw a significant rise in the demand and sales of devices based on the Android OS, and the numbers have been sharply rising ever since.



Manufacturers started shipping the first Android OS-based phones with Cupcake (v1.5) and Donut (v1.6), and then released firmware v2.0/v2.1 (Eclair). These operating systems needed a basic processor speed of 500 MHz for operation. Budget or entry-level Android phones feature low-end hardware specs, such as a smaller screen size and resolution, resistive touch screens, lower RAM/ROM and low built-in memory.

The latest high-end handsets available today ship with Android v2.2 (Froyo) or Android v2.3 (Gingerbread). These handsets have processors clocked at 1 GHz (2 GHz CPU and the Tegra 2 GPU-based phones are presently in the pipeline), higher built-in memory, display screens with higher resolutions (even Super-AMOLED based displays), and several other cutting-edge components that make them price and feature-heavy.

With the Android versions constantly being developed to be better, faster and more productive, the demand for better hardware will always be high. As the latest handsets have price tags that are out of the reach of many consumers, most of us are unsure as to which phone meets the right balance between features and price.

In this roundup, we have brought together 12 top Android-based smartphones priced under Rs 20,000 to find out which one comes out on top. These phones are entry-level handsets built with processor speeds below 1 GHz and feature Android OS v2.2 or lower. Different Android phones from manufacturers such as Sony Ericsson, HTC, Motorola, LG, Micromax, Spice, Samsung and Asus have been featured here.We take a look at their overall hardware features, specifications, build quality, ergonomics and performance to help us arrive at the best of the lot, two of which will win our Best Performance and Best Value awards.

Friday 29 March 2013

Windows 8 Release Preview

Download & Install

Windows 8 Release Preview has been released to the public, so that we can evaluate the new features and send feedback, while developers worldwide can prepare for launching Windows 8 compatible software.



Here's some new or enhanced features as mentioned on the Microsoft website:


- Enhanced Mail, Photos, and People apps.
- Increased Start personalization.
- New Bing-powered apps, including ones for travel, news, and sports.
- Enhanced multiple-monitor support.
- Enhanced Windows Store navigation.
- New family safety and security functionality.
- Enhanced touch support for Internet Explorer 10.

Windows 8 Release preview can be downloaded here . Before installation Windows 8 will check for available system resources. Minimum requirements: 1GHz or greater CPU, 1GB (32-bit version), or 2GB (64-bit version) of RAM, at least 16GB (32-bit) or 20GB (64-bit) of available hard drive space, and a graphics card that supports DirectX 9 with a WDDM driver.

Since Windows 8 Release Preview is a prerelease, it's recommended to install it on a testing machine and expect system crashes or other bugs. Microsoft makes no warranties, express or implied, with respect to the information provided here. Some product features and functionality may require additional hardware or software.

ASUS EEE PAD SLIDER SL101 - Review

Specifications
Rs 38,999

CPU: Nvidia Tegra 2, 1 GHz;
RAM: 1 GB;
Storage: 32 GB;
Screen: 10-inch IPS, 1280x800;
Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n,
Bluetooth 2.1;
Cameras: 5 megapixel rear, 1.2 megapixel front;
Operating System: Android 3.1 (Honeycomb)

Contact: Asus Technologies

Phone: 022-67668800 

EMAIL: helpline_west@asus.com

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The most obvious reason one might buy a netbook instead of a tablet today is that there’s just no substitute for a real keyboard. Accessory makers have been selling Bluetooth keyboards and dock-like contraptions for a while now, but these aren’t the most comfortable or convenient to use. Sensing an opportunity in a market full of similar-looking iPad clones, Asus has developed the first Android tablet with a truly integrated keyboard.
Like with the Eee Pad Transformer before it, Asus seems to have applied some thought to producing tablets which genuinely stand out. Rather than a simple clamshell or docking solution, the Slider looks somewhat like an overgrown smartphone. Unlike most of its competition, the Slider is by no means a sleek device. It’s over twice as thick as an iPad 2 and weighs quite a bit more too, so it isn’t going to win over those who love the idea of travelling only with a single, ultralight gadget. What we have here is a device that’s a step or two down from the average netbook—smaller and lighter, but also a lot less flexible.




Hardware

At 0.9 kg, the Eee Pad Slider weighs at least a few hundred grams more than most 10-inch tablets, and is at least twice as thick. It’s also a lot wider, which allows for a decent-sized keyboard, but results in a thick black bezel around the screen. The front camera is positioned along the wide edge, so it’s on top when the Slider is open, but the rear camera is placed on what is effectively the device’s bottom, making it difficult to use and vulnerable to scratches. The sliding mechanism, as well as the arm that holds the two parts together when open, are both reassuringly solid. It doesn’t take much effort to open or close the Slider, but the screen angle is not adjustable at all, which could cause some inconvenience if your overhead lights reflect off the glossy screen too much. The keyboard is of course the Slider’s raison d’ĂȘtre, and it is in fact a lot better than many netbook keyboards. The five full rows of chiclet keys are well spaced, and are a pleasure to type on. Everything is in the right place, most common shortcuts work as expected, and you even have keys mapped to Android’s Home, Back and Search buttons. On the downside, the sliding design leaves a lot less depth than the usual clamshell keyboard, so there’s no wrist rest and your palms will rest a bit uncomfortably against the front edge. There’s also no built-in pointing device, leaving you automatically reaching for a mouse or trackpad, before you remember that you need to jab the screen to select anything. It’s a minor irritant, but it does interrupt workflow, especially considering that there could have at least been a BlackBerry-style nub for scrolling.
Capitalizing on its physical width, the Slider includes a USB host port, mini HDMI video out, and an easily accessible microSD card slot. The USB port can be used to connect a hard drive, pen drive, mouse, or even an external keyboard if you choose to. The only thing missing is an easily accessible rotation lock switch. The stereo speakers are reasonably loud, but strangely located behind the keyboard, which means they’re blocked and muffled whenever the device is closed.
The Slider’s screen is bright and crisp, and the 16:10 aspect ratio ensures enough space both for watching movies and for getting work done. The CPU is a fairly standard 1 GHz Nvidia Tegra 2, which is more than enough for most applications, including gaming. The rear camera takes far too long to autofocus, and images are disappointingly grainy. Then again we can’t imagine holding up a tablet and shooting photos with it very often.
The battery lasted for just over a day of moderate web surfing, video playback and PDF browsing, which is impressive, but the bottom half did get hot enough to become uncomfortable on the lap.



Software and Usability

Our review unit came running Android 3.1, though the official specs list 3.2 as standard. Asus hasn’t carried out much customization, apart from a new default on-screen keyboard that takes up much more screen space, but is easier to use. Noteworthy apps include Amazon Kindle for ebooks; Polaris Office, which can read and edit MS Office formats; augmented reality tool Layar; and MyNet, which lets you browse shared media files over Wi-Fi. The usual suite of Google apps, including Maps, Latitude, Gmail and YouTube are of course available, as is an Nvidia app called TegraZone, which lists a number of games that are available for you to buy. The stock Android experience is comfortable enough, and you can of course load whatever apps you like. Thankfully, you can browse through the files on any storage device plugged into the USB port, although launching movies and music files might be a mixed bag—you’ll need to download your own choice of media player, since the built in options have trouble opening most common video file formats. The camera app is fairly pointless, as the image quality wasn’t especially impressive, and we can’t imagine ever holding the Slider up with two hands to take a photo or video.
All apps that we tried ran smoothly, and we had no problems multitasking even with 5–10 apps open in the background. The Android ecosystem still has a long way to go when it comes to immediate user friendliness, so we hope to see over-the-air upgrades to future versions of the operating system made available by Asus as and when they are released.
The Slider’s battery easily lasted through more than a day of casual use, which included a few hours’ worth of reading documents, surfing the Web over Wi-Fi, and playing music and video. Asus rates its life at 8 hours of continuous 720p video playback, though we didn’t test this formally as our unit shipped with the older Android 3.1.




Thursday 28 March 2013

Ashampoo WinOptimizer 8


Ashampoo WinOptimizer 8 is one of those everything-but-the-kitchen sink programs for tuning up your PC that says it can do everything from cleaning your Registry, clearing your PC of Internet traces in order to protect your privacy, offering general tuneup tweaks, shortening bootup. Oh, and there's a process manager, a file associator, and icons saver, and a context menu manager. And more. Much, much, much more.
It's unlikely you'll want to use every one of WinOptimizer's modules, simply because there are so many of them, that if you tried using them all, you'd have no time left in your day to do actual work. So your best bet is to pick only those modules that you think will help the most.
The One-Click Optimizer is a particularly useful tool, because it cleans your drive, optimizes your Registry, and cleans your PC of Internet traces in a single step. Before you run it, you'll be asked whether Ashampoo WinOptimizer 8 should scan for problems and fix them automatically, or else scan for problems and then ask you if it should fix them. I would suggest selecting the latter option, just for safety's sake, so you can see what it will do before it makes changes.
Those who like Registry Cleaners will find WinOptimizer's Registry cleaning tool simple to use; it scans your system, then fixes any problems. As always, it's a good idea to create a Restore Point before using a tool like this, so you can quickly undo any changes that don't sit well with your system.
Most of WinOptimizer 8's modules are similarly simple to use and useful, although that's not universally the case. The Startup Tuner, for example, merely shows you what runs on startup, but offers no advice on which programs you should allow to start, and which you shouldn't. The free Soluto tool is a much better solution for those who want to tweak startup.
If you're only interested in the basics, such as fine-tuning startup, cleaning your system of Internet traces and junk files, and Registry cleaning, it won't be worth paying for this Ashampoo WinOptimizer 8. You can do all that for free with a combination of Soluto andCCleaner.

Samsung Chromebook 3: Cheaper, Good alternative to a table

Samsung’s latest Chromebook – the Series 3 XE303C12-A01US – is small, slim, and speedy. This little laptop weighs less than 2.5 pounds and packs a decent performance punch, assuming you’re comparing it to the right machines.




A laptop-shaped improvement to a tablet or smartphone


The Samsung Series 3 looks like a laptop, but it's not. It's equipped with a mobile processor and very little internal storage, and it runs the browser-based Chrome operating system instead of the Apple Mac OS X or Microsoft Windows platform. It performs more like a tablet or advanced smartphone than an ultraportable. If you’re looking to do much more than surf the web and create cloud-based content (via Google or another service), then this is not the laptop for you. But if you’re looking for a tablet with much better content-creation functionality--namely, an integrated keyboard--then the Samsung Chromebook is an appealing option.

Our review model, which costs $249.99 as configured, sports a 1.7GHz Samsung Exynos 5 dual-core ARM processor, which is the same mobile system-on-a-chip found in theGoogle Nexus 10 tablet. Like the Nexus 10, the Chromebook pairs the Exynos 5 with 2GB of memory and 16GB of hard drive space.

The Chromebook also sports built-in Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, two USB ports (one USB 3.0, one USB 2.0), a 3-in-1 card reader, and a headphone/microphone combination port. There’s also an HDMI-out port on the back of the machine. Samsung offers USB dongles for VGA-out and Ethernet (sold separately).