Hardware Archives

Home » Hardware » Page 37

Another questionable SSD bargain

Dave Farquhar Hardware March 29, 2012April 2, 2025amiga, amiga os, BSOD, intel, Micro Center, ocz, samsung

There’s a deal floating around on 90 GB OCZ Agility 3 drives for $80. But I’m not inclined to bite, for two reasons. Read more

Dave Farquhar

David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He has written professionally about computers since 1991, so he was writing about retro computers when they were still new. He has been working in IT professionally since 1994 and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He holds Security+ and CISSP certifications. Today he blogs five times a week, mostly about retro computers and retro gaming covering the time period from 1975 to 2000.

dfarq.homeip.net

A snafu when installing an SSD in some laptops

Dave Farquhar Hardware March 25, 2012December 5, 2015dell, Dell Inspiron, Dell Inspiron E1505, samsung

I hotrodded an old Dell Inspiron e1505 laptop by installing a Samsung 830 SSD in it. I hit a snag along the way. The fix is easy but not necessarily obvious.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

The best SSD deal I’ve seen yet

Dave Farquhar Hardware March 21, 2012samsung

I apologize that there isn’t much time left, but for what’s left of March 21, you can snag a Samsung 830 SSD from Newegg for $140.

It’s the best deal I’ve seen on a highly regarded modern SSD. Read more

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

Is TRIM better than Native Command Queuing?

Dave Farquhar Hardware March 9, 2012November 30, 2015NCQ, windows 7, Windows XP

Another question from the big bag ‘o search queries: When you’re shopping for an SSD, is TRIM better than Native Command Queuing?

It’s an interesting question, and my first inclination is to say no, because TRIM and NCQ solve two similar but distinctly different problems. But the more I think about it, the more I understand why it’s possible to confuse the two.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

Yesterday was Windows 8 day, but I found this e-reader hack more interesting

Dave Farquhar Hardware March 1, 2012android, Angry Birds, Nook Color, Nook Simple Touch, windows 8

Yesterday, the consumer preview of Windows 8 hit the streets. I haven’t downloaded it. I’m mildly curious, but have a number of things higher on my priority list. Being a late adopter of Windows versions serves me well more often than not anyway.

I found something else yesterday that I find a lot more interesting: An e-ink Android tablet. Humor me.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

Living with a past-its-prime computer

Dave Farquhar Hardware February 28, 2012July 15, 2017defragmenter, firefox, IBM, intel, Intel Atom, Libre Office, lifehacker, Linux Mint, McAfee, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Security Essentials, model m, oatmeal, office 2007, office 2010, Open Office, optimizing windows, overclocking, ramdisk, symantec, vista, Windows 10, Windows XP

I’m playing catch-up a bit. This weekend, Lifehacker ran a guide about living with a computer that’s past its prime.

I’ve made a career of that. One of my desktop PCs at work (arguably the more important one) is old enough that I ought to be preparing to send it off to second grade. And for a few years I administered a server farm that was in a similar state. They finally started upgrading the hardware as I was walking out the door. (I might have stayed longer if they’d done that sooner.) And at home, I ran with out-of-date computer equipment for about a decade, just this summer buying something current. Buying something current is very nice, but not always practical.

So of course I’ll comment on a few of Lifehacker’s points.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

The future of flash memory might not be so bleak after all, either

Dave Farquhar Hardware February 24, 2012February 26, 2012hp

PC Perspective’s Allyn Malventano stopped in earlier this week and sent me a link to his take on the bleak future of SSDs and flash memory: http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Editorial/NAND-Flash-Memory-Future-Not-So-Bleak-After-All

He didn’t agree with me entirely–he argued that the problems outlined in the study in question are solvable.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

SSD future isn’t bleak, just flash

Dave Farquhar Hardware February 17, 2012computerworld, hp, kingston

Computerworld is predicting that the end of the line for SSDs will be the year 2024.

That’s based on the projected year MLC flash memory becomes impractical to continue producing. There’s one problem with that assumption: it assumes SSDs will still be based on flash memory in 2024.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

HP has a brilliant idea

Dave Farquhar Hardware February 16, 20121990s, acer, apple, asus, corsair, dell, hp, IBM, Micro Center, pc magazine, pc world, Super Bowl

After last year’s flip-flopping on getting rid of its not-quite-as-profitable-as-they’d-like PC business, and the resulting self sabotage, HP needed a good idea to try to undo the damage.

Their idea is completely unoriginal, but it’s tried and true and more likely to work than anything else they could possibly do: Bundle their premium PCs with premium-level customer service and charge a little more.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

How to clean heat sink compound off a CPU

Dave Farquhar Hardware February 14, 2012December 19, 2015Arctic Silver, cheap stuff, degreaser, lionel

Cleaning heat sink grease off a processor is something I hope you don’t have to do often. But if you find yourself needing to remove a processor from a motherboard, it’s a good idea to clean off whatever compound is on the surface of the chip and apply a fresh batch.

You can do it with household tools.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net