Laptops

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So, as this will probably be my last ever blog post, and we are all going off to college, I thought I would do a post about laptops and how to choose which to get. We all know that a laptop is almost an essential part to any college career, but how do you know what to get? And how do you not break the bank? Well you just need to weigh your options. One of the main things you are going to want to think about is whether you want a laptop that will last you for 4 years, or if you want to get one for 2 years, and buy another one halfway through. This decision depends on your preference and financial status, but for the purpose of this blog, I'm going to gear most estimates towards a 4 year computer. In my opinion, to get a nice, long-lasting laptop for college, you are going to want to spend around $1,000. This will allow you to get the up to date technology, and keep your laptop up to date even 4 years from now. Whether you get a large 17+ inch screen or a smaller 14.3" screen is, again, up to you. On one hand a smaller screen will translate into a lighter easier to carry laptop, while a bigger screen will offer a nicer picture and may just please you more. Next, CPU, you want to make sure it is at least a quad-core processor, and I recommend at LEAST a 3.0Ghz clock speed, try for 3.3+ if possible. Also, if going the Intel family route, try to get a processor from the i7 family, rather than i5 or i3 (try to avoid i3). The next thing to look at is the RAM you are getting. For a computer to last 4 or more years I would recommend at least 8Gb, 4Gb at a minimum. You can never have too much RAM and this will keep your computer running snappy and able to handle newer programs for a longer time. Now, the graphics card, here you need to consider whether or not you want to play intense games on your laptop or not(By intense games I mean real video games like COD, Skyrim, or etc. not farmville). If you do then you are going to want to look for a laptop with a DEDICATED video card that has at least 1Gb of dedicated video memory, preferably a card made by Nvidia. If not, then you don't have to worry too much, however still make sure it has a dedicated graphics card, as built-in cards have poor power and will become outdated far quicker. Finally, the harddrive, if you can afford it try and buy a laptop with an SSD (Solid State Drive). These are the fastest harddrives you can get, and will make your system INSANELY fast. However, they tend to be rather expensive, and small in size, so they may not be practical for everyone. If you do get a laptop with an SSD you are probably going to want to buy a decent external harddrive to keep most of your data on. Otherwise, just get a normal harddrive, the matter son what you think you need, but I don't recommend anything less that 500Gb, and make sure the spindle speed is 7200RPM. And one final note, try and avoid purchasing a laptop before June. This is when the newest laptops will be released and discounts will be popping up everywhere. You will be able to find newer technologies and better prices, so just wait a bit and try and buy your laptop starting mid-June.

P.S. If any of my classmates have questions about laptops/computers for college, just ask me at school or anything, I'm glad to answer and help.

The Monster: GeForce GTX 690

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SO, the Nvidia GeForce GTX 690 was just released yesterday, and this thing is ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS. It has 4Gb of dedicated video memory, a power draw of 300W, and other ridiculous specifications (for a full list of specification click here. That't not all that makes this card crazy, the GTX 680 was said to be equivalent to THREE GTX 580's, and the 690 is said to be even better than that. This graphics card can handle absolutely anything you could imagine, and then some. The average person wouldn't even need a 6th of this card's capabilities, and even at that they would still have more than enough power. Now for a crazy card, you also get a rather steep price, if you want to get this card you will have to pay upwards of $1,000 for it. That's the same amount I spent building my entire computer, and my computer is a monster as well. And even if you were to get this card, you would need a bad ass motherboard and CPU to go along with it, so you could get the full performance. In the end, this thing is amazing and as they say on their website "The fastest graphics card in the world", although I have no doubt that relatively soon there will be a new "fastest" card.

Part 7: The Keyboard

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The keyboard is yet another aspect of your computer that you use everyday. As with the mouse an average computer user doesn't have to put much thought into purchasing a keyboard, as long as it types, it's fine. However, gamers take keyboard choice into serious contemplation. When gaming, normal everyday keyboard don't perform nearly as good as a specifically made gaming keyboard. The keys can ghost, response time isn't as good, keys can stick, and you have to push further to engage the button. Ghosting is a problem where multiple keys pressed at the same time cause some of the keys not to be registered. During a hardcore gaming session, this could cause you to miss out on critical actions. Gaming keyboards use special technology to prevent this from happening, allowing all key presses to be detected, no matter the amount. Another unique features of most gaming keyboards is the ability to record and play back macros. Macros are combinations or a series of key presses that when played back send that series of presses to the computer, adding like you pressed those keys. It is especially useful when you need to perform a series of events quickly in a video game. All these features is why gamers choose to buy gaming keyboards. Again, i like to buy my gaming equipment from razer, these keyboards being no exception. My favorite has to be the Black Widow because it offers all the features you could want, and is very comfortable to use.

Part 6: The Mouse

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Since I have covered the important parts of the computer, I'm now going to talk a bit about peripherals and what, in my opinion, is the best and why. One of the things that is always used when you use a computer is the mouse. You use it to navigate pages, click things, and to play games. While most people don't really give their mouse a second thought, to gamers it can be a pretty big deal. In a game, your mouse is what stand between you and victory. It's responsiveness can be the difference between life and death, while the design can give you an unfair edge above everyone else. There all all kinds of gaming mice, designed to a way that the manufacturer thinks is best for its purpose. Also, sensitivity (measured in DPI) varies in every mouse, a higher max DPI usually being preferred by most gamers. My favorite manufacturer of gamming hardware such as mice and keyboards is razer. From my experience they make durable, reliable hardware, that is comfortable to use. My favorite mouse by them has to be the mamba. It is a solid, comfortable mouse. It responds extremely well, and has extra buttons on the side that you can bind for various in-game actions. Also, it has the option of switching between wired and wireless, which is a very nice option. For MMO gamers there is also the naga which is nice because it has multiple buttons on the side for easy access to MMO actions. While I'm not much of a MMO gamer myself, this seems very convenient.

Part 5: The Case

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The computer case. To most users there is nothing to worry about here, and not much you can even do to effect you you get, besides buying a completely different computer. This post is more directed towards people who are building their own computers. A case can affect the airflow, cooling, and what you can or can't fit in your computer. The first thing you want to figure out before you go looking for a case, is what you want to fit inside your computer. Things such as, the size of the video card, size of the motherboard, and whether or not you want to do air or liquid cooling. There are two main case sizes that you will run across when case shopping, mid-tower and full-tower. Obviously full-tower is larger than a mid-tower case, but this has both benefits and downfalls. While if you get a full tower you usually won't have to worry about free space, they do take up a lot more room on your desk, and can weigh quite a bit. You don't really need a full-tower unless you are planning on getting a large, or multiple, graphics cards, of a full ATX or Extended motherboard. As a mid-tower won't be able to fit those components. Now, size isn't the only factor when choosing a case, you may also worry about airflow and cooling options. While all cases can be modified to be water-cooled, some make it easier by including pre-cut sections and such. Also, you will have to look at the fan positioning, to figure if the case you want will be able to keep your system cool. I myself am the proud owner of the NZXT Phantom Full-tower case::

This case is an absolute monster, standing at 21 inches (almost 2 feet), having a depth of 24.5 inches, and weighing 25 pounds empty, this case is definitely not for everyone. It can handle anything you throw at it, from the biggest graphics cards, to the biggest fans and motherboards. It came at a great price, just around $100, and I got it for the fact that I have a big motherboard, and for future upgrade purposes. In the end, the case you pick depends on you and your personal preferences. There isn't one case for everyone, and you just have to look until you find one that you like.

Part 4: Video Card

This week I'm going to talk about Video Cards, and why they are, or aren't, an important thing for you to consider while building/buying/or upgrading your computer. If all you do is use word, Facebook, and play small flash games on the internet, chances are you don't really need to worry about your computers video card. However if you stream movies, edit photos/video, play graphics intensive video games, then you do need to seriously look into your graphics card. A graphics/video card, as you can probably deduce, handles all the graphics that your computer processes and displays. The more intense the graphic, the harder the graphics card has to work. The main reason people get the good graphics cards is so that they can play hardcore video games that require the power. I have made a previous post that goes more into details about graphics card producers and which to pick, so if you are trying to decide you should read that post as well. The average user can go out and acquire a decent video card, that will handle whatever they would need to do, for around $100. Sure it won't be able to handle great video editing or those high-end games (at least not on high settings) but it will increase the smoothness of movies and any other games you decide to play.

Part 3: RAM

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RAM is another important aspect of any computer. RAM stands for Random Access Memory. It is what controls how fast your computer runs and responds. When your computer is running a program it loads it into the RAM of the system. This allows the program to access it's resources faster than if it was in the harddrive because RAM is a type of flash memory, while a typical harddrive isn't. A harddrive is composed of spinning disks called platters, and this is what the computer writes the data on to. RAM on the other hand is composed of non-moving, flash memory, like a flash drive, which allows for faster read and write speeds. This is why RAM is used to store the active program data, the more RAM, the more data that can be stored, thus the faster the computer can perform. The average user doesn't need more than 4Gb of RAM. In fact, a 32-bit operating system can only use up to 4Gb of RAM. However, with the cheap cost of RAM nowadays, there is no reason you shouldn't max out your memory, as it is relatively easy for any person to do. You can easily add 4Gb of RAM to your system for under $50, which is a relatively easy way to increase the performance of your system. If you are interested in upgrading your RAM go here :: http://www.crucial.com/systemscanner/ and run the scanner tool, they will automatically detect your system specifications and recommend new RAM for your system.