Official ink cartridges are expensive when compared with the cost of refilling them. The price of new cartridges is so high, some consumers resort to buying a new printer when they run out. The printer manufactures argue that without expensive cartridges, printers would cost a lot more. That is probably true, but the consumer doesn't have to play that game. Messy Refills Ink cartridge refill kits contain everything required to fill an empty cartridge . The no-brand kits have an ink bottle and syringe, while the professional kits have an Read More

When you choose to install a new video card, the first thing you’ll need to do is select the video card based on the type of video card your motherboard supports.   Common graphics card types are the following: PCI (Peripheral Component Interface) AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port). Some cards also support AGP Pro, which requires additional power, and therefore additional pins on the motherboard’s AGP slot. Most cards, especially on newer PCs, will be PCI Express graphics cards, also known as PCIe. Check with your computer or motherboard’s manufacturer to Read More

A fingerprint reader is a device that uses electricity or light to analyze a person’s fingerprint. Fingerprint readers are now commonly used in the security industry to authenticate an individual before he/she is permitted to access a system or device. For example, a home computer user may have a USB fingerprint reader installed that serves as a login device. Instead of entering a password, the user simply places his/her thumb on the fingerprint reader. The computer only allows access if that person’s fingerprint matches the one on file. Fingerprint readers Read More

Paper is usually thought of as a set size. In fact, there are several sizes which are used in printers today that are to our expectations or exceed them. The common sizes are those which are used daily in offices, schools and at home by most people. The Common Letter Size Printer Paper The Letter Size paper is the common format of paper which was made specifically for use with typewriters in the past for easy insertion into letters. This is measured at 8-1/2x11inches. The size stuck with common printing needs so that Read More

Striping is the automated process of writing data across multiple drives simulteneously. Striping is used to increase the performance of disk reads. When using striping, if you write a 5GB file across 5 drives, 1GB of data is written to each drive. Parallel reading of data from multiple disks can have a significant positive impact on performance, because the physical disk drive is most often the performance bottleneck. Striping is used in RAID Level 0. If one drive in a striped set fails, all of the data in the stripe Read More

The L1 cache refers to the first tier in a computer processor’s memory cache system that increases the speed at which the processor delivers results to the user. The L1 cache sits between the processor and the computer’s RAM (Random Access Memory) and stores the user’s most accessed data in order for the processor to find data quicker. The L1 cache is usually between 8 KB and 64 KB in size, making it the smallest memory cache in a multi-level cache system. How L1 Cache Works Because the L1 cache Read More

DRAM is Dynamic Random Access Memory. DRAM is the most common form of RAM. When someone says that a computer has "one gigabyte of RAM", what they really mean is that the computer has one gigabyte of DRAM. DRAM is called dynamic because it must constantly be refreshed or it will lose the data which it is supposed to be storing. Refreshing DRAM consists of reading the contents from the DRAM and immediately writing them back to the DRAM. DRAM is made up of large arrays of very small capacitors. Read More

A VGA extender is a device that extends a VGA cable’s range without sacrificing quality. VGA extenders are often used in audio/video applications that require a source to be connected to a display device over a long distance. They are usually in the form of a small box and can often extend a VGA connection over 300 feet. VGA extenders may also include other features, such as converting VGA signals to other types of cables. How VGA Extenders Work VGA extenders are made for VGA (Video Graphics Array) cables and Read More

Using dual monitors refers to using two physical display devices to increase the viewing space running on a single computer. Microsoft Windows Operating Systems and Mac OS X now support dual and multiple monitor configurations. Setting up dual monitors is easy. However, it requires the user to add a second video card or install a video card that can support a dual head or two separate physical outputs. The following instructions are for those with only one video card installed in their computers: Make sure that the computer is working Read More

CAS latency is short for Column Address Strobe latency. CAS latency is the time (in clock cycles) required to access a column of memory on a DRAM memory module. A CAS3 rated memory module requires 3 clock cycles to address a column of memory, where a CAS2 rated memory module can accomplish the same task in only two clock cycles. Three steps are required to address DRAM on a memory module, such as a DIMM: Memory bank selection Memory row selection (Row Address Strobe) Memory column selection (Column Address Strobe) Read More