Tech Corner

[Kalah]

Yeah they're still on my shelf so I can send 'em if you want 'em.

As for the HDD, just go for something from WD.

[Pol]

...Hey, Pol, what's a good 2TB HDD these days?

If that will be primary drive, check speed to be 7200rpm (=not green wd or intellidrive). Otherwise.. Usually longer warranties means better drives and logo of manufacturer really doesn't matter. (Albeit factory does!)

Here in ČR, one of best offers is from Seagate. In your country it may vary.

Seagate, Samsung, WD, Hitachi, Toshiba.

Only three exist, no more.

[ThunderTitan]

My friend ended up getting his gf a Seagate... lets hope it lasts.

[Kalah]

My old - not really - laptop is getting a bit shaky ... First the shift buttons stopped working and now I keep getting error messages that Windows doesn't recognize units I put in the USB slots ... First a mouse and now the keyboard. Since I now have no way of getting the shift buttons to work, since I can't connect the external keyboard anymore, I am running backups on the whole machine in case I have to discard it altogether soon ... Not sure I'll bother buying a new one.

[mr.hackcrag]

Any recommendations for a computer monitor desk mount and what features are essential?

[ThunderTitan]

Hey, Pol, any recommendation when it comes to usb memory sticks? Or will any do?

[GreatEmerald]

Personally I have an SD card instead, with a small USB flash-stick-size SD card reader for computers that don't have those integrated. It's pretty cool because it fits everywhere, even into phones and cameras, and you don't need to replace both parts if one malfunctions. The price is about the same as a standard USB stick. The speed is a bit slower, but then pen drive speeds aren't really that important anyway, it's all about the capacity.

[ThunderTitan]

Sure, because i'm gonna bring people straight into the 21th century... when they dont even have a smart phone.

[Pol]

Hey, Pol, any recommendation when it comes to usb memory sticks? Or will any do?

Most of them will do. I have good experience with Kingston, Patriot and A-Data. Pretec is a bit of mystery if you hit or miss, Prestigio as well.
Decisive is speed, usb 3 support or OTG.

[GreatEmerald]

Sure, because i'm gonna bring people straight into the 21th century... when they dont even have a smart phone.

Hence why I said I also have a USB key-sized card reader, in case someone doesn't live in the 21st century

Decisive is speed, usb 3 support or OTG.

What are you doing to your poor USB sticks to need USB3 speeds? And do a lot of devices you use even support it? For normal operations, like copying files around, speed is a complete non-issue and it's better to just save money.

[Pol]

Sure, because i'm gonna bring people straight into the 21th century... when they dont even have a smart phone.

Hence why I said I also have a USB key-sized card reader, in case someone doesn't live in the 21st century

Decisive is speed, usb 3 support or OTG.

What are you doing to your poor USB sticks to need USB3 speeds? And do a lot of devices you use even support it? For normal operations, like copying files around, speed is a complete non-issue and it's better to just save money.

Movies, if you have 16GB and more you save lotsa of time! And often, at least on our market, the price difference between usb2 and 3 version is negligible. (Considering you have other device with usb3, or plan to.)

OTG support is, only if you have tablet or compatible phone, otherwise not.

Also I found them slightly more handy in aluminium case.

PS Another option is to have 16GB microSD (Transcend, cheapest and best) and Kingston microUSB - SD adapter. But it's not for so frequent use. I think that it's most practical if you have combination of cell phone, camera and device with no microSD adapter, just USB. It's however extremly small.

Price matters!

[ThunderTitan]

Well this one is on sale: http://www.emag.ro/memorie-usb-kingston ... DQDHQBBBM/

What do you think?

Hence why I said I also have a USB key-sized card reader, in case someone doesn't live in the 21st century

You're assuming someone like that would understand how to use it without bugging me about it way too much until they learn, if ever...

[GreatEmerald]

You're assuming someone like that would understand how to use it without bugging me about it way too much until they learn, if ever...

Oh, so it's not for yourself? All right then.

[ThunderTitan]

Well ofc it's not for myself, i do fine with multiple 8gb usb sticks that i get for free... already got way too many around the house actually.

[Pol]

Well this one is on sale: http://www.emag.ro/memorie-usb-kingston ... DQDHQBBBM/

What do you think?

Looks good. (Very usbish )

[ThunderTitan]

Looks good. (Very usbish )

Damn that thing is small... from the picture i was expecting a more classic one, with the transparent part being a lid. It really show that i haven't bought one in a while (it's not like my old 16gb one isn't still enough).

[mr.hackcrag]

Can someone explain to me why my computer fan is much louder than before and how I can get it back to it's original noise level?

[mr.hackcrag]

I think I've isolated the source of the noise. It might be from my power supply. It sounds like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FFXXZ-5DN4

I'm going to try to see if the store can do something with the warranty, but in case not, any solutions or alternate power supply suggestions?

[Pol]

@mr.hackcrag
Sounds like it's now producing more heat, so cooler is whirling faster. Likely no bearing fan, so even more noise. What PSU do you have?

Might slightly help if you "dust it off".

As this is not coil whines it's not much likely that they will replace it, however it's allways a good try. Some PSU boast about low noise, only 16/18/20/22dB, so if it's more.

[mr.hackcrag]

I have the same psu as in that video which I got from this store: http://www.microcenter.com/product/4063 ... wer_supply

I can also smell something unusual when it is running. I'm not sure if I'd call it burning, but it smells like... electronics... and unnatural.

It also seems this is not an isolated incident with this psu as there are other reports of noise (assuming it is in fact my psu that is responsible for the noise). I "cleaned" two fans that were inside the pc, but I'm not sure if my psu has a fan and I wouldn't feel comfortable with removing any more parts to find out. It sounds more like a whining noise than it does a fan noise.

My pc was never "silent" like the store workers said it would be after being built, but now my computer is intolerable because the noise has become so irritating.