What the New iPhone Connector Means for Your Old Accessories

A new report from Reuters adds to the steady trickle of stories that the next iPhone will feature a smaller dock connector with a radically different form factor than the one we've come to know over the past nine years. It will give the iPhone's components more elbow room. Yet the new connection is likely to cause some problems for consumers who have invested in accessories based in the old design over the years. In short, really old accessories are probably not going to work very well. But of course, really old accessories often already have connection issues with the newest iPhones. Newer accessories should work, but will require some sort of adapter.The latests reports and rumors point to Apple replacing the current 30-pin connection with a 19-pin connection. By losing 11 pins, Apple can make its long-running proprietary connection smaller, which opens up all kinds of design possibilities. iFixit cofounder, Kyle Wiens told Wired: "It's too big. That's the fundamental issue."
Design aesthetics aside, as far as connections go, the 30-pin connection is long in the tooth. Introduced with the third-generation iPod in 2003 as a replacement to the iPod's Firewire port, the 30-pin connection has been adopted by nearly all of the iPods and all iPhones and iPads. The connection's size is a result of Apple's desire to allow backward compatibility with legacy analog connectors, and Apple's own Firewire connection. Those legacy connections lower the cost of third-party hardware. Building fully compliant USB docks is expensive."The primary reason to have all the pins is to make it cheaper for companies to implement accessories." Weins told Wired: "If your (iPod) alarm clock had to implement a full USB interface, it would cost more. It would be a more expensive device to make."
But there's a different financial issue at play for consumers, many of whom have been hoarding speakers, alarm clocks, keyboards, external battery packs, cases and an untold number of cables over the past nine years. If Apple decides to move to a smaller connection, its new devices won't fit all those existing accessories. However there should be ways to make your current accessories work with the new iPhone, iPad, and iPods, although you may have to shell out a couple of bucks to do so (well, probably).Apple could remove many input/output (I/O) connections without making your next iPhone speaker prohibitively expensive by discarding legacy features that no one uses anymore. A quick check of the 30-pin connection shows seven pins that could be removed if Firewire support were annihilated. How Apple will deal with other legacy I/Os is yet to be seen. But, sadly, it's those legacy I/Os that will determine if your current iPhone and iPod speakers will continue to pump out the holiday jams when the new iPhone drops this fall.

Crucial m4 mSATA SSD for Ultrathin Laptops Announced

Ultrathin mSATA form factor enables users to save system space by mounting the SSD directly to the mSATA-enabled motherboards or to use it as a cache for an existing hard drive to accelerate system performance. Crucial, a leading global brand of memory and storage upgrades, today announced the immediate availability of the Crucial m4 mSATA Solid State Drive (SSD), designed primarily to address the rapidly emerging UltrabookTM category and deliver powerful, proven performance for systems where space is at cool Apple accessories. The Crucial m4 mSATA SSD delivers the award-winning performance and reliability of the Crucial m4 SSD in a drive one eighth the size. Because of its tiny mSATA form factor, the Crucial m4 mSATA SSD can be mounted to an mSATA-enabled motherboard to serve as a primary storage in ultrathin laptops or act as a cache to complement the performance of an existing hard drive. Available in 32GB, 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB capacities with MSRPs of $52.99, $80.99, $121.99, and $225.99, respectively, the Crucial m4 mSATA SSD can be purchased now through select global channel partners, or directly.
The Crucial m4 mSATA SSD features sequential read speeds up to 500MB per second and offers inherent power savings, travel-worthy durability, validation for Intel Smart Response technology and DataplexTM caching software from NVELO.The Crucial m4 mSATA SSD joins the Crucial m4 SSD and the Crucial Adrenaline Solid State Cache Solution as part of the award-winning Crucial SSD portfolio."With the rapid growth in ultrathin laptops and the adoption of smaller system builds, consumers are increasingly in need of SSD performance in a smaller form factor. The Crucial m4 mSATA is designed for users who want the flexibility that a micro-sized SSD offers," said professional Macbook Accessories manufacturers, senior worldwide product manager, Crucial. "In a form factor that's about a third the size of your business card, the Crucial mSATA SSD can also be used as a standalone SSD or as a cache for an existing drive."
Featuring the same advanced controller technology, Micron custom firmware, and high-speed synchronous MLC NAND that have made the Crucial m4 SSD a mainstay, the Crucial m4 mSATA SSD is engineered to deliver the same blazing-fast performance. The Crucial m4 mSATA SSD leverages the industry-leading memory, design, and manufacturing capability of Micron Technology and is backed by a limited three-year warranty.

Laptop Power UK Expands Its Collection Of Laptop Adapters

 Laptop Power UK, the renowned laptop parts supplier, has expanded its collection of laptop adapters. All the laptop adapters available at Laptop Power UK are available with 12 month manufacturer’s warranty. They provide full-range laptop adapters for all makes and models on the market. Laptop Power UK is a multi-brand laptop accessories provider who has been in the market for quite a long time and within this point of time they have earned their bit of respect by providing the best service of the industry. Laptop Power UK, provides outstanding collection of premium quality laptop adapters at lowest possible prices.
Laptop adapter problems are one of the most common laptop problems. This is because the wear and tear sooner or later takes their toil. Laptop adapter make it possible to charge a laptop in order to give it maximum mobility. A fully charged laptop can work for a long time without being connected to any external power source. Laptop Power UK provides the best quality laptop adapters from the renowned brands.
Among the large varieties of laptop adapters offered Acre laptop adapters have gained popularity. The Acer laptop adapters are designed to suit every laptop brand and every laptop model in the market. Laptop adapters are the very essential and one of the most important laptop accessories. A Acer laptop adapters come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes according to the need s of the buyers. One of the strongest selling points of Laptop Power UK is that they stock every type of Acer Laptop adapters. Whether one has a brand new Acer laptop or a ten year old laptop, you can guarantee that our company will have the original Acer Laptop Adapters for your machine. We pride ourselves on offering customers a one-stop shop for all their Acer power solutions and this includes old hard to find parts from years gone by.
Laptop Power UK was formed four years ago. Shocked at the difficulty and expense involved in finding a reasonably priced laptop adapter, Laptop Power UK was set up to provide UK customers iPad and with an outstanding selection of adapters at a fraction of high street price. Laptop-Power UK excels in providing all requirements of a laptop and its smooth functioning.Two special offers featured on this page will certainly be of interest to anyone hitting the books this fall. HP is offering a free Xbox 360 with the purchase of any qualifying PC for $699 or more – this can be a laptop or a desktop PC. And Dell is offering its own Back to School Guide, which features all of their latest products, electronics and accessories for the student.

Announces a New Wiki for Free Guidance on How to Upgrade and Repair Laptops

Repair4Laptop now offers a new Wiki containing free do-it-yourself repair guides for laptops and notebooks. Everybody is invited to join in and document their ideas for repairing, "modding"or upgrading a laptop or notebook. The wiki supports the use of images and text by contributors. It is even possible to enhance the wiki by helping to improve the already existing guides. Werner Heuser, the founder of the project, will assist people who ask for help writing a new guide when requested. All guides have to be published under a so-called Free License. Free Licenses are also used by Wikipedia, and will allow the free distribution and improvement of the Nano-Silver keyboard suppliers guides.
There are many good reasons for a person to attempt the repair of a laptop or Notebook themselves. A repair done by a professional can be expensive, time consuming and sometimes makes it necessary to reveal private data to the repair professionals. Only a few manufacturers offer free Hardware Maintenance Manuals (HMMs) to their clients. Missing technical documentation makes the repair or upgrade of a laptop or notebook a difficult and nerve-stretching task for a non-professional. That is when the free guides at Repair4Laptop come in handy. A do-it-yourself repair can save people money, labor costs and time. Personal data that hasn't been encrypted doesn't have to be shared with anyone, or made vulnerable to untrustworthy sources.
The How-To sections of the Wiki that describe the process of upgrading laptops and Notebooks are also extremely useful. The lifecycle of a device can be prolonged by upgrading RAM and the hard disk drive. That way, those who aren't ready to invest in a new machine can hold off.Cleaning guides, especially for fans and keyboards, can help to extend the lifetime of a laptop or notebook. A fan blocked by dust and grime can cause the machine to overheat, leading to an early death of the Laptop Stand manufacturers. A thorough cleaning of the keyboard is not only helpful for hygienic reasons, but can also extend the lifetime of a keyboard.The new Repair4Laptop Wiki even has guides for different ways to personalize devices. This practice is often referred to as "modding,"and includes topics such as painting a laptop case, or replacing the manufacturer logo with a custom logo. Repair4Laptop has been up and running since March of 2005. It contains a wealth of useful information on laptops, notebooks, and repairing them. It also has information about upgrading components, different parts, and accessories. All of the different topics are available at the Repair4Laptop web directory.

Laptop Power UK Announces the Availability Of Packard Bell Screen Replacements

Laptop Power UK announces the availability of Packard Bell screen replacements. Packard Bell has been releasing laptops like there is no tomorrow recently, and a lot of them are pretty nice looking too. Laptop Power UK is a multi-brand Waterproof cases manufacturers who has been in the market for quite a long time and within this point of time they have earned their bit of respect by providing the best service of the industry. Laptop Power UK, provides outstanding collection of premium quality laptop batteries and laptop chargers at lowest possible prices.Laptop Power UK announces the availability of Packard Bell screen replacements. Packard Bell has been releasing laptops like there is no tomorrow recently, and a lot of them are pretty nice looking too. Laptop Power UK is a multi-brand laptop accessories provider who has been in the market for quite a long time and within this point of time they have earned their bit of respect by providing the best service of the industry. Laptop Power UK, provides outstanding collection of premium quality laptop batteries and laptop chargers at lowest possible prices.
The laptop has become an essential commodity for the purpose of communication. It is a handy tool as it allows its user to communicate on the move. But this also results in haphazard handling and subsequent damage to the equipment. The maximum damage often caused to the laptop screens. Given the flood of Packard Bell machines hitting the market, Laptop Power UK has been inundated with requests for Wholesale Mac Accessories. They are glad to provide full range in their UK stock system, so whether one has a Packard Bell Easynote or a Packard Bell Akoya, they will have the correct replacement panel.The various range of Packard Bell laptop screen replacement available is Akoya, Argo, Butterfly and Dot to name a few. The products provided are of A+ grade that are produced to the highest quality and have a12 month warranty. Packard Bell Screens can come in a range of sizes so the best way to find out the correct size is to get the model number of the laptop.Laptop Power UK was formed four years ago. Shocked at the difficulty and expense involved in finding a reasonably priced laptop adapter, Laptop Power UK was set up to provide customers with an outstanding selection of adapters at a fraction of the high street price. Laptop-Power UK excels in providing all requirements of a laptop and its smooth functioning.

When to Have a Laptop Repaird and When to buy a new Laptop

You may just use your laptop occasionally when it is not too critical if it fails and cannot be fixed for a few days. However, if you are a business user or perhaps have to get in touch with individuals over the net every day, then chances are you will never want to be without a functioning laptop for more than a couple of days. Consequently whether a damaged laptop is repaired or instantly substituted using a brand-new unit may be related to the importance of working with it each day. I will consider which laptop problems normally can be done quickly and at an acceptable fee.Nearly every laptop issue can be fixed by an expert laptop repairer; on the other hand, some are incredibly steeply-priced or the replacement items may not be readily available. The user should only contemplate a repair in these instances if the laptop has some special software program set up or has a hardware part that will not necessarily function with a brand new laptop. For instance, laptops used to be provided with a COM connector, today almost all don't use it. If you have to hook up to this port, then this brand-new laptop might not be of any use.
The following problems really should be carried out speedily and cheaply by a skilled laptop repairer. To switch one particular key or entire keyboard, the mains transformer, the ram chip, the interior power connection, the touch-pad, the optical drive. Although, a few manufacturers charge you high price tags for any spares, for instance, a mouse pad will normally cost less than $40; however, one manufacturer prices over $150 for their spare part. Therefore regrettably, what appears like an inexpensive repair could finish up costing a lot more than the laptop may be worth.
Un-economical fixes involve replacing any of the following; the display, the hard disk, the case, the mother board, etc. A reliable laptop repairer must be able to remedy a large number of motherboard flaws, but this may take many working days and may or might not be affordable dependant on age and price of the laptop.Lots of users are only willing to work with a laptop with the same edition of Windows that they are accustomed to. On the other hand, new laptops are provided with the latest operating system. Unfortunately, it's often extremely hard to get the old operating system, and after that it may not set up correctly on a brand new laptop that's been created for the most up-to-date Windows.Generally, a laptop user will insist on having an older laptop restored no matter the price tag and time period required, since they have massive quantities of information and many packages installed on the malfunctioning machine. It can be a difficult task for the normal laptop end user to re-install this data and configure it as before. The chances of missing e-mails and security passwords can convince the owner to insist on a fix.

Can't find screen protector?

Q. I have been looking for a metal grille of a sort one used to see all the time, usually white, maybe 8 inches high, with a scroll or lattice design, to place across the lower part of the screen on the (inside) top half of my storm door. I'm tired of fixing the screen. It seems that when people open the door they lean an elbow or a hand against the screen to hold the door open, and pretty soon the screen has been pushed out.I went to Home Depot; they don't carry it. Also looked online, and looked at Lowe's, and many other stores. But it seems like the kind of screen protector I am looking for does not exist anywhere. Do you have any suggestions?A. I know what you're thinking about, and they do exist. They are aluminum grilles usually found on old-fashioned aluminum storm and screen doors, long before they came up with painted or anodized aluminum doors. Most were on the outside of the door, but because they are screwed on, they can be put outside or inside. Call Hadco Window and Door Manufacturing Co. in South Boston,who might be able to build you one.Comparing Laptop Repair And Desktop Pc Repair.If you can't find any, you can make one. Buy chrome towel racks, with a thin bar, to fit the width of your screen, and screw them on the inside. Use sheet metal screws to secure the racks to the aluminum door. Three or four racks will provide the proper height and spacing.
Q. My daughter is putting up a pressure-treated fence this summer at her home in Canada. What can she use to treat it and when?A. A pressure-treated fence needs no treatment, and will weather to an attractive medium-dark gray in a year or two. If your daughter wants to treat it, she should use a semitransparent stain; one coat every five to seven years that will not peel. She must wait six months to a year before treating it, to allow water to evaporate from the wood. She should also check environmental laws in Canada; they are likely to be different there.
Q. Every time we get a decent rain or downpour, I get this issue where it "rains" from the outer edge of the overhang so that it appears to be dripping from the soffit (underhang) on my side of the house. But my neighbor doesn't have this problem on his side. It's a side by side townhouse. No one has been able to tell me the cause, so I can't get it fixed. Do you have any thoughts?A. I see a downspout but no gutters. If there is a gutter on that overhang, it is mispositioned. If water drips near the back of the gutter, it will overflow the back, and run down the fascia (front edge of the overhang) until it drips off the front edge of the overhang.If water drips near the front of the gutter, it will overflow the front of the gutter and drip down the face and under the bottom of the gutter until it reaches the front edge of the overhang. Repositioning the gutter or drip edge so that water drips into the center of the gutter along its full length will correct this.