Plug & Play Computers PC News Blog

DVI Video Connvetors and all their versions

admin — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 05:29:40 +0000

We’ve been recently working with the different standards of DVI and just thought it would be worth pointing out what they are all about.
Wikipedia has a great article on DVI – DVI-A, DVI-D and DVI-I (yes they couldn’t make it easy on us and have just 1 standard…). Just be aware there are not converters for the difference formats (as such) – since you are actually not only physically changing pin configurations, but also from Analogue to Digital, Analogue to Dual Link etc – which is electrically a different thing as well. It will work in some combinations depending on what hardware is present at either end.
Have a check out of the tech article HERE

Microsoft Office 2010 Free Upgrade

admin — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 11:22:11 +0000

Microsoft have release their upgrade path for purchasers of Office 2007 products – purchase qualifying Office 2007 product between 5 March 2010 and 30 September 2010 and you can download the upgrade for FREE once it is released on the Microsoft site – register below for the upgrade :

http://www.office.com/techg

Windows 7 Built In Fault Finding

admin — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 10:33:22 +0000

One of our staff (David) found this good document on Toms Hardware on the built in tools in Windows 7 for checking on software and hardware faults – have a read here – http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/windows-7-troubleshooting,2504.html

Good way to give your system a check over when things are not working right.

James

Windows 7 due out 22nd Oct

admin — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 21:43:15 +0000

The next major upgrade to Windows is nearly here – Windows 7. It will come in 3 flavours (Premium, Pro and Ultimate) and improves on many of Vistas issues as well as adding new enhancements in. The final release version is now out and we have installed it into our production machines – read the full review of it HERE.

Suffice to say – its time for XP to be upgraded everywhere – the Windows users have been waiting for is finally here ! We will be moving to Windows 7 as our standard system OS shortly for our Hand Crafted PCs and notebooks.

WiFi 802.11n Finalised

admin — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 12:43:48 +0000

The current wireless standards of 11Mb (B), 54Mb (G) and 108Mb (SuperG/TurboG) now have a new IEEE ratified standard of 270Mb (N). Draft and Pre N have been around for years now but the IEEE have finally stamped the full WiFI N. Expect 802.11n deviced to become the standard now, and upgrades to be available to all Wifi Pre/Draft N devices via firmware or software/drivers updates within the next few months.

As is normally the case most routers will handle the new standard as well as the pre and draft versions – so you wont be loosing out if you dont update straight away.

Service Pack 2 for Vista and Server 2008

admin — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:20:15 +0000

Microsoft have just release the new service pack for Vista – SP2. Download today from:

Microsoft SP2 Site – note you will need Service Pack 1 installed on the PC PRIOR to installing SP. It includes all the updates since SP1, and enhances Wifi, Bluetooth and Blu Ray support.

Free Microsoft Office Training Guides

admin — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 06:14:37 +0000

Heres a link you may find useful – a good set of training and quick start manuals for all recent versions of Office (including Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Outlook).

Mouse Training Guides

Invaluable Windows Keyboards Shortcuts

admin — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 21:43:22 +0000

Here are some shortcuts that will make your Windows life a lot easier-

F2 – rename a file
Windows + E - open explorer
Windows + F – search files
Windows + M – minimize all windows
Windows + F1 – help
Windows + Pause – Windows Device Manager
Alt + F4 – Close current program
Ctrl + Z - back one step (or erase last thing you did)

Export Outlook Email list with all fields

admin — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 10:10:00 +0000

We recently had a request to be able to export all emails (eg all your emails in the inbox) into an excel format that could then be used later. Outlook will allow you to export some of the fields – but NOT the date related ones. Here’s a free ad in that does – allows you to export any of the fields from the email list you like – CodeTwo Outlook Export.

Wireless Headphones and Plasma TVs

admin — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 20:49:31 +0000

Due to the power that plasma screens put out (and the frequency) – they interfere with Infra Red headphones and make them unusable. How to overcome this? Well if you use a PC for playing your movies and TV (eg a media centre)- you can get a bluetooth headset that supports audio play, and then the interference is history! Check out our catalog for the Plantronics 590 model with up to 10m range and lightweight (and if you need a bluetooth adaptor that support audio streaming get it here)