Gadget Guru - January 2011
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Q: When you live in the
sticks like I do, the broadband just doesn't seem to be able to
support everything a family needs, e.g. someone playing Playstation
or Wii online, my husband or me on the PC needing online access,
someone else trying to watch TV via the internet and also running a
wi-fi laptop. What would be your solution on how to boost it so
everything doesn't grind to a halt? My sons now both want
laptops for their rooms but there's no point buying them if
they will end up frustrated at the lack of broadband. I've
wondered if those 3G dongles might work?
A: First, check that your house has 3G coverage
before buying a 3G dongle, and then check the amount you're
allowed to use it - one gigabyte may sound like a lot but you could
easily use that up surfing and checking e-mails, listening to the
radio online and downloading a film or two.
You could also install a second phone line and broadband
subscription for the kids to separate their usage from yours -
maybe even make it part of their pocket money? There's also
internet via satellite. There are some very fast systems, but you
may need another dish or have to modify an existing one with a
second head. It would speed up downloads certainly. There are two
types of satellite broadband, one is two-way via the satellite, the
other downloads via the satellite but uploads are via your existing
phone lines/internet connection. And satellite systems are prone to
two problems, latency and the weather, although the weather is
becoming less and less of a problem. If you've never had
problems with satellite TV then internet via satellite should be
fine. Latency means the time between you clicking a link and
something arriving on your screen - with a regular broadband
connection you click and the signal goes a few thousand miles to
the USA or wherever in a few hundred milliseconds; with a satellite
system the signal has to go up to the satellite in geosynchronous
orbit over the equator 24,500 kms up, back down again, then around
the internet, then back up to the satellite and back down again to
you, adding 100,000 kms to every journey. This isn't so much a
problem if you're clicking a link to download an MP3 from
iTunes, but the average web page has a dozen or more items on it,
each requiring that 100k round trip so, ironically, loading a web
page may take longer than downloading an album!
ISP Review, http://www.ispreview.co.uk/checker/ allows you to
check all the options available to you for ADSL, Fibre-optic
coverage and wireless internet - just type in your phone number and
it'll give you all the options. http://www.broadbandgenie.co.uk/mobilebroadband/3g-internet
has a comparison of the different 3G offerings. £1 per
gigabyte per month is a fairly standard offering and this may be a
good choice for your sons, since they could take their laptops and
internet access wherever they go. ISP Review has details of various
satellite offerings, as does Broadband Checker, http://www.broadbandchecker.co.uk/.
Q: We're planning to buy
an XBOX 360 for my son's birthday and I wondered if I could
'upgrade' a 4GB hard disc system to 250GB myself -
there's a large price difference for adding what seems to be a
pretty ordinary hard disc, something I've already done with my
own home computer.
A: You can buy replacement XBOX 360 hard discs but in fact they're proprietary hardware - you can't just pop in any old hard disc. Search the internet and you will find ways of doing this, but if you're buying a new system be aware that you'll be invalidating your warranty. Similar problems apply to 'upgrading' other proprietary hardware including Playstations, Wiis and even Sky+ boxes - it can be done but you risk losing a lot to save what can be fairly small amounts of money.
Q: I bought some refills for
my existing inkjet printer but now I keep getting the message that
the ink level is low when I know it's not. Why?
A: Manufacturers often put chips in their ink cartridges to stop you refilling them yourself with just this sort of message - some even refuse to work at all. Often ignoring the message works, or search for the make and model of your printer online and you'll find many hackers have written small programs to remove the problem.
TIPS:
* If you print a
great deal think of buying a laser printer - black and white models
are available for well under £100 and come with one toner
cartridge included. I've calculated that this alone would cover
the cost of buying the laser printer compared to buying black ink
refills for the inkjet, which we now keep for those rare occasions
when we have to print in colour.
* Many laptops have DVI video output sockets - you can buy a simple adapter to plug this into your TV screen to allow you to surf the internet and watch YouTube videos on the big screen. Check www.ebay.co.uk for best prices for DVI-TV cables.
* Before you buy an expensive docking station to give you speakers for your MP3 player, look to see if your old Ghetto Blaster radio has a Line In/Input/Aux socket. If it does a simple lead (it will have headphone-type sockets at each end) which costs a couple of quid links the two for much less than a dedicated docking station.
* If you have a separate scanner and printer rather than an all-in-one unit and need to photocopy something, rather than scanning then loading an editing program and printing your document try Nico Coupen's free 'Photocopier' program, http://www.nicocuppen.com (there's also a paid-for 'Pro' version). Click the button and it scans then prints your document without fuss.
* Need to send a website address by email that's so long it gets cut in half and can't be clicked? Try Google's free URL (Universal Resource Locator) shortener - just go to http://goo.gl, paste in the long address, click and you have a much shorter version which won't get cut up.
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