Wednesday 31 October 2012

Best & Economical Laser Printer of 2012

Personal Black and White Laser Printers

Affordable, wireless HP LaserJet printing from virtually anywhere in the home or office with several users.[1][2] Print at up to 19 ppm letter/18 ppm A4 with no need for extra wires. Built-in energy-saving features help save money and resources.

Ideal for business users with home or small offices who want an affordable HP LaserJet printer.

Features

Print wirelessly in your home or office.[1][2]

Network the printer without extra cables, using 802.11 b/g wireless networking.[1][2]

Print up to 19 ppm letter/18 ppm A4.

Start and finish printing sooner with Instant-on Technology.

Print on a wide variety of media, using the 150-sheet paper tray and 10-sheet priority input slot.[3]

Experience easy, reliable HP LaserJet printing.

Install in a flash—no CD required—using HP Smart Install.[4]

Set up and start printing right away with an easy-to-use, intuitive control panel.

Receive consistent results with Original HP cartridges and easily reorder with HP SureSupply.[5]

Get the services, solutions, software and support of HP Total Care.

Reduce your impact and protect your bottom line.

Conserve energy with Instant-on Technology and save even more with HP Auto-On/Auto-Off Technology.[6]

Reduce wasted paper by printing only the content you want, using HP Smart Web Printing.[7]

Save space with an ultra-compact printer with a sleek, industrial design.

HP helps reduce your impact—less packaging, plus free cartridge recycling with HP Planet Partners.[8]

Create professional, cost-effective prints.

Produce professional-quality business prints with bold, crisp text and sharp images.

Receive improved print quality with HP FastRes 1200.[9]

[1] Wireless printing is only available on the HP LaserJet Pro P1102w Printer.

[2] Wireless performance is dependent upon physical environment and distance from access point.

[3] 10-sheet priority input slot is only available on the HP LaserJet Pro P1102w Printer.

[4] HP Smart Install works with Windows only.

[5] Program features and availability may vary by country. For more information, visit www.hp.com/learn/suresupply.

[6] HP Auto-On and Auto-Off capabilities subject to printer and settings.

[7] To use this feature, you need Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0–8.0.

[8] HP print cartridge return and recycling is available in 49 countries and territories around the world, covering 88% of the addressable market; see www.hp.com/recycle for details.

[9] HP FastRes 1200 provides the best print quality setting for this device. Choose HP FastRes 600 for fast printing.

Specifications

Print speed black:: Normal:Up to 18 ppm

(Measured using ISO/IEC 24734, excludes first set of test documents. For more information see http://www.hp.com/go/printerclaims. Exact speed varies depending on the system configuration, software application, driver, and document complexity. )

First page out (ready): Black:As fast as 8.5 sec

Print quality black (best)

Up to 600 x 600 x 2 dpi (1200 dpi effective output)

Duty cycle (monthly, letter): Up to 5000 pages;
(Duty cycle is defined as the maximum number of pages per month of imaged output. )

Duty cycle (monthly, A4): Up to 5000 pages
(Duty cycle is defined as the maximum number of pages per month of imaged output. )

Recommended monthly page volume: 250 to 1500

Recommended monthly page volume note: HP recommends that the number of printed pages per month be within the stated range for optimum device performance, based on factors including supplies replacement intervals and device life over an extended warranty period.

Print technology

Laser

Processor speed: 266 MHz

Print languages: Host-based printing

Display

None

Connectivity

HP ePrint capability: No

Wireless capability

Optional, enabled with purchase of a hardware accessory

Connectivity, standard

1 Hi-Speed USB 2.0

Connectivity, optional

Compatible HP Jetdirect print servers: HP Jetdirect ew2500 802.11b/g Wireless Print Server J8021A

Network ready: Optional

Minimum system requirements: Microsoft® Windows® 7 (32-bit/64-bit): 1 GB RAM; Windows Vista® (32-bit/64-bit), Windows® XP, Windows® Server 2008 (32-bit/64-bit), Windows® Server 2003: 512 MB RAM; all systems: 350 MB free hard disk space, CD-ROM drive, USB port;
Mac OS X v 10.4, 10.5, 10.6; 256 MB RAM; 150 MB available hard disk space; CD-ROM drive; USB port

Compatible operating systems

Microsoft® Windows® 7 (32-bit/64-bit), Windows Vista® (32-bit/64-bit), Windows® XP (32-bit/64-bit), Windows® Server 2008 (32-bit/64-bit), Windows® Server 2003 (32-bit/64-bit), Mac OS X v 10.4, v 10.5, v 10.6, Linux (see http://www.hplip.net for current)

Memory specifications

Memory, standard: 2 MB

Memory, maximum: 2 MB

Hard disk

None

Paper handling

Paper handling input, standard

150-sheet input tray

Paper handling output, standard

100-sheet output bin

Duplex printing: Manual (driver support provided)

Media sizes supported: A4; A5; A6; B5; postcards; envelopes (C5, DL, B5)

Media sizes, custom: 150-sheet input tray: 147 x 211 to 216 x 356 mm

Media types: Paper (laser, plain, photo, rough, vellum), envelopes, labels, cardstock, transparencies, postcards

Supported media weight: 60 to 163 g/m²

Finished output handling

Sheetfed

Power and operating requirements

Power: Input voltage 115 to 127 VAC (+/- 10%), 60 Hz (+/- 2 Hz), 12 amp; 220 to 240 VAC (+/- 10%), 50 Hz (+/- 2 Hz), 6.0 amp

Power consumption: 360 watts (printing), 1.4 watts (ready), 0.9 watts (auto-off), 0.6 watts (manual-off)
(Values subject to change. See http://www.hp.com/go/ljp1100_regulatory for current information. Power numbers are the highest values measured using all standard voltages.)

Energy efficiency

ENERGY STAR® qualified

Operating temperature range: 15 to 32.5º C

Operating humidity range

30 to 70% RH

Dimensions and weight

Minimum dimensions (W x D x H): 349 x 238 x 196 mm

Maximum dimensions (W x D x H): 349 x 410 x 228 mm

Weight: 5.2 kg

Package dimensions (W x D x H): 400 x 250 x 298 mm

Package weight: 6.35 kg

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Ivy Bridge Processors

Intel’s latest computer processors have recently been released in Pakistan. They are called Ivy Bridge CPUs and are the successors to the Sandy Bridge line of Central Processing Units.

Ivy Bridge CPUs are a die shrink of the Sandy Bridge line of CPUs. This means that a newer manufacturing process was used to make Ivy Bridge CPUs. This manufacturing process allows for smaller transistors thereby reducing cost of production and power consumption of the CPUs.

Ivy Bridge CPUs perform between 5% and 15% faster than Sandy Bridge CPUs running at the same clock speed.
Ivy Bridge CPUs have a faster Integrated Graphics Processor (IGP) compared to Sandy Bridge CPUs. The IGP is around 25% faster.
The new CPUs are compatible with existing H61/67 P67 and Z68 chipset motherboards. However, a BIOS upgrade is required for the new CPUs to work.
A new line of chipsets has also been introduced for Ivy Bridge CPUs. These are the 7 series chipsets like the H77/Z77. These chipsets support PCI-E 3.0 and USB 3.0.
Ivy Bridge CPUs carry the same Core i3/i5/i7 monikers as previous generation Sandy Bridge CPUs. The only difference is that the model numbers begin with a ’3′ instead of a ’2′. So for example the Core i5 3450 is an Ivy Bridge CPU.
Only quad core CPUs have been released so far. Dual core i3 CPUs are due to be released in the last quarter of this year.

Ivy Bridge CPUs are slightly faster than the previous generation Sandy Bridge CPUs. That makes them a good choice for new computer builds but a not a worthwhile upgrade for existing systems running Sandy Bridge CPUs.

Information Technology

Information technology

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Information technology (IT) is concerned with the development, management, and use of computer-based information systems.
Humans have been storing, retrieving, manipulating and communicating information since the Sumerians in Mesopotamia developed writing in about 3000 BC,^[1] but the term "information technology" in its modern sense first appeared in a 1958 article published in the Harvard Business Review; authors Leavitt and Whisler commented that "the new technology does not yet have a single established name. We shall call it information technology (IT)."^[2] Based on the storage and processing technology employed, it is possible to distinguish four distinct phases of IT development: pre-mechanical (3000 BC – 1450 AD), mechanical (1450–1840), electromechanical (1840–1940) and electronic.^[1] This article focuses on the latter of those periods, which began in about 1940.

Definition

The Information Technology Association of America has defined information technology (IT) as "the study, design, development, application, implementation, support or management of computer-based information systems",^[3] but the term has also been applied more narrowly to describe a branch of engineering dealing with the use of computers and telecommunications equipment to store, retrieve, transmit and manipulate data.^[4] Although commonly used to refer to computers and computer networks, IT encompasses other information-distribution technologies such as television and telephones,^[5] a wider field more explicitly known as information and communications technology.

History of computers

Main article: History of computing hardware

Devices have been used to aid computation for thousands of years, probably initially in the form of a tally stick.^[6] The Antikythera mechanism, dating from about the beginning of the first century BC, is generally considered to be the earliest known mechanical analog computer; it is also the earliest known geared mechanism.^[7] Comparable geared devices did not emerge in Europe until the 16th century,^[8] and it was not until 1645 that the first mechanical calculator capable of performing the four basic arithmetical operations was developed.^[9]
Electronic computers, using either relays or valves, began to appear in the early 1940s. The electromechanical Zuse Z3, completed in 1941, was the world's first programmable computer, and by modern standards one of the first machines that could be considered a complete computing machine. Colossus, developed during the Second World War to decrypt German messages was the first electronic digital computer, but although programmable it was not general-purpose, being designed for a single task. Neither did it store its programs in memory; programming was carried out using plugs and switches to alter the internal wiring.^[10] The first recognisably modern electronic digital stored-program computer was the Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM), which ran its first program on 21 June 1948.^[11]

Data storage

Main article: Data storage device

Early electronic computers such as Colossus made use of punched tape, a long strip of paper on which data was represented by a series of holes, a technology now obsolete.^[12] Electronic data storage as used in modern computers dates from the Second World War, when a form of delay line memory was developed to remove the clutter from radar signals, the first practical application of which was the mercury delay line.^[13] The first random-access digital storage device was the Williams tube, based on a standard cathode ray tube,^[14] but the information stored in it and delay line memory was volatile in that it had to be continuously refreshed, and thus was lost once power was removed. The earliest form of non-volatile computer storage was the magnetic drum, invented in 1932^[15] and used in the Ferranti Mark 1, the world's first commercially available general-purpose electronic computer.^[16]
Most digital data today is still stored magnetically on devices such as hard disk drives, or optically on media such as CD-ROMs.^[17] It has been estimated that the worldwide capacity to store information on electronic devices grew from less than 3 exabytes in 1986 to 295 exabytes in 2007,^[18] doubling roughly every 3 years.^[19]

Databases

Main article: Database management system

Database management systems emerged in the 1960s to address the problem of storing and retrieving large amounts of data accurately and quickly. One of the earliest such systems was IBM's Information Management System (IMS),^[20] which is still widely deployed more than 40 years later.^[21] IMS stores data hierarchically,^[20] but in the 1970s Ted Codd proposed an alternative relational storage model based on set theory and predicate logic and the familiar concepts of tables, rows and columns. The first commercially available relational database management system (RDBMS) was available from Oracle in 1980.^[22]
All database management systems consist of a number of components that together allow the data they store to be accessed simultaneously by many users while maintaining its integrity. A characteristic of all databases is that the structure of the data they contain is defined and stored separately from the data itself, in a database schema.^[20]
The extensible markup language (XML) has become a popular format for data representation in recent years. Although XML data can be stored in normal file systems, it is commonly held in relational databases to take advantage of their "robust implementation verified by years of both theoretical and practical effort".^[23] As an evolution of the Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML), XML's text-based structure offers the advantage of being both machine and human-readable.^[24]

Data retrieval

The relational database model introduced a programming language independent Structured Query Language (SQL), based on relational algebra.^[22]
The terms "data" and "information" are not synonymous. Anything stored is data, but it only becomes information when it is organised and presented meaningfully.^[25] Most of the world's digital data is unstructured, and stored in a variety of different physical formats^[26]^[a] even within a single organisation. Data warehouses began to be developed in the 1980s to integrate these disparate stores. They typically contain data extracted from various sources, including external sources such as the Internet, organised in such a way as to facilitate decision support systems (DSS).^[27]

Data transmission

Data transmission has three aspects: transmission, propagation, and reception.^[28]
XML has been increasingly employed as a means of data interchange since the early 2000s,^[29] particularly for machine-oriented interactions such as those involved in web-oriented protocols such as SOAP,^[24] describing "data-in-transit rather than ... data-at-rest".^[29]

Data manipulation

Hilbert and Lopez^[18] identify the exponential pace of technological change (a kind of Moore's law): machines' application-specific capacity to compute information per capita roughly doubled every 14 months between 1986 and 2007; the per capita capacity of the world's general-purpose computers doubled every 18 months during the same two decades; the global telecommunication capacity per capita doubled every 34 months; the world's storage capacity per capita required roughly 40 months to double (every 3 years); and per capita broadcast information has doubled every 12.3 years.^[18]
Massive amounts of data are stored worldwide every day, but unless it can be analysed and presented effectively it essentially resides in what have been called data tombs: "data archives that are seldom visited".^[30] To address that issue, the field of data mining – "the process of discovering interesting patterns and knowledge from large amounts of data"^[31] – emerged in the late 1980s.^[32]

Commercial perspective

Worldwide IT spending forecast^[33] (billions of U.S. dollars)
Category	2011 spending	2012 spending
Computing hardware	404	423
Enterprise software	269	290
IT services	845	864
Telecom equipment	340	377
Telecom services	1,663	1,686
Total	3,523	3,640

Social and ethical perspectives

Main article: Information ethics

The field of information ethics was established by mathematician Norbert Wiener in the 1940s.^[34] Some of the ethical issues associated with the use of information technology include:^[35]

Breaches of copyright by those downloading files stored without the permission of the copyright holders
Employers monitoring their employees' emails and other Internet usage
Unsolicited emails
Hackers accessing online databases
Web sites installing cookies or spyware to monitor a user's online activities

Computer Hardware Basics

May 7th, 2012

This site ranks very high in the search engines for searches related to computer hardware. So it makes sense that I cover basic topics related to computer hardware.

To that end I added a bunch of pages to this site that cover the basics of computer hardware. Topics covered include “What is computer hardware?“, “CPU“, “Motherboard“, “Power Supply Unit” etc. I will keep adding more pages as time permits.

SATA 2 vs. SATA 3

Serial ATA or SATA has become the standard interface between storage devices and computer motherboards. SATA continues to be updated to faster standards such as SATA 3.

SATA 3 offers transfer speeds of up to 6Gbit/s compared to the 3Gbit/s offered by SATA 2.
SATA 3 was introduced to allow for faster communication between storage drives and the host controller on motherboards. This was necessary because SATA 2 was proving to be a bottleneck for faster storage devices like Solid State Drives.
While SSDs benefit from the transfer speed of SATA 3, hard disk drives do not see any improvement in performance. That is because SATA is just the speed at which the storage drive can communicate with the host controller on the motherboard i.e. the transfer speed. It says nothing about how fast a storage drive can access data internally. Because hard disk drives are mechanical in nature they cannot operate fast enough to saturate a SATA 2 interface much less a SATA 3 one. So hard drives don’t benefit from SATA 3 except for burst transfers from the hard drive buffer. These burst transfers are very rare in normal desktop usage where file access tends to be random in nature.

Top 10 Free Software To Install On Your New Windows PC

A new Windows computer needs good software if the user wants to make the most out of his machine. Windows 7 does come bundled with useful tools, but that isn’t enough. The millions of consumer software vendors around the world would have gone out of business if that were the case.
This post will talk about top 10 free software that one must install on his new Windows computer. I’ve tried to limit the article to only those tools which, in my opinion, should be the first 10 tools one should install and use on a new PC. If you have other opinions and suggestions for tools, which I am sure a lot of you would, I urge you to share them in the comments so that all our readers can take a look at them.
So, lets begin with the list.

1. EASEUS Partition Master

EASEUS partition manager is a nifty tool to create and manage disk partitions on Windows systems. Even if you created partitions during the setup process, and know how to use the disk management console to create partitions, I’d recommend you download and keep this tool. That’s because it offers some amazing features like resize, merge or split partitions, convert FAT to NTFS, convert primary partition to logical and vice versa, and much more.
The personal edition of the tool is free. It has professional and business editions too.

2. PC Decrapifier

Most of the branded laptops and desktops come bloated with proprietary (and useless) software which you should get rid of if you want your computer to function properly in the long run. Hence the old and trusted PC Decrapifier becomes a must-install software for new Windows computer owners to weed out junk software and make space for better stuff. Here’s our guide on cleaning up a new PC with PC Decrapifier.

3. Macrium Reflect or Windows Backup and Restore

We have previously talked about the importance of creating a system image and how to create it using the built-in Windows backup and restore center (you should also create a system repair disc). Now, this might not be available in all editions of Windows so I’d suggest a worthy, and more powerful alternative called Macrium Reflect. Use it to create an initial system image, and for other such tasks as you start using the computer.

4. Ninite

Ninite will cover the “how to install” part when installing new stuff on your PC. This all-in-one installer lets you pick software and install them at one go. And the choices of course are very diverse. Check out our previous guide on batch installing programs with Ninite.

5. Revo Uninstaller

Revo Uninstaller remains my tool of choice to clean uninstall applications and programs from my Windows PC. It’s far better than the default Add/Remove programs tool. A must-have software for sure. Check out our guide on using Revo Uninstaller to uninstall programs.

6. CCleaner

You didn’t think I’d give a miss to CCleaner in this list, did you? I am yet to find a better tool to perform a routine PC maintenance and get rid of temporary files and data. The tool is as amazing as it ever was. In fact, better, as it continues to be regularly updated. And as you’d have guessed, we wrote a guide on using CCleaner too.

7. Microsoft Security Essentials

Microsoft Security Essentials might go down in history as one of the best free software released by this tech giant. This tool has given a number of antivirus vendors, especially those who provide full-fledged free versions, a run for their money. It can protect your PC from viruses, spyware and malware.

8. Dropbox or Syncback SE

The thing about data backup is that people tend to procrastinate on it, which ultimately ends up in a crisis situation when they have lost important data, and had no backup whatsoever. Hence an online backup tool like Dropbox, and an offline sync and backup tool like Syncback SE is included in this list of immediate installations for a new PC. Get either, or both of them. I use both – Dropbox for online backup and Syncback to keep my data synchronized with an external hard drive.

9. Recuva

Recuva is an excellent (and free) software to recover deleted files. But why do we need it now? That’s because there’s a lot of deleting and uninstalling happening with CCleaner, Revo Uninstaller, PC Decrapifier and all. If you suddenly delete something that you shouldn’t, and then want to recover it, you would have this tool to fall back on. Our tutorial on using Recuva will provide more information on using this tool.

10. VLC and Chrome / Firefox

Lastly, but by no means the leastly (or least, whatever), we have our usual suspects – VLC media player and Chrome and / or Firefox, which I am clubbing together in the same point. Oh, and you don’t need to install these separately because Ninite will take care of that. Just make sure that you tick their names in Ninite before you start off with the installation. And while you are at it, check out our posts on Chrome and Firefox.

Best printer 2012: 16 top inkjet and laser printers

By Rod Lawton and Ian Osborne February 14th

What's the best printer to buy? All-purpose printers are a booming market, and you're spoilt for choice, so here's our pick of the best printers on the market right now. In choosing the best printer your first decision is whether to go for a standard printer, or a multi-function device which includes a scanner and which can also work as a standalone copier.
These aren't much larger than regular printers, but they're a whole lot more versatile, especially when you need to keep a copy of a letter, a bill or any other important document, so our first list includes the best inkjet printers and best multi-function devices.
You should also think carefully about whether to invest in an inkjet or a laser. Lasers are usually associated with office environments, where they produce sharp, smudge-free printouts quickly, quietly and economically, but this can be just as useful at home or in a home office.
And don't imagine that mono laser printers are the only option - colour laser printers are now very affordable, and you can even get get multi-function laser printers, too. So we've also come up with a list of the best laser printers, and not just for office users with budgets to burn, but home users looking for value, quality, compactness and ease of use.

Buying Guide

20 best laptops in the world

So let's firstly look at the best inkjet printers around - hit the second page for the best laser printers. Please remember that the prices shown here are for guidance only.

1. HP DeskJet 1000 – £30

How do they do it for the money? It's not just that this printer is cheap, because with most budget printers you get stung later on with high-priced consumables, but the black and tri-colour ink cartridges for the DeskJet 1000 are pretty reasonably priced, and you can get XL high-capacity versions too. And for a budget printer, it's pretty fast, with a quoted maximum of 16ppm mono, 12ppm colour. There are no fancy extras - you even have to supply your own USB cable - but it does exactly what it says on the box, providing low-cost, fuss-free printing for as little money as possible.
Buy from Amazon

2. Epson Stylus SX425W - £60

The SX425W gives you a a lot for your money, with built-in memory card slots, wi-fi printing and multi-function scanning and copying. It uses Epson's DURABrite inks, which means that the paper is dry as soon as it emerges from the printer, and you get exceptionally clean, bright and smudge-proof output on plain paper. Photo output is slightly dull by comparison, though, and like a lot of low-cost printers, the SX425W does cost quite a bit to run. It's perfect though, if you want a versatile yet inexpensive document printer for light or occasional use.
Read our Epson Stylus SX425W review

3. HP Photosmart 7510 - £120

With print quality very high and prices ultra-low, what can multifunction printer manufacturers do to improve on previous models? This new HP Photosmart 7510 sets itself apart by offering a huge range of features, but it also leaves a few behind. The HP Photosmart 7510 uses five ink tanks: CMYK, plus a pigmented black for clear, waterproof text. It connects to your Mac through USB or to your home network using Wi-Fi b/g/n, and has AirPrint for printing from iOS devices.
Read our HP Photosmart 7510 review

4. Lexmark Genesis S815 - £120

Lexmark's Genesis S815 is full of fresh ideas. Instead of a standard flatbed scanner, this multifunction device uses an image capture system based on a digital camera. It can capture an entire page in three seconds. It boasts a range of integrated mini-applications too. Downloadable apps include a calculator, clock, Facebook and Twitter integration, graph or music paper printing and there's even an app to display news and sports feeds from Apple, ESPN and the BBC. Overall print quality is good, too.Read our Lexmark Genesis S815 review

5. Canon Pixma MX870 - £150

If you're looking for a stunning printer for your small office or home office, the Canon PIXMA MX870 is for you. Like most recent Canons, it uses a five-tank system with pigmented black for crystal-clear and waterproof text printing. It can't print directly onto optical discs, but its fax facilities and 35-sheet document feeder are probably more use for a small-office machine.Connectivity is through USB, Ethernet and WiFi. It took almost five minutes to print our 20-page text document, which is a little slow for an office printer, but its print quality is fantastic.
Read our Canon PIXMA MX870 review

6. Kodak ESP 9250 - £160

Kodak's top multi-function printer has a much stronger business slant than its cheaper consumer models. Kodak's drive to reduce running costs means both documents and photos could cost you less in the long run, even though the 9250's initial asking price is quite high. And because it uses just two separate ink cartridges, it's simple to maintain. Photo output is, actually, a tad disappointing, but if the built-in fax machine, 30-sheet automatic document feeder, wi-fi and Ethernet connectivity make up for that.
Read our Canon Kodak ESP 9250 review

7. Canon Pixma MG8150 - £193

You can sum up this amazing Canon printer in two words; 'no compromises'. It doesn't compromise on print quality. In fact, it has arguably the best print engine of any multiformat inkjet, with stellar photo printing and crystal-clear text. It makes no compromises on speed either. Our 20-page text document printed in just over four minutes, which is entirely acceptable for a home printer. And nor is its feature set compromised. It can do disc onbody printing, automatic Duplex and more. It's an excellent all-round printer.Buy from Amazon

8. Canon Pixma iP100 - £200

It's fine using a laptop when visit friends, customers or colleagues, but that's a fat lot of good when your printer's back at the office. The portable Pixma iP100 is the answer, printing anything from photos and business cards to regular A4 documents, and at a decent speed, too. The rechargeable battery's good for up to 300 prints, which is remarkable in itself, and the quality is fine, both for photos and regular documents, so you could even use it as your everyday desktop printer too.
Read our Canon Pixma iP100 review

9. HP Envy 110 All-in-One - £220

This is the ideal printer for those who like a little style with their technology. It's also great for printing from mobile devices. It's AirPrint-compatible, so you can print directly from an iOS device such as an iPhone or iPad that's connected to the same wireless network, and HP's useful new ePrint feature means you can print out documents and images from any device that can send an email simply by emailing it to the printer's unique address.Buy from Amazon

10. Brother MFC-J6910DW - £284

If you need to print in A3, this Brother printer can be bought for under £400. It's as compact as it's possible to be for an A3 multifunction device, sturdily built and has two paper trays so you can load A3 and A4 paper simultaneously, and a rear sheet feeder for the occasional photo paper print or letterhead. Connectivity is through USB, Ethernet or WiFi, and it features an 8.3cm touchscreen.Like many Brother printers, the MFC-J6910DW's print quality is merely workmanlike. Text is a little grey, and photos are a little over-red. But it's fine for day to day use.

Best printer: best laser printers

Buying Guide The best inkjet printers and best laser printers around

By Rod Lawton and Ian Osborne February 14th

1. Samsung ML-1665 - £70

Laser printers have a lot going for them. They're cheaper to run than inkjets, they produce sharp, dry, smudge-free printouts, they're civilized and they're quiet. They've also got a reputation for being too expensive for anything but office use, but the the ML-1665 changes all that. You might expect a cheap laser to be crude and slow, but the Samsung is neither. It also has a really smart 'screen print' button that outputs whatever's on your computer screen at the time - perfect for grabbing a quick hard copy without all the fuss of print dialogs and page setup.
Buy from Amazon

2. Brother DCP7030 - £115

With the Brother CCP7030 you get the advantages of a laser printer combined with the flexibility of a multifunction device. The printer might be mono, but the scanner is full-colour, which means mono prints and copies but colour scans. You get good-quality 600dpi output and the running costs are about average for a mono laser, so the low purchase price doesn't doesn't mean more expensive consumables. It won't be as quick as a more expensive office laser, but given the price, the print quality and the multi-function capability, it's a great buy.
Buy from Amazon

3. Xerox Phaser 6125 - £133

How much? For a colour laser? The Phaser 6125's low purchase price is by far its strongest selling point, though, and while the print quality and print speeds are acceptable for light and undemanding home/SOHO use, it could soon prove out of its depth in a busier environment. And as with many other cheap printers, you face higher running costs, thanks to the cost of replacement cartridges. But if both your printing needs and your budget are modest, the Phaser 6125 is a steal.

4. HP LaserJet P2055d - £157

If you want colour printouts, networking and built-in scanning and copying, you're going to have to look elsewhere, because the HP P2055d is an old-school mono laser built solely for quality, speed and efficiency. It can churn out pages at up to 33ppm, it has an 'instant on' feature which means you don't have to wait for it to warm up, and it offers automatic duplex printing too. The 1200dpi resolution generates super-sharp text, and the 250-sheet feeder means you're not constantly having to shovel in more paper.
Buy from Amazon

5. Samsung CLX-3185FW - £290

The CLX-3185W is a multi-function printer that combines a colour laser, scanning and copying and faxing, and includes networking capability via Ethernet or wireless network - it even comes with a 15-sheet document feeder. For a machine which does so much, it's surprisingly compact. If it has a flaw, it's the single-drum design, which means that colour documents have to go through in four passes, and this has an impact on the colour print speeds, but you have to set this against the Samsung's features and sheer value for money.
Buy from Amazon

6. Brother HL-4150CDN - £380

Colour lasers were once very expensive, but the HL-4150CDN shows just how far prices have fallen, even for well-specced business models. You get a lot for your money, here, including very good print quality (though photos aren't quite so good), decent print speeds, duplex printing and Ethernet connectivity. This is ideal for small offices or workgroups, and the Brother also has a neat PIN protection scheme that means sensitive documents won't be printed until you go over and enter a PIN on the printer itself.
Read our Brother HL-4150CDN review

Best 101 Free Computer Software For Your Daily Use

Good things in life do not necessarily cost you a bomb. Below I have compiled a list of the top ~~100~~ 101 free computer software you can make use of.
Enjoy!
Office Suite

OpenOffice.org – OpenOffice.org is a viable alternative to Microsoft Office – even for professional use. It can do just about anything Office can.
AbiWord – A lightweight version of Microsoft Office. Simple, straightforward interface; easy to use.
Jarte – A word processor based on the Microsoft WordPad. It can be run directly from a USB flash drive.
Notepad++ – A free source code editor and Notepad replacement, which supports several programming languages, running under the MS Windows environment.
EditPad Lite – A general-purpose text editor, designed to be small and compact, yet offer all the functionality you expect from a basic text editor.

Security

avast! 4 Home Edition – A complete antivirus solution that is able to find computer viruses, create and check the integrity of programs installed, test executed programs and opened documents, to test and check email and other functions.
AVG Anti-Virus – A free security solution that is easy to use, has low system resources, automatic update functionality and ability to protect as files are opened and programs are run.
Comodo Firewall – A free firewall that constantly monitors and defends your PC from internet attacks. It is a fully functional product that comes with continual updates that are free forever!
McAfee SiteAdvisor – A plugin for Firefox and IE browser that shows safety rating as you browse the Web.
SpyCatcher Express – A free anti-spyware program that allows novice PC users to remove aggressive spyware, stops next-generation, mutating spyware, blocks reinstallation of aggressive spyware and removes spyware safely and automatically.
StartupMonitor – A small monitoring program that keeps a constant eye on your system’s startup entries. When ever a change is made, you will be notified and given a choice to either allow the change or not to change.
SuperStorm Freeware – This software allows you to hide your confidential files and folders in a wide variety of media files such as pictures, audio, video, executable programs among many other file types.
Windows Defender – A free program that helps protect your computer against pop-ups, slow performance, and security threats caused by spyware and other unwanted software.
HijackThis – A malware remove tool that makes a detailed log of what’s going on in your Registry and gives you the opportunity to remove things that might be suspect.
Zone Alarm – This software lets you block uninitiated and unwanted traffic, even while your PC is unattended or while you’re not using your connection.

Desktop management

Google desktop – A desktop search application that gives you easy access to information on your computer and from the web.
Yahoo Desktop – Yahoo Desktop enables you to search and instantly find information, preview it in its native format, and take action on it immediately.
TweakUI – This software reduces the Windows annoyance without having to meddle with the registry. It gives you access to system settings that are not exposed in the Windows XP default user interface, including mouse settings, Explorer settings, taskbar settings, and more.
Pretty run – A small program that can search your start menu, desktop or any other folder for shortcuts.
RoboForm – RoboForm memorizes and securely stores each user name and password the first time you log into a site, then automatically supplies them when you return.
AutoHotkey - This open-source utility can automate almost anything by sending keystrokes and mouse clicks. You can write macros by hand or use the macro recorder. You can also create hotkeys for keyboard, mouse, joystick, and handheld remote controls.
Keepass safe – A password manager which helps you to manage your passwords in a secure way. You can put all your passwords in one database, which is locked with one master key or a key-disk.
Clipomatic – A clipboard cache program that remembers what was copied to the clipboard and allows you to retrieve it, even after you’ve copied something else to the clipboard.

Browser

Firefox – Firefox includes tons of useful features such as tabbed browsing, built-in and customizable search bars, a built-in RSS reader and a huge library of extensions developed by thousand of developers.
Opera – Opera introduces Speed Dial which vastly improves navigation to your favorite sites. In addition, there’s Fraud protection, an anti-phishing detection keeps browsing safe and secure.
Crazy browser – A browser that allows users to collect tabs into groups and then load an entire group at once. This feature is very useful for research, as you can summon a set of related sites as needed, without manually opening each one.

Fun and Games

Banshee Screamer Alarm – A snoozeable alarm clock designed to wake you up. Play MP3s, execute programs, or shut down your computer at the time you set.
BZFlag – An online multiplayer cross-platform open source 3D tank battle game. It runs on Irix, Linux, BSD, Windows, Mac OS X, and many other platforms. It’s one of the most popular games ever on Silicon Graphics machines.
ConWare IconArt – An easy-to-use icon & cursor editor that allows your to design your own, edit previous icons, create cursors, capture icons from programs and DLL files or import an image for your icon.
Google Earth – Google Earth combines the power of Google Search with satellite imagery, maps, terrain and 3D buildings to put the world’s geographic information at your fingertips.
Tux Racer – Getting bored and sick of the Windows game? Tux Racer lets you take on the role of Tux the Linux Penguin as he races down steep, snow-covered mountains. Enter cups and compete to win the title!
ZSNES – A Nintendo emulator on your desktop. ZSNES is built to run on Windows, DOS, Linux and FreeBSD Unix and it is by far the best SNES emulator available.
Cartes du Ciel – A sky map that allows you to find out what constellations and planets are visible tonight.

Graphics Editing

GIMP – A complete image editing software with capabilities not found in any other free software product. It can be used as a simple paint program, an expert-quality photo-retouching program, a mass production image renderer, or an image-format converter.
Paint.net – A free image and photo editing software that features an intuitive and innovative user interface with support for layers, unlimited undo, special effects, and a wide variety of useful and powerful tools.
Google sketchup – A powerful yet easy-to-learn 3D software tool that combines a simple, yet robust tool-set with an intelligent drawing system that streamlines and simplifies 3D design.
IrfanView – A fast and compact image viewer/converter that is simple for beginners and powerful for professionals.

Video and Audio

Audacity – A complete recording and sound editing software that is available for Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, GNU/Linux, and other operating systems.
Media Monkey – A music manager and jukebox for serious music collectors and iPod users. It offers an intelligent tag editor which looks up missing Album Art and track information via Freedb and the Web.
CDex – An application that records audio tracks from CDs and saves them to a disk as regular WAV files or as encoded sound files.
iTunes – One of the highest downloaded digital-jukebox software. Comes with the iTunes Music Store that offers music at 99-cents-per-song.
Winamp – A multimedia player that supports numerous audio and video formats. It also plays streamed video and audio content, both live and recorded, authored worldwide.
VLC – A highly portable multimedia player for various audio and video formats (MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, mp3, ogg, …) as well as DVDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols.
QuickTime Alternative – This application let you play QuickTime or Real videos without Apple or Real’s bloated, in-your-face proprietary players.

PDF creator

PrimoPDF – A free tool for high-quality PDF creation, comprising a user-friendly interface that enables printing to PDF from virtually any Windows application.
PDF creator – A simple PDF creation tool for those who just want to skip the technical steps and produce a PDF file. If you know how to print, then you know how to use this software.
doPDF – Using doPDF, you can create searchable PDF files from virtually any application. You can search for text within the created PDF file, and search engines will also index the text from the PDF.

Virtual Server

VMware Server – VMware Server installs on any existing server hardware and partitions a physical server into multiple virtual machines by abstracting processor, memory, storage and networking resources, giving you greater hardware utilization and flexibility.
LogMeIn Hamachi – A VPN that allows you to access your home PC from work (or vice versa) as though you’re sitting right in front of it.
OpenVPN – OpenVPN is a tried and true VPN solution. It is totally secure and infinitely configurable. You can install and run this software without relying on a third party.

Instant Messaging

Windows Live messenger – The next generation MSN Messenger. It comes with everything that were already available in Messenger, and a new i’m Initiative that makes helping your favorite charity as easy as sending an instant message.
Pidgin – A multi-protocol Instant Messaging client that allows you to use all of your IM accounts at once. Pidgin can work with: AIM, Bonjour, Gadu-Gadu, Google Talk, ICQ, IRC, MSN, Yahoo!, MySpaceIM and many more.
Trillian – A fully featured, stand-alone, skinnable chat client that supports AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo Messenger, and IRC.
Skype – A software that enables you to make free calls anywhere in the world.

Download manager

Download Accelerator Plus – A download manager that can enhance your download experience. Features include a search tab, security check for every site and application you download, more speed per connection, resume broken download and preview file when you download.
Internet download manager – A tool for increasing download speeds by up to 5 times, and for resuming, scheduling, and organizing downloads. The program will resume unfinished downloads due to network problems, or unexpected power outages.
Getright – As a download manager, GetRight supports BitTorrent downloads too. In addition, you can use GetRight to schedule your downloads for later; it can dial your modem (if needed), download the files you want, then hang up or even shut down your computer when it is done.
DownThemAll – A powerful yet easy-to-use Mozilla Firefox extension that adds new advanced download capabilities to your browser.
Flashgot – A Firefox extension that allows you to handle single and massive downloads using the external download managers of your choice.

File Management

Eraser – An advanced security tool for Windows that allows you to completely remove sensitive data from your hard drive by overwriting it several times with carefully selected patterns.
Restoration – An easy to use and straight forward tool to undelete files that were removed from the recycle bin or directly deleted from within Windows (we were able to recover photos from a Flash card that had been formatted).

Torrent Manager

Azureus – A popular torrent manager that allows you to install plug-in and tweak your own settings.
µTorrent – A very, very tiny BitTorrent client that packs enough features into that small package to compete with beefier applications like Azureus.
Bitcomet – A bit torrent manager that allows videos files to be previewed while they’re still being downloaded, and there’s a built-in chat tool that lets users chat with other peers in the swarm.

Backup Program

Cobian Backup – A multi-threaded program that can be used to schedule and backup your files and directories from their original location to other directories/drives in the same computer or other computer in your network.
Back4Win – A backup program that uses industry standard ZIP compression to ensures that your data will be accessible regardless of which PC operating system. Does not have 4Gb and 65535 file limit of other ZIP backup programs.
DriveImage XML – This software allows you to backup logical drives and partitions to image files, browse these images, view and extract files, restore these images to the same or a different drive and copy directly from drive to drive.
JaBackup – JaBackup allows advanced automation features. You can schedule backup tasks by the second or minute, or on a hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly basis.
Xdrive Desktop – Xdrive gives you 5GB of online storage space to store and backup your files. The Xdrive desktop software allows you to backup and synchronize your data with the web server with few mouse clicks.
Gmail Space – Use your Gmail account as storage by uploading and downloading files through a browser-based interface.

File Compression

7-zip – This software compresses files in new 7z format with LZMA compression. It supports multi formats, including 7z, ZIP, GZIP, BZIP2 and TAR, RAR, CAB, ISO, ARJ, LZH, CHM, Z, CPIO, RPM, DEB and NSIS.
Winzip – Using WinZip, you can quickly and easily compress and decompress files, folders, and entire folder trees to save storage space and reduce e-mail-transmission time, as well as encrypt and decrypt your sensitive documents.
AutoUnpack – This is designed to unpack your compressed file in a single quick step. You merely point to a folder containing your ZIP or RAR files and choose an output directory. Press one button to start a process that ends with your archive perfectly unpacked, or let the program automatically unpack that directory every set number of minutes.
ExtractNow – A simple program allows you to extract more than one archived file at a time, with one click of a button, making extracting files quicker and easier.

System Optimization and Diagnostic Tool

CCleaner – A system optimization and privacy tool that removes unused files from your system and allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space.
Security Process Explorer – An enhanced task manager, that provides advanced information about programs and processes running on the computer. It displays all the standard information, including file name, directory path, description, CPU usage etc. as well as a unique security risk rating.
CPU-Z – This mini software allows you to find out everything about your computer. You can find information such as processor name and vendor, core stepping and process, processor package, internal and external clocks, clock multiplier, partial overclock detection, and processor features including supported instructions sets.
EULAlyzer – This takes your EULA agreement and analyze it in seconds, and provide a detailed listing of potentially interesting words and phrases. Discover if the software you’re about to install displays pop-up ads, transmits personally identifiable information, uses unique identifiers to track you, or more. It is great for picking out privacy issues.
Process Explorer – An advanced process management utility that picks up where Task Manager leaves off. It will show you detailed information about a process including its icon, command-line, full image path, memory statistics, user account, security attributes, and more.
Auslogics Disk Defrag – This software was designed to remedy system sluggishness and crashes caused by disk fragmentation. It is fast, simple to easy and what’s more, it is effective.
SmartDefrag – SmartDefrag boasts a system checker that continually defrags the files that you use the most, and does it without becoming a persistent drag on your system resources. The “Install It and Forget It” feature works automatically and quietly in the background on your computer and it only eats up 14MB of RAM, so it’s possible to run it smoothly on older machines.
Local Cooling – Fight global warming from your desktop! Local Cooling automatically optimizes your PC’s power consumption by using a more effective power save mode.
Belarc Advisor – Belarc Advisor builds a detailed profile of your installed software and hardware and analyzes elements such as whether antivirus software is up to date, or whether all the security flaws in Windows have been patched.

Email Client

Thundrebird – Thunderbird makes e-mailing safer, faster, and easier than ever before with the industry’s best implementations of features, such as intelligent spam filters, a built-in RSS reader, and quick search.
Eudora – A robust e-mail client whose features include multiple address-book-formatting options and the ability to filter, redirect, and forward mail. It supports QuickTime- and HTML-enriched e-mail, letting you include stylized, formatted text and in-line graphics in your messages.
Opera Mail – Opera Mail is integrated with the Opera browser, and lets you send, receive, sort and search your e-mails quicker and easier than with conventional e-mail programs.
Sylpheed – A surprisingly versatile email client. ‘Surprisingly’ because it has a friendly, easy to use interface to its many useful features.
PopTray – The premier pop-up mail checker for standard POP3 and IMAP mail accounts, including Gmail, and it can be coaxed to work with HTML-only mail such as Hotmail by following the instructions at the PopTray site.

Photo Organizer

Google Picasa – A free software that helps you locate and organize all the photos on your computer, edit and add effects to your photos with a few simple clicks and share your photos with others through email, prints and on the web.
Xnview – A fast multi-format graphics browser, viewer, and converter. It has an Explorer-like browser that allows quick and simple browsing of directory contents.
FxFoto – This software provides a single tool for automatically organizing, enhancing, annotating, e-mailing, printing, uploading, and archiving your digital photos.
Adobe Photoshop Album Starter Edition 3.0 – This software makes it easy to find, fix, and share your digital photos. Instantly fix photo flaws in just a click or two.
Jalbum – A gallery software that makes web albums from your digital images.

Video Converter

Free FLV Converter – This free software let you search youTube and dailyMotion videos without opening your browser and you can even watch the videos using the built-in video player.
Free Video To iPhone Converter – Convert video files to Apple iPhone MP4 video format. Convert the whole movie or select a partition from the movie to convert (trim video).
Any Video Converter – An all-in-one video converting freeware with easy-to-use graphical interface, fast converting speed, and excellent video quality.
iPod Video Converter – Free iPod Video Converter provides an easy and completed way to convert all popular video formats to iPod video.

FTP client

Filezilla – A full-featured FTP client that supports Secure FTP, SSL, and other protocols in a slick interface, complete with a tree-structured site manager that lets you store settings for multiple sites.
SmartFTP – An FTP client which allows you to transfer files between your local computer and a server on the Internet. SmartFTP offers secure, reliable and efficient transfers that make it a powerful tool.
FireFTP – FireFTP turns your browser into an FTP client, with a two-pane file manager for uploading and downloading.

EyeCandy

Yahoo Widget – A small, specific applications that you can run on your Windows or Mac OS desktop. You can download tons of useful widget from the widget gallery.

source: http://maketecheasier.com/best-101-free-computer-software-for-your-daily-use/2007/12/10