Is it true I can get what a Macbook does for much less with a PC instead?

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Applejaxx2

I want something sleek and portable just like the Macbook Air for school. People say that there are better alternatives. Can you give me some suggestions?

Answer
Macbooks are double the price for an equal set of specs in a smaller size.
I just answered a MacBookPro 13" ($1100) very similar to 14" Samsung NP300E4C-A03US at $500 at Tigerdirect.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AjcrHzSqXBawhoDYeD4u8uvty6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20121021124729AA8pjjQ
The Samsung is thicker, agreed.
The MacAir is basically a ultrabook. Has no optical drive. If you want to spend that kind of money, the Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Carbon is a very fancy business level system built a heck of a lot better at about the same price.
The rule is smaller and thinner gets either much more expensive or gets dismally poor performance or some kind of balance between them. There are direct competitors to the Macair now like the Lenovo U410.
Apple leaves out a lot of information about their products and hides specs wherever possible.
Here is detail:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacBook_Air
Here is about CPU and graphics power:
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_list.php
You still need a good carrying case, because drop a MacBook on the floor and get hit with a massive repair bill. A MacBook Air does the same things as a $300 netbook.

You have to decide which MacAir to do a comparison.
Lets say base model 13"
HD 4000 graphics
i5-3427U CPU passmark 3725
4GB RAM soldered
128GB SSD
Bluetooth and Wifi (no ethernet hardwire without a dongle)
50 watt hour decent battery (not serviceable)
3 pounds
about 13"x9"x0.68"
2 USB 3.0
Thunderbolt (mostly for dongles)
SD card slot
$1200
Every company has Ultrabooks now, all of them less than MacAir in price with equal or better features. Since $1200 doesn't scare you, to get something really cool is either the Lenovo Thinkpad X1 carbon or Lenovo Thinkpad X230 convertible tablet.
X230 - The screen flips around to be both a laptop and a tablet:
http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:item.detail?GroupID=37&Code=X230T_ADVANCED_SAP&category_id=89ECFD45CA0654775864CDBAD2606AC7#.UISZK8VX0QE
Base model with core i5 is $1100
i5-3320M passmark 3874 faster than MacAir by a little
Windows 7 Professional (64 bit) vs Mac with OSX
12.5" Multitouch HD (1366x768) LED Backlit Display, Mobile Broadband Ready, 2x2 Antenna or 3x3 antenna, Intel® HD Graphics 4000, 4 GB DDR3 - 1600MHz (1 DIMM) User upgradable, backlit keyboard option is $40, UltraNav⢠with TrackPoint® and buttonless multi-touchpad, Fingerprint reader is $20 option, 720p cam is $30 option, 500GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm, 6 Cell ThinkPad Battery X67+ is $10 extra, Bluetooth $30 option, Intel Centrino Wireless-N 2200 (2x2 BGN), broadband available,
Spill resistant keyboard, roll cage design.
12.0â x 9.0â x 1.23â, 3.67 pounds
The X1 Carbon is the best ultrabook available, and shows starting at $1250
http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:category.details?current-catalog-id=12F0696583E04D86B9B79B0FEC01C087&current-category-id=0E6E3D0084869C3EB4172DA2F965A301&action=init#.UISdMsVX0QE
Similar in many ways to a MacAir, but a premium carbon fiber construction drop-tested and can open a full 180 degrees.
45Wh, Integrated, RapidCharge up to 80% battery life in 35 minutes
Display 14.0" HD+ Anti-Glare (1600 x 900) (300 NITS) Wide Viewing
Weight is 3 pounds, and dimensions 13.03" x 8.9" x 0.74" with the 14" screen

If you just want "like a MacAir only cheaper, Lenovo has Ideapad U300 and U400 of the same design as MacAir.

Is the Dell mini 9 16 GB SSD too small for you? Is it really enough for pics and music?

gvilleguy

I am considering getting a Dell mini 9, but I am concerned that I will run our of hard drive space.

HELP!!!!
16 GB is the most you can get in it at this point. Is it worth it?

Answer
help yourself to a complete comparison,
Comparison of netbooks
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_netbooks

choice at newegg,
ASUS Eee PC 1000H 160G â Fine Ebony NetBook Intel Atom 10.0" Wide SVGA 1GB Memory 160GB HDD Integrated Graphics
$479.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220431

ASUS Eee PC EPC1000HA-BLK001X Black Intel Atom N270(1.60GHz) 10.0" WSVGA 1GB Memory 160GB HDD NetBook
$429.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220443

entire collection,
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2034940772&bop=And&Pagesize=100

and hopefully you have a good enough reason for a 'netbook' as against a regular laptop !

& btw you can add storage to the 16gb ssd, by adding in a
i. SDHC > Kingston 8GB Micro SDHC Flash Card Model MBLY/8GBKR, $17.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134839
ii. USB Flash drive > Patriot Razzo 32GB Flash Drive (USB2.0 Portable) Model PSF32GRUSB, $64.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220316
both above augment your 16gb ssd storage

but then please do remember that music playback will be pretty poor with a single teeny weeny speaker
pictures again will show limited, 8.9" screen with 1024x600 resolution

now i hope you are better placed to decide & should you have further doubts ... feel free to ask

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Is it possible for low memory to cause this?

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Grave Graf

My laptop computer had been telling me that my battery needed replacing. I recently bought a portable hard drive and pulled some things off of my computer (about 100 GB worth) and now it's saying my battery is functioning properly, and is in perfect condition. I just wanted to know, could low memory cause my computer to think my battery is shot, or can laptop batteries repair themselves (I know this part is stupid)?

If it helps, the computer is a Hewlett Packard.

Answer
Sometimes the controller in the battery pack needs to be reset and something you did caused a reset. Draining the battery pack as completely as possible before recharging is claimed to be one way to cause a reset of the controller.

How big is the drive in the laptop ? When you removed those things you might have freed up a lot of contiguous space that reduced "thrashing" of the hard drive.

Windows (and other operating systems) have a paging file on the hard drive. The operating system will offload data from RAM to the paging file so memory-intensive operations will run more smoothly. If the paging file is highly fragmented it causes more disk activity which requires more power from the battery.

If the operating system deletes the old paging file and creates a new paging file that is contiguous on the drive, thrashing is reduced and the laptop can actually power down the drive for longer periods, which gives the battery longer life.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paging_file

There is no Wikipedia article about hard drive thrashing that I can find (yet).

Found a paragraph :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paging#Fragmentation

What is a good brand name for portable hard drives?

Brian

I've never bought one of these before, so I have no Idea what to look for or what brands to trust.
If it matters, it's gonna be for my laptop, and it will mostly be used to hold my vast mountains of music.

Answer
a R.A.I.D (reluctant array of inexpensive/independent disk) is like a giant memory stick, litterally.
it's obviously bigger than a memorystick, and I think it's pretty good.

(wiki:)
Many operating systems provide basic RAID functionality independently of volume management.

Apple's Mac OS X Server and Mac OS X support RAID 0, RAID 1, and RAID 1+0.
FreeBSD supports RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 3, and RAID 5, and all nestings via GEOM modules and ccd.

Linux's md supports RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 4, RAID 5, RAID 6, and all nestings. Certain reshaping/resizing/expanding operations are also supported.

Microsoft's server operating systems support RAID 0, RAID 1, and RAID 5. Some of the Microsoft desktop operating systems support RAID such as Windows XP Professional which supports RAID level 0 in addition to spanning multiple disks but only if using dynamic disks and volumes. Windows XP can be modified to support RAID 0, 1, and 5.

NetBSD supports RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 4, and RAID 5, and all nestings via its software implementation, named RAIDframe.

OpenBSD aims to support RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 4, and RAID 5 via its software implementation softraid.

FlexRAID (for Linux and Windows) is a snapshot RAID implementation.

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What is the best camcorder/camera for low light situations?

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Mr. X-CLU$

I plan on doing some YouTube videos in the future, but the problem is that my room is kinda dark, and my cellphone is terrible when it comes to dark areas. Are there any cameras for $200 or under for low light situations?
If not in my price range, anything not too expensive is fine.

Answer
Your question #1: What is the best camcorder/camera for low light situations?
Response: Any camcorder with a large lens diameter (to let light in to the camcorder/camera) and large imaging chip (to process what little light comes in through the lens when it is dark.

Your question #2: "Are there any cameras for $200 or under for low light situations?"
Response: No.

"not too expensive" means different things to different people.

Consumer grade camcorders start at the low end with small (less than 30mm) diameter lenses and small (less than 1/6") single imaging chip. As the price goes up, the lens diameters and imaging chips get larger. At around $400, the lens diameter is around 37mm and the imaging chips can get as large as 1/4". At around $800 the lens diameter is around 43mm and the imaging chips approach 1/3". At around $1,200 the lens diameter is around 58mm and the imaging chips are around 1/3". As you continue up the price spectrum to high-end consumer (sometimes called "prosumer") camcorders, $3,000 finds 72mm lens diameter with 3CCD or 3CMOS 1/3" imaging chip arrays - these do quite well under low-light conditions.

So... what can you do if you can't afford a camcorder/camera that can behave well under low light conditions? It depends what you are capturing to video, but one relatively easy way (assuming you will be editing the video with a half decent editor) is to add LOTS of light so your room is no longer dark - then, using your editor, make it look dark... This is call shooting "day for night".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MaC44MU4iw

When you go this route, use whatever camera/camcorder you want - and make the investment in lighting and a decent video editor - not a camera/camcorder. For $200, assuming your computer has a fast CPU, 4 gig RAM or more and lots of hard drive space - Sony Vegas is affordable and a couple or three worklights from the hardware store like
http://www.amazon.com/Voltec-08-00210-500-Watt-Portable-Worklight/dp/B004ZMUHBG
would be plenty.

Learn about 3-point lighting
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3_point_lighting

I wish to transfer Data from my old computer to the new, both using windows XP. What is the Definition of a?

FREDERICK

Serial cable, i have a cable that fits, i want to check connections, i have a meter`.

Answer
I'm not entirely sure what you're asking here but here's my best attempt at an answer.

A serial cable means a cable where data is sent 1 bit at a time. It normally refers to a 9 pin RS232 cable which is pretty old technology. USB, firewire and ethernet cables are all serial too. All of them in theory could be used to transfer data between 2 computers.

If I were you I'd get a usb flash drive or portable hard drive if there's alot of data.

If you want to test your cable, the wikipedia page on RS232 has pinout information http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rs232#Pinouts
but generally, if the cable fits then use it.

I believe it's normal that the rx and tx lines crossover (ie, rx connects to tx on the other computer and tx connects to rx on the other computer).

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