You are here: Home » Computing » Misc Hardware

Posts categorised: Misc Hardware

0 Budget desktop PC comparison 2011 to 2012

Published on 26^th September 2012 by Jon Scaife in Misc Hardware. Updated 30^th September 2012.

Each year, around xmas, I publish a recommended budget PC article. This year I’m doing it slightly early, but decided to directly compare the spec and price this year with last year to see how things have developed.

0 Drivers for Windows 7 on Sony Vaio FZs

Published on 12^th June 2012 by Jon Scaife in Misc Hardware. Updated 15^th June 2012.

This is just a quick post to mention an excellent guide I recently used when installing Windows 7 on an old Sony Vaio VGN-FZ31Z laptop. I was having significant difficulty installing several drivers, in particular those for the nVidia GeForce 8600M GS (hardware ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0425&SUBSYS_9005104D&REV_A1) which was stubbornly remaining a “Standard vga adapter”. Sony don’t… Read more »

0 Efficient PSU Upgrades: HuntKey Jumper update

Published on 25^th December 2011 by Jon Scaife in Misc Hardware. Updated 17^th January 2012.

The HuntKey Jumper 300G / R90 is a very good value 80+ Gold PSU. For low & medium power 24.7 PCs it may repay its cost in around a year!

0 Budget desktop PC for xmas 2011

Published on 8^th November 2011 by Jon Scaife in Misc Hardware. Updated 24^th January 2012.

Anandtech have a handy guide to budget PCs for the xmas 2011 period. Below is my own take on what I’d recommend.

34 Get your old scanner working with Windows 7 x64

Published on 16^th October 2011 by Jon Scaife in Misc Hardware. Updated 15^th March 2013.

A guide to several ways to get old scanners working with Windows 7 x64. Also relevant to Vista and Windows 8.

0 Mini Review: Sony Vaio SB 13″ Notebook

Published on 2^nd October 2011 by Jon Scaife in Misc Hardware. Updated 15^th June 2012.

As mentioned previously, I have recently ordered (for a family member) a Sony Vaio SB. Anandtech recently carried out a detailed review, so I have no intention of reinventing the wheel. This is just a supplementary review addressing a few additional thoughts

0 Better than an ultrabook?

Published on 19^th September 2011 by Jon Scaife in Misc Hardware. Updated 24^th January 2012.

Intel have announced a new initiative to push laptops similar to the MacBook Air. The initial requirements are a weight of up to 1.4Kg, thickness of 20mm and battery life of 5+ hours. For manufacturers to qualify for intel marketing money ultrabooks also must have no optical drive, an SSD, and CULV processors. I have… Read more »

2 Fix for problems with Seagate Momentus XT

Published on 20^th July 2011 by Jon Scaife in Misc Hardware. Updated 6^th August 2012.

I’ve had problems with the new Seagate Momentus XT harddrive in my newest HTPC. The PC was locking up every 48 hours or so (which may have been related to standby), was occasionally jerky, and upon reboot would often refuse to boot with an error about a missing boot device, which could only be fixed… Read more »

0 Excellent utility to fix Epson printers

Published on 14^th June 2011 by Jon Scaife in Misc Hardware. Updated 1^st October 2011.

I had a problem with an old Epson Stylus Photo R200 printer. Despite being loaded with paper and fresh genuine ink cartridges, the unit refused to print. The 2 red warning lights on top were flashing alternately. After considerable googling I discovered that this error code is related to the ink cartridge cleaning well. Apparently… Read more »

0 PSU Efficiency 4 — Modern gaming PC

Published on 5^th June 2011 by Jon Scaife in Misc Hardware. Updated 24^th January 2012.

This article on PSU efficiency for a modern sandy bridge gaming PC follows on from 3 previous articles, about PSU efficiency for a , a and a .