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<title>Haaze.com / QueenBea / Published News</title>
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<pubDate>Tue, 07 Jun 2011 07:10:32 +0000</pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Storage talk: Why you should get an SSD and keep your HDD, too]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=storage-talk-why-you-should-get-an-ssd-and-keep-your-hdd-too</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=storage-talk-why-you-should-get-an-ssd-and-keep-your-hdd-too</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 07 Jun 2011 07:10:32 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>QueenBea</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=storage-talk-why-you-should-get-an-ssd-and-keep-your-hdd-too</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Storage devices and RAM. From top to bottom: hard drives (laptop and desktop versions), solid-state drives (the SATA2 Samsung 470 and the SATA3 OCZ Agility 3) and system memory sticks (DDR 2 laptop and desktop versions.)(Credit:Dong Ngo/CNET)Besides running water, digital storage is probably the second most taken-for-granted commodity. How many times have we asked ourselves where that Web page we're viewing (like this one), the movie we're watching, the song we're listening to is stored, or even how theiPhone remembers to wake us up at 7 a.m every day Not so often, if at all. As a matter of fact, the only time that we care is when it doesn't work as intended.Believe it or not, before information can be viewed, played back, or executed, it needs to reside somewhere. For virtually anything to happen as expected in our daily life, storage is needed. There are many types of digital storage but in the end, the most popular forms are the good old hard drives (HDDs) and new solid state drives (SSDs). These are internal storage devices that are the backbone of most if not all storage applications, ranging from external hard drives, NAS servers, to even data centers, which basically host the entirely Internet, including cloud storage services. (Memory sticks and thumb drives are just popular derivatives of solid state storage.)And when it comes to storage, judging from many questions friends and readers send me, there are quite a few confusions among general users as to what it actually is. This is one of the main reasons why I am writing this blog.So let's talk storage. Storage vs. memory It's hard and complicated to explain in detail the difference between the storage and system memory (or just &quot;memory&quot; or RAM) in a computer. In a nutshell, storage is where the information (such as Word documents, photos, movie clips, programs, and so on) is stored. In a computer, the whole operating system itself, such asWindows 7 or MacOS, is also stored on the internal storage device. Storage is nonvolatile, meaning that the information is still there when the host device (a computer, for example) is turned off and becomes ready again when the device is turned back on. It's like a book or a paper notebook that's always there, ready for you to read or write on it.Seagate Barracuda XT 3 TB hard drive$lazy(window.GeckoVideoPlayer, CBSi.lazy.videoPlayer, function(){loadGeckoVideoPlayer({parentElement: 'universalVideoid50103368',flashVars:{autoplay: 'false',adTargetType: 'Page',adPreroll: 'true',contentType: 'id',contentValue: '50103368',playlistDisplay: 'over'}},'blogXsmall')'})'This means when a fast Core i7-based computer is equipped with a regular hard drive, the hard drive will bottleneck the machine's performance. Most of the time this gap is very large: a fast Core i 7 processor will have a subscore of 7.9, while the fastest hard drive will have a subscore of 5.9 in the Windows Experience Index. Now the best way to get the most out of a computer is to have their components offer similar level of performance. This way you know that you don't overspend on expensive parts just to have them bogged down by other slower ones.In other words, it's better to upgrade your current Core 2 Duo or Core 2 Quad computer to an SSD than getting a new computer that supports the new Core i architecture. The latter would likely cost more than $500, not to mention the time you have to spend setting up the new computer, moving data over, and so on.Note that while most SSDs come in the 2.5-inch design (for laptops), some of them, such as the Vertex 3, include a drive bay converter to fit in a desktop computer. You can also buy these converters separately or even get away with having the SSD hanging inside the chassis, as it has no moving parts and is very light.In our testing, an SSD would bring the subscore of hard drive within the Windows Experience Index to 7.0 or higher. In a system that supports SATA 3 (6Gbps), an SATA 3 SSD would bring this up to even 7.8 or 7.9, which is currently the highest for Windows 7. And in real-world usage, replacing your current computer's main hard drive with an SSD indeed makes the computer's overall performance a world of difference. The upgrade process is actually very fast, using disk cloning software such as Acronis True Image.This is kind of change that once you've got it, you'd never want to go back.Why you should still keep your hard driveWhile SSDs are very fast, when it comes to storage, capacity is very important. With the proliferation of user-generated content, from photos to music, from home videos to recorded TV shows, it seems we never have enough storage space. This is the area where SSDs can hardly, if at all, compete with hard drives. While for a laptop computer, 240GB might be enough, for a desktop, that can hardly hold a person's entire digital library. This is when you still want to use a hard drive as a secondary storage device to increase storage space. The good news is that most of the read-only contents don't require fast performance for playing back, and hard drives, though significantly slower than SSDs, are more than fast enough to host them. Other network storage solutions, such as NAS servers, don't require superfast storage device, either. Mostly because their throughput performance is determined by the network connection speed, which currently caps at 1,000Mbps (around 100MBps). External hard drives also depend on the speed of the peripheral ports, and 100MBps is also currently the cap speed of USB 3.0. For this reason, most of the long-term and high-capacity storage solutions still use hard drives and will still use them for a long time.Those of you who have just decided to upgrade the computer's main hard drive to an SSD might want to keep the old hard drive as the secondary drive in the computer, at least for backup purposes. After all, it still holds a copy of your entire system.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Best Buy's buy-back plan free through Saturday]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=best-buys-buy-back-plan-free-through-saturday</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=best-buys-buy-back-plan-free-through-saturday</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 07 Feb 2011 08:10:53 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>QueenBea</dc:creator>
<category>Social</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=best-buys-buy-back-plan-free-through-saturday</guid>
<description><![CDATA[(Credit:Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)Best Buy is offering a deal to people who don't hold onto gadgets for long.Through Saturday, customers who buy certain products at Best Buy or Best Buy Mobile, including televisions, laptops,tablets, and phones, will be enrolled in a buy-back program at no charge.Best Buy launched its buy-back program last month.Under the program, customers who enroll at the time of purchase can get a Best Buy gift card when they eventually decide to move on to a new product. Normally, customers pay $69.99 to enter the program when buying laptops, Netbooks, or tablets. The enrollment fee is $39.99 for smartphones costing less than $350 or $59.99 for smartphones over $350.When customers enroll, Best Buy provides them with a value schedule, allowing them to see how much they can get for those products if they sell them back to Best Buy. The retailer requires that consumers return mobile devices within two years of purchase and televisions within four years.If products are returned within the first six months, consumers can get up to 50 percent of a device's value. They get up to 40 percent value between 6 and 12 months. That figure drops off to 30 percent and 20 percent for 12 to 18 months and 18 to 24 months, respectively. Television returns can garner 10 percent of the product's original value back when returned between 2 and 4 years.Best Buy used a Super Bowl commercial last night to announce the free offer. The ad featured Ozzy Osbourne and Justin Bieber comedically promoting the program.For now, Best Buy is testing the waters with its buy-back program, which is why it's limiting it to certain products. If consumers seem to like the program, the company said last month, Best Buy could offer it for game consoles and other products as well.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Sony doubles down on 3D experiences across the home]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=sony-doubles-down-on-3d-experiences-across-the-home</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=sony-doubles-down-on-3d-experiences-across-the-home</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>QueenBea</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=sony-doubles-down-on-3d-experiences-across-the-home</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Sony said today that it is doubling down on its investments in stereoscopic 3D, even though the technology is off to a somewhat slow start.Sony introduced 3D Bravia flat-panel TVs in the past year, and it backed up that effort with support for the whole 3D ecosystem, making everything from 3D production equipment to 3D movies. The company touted 3D at its press conference at the Consumer Electronics Show, the tech industry extravaganza this week in Las Vegas. The goal is to redefine TV.One of Sony&amp;'s big new films coming is The Green Hornet, so of course Sony showed off a long 3D clip from the film as it introduced Stringer. Seth Rogan and Jay Chou (pictured with Stringer at top), the stars of the movie, drove out in a car from the film. It had machine guns on the hood and Stringer as a passenger.Stringer said Sony is stronger and more profitable than it was a year ago. By the end of March, more than 50 million TV screens will be Internet-enabled by Sony connected TVs, PlayStation 3s, and Blu-ray players.The PlayStation Network now has more than 60 million registered users across Sony connected devices, including the PlayStation Portable, PS 3, and other devices. Stringer claimed Sony was the 3D leader, though Samsung said at its press conference that it has sold more than 70 percent of the 3D TVs in North America in the past year.Sony will introduce 3D versions of its Bloggie camcorders and revamp its 3D authoring and playback products from top to bottom. Its studios are also coming out with more 3D movies and launching the 3net TV channel with 3D shows in conjunction with Discovery.&amp;''3D is far more than a science fiction gimmick&amp;'' to highlight special effects, Stringer said. &amp;''3D is merely a reflection of reality.&amp;''At its press conference, Samsung said that it expects the industry to sell 6 million 3D TVs will sell during 2011, up from 1 million in 2010. That&amp;'s a big growth rate, but it&amp;'s a small percentage of overall TV sales. Sony said it is marching ahead with lots of 3D TV models. Samsung and LG also said today that more than half of their TV models are 3D flat panels.Meanwhile, Stringer said he expects that more than 65 million internet-connected TVs will be sold in 2011. Beyond 3D, Sony is also preparing to launch TVs with higher resolution than 1080p high-definition TVs. Known as 4k, these newer TVs have far more detail than today&amp;'s TVs.Phil Molyneux, the new head of Sony Electronics in the U.S., said the company&amp;'s goal is to become the No. 1 vendor of consumer electronics (again) by 2013.Sony now has 27 connected TV models under its Bravia brand. Molyneux said that Sony will bring all of the Time Warner cable programming to Sony&amp;'s connected products.Sony&amp;'s new HX920 series 3D TVs &amp;8212' including a flagship 55-inch model &amp;8212' will use Sony&amp;'s latest 3D technology. Those models are hitting the market in March. Sony also introduced a new 3D Blu-ray player with built-in Wi-Fi networking and Skype calling.Sony also has a 3D camcorder that can record imagery in 3D and then play it back on a screen where you can see the images in 3D without 3D glasses.Next Story: Sony to launch Music Unlimited cloud music service in North America Previous Story: Smart grid&amp;'s Silver Spring to unveil Prius charging technologyPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: CES, CES 2011, Consumer Electronics ShowCompanies: SonyPeople: Howard Stringer          Tags: CES, CES 2011, Consumer Electronics ShowCompanies: SonyPeople: Howard StringerDean is lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat. He covers video games, security, chips and a variety of other subjects. Dean previously worked at the San Jose Mercury News, the Wall Street Journal, the Red Herring, the Los Angeles Times, the Orange County Register and the Dallas Times Herald. He is the author of two books, Opening the Xbox and the Xbox 360 Uncloaked. Follow him on Twitter at @deantak, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.VentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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