BlackBerry® Tour™ 9630 smartphone model number: RCF71CW or RCF72CW

Computer monitors display text and images generated by computers. They usually have plastic or carbon frames and glass viewing screens, which can display graphics in monochrome, gray-scale, and color. Their resolutions range from 1024 x 768 pixels, which is the SVGA standard, to as much as 1600 x 1200 in high-end models. They connect to the computer through VGA port or DVI, and can be placed on desktops, walls, or ceiling mounted.

Kinds of Computer Monitors:

CRT Computer Monitors

CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) computer monitors provide sharp, vibrant displays ideal for home and office use. They are larger and bulkier than the modern LCD or flat screen displays. Some models are made with special screens that eliminate screen glare. They have front buttons located at the bottom for adjusting screen brightness, contrast, position, size, shape, and color. Most models are compatible with Macintosh and PC operating systems.

Flat Screen Computer Monitors

Flat Screen Computer Monitors have larger viewing screens and higher resolutions than CRT monitors. They also have higher contrast ratios up to 1000:1, resulting in sharper images and brighter colors. They can be viewed from horizontal or vertical angles, but tend to distort colors from extreme angles. Some models mount onto walls or cabinets using arm mounts. They can accept standard VGA and digital input from DV cameras and other high-end devices. They usually have built-in speakers, security locks, and removable bases.

LCD Computer Monitors

LCD Computer Monitors use electronic liquid crystals to assign color and brightness to each pixel. They have a minimum contrast ratio of 450:1, providing a wider range of color and high-contrast displays. They can be viewed clearly from up to 170 degrees, making them clearly visible from across large rooms. They may also have built-in speakers, security locks, and removable bases.

TFT Computer Monitors

TFT Computer Monitors use active LCD displays that generate pixels at faster rate. They have a minimum contrast ratio of 500:1 and a response time of about 8 ms. They can be arm- or wall-mounted. They usually have built-in speakers, security locks, and removable bases.

Choosing The Best Monitor

Resolution: For heavy graphics applications, choose a computer monitor with a resolution of 1280×1024 pixels or higher.

Screen size: Choose a computer monitor with a 17-inch screen for home or office use. For professional and multimedia applications, choose a screen between 19 and 20 inches for better photo and image viewing.

Aspect ratio: For home use, get a computer monitor with an aspect ratio of 4:3. For office use, choose a wider unit with an aspect ratio of 15:9 or 16:10, which is ideal for displaying presentations.

Due to the affordability of LCD monitors these days (as well as lower energy consumption) this type of monitor would be your best bet. Just simply select the size and aspect ratio you would like. REMEMBER though that a 19″ wide-screen may look a lot different than a 19″ regular screen. When in doubt do to your nearest electronic store and take a look at the different sizes (then come home and buy it cheaper online!!)

Hope this helps.

Laptop screens come in a wide variety of screen sizes ranging from 11″ all the way to 19″. Find out what you want to use the laptop for before deciding on the screen size. If you want to watch movies and play games then you would want a bigger screen. Be careful, though, because a larger screen means a heavier laptop. If you plan on hauling the laptop around to many different places (i.e. school) then you may want to factor in the weight that a large screen brings. On the other hand, a smaller screen will provide ease of portability but not a great entertainment tool. If you’re not sure what screen size you want then stick to somewhere in the middle (i.e. 15″ – 17″).

Once you’ve narrowed down the screen size you’ll want to make sure you have the power capabilities that you want. The CPU and RAM provide the computing power inside of a laptop and will determine the overall speed of the notebook. As I’m writing this, a dual core processor should be the minimum as well as 1GB of RAM. The Pentium dual-core and Intel’s Core Duo are somewhat out-dated processors. Try to stick with Intel’s Core2 Duo or AMD’s X2 Series CPUs. And as stated before, 1GB (gigabyte) of RAM should be the minimum amount of memory. The more RAM you can get the better!

Once you have narrowed down those features, the rest is up to your pocketbook. I would say 99% of the time, you get what you pay for. There is one exception to this rule for buying laptops; Acer brand laptops tend to run cheaper than most but still retain relatively high quality. When was the last time you saw an advertisement for Acer? You haven’t? That’s because they do very little advertising and let word-of-mouth do the selling, while you reap the benifits of their cheaper prices. Be wary of other brands you haven’t heard of, though. Getting replacement parts or service from other off-brands may be near impossible. Do some reasearch before you buy an off-brand laptop (other than Acer, of course).

Everything depends on how old your current computer is and which parts are still usable. If your computer case can hold an ATX or microATX motherboard then you will be able to use the same case, just replace the parts inside. I am currently using an old eMachines case to hold my Pentium4 processor and motherboard. I’m also using the DVD burner from my old computer. The only things I needed to buy was the processor, motherboard, RAM and power supply. At the time I bought everything it only cost me about $230.

Pricing everything currently online you should be able to get a real nice computer (processor, RAM , motherboard, power supply and DVD burner) for under $400. That’s, of course, assuming you don’t go wild on an expensive motherboard or quad-core processor. For most people who aren’t gamers you should be able to keep it well under $400.

The only thing left is the operating system; XP or Vista? If you already have a copy of XP then go ahead and stay with that, it’s much better than Vista, in my opinion. If you have to buy an operating system then go ahead and get Vista because XP support is going to end sometime next year.

Although buying your own copy of Windows Vista will cost more now, it will save you in the future when you decide to upgrade again. Any brand name computer that you buy from the store including Dell, HP, eMachines, Sony, etc… will have Vista loaded on it but YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO TRANSFER THE OPERATING SYSTEM TO A NEW COMPUTER. So, when THAT computer goes bad you’re stuck without an operating system again.

My suggestion is to do some research and price out everything that you need/want and compare that to brand name computers. Remember that when building your own you get to choose what brand of components go into your computer (i.e. Seagate hard drive, Kingston RAM, Gigabyte motherboard, and so on) If the pricing is comparable between the two then I would suggest building your own. You have more control over everything, including replacing parts easier.

Toshiba has long been a leader of quality when it comes to electronics and their laptops are no different. They’re not going to “wow” you with looks but it’s what inside that counts, right? They are smartly built with an emphasis on today’s technology, unlike Dell whose sole emphasis is keeping the price down

Sony is another brand that screams quality. The Sony VAIO notebooks are some of the best in the business. Unlike Toshiba, Sony’s laptops look great and will definately turn heads (of course that’s not always a good thing).

 If I had to choose between the two I would go with Toshiba because I have no need for flash and looks, just speed, power and reliability.

Laptops I would NEVER buy because of the vast amount of problems in the past include: Dell, Compaq/HP and Gateway brands. All three laptop makers seem to sacrifice quality for lower cost during mass production. I have encountered many, many problems with these laptops over the years and I will avoid them unconditionally.

Most people usually take their computer in to be serviced which can cost money. There is a nice little program called Drive Fitness Test that you can run on your computer in order to see if your hard drive has a problem. Drive Fitness Test (aka DFT) is a program designed by IBM for test ing purposes for either professionals or consumers.

To use DFT click this link and scroll down to Drive Fitness Test. Download the CD image to your computer then burn it as an image file onto a CD. All CD burning software allows you to burn a CD from an image file (not data cd, not audio cd, just from an image file!) This particlular file is in ISO format which is the standard in CD images.

Once you have it burned onto a CD correctly simply leave the CD in your CD drive and reboot your computer. The computer should boot directly to the CD and from there you’ll be able to test your hard drive. If your computer doesn’t boot to the CD then you have to check your BIOS settings to make sure the boot order is correct and in this order; CD:Hard Drive. Some computers may have floppy or network boot options, those don’t matter as long as CD (or DVD) is BEFORE the hard drive. If it still doesn’t boot to the CD then make sure you have burned the CD correctly. Remember to burn the CD from an image.

If you’re still having trouble getting it to work then go back to the download page and download Diskette creator for Windows OS and make some floppy disks to boot from.

Good luck and Happy Burning!