The Constantly Changing Market of Desktop Video Cards

For those of you who may have checked out my podcast over at PodBean, you may recall that I was planning to purchase ATI 4770s for all of my friend's computers that I am building this summer. The reason for this was because they consumed less power, ran cooler, and were cheaper than other cards that they competed against. At the time, MSRP for the 4770 was $99. Because of the overwhelming demand, and the low yield of acceptable chips being produced, these cards jumped to $109 almost instantly after launch. This is still a good deal on the card; however, online retailers can barely keep the card in stock, and when they do, they charge around $120 for the card. This pretty much breaks the deal, and got me looking at the competitors of the card, to see how I could spend just $100 and still get a good card.

I checked out a website that I frequent, called Slickdeals. This is just a forum made of up people who think they should get more out of the money, and in some cases, something for nothing. While on the site, I have found many deals for competitors of the ATI 4770, namely the ATI 4850 and the nVidia GTS 250. I found the ATI 4850 for as cheap as $65 after rebate in the past two weeks, and the GTS 250 was available just yesterday for an amazing $55 after a $40 mail-in rebate. Needless to say, in just three short weeks, the much-anticipated 4770 has been sidelined by myself and others, who just can't pass up a bargain.

For those looking to purchase just about anything electronic, and even some other products (like a new Hyundai), be sure to check out Slickdeals and the forums to make sure you are getting the best price you can!

My latest project has been published!

Hello again everyone,
After waiting such a long time with unbelievably slow internet, I have finally got my latest project posted on my Podbean website! Be sure to check it out, especially if you interested in podcasting yourself. In my podcast, I give a step by step demonstration of downloading, installing, and using Audacity to create and post a podcast.

You will be hearing from me again soon you can be certain!

Check out my PodBean Site!

I just created a PodBean site earlier today and have already posted my first podcast! In it I explain the components you could buy if you wanted to build a gaming computer for only $600! Be sure to stop by and check out my podcast!

nVidia Ion Platform to Unleash the Power of Atom

As many of you may know, and some of you even have, the Intel Atom processor allowed the takeoff of the new laptop platform dubbed "Netbook." These are smaller forms of laptops that do not contain optical drives, have screens between 7" and 12" and consume little power and can do the more basic functions of a computer. This is mostly limited to web browsing and using office applications. Another use for these netbooks is a media player. The drawback to this is that there is not enough horsepower graphics-wise to decode a high definition video.
This is where the nVidia Ion platform comes into play. nVidia has created a platform that consumes very little power and is compatible with the Intel Atom processor. They have also included an integrated 9400 graphics card, allowing for minor gameplay, and fully capable of decoding high definition movies. This platform has not been released in netbooks, but when it does, most of the new netbooks will have an HDMI output, which is the standard video and audio signal for high definition. This would allow the user to use their netbook as a media player that plugs into an HDTV, and would actually make use of the HD capabilities.

Portable GPS Navigation Prices on the Decline

For the past couple of months, I have been searching for a good deal on a GPS for my brother who is graduating college and moving to Arizona in July. I have been browsing the website Slickdeals for deals on portable GPS navigation systems. I have noticed that models I have previously purchased for other family members have decreased nearly 40% in less than one year! I purchased a Garmin Nuvi 660 for a family member at $300+ last fall, and now I have seen them for under $200! I have also seen the more expensive Nuvi 760 for even cheaper than the 660.

Deals on units made by other manufacturers are also happening. Refurbished TomTom units can be had on occasion for between $60 and $70. Pharos, a company that is not as well known, but has been around for quite some time, recently had a unit available for just $65. Currently on the link above, you can get a TomTom One 140s, which has a 3.5" screen and text-to-speech, for just $117! If you have been waiting for a good time to jump onto the GPS bandwagon, now is a good time. If it isn't crucial that you have it now, you may want to wait for Black Friday deals in November. By that time there may be some units with a 4.3" widescreen for under $100!

Windows 7 Release Candidate(Beta) Now Available

Earlier this month, Microsoft made available to the public the release candidate of their latest operating system, Windows 7. This operating system is said to be what Vista should have been, or in other words, a more stable version of Vista without the bloat. Having downloaded and installed the release candidate myself, I can say that it is much more stable, and notably faster, than Vista is. They have made adjustments to the way the operating system handles graphics as well, and the result is that you no longer need a dedicated graphics card to enable the Aero interface, which provides the eye candy for both Vista and Windows 7. The release candidate, which is still beta, but stable enough to send out to the masses for testing in order to make minor changes before going gold (being finished), is available directly from Microsoft, and can be found here.

Welcome to IT News Source

Welcome to my blog! In the near future, I will be providing readers with all kinds of general information about everything and anything Information Technology!
For now, I would like to let everyone know why my blog is here. I am currently in a podcasting, vodcasting, and blogging class. While I have taken many classes educating me on miscellaneous computer applications, this is the first class that has been so unique. I have read blogs in the past, but have never created my own. I have had the interest for some time, so I figured that if I can going to learn how to blog, I might as well take a class and get credit for it! Hopefully before long I will be inserting YouTube links within my blogs to videos that I have worked on myself. I hope you enjoy my blog as I do y best to keep it interesting and informative!