Category: Computer Hardware

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Small Multifunction Printers

At Tech DC, we regularly set up printers for individuals and businesses. One of our favorite workhorse printers is the multi-function laser printer by Brother called the MFC-7440N, available for $230.

Laser Printers versus Ink Jet

Most customers purchase ink jet printers because their initial cost is low. Manufacturers make their money on the back-end, through inflated prices on the ink. Therefore any volume of printing quickly makes ink jets more expensive. Ink jets typically break more easily and have problems with printer heads drying out. They also do not have as fine of print as laser printers.

The one advantage of ink jets is in printing photos. But it is usually far cheaper to print photos at a Target, Sams, Costco, or drug store.

Brother MFC-7440N

The MFC-7440N is a recent update by Brother from the MFC-7820N. Yes, it’s an upgrade even though the model number went down.

As a multi-function printer, the MFC-7440N prints, faxes, scans, and makes copies. It is very small (15.6 D x 16.9 W x 12 H inches) and can be sufficient for small offices with occasional printing needs. The 250 sheet paper tray makes it less practical for larger volumes.

Networking

The printer includes an ethernet jack and works easily over a network. If you need wireless, consider the Brother MFC-7840W which adds wireless connectivity.

These network printers work with PCs and Macs.

Other Options

Brother also makes larger multifunction printers that add duplex print (double sided printing) options.

Brother laser printers have usually proven to be the most cost effective for our computer support clients. Samsung also makes good printers, but we have found their small mutifunction printers to be somewhat cheaper, both in price and quality. Our experience is that HP’s small multifunction printers are more expensive and provide no greater quality.

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Acer Aspire One RAM or Hard Drive Upgrade

Aspire One Upgrade Options

The Acer Aspire One comes with 1GB of RAM and a 160GB SATA Hard Drive.  For an idea of its performance, please check out this video.  RAM can be upgraded to 1.5GB by replacing a 512MB stick with 1GB. We recommend the Kingston PC2 4200 1GB Laptop Memory.  The hard drive can be upgraded with another 2.5 inch SATA hard drive such as the Western Digital 320GB 5400 RPM Scorpio.

Performing these upgrades are not a simple matter as you have to completely take the netbook apart.  Do this at your own risk.  It is also a lengthy process so be sure you set aside a good hour of time.

Requirements

Once you’ve picked out your new RAM or hard drive, you’ll be ready to begin the upgrade.  In addition to a screwdriver, you will need a credit card.  You may also want some bowls to organize screws that get removed and enough space to place removed components.  It is also a good idea to use a towel to cover the screen during the process.  If you are upgrading the hard drive, you will be losing all the data on the included drive.  If you are installing from scratch, then you have nothing else to do.  If you want to duplicate the included OS on the original drive, you will need to run the dd linux command to copy it to your new drive.  To do this, you will need a 2.5 inch external USB SATA enclosure to put the new drive in to copy to.  If you are unfamiliar with this, it is a very similar process to duplicating the drive in a Tivo.


Step 1 – Remove bottom screws 

Flip over the Aspire One so that the bottom is accessible. There are 6 obvious screws to remove on the bottom of the Aspire One.  In addition to that, there are two hidden screws under the back rubber feet.

You will need to peel off the back rubber feet to get to those screws.  I used pliers to slowly peel up the rubber feet.  Try to not touch the sticky side so that they can be reapplied after.  When done, they reapply rather easily.  The 3 screws from the back and front are different sizes to be sure to organize them correctly.
Step 2 – Lift up keyboard 

Flip the Aspire One over so the keyboard is facing up.  There are three clips holding the keyboard down by the F2, F8, and Pause keys.  You need to push these clips back and down with a credit card so they are no longer visible.  After doing this, the clips may pop back up and need to be redone.  Once they are all back, you can slide the credit card under the keyboard to pry it up.  Do not put the credit card under the keys but under the keyboard.  You can then slide the credit card around the sides prying the entire keyboard up.
Step 3 – Unplug keyboard and remove more screws 

Lean the keyboard forward to expose where it is plugged in towards the center.  This cable is held down with a clamp that is on top of it.  You can flip this up to release the connector.  The keyboard should now be loose and can be put aside.  Right below the keyboard connection is a smaller similar connector for the trackpad.  In the same manner, flip up the clamp which will release the trackpad cable.
Step 4 – Remove top panel surrounding keyboard 

Towards the back left above the AC plug is the best place to start prying open this panel.  Push the credit card between the panel and the base to begin prying it open.  Then slide the card completely around the panel which will free it so it can be removed.
Step 5 – Unplug, unscrew, and remove motherboard 

The video cable is towards the upper left. It is held down with tape so first pull up the tape and then pull out the connector.  Towards the bottom middle is another cable held down with black tape.  Lift up the black tape and then slide out the connector leaving the cable dangling.  Towards the bottom right is the Wi-Fi card.  To the right of the card are 2 cables plugged into it.  Unplug these by pulling them directly up then leave them dangling.  The Wi-Fi card is held in with one screw.  Unscrew it and the card will be easy to remove so you can set it aside.  There is a main board to the left and a daughter board to the right.  The main board has just one screw towards the bottom and the daughter board has three screws.  All of these screws need to be removed.
Step 6 – Replace RAM and/or Hard Drive 

You can now flip up the boards to expose the underside where the RAM and hard drive are.  The RAM is on the left and is held down in the typical way with prongs on the sides.  Remove the 512MB card and insert your 1GB card.  It is in properly if the prongs fit into the notches on the card.  The hard drive is to the right and can be separately unscrewed to replace.
Step 7 – Put it all back together 

By this point, hopefully you’ve kept all the components and screws well organized because you just have to do everything in reverse.  When putting the boards down, be sure you have everything flush and tightened so there is enough room for the keyboard to go back in on top of it.  Don’t forget to plug all connectors back in so review the above steps to be sure you do.  The panel around the keyboard will snap in as will the keyboard itself by applying a little pressure.  Before screwing in the bottom screws, you might want to boot up to make sure everything is working.

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Wiping or Destroying Your Hard Drive On Purpose

In Washington D.C., there are many organizations that need to wipe or destroy their data. Personal users should also be sure to thoroughly erase a hard drive before donating it. It’s common for scammers to search old computer drives for credit card and bank information.

I earlier noted Darik’s Boot and Nuke which is the best solution for PC users. Mac users should see my post on erasing using Apple’s Disk Utility.

The following video from Systm walks your though using Darik’s Boot and Nuke. And for the truly paranoid, they also show you how to physically destroy a disk.

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Add More Recording Time To Your Tivo

With a 1TB or 1.5TB drive you can record hundreds of hours of TV in a TiVo. You first need to decide between two approaches.

Option 1: Order a pre-made TiVo Drive

This is the simplest method. You can buy a hard drive already setup for your TiVo from weaKees (TiVo Upgrade Kit section). I have also had good experience buying from dvr_dude on eBay.

Purchasing a new drive is your only option if your original drive failed and you don’t have a backup (obtained possibly through the Linux option described below). Replacing a failed drive can also save you from losing your lifetime or multi-year subscription contract with TiVo.

The cons to this approach are:

  1. Buying hard drives with TiVo software already loaded can add over $100 to the cost of buying a blank drive.
  2. This method will give you a new blank TiVo. It does not keep any of your programs, to do list, recording preferences, channel lineup, or CableCard pairing (for TiVo 3 or HD users who use CableCard to tune digital channels). This isn’t a con if it’s a new TiVo.

Option 2: Build Your Own Drive

This method takes much longer. You remove the drive and put it and the new drive in a computer that boots off of a Linux Live CD. In Linux, you run a command to copy the old drive to the new one bit by bit.

TiVo HD users should follow our TiVo HD instructions. TiVo 3 users should follow the bumwine instructions. TiVo Series 1 and Series 2 should follow the hinsdale instructions.

Building your own drive can take hours but it is the cheapest upgrade method and it saves all your shows, preferences, etc.

My Experience

Since my first Philips TiVo Series 1 with 20-hour recording capacity, I have been upgrading or adding drives to TiVos for myself and D.C. area clients. It can change the way you use your TiVo. If you have hundreds of hours of recording capacity, the TiVo feels closer to a TV and movie archive. Give it a try if you find yourself running out of space or if you want more TiVo suggestions.

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New Aspire One Netbook with 160GB Hard Drive Demo Video

New King of Netbooks

Acer has just started selling a new Aspire One netbook. The latest improvements in this model are an increased SATA hard drive to 160GB and a 6-cell battery which will yield a good 5 hours of use even playing movies. It includes a low power Intel Atom processor running at 1.6GHz. Many people assume all netbooks are slow but the following video demonstrates that it is more than powerful for most computer uses today. This is in part due to the SATA hard drive which outperforms the more commonly found SSD option.

See the video demo that I made here: