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Regarding: Installation of a new Lenovo A70Z All-In-One Integrated Workstation and migrating data & settings from an older Dell system.

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Regarding: Installation and configuration of:

16 Apple iMac Desktop Computers
10 Apple Macbook Laptops
1 Apple Mac Mini Server
2 IBM Lenovo A70Z PC Workstations
1 HP Laserjet CP2025X Network Color Laser Printer
2 Canon MP560 Wireless Color Inkjet Printers
2 Epson Scanners

Including the migration of an existing Windows Active Directory Domain to Open Directory on Mac OS X Server, reconfiguration of various network services including DHCP & DNS, and installation of a new print server.

– The Brainspiral Staff

Dear Mr so-and-so,

We have found the best way to backup data is to use an external hard drive, preferably a network hard drive.  Network drives are inexpensive, easy to configure, reliable & fast.  We recommend them in all cases – Macs, PCs, even Servers.

While most network drives are identical, we recommend those made by Buffalo.  They offer many excellent features & are very compatible.  They come in a variety of sizes (250gb, 320gb, 500gb, 750gb, 1tb, 2tb, 4tb) to accommodate for all different kinds of storage needs.  They also provide an excellent means to share files among multiple users in a household or small business.  These devices can also be configured to backup to each other – for maximum data protection.

On the Mac side of things, we highly recommend using Leopard’s (10.5) Time Machine.  It’s an excellent program (thanks, Apple!) that makes automatic backups on a regular basis.  It can even be used over a wireless connection.  Though many of you are probably still running 10.4 or 10.3, have you considered upgrading?

On the PC side of things, we highly recommend using a backup program called Cobian.  It’s freely downloadable from snapfiles.com.  It offers great flexibility – allowing you to choose what you want backed up, and when.

If you’re really concerned about safeguarding your data, look at an online backup service like mozypro.com or mac.com.

Microsoft also learns from their mistakes (though they never admit it) & has released converters for both PCs and Macs to allow these new file formats (based on eXtensible Markup Language – suffix docx)  to be opened properly.  They’re available here:

PC
MAC

You’ll also notice that the Spec Sheet indicates that the Plasma “Can Accept A 1080p” signal. That’s totally different than actually being 1080p.

480, 720 and 1080 all refer to the output vertical line resolution of the display (number of lines – or pixels – vertically). The horizontal pixel resolution is implied (based on a 16:9 aspect ratio) & rarely ever mentioned.

480 is actually 852 x 480 = 408,960 pixels
720 is actually 1280 x 720 = 921,600 pixels
1080 is actually 1920 x 1080 = 2,073,600 pixels

A display capable of rendering 1080 resolution produces over 2 million pixels. Wow.

The Pioneer PDP4280 is actually 1024 x 768 (not true 16:9 aspect ratio) = 786,432 pixels.

The ‘i’ and ‘p’ refer to the scan mode – interlaced and progressive. The different between the two is that progressive scan mode displays all pixels every 1/60th second. Interlace displays all pixels only once every 1/30th second. You can’t really say that ‘p’ capable displays have a better resolution than ‘i’ capable displays, but you can say that ‘p’ capable displays show more frames than ‘i’ displays, which makes for a truer picture, since video is simply individual frames strung together sequentially & viewed very rapidly. The more rapidly they’re displayed, the better the quality of the video.

Now to complicate things, many sources aren’t capable of resolutions as high as the display. DVDs are only 480p. HD TV (real HD TV) is only 1080i. Only Blu-Ray and HD DVD are actually 1080p.

What the Pioneer does is take a 1080p signal and ‘downsample’ it – strip out pixels it can’t possibly display & only render what it can. It’s like cheating. We think Pioneer thew in the an unusual pixel dimension (1024 x 768) and referenced 1080p on their spec sheet to trick people into thinking it was capable of the highest possible output resolution. They didn’t fool us.

Pioneer isn’t all bad though, because most of the time it doesn’t make any difference. Can you see a difference most of the time: No. Can you see a difference between HD TV and a DVD: Sometimes. Can you see a difference between SD TV and HD TV: Absolutely. Can you see the difference between DVD and HD DVD: Yes. To achieve true HD – 1080p resolution, you need to have 100% true HD equipment. Your TV needs to be 1080p. Your receiver needs to be 1080p (if you have one). Your source – like Blu-Ray – needs to be 1080p. Many people think that if they order “HD” service from Time Warner and tune in to an HD channel, they’re seeing HD. Usually not the case. Your TV needs to be 1080i. Your receiver needs to be 1080i (if you have one). Your set-top box needs to be 1080i (or you need to be using a TV with 1080i and a CableCard), And you need to be watching an HD channel. Tuning in ESPN still won’t be HD. It has to be ESPN-HD.

Now that doesn’t mean that the Pioneer – or any good quality display – won’t generate an amazing picture. It will for sure. It simply means that it’s not capable of displaying certain sources the way they were meant to be displayed. 2 million pixels is a lot – way more than the human eye can process every 1/60th second. But as far as quality and resolution is concerned, there are better options.

The Syntax 7-Series are excellent, as are the Sony Bravias.

At a morning press conference, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said he believes the man is a member of the notorious Al-gebra movement.He did not identify the man, who has been charged by the FBI with carrying weapons of math instruction.

“Al-gebra is a problem for us,” Gonzales said. “They desire solutions by means and extremes, and sometimes go off on tangents in a search of absolute values.

They use secret code names like ‘X’ and ‘Y’ and refer to themselves as ‘unknowns’, but we have determined they belong to a common denominator of the axis of medieval with coordinates in every country.

As the Greek philanderer Isos Celes used to say, ‘There are 3 sides to every triangle’.”

When asked to comment on the arrest, President Bush said, “If God wanted us to have better weapons of math instruction, He would have given us more fingers and toes.”

White House aides told reporters they could not recall a more intelligent or profound statement by the president.

Verizon DSL offers two services – a basic, 768 kbps service that is perfectly suited to loading websites, retrieving email, and downloading small files such as antivirus software updates. This service will perform these jobs at such a speed that there is no advantage to having the higher speed connection. The one limitation of the 768 kbps service is transferring large files via email or web browser, or watching streaming media, such as audio or video.

Verizon’s other service, their 3000 kbps service, is more comparable to Time Warner Cable’s service, which typically runs at between 2000 and 5000 kbps. These two services are virtually identical, streaming media, transferring files, etc. at lightning fast speeds. Their prices are not. Verizon’s service tends to cost approximately $15 to $30 less than Time Warner Cable service.

We hope this assists our clients in deciding which High-Speed Internet Service Provider is best for you and your needs. Please contact us if you have any questions or would like a Brainspiral technician to install one of these services for you.