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You’ve heard it from HP, Canon, and Epson: Using replacement inkjet cartridges and not the original ones would damage your printer. So, is this true or is it just a marketing ploy?

What original manufacturers will tell you is that replacement inks will tend to damage the printheads, will most likely leak, or is of very inferior quality than the original printer ink. Of course they would tell you that or else, nobody would buy their original printer inks. I’ve been a long time user of replacement inks mainly because I’m trying to cut cost especially when I’m just printing non-essential documents and my HP printer is still working after two years. Yes, the inside of my printer may have some black smudges all over due to some cheap replacement inks spilling but it still does a decent job of printing documents.

Manufacturers are being strict nowadays and would tell you that your warranty would be voided if you use replacement inks. How they would be able to tell, I don’t know, maybe they’ll do a printer nozzle swab and compare the recent ink used with theirs, who knows. Also, a consumer report published some time ago says that some replacement inks actually contain less ink than the original resulting in no savings in the long run. Aside from being strict with the warranty, printer ink manufacturers are also being smart and making it harder and harder to refill their ink cartridges.

In my opinion, having your original ink cartridge refilled might do more harm than buying replacement ink cartridges. This is because since manufacturers are being smart about their cartridges, getting it refilled will have higher risk of spillage. Of course, replacement inks are not immune from that defect too but only the cheapest replacement ink cartridge have the tendency to be of inferior quality.

However, there’s really been no scientific proof or study to back manufacturer’s claim that replacement inks will damage your printer. Only studies that say that replacement inks may cost more in the long run but who commissions these studies anyway but the big time printer manufacturers. Hey, given the choice of buying two things that does the same thing but with different prices, I’d go for the cheaper option. It’s the recession after all.

Tags: opinion, Printer, Printers

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When someone mentions “ringtones” the first thing that usually comes to mind are MP3 songs which we use as ringtones. However, ringtones are not just MP3 files. Before MP3 songs, there were these kind of mobile ringtones:

Monophonic Ringtones – in the days where mobile phones are monochromatic and camera phones were only found in science fiction movies, there were monophonic ringtones. As the term suggests, these ringtones only have a single note on them. Nokia and Sony Ericsson used to have an onboard application on their mobile phones which allow you to create monophonic ringtones.

Polyphonic ringtones – or midi files. These ringtones have more than a single note on them and aside from the piano notes, it usually comes with some bass notes and other string instruments. Usually, these are the files used for karaoke music.

WAV ringtones – WAV files are lower quality ringtones than MP3s. You can create ringtones from songs/phrases using WAV files too but there’s some noticeable noise involve. If you want to create a ringtone from your child’s/loved ones’ voice, you can record one, save it as a WAV file and use it as your ringtone.

MP3 ringtones – nowadays, thanks to technology and increasing memory on mobile phones, we are able to use MP3 files as ringtones. MP3 ringtones have higher quality sounds and you can usually create MP3 ringtones from songs, or extract them from videos.

Tags: cell phone, cell phones, Mobile Phones, ringtone, ringtones

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Epson’s new stylus SX405 is the latest addition to their range and is a versatile all-in-one printer, scanner and photo copier. While being resourceful it still manages to be compact measuring just 450×342x182 mm and weighing 7.5kg. The exterior of the machine is clean and modern; its jet black case with shinny lid won’t look out of place on anyone’s desk.

The specifications of the Stylus SX405 are impressive too; maximum print resolution is quoted as 5760 x 1440 dpi which is high for printers in this range. This means photo prints will be as sharp as you would get print a professional photo lab. Ink for Epson Stylus SX405 consists of four individual ink cartridges, one for black, cyan, magenta and yellow. The advantage of this ink system is you only change the cartridges that are empty and no printer ink is wasted.

Printing photos directly from a PictBridge enabled camera or a standard memory card is possible and there is no need for the printer to be contacted to a PC. This is also the case for the photo copying function which is capable of copying documents in high quality black or colour ink. The Epson Stylus SX405 seems to be a very capable all-in-one printer suited for home or small office users.

Tags: Epson Printers, Printer, printer ink

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We are all busy individuals, in the old days we have datebooks or diaries to keep track of our tasks, time, and contacts. Now thanks to the Internet, all you need is your laptop/netbook and you have everything you need there. Here’s a roundup of some good productivity software which you can install and make your time more fruitful.

Post-it Digital Notes - this used to be one of my favorite applications until Windows Vista came and it already has a built-in Post-It note on the widgets sidebar. Instead of sticking actual post-its on your desktop, you can instantly view reminders on your PC. Of course, even though Google Gadgets and Vista Gadgets has a similar application, the original software still looks much more pleasing.

Cell Phone Manager - Not all of us has Outlook and not all of us want one. To manage your contacts without Outlook, you have Cell Phone Manager. Of course, you can always use your mobile phone’s proprietary software such as Nokia, Samsung, or Sony Ericsson’s PC Suite but if you have all of the above manufacturer’s phone and you don’t want to install 3 separate PC Suite, Cell Phone Manager can do the job.

FruitFulTime - Speaking of Outlook, the latter’s ToDo list is pretty useful but lacks some important functions. FruitFulTime is a task software that offers much more features. You can password protect tasks, add contacts, assign tasks, set reminders, add subtasks and even archive tasks so you won’t have to delete them. It’s a much more effective task management software rather than Post-it notes.

Tags: contacts manager, productivity suites, Software, task managers

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If you think that toushcreens and accelerometers are all the rage this days when it comes to mobile phones, well, it looks like another company is making full use of accelerometer–in tootbrushes. Omron Heathcare Co, a company based in Japan has released the world’s first electric tootbrush with a 3 axis acceleration sensor.

So what does the sensor do? Basically, it detects at what angle the tootbrush is being held so that it can determine what part of the mouth is being brushed so that it can automatically adjust and control the vibration speed and direction. So when it detects that you’re brushing your gum area, it slows down the speed of the vibration since this area is usually sensitive.

So how much does a tootbrush this smart cost? Around $210 or ¥20,000. Ah, the price you have to pay to have pearly white teeth.

Via: TechOn

Tags: Gadget News, Gadgets, Health Gadgets, healthy gadgets, New gadgets, smart gadgets, tech news, technology news

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Nope, what you’re seeing is not a new arcade game but is actually Toshiba’s new automotive system which they recently demonstrated. Toshiba’s system detects the driver’s face and eye directions using camera images. Using this images, the system can then recognize which area a driver is looking at and can be used to alert the driver whenever he’s being inattentive. Toshiba said that in the future, the system can also be used to detect if the driver is drowsy by detecting blinks.

Of course, the driver doesn’t necessarily have to be stiff by not moving his face or eye. The system actually recognizes 8 areas which are being commonly looked at by drivers: The left, center, right windshield, left and right side mirrors, the speedometers, the car navigation system and the audio system.

Via: TechOn

Tags: Automotive, Automotive News, car, car news, Gadget News, tech news, technology news, Toshiba

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One of the things I envy about our brothers in Europe especially in the UK is that mobile broadband is so common in their areas. In fact, mobile broadband access is quickly replacing WiFi hotspot access since it’s much cheaper and you don’t have to be stuck in one place in order to get internet access. Mobile broadband allows you to have internet access anywhere there’s a cell phone signal.

In fact, competition is so stiff in the UK that most carriers are offering a free laptop with any purchase of mobile broadband deals. I would like to see AT&T, T-Mobile, or Sprint offer something similar. Right now, the only carrier that I think is offering something similar is Verizon Wireless but the HP notebook that they’re offering comes with a built-in broadband access so you can’t exactly swap it with another notebook or PC.

Sprint’s Simply Everything plan plus mobile broadband doesn’t offer any free laptop, just a USB modem which you can use on any laptop or PC. Considering that there’s still a lot of places in the US that doesn’t have a lot of WiFi hotspots (free or paid), wireless carriers should be jumping on the mobile broadband bandwagon. So what’s keeping them? Probably because they can’t get their act together and there’s still a lot of places in the US which they have poor mobile phone signals.

Anyways, I guess I just have to envy all those cool laptops/netbooks being offered by UK wireless carriers here: www.broadband-expert.co.uk/mobile-broadband/free-laptop/

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Let’s face it, OLED screens are just so cool, what with their vibrant colors, videos and images just pop up at you. So if you’re not really an Apple fan and you think that the iTouch is SO five minutes ago, then why not pre-order Sony’s OLED Walkman players: the X Series Walkman Video MP3 Players.

Sony’s X Series OLED MP3 players comes in two flavors: the 16GB model and the 32GB model. Both have 3 inch OLED touch screens, 33 hours of music playback, and built-in WiFi. The Sony NWZ-X1061FBSMP (32GB version) has a price tag of $399.99 while the Sony NWZ-X1051FBSMP (16GB version) comes in at $299.99. You can pre-order both devices at the Sony Style Store.

Tags: Gadget News, New gadgets, Sony News, tech news, Technology, tecnology news, Walkman

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I’ve recently bought a digital SLR from Canon thinking that it would be easy to use but sad to say that I still don’t know squat about any of those camera jargons. Now if only Sony introduced their new Digital SLRs a few months ago, then maybe I won’t have any problems. Sony’s new DSLRs: The A230, A330, and A380 features an on-screen help guide with sample images.

Also, the Sony A230 is the world’s lightest digital SLR, according to Sony that is. The Sony A230 has 10.2 megapixels resolution and a 2.7 inch LCD. The Sony A330 also has a 10.2 megapixel resolution and a 2.7 inch TILTING LCD and Quick AF Live View. The Sony A380 has a 14.2 megapixel resolution, tilting 2.7 inch screen and Quick AF Live View as well.

Tags: Digital SLR news, Gadget News, New gadgets, Sony News, Tech, tech news, Technology, technology news

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I know what you’re thinking, for those of us who’ve grown up thinking that only Intel and AMD are CPU manufacturers, we wouldn’t have dreamed of seeing Fujitsu and fastest CPU in the same sentence but 10 years ago, it was Fujitsu who held that title only to be taken away by Intel. However, Fujitsu went back to the drawing board and after 10 years, was able to regain the title of having the world’s fastest CPU.

Fujitsu’s CPU is capable of making 128 billion calculations per second and is named: The Venus. Fujitsu’s Venus’ processing speed was achieved by miniturization and cuts electric consumption by about 1/3 of the current level. The Venus will be used in the next generation supercomputers at the Institute of Physical and Chemical Science.

Source

Tags: computers, CPU, fujitsu, Gadget News, News, tech news, technology news

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