Recent content by Gundy

I'm no expert at this, but if the speakers were designed for 24V don't run them at 70V. In a speaker, the voltage controls the displacement of the magnet (a gross oversimplification, but sufficient for this discussion). Even if the terminals and wiring can handle the increased voltage (which...

You probably can't. The HDMI connections on the phone and the laptop are probably both outputs (they can send data out but can't take data in). You would need an HDMI input, which most computer don't have. The only computers that have HDMI inputs are usually intended for home theatre use. In...

Are you sure they're identical? Maybe they are, but all it takes is one screw boss change to ruin your drop-in-replacement fun. This whole business is a bit risky, but you already know that. As long as you're prepared for this whole thing to go south at any moment, give it a try. The GPU is...

Gen 2 (Sandy Bridge) is based on the older 32 nm process, while Gen 3 (Ivy Bridge) is based on the 22nm process. Basically, the wires got smaller so they could fit a bit more circuitry in there. Comparing similar processors, you get a better integrated graphics chipset in the newer processors...

One more things about those Wi-Fi cables. They are actually your antenna, so if you ball them up and tuck them away somewhere your Wi-Fi performance might be negatively affected. If you're close to your access point or switching to wired, no problem. If you start noticing that your Wi-Fi...

Laptop, no question about it. You will almost certainly need to install some programs for school. While you can often find them installed on lab computers, having your own copy makes homework a lot easier.

You probably won't see a huge performance difference between the two, although the Lenovo might be slightly faster. For most everyday tasks it will be a wash. I personally prefer Lenovo laptops, but buying refurbished is a risk. If you're OK with the risk and you have the time to fully test...

They are essentially the same laptop, and there is a good chance they are made at the same factory. Samsung might have a slightly better reputation, but Toshiba is better than it used to be so you really don't have to worry with either of them. Choose whichever one you like the look of more.

You're going to be hard pressed to find something like that in your price range. Good gaming laptops with better dedicated graphics typically start around $1200. In you price range you'll probably have to settle for a 650M or similar, although that shouldn't be too bad. The 580m is a bit old...

If you're set on the whole 'gaming laptop' thing, then the GT60 looks like a good choice. If having a midrange desktop and laptop in parallel isn't an option (if you're flying to school, for instance) you might also want to consider buying a slightly lower end ($1200) laptop that will give you...

I'm no expert on the high-end laptops, so I'll leave those spec questions to the better informed. As far as SSDs go, in my experience they're awesome for normal use (web browsing, media work, CAD) but don't make much difference in most games. I can't really understand why you would need the...

Make sure the charger has the same power specifications (same output voltage, at least as much output current) as the stock Dell charger. Even then, it might not work.

At this price point you're going to be hard pressed to find anything that really does media editing well. You can do it, but it will be a bit slow when doing processor intensive operations. If it was me, I would go with the Acer and upgrade the RAM myself at some point in the future. 4GB will...

The few HP laptops that I have used have had pretty poor build quality. Not to say that they were terrible, but I wouldn't expect them to hold together for too long. If you plan on using it for more than 2 years, I would stay away. If it was my money, I would do whatever I could to get that...

As others have said, the battery itself will not be damaged by going through an X-Ray machine. I've done crazy things with lithium chemistry batteries (various sterilization techniques, including radiation) and the batteries are fine. But the key is to make sure you don't have active...