Best London Deals in Electronics

Acer Aspire Battery Replacement: Replacing faulty parts on Acer Aspire laptop

2013-06-03T12:22:00.000-07:00

Replacing faulty parts on Acer Aspire laptop

According to most reviews, Acer laptops are affordable, some will even say they are cheap. I own an Acer Aspire 7740 bought from UK in 2010 and I've used it to the fullest until today. It's my main laptop, and I'm doing most of my business work with it. But, just like any other thing that money can buy, it tends to fall apart after some time. This post gathers some of the problems encountered in Acer Aspire laptops, some encountered by me, some by my friends, and some by various Internet users (posted on UK forums). I will also try to add ways to every listed problem, and if a fix is not possible, I will recommend a proper replacement part (if your laptop is out of warranty). If it's still in warranty, you should get it to an Acer service.

Acer Aspire Battery Problems

If you know one or two things about laptops, you know that sooner or later, the battery will fail on you. I've encountered this problem in two of my laptops, and I don't believe that it's something that happens only in Acer Aspire laptops. The batteries in my Acer 7740 were built by Samsung, so it's not even Acer's fault. And if we are here, let's see how laptop batteries are build. Usually, inside that plastic case you will find 6 or 8 cells resembling common AAA batteries, but larger. You will also find a circuit that controls the way the current flows from the cells to the laptop. If one or two cells are dead, the circuit may consider the whole battery dead, and it won't let it charge. Let's get back to the problem. Most ACER users will experience shorter battery life as time goes by. In my case, my Aspire 7740 lasted around 2 hours when I bought it, and around 30 minutes in the last months (before the battery went dead completely). So, if you experience low battery life, your battery cells are probably getting old (or depleted), and you may need to buy a new battery (or try to replace the dead cells by yourself). If you will get the Windows error: "Plugged in. Not Charging", you either have a dead battery or a system error. If you're lucky, you can fix it by shuttind down the PC, removing the battery, removing the power adapter, pressing the Power button for few times (to remove the static energy that's remained in the system), putting the battery back, the power cable and starting the PC. Another solution is to remove the battery from Hardware devices, and reboot the system. In my case, all these tricks have not worked, so my only option was to buy a new battery from here.

Acer Aspire Display Problems

I don't know if it's the way I've used the display or if it's the way I dropped it on the floor for couple of times, but I got few grey spots on the corners that were annoying. In such cases, either you manage to work with this display, or you get a replacement part.

Acer Memory Problems

This happened to few Aspire users. Out of nowhere, their laptop didn't start. There was power in the system, the starting sounds can be herd, but the laptop did not passed the bios checking state. There are many reasons for this error, but before anything else, you must check the RAM. In most cases, the RAM is dead and you need to change it.

Acoustic foam for a home studios

2013-03-19T03:43:00.000-07:00

If you already bought the required equipment for a home studio, you face a terrible quest: to treat the recording room with acoustic foam. If you know nothing about audio treatments for room, I will try to share some of the basics. In order to properly treat a room, you will need acoustic foam for sidewalls and front wall, bass trappers for the higher corners of the room and diffusers for the back walls. For the recording booth, you will also need to use acoustic foam panels with at least 50% coverage.

The control room
The control room is the place where everything gets mixed together, and you need to have the best possible sound. Insulating this room is rather easy:

1. Place two foam panels behind the studio monitors (the speakers). This will help with echoes and noise cancellation.
2. Place 3 or four square panels in the left and right sidewalls at the ear level, with 50% coverage.This means you should allow some space between the panels.
3. Place 1 or 2 bass trappers in every hight corner of the room. This will reduce the bass in the room.
4. Place 2 diffusers in the absolute center of the back wall of the control room. If you are on a tight budget you can use normal acoustic foam.
5. Insulate the door between the booth and the control room. You don't want external noises in the booth, right?

The booth
Place at least 50% coverage in the room, and try to apply panels everywhere. If the mic captures too much bass in the voice, this means that you are have a small room and you need to place some sort of foam on the high corners.
source: home foam

The best router for 3G connection

2013-03-19T03:21:00.001-07:00

If you have a 3G Internet stick and you plan to use it in order to create a wireless network for your home, you are lucky. TP-Link TL-MR3420 is a wireless router that works flawlessly with most 3G sticks/dongles today. I own a previous version of this router that I bought from Amazon UK a while back, and I'm very pleased with it. It took me few minutes to set it up (network security, PPPoE connection, 3G connection) but after that, I never had to touch it again.

My 3G stick (the one from the second image) had hiccups even before getting this router, and I had to reconnect it few times per day because the connection randomly froze. With this router I still have to use a reconnection, but it happens once or twice per week, and when it does, I just go into the admin panel from my iPhone and I click the "reboot" button. In 10-15 seconds everything is back.

Heating and noise
I keep the connection up and running 24/7. First, I thought that the router or the 3G stick will get too hot if I will keep them always on. After few days of usage I understood that this will not be the case with TL-MR3420. Every time I checked it, it was slightly hot, almost imperceptible temperature. So, no heating problems here. Also, the router makes no noise. It's as quite as a flower.

Coverage and specs
The coverage of this router is pretty good. My first router is a Linksys WRT54GL created by Cisco, and it's probably the best router for home networks. It provides the best coverage money can buy, but unfortunately it does not feature a 3G connection. That's why I bought the TP-Link. So, comparing the coverage of both routers, I can honestly say that Linksys is slightly better, just slightly. With TP-Link, I can still get network signal even 40-50 meters away when I'm outside the house. If we are to compare the overall performance alogn with the price and specs of these two routers, TP-Link wins hands down, because it's smaller, it features a 3G connect and it's faster (54 Mbps vs 300 Mbps).

Other features:
You can secure your network with these included Encryption Algorithm (AES, TKIP, WPA, WPA2). Data Link Protocol:Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g

Price and more images
As I said, this router is pretty cheap. You can find it on Amazon for around £32.06.
first image credit: amazon.co.uk

Building a recording studio in UK: The equipment needed

2012-12-18T13:54:00.000-08:00

If you are a music fan like me, you have that hidden dream of recording your voice on a song. But in order to do that, you need to build a recording studio. If you plan to make your own recording studio you should know that it's not an easy job. The Internet is packed with information, but it's really hard to filter everything , to spot the perfect equipment for you, to find those good recommendations. That's why I'm going to do that for you, and recommend the ultimate recording setup that will help you get started in your music venture. When I've created this setup I started from the premise that you are on a low budget.

So, this is the equipment needed for a home recording studio

* A PC/Laptop - If you read this post, you probably own a laptop or a PC. An i3 or i5 laptop is great for this setup, but a dual-core will also work just fine
* A good condenser mic - There are so many options in this field, but the winner is Rode NT2a
* An audio interface - Most folks will recommend M-Audio products, but I have something else in mind: Focusrite Saffire 6 USB
* A mic stand, pop filter, cables, acoustic foam
* A recording software - I recommend Cubase, but you can also go for a free software (Audacity).

The alternative
If you think that all these items are to expensive for your budget, you can always buy the simpler version: a good USB condenser mic. Yeti USB is a good choice.

The best cheapest Hair Clipper in UK: Wahl Chrome Pro Mains Hair Clipper Set & Instructional DVD

2012-12-17T13:17:00.000-08:00

So, these days I was looking for a good hair clipper for men. My old hair clipper broke down on me and I really needed a new one. So, I searched the Internet for a hair clipper in UK under £30. Let's face it, that price is more than reasonable. The Wahl Chrome Pro Mains Hair Clipper Set & Instructional DVD 79524-800 costs only £25. Face it, you will not find anything better in UK at this price!

Wahl Series Mains Hair Clipper Set

Wahl produced a series of hair clipper that allows you to trim your beard but also do your own haircut. It's really easy, and I own a version of this clipper. I love it, it's very durable and sturdy and lasted more than everything I've tried before. At this price, you will not find anything better.

See more info and prices on Amazon

Android Smartphone with iPhone design

2012-12-15T01:41:00.000-08:00

If you like iPhone so much but you can't afford it, you can always get a smartphone that looks just like the iPhone, but it's way cheaper. This is an Unlocked Quadband Dual sim with Android 4.0 3G Smart Phone 3.5 Inch Capacitive Touch Screen.

More features:

RAM: 512MB
Battery: 1600mAh
Gravity sensing system Network
Dual Sim
WiFi
Screen resolution: 480 x 320
Back camera: 2MP Front camera

Check the price on Amazon

Vibration Absorber Mat

2012-12-13T13:03:00.000-08:00

This Vibration Absorber Mat is created by Draper Tools and is just perfect for reducing machine vibration and noise. If you're tired of everyday vibration at your workplace, you need an item like this.

The Vibration Absorber Mat is suitable for use with bench top machine tools such as bench grinders, fretsaws, band saws, belt and disc sanders, etc. Size of 12" X 24", and a quarter of an inch thick.

Check the price on Amazon

Cordless Handheld Scanner

2012-12-12T02:02:00.000-08:00

If you need to scan your work papers on the go, Skypix Cordless Handheld Scanner is exactly what you need. With this pocket scanner you can scan A4 Color pges, with a 600x600 DPI, and scan black and white documents really fast.

The box includes:

This Cordless Handheld Scanner will scan a color page at high-resolution in 13 seconds, and a black & white page in 2 seconds. With Skypix scanner, everything is stored in the microSD card. It's powered by 2 x AA battery and can be connected to your laptop via USB 2.0 port

Check more specs and price on Amazon

Wand Massager UK Model

2012-12-06T13:11:00.000-08:00

This is not an ordinary Wand Massager, it's a special mode designed in UK by Shanzy, it features a superb motor and it's in a limited edition black. Relieve from stress and soreness, relax with deep soothing vibrations.

If you want to try something even better, go for Hitachi Magic Wand massager without attachment with uk fitted plug.

More info and price on Amazon

This is Sphero - The Amazing Ball.

2012-11-30T14:41:00.000-08:00

I can talk for ages about Sphero, but unless you see it in action you will never get what's it all about. So, here is a cool video with Sphero - the amazing ball. It can be controlled with your iPhone 5, and there are tons of apps for it.

You can buy Sphero from Amazon

Jelly Belly Gift Box with 20 Assorted Flavours

2012-11-21T13:17:00.000-08:00

What's cool about Jelly Belly Gift Box with 20 Assorted Flavours is that everything is natural, no artificial flavours and no preservatives. It's perfect for vegetarians.

The 20 flavours are as follows:
Very Cherry • Green Apple • Coconut • Lemon • Cantaloupe • Bubble Gum • Plum • Strawberry Cheesecake • Blueberry • Buttered Popcorn • Piña Colada • Juicy Pear • Peach • Pink Grapefruit • Island Punch • Watermelon • Tangerine • Liquorice • Toasted Marshallow • Candy Floss

See more details and price on Amazon

Floor Polishing & Mop Cleaner Robot

2012-11-09T14:54:00.000-08:00

This is not a robot, it's so more than that. It's a polishing machine that has no mood, no need for salary, like every other maid. Just set it for a job, and it's clean and polish your floor in no time. It also include 3 rugged all-terrain wheels.

Check this cool cleaning robot on Amazon

Cool iPhone 5 Cases

2012-10-25T14:33:00.000-07:00

If you are the lucky owner of a cool iPhone 5, maybe you should get a cool case for it. In this case, you should...

Check these cool iPhone 5 cases on Amazon.