It’s Official! The Death Of HD-DVD

It is finally over, the fat lady is singing!

The inevitable has finally happened. Toshiba have cancelled their HD-DVD format and put an end to the Hi-Def war with its rival Sonys Blu-Ray… thank god! After two years of spatting, boring us consumers to death and just being annoying in general, Toshiba have finally raised the white flag and conceded that the fat lady is in fact singing.

Toshiba have now officially pulled the HD-DVD plug and will cease production of all its HD-DVD players, discs and accesories by March 2008. This is a blow for the early adopters of the HD-DVD format and i suppose i do sort of feel sorry for them but in all honesty you should really know by now not to jump the gun when these type of spats between rival companies are ongoing, unless you buy both!

If you are one of those who has been sitting on the fence and waiting for a winner to be announced, it is now time for you to go out and treat yourself to a Blu-Ray player. Hopefully now that Blu-Ray is the sole provider of Hi-Def material, the prices will come down. That was definitely one advantage HD-DVD had over its nemesis, prices!

The only thing that has really got me thinking from the death of HD-DVD is the little matter of the Xbox 360. Will we being seeing an Xbox 360 with a built-in Blu-Ray drive or will they be throwing another bloody add-on drive at us and if so, how long is it going to be before we see one? Why don’t you give us your thoughts on the HD-DVD slaying and your Xbox ideas by leaving us a comment, we love to hear what you think.

Google’s patented PigeonRank

Google’s Pigeon Rank

When a search query is submitted to Google, it is routed to a data coop where monitors flash result pages at blazing speeds. When a relevant result is observed by one of the pigeons in the cluster, it strikes a rubber-coated steel bar with its beak, which assigns the page a PigeonRank value of one. For each peck, the PigeonRank increases. Those pages receiving the most pecks, are returned at the top of the user’s results page with the other results displayed in pecking order. More can be read here

Laptop Battery

Most laptops now use lithium ion (Liions) batteries. Lions should be managed differently from the Nicad or NiMH batteries used in older laptops. In particular, Lions should not be run all the way down to prevent “memory effect”. First, they don’t have a memory effect, and second, running them down tends to reduce their capacity. If the laptop does not need the battery it should be run to about 40% charge and stored in a cool place. Liion batteries go bad whether used or not, so only buy new Liions. Typical life is 2-3 years.

Laptop Battrties are specifically designed for each laptop brand and model. Laptop batteries are all fundamentally different from one another and cannot be substituted unless the laptop has been pre-configured from the manufacturer to accept more than one type of battery chemistry.

Laptop Computer Battery, Digital Phone and Camera Battery

As you’re buying batteries, it’s important to find out two things: how long they last and how much they cost. You’ll also want to figure out exactly how the battery works with the device, and the length of time it needs to recharge. You don’t want to be on a business trip trying to figure out batteries right before a big presentation!

The first rechargeable batteries for laptops were nickel cadmium (NiCd) batteries. They didn’t cost much, worked very well and could be used in many different devices. However, as more efficient and lighter batteries have come on the market, many laptop companies have discontinued using NiCd batteries.

Nickel metal hydride (NiMH) batteries, for example, were one better option because they had greater output, cost less, were safer and more reliable. NiMH batteries had one major drawback, though: the “memory effect.” Because they had to be fully discharged before they could properly recharge, these batteries were seen as a time-consuming hassle. Older models of laptops may have these batteries.

Lithium ion (LiON) batteries are the standard batteries for most laptops made today. They weigh much less than previous batteries and they don’t have the memory effect of NiMH batteries. While they have many advantages, they’re also more expensive than other laptop batteries.

While cell phones are getting cheaper these days, they are still a costly purchase. To get the top of the line model you want, it may be necessary to save up. And once you have it, you’ll want to stick to a tight budget so you can afford all the monthly charges and extra fees. The cost of high-quality cell phone batteries is another concern to keep in mind.

Most cell phones have a basic battery, but many people choose to purchase a better battery with a higher capacity. Like so many things, the cheapest option may not be the best. As the old saying goes: you get what you pay for. It’s possible to find a high-capacity battery for a good price, but it could be a used, restored battery. Usually made with old parts, restored cell phone batteries don’t usually function as well as new ones. If the price sounds too good, chances are you’re being sold a restored cell phone battery.

Most people know that a digital camera battery is an essential accessory for their digital camera. Maybe you found out that your digital camera battery consumes power so quickly that you can hardly take 50 pictures before you need to recharge or replace the battery. On the other hand, some people have high-quality digital camera batteries that seem to last forever. Of course, you just need to consider your own needs and uses for your camera before you buy a digital camera battery.

Two kinds of digital camera batteries are available today. The AA battery is very common, as is the rechargeable digital camera battery. Also known as proprietary batteries, these are usually made by the manufacturer.