Helping Playstation 3 Keep it's Cool!

Of course if we were all happy to give up all this electronic wizardry, we’d solve the problem in a stroke – put it out for the Garage Sale or put it on Bay!

That solution is a little too radical for most of us so let’s try something much more palatable. Let’s start by increasing the air circulation around ALL of the electronic equipment. We need to understand that electronic equipment needs fresh air to work well and to maintain a suitable heat level.

Take each piece of equipment from the ‘pile’ (or whatever your personal collection of goodies looks like) and examine it briefly. You will notice that it is covered in dust, so get the vacuum and get it gone – now. Fantastic, we can now see the vents that were blocked with dust and clearly these slots and holes were engineered into the design for a very good reason.

Now they are clear we need to remember to dust these more regularly to prevent the problem from recurring. A really simple trick to improve the air flow in a stack of electronic goods is to increase the space around each air vent on the equipment, so how do we do that?

Easy, call up your friend who plays squash with a passion. Turn down his offer for a game (trust me when I say it’s not a game for gamers!) but offer to take all his old and broken squash balls from him for FREE!

What do we want with them? We want to cut them in half to use as spacers. By placing the 2 cut balls on the equipment we ensure an increased air gap AND we have the added benefit of a super shock absorber.

This simple technique ensures that DVD’s and of course your Playstation can function properly by absorbing disk movement and all the kit in the pile gets much more air. If you still have problems it’s time to employ the trust desk fan to help to circulate air through the gaps and cool the circuitry or grab one of the really cool and fancy playstation coolers!

Playstation 3 Uses Too Much Electricity

Playsttion 3 is WAY too hot for its own good!

Playstation 3 may well be too hot for it's own good according to some owners who are having problems keeping it cool

In all fairness, the games console is not the only electronic item at fault here, pretty much everything from the VCR, DVD Player and any Hi-Fi equipment throws out a huge amount of excess heat

The root cause of the problem is not necessarily that electronic kit is creating more heat, it has much more to do with the fact that we have LOTS more gadgetry in the same spaces that housed a lone Playstation and a VCR not many years ago

Most of us do not have lots more space than 5 years ago, unless we've been fortunate enough to have a house with a large den for keeping an using all the fun stuff in the house. Even then we are probably cramming more kit into the same cabinet or more likley, simply stacking the next new item on top of the last!

The results vary for each different owner, but commonly we see room temperature rising and electronics overheating and causing the electronic toys in our collections starting to malfunction

According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, it is a fact that Playstation 3 consumes 8 times as much power as Playstation 2. That's really greedy! So we have kit that wants more power and is causing overheating and failure, so what can we do about it?

Some simple answers answers are posted tomorrow, so subscribe at the top if you need a reminder!

Making Money from Gaming - Part 2

Not everyone will want to get involved with large organisations when it comes to game testing, so there are other routes in terms of gaming development

Like everything in this ever-shrinking world surrounded by the Internet, there are little communities of people working across countries and continents on game development for the heck of it

The beaty here is there, that there are lots of potential buyers for ideas, part-developed games and finished games for all kinds of platforms, so if you are creating games for PC, Playstation, whatever, there is a potential buyer out there

Sometimes it is easy to think they you are the only person intersted in such a game, so go and find yourself other interested parties in Forums and let them play your 'Beta' of the game

You will be suprised how positive the responses can be. Remebre there are hundreds of independant buyers and fledgling companies that would love to pay you - go and find them!

Click here to start earning while playing games!

Making Money from Gaming - Part 1

This is a very real opportunity for all kinds of enthusiasts into gaming

The premise is simple, these giant games developers need fresh input from real players, either to ensure that games are appealing or to ensure that game play and graphics function as expected

You have to understand that even the largest companies do not have 100's or 1,000's of testers as employees all year round, so they want 'temporary' testers in the hot seat o PC games, Playstaion platforms or Nintendo to give them feedback, suggestions and ideas

With this in mind, there is a simple route to get involved and start testing for these gaming comapny giants, simply click the link to find out more

Click here to start earning while playing games!

Ideal Gaming Laptop / Notebook Computer

Choosing the ideal Gaming Laptop is not easy, but since prices have fallen so significantly, there really is an outstanding opportunity now to get the most if you travel alot or need a portable gaming platform that can perform other tasks.

The previous article from Titus "How To Choose The Best Gaming Laptop" goes to considerable lengths to detail the spec you might consider before going out to shop for a new laptop for gaming as well as all the othet things you'd like a laptop to do.

As ever, take your time to pick a great deal and a brand that you're comfortable with and perhaps have some previous experience with and above all choose a well known supplier that you can confidence in and that next laptop / notebook purchase will be a great investment.

How To Choose The Best Gaming Laptop

The gaming laptop is coming of age! It is steadily increasing in popularity as performance quality goes up. Gamers now regularly consider laptops or notebooks when searching for that perfect gaming machine.

With each new generation of notebooks we are seeing some novel breakthroughs: dual core notebooks, PCI Express, Sonoma chipset, increased storage, increased RAM, faster CPUs, better battery life and better wireless connections including a Cellular Modem. All welcome news for gamers and notebook lovers alike.

Generally, gamers are a very demanding group, they know their computers and they know what they want in their computers. Most gamers like to order their gaming laptop with their own specs and configurations. In that light, if you closely examine the main points gamers consider when configuring or building their Dream Machine -- you will have a good blueprint for the best gaming machine.

Since notebook technology changes every two years or so, it's probably wise to purchase a laptop that can be easily upgraded as new products come on line. So consider the upgradable factor in any notebook that you plan to buy.

Now, lets look at some of these key gaming factors:

GRAPHICS

You must have the best/latest/fastest Graphics on the market. DUH!

Serious gamers are concerned with graphics, obsessed would probably be a better word. And rightly so! Graphics or the quality of the graphic chipset in your notebook computer will be your first area of consideration and it will greatly determine the gaming performance of your PC.

Go with the latest Graphic Chipset and also check to see if you can upgrade your Graphics Card on the particular machine you're thinking about buying. Many machines allow this.

Here are some Graphic Chipsets that are highly rated: ATi Mobility Radeon 9700, ATI's Mobility FireGL V3200 or Intel's Graphics Media Accelerator 900.

ATi Mobility Radeon 9700 is a high quality Graphics Card or visual processing unit (VPU) present in many next generation notebooks. It will give you higher performance at a lower power level, saving battery power.

It makes your notebook computer capable of many functions: 3D games, wide-screen HDTV, dynamic presentations, mobile video editing studio and graphic processor.

Many notebooks now come with integrated graphics, where components interact and are sometimes shared, especially memory. If you want a notebook computer for 3D games -- check the amount of video RAM -- this is memory that's dedicated to graphic or video applications.

Other common graphic chipsets are: STMicro, NVIDIA, 3D Labs, Matrox, Trident S3 and SIS.

RAM

Get the largest amount of RAM possible. DUDE!

RAM or random-access memory will determine how much graphics your notebook computer will be able to handle. It's best to get the largest amount possible on your machine or what you can afford.

It's generally agreed that you need at least 256MB for Windows XP and Mac OS X. You will only need 128MB for other operating systems in Windows or Mac.

RAM or the amount of RAM on your notebook computer is extremely important if you want to handle heavy graphic files or want to play games on your notebook. The more RAM you have, the more applications you will be able to handle. Some notebook now come with up to 2GB of DDR2 533MHz RAM!

DDR2 SDRAM - is a new standard that can boost conventional SDRAM memory up to speeds well over 200MHz and beyond. For example, the IBM ThinkPad T43, thanks to the Sonoma Chipset or platform has 533MHz DDR 2 SDRAM.

This is much better than standard SDRAM which tops out around 150- 166MHz and DDR SDRAM which starts at 200MHz and goes up to around 400MHz.

Video RAM or VRAM is special memory that's used by video adapters on your notebook. This is RAM that is dedicated to handling the visuals and graphics on your notebook computer. This is helpful if you want to play a lot of the latest 3D video games on your notebook.

It is somewhat different from ordinary RAM because it can be accessed by two different devices at once -- enabling screen updates while the video processor processes new data. VRAM provides better graphics but is more expensive than ordinary RAM.

SPEED

You need the fastest computer money can buy. Period!

In order to get the maximum performance from your ultimate gaming computer you must have the fastest speed you can get or afford. Your ultimate PC must be able to process and handle the latest 3D video games with ease. There is nothing as annoying as your PC freezing up in the middle of some major gaming action!

Therefore, your Processor's speed is very important.

CPU or Central Processing Unit, you probably know it as the processor! It's the heart or rather the brain of your notebook or computer. It does all your computer's data processing and applications. Since it does most of the work, it's usually the most expensive part of your notebook computer.

Go with SATA!

SATA is a type of hard drive and stands for Serial Advanced Technology Architecture. It was developed by a whole group of companies including Seagate, Intel, Maxtor, Dell and others. SATA transmit data in a serially (in a single stream) as opposed to PATA or Parallel ATA which is commonly referred to as an IDE hard drive.

Serial ATA hard drives uses less power and are ideal for notebook computers, they are also more advanced than PATA hard drives which uses multipe streams of data -- go figure! But Serial Technology carries data in a single stream and unlike PATA is not limited to a particular clock speed, Serial transfers data packets almost 30 times faster than parallel.

If top performance in your notebook is one of your goals, go with a SATA hard drive.

Intel Pentium M processors are commonly found in a lot of notebooks and laptops. When in doubt also go with a Pentium!

The speed of microprocessors is measured in MHz.

MHz is short for megahertz. One MHz equals one million cycles per second. The speed of processors, usually known as clock speed, is measured in megahertz (MHz) or these days in gigahertz (GHz).

The higher the clock speed, the faster the computer will process applications and data. It determines how powerful your notebook computer will be. Processor speeds for notebooks or laptops are steadily increasing, not quite the same as a desktop but the gap is narrowing quickly. Speeds of 3.4GHz or more.

Don't forget to ask or check the hard drive speed! A 7,200rpm hard drive is faster than a 4,200rpm or 5,400rpm and usually gives better performance.

DISPLAY

You need the sharpest, brightest display screen or all the above points are moot!

Display quality is also extremely important to your gaming experience. Make sure the resolution and display quality of your notebook computer can handle the graphics for 3D Gaming.

What to keep in mind...

SVGA Resolution. Put simply, computer images are made up of dots, the more dots you have -- the better the image. SVGA Resolution is made up of 800 x 600 dots.

Many notebook computer have XGA (1024 by 768 dots) or SXGA (1280 x 1024 dots), these resolutions will give a higher quality image. WXGA stands for widescreen XGA.

TFT Active Matrix Display. TFT stands for thin-film transistors and many high-end notebook computers use (TFT) active matrix liquid crystal displays.

If display quality is your main reason for buying a notebook, it's best to give it the 'old eye test' and check out the image quality first-hand and decide for yourself. Panasonic, Toshiba, Sony, and others are known for their high quality monitors -- this quality is also present in their notebook display screens.

So when buying your perfect Gaming Notebook Remember This:

Graphics + Ram + Speed + Display = Perfect Gaming Notebook

Consider all of the above factors before you buy or config your perfect gaming machine. Chances are high that you will get a top-notch quality Gaming Notebook that will give you hours and hours of pure gaming bliss!

For a list of the top rated Gaming Notebooks and Laptops Click Here:
Best Gaming Laptops & Notebooks.

Copyright © 2005 Titus Hoskins.

This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Titus_Hoskins

Kids Can really benefit from SOME Video Games

If you've read the last below you can begin to understand a little more about the better side of Video Games. Yes, of course there are times when hours spent on a PC or Playstation can upset routines and can give any kid the excuse not to do their homework, but it is not all bad.

Boys seem to be more interested than Girls anyway in the whole video gaming experience and if you stop and think about it, Playstaion designs and markets games in the main for male and not female players.

The conclusion is there are some skills that are learned, I for one know that my youngest son's hand-eye co-ordination was unbelievably strong after getting to grips with Keyboard and Mouse games on the PC. The down side for me know is that he can beat me at any Playstation game, not just once or twice but all the time!

The common sense rules are always the best, don't let younger kids have access to over graphic or violent games designed for much older children and adults, but coose games that allow them to maintain the exitement that Playsation and other platforms and designed to provide.

Know Your Kids' Video Games

Parents who find themselves thinking their children are drifting away from them because they are hooked on video games, should stop and think for a moment.

The kids aren’t drifting away from the parents – the parents are drifting away from the kids. When the children were very young, their moms and dads played with their kids and their toys, but as the children got older and became more interested in video games, parents lessened their playtime with them.

Perhaps parents should actually get to know their kids’ video games and actually use them. If they did, they might actually enjoy it.

In addition, many parents think video games are bad for kids. Well some are, but there are some really good ones that are educational – and I’m not talking the boring ones that are all math or language.

In games like Civilization III, players have fun building entire nations, advancing into new eras and sometimes even conquering enemies. In the process, gamers learn a lot about history without even realizing it.

With games like Runescape, players learn first-rate buying and selling skills, supply and demand knowledge, and how to spot a scammer. All of these skills are important in real life. Therefore, not all video games are terrible for kids, and parents would know this if they would actually sit down with their kids and play the video games with them.

But parents don’t because, they feel they don’t have enough time, they think there’s too many buttons, and they don’t see why their children think the video games are so entertaining. In other words, the parents don’t think they would like it.

But as my parents always say, “How can you hate it if you haven’t tried it” or “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” But when video games are brought up to them, they think they’re automatically bad or boring when they haven’t tried it themselves. Now it’s my turn to say, “Look who’s talking.”

If parents tried the video games and connected with their kids again it would bring them closer, and instead of drifting “away,” kids would be drifting “toward” their parents.

Michael Moorehead, author of “The Student from Zombie Island,” is a sixth-grade KMS student who lives in Pecan Grove. Visit his website at www.ZombieIslandBooks.com

When Michael J. Moorehead isn't writing, he's hiking, baking oatmeal cookies, playing video games and participating in Boy Scouts. His favorite animal is the polar bear, and he hopes to one day become an environmentalist. He's concerned about the plight of the polar bears and says he wants to stop global warming to save the majestic white creatures from extinction - but he will have to graduate from junior high school first. Michael lives in Tempe, Arizona, with his mother, a freelance writer and editor for the SanTan Sun News and Arizona Parenting magazine, and his father, an insurance property adjustor, who moonlights as a movie critic for the Wrangler News.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_Moorehead

Looking for those Tempting Extras?

If Greggs article wetted your appetite for a headset, here is a useful link

Playstaion 2 USB Headset Really useful if you like 'command' style games, where you can interact either with the game itself or over the Internet with other gamers This is the official SONY piece of kit for playstation 2 and is therefore the very best quslity that will perform endlessly without complaint!

If You Are An Online Gamer, Here Are A Few Must Haves

By Gregg Hall

Online gaming has exploded in popularity in the last few years, thanks to increasingly better technology. Characters look more real, and opponents abound because of the venue's popularity. A player in California can duke it out with someone in Japan in these live formats. And as a result, gamers are constantly seeking out the newest accessories that will make their gaming experience even more enjoyable.

We all need to hear and see to function. And the same goes with online gaming. Good sound quality matters. So every gamer needs a solid headset or communication device. Lots of systems support high tech communication devices. Take Playstation 2: you can plug in up to two headsets through a USB port. Obviously you'll need a gaming headset specifically designed with a USB device.

These headsets come in handy and are even necessary for some games. For example, you're playing a game online with other individuals and you need to call out plays to your teammates, you need a good headset to both hear plays and call out plays. But if you prefer a type of game where you're in charge of the entire game alone, then obviously you can exercise the option of not looking like an air traffic controller.

Microsoft Xbox has similar hookups to Playstation 2 except that you connect the headset to the actual controller instead of the system. This works out well because you don't need as long of a cord as you would for Playstation 2, which hooks up to the system. Additionally, the Xbox headset has some awesome features that will make your gaming experience truly unique. For example, players have the option of literally disguising their voice (think of a kidnapper's creepy voice synthesizer) so that their opponents don't know what they really sound like. Additionally, parents should consider this headset since they can mute and thus monitor what their child hears online.

Gaming companies are getting smarter. Many are offering package deals where the headset will come with an online gaming service and subscription, and thus a person doesn't have to search for just the right set for a given game.

And while the headset certainly makes online gaming fun, it's not the most essential accessory for online gaming. Fast internet speed is. If you have a slow upload and download speed, you won't be able to play your game as well since you'll be receiving your information late. You won't see the same things as your opponents at the same time that your opponents see them, and thus will both frustrate you and compromise your play. So get a high speed connection if you want to engage in online play. And make sure you have a reliable one. There's nothing more frustrating than poising a character to make a move and then losing your connection. So consider these tools to make your online gaming experience a true pleasure.

Gregg Hall is an author living in Navarre Florida. Find more about this as well as video game rentals online at http://www.videogamerentalsonline.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gregg_Hall