Zoran Stosic | IT newspaper

Acer V5 review: Sexy-looking V5-552G-X414 is only a competent performer

November 12th, 2013 | Edited by Zoran Stosic | hardware

Nov
12

Viable everyday laptop

If you need a notebook with a large display, Acer’s V5 is a well-priced solution. Just don’t expect knock-your-socks-off performance.
The Acer V5-552G-X414 is an all-purpose laptop that looks nice, boots fast, and delivers more than enough everyday performance for the average user. It renders movies smoothly on its 15.6-inch, 1366-by-768-pixel display, and it plays a good game up to a resolution of 1024 by 768. The keyboard is better than average, but the touchpad isn’t a favorite.
The Acer V5 weighs 4.41 pounds—just over 5 pounds when you add its AC adapter—and is handsome in a minimalist fashion. Our test unit appeared entirely in slate gray except for the black keys on its short-throw keyboard—one of the better keyboards I’ve tried (if not quite up to Lenovo or recent Dell quality).
The one-piece rocker-style touchpad, on the other hand, while nicely responsive to movement and taps, bends far too much before registering clicks. It feels odd and sours the overall ergonomic experience. Also, where many laptops provide access panels for the memory and storage, the V5 does not. This makes upgrading a sticky wicket for the average user.
The $630 configuration Acer sent is built around an AMD A10-5757M CPU, with integrated HD 8750M graphics. Throw in 6GB of memory and a 5400-rpm, 750GB hard drive, and you have a notebook that scored a pedestrian 124 on PCWorld’s Notebook WorldBench 8.1 test suite. Subjectively the unit feels snappy enough while on AC power, but less so when it’s trying to preserve battery life. Most of our test games, however, were playable at 1024 by 768 resolution, which isn’t something we can say about all laptops in this class.
Booting up is quick (about 18.5 seconds), 1080p video renders smoothly, and the sound through the speakers is better than average. Battery life on the PCWorld rundown tests proved to be a decent 4 hours, 13 minutes. Not stellar, but workable.

Beware: Bloatware onboard

The V5 has all the ports and connectivity options the average user is likely to need. On the right side are the headset jack, SD card slot, and a single USB 2.0 port. The left has only a single USB 2.0 port and the power button. The back has a USB 3.0 port, an ethernet jack, and both HDMI and what Acer calls a converter port. The converter port offers VGA connectivity via a $25 dongle. The V5 also features 802.11 a/b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.0+HS. The Webcam is a 720p model that delivers a smooth picture.
Acer ships the V5 with a fair amount of software on board. Some of it is welcome, including the company’s own recovery-management utility, a button to make up for Windows 8’s missing Start menu, Nero Backup Essentials, and Dolby Home Theater to perk up the sound. But you also get a lot of useless bloatware, such as links to Netflix and eBay. You’ll want to spend some time identifying and removing junk that might spawn unneeded background processes and sap the notebook’s performance.
The Acer V5-552G-X414 is a viable everyday laptop, and it’s more than viable when it comes to playing movies and low-resolution games. But the bendy feel of the touchpad continued to irk even after I’d had a few days to acclimate to it. And the inability to easily access the hard drive or memory stymies one of my usual suggestions for most users, which is to go cheap on the CPU and upgrade overall performance with an SSD (a component that’s not available as an option at the time of writing).

Source: www.pcworld.com

Nexus 5 vs. iPhone 5s

November 7th, 2013 | Edited by Zoran Stosic | hardware

Nov
07

Both Apple’s and Google’s flagship devices of 2013 are out in full force. In one corner, weighing in at 3.95 ounces with a 4-inch display, we have the iPhone 5s. And in the opposite corner, coming in at 4.59 ounces with a 5-inch display, we have the Nexus 5. Both phones are the flagships for iOS and Android, respectively, and as we go into the holiday shopping season, we’ll see what phone becomes the top seller.
If you’re someone who’s still deciding on which one to get, we’ve decided to give you a direct comparison between the two devices, as explain some of the bigger differences between the Nexus 5 and the iPhone 5s. We’ll also talk about some of the shared qualities between the two as well, which might make the decision process even more challenging, but hopefully we can help you make the right decision for you.

SIZE
Obviously, one of the biggest differences between the Nexus 5 and the iPhone 5s is the size. The Nexus 5 is slightly larger than the iPhone 5s, and that’s mostly thanks to the inch difference in screen size, where the Nexus 5 sports a 5-inch 1920x1080p display and the iPhone 5s has a smaller 4-inch 1136×640 display. A lot of power users love the bigger displays, but if you’re like me and want a more portable device that fits better in your hand, the iPhone 5s is the winner in this category.
However, the Nexus 5 really isn’t all that much bigger than the iPhone 5s. Photos will make you think otherwise, but holding a Nexus 5 in your hand will most likely have you questioning how Google managed to fit a 5-inch display in such a small handset.

SPEED
Speed is pretty important; apps need to open quickly and navigating around your device should be smooth and snappy. As far as pure numbers go, the Nexus 5 absolutely demolishes the iPhone 5s with its quad-core processor clocked at 2.3GHz, compared to the iPhone 5s’s dual-core 1.3GHz A7 chip.
Of course, though specs aren’t everything, and you’d be surprised how fast the iPhone 5s, thanks to its extremely-optimized iOS 7 operating system. If you’re a numbers guy and need the phone with the fastest processor, go with the Nexus 5, but you likely won’t be able to tell a difference in real-world speed between the two handsets. This one’s a tie for the most part.

OPERATING SYSTEM
The Nexus 5 runs Android 4.4 KitKat, while the iPhone 5s runs iOS 7. Obviously, these are two completely different operating systems, and your decision will most likely come down to which platform you prefer. These days, it’s all about the ecosystem and what platform offers the best apps and overall better experience. Ultimately, it comes down to whether you like Android or iOS, rather than the decision coming down to which specific phone you like better.
But whichever platform you pick, you have an excellent phone waiting for you to buy that will give you the best possible experience on its respective operating system.

CAMERA
The camera is one of those features that many users are picky about. A lot of people want a phone that can replace their traditional point-and-shoot cameras, and from our experience, the iPhone 5s can do exactly that. Since the Nexus 5 was just recently launched, we haven’t gotten the chance to thoroughly test out the camera, but from our experiences so far, the Nexus 5 is capable of delivering some great photos and video.
However, the iPhone 5s comes with Burst Mode that can shoot 10 photos per second, and a Slo-Mo feature that records video at 120fps. These features alone can be the icing on the cake for someone looking for a handset with a good camera.

BATTERY LIFE
Battery life is one of those things that no one is ever happy with. With that said, you might be pleased to know that the battery life on both the Nexus 5 and the iPhone 5s are pretty decent. According to Apple, you’ll be able to get 10 hours worth of LTE surfing time, while Google says that the Nexus 5 will last seven hours on LTE. Of course, your mileage will vary, and each user will have their own experiences as far battery life goes, but it’s usually a safe bet to knock a couple hours off of what companies give you as far as battery life numbers.

COST
Here’s where boys become men and girls become women. When it comes down to it, the cost of a device is the ultimate deciding factor, and difference in price between the Nexus 5 and the iPhone 5s is substantial. Off-contract, the Nexus 5 starts at $349, while the iPhone 5s starts at $649. Fortunately, you can get the iPhone 5s on-contract starting at $199. The Nexus 5, on the other hand, can only be bought off-contract right now.
So, if you’re wanting a contract, the iPhone 5s ultimately wins as far as up-front costs go, but the Nexus 5 is cheaper when buying outright, and essentially, even if you’re on a contract, you’re definitely paying a lot of money over two years, which is far more than just the $199 up-front cost of the iPhone 5s.

Source: www.gottamobile.com

What to Do if Your Mac Can’t Run OS X Mavericks

November 5th, 2013 | Edited by Zoran Stosic | software

Nov
05

The wait is finally over: Apple released a new version of its Mac operating system, OS X Mavericks (version 10.9).

Unlike most major new Mac OS X updates, Apple chose to continue supporting all the same Macs as the previous release of the operating system. This means that if your Mac was compatible with Mountain Lion, you’ll be able to upgrade to Mavericks.
However, some Macs are still limited to Lion (version 10.7.5), which might possibly still receive security updates for the next year or two, given Apple’s recent track record with providing Snow Leopard security updates after two newer versions of OS X were released.
Some older Macs can’t even be upgraded to Lion, meaning they’ll be stuck with Snow Leopard (version 10.6.8) or older. That’s not a good thing, because it could mean that Apple may not patch security vulnerabilities for those Macs for much longer.
Apple might stop releasing security updates for Snow Leopard in the near future. The now three-generations-old operating system costs Apple money and developer resources whenever a new security vulnerability needs to be patched. Apple continues to release Java 6 updates for Snow Leopard (and for Macs that have upgraded from Snow Leopard to a later version of OS X) even though Oracle is no longer making Java 6 patches available to the general public—which could possibly mean that Apple is paying Oracle for the privilege of obtaining the latest Java patches for older Macs.
For many generations of Mac OS X, Apple only released patches for OS vulnerabilities in the current and one previous version of the operating system. Apple eventually seemed to change its mind about supporting the then two-generations-old Snow Leopard after Mountain Lion became available, but only after a long delay before patching 121 vulnerabilities in Snow Leopard’s version of Safari that had been accumulating for several months.
Unfortunately, nobody knows for sure how much longer Snow Leopard or Lion will continue to get security updates from Apple. While Microsoft publicly announces its support timetables for Windows, and Canonical does likewise for Ubuntu, Apple has never given any official word to the public regarding how long each version of Mac OS X or iOS will continue to receive security updates.
The good news is that most new Macs sold within the past several years can be upgraded to a newer version of OS X.
Following are lists of Macs that can run a supported version of OS X. If your Mac is older than the ones listed, read on for suggestions on what you can do to upgrade to a supported system.

Mavericks Capable Macs

Mavericks, like its predecessor Mountain Lion, requires one of the following Macs with at least 2 GB of RAM and 8 GB of available hard drive space:

iMac (Mid 2007 or newer)
MacBook (Late 2008 Aluminum, or Early 2009 or newer)
MacBook Air (Late 2008 or newer)
MacBook Pro (Mid/Late 2007 or newer)
Mac mini (Early 2009 or newer)
Mac Pro (Early 2008 or newer)
Xserve (Early 2009)

Lion Capable Macs

If your Mac isn’t new enough to run Mavericks, it won’t run Mountain Lion, either. However, if your Mac has a Core 2 Duo processor (one of the models listed below), it should still be able to run Lion as long as it has at least 2 GB of RAM and 7 GB of free hard drive space:

iMac (Late 2006 or Early 2007)
MacBook (Late 2006, Mid or Late 2007, or Early 2008)
MacBook Air (original model from Early 2008)
MacBook Pro (Late 2006)
Mac mini (Mid 2007)
Mac Pro (original 2006 model, including any bought in 2007)
Xserve (Late 2006 or Early 2008)

If you’re not sure which Mac model you own, you may find EveryMac and apple-history to be useful sites.
If all you need is a RAM upgrade in order to upgrade your OS, by all means, do it! RAM is cheap, and you can either install it yourself by following guides available online, or simply have an Apple-authorized repair technician do it for you.
If your Mac can’t handle Mavericks but does support Lion, finding a legitimate copy of Lion could be a little tricky if you haven’t already purchased it. You’ll no longer find it in the Mac App Store, and Apple no longer sells an OS X Lion USB Thumb Drive (part number MD256Z/A) in its online store.
An Apple spokesperson told Macworld last year that customers should be able to purchase Lion from Apple’s “legacy products list” by calling 1-800-MY-APPLE. However, it’s unlikely that Apple has any left to sell at this point.
Since Apple doesn’t provide any way to purchase Lion anymore, your best bet might be to ask a friend who purchased Lion when it was still available. If they have a license that they’re not using, they might be willing to help you out.

Macs That Can’t Run Mavericks or Lion

If you have an iMac, MacBook, MacBook Pro, or Mac mini model that was originally released in Early/Mid 2006, the latest version of Mac OS X your system supports is Snow Leopard.
Again, only time will tell exactly how much longer Apple will continue to release security updates for the now three-generations-old Snow Leopard operating system.
Apple no longer releases security updates for Leopard (Mac OS X version 10.5.8), Tiger (version 10.4.11), or anything older than that.
If you still use a Mac with a PowerPC processor, including G4 or G5 Macs, Apple hasn’t released any security updates for your Mac’s maximum operating system for over two years now. Apple hasn’t sold any PowerPC-based Macs since 2006.
Unfortunately, Apple doesn’t give users any kind of warning when their operating system or Mac is no longer supported. Worse, when users run Apple’s Software Update program, it misleadingly tells them “Your software is up to date.”
Lest you think that nobody would bother releasing malware to attack such old systems, in recent years malware has been found in the wild that was designed to attack multiple platforms, and often this malware has contained PowerPC native code. This didn’t just happen once; it has happened again and again.
While Apple boasts about the extremely high percentage of iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch devices that are rapidly upgraded to each major new version of iOS, such is not the case with Macs and OS X.
Back in March of this year, Chitika reported that Snow Leopard was the #1 most widely used version of Mac OS X in North America. As recently as May, Net Applications reported that 33% of the worldwide Mac installed base was running Snow Leopard or an older version of Mac OS X while another 25% was still running Lion; a mere 27% was running Mountain Lion, the latest version of OS X available at the time.
Perhaps Apple hopes that by making OS X upgrades free beginning with Mavericks, major OS X upgrades may become more widely adopted much more quickly, similar to iOS. It certainly seems logical, but only time will tell how successful this tactic will be.
Anyone still using Snow Leopard or Lion should strongly consider upgrading to Mavericks if their Mac supports it, or if not, they should buy new hardware if they can afford it. (Let’s face it, that’s what Apple wants you to do anyway.)

But what can you do if neither Mavericks nor Lion is supported on your Mac and you can’t afford to buy a new computer?

If you have one of the early Intel Macs that can’t even run Lion, you have several options.
One solution is to set up Boot Camp and install Windows to use it as your Mac’s primary OS. While Apple may not support your Mac anymore, ironically Microsoft does; Windows 8.1 still supports systems with 1 GHz processors, 1 GB of RAM, and 20 GB of available hard drive space.
Alternatively, if you can’t afford to buy a copy of Windows (or just can’t stand the thought of it)—or if you prefer to support free and open-source software—there are guides online detailing how to install Ubuntu Linux on a Mac.
The latest versions of Ubuntu are still being made available for PowerPC-based Macs, including those with a G3 processor.
Another option is, of course, to buy a cheap PC. (Be forewarned: you get what you pay for.)
Obviously, none of those solutions is going to excite most Mac users. I suspect that most Mac users, geeks and non-geeks alike, would rather buy a newer Mac than switch to another operating system.
If you can’t afford to buy a brand new Mac but you do have a little money to spend, you can shop around for used Macs, but make sure you buy one that’s new enough to support Mavericks so it will hopefully be able to get security updates for a couple more years.

If you know a Mac user who’s still running an older version of OS X, do them a favor and check to see whether their Mac is capable of running Mavericks or at least Lion. If so, help them upgrade. If not, let them know it’s time to strongly consider getting a newer computer.
The burden of informing users about software and hardware that will no longer receive security updates should really fall on Apple—not on security researchers, security blogs, or blog readers. Let’s hope Apple eventually figures this out and starts giving users clear notifications when it’s time for them to upgrade.

Source: www.intego.com

8 Best Free Tools for Internet Security

November 2nd, 2013 | Edited by Zoran Stosic | software

Nov
02

If you’re one of those Internet users helping to make “password” the most popular online password for the umpteenth year in a row, you desperately need some help with your Internet security.
Online security threats get more sophisticated every year and now, more than ever, it’s important to keep your protection tools up-to-date. Luckily for you, web users are often frugal, and you can use and download a multitude of great security tools free of charge.
We’ve compiled the eight best free security tools available. You can use this list in conjunction with the link above, detailing the best free antivirus options to secure your computer and data from harm.

1. Hotspot Shield
Hotspot Shield is an excellent tool if you frequently use shared Wi-Fi. It secures your IP address, protecting your browsing from the eyes of any sneaky hackers at airports, hotels or coffee shops.

2. HTTPS Everywhere
Use the HTTPS Everywhere browser extension with either Chrome or Firefox to secure your data and online communication. HTTPS protects against eavesdropping attacks during downloads and account creation.

3. LastPass
If you’re following our trusty guide to creating secure passwords, you’re likely overwhelmed with various strings of letters, numbers and symbols. Even the most secure passwords still have to be remembered from time to time. That’s where LastPass comes in. It works by saving all of your passwords into an encrypted database and autofilling your login info when you first enter a site.
You can even use LastPass to generate secure passwords, eliminating the pesky temptation of using the exact same code for every website.

4. LongURL
If you’re using Twitter, you’ve seen shortened links. While useful for clearing web clutter, short links also come with the possibility of leading you to a risky, dangerous site. Use the web tool “LongURL” to revert your shortened links back to their original forms.

5. NoScript
This helpful Firefox add-on prevents plugins like JavaScript and Flash from running on sites you haven’t “whitelisted,” saving you from potential attacks.

6. Trusteer Rapport
Trusteer Rapport is an award-winning anti-malware and encryption tool that will block any third parties from stealing your information and keep you from entering your data in a fraudulent site masquerading as your bank.

7. VirusTotal
Run any mysterious files or URLs through this web tool (a Google subsidiary), which will then check them for viruses, worms, trojans and other types of malware.

8. Two-Step Verification
Multi-factor password verification is a necessary tool for web users with many accounts. The voluntary free service is offered by sites such as Google, Facebook and Twitter, and works by requiring you to “authorize” a new device from accessing your accounts by entering a code sent to your phone.

Source: www.mashable.com

The Best Tuneup Utilities

October 31st, 2013 | Edited by Zoran Stosic | software

Oct
31

Remember how your PC sprinted like a cheetah when you first booted it up? Your computer can have that fresh-out-of-the-box performance once again after you run a pc tuneup utility.
What is a PC tuneup utility, you ask? It’s an application designed to fix the wear and tear that computers suffer over time by repairing hard drive fragmentation, fixing the problematic Windows registry, and deleting useless and duplicate files. While all of the tools listed below perform these basic actions, a few stand out from the pack by implementing unique features.
For example, the Editors’ Choice award-winning Iolo System Mechanic 10 ($39.95, 4.5 stars) scored high marks for its top-notch tune-up capabilities, but also for its Program Accelerator (which smartly re-aligns all of a program’s dependent files on the hard drive so that the PC finds them faster), useful desktop widget (which delivers at-a-glance system information), and Whole Home Licensing (which does away with install limitations). SlimWare Utilities’ SlimCleaner also scored an Editors’ Choice Award for its unique approach. Not only is it free and license-free, but it uses aggregated data from its user base to recommend the optimal settings for your PC; it even rewards you with badges for contributing accurate information.

This tuneup utility collection doesn’t represent the full scope of PC repair tools, but the ones included here are some of the best that you’ll find. Some are paid apps, some are free apps, but you can rest easy knowing that even the lowest scoring of these PC tune up utilities will leave your PC in better condition than they found it.

360Amigo System Speedup Pro

Starting at $19.95 per year
360Amigo System Speedup Pro can help blow the cobwebs from a neglected OS, but it needs a more thorough cleaning ability and more flexible installation abilities to contend with its best rivals.

AVG PC Tuneup 2011

Starts at $29.99 for one license
AVG PC Tuneup 2011 offers excellent system-cleaning performance and can turn back the clock on a worn machine.

Comodo System Utilities

Free
Comodo System Utilities is a free and effective system-enhancing utility that is as potent, if not more so in certain cases, as paid apps.

Diskeeper 2011 Professional

$59.95
Diskeeper 2011 may be pricey, and sports a busy interface, but it can repair the elements that negatively impact system performance and, thanks to some unique tools, slow the wear-down process.

Iolo System Mechanic 10

$39.95
$40.48 at LenovoIolo System Mechanic remains one of the best PC tune-up utilities around, as it digs deep, cleans up PCs well, and offers informative, easy-to-understand help about the problems that plague computers.

Norton Utilities

$49.99 for three licenses
This PC tune-up utility can give an aged PC a new lease on life, but its lacks some of the features and performance found in competing software.

PC Tools Performance Toolkit 2011

$39.95
This PC clean-up tool will make your system boot faster and run smoother, but the limited installations may not be household-friendly.

SlimWare Utilities SlimCleaner

Free
Featuring free, effective, community-based problem solving, SlimCleaner is an excellent application for those who don’t want to pony up money for a tune-up utility or deal with licenses.

Spamfighter Full-Diskfighter

Starting at $9.95 per month
Spamfighter Full-Diskfighter will improve your PC’s performance, but there are other suites that do a better job at making your computer run like new.

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