A custom-built computer is just that: A computer that has been custom-built. Not necessarily a designer case with etched glass, lights, and such but rather the parts that make up the computer. A computer case is just a protective coating for your computer. You can build a computer in anything, or just leaving it all laying on the table. It has no protection from falling, liquids, static electricity, or anything else that might come it’s way, but the computer would work just fine. I’ve built a computer inside of a fortified pizza box, inside of an old xbox case, and many other weird places. Custom-built means that the parts are gathered from where-ever and connected together, i.e. Motherboard; processor; ram; hard drive; etc… This means the owner of the computer picks and chooses what goes into the computer. If a gaming machine is desired, then the pieces chosen would be focused around video quality, physical multi-core processing, and the fastest memory clock speed. This also means that the parts are swappable for those times they break down or need to be upgraded. The parts aren’t proprietary (unless that is what was chosen) and usually the parts can be gained from many locations.

A pre-built computer are usually those from larger companies such as Dell, HP, Sony, Toshiba, etc… They offer many different choices to try and match the customer’s situation at the lowest price possible. Pre-builds are good for people who are not familiar with computer components and/or not comfortable in building the computer themselves. And if they have to pay some one/company to build the computer anyway, they might as well get one that is already built. The pre-built genre of computers widely range in power, speed, customizability, abilities from a $300 system off of Wal-mart’s shelf to the $2000 gaming Alienware centered around gaming. Basic computers that will just get you on the web, emails, videos, and light gaming to the power-house of massive graphically intense gaming, and CAD work for designing buildings and such.

Quick Breakdown of Differences:

Custom-built = pick the components, get what you want for what you want it for, full swappability, easily repaired, must have knowledge of components and troubleshooting

Pre-built = no knowledge needed, sells team readily available to answer questions and give tips, many companies to compare while shopping, parts are usually proprietary

Price:

One of the main focuses of these debates (“Custom-Built” vs “Pre-Built”) is price. Let’s face it, price determines the majority of people’s actions, it all comes down to money. When the average person looks for a new computer and starts shopping around, they see a full array of options to choose from. I’ll describe a few, but there are far to many for the scope of this article.

1. $300 Wal-mart computer right off the shelf. That’s right, a $300 full computer system just ready to use right out of the box. A bit hard to believe that these once massively expensive machines at the low price of $300. For most users this is enough to start out with, giving access to the internet, emails, videos and online services like Netflix and Hulu. But everything needs to be balanced, and to get the price this low the manufacturer had to give up some thing(s). Usually in this situation the machine was built with the cheapest parts that could be built at that time which shortens the life of these machines. They tend to break down sooner than any other computers. They sometimes leave parts off of the components losing the ability to upgrade certain things. As a computer repair technician I have had computers brought to me that needed to be upgraded for the user to play games but to our dismay, the computer had no upgrade options. Not even a place for a video card! But for $300 you shouldn’t expect much. These computers are situational, and the situations are someone just needing a computer now to do basic stuff and will upgrade to something better later on.
2. $2000 Alienware computer from the manufacturer. Alienware is one of the biggest names in computers, with their snazy name, awesome logo of a black alien head, and their computers being built around powerhouse gaming. They are also some of the most expensive computers you can find, with their parts being that powerful, and being so well known. People have to pay extra for that “Name”, to say, “I have an Alienware”, even though Alienware was bought by Dell several years back and Dell are known for the cheap machines that break down in two years or less. Although that is what Dell is known for, it does not mean Dell makes inferior computers. They XPS systems are quite nice for the price, and the Alienware are of very high quality. These machines are built for gaming, so they are fast, can multitask like a multitasking monster, and can usually do anything you would expect a computer to do with ease. But of course, there are balancing issues as well, most notably the proprietary parts. If you want to upgrade anything, or if something breaks, overheats, or just stops working then you have to get the parts from Alienware, or have them send one of their techs out to fix it. If it’s not covered under warranty or the warranty has run out, then your looking at a huge chunk of change, but for most people that get an Alienware, paying a that much for repairs is usually not a big deal.
3. $500 Custom-built. This is where it gets confusing for most people. Custom-builds are usually more expensive than ‘Off-The-Shelf-Pre-Built’ computers because the custom-builds do not use the same “cheaper” parts that sometimes have components left off. Custom-built computers ranges so much from ‘lower-end’ to ‘high-end’ that I can’t describe anything in to much detail. Basically you decide what will be the primary focus for this computer, either internet, games, other and shop around for boards and decide on the ones for you based on stats, price, and warranty. Some parts manufacturers give life-time warranties for their parts such as Gigabyte (as of writing this article), while others only give one or two years. The majority of people who custom-build their computers will get parts that are interchangeable with other parts and so repairing a system or upgrading is as simple as swapping out said part. In general terms when it comes to price comparison, the custom-builds scale with the amount of money spent. Basically, the more money you spend on a custom-build the more power you get out of it compared to pre-build machines. I’m going to use some numbers such as price for comparison, but these are the roughest of rough numbers for comparing, and basically just used because round whole numbers are easier to understand and compare. Let’s say you spend $500 on a computer and the power of that you get is 100. If you were to spend $500 on the the parts for a custom-built the power you get is 100.  Now if you were to spend $1000 on each, you would get 200 power for the pre-built and 240 power for the custom-built. Spending $2000 on both would get you 400 power for the pre-built and 520 power for the custom-built.

This is a problem most people have when comparing computers, is just how much power they get out of a computer for the price. For most people this is not an issue. Comparing a $500 computer to a $300 computer that will do nothing but browse websites, check e-mail, and watch videos is a no-brainer. $200 is a lot of money that can go towards something else, getting the consumer two or more items for the price of one item.

For those that are familiar with computer parts, and the differences in power or just want to do more than the basics such as playing graphically intense games like Call of Duty, Crysis, Everquest II, or even World of Warcraft must look at price compared to the power instead of just power.

When I speak of “power” in this article I’m referring to the benchmarking numbers. Benchmarking is a series of tests that your computer goes through to determine what it’s capable of, such as how many dynamic lights can it display in games, or how fast can it browse the web, and such things like that. Windows comes with software pre-installed that is a very basic benchmarking called Windows Experience Index which attaches a number on how well it thinks your computer is doing. Measuring things like hard drive speed, memory speed, etc… To find out more of benchmarking and where your computer stacks up, just google Benchmarking.

Deciding which route to take is entirely on the consumer and their situation. Unfortunately this means that there is no winner in the Custom-Built vs Pre-Built debate.  It comes down to what is right for you at that time.

Off-the-shelf pre-builds are nice as temporary computers for school work and basic usage. They are great for situations where something could go wrong and they get damaged and stop working such as for kids to young adults.

Pre-builds from the manufacturers are usually higher quality compared to the off-the-shelf versions but are usually a couple hundred bucks or more in price. They are great for those who do not want to go through the trouble of custom-building their own computer but wants more than just the basic, or something that will last longer. Based on how much the consumer is looking to spend, these machines can range from $300 to the sky. This category includes the Alienware systems that are more expensive and focused around gaming and power users.

Custom-builds are great for everyone that just wants to get involved in the creation of their system or just wants a system to do exactly what they want when they want it. One does not need to know about computer parts, numbers, benchmarking or anything to get a custom-built computer, they just have to know what they want their computer to primarily do (which the user should know this no matter what computer they are getting). There are many techs or just people who know enough to get the job done that anyone can get the custom-built experience without doing the actual custom-building.

Back to the subject of price: I’ve always believed and tried to spread where I could that “You get what you paid for”. Spending $500 on a computer is going to get you better speeds/power, and longer life than if you spend $300. That’s a basic fact known (or at least ‘should’ be known) by everyone with the ability to comprehend the concept of money. Not the use of money, which is trade it for stuff, but the concept of money: It’s a measure of how much work has been done and therefore grants you the ability to gain merchandise and services based on said work. It would be nice if that is the way the system works, but we all know the current system is as far from that as it possibly could be. As a computer tech and just in general with non-computer items, when people buy the knock-off brand of an item they expect it to do everything (and usually more) than the original does, even though they spend less than half the money. There is always a chance the $100 monitor is not going to be as crisp or have the color depth as that $200 monitor. But there are pit falls, such as paying for a brand-name rather than a product. The brand-name Sony is more expensive than the brand-name Gateway regardless on specifications of the item being sold, because Sony is more well known and more popular. Or like a pair of Tommy Hilfiger pants are more expensive than those pants you found on a rack at that clothing depot down the street.

When spending large amounts of money, such as on a computer, it’s generally a good idea to get opinions from those around you, or stop by a specialty store (in this situation, a computer repair shop) and ask questions. Especially with electronics that change so frequently and companies always ‘leap-frogging’ over one another, going to a specialty store and asking people who are paid to keep up with this stuff could save you some serious money, or just get something that keeps you happy much longer than it could have.

I hope this article has helped you in some way, and gets you closer to getting what you want. Good Luck!

Website is http://www.emptyloop.com/
64 bit edition can be downloaded from here.
32 bit edition can be downloaded from here.

This freeware tool is used to overcome a Windows bug.

I was so amazed by the fact that Windows does not give you real control on your machine and sometimes do not let you delete some files. This program will take care of most issues when a program is locked.

Experience your favorite Smartphone operating system on your TV! You’ll be able to watch YouTube videos, browse the internet, share photos with friends, chat on Skype and do everything else you’re able to do with your phone and tablet. Connect your external hard drive to the Android player and watch your movies in HD, directly on your TV and A USB mouse/keyboard can be hooked up to easily navigate through all the delightful functions of this Android Ice Cream Sandwich system.

Enjoy watching thousands of free videos and movies over the internet, stream internet radio directly into your living room and much more. The possibilities are limitless! Over 600.000 Apps and games can be downloaded and installed directly on this media player through the Google Play App store and playing Android games on your TV will now be possible. This android media box will truly bring your TV’s multimedia capabilities up to a whole new level!

Make your TV smart today! Offered at an amazing wholesale price, this item is now in stock for single or bulk purchase. Order today and we’ll ship your order out tomorrow. Brought to you by your source for wholesale Smart TV’s and Media Players – Chinavasion.

At a Glance…

• 1080P Full HD Playback
• Built-in Wi-Fi
• RCA and HDMI Output
• 3D Movie Playback
• SD/MMC Card Reader
• 8GB Built-in Flash Memory

Manufacturer Specifications
General

• OS version: Android 4.0
• CPU: Allwinner Boxchip A10, Cortex A8
• Processor Speed: 1.2GHz
• RAM: 512MB
• USB Mouse and Keyboard Support
• Video Playback Resolution: 1080P, 720P, 576P, 480P
• Languages: bahasa Indonesia, Afrikaans, Amharic, Czech, Dansk, German, English, Spanish, French, Italian, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese, Romania, Vietnamese, Turkish, Russian, Greek, Persian, Arab, Hindi, Thai, Korea, Chinese (simp), Chinese(trad), Japanese

Memory

• Internal: 8GB
• Micro SD Card Slot Supports up to 32GB
• External Hard Drive Supported up to 2TB

Media Formats:

• Video: RM, RMVB, MPEG 1/2/4, VOB, AVI, ASF, WMV, MKV, MOV, MP4, RMP4, IFO, ISO
• Audio: AAC, MP3, OGG, WMA, WAV, M4A
• Picture: JPEG, BMP, PNG, TIF

Ports

• AV OUT
• HDMI Port
• USB Port Host
• USB OTG
• SD Card Slot
• Optical
• LAN Port
• DC IN

Dimensions

• Main product dimensions: 120x90x30mm (L x W x D)
• Main product weight: 115g
• Weight/dimension is for the main item of this boxed product, to help you compare product sizes before buying: please do not base your shipping calculations on this price – shipping prices depend on your cart contents, shipping destination, and shipping method: please use the checkout to select options and preview shipping price for your total order.

Product Notes

• The Android OS version on this device cannot be upgraded or flashed and any attempts to modify the default OS will void the warranty. As a wholesaler, Chinavasion provides no software support, advice, or training regarding the Android operating system and software.
• Please note: this product does not come with any HDD devices.

Package Contents

• Android Media Player
• Remote Control
• AV Cable
• Power Adpater (100-240V)
• English Manual

Ordering from Chinavasion provides you with the following benefits:

• Orders processed and shipped within 24-hours
• 12 month warranty
• In-house QC
• Member discounts
• Award winning customer support
• Quantity order discounts
• Worldwide Shipping
• Certification: CE, FCC, RoHS

Controlling your Android Tv has never been easier! This QWERTY wireless media keyboard consists of 75 keys including media shortcut buttons like Play, Pause and Mute. But the really cool feature about this keyboard is its built in mouse function. Just like a Wii remote, move the keyboard around while pressing the Android button to activate its mouse function. And easily switch back to using the keyboard just by releasing the Android button. Ideal for presentations, gaming, multimedia and entertainment, this keyboard will change the way you interact with your Tv. But you can also use this amazing keyboard and mouse with your Windows or Mac Pc. 

But you can also use this amazing keyboard and mouse with your Windows or Mac Pc. Thanks to the plug and Play feature, just plug the usb dongle in your usb port and take over control, up to 15 meters away! Forget the hassle of carrying around a keyboard and a mouse. From now on, this new All in One keyboard is the only thing you have to take with you!

This great handheld keyboard will bring a whole new experience to you Pc/Android Tv. Available in our warehouse now, order today and we’ll express ship it out tomorrow. Brought to you by the leader in China Electronics – Chinavasion.

At a Glance…

• Wireless QWERTY Keyboard and Mouse in One for Android Devices & TV Boxes
• Motion Control Mouse with Left and Right Click
• Compatible with: Window 7 / 98/Me/NT/2000/Mac/Vista / XP, Android 2.1 and above
• USB 2.4GHz Dongle

Manufacturer Specifications
General

• Wireless: Wireless 2.4GHz Connection
• Keyboard: Fully QWERTY with Built-in Media Buttons
• Motion Mouse
• Operation Range: up to 15 meters
• Supported OS: Android 2.1 And Above, Window 98/ME/NT/2000/XP/Vista/7, Mac OSX
• Power: Power by 3 x AAA Batteries (Batteries Not Included)
• Advance power saving technology

Dimensions

• Main product dimensions: 200x70x30mm (L x W x D)
• Main product weight: 263g
• Weight/dimension is for the main item of this boxed product, to help you compare product sizes before buying: please do not base your shipping calculations on this price – shipping prices depend on your cart contents, shipping destination, and shipping method: please use the checkout to select options and preview shipping price for your total order.

Package Contents

• USB 2.4GHz Wireless Remote Control
• USB Receiver
• User Manual

FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions

• Will this wireless Keyboard work with my OS? Check the “Systems Supported” section under Manufacturer Specifications!

Ordering from Chinavasion provides you with the following benefits:

• Orders processed and shipped within 24-hours
• 12 month warranty
• In-house QC
• Member discounts
• Award winning customer support
• Quantity order discounts
• Worldwide Shipping
• Certification: CE, FCC, RoHS

Android TV 4.1 HDMI Mini PC with dual core 1.6GHz CPU processors, 1GB RAM, 1080p Playback, and WiFi N, turning your HD TV into a full HD Android 4.1 PC for browsing the internet, playing games, writing emails and watching media.

Introducing the new “SmartTV” which instantly turns your HD TV into an Android 4.1 powered PC by simply connecting the HDMI to your HDTV. Coming with Android 4.1 (Android’s latest and greatest OS with more functionality and power) the “SmartTV” also comes with the power of a dual core 1.6 GHz CPU processor, 1GB RAM, 1080p playback, and WiFi N speed, making your TV into an Android media monster. Quickly and easily download thousands of gaming or productivity apps over Google play app store, download and store your HD movies and more 4GB of internal memory that is easily expandable to 16GB by inserting a microSD card. Literally an “android on a stick” this HDMI android player even comes with an HDMI extension cable, allowing you to easily install the “SmartTV” to the most suitable position for your own needs.

With the Android 4.1 “SmartTV”, you now have even more options to entertain yourself and your guests at home using your HD TV. Offered at a low wholesale price, this item is now in stock for single or bulk purchase. Buy now and it ships out within one day. Brought to you by your source for android media players – Chinavasion.

At a glance…

• Dual Core 1.6GHz CPU
• 1GB RAM
• WiFi N
• 1080p HD Support
• 4GB Internal Memory
• HDMI, MicroSD slot, Micro USB, and USB port

Manufacturer Specifications
General

• Android version : 4.1
• CPU: RK3066 Dual ARM Cortex-A9
• Processor Speed (max): 1.6GHz
• RAM: 1GB
• WiFi: 802.11 b/g/n
• HDMI
• Micro USB
• USB
• Languages: bahasa Indonesia, bahasa melayu, Afrikaans, Czech, Dansk, German, English, Spanish, French, Italian, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese, Romania, Vietnamese, Turkish, Russian, Greek, Persian, Arabic, Hebrew, Hindi, Thai, Korean, Chinese (simp), Chinese(trad), Japanese

Memory

• Internal: 4GB
• Micro SD card up to 16GB

Media formats

• Video: Mpeg1/2/4.H.264,VC-1,Divx,Xvid,RM8/9/10,VP6,
• Video: MKV,TS,TP,M2TS,RM/RMVB,BD-ISO,AVI,MPG,VOB,DAT,ASF,TRP,FLV
• Audio: TS, AC3, LPCM, FLAC, HE-AAC
• Photo: JPEG, PNG, BMP, GIF
• E-book: PDF, TXT

Product Notes

• Android device can download various media players and codec’s for supported format options

Dimensions

• Main product dimensions:110 x 40 x 15mm (L X W X D)
• Main product weight: 34g
• Weight/dimension is for the main item of this boxed product, to help you compare product sizes before buying: please do not base your shipping calculations on this price – shipping prices depend on your cart contents, shipping destination, and shipping method: please use the checkout to select options and preview shipping price for your total order.

Package Contents

• Android TV Box
• User Manual
• Power Adapter
• USB Cable
• HDMI Adapter

Ordering from Chinavasion provides you with the following benefits:

• Orders processed and shipped within 24-hours
• 12 month warranty
• In-house QC
• Member discounts
• Award winning customer support
• Quantity order discounts
• Worldwide Shipping
• Certification: CE, FCC, RoHS

iPhone Portrait: 320 px x 480 px
iPad Portrait: 1024 px x 768 px
iPad Split Screen: Master View: 320 px

iPhone Icon: 57 px x 57 px
iPhone Icon Retina: 114 px x 114 px
iPad Icon: 72 px x 72 px
iPad Icon Retina: 144 px x 144 px

Apple Store Icon: 512 px x 512 px

iPhone Status Bar: 20 px

Apple’s Recommended Toubable Button Space: 44 px x 44 px

[self resignFirstResponder] will remove the keyboard. Set this in the function for the buttons like Return or create a a new function and all other functions will call it when needed to remove the keyboard.

When taping any where on the screen to remove keyboard: Create a button that covers the whole screen and change it’s type to from “Round Rect” to Custom so it’s there just invisible.

This app is more than just a run-of-the-mill soundboard!
It’s designed to help you sleep, help you relax, and to help you meditate.
Natural sound effects enable you to relax, meditate and manage your thoughts.
We all need a break from the stresses and strains of everyday life from time to time.
One of the best ways to de-stress is to listen to relaxing, calming nature sounds.
So download this app and chill out to the sound of nature!

This soundboard can be used for several situations, but most notably, it is setup as two modes:

1) Quick Samples. Allows you to play the sound(s) for samples, and for just a normal soundboard. Great for many situations, and just for fun.

2) Continuous Playback. Allows each audio to play in a continuous loop simultaneously with any and/or all of the sounds provided in the app for a customized feel. Each sound also has it’s own volume setting for even more customizations. i.e. Play the “Water Drip in a Cave” at Low Medium volume, and the “Bird Tweets” at Max Volume while the “Thunder” plays in the background. Allow the sounds of your choice to play while you sleep, meditate, or just plain relax. Give your brain the ability to relax during times that it should be relaxing.

SLEEP

Allow the sounds of nature to lull you to a deeper and longer sleep. Many studies have shown that ambient sounds allow the brain to focus on something other than thoughts (even if just a little), which lessens the amount of work while trying to doze off. The brain is a muscle, and like the other muscles in the body, needs to be at rest in order to get a good night’s sleep. It would be pretty difficult to sleep if your arm refuses to stop those bicep curls!

RELAX

Just like sleep, in order for you to fully relax, you must allow your brain to enter a state of rest. With no
sound, the brain will quickly get bored and start thinking of anything, even just daydreaming of winning that one million dollar lottery, or finding that perfect somebody and starting the perfect family. This sets you up for a very un-restful relaxation time. Most people will turn the radio, or t.v. on for the sound which helps, but is still forcing your brain to focus on something, which is the opposite of relaxation. The sounds in this app allows your brain to set itself free, and fully relax. The sounds of nature give the brain a natural distraction that it is already used to, so it doesn’t force itself to focus on it, as it does with people talking. If you are taking a break, then relaxing to the max will help you feel better and give you more energy when it’s time to get back to it!

MEDITATION

This is self explanatory (especially if you’ve read the “Sleep” and “Relax” sections). Any one who meditates knows that some type of ambient sounds is necessary to maintain focus. Too much silence will force your brain to think (which is easily controlled by more experienced meditators), and too much noise, especially talking, will force your brain to focus on the source of the sound (which again is controlled by more experienced meditators). This soundboard gives the perfect mix of silence and non-silence to maximize your meditation.

Moves files and renames files and directories.

To move one or more files:
MOVE [/Y | /-Y] [drive:][path]filename1[,...] destination [/COMMANDS]

To rename a directory:
MOVE [/Y | /-Y] [drive:][path]dirname1 dirname2 [/COMMANDS]

The switch /Y may be present in the COPYCMD environment variable. This may be overridden with /-Y on the command line. Default is to prompt on overwrites unless MOVE command is being executed from within a batch script.

Examples

move c:\windows\temp\*.* c:\temp

Move the files of c:\windows\temp to the temp directory in root, this is of course assuming you have the windows\temp directory.

move “computer hope” example

If your directory name has a space, it must be surrounded with quotes, otherwise you will get a “The syntax of the command is incorrect.” error message. In the above example, this command would move the “computer hope” directory into the example directory contained in the same directory.

In C and C-like languages conditional expressions take the form of a ternary operator called the conditional expression operator, ?:, which follows this template:

(condition)?(evaluate if condition was true):(evaluate if condition was false)

This means that conditions can be inlined into expressions, unlike with if statements, as shown here using C syntax:

//Invalid in most programming languages. Two of the exceptions are Ruby and Scala
my_variable = if(x > 10) { "foo" } else { "bar" };
//Valid
my_variable = (x > 10)?"foo":"bar";

To accomplish the same as the second (correct) line above, using a standard if/else statement, this would take more than one line of code (under standard layout conventions):

if (x > 10)
  my_variable = 'foo';
else
  my_variable = 'bar';

The explicit if/then statement is easier to read and usually compiles more efficiently than the ternary operator.