5. 64-Bit and Dual Core Mobile Processors Guide

From NotebookReview

By: Pulp

INTRODUCTION

This is the big debate right now. It's not about shader models. It's not about battery life. It's about 64-bit and dual core. These are the big buzz words being thrown around, but what do they mean? The salesman at the store tries to sell you a Turion 64 notebook because "this processor is 64-bit!" Well what the heck is that? "This is a Core Duo! It has two cores?" So that's like...having two processors, right? So that's twice as fast?

Notebook users right now are in the unique position of only being allowed to have one or the other, a problem which desktop users handily avoided with Intel and AMD rushing out the Pentium D and the Athlon 64 X2, neither of which has bothered to grace the notebook platform except in twelve pound land monsters. So the question of "how can I be future proof?" effectively has two answers, both simultaneously correct and incorrect.

I hope this article will shed some light on what each of these buzzwords means, and which capability you should care more about. It is without a doubt - and my editor even cautioned me about this - that this will spark fevered, possibly angry debate in the responses. I sincerely hope and expect that the debate will serve to further educate us. I'm certain it will also serve to prove how convoluted and swingy this debate is, too.

64-BIT

What does 64-bit mean? Processors in the consumer market prior to AMD's Athlon 64 and Intel's more recent Pentium 4 revisions were 32-bit processors. Well, double is better, right?

Let's just get that mentality out of our heads right now. More does not necessarily equate to better. In computers, twice doesn't mean twice as fast. Two graphics processors don't make your games run 100% faster, two processors don't make your programs run 100% faster, and 64-bit instead of 32-bit doesn't make your system run 100% faster.

The best analogy to make regarding 64-bit is effectively doubling the width of a road. If a 32-bit processor (existing Intel notebook processors, some AMD Sempron notebook processors) has a lane about as wide as a bike, that basically means you can't drive a car on it. The car just won't fit through the door. So you can move bike-sized data through it. 64-bit makes the lane wide enough to fit a car. So while your bike could bring one person through the gate, the car can bring two.

64-bit also allows for calculations with greater precision and improves the amount of memory your system can address, raising the limit from 4GB to well into the terabytes. You will never need that much RAM, for at least another year and a half. (That's a joke, folks, it'll be a little while before technology can even supply us with that much RAM. Relax, your 512MB is just fine.) What the greater precision means to you, though, is that instead of fitting two people through the gate, it can now also fit one big fat guy.

Keep in mind, though, that nothing ever scales linearly with computers. While it's theoretically possible for instructions to combine when they're sent through the processor, it's worth noting that there's time that needs to be spent combining then decombining those instructions to begin with.

Here's the catch: existing programs by and large only need the bike-sized gate (that's 32-bit for those getting slightly confused by the analogy). They only use it because it's all that's ever been. Windows XP and its predecessors through 95 were all 32-bit operating systems, and the applications written for them were only 32-bit. And though there's a 64-bit version of Windows XP that allows programs to use that wider gate, it's a kludge; the operating system is still largely 32-bit and has serious compatibility problems across the board. It sees minimal support from hardware and software vendors alike, and is borderline worthless to the average user.

64-bit processors have been on the market for a few years now, with AMD pioneering them on the desktop with the Athlon 64.

Here are the processors that are able to run in 64-bit mode:

• AMD Athlon 64
• AMD Mobile Athlon 64
• AMD Turion 64
• AMD Sempron (Only some; varies between systems and is generally rarely 64-bit capable.)
• Intel Pentium 4 6xx Series and Higher

Assume any desktop processor in one of those big hulking desktop replacement systems is 64-bit (unless it's a Pentium 4 5xx series).

DUAL CORE

Dual core sounds flashy. Sounds huge. What it basically amounts to is having two processors in one. The trick is that they both use the same gate and address the same memory. Processors like the Core Duo are also substantially more complex, incorporating interesting technologies that make it less two separate processors and more a multi-threaded processor.

Okay, so what the heck does multi-threaded mean?

Basically, programs are a series of instructions that run single file through your processor, in what's called a thread. But if a processor has multiple cores, that means it can process multiple threads simultaneously.

There's a catch to this, too, though. Most applications, at least on a consumer level, aren't written to run in multiple threads. So while a dual core processor can smooth your computing experience out by running two different programs simultaneously instead of bogging up a single core by having to make those programs take turns going through, it doesn't offer much to speed up existing programs.

That said, with the advent of dual core on the desktop and now the Core Duo in notebooks, more and more programs are being programmed/patched to take advantage of multi-threading. Quake IV, for example, sees a notable performance increase on dual core processors. And many professional grade programs, particularly multimedia programs, enjoy performance benefits from having multiple cores. Video rendering, for example, can be substantially sped up on a dual core processor.

Dual core processors and parallelism (running threads simultaneously instead of sequentially) are the big thing for chip manufacturers right now since they've basically hit a wall with clock speeds and heat envelopes, and they're virtually all that's on the map for mainstream processors from either vendor in the future.

Here are the dual core processors available:

• Intel Core Duo

What? That's it? Yeah, barring Athlon 64 X2s and Pentium D XEs making it into hulking desktop replacement systems, that's it for now.

As a sidenote, what's worth mentioning is that most Intel Pentium 4 processors produced these days have a feature called "Hyper-Threading" which basically emulates having two cores on one die. Note, however, that it EMULATES. It doesn't actually have two cores, and because of this, performance benefits are modest at best. Hyper-Threading tends to smooth out your computing experience more than authentically improve performance, and in some cases (often gaming) has been known to have a small impact on performance. Because of its questionable utility, Hyper-Threading can be disabled.

WINDOWS VISTA

Most people are concerned about compatibility with Windows Vista and I don't blame them. This is rumor control, here are the facts:

Microsoft is producing multiple versions of Windows Vista, and it's my understanding that the lower class ones will be 32-bit compatible. That's really the only way I can describe 32-bit versions, too: "lower class." While not entirely accurate - these will be fully-featured operating systems - word on the street is these versions will be missing some small features that the 64-bit versions will have. These are features I suspect most common users won't ever see or care about, similar to the difference between Windows XP Home and XP Professional.

That said, while Windows XP Professional 64-Bit Edition was a miserable kludge, Windows Vista will be the authentic 64-bit McCoy.

This has, in my estimation, a major impact on computing. Why? Because while the vast majority of notebook users are still running 32-bit processors (read: we all went out and bought Pentium Ms because they are the awesome), desktops have dominated the market until only recently, and a large majority of desktops sold in the past couple of years have had 64-bit processors. More than that, the steadily increasing encroachment of AMD Turion 64 on the notebook market creates a substantial number of 64-bit capable notebook users as well.

Because of the substantial number of users that will have 64-bit capable systems running 64-bit versions of Windows Vista (which you can be certain will be packed into capable computers upon release), it's safe to say that more software vendors will start taking advantage of a ready and available platform. And while this is likely to be a gradual change, I suspect that Windows Vista is going to be the gunshot that starts the race moving.

Keep in mind this is speculation, but I think the case is there.

But what do dual core processors mean to Windows Vista? Unfortunately, not a whole lot more than Windows XP. While it's safe to assume Windows Vista will be better optimized to take advantage of multiple cores, this isn't a huge change.

Between dual core and 64-bit, it is in my estimation that 64-bit will be more relevant to Windows Vista, but please note that your existing 32-bit processor will certainly run it just fine, just not the same version 64-bit users will be running. Indeed, the 64-bit users may not see real benefits for a while, still. Like I said before, this is largely speculation. The ultimate point, however, is that a substantial 64-bit capable user base will be there, and software vendors love having a guaranteed platform.

WHEN CAN I GET BOTH IN MY NOTEBOOK?

Soon. Very soon, in fact. AMD has announced the Turion 64 X2 will be available in the second quarter of 2006 - that's mighty close, isn't it?

Unfortunately, Intel has pushed the next Core Duo - utilizing the codenamed Merom core - until at least September of this year. Worse still, while before 64-bit capability was pretty much pronounced and guaranteed, Intel has become less consistent with announcing it in Merom. While I would expect it, I can't 100% guarantee it, so don't put all your eggs in that basket.

Either way, the Turion 64 X2 will be available in not too long, and hopefully it will offer decent battery life and won't suffer early production problems the same way the Turion 64 did.

How will the Turion 64 X2 compare to existing Core Duos? Unless AMD can optimize their power consumption the way Intel did with the Core Duo, it's pretty much going to look like this: you want dual core and 64-bit, you buy a Turion 64 X2. You want dual core and battery life, you buy a Core Duo.

BUT WHAT IF I NEED TO BUY A NOTEBOOK RIGHT NOW?

Then I don't envy you.

Honestly, and I'm sure I'm going to take some heat for saying this: it's not worth buying a Pentium M notebook anymore. For casual computing, of course, even going all the way down to Celeron M and Sempron has been alright, but this article isn't really for the family members that just want to get on Yahoo! or PopCap and check their e-mail. You're planning to actually push your system.

If you want battery life, you're buying a Centrino Duo notebook, and only in extenuating circumstances (i.e. the ultraportables) do you get a Pentium M. If you want dual core, you're buying a Centrino Duo.

But if you're concerned with 64-bit processing, you're buying a Turion 64 or Athlon 64 notebook.

Personally? I think you need one or the other. So the big question is: which one do you pick?

Dual core offers immediate benefits. Multi-threaded software exists in limited numbers, but dual core processing also smooths out existing software and can make your computer feel a bit snappier.

64-bit processing is still a bit of an unknown. The foundation exists for it, but the software isn't there. Yet. And the thing is, that while multi-threading can't really obsolete single-threading (you can always just sequence the instructions into a single thread), 64-bit CAN obsolete 32-bit processing.

If I had to make an ultimate suggestion, I would suggest a 64-bit capable notebook, but note that it's a tenuous suggestion, and your needs may differ.

CONCLUSION

As you can see, this turns out to be a fairly complicated subject. Desktop users have it on easy street, but those of us in the notebook forum have a hard choice ahead of us. I think the important question to ask yourself at this juncture is:

"How long am I planning to use this notebook?"

If it's more than two years, I'd suggest a 64-bit capable notebook. If not, you'll be refreshing your notebook before 64-bit computing becomes a "yes" instead of a "maybe" and you'll be able to have both.

What's also important to keep in mind is that being on a 32-bit system isn't necessarily going to leave you out of luck. The change isn't going to be an overnight one, it's going to be a fairly gradual one. You WILL get some longevity out of it, it's just that some newer programs won't run on it. It's going to depend on what you need to run.

Again, 64-bit computing is inevitable, but the change will be gradual, so don't let this article totally put the fear of God in you. Likewise, dual core offers immediate benefits, and it IS the future (look at either chip manufacturer's roadmaps), but in terms of actually running programs I don't foresee it obsoleting single core, and single core processors will continue to be produced for some time (see: Intel's Celeron plans, AMD's Sempron plans).

Either way, with these two big transitions in the computing industry, it's a very exciting time to be an enthusiast, and in a few months AMD is going to help clear this headache, with Intel following suit. If you can wait, do so. Otherwise, I hope this article has helped you make an informed decision on your next computing purchase.

Because how long does any one of us really keep a computer before we go out and buy something new and shiny anyhow? ;)

16. Notebook Memory (RAM) Guide

From NotebookReview

By: Pulp

INTRODUCTION

RAM (Random Access Memory) has been widely regarded as the cheapest, easiest way to improve computer performance for the past decade at least. It's one of the three main components responsible for your system's day-to-day performance, alongside the CPU and the oft-forgotten hard disk, and too little of it can be a serious bottleneck.

But choosing how much you want in a new notebook may be difficult enough, and the terms "DDR" and "DDR2" could very well mean next to nothing to you. This guide is here to help clarify that.

Upgrading RAM can be an equally difficult task, and you don't want to be the pesky customer at your local retail store that says, "I need more RAM" but doesn't know what kind to get. Knowing the internals of your computer is always important, but with RAM it becomes especially so. This guide will also help to clear this up for you.

Note that the terms "memory" and "RAM" are used interchangeably in modern use, and will be used interchangeably here as well, though "memory" will likely be seen more.

TYPES OF MEMORY

- 200-PIN DDR SO-DIMM

This is by and large the most common type of notebook memory available. It comes in three speeds; below I've listed the designations you'll see them in:

• DDR266 PC2100
• DDR333 PC2700
• DDR400 PC3200

99% of notebooks produced at the time of this article's writing use DDR333 200-PIN SO-DIMMs. The difference in speeds offers middling performance improvements. If you're using a Celeron M, older Centrino, or AMD based notebook, it will be using this type of RAM.

- 200-PIN DDR2 SO-DIMM

This is becoming much more common, and is also the least expensive type of notebook memory available. It comes in two speeds; below I've listed the designations you'll see them in:

• DDR2-400 PC3200 (but will have a DDR2 designator)
• DDR2-533 PC4200

Almost all newer Centrino notebooks use DDR2 memory, and the only notebooks I've seen PC3200 DDR2 show up in have been HPs. Almost all DDR2-based notebooks use PC4200.

One major benefit to point out about DDR2 against the other types is that it runs close to a full volt less than DDR does, so DDR2 is also more battery friendly, which may be something to keep in mind. DDR2 also tends to be less expensive.

- 172-PIN DDR MICRO DIMM

These show up pretty much exclusively in ultraportables and periodically in thin-and-lights. These tend to be pretty expensive. They appear in the same designations as conventional DDR SO-DIMMs, but are uncommon and tend to be difficult to get.

Sony seems to really like these; I had a Vaio TR2A that used them, for example.

- PC100 / PC133 144-PIN SO-DIMM (LEGACY)

Most older notebooks (at least three years older) use these. No new notebooks come out using this technology, as it's much slower than what's available today and more expensive.

SINGLE VS. DUAL CHANNEL

Dual channel memory has been enjoyed on the desktop for years now, but only recently has surfaced in notebooks within the last year with the advent of Intel's Sonoma platform in Centrino notebooks.

Running your memory in dual channel basically adds a substantial amount of bandwidth to the memory, but must be done using two identical sticks of memory. I've read reports of people using sticks of different sizes (but identical speeds) in those Centrino notebooks and still running their memory in dual channel mode, but you may want to play it safe and go for two matching sticks.

As of this article, only Centrino notebooks running DDR2 memory can operate in dual channel. All other notebooks run their memory in single channel.

What is worth mentioning about dual channel operation is that while it can net substantial performance benefits in desktop computers, even Intel's newest Centrino platform still can't fully utilize the increased memory bandwidth. Because of this, performance benefits of operating in dual instead of single channel are generally negligible and not worth the expense of trying to get two matching sticks. The only real benefits I've seen to running a Centrino notebook in dual channel are for the GMA 900 in gaming and bandwidth intensive multimedia tasks, such as video encoding, but even then these performance benefits are still fairly marginal.

CAPACITIES AND WHAT YOU NEED

We've spent all this time talking about what kinds of memory there are, talking about speeds and channels and all that, but the most important thing is really the capacity.

Notebook memory is generally available in the following capacities per stick: 128MB, 256MB, 512MB, and 1GB. Of course, the farther you go back in time, the smaller the capacities you'll find, but realistically I shouldn't even be mentioning 128MB or 256MB at this point.

I'll list the total amounts of memory and what I recommend that amount for:

512MB -- This is the minimum amount for proper operation of a computer. Yes, theoretically, your computer can operate with 256MB, but Windows XP positively hates that. What's important to note is that anything Windows needs to store in memory but can't due to a lack of capacity will get stored in a swap file -- on your hard disk. In a desktop computer this is bad enough, but at least desktops have semi-fast hard disks standard. It hurts, but it won't totally kill you. But notebooks don't have that luxury. Having to switch to the swap file on the hard disk will cause your system to slow down substantially, and worse, will eat battery life because the hard disk has to spin up and be accessed more frequently at its grueling slow pace. For this reason, 512MB is the bare minimum for any notebook, but also should prove satisfactory for most tasks and even some mild gaming. Note that if you're using an integrated graphics part like the GMA 900 or ATI Radeon Xpress 200M, they're going to be stealing out of this for gaming, and that will cripple your gaming performance. Worse, while the GMA 900 only takes as much as it needs, the 200M uses a set amount of memory. A notebook with 512MB of memory and a 200M will only have 384MB left for the system unless the 200M is reconfigured to draw less.

768MB -- Fairly ideal if you're on a budget but using an integrated graphics part.

1GB (1024MB) -- Probably the most ideal amount of RAM a computer can have at this time. 1GB assures a smooth computing experience with all tasks, and I'd consider it the minimum for any serious multimedia work (video or graphic editing).

1GB+ (more than 1024MB) -- Generally unnecessary for anyone but multimedia enthusiasts and gamers.

A WORD ABOUT GRAPHICS

I mentioned briefly in the previous section that having 512MB of RAM with an integrated graphics part can slow your system down, and it can. These parts borrow from your main system memory since they have no dedicated memory of their own; because of this, they will eat some of your bandwidth but worse, they will eat some of the system memory that would ordinarily be used for other tasks. But there are also non-integrated parts that still share system memory, and I'll go over those briefly here.

Intel's Extreme Graphics, Extreme Graphics 2, and GMA 900/950 parts all dynamically adjust the amount of memory they share from the system, taking only as much as they need at any given time. But when you're gaming, they're going to be taking all they can -- the Extreme Graphics parts will steal 64MB, and the GMA parts will steal as much as 128MB, so you can subtract that from your total amount of memory to determine how much memory is left over for the actual game you're playing.

ATI's Radeon Xpress 200M and its older integrated graphics parts (Radeon 7500/9000/9100 IGP, 320M/340M IGP) use a set amount of system memory and this does not dynamically change. It must be set in the BIOS of your notebook (see your manufacturer's site for details on how to do this). Because of this, while an Intel part which will draw as little as 8MB of system memory when not in use, the ATI part will always be drawing the same amount (usually 64MB or 128MB) from your system memory, and this can severely cripple performance.

Let's confuse things a little more. ATI and nVidia both have discrete notebook parts that draw on system memory to increase their effective video memory. ATI calls their technology "HyperMemory"; nVidia's is called "TurboCache." Two different words for the same thing, barring slightly different implementations. You'll want to review my GPU article to learn more about these.

Suffice to say after all this stuff, though, if you're using an integrated graphics part other than an Intel part, you're likely going to want to upgrade beyond 512MB of RAM. Even just going up to 640MB would still be sound; 768MB might be more ideal. And if you're going to be doing mild gaming on your Intel part, you may also want to make this upgrade.

Of course, if you're not gaming at all and have an integrated part from ATI, you'll want to go into your BIOS (again, see your manufacturer's site for details) and just set the amount of memory it draws to its bare minimum.

UPGRADING MEMORY

Okay, let's say for a moment you're one of those frustrating customers that doesn't know what kind of memory your notebook uses. Well, you don't want to be that guy (or girl), you want to be able to know exactly what you need so the clerk behind the counter doesn't get frustrated with you. I've been that clerk, and we talk about you behind your back because you frustrate us. Just telling them you have a Powerbook or a Presario doesn't help.

Everest can help. If you go to www.lavalys.com and download Everest Home Edition, it will identify exactly what kind of memory your system uses. Unless you're already familiar with memory (and thus don't need a guide like this), you'll want to get the same speed of memory, and Everest'll tell you what that speed is. Faster stuff usually will work, too, as long as it's the same type, but there's no guarantee.

If you've read this far into the guide, you should know what kind you need and how much you need. Which is great -- if you're upgrading an old notebook. You're just about done.

What you do need to know is that 99% of notebooks only have two slots for memory, and recent ones max out at 2GB (older ones may not support 1GB sticks). You're going to want to find out how many slots you have open; again, Everest will tell you. More than likely, you'll have to remove an existing stick and replace it with a larger one, and this is frustrating, but you'll cope.

Now, if you're buying a new notebook, well, life isn't terribly consumer friendly for you. Notebooks today usually don't come with anything smaller than 256MB of RAM, and they generally don't come with any stick smaller than that (if you buy a notebook with just 256MB of RAM, you'll usually have a slot free). But if the notebook comes with 512MB of RAM, you have a problem. Odds are -- and this is especially true if the notebook is a Centrino -- it will be in two 256MB sticks, so when you go to upgrade, you'll be buying at least a 512MB stick and your upgrade won't be as big as you like. If the notebook comes with a full 1GB of RAM, I all but guarantee you it's in two sticks of 512MB, so when you go to upgrade it, you'll be buying 1GB sticks. But if it comes with a full 1GB of RAM, this probably isn't going to happen for a while yet.

I'd like to point out right now, for those of you looking forward, that there are many benefits to DDR2 based notebooks. First, DDR2 is on average $10 cheaper for the same amount of memory as regular DDR. Second, AMD is switching to using DDR2 for its chips in the future (about six months from now or so), so the last bastion of DDR is taking a hike. You can also be fairly confident that even Intel's Celeron M notebooks will switch to DDR2. DDR2 is the future. Keep that in mind.

That said, I'm using a regular old DDR notebook, and I expect that even if I upgrade it, my next notebook could still very well also use DDR. These transitions also tend to take some time to come through, so DDR will still be with us for a while yet.

BRANDS

So now you've got all this information, but what manufacturer do you buy your memory from? RAM can be bad and bad RAM is a hell for a computer, because it can manifest in all kinds of scary ways. Your system may become substantially less stable. Your display might corrupt. Data might corrupt. Of all the things to go bad in your system, this is probably one of the worst, so you want to buy from a reliable brand.

First, don't buy OEM. Don't get the cheap stuff from someplace like Fry's. The stuff that comes packaged in stores like Best Buy, from manufacturers like Kingston and PNY tends to be perfectly fine. If you're ordering online (always an excellent choice), you'll want to buy from companies like Crucial or Corsair. I'm sure people in the forums will chime in on their favorite brands, so be sure to check there, too, for suggestions.

Some notebooks just plain don't like certain brands, and while this really isn't as common a problem as some alarmists would have you believe, it doesn't hurt to check the forums here and see what brand other people with your notebook used.

CONCLUSION

I admit, even I'm a bit stunned with how complex memory can be. There are enough different types out there to make things confusing, and it just gets more confusing when you start to think about how much you need. This guide is mainly for the people that are complete neophytes to this subject; if that's you, I hope it helped.

But remember that if you're ever confused about anything, Everest is an excellent tool, and the people in the forums here are always friendly and willing to help out.

17. Notebook Screen Guide

From NotebookReview

By: Pulp

Introduction

Notebook screens! Notebooks...have screens. And we usually don't give them too much of a passing thought when we go buying; by and large when I went notebook shopping I just assumed "well, it has one, and it sure looks pretty" and was pretty much done with that.

The problem is that as consumers we like and want to be informed, and we shouldn't have to default to "oh, well, okay." But the terminology used to describe notebooks is always a bunch of complex **** that, quite frankly, doesn't mean anything to most consumers. I've been working on computers for years and years and "WSXGA+" and "WUXGA" and all that don't make any sense at all. Why can't they just state the actual screen resolution?

The reality of it is that there are all kinds of minutiae about notebook screens that should be understood, as well as a couple of major things, like dead pixels.

This guide is here to help make some sense of it all.

Aspect Ratio and Resolution

Aspect ratio isn't just "widescreen" and "standard." Where TVs are basically two different sizes, computer screens have been hopelessly convoluted.

Resolution is the number of pixels (the individual dots that make up the picture) wide the screen is and the number of pixels tall the screen is, and we can get the aspect ratio from this. For example, the average 15" flat-panel screen is 1024x768. That means the picture is 1,024 pixels wide and 768 pixels tall. This screen has an aspect ratio of 4:3. That means that for every four pixels there are horizontally, there are three pixels vertically.

Your home television and most desktop computer screens are built 4:3.

Now, of course, this is all great, but notebook manufacturers often don't tell you the screens aspect ratio and seldom list resolution. They usually just say "WUXGA" or something similar. Here's a guide that tells you exactly what each of those abbreviations really means. I've *'ed the odd ones out and will explain them in detail after the chart.

"Standard" Screens

Abbreviation / Resolution / Aspect Ratio

• XGA / 1024x768 / 4:3
• SXGA / 1280x1024 / 5:4*
• SXGA+ / 1400x1050 / 4:3
• UXGA / 1600x1200 / 4:3

"Widescreen" Screens

Abbreviation / Resolution / Aspect Ratio

• WXGA / 1280x768 / 5:3**
• WXGA / 1280x800 / 8:5 (16:10)***
• WXGA+ / 1440x900 / 8:5 (16:10)***
• WSXGA+ / 1680x1050 / 8:5 (16:10)***
• WUXGA / 1920x1200 / 8:5 (16:10)***

Yeah, you can see how that could get a little confusing!

SXGA resolution (1280x1024) is sort of anomalous. For some odd reason, it became very popular, but the aspect ratio is off. The actual proper step up in resolution to maintain the 4:3 ratio is 1280x960, but it's fairly uncommon for people to run screens at that resolution, and notebook screens almost never appear with it.

The widescreen resolutions are a real chore. They're usually cited as 16:10 to bring them in line with the 16:9 that the home theatre enthusiast is familiar with, but true 16:9 would be 1280x720, and that's a pretty odd resolution. So your DVDs are STILL going to get letterboxed, but it'll be much more negligible.

Also, one major pain is that ultraportable notebooks will sometimes use a resolution of 1280x768 instead of 1280x800, and that's even weirder. (But it sure looks nice on that tiny screen.)

Note that any of these screens can scale down in resolution. Because notebook screens have a fixed number of pixels (while desktop CRT monitors do not), pixels are essentially "blended" to achieve the intended resolution. In older screens this tended to look pretty awful, but newer ones blend very well and produce a fairly good picture. Still, it won't look as good as the screen's native resolution. The reason that I mention any of this is because I've seen people ask if their screen can run at a lower resolution, and yes, it can. But you probably won't want to.

Gamers will actually probably want to stick to lower resolution screens so the games can run at native resolution, while multimedia enthusiasts (digital image manipulation, video editing) will want to get as high a resolution as they can.

Screen Size

So now you have the fundamentals for understanding how many pixels are on the screen, but what about the screen size?

When a manufacturer lists a screen size in inches, it measures that distance from the bottom left corner to the top right corner. So if a screen size is listed as 15.4", it's 15.4" from the bottom left corner to the top right corner.

Below is a list of the typical screen sizes you can expect to find and the resolutions they routinely appear with. Note that the first one in each list will be by far the most common one.

Standard Screen Sizes and Typical Resolutions:

• 14" - XGA
• 15" - XGA, SXGA+

Widescreen Screen Sizes and Typical Resolutions:

• 10.6" - WXGA (1280x768)
• 12.1" - WXGA (1280x800)
• 13.3" - WXGA (1280x800)
• 14.1" - WXGA (1280x800)
• 15.4" - WXGA (1280x800), WXGA+, WSXGA+
• 17" - WXGA, WXGA+, WSXGA+, WUXGA

14.1" seems to be the sweet spot for travel-ready notebooks, while 15.4" is more for notebooks geared for desktop replacement, and 17" is almost strictly desktop replacement. The lower sizes are for ultraportables and thin and lights.

Widescreen Vs. Standard

Widescreen is becoming the norm against standard aspect ratio in notebooks, partially because a widescreen will effectively add a lot more reading space to a screen with a minimal amount of increase in size. More than that, widescreen is fairly logical for humans, since our eyes aren't jammed right next to each other.

If you're going to be a gamer, though, widescreen can become a problem. While many games will run at widescreen resolutions, many won't either. This is one of those things that really just befuddles me, as most gamer boutique notebooks are being made with widescreens these days.

The IBM ThinkPad X41 screen is shown on the right. On the left is the Dell Latitude X1 screen. The X1 has a widescreen format whereas the X41 is standard (view larger image) Notice you can see more horizontally on the X1 widescreen which is dramatically shown by all the white space on the right side of BBC News web page.

However, if you're going to be watching (or editing) movies on your notebook, widescreen is the screen of choice.

Standard notebooks are becoming a true rarity on the market, and routinely only appear in the lower budget machines these days, barring ThinkPads where only one model exists (the new Z series) that does have widescreen

Glossy Vs. Matte

There are basically two flavors of screen available on notebooks (and flat panel monitors in general) right now: glossy and matte.

Because glossy screens are more common these days, I'll go over those first. Glossy screens are just that - glossy. They have a coating applied to the screen beneath them that is reflective, but also helps reduce "screen door effect" - the black spaces between pixels - and improves the contrast and brightness of the image.

Of course, the downside of a glossy screen is the reflectiveness. It's not at all uncommon to catch a crystal clear reflection or a glare off of something in the environment. Additionally, some users have reported that glossy screens cause more eyestrain for them than matte screens. This pretty much boils down to personal preference; I personally have a hard time choosing between one or the other, though I usually lean towards glossy.

A glossy screen can provide a bright display with bold contrast, as shown on this Fujitsu LifeBook S6231 screen

But the downside is the reflectivity you'll get from the screen, as noticed in this almost perfect reflection of the keyboard in the glossy (Crysal View) screen of the Fujitsu notebook.

To look directly at a notebook screen, you'll know if it's a glossy or not solely because of the reflectivity of the screen and contrast of the picture. However, if you don't have that option (buying online, for example), glossy screens are typically noted by a special name. Sony calls them XBRITE, Fujitsu calls them CrystalView. My Gateway is Ultrabright. You see how it is, and you'll know a glossy screen when you see the option, because many order online notebooks offer the glossy screen at an extra cost (usually a small cost; HP adds $25).

Matte screens are basically the screens of old, although they do still see use today and for some, these are preferable. These have no reflectivity, and newer ones still have excellent contrast. The "screen door effect" can be more pronounced on these screens. These tend to be less expensive than glossy screens. New iBooks, for example, use these screens.

Even if you're shopping online, you'll want to go to a local retailer and actually get a good look at the screens for yourself so you know the difference. It's one of those things that can't be fully articulated in a guide and should be experienced personally, but hopefully this guide will help you tell the difference between the two.

Backlighting and Spill

Notebook screens have adjustable brightness, mainly to conserve power, but the brightness adjustment actually adjusts the intensity of the backlight - a light inside the panel that illuminates the screen. The screen consumes a substantial amount of your notebook's power, so adjusting the brightness to a lower setting can save a lot of battery life.

However, backlighting isn't always even and sometimes the source of the light can be seen (usually on the bottom). This is called spill. Some less expensive notebooks (and even some more expensive ones, like Dell's Inspiron 9300 line) have some problems with spill, where a portion of the screen might be noticeably brighter than the rest (though never by too much). Spill is most noticeable when the screen is black.

Uneven backlighting is seen on this VAIO S notebook, notice how the bottom is brighter than the top corners (view larger image)

Viewing Angles

Notebook screens and flat panel monitors are unique in that unlike their boxy CRT cousins, they don't always look the same from different angles. The best picture a viewer can get of a notebook screen is invariably from straight on. From the sides and especially from above, contrast may seem off, and colors may look different. This really varies from notebook to notebook and by and large isn't a huge problem. If you're in the store, you can check it out for yourself.

More expensive screens tend to have better viewing angles than the cheaper ones; getting into any more detail than that would require delving into esoterica that likely the technician at your local retail store isn't even familiar with. Suffice to say, while viewing angles used to be a huge problem with these screens (early notebooks were practically unviewable from the sides), it's pretty tolerable and minor these days.

When viewed straight on the Dell Inspiron 9300 notebook has a better and brighter screen than even some high-end desktop LCD screens (view larger image)

BUT, here we have a Dell Inspiron 9300 and the same high-end 23" LCD desktop screen from the above picture and now you can see that the Inspiron 9300 viewing quality and brightness is not as good when viewed at an angle (view larger image)

Dead Pixels

Ah, the most hated of problems with notebook screens. A desktop CRT screen will never have these, but because notebook screens are comprised largely of tiny dots that light up depending on what's displayed, there's a small chance that your notebook's screen will have some dead pixels.

This is one of those things that really hoses the consumer lately, because when you buy a notebook you pretty much expect it to work 100%, and if there are dead pixels on the screen, that isn't 100%, and many companies will only accept returns or replace the screen after a certain number of dead pixels are reached on the screen.

The editor, Andrew Baxter, wrote up an excellent guide to dead pixels, found here, which I strongly encourage you to read, since it covers this subject in far more detail than I can, and includes existing dead pixel policies for major vendors.

I will add two suggestions, though.

1. First, most major retailers can be pretty understanding when it comes to dead pixels. I know Best Buy will usually accept an exchange on a notebook with dead pixels.
2. Second, many users advocate the use of a program called Dead Pixel Buddy to find dead pixels on your screen. I do not, and I will tell you why -- If the dead pixel isn't immediately apparent on a personal examination of the screen or after casual use of it, chances are you aren't going to notice it. If you're anything like me, and you run Dead Pixel Buddy, and you find a dead pixel (or more), it's going to tick you off where you wouldn't have been ticked before. I don't see any dead pixels on my screen in casual use, but I'm not going to go looking for them, either.

Oh no! See that red dot in the top middle of the screen of this Toshiba Tecra M4 Tablet PC? That's a stuck red pixel, commonly called a "dead pixel"

Recommendations

Okay, so I've dumped all of this knowledge on you, and some of it's pretty hairy. All you really want to know is: what kind of screen would be good for me?

So I've split up the categories of uses, and hopefully one of the categories will best describe the main uses you'll have for your notebook.

• Internet, E-mail, Word Processing - The casual user would be served well even by a $700 notebook. For you, pretty much any screen will do. Obviously if you want more screen real estate, a bump in resolution might work for you, but keep in mind that increased resolution means text is going to be smaller. And while Windows will let you scale up text size to make it more legible, it almost never looks very good. This becomes entirely personal preference, though I'd suggest a matte screen over a glossy. Other than that, knock yourself out.
  
  
• Gaming - I cannot for the life of me understand why widescreen notebooks are the default for gaming now, but there you go. I personally would still recommend a standard aspect ratio over widescreen, but barring that, you're going to want to keep your screen resolution on the lower side. Whatever the lowest resolution available for your chosen screen size is, you're going to want it. Games look best when running at the native resolution of the screen. Note, too, that your screen likely won't get smaller than 14", since thin-and-light and ultraportable notebooks seldom have the hardware required to properly run games. A glossy screen would be ideal, but that's going to be a personal preference.
  
  
• Movies - You want a widescreen notebook, and probably one of the lower resolutions. Since most movies today come out in widescreen aspect ratio, this will be ideal for you. Also keep in mind that if you're going to be watching movies more on the road (or in the air), you'll want a smaller screen so your notebook takes up less real estate. If you're watching them at home (or in a dorm room setting, for example), you'll want a larger screen, possibly even a 17". For either situation, a glossy screen isn't just ideal, it's almost essential.
  
  
• Visual Multimedia - For digital video editing and image manipulation, I've found a glossy screen to be ideal. You'll also want one of the larger screens and, quite frankly, high resolution. My 15.4" widescreen is 1280x800 (WXGA) and frankly, just doesn't cut it for Adobe After Effects, and barely does for Premiere Pro. You want as much screen real estate as you can get, so you're going to want to pay extra for a higher resolution screen. You'll also want a widescreen, especially the video geeks. Your notebook is NOT going to be cheap, considering you're going to need a lot of RAM, a decent speed hard disk, and a powerful processor backing up that screen. The only brands I can think of that make notebooks that would be suited for this that clock in at under $1,500 are HP, Compaq, and Gateway (especially Gateway), but their screen resolutions are all going to be low (generally WXGA or WXGA+). So if you're on a budget doing this, you may want to get an inexpensive external monitor.
  

Conclusion

Some of this guide has been conversational and subjective, and that's because screen preference is one of those things that's unique to the individual user.

This is the best tool I can give you, but you should go to the store and look for yourself, too. Even if you're going to order online, even if from a brand that isn't available on the floor, go and look anyhow and get a feel for the screens, particularly for the resolutions and for the differences in glossy and matte screens.

Hopefully, when you do go to purchase a notebook you'll feel like an informed consumer. And again, as I always stress, check the forums and reviews here and learn about other users' experiences with the notebooks you're interested in. The reviews on this site are particularly noteworthy in that they come from real consumers, not from people who may or may not have been bought off by the notebook vendor, so be sure to take advantage of other peoples' experiences, especially with something that can be as touchy as this. There is no real performance grade for a notebook screen, only perception.

Go out, take a look for yourself, consult the forums and reviews here, be an informed consumer, and remember that the notebook is only ever really going to be as good as the screen you're looking at it through. (Unless you buy an external monitor, in which case this article is of no use to you. ;) )

12. In Depth Wireless Internet and Network Guide

From NotebookReview

By: NickS


1. Wireless Connectivity
1A. Configuring Wireless Connectivity
1B. Connecting and Disconnecting With Wireless Networks Through The Start Menu
1C. Creating Different Wireless Networks for 802.11b and 802.11g connections
1D. Combining Networks
1E. Network Routing and Bridging
1F. Network Bridging
1G. Adding/Removing Connections From Networked Bridges
1H. Enabling and Disabling Bridges
1I. Removing a Network Bridge
1J. Monitoring and Fixing Home Networks
1K. Quick: Is your network connection up or down?
1L. Repairing a Connection
2. Wireless, Wireless, Securing and all you need to know!:
2A. 802.11b WI-FI
2B. 802.11A, 802.11G Wi-Fi, and the future
2C. 802.11G (Wireless G)
2D. Setting Up a Secure Wireless Network
2E. Using an Access Point
2F. Connecting to a Wireless Network
2G. Fixing WEP's Security Problems
2H. Don't Broadcast you Wireless Network
2I. Filter Mac Addresses
[b]*How To Share Your Files On Your Network*[b]
3. Creating your home network:
3A. Making Computer to Computer Connections
3B. Direct Cable Connection
3C. Using Infrared
3D. Basic Network Types
3E.Ethernet Networking
3G. Home Phoneline Networking
3H. FireWire Based Networking
3I. Using Hubs and Switches
3J. Working with Hubs
3K. Using Switches
3L. Residential Gateways and Routers
3M. Connecting a Home Network to an External Network
4. Sharing an internet connection and protecting it!
4A. Sharing an Internet Connection
4B. Connection Sharing
4C. Working with Firewalls
5. Feeling Blue: Using Bluetooth Devices with Windows XP
5A. Enabling a Bluetooth Radio
5B. Using the Bluetooth Devices Utility
5C. Adding a Bluetooth Device
5D. Configuring Bluetooth Devices
5E. Options
5F. Sending and Receiving Files Via Bluetooth
5G. Sending Files to a Bluetooth Device
5H. Recieving Files From a Bluetooth Device
5I. Removing a Bluetooth Device






1. Created: 11/5/05 Wireless Connectivity

Please note that info in the pics can be different

1A. Configuring Wireless Connectivity

If you click properties button in the Wireless Network Connections Status dialog box, and then navigate to the wireless networks tab of the properties dialog box for the wireless connection, you can confugure the clients wireless connectivity settings. You can also display this dialog box by visiting Network Connections and Double clicking the wireless connection.


Using the wireless Networks tab, you can manage wireless connections past, present, and future

At the top of this tab is the Use Windows to Configure My Wireless Network Settings chack box. If your wireless NIC is XP Compliant, this option should be checked. If, however, your laptop came with its own wireless configuration utility, you may need to leave this option unchecked and use your cards software, rather than XP's built in capabilities, to connect wirelessly.
At the bottom of the wireless networks tab of the connections properties dialog box is a section listing preferred wireless networks. The order of this list is based onXP's experience with wireless network connections it has used in the past. If you've only used one wireless connection, than that's all you see in the list, and you dont need to configure anything.
However, if you travel a lot and come into contact with multiple wireless networks, or work in an environment in which there are multiple wireless networks and you have a need to manually configure which network you should be using, you can use this section of the dialog box to override XP's built in detection abilities and specify a preference list for wireless networks. You can move wireless networks up and down in the list, add or remove wireless networks from the preferred list, or view configuration information about each of the wireless connections you've visited in the past, even if they're not currently available. To view or edit information about any wireless network, select it from the list and click properties. This will display the Properties dialog box for that connection.


You can configure a wireless connection automatically or manually, your choice

If you click the Advanced button on the Wireless Networks tab, you're presented with advanced wireless network access options. Here, you can choose whether to connect only to certain types of wireless networks (such as access point-based networks only) or whether to allow automatic connections to nonpreferred networks. For the most part, these options are designed solely for corporations that use multiple network types, and you can safely ignore the dialog box.

1B. Connecting and Disconnecting With Wireless Networks Through The Start Menu

If your using an XP-compliant wireless network adapter, you will have a special Start menu, item listed under the Connect to Item. Similar to a connectoid you'd see for a dial up networking connection, the wireless connection from the Start menu.
Why would you need such a capability? Frankly, you probaly wont in a home setting because XP will automatically connect whatever wireless connection it can find. But if you bring a laptop back and forth between home and work, and use two different wireless connections in each location because of configuration differences, this option can be a handy shortcut. Just choose Start> Connect To and then the correct wireless connection, and your in business!
To disconnect from a wireless network and disable the network adapter, right click its connected and choose disable. This is handy when you're out of range of any wireless networks and using a laptop; because it physically turns off the wireless adapter, disabling the connection also provides your system with better battery life.

1C. Creating Different Wireless Networks for 802.11b and 802.11g connections


One of the nice things about 802.11g is that it's backwardly compatible with 802.11b, the best selling wireless technology of the past few years. But this compatibility brings with it a hidden problem: Because 802.11b devices max out at 11 Mbps, using such a device on your 802.11g wireless network will slow the entire network down to a relatively pokey 11 mbps, making your otherwise speedy 802.11g devices run at just a fraction of their possible performance.
The solution is to use seperate wireless networks for 802.11b and 802.11g devices. This isn't as far fetched as it may sound. Maybe you purchased an 802.11b compliant residential gateway, just get an 802.11g access point and add it to your existing setup. Or maybe you previously added an 802.11b access point to a nonwireless router: Nothing is stopping you from adding a second 802.11g access point! Go for it!
Even price isnt a huge factor here. With 802.11g access points selling for around + or - $35-$50, there's precious little reason to hobble your 802.11g gear with slow 11 Mbps speeds just because you have a few 802.11b based devices still in use.
As with any other wireless configuration options, adding a second wireless network to your existing setup is dependent largely on the hardware you're using. But regardless of the specifics, what you want to do is configure your second wireless network as an access point and not a router. this way, it will not supply DHCP, NAT, or Firewall services to the network, but will instead defer to your network's default gateway for those services. If you can configure your access point/router to only allow certain kinds of connections, do so: For example, your 802.11g network should not allow 802.11b based devices to connect.

1D. Combining Networks

Anytime you combine two or more network types into your home network, you create a mixed networking environment, where in individual networks may or may not interoperate, depending on how you've set things up. By default, most networking components assume that they're part of the only available network, and this works fine in cases for which there is indeed only one network. But if you want to combine two or more networks, you have to do a little planning.
These days, the most common mixed network is created when you add wireless capabilities to a previously installed wired network. Wired networks-ussually 100mbps ethernet. Are great for connecting desktop PCs, esecially when they're in the same room. But when you want to work with laptops or PCs that are in a physically distant room, wired networks aren't always the obvious choice. Furthermore, not everyone has the know-how or where withal to wire their homes with ethernet. In such a case, it's time to look at alternatives, and that might require augmenting an in - office wired Ethernet network with some other networking type.

1E. Network Routing and Bridging
You use a networking technology called routing to make two or more networks or, to be more technically correct, two network segments, interoperate. A machine that bridged the two networks-that is, the machine with two network adapters-acted like a hardware router, intercepting network traffic and routing it to the correct machine on either network as needed. This routing happens every day on the internet and in large corporate networks all around the world. As a home networking solution, however, its a bit complex and requires a server operating system such as Windows Server or even Linux.

1F. Network Bridging
To make this routing possible on home networks, however, Microsoft added a feature called network bridging to Windows XP. You have two networks, perhaps a wired Ethernet network that's connected in some way to broadband internet connection, and a wireless network. But the wireless network connects to the wired network through an XP-based PC that includes both wired and wireless adapters, instead of the simpler wireless access point approach. When you create a network bridge-that is, you bridge, or connect, two different networks-XP creates a single subnet for the whole virtual network, configures the whole mess behind the scenes, and handles ugly details such as IP Addressing, dynamic IP address allocation, and the like. It's an enterprise network in a box, if you will. The results is a single IP address range for all the bridged network connections. (Remember that two or more adapters can be involved in a bridge; you can add and remove adapters from the bridge network whenever you want.) It all sounds really nice, doesnt it? Well, it would be if it worked. The problem is that XP's default method for enabling network bridging is quite broken. Thats right; it often doesnt work at all.
SO LETS DO IT THE WAY IT WORKS: Creating a network bridge
1. Open network connections. ( The quickest way is to right click My Network Places and choose properties)
2. Simultaneously select the two network connections you'd like to bridge, right click, and choose Bridge Connections.

A network bridge dialog box appears, and the connections are bridged. When the process is completed, Network Connections resembles with a new network bridge section that includes three icons: one for the two bridged network connections and one for the logical bridge by itself. You can configure bridging from this icon.

1G. Adding/Removing Connections From Networked Bridges
Adding a network connection to a preestablished network bridge is simplicity itself: Right click the appropriate connectoid in Network Connections and select Add to bridge. XP will churn and bubble a bit, and the deed will be done.
The steps to remove a particular network connection from the bridge are equally simple: right click the connection you want removed and select remove from bridge. No Fuss, no muss!

1H. Enabling and Disabling Bridges
Because a network bridge functions like a single network connection, you can choose to enable, and disable it just as you would with any network connection. When you do so, all the connections in the bridge sre enabled or disabled along with the bridge. To disable a network bridge, right click the bridge icon and choose disable. To enable, do the same but just hit enable.

1I. Removing a Network Bridge
If you create a network bridge and it's not all that you hoped and dreamed for, its really easy to remove and return to your previous setup. To do this, you must first remove each of the network connections that are part of the bridge. Then right click the network bridge icon and choose delete. Select yes when XP asks you whether you're sure.

1J. Monitoring and Fixing Home Networks

1K. Quick: Is your network connection up or down?
One good example is network monitoring. In the old days, if your network was on the fritz, you'd crack open your trusty command - line window and see what was going on. For example, you could use ipconfig.exe command line application to view your network connections and see how they were configured. The output looks something like this:

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name.........................:
Primary Dns Suffix...............:
Node Type.........................:
IP Routing Enabled..............:No
WINS Proxy Enabled............:No
Ethernet Adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Connection-Specific DNS Suffix..:
Description.............................:
Physical Address.....................:
Dhcp Enabled.........................: Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled........: Yes
IP Address.............................: 192.168.1.XX
Subnet Mask..........................: 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway.....................: 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server..........................: 192.168.1.1
DNS Servers..........................: XXX.XX.XXX.XX
: XXX.XX.XXX.XX
Lease Obtained/ Expired..........:

Networking experts can look at this info and tell at glance whether the connection is online and configured correctly. For the rest of us, of coarse, this is just a bunch of numbers (maybe). Fortunatly, XP makes getting such information-and making heads or tails of it, much, much easier.
Here is how. Say you want to know whether your network connection is available, how long its been online, and whether its IP address is assigned properly by a DHCP server. In XP, you just have to open network connections, right click the connectoid, and select status.
Here, you can see whether the connection is connected, how long its been connected, the spped of the connection, and, if its a wireless connection, the signal strength. If you click the support tab, you see a dialog with information about the IP Address, including how it was obtained. Click Details for more info.

1L. Repairing a Connection
In case your internet isnt working but you know your network is fine, then try the repair button to Renew your DHCP lease. Easy as a click.


2. Wireless, Securing and all you need to know!:
2A. 802.11b WI-FI
802.11B operates at a peak speed of 11mbps, though you'll typically expierence speeds closer to 4mpbs to 8mbps, unless you're physically adjacent to the wireless access point. However, even at these speeds, Wi-Fi is mostly good enough: All forms of Internet services run at acceptable speeds, save perhaps online games, and local networking is speedy enough for all but the largest file transfers. 802.11B is also acceptably fast for streaming music, but not video.
Where 802.11B Wi-Fi starts to fall apart a bit is in security, which can be partially addressed becuase each wirelessly connected device has to share the 11mbps of total bandwidth, further lowering speeds if two or more users are connected simultaneously. In that way, an 802.11B access point is more like an Ethernet hub than a switch.
2B. 802.11A, 802.11G Wi-Fi, and the future
To address the limitaions of Wi-Fi, the IEEE aproved two faster wireless standards, both of which offer peek speeds of 54mbps, about 5 timess the speed of Wi-Fi. Unfortunatly, both these standards has emerged as the clear market leader. The first of these new standards is called 802.11a. This technology runs on a different frequency band than 802.11b, meaning that it has more headroom for expansion and less chance of interference from electronics devices in the home, a problem facing Wi-Fi users. But becuase it runs on a different frequency band, it is also incompatible with Wi-Fi, meaning that Wi-Fi and 802.11a hardware cannot interoperate; you can use both technologies simultaneously on the same home network card. As a result, 802.11a hasn't really taken off, exept in certain corporate enviorments. (Businesses, schools, some homes, etc.) Certainly, 802.11a isnt a viable home networking solution.
2C. 802.11G (Wireless G)
The second emerging standard, 802.11G, or Wireless G, addresses the compatibility issues by running on the same frequency band as 802.11B Wi-Fi (for this reason, the IEEE foolishly refers to 802.11g as Wi-Fi as well). But 802.11G brings with it the same problems that face Wi-Fi: Becuase the 2.4GHz frequency band used by these technologies is so crowded, the chance of interference is higher. In addition, 802.11G cant actually hit its peak speed of 54mbps; instead it is limited to 20 to 24 Mbps, still quite speedy, and certainly fast enough to handle the most strenuous networking tasks, including streaming video and pushing massive file transfers.
802.11g can also be significantly more secure than 802.11b becuase most 802.11g gear supports a newer security standard called Wireless Protected Access (WPA), a significant improvement over the broken security technology used by most 802.11b products; that technology, dubbed Wired Equivalency Privacy (WEP), can be beaten pretty easily even by unsophisticated hackers. But thanks to dynamic encryption and mutual authentication technologies, WPA pretty much solves all of the security issues with WEP.
But regardless of the technology you choose, setup and configuration will be similar.
2D. Setting Up a Secure Wireless Network
Before you can set up your wireless network, you need to consider your needs, the hardware you'll use, and the cost. The simpliest possible wireless network requires just two wireless network interface cards (NICs): You place one in a PC-typically, a laptop-that will connect wirelessly. Such a network is called an ad-hoc wireless network, and it can only exist between two PCs.
But if you think you'll ever want to use more than one PC wirelessly-and i think I can assume this is the case-you have to add a wireless access point or a wireless enabled broadband router. More important, perhaps: Ad-hoc wireless networks can't be secured. So even if your only using two PCs, you sould consider a WAP or similiar hardware-based wireless solution.
2E. Using an Access Point
A wireless access point (WAP) is a piece of hardware that plugs into your existing network with a standard Ethernet cable, and it can supply wireless networking access to several PCs. Access points are much cheaper than they used to be, and many companies, including Linksys, D-Link, Belkin, offer devices that don't cost much more than a wireless NIC. In fact, given the low price of these devices and the ease with which you can add one to your existing network.
An Access point is the logical starting point for anyone looking to add wireless support to an existing network. If your using a switch, hub, or broadband router that offers multiple Ethernet ports, you simply plug in the access points power cord and then connect it to the wired network using a standard 10 or 100mbps Ethernet Cable.
In addition to the access point, such a setup requires one wireless network card for each PC that will access the network wirelessly.
2F. Connecting to a Wireless Network
Note: This is for Windows XP users in setting up a wireless network.

One of the most best features of windows Xp is its native support for wireless connectivity based on the Wi-Fi standard. But this feature is far more powerful than simple device detection. Instead, XP clients also automatically detect any nearby wireless networks. XP also automatically connects to the fastest possible network connection.
Say you've got a wirelessly enabled laptop that also features a standard 100mbps etherent port for wired network connectivity. If both connections are active-that is, the wired network is plugged in, and the wireless network connection has detected a wireless network to which it has access rights-XP automatically uses the faster, wired network. Likewise, if you have a choice of wireless networks-mpre typical in an office situation, naturally-then XP picks the wireless network with the best connectivity.
At home, XP wont generally have multiple wireless networks from which to choose. However, XP will be sure to use whatever bandwidth is currently available.
Go to see what wireless networks are available by locating the wireless network connection icon, right click it, and choose View Avialable Networks. The displays the wireless Network connection utility. (This is a nice new feature for SP2 Users).
What you see here depends largely on your setup, but you should see at least one wireless network listed under Choose a wireless network, and it should match the wireless network you recently set up (it is hoped that you changed the default name of the network so that it isn't listed as default, linksys, etc.
If you dont see any wireless networks, you haven't set up your wireless access point correctly.
If you see other wireless networks-that is, wireless networks that you didnt set up and configure-its possible that they belong to neighbors or others nearby. PLEASE BE A GOOD NEIGHBOR AND DONT USE YOUR NEIGHBORS BANDWIDTH. IT IS ILLEGAL!, and let them know that there network is open to the world, make sure when your network is setup that it is not avialable to the world also! Once you are connected after the computer is done connecting, you should be asked to put a network key in. IF NOT, your network is unprotected. THE SHAME! The Network key is either the WEP or the WPA pass phrase you picked during setup. Then when your done typing in your network key twice hit connect. If you did it right you will be connected! Good Job!
2G. Fixing WEP's Security Problems
As i said earlier, there are two types of wireless security for home networks: WEP and WPA. The Following are ways to secure your WEP-based wireless network. Here's How!
2H. Don't Broadcast you Wireless Network
By default, wireless access points broadcast the name, or SSID, of your wireless network so that wireless clients can discover and access it more easily. However, this broadcast capibility is simply a huge target for anyone who wants to steal your bandwidth or potentially hack into your network and access your private data. Therefore, the first thing you should do is change the name of your wireless network (and give it a complicated name) so that hackers cant guess what name to use. Then stop the access point from broadcasting the name.
When you make this change, you have manually configure your XP based wireless adapters so that they know to look for the right wireless network. Here are the instructions on how too:
1. Open Network Connections, right click the wireless network connection, and choose properties. This displays the properties dialog box for the wireless connection.
2. Navigate to the wireless network tab if neccessary and click Add. This displays the wireless network properties dialog box.
3. Enter the name of your wireless network in the network name (SSID) text box and select WEP from the Data Encryption drop down list box.
4. Click OK to close the dialog box and return to the Wireless Network Connections Properties dialog box.
5. Under the Prefered Networks section, delete any network names other than the one you just entered.
6. Click OK to finish
2I. Filter Mac Addresses
The final task you can preform requires configuration only at the access point. Most access points can be configured to accept connections only from specific network adapters. This effectively shuts out other users from accessing your network wirelessly. Its called MAC filtering. And no, it doesn't mean your other Non windows computer (Apple mac, etc. wont work.
Network Adapters are identified by their MAC (Media Access Control) address, a series of alphanumeric characters that is guaranteed to be unique to each adapter. In fact, MAC addresses are so unique that Microsoft has tied its Windows Product Activation (WPA) technology to those retail Windows systems that include network adapters.
In windows XP, you can discover the MAC address of your wireless network adapter in various ways. The simplest way is:
1. Open a command-line window (start>all programs>accessories>Command Prompt).
2. Type ipconfig/all and the press enter.
The output will resemble the following:

Windows IP Configuration
Host Name.............................
Primary DNS Suffix...................
Node Type.............................
IP Routing Enabled...................
WINS Proxy Enabled.................

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection
Connection-Specific DNS Suffix.
Description............................
Physical Address.....................
Dhcp Enabled.........................
Autoconfiguration Enabled........
IP Address.............................
Subnet Mask..........................
Default Gateway....................
DHCP Server..........................
DNS Servers..........................
Lease Obtained......................
Lease Expires.........................

The MAC Address is listed next to the Physical Address. If you have more than one network adapters, please make sure you enter the correct one.
After all this, you can ensure that only your wireless devices and your computers can access your wireless network.
Feel Safer? You should

How To Share Your Files On Your Network

I had to give this its own section. If you want to share files between computers now you need to do the following first. Go to Start>My Network Places> and then click "Set up a home or small office network" in the menu on the top left. Follow all the instuctions now and do this proccess on every Computer you want to Network.
To Share a file, printer, drive, folder, etc. right click its icon, go to the Sharing tab, and chack "share this folder on the network". You'll need to enter the name of the folder on the network so you know what it is on the other computers.

3. Creating your home network:

3A. Making Computer to Computer Connections
Because a home network technically requires two or more computers, the simplest home network consists of two PC’s and some sort of connection between them (usually a kind of wire). Most home networks consist of wired Ethernet or wireless (802.11b, Wi-Fi, or 802.11g based) networking. You can also create a connection between two PC’s by using a parallel cable, a serial cable, a modem, or other similar methods; such a connection is called a direct cable connection, but it is technically a network. And if it’s in your house, it qualifies as a home network.
3B. Direct Cable Connection
Direct me networking cable connections can’t compete with Ethernet – based wired or wireless network performance, but they’re simpler to set up. You don’t have to install network adapters in any of your PCs. They use existing ports on your PCs. In XP, any connection in XP – modem, wired network, wireless network, direct cable connection, or whatever is considered a network connection. You create direct cable connections in XP the same way that you create any other connection.
3C. Using Infrared
Infrared networking is a relic. It’s an early specification for wireless exchanging data. Infrared is being squeezed out of the PC market by a new technology called Bluetooth, which offers faster speeds, nondirectional connection capabilities, and other features.
Infrared require two or more PCs or other devices that have infrared ports. (Infrared ports are small reddish black windows). To connect devices via infrared, the infrared ports of each device need to be lined up. The safest method of ensuring that an infrared connection is made is to make sure that the infrared port of the devices is aiming directly at the other devices infrared port. Like direct cable connections, you set up infrared connections in XP just as you would in most other network connections.
3D. Basic Network Types
Powerful home networking technologies are a little complicated, but not really difficult. All modern home networking types are based on TCP/IP, the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol that makes the internet possible. If you’re setting up a new home network, you will probably be working with at least one of these network types. Each of these types, which I describe below, requires a single compatible network adapter in each PC. This adapter then interfaces with the network.
3E.Ethernet Networking
The most common networking type is wired Ethernet networking, which typically offers speeds of 100mbps. A more recent version, called Gigabit Ethernet, offers speeds up to 1,000Mbps. (1Gbps)
In its simplest configuration, two PCs can interface directly by using a single crossover Ethernet cable. However, this setup isn’t typical. You normally provide some sort of central hub or switch, a physical device to which Ethernet equipped PCs connect by using Ethernet cabling.
Wired Ethernet networking is the fastest networking connection available. Its downside is the cabling itself. Ethernet cabling can be unsightly in a home, and hiding the cable in walls can be invasive and expensive. Moreover, if you want to network two machines that are physically separated by great distances, Ethernet isn’t always a great solution. But when your PCs are all in the same room, or at least nearby, it’s often the best way to go.
3F. Wi-Fi Wireless Networking
One of these, Wi-Fi, also known as 802.11b, has been accepted as an industry standard and has been hugely popular in recent years, though a more recent version, 802.11g is much faster and can be made more secure. 802.11b Wi-Fi offers speeds up to 11mbps, though that bandwidth is shared among any devices attached wirelessly. Newer wireless technologies such as 802.11g now offer speeds up to 54mbps. (Ethernet based networking is capable of offering each device the full 10, 100, or 1,000 Mbps of bandwidth.)
(More on wireless in next thread)
3G. Home Phoneline Networking
Before wireless networking became affordable to average consumers, other networking technologies were created for consumer needs. One based on phone line technology, has also evolved to offer high speed solutions that rival Ethernet. This networking type is HomePNA (Home Phoneline Networking Alliance).
HomePNA networking adapters look like Ethernet adapters but offer a standard phone jack connector. To network PCs in this manner, you must first install the adapter into your computer (if it is an external adapter) or connect it to your computer via the USB port (if it is an external adapter). Then plug the phone cable into any available wall jack. Most adapters also offer a second jack connector so that you can connect a telephone; HomePNA networking does not interrupt normal telephone service. HomePNA is a practical alternative to Ethernet if you already have phone jacks where you need them. But it is far less common than other home networking schemes.
3H. FireWire Based Networking
Some newer PCs include an IEEE 1394, or FireWire port, which was popularized by Apple Mac computers. Normally used to connect digital camcorders and external storage to PCs, FireWire can also be used for networking purposes. Standard FireWire offers up to 400mbps of bandwidth, which makes it an excellent networking candidate. Even better, a newer version of FireWire, dubbed GigaWire, or Firewire 800, offers much faster 800mbps speeds.
3I. Using Hubs and Switches
Wired Ethernet cabling forms the basis of most home networks; though many people also add other networking types; especially wireless, to the mix at some point.
As I said, it’s possible to use a special crossover cable to connect two PCs via Ethernet. However, this type of connection does not allow room for your network to grow. It isn’t very flexible or reliable. It’s more typical to place a special piece of networking hardware, typically a hub or switch, at the center of your network. These devices connect two or more PCs and physically form your network. You need one Ethernet
cable running between the hub or switch and each network adapter (typically one per PC). For example, if you want to connect three PCs to the network, you need three Ethernet cables.
Both hubs and switches are plug and play and play when used with modern operating systems such as Windows XP. Simply make the physical connections and allow XP to use its default networking configurations, and your network will be up and running. The two main reasons to create such a network are to share an Internet connection and to share local resources such as files and printers. (Sorry, that will be in my next guide)
Hubs and switches offer a range of Ethernet ports. Typically, they use four, five, or eight ports, but other sizes are available, and you can expand your network at anytime by adding another hub or switch and connecting them.
3J. Working with Hubs
Hubs have historically been much cheaper than switches, but they lack one crucial feature. Instead of providing each PC with the maximum bandwidth afforded by Ethernet, hubs share that bandwidth among all the PCs on the network. This can result in much slower speeds. Today, hubs are becoming more hard to find.
3K. Using Switches
Switches are basically more advanced hubs. They offer the full Ethernet bandwidth (typically 100 or 1000mbps) to each connection, making them more desirable than hubs. And because switch prices have dropped dramatically, there’s no compelling reason to choose a hub over a switch. Note: switches are sometimes marketed as routers or home networking routers. These devices often include an integrated wireless access point, or the capability to add one later.
3L. Residential Gateways and Routers
With more people signing up for broadband Internet access such as a cable modem or Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), the market for hardware devices that connect to these connections and create home networks has literally exploded. Such devices are typically called residential gateways or residential routers. They are designed to interface a home network with the outside world of the internet. They offer an outbound Ethernet connection for the broadband connection, several Ethernet ports for your home network, and more often than not, an integrated wireless access point for wireless connections. They’re like switches with additional functionality.
3M. Connecting a Home Network to an External Network
You can connect a home network to an external network such as the Internet in two ways:

Using a PC as the gateway, your internal home network uses a hub or switch to connect each PC. One PC acts as the internet gateway and thus has two network adapters, one for the Internet network and one for the broadband (or dial-up) connection. Such a network requires a simple switch, router, or hub. I do not recommend this approach for security reasons.

Using a Residential Gateway, your internal home network uses a dedicated residential gateway that acts as both the internet gateway and the internal network hub. This approach is more secure than the one above. Therefore, I recommend that you physically separate your PCs from your broadband connection by placing a residential gateway/router between them.

4. Sharing an internet connection and protecting it!

4A. Sharing an Internet Connection
Your Internet connection and home network will be wonderful with all the good things you can do with home networking technology; after the connections are in place, its time to begin taking advantage of those connections, primarily in the form of resource sharing. And the most important resource you can share is your internet connection.
With a shared connection, all the machines on your home network can access the web, instant message, email, and all other things that are available online.
4B. Connection Sharing
The concept of sharing an internet connection dates back a few years to a low-level technology called Network Address Translation {NAT}. This technology was designed to overcome the limitations of IP addressing, in that it became apparent by the mid 1990s that the number of free IP addresses would soon be depleted by the internet. As a result, certain ranges of IP addresses were aside solely for internal use at corporations and homes. These private, internal IP addresses can’t see the outside world-the internet-without being somehow translated into more typical external IP address.
Enter NAT, a network service that sits on the edge machine of a network and translates private, internal IP addresses into a single external IP address, and vice-versa. First used in servers, and then later in desktop machines for home networking use, the NAT service typically presents a single IP address to the outside world, obscuring the number of machines on the home network can interact seamlessly with internet services.
There are disadvantages to NAT, however. Because each machine on a home network is not seen as a unique Internet host, some internet services will not work properly through a NAT connection. However, many NAT devices, including home gateways and even PC operating systems such as Windows XP, can forward certain requests to certain local machines if you want. For example: if you have a Web server on a particular machine on your home network, you can configure your NAT device to forward Web server requests to the proper machine. But other services cannot be fooled so easily. 
Introducing Internet Connection Sharing (ICS)
Microsoft first added simple NAT capabilities to its desktop operating systems as Internet Connection Sharing (ICS). ICS was introduced with Windows 98 Second Edition (SE), and also appeared later in Windows 2000 Pro, in Windows Millennium Ed. (ME), and now, in Windows XP.
ICS is basically a super simple front end of NAT. In fact, it’s so simple that one checkbox in the user interface can enable it. After ICS is enabled, you can share an Internet connection from your XP machine among other machines on your home network.
For ICS to work, you need at least two network connections, as follows:
A modem connection or network interface card (NIC), which is physically connected to your phone line or broadband connection. This connection manages the Internet connection component.
A second connection to your internal network; typically through a hub or switch; this connection; which will typically be an Ethernet or wireless network connection, manages the connection between your PC and the different computers on your home network. Each computer on the network uses this connection to get to the computer that is managing the Internet through the first network connection listed above.
To set up and configure Internet Connection Sharing, you must ensure that your physical connections are correct. Then open Network Connections by clicking Start and then right click My Network Places and selecting Properties. The Network Connections window shows you all the connections that are present in your system, including any modem connections, NIC’s (wired or wireless), or FireWire/IEEE-1394 adapters.
By default, Windows XP provides simple names for each of the Network connections. If you have two NIC’s, for example, they will be named Local Area Connection and Local Area Connection 2, which aren’t very descriptive. You should rename these. I recommend names such as Cable Modem Connection for your external Internet connection, while Local Area Connection is fine for the internal connection.
I didn’t want to get in much detail because I think you should never do this because:
I just wanted to give you an explanation of ICS if there were any questions about it.
These days, hackers are pyling the internet, looking for unshielded, directly connected computers to which they can deliver their vile malware surreptitiously. But using hardware sharing solution, like that provided by a residential gateway device, physically separates your home network from the internet and provides a level of protection you don’t get from software only solution like ICS. Better yet, residential gateways provide a number of other useful services and are extremely cheap. Everyone with a home network should be using a residential gateway.
Put simply, using a Windows XP based PC as the edge machine isn’t practical. In addition to the security risks mentioned previously, there are other reasons why you wouldn’t want a PC on the edge of your network. Your whole network will lose its internet connection, for example, if the edge PC isn’t running or something goes wrong. Instead, a hardware solution, such as a residential gateway or broadband router, can be used to shield the home network from the outside world and provide NAT/Internet Connection Sharing Capabilities.
4C. Working with Firewalls
Large corporations use a hardware device called a Firewall to protect internal networks from outside problems, including unwanted network traffic and other more targeted Internet based attacks. But with the proliferation of broadband internet connections, home users also need protection from internet borne attacks, so the hardware firewalls of the past have been downsized into software applications that are now available on PCs.
Simply diagram of how firewall works

Cable Modem/DSL/Modem ~ NIC ~ Firewall (Software) ~ Computer ~ NIC ~ Switch ~ to another PC on the local network.

5. Feeling Blue: Using Bluetooth Devices with Windows XP
Bluetooth is an enigmatic wireless technology, created a decade ago, that's always been on the cusp of breaking out. These days, bluetooth is fairly popular, more so with cell phone users than PC users, but that could change overt time. In short, Bluetooth is a wireless solution for short range communications between two devices, including PCs, PDAs, printers, cell phones and so on. It can transfer both data and voice communications, making it particulary useful for the small portable head phones you often see on cell phone users.
Unlike WiFi, however, Bluetooth isnt designed for large data transfers or Internet access, though it can be used for both if your masochistic. Because of its slow 1 Mbps data transfer limit, bluetooth is instead better used in situations where wires are unwelcome or unavailable. For example, if you travel with a cell phone and PC, you need to bring power supplies for both devices, but if they are both bluetooth enabled, you wont need to bring a third cable to synchronize your PC address book with the phone; you can just do it wireless, with bluetooth.
If your interested in using Bluetooth, you'll likely have to purchase a small Bluetooth radio for your PC. These generally take the form of USB fob, though i've seen them in various other form factors as well, including USB add ons, PC Cards, and SD cards. But as with WiFi, its always simpler and more convenient if you can simply get that feature built into the computer.

5A. Enabling a Bluetooth Radio
When you install an external Bluetooth radio or enable your internal Bluetooth module, Windows XP changes in subtle ways. First, a small bluetooth icon appears in the tray area, giving you a handy way to deal with various Bluetooth related tasks. Second, a new bluetooth devices control panel applet appears; you can access this applet by navigating to the control panel, choosing printers and other hardware, and then choosing Bluetooth devices.
5B. Using the Bluetooth Devices Utility
If you click the Bluetooth Devices icon in the tray, you will be presented with the pop up menu. This menu enables you to perform the following tasks:
Add a bluetooth Device: Before you can use a bluetooth device with your computer, you must add it to the system. For security reasons, many bluetooth devices must be locked to a certain device so that its features cannot be accessed by other nearby Bluetooth devices. Likewise, for funtional reasons, you might want to lock a bluetooth device to a particular PC. For example, you wouldn't want the keystrokes from a bluetooth keyboard to cause data entry on the wrong computer.
Show Bluetooth Devices: This option displays a list of the bluetooth devices that are associated with your PC
Send a File: Many bluetooth devices support data transfer, and you can use this option to send a file to a particular device.
Receive a File: Likewise, many bluetooth devices support recieving files as well. Your PC can both send and recieve files.
Join a Personal Area Network: Just as WiFi and ethernet equipment can be used to create a local area network (LAN), certain bluetooth hardware can create a Personal Area Connection (PAN), in which participating bluetooth devices offer their services to each other. For example, you might create a PAN that includes a PC, a PDA, and a printer (all which have to support bluetooth). in this scenario, boh the PC and PDA could exist between any of them
Open Bluetooth Settings: This option displays the Bluetooth Devices Control panel applet
Remove Bluetooth Icon: This option will remove the bluetooth Devices Icon tray.

5C. Adding a Bluetooth Device
To add, or associate, a bluetooth devie with your PC, you must first ensure that the device is on and its bluetooth radio is enabled. The following steps add a bluetooth capable Pocket PC to a PC.
1. Click the bluetooth devices tray icon and choose Add a bluetooth device from the list. The Add bluetooth device wizard appears.
2. Turn on your pocket pc (or other bluetooth enabled device) and ensure that its bluetooth radio is enabled and that the device is configured to be discoverable. The process for doing so varies per device.
3. In the add bluetooth device wizard, check the box titled My Device is Set up and ready to be found and then click next.
4. In the next phase of the wizard, XP will scan for compatible bluetooth devices and display a list of the devices it finds. Select the device you want to connect to.
5. In the next screen, the wizard prompts you for a pass key. This is like a password, and it will be used to associate the device for your PC. Select let me choose my own pass key and then enter a phrase that is 8-16 characters long.
6. Click next and the wizard will note that it is exchanging passkeys with the bluetooth device. Your PDA will beep and launch its Bluetooth Passkey screen. Enter the same 8-16 character passkey on the PDA; if you wait too long, the screen will disappear and you'll have to restart the wizard.
7. XP will find the New Hardware and display a series of balloon help windows. These very depending on the device. When the hardware recognition is done, you can click finish to complete the wizard.

5D. Configuring Bluetooth Devices
Once you've associated Bluetooth device with your pc. You can configure it further using the Bluetooth Devices control panel applet.
Click properties to view the properties sheet for this device. The most interesting information is on the Services tab: Here, you'll see which bluetooth services the device supports. In this case of the pocket pc just added, those services include Dial Up networking and Generic Serial Port, both of which have been assigned to virtual COM ports on your system. For a pocket pc, these services make it possible to synchronize the device over activesync with the pc, eliminating the needs for cables. For other devices, the services will be a bit more interesting. For example, you could use a cell phone to dial up the internet in a pinch, or interact with your system using Bluetooth keyboards and mice.
If you close this dialog and return to the Bluetooth Devices applet, you can configure other bluetooth options, using the options, COM Ports, and Hardware.

5E. Options
Turn discovering on: If you want other Bluetooth compatible devices (including PCs) to be able to discover your system via bluetooth, check this option. My advice, do not enable this option. Typically, you will configure all of your device connections from your PC and wont need other devices to discover you.
Configure Connections: You can determine whether Bluetooth devices can connect to your computer, and, if so, whether you should be alerted when a new device wants to connect. My advice: Require an alert when other devices want to connect.
Hardware
This page lists the devices that are connected to your computer, and not the bluetooth devices that are associated with your PC. You can access this information from the device manager, but this is a handy way to filter down to just the bluetooth devices.

5F. Sending and Receiving Files Via Bluetooth
One thing Bluetooth is really handy is for sending and receiving small files. For example, a bluetooth compatible cell phone can be configured to send photos it has taken to your pc. For the file transfer capability, you'll need to configure where files are sent, for both pc and the device. Naturally, how you do this depends on which device your using. The next two examples continue to use the Pocket PC we previously associated as an example.

5G. Sending Files to a Bluetooth Device
To send a file to a bluetooth device, click the bluetooth devices icon tray area and choose send a file. This launches the bluetooth file transfer wizard. Then, follow these steps to complete the transfer:
1. In the first stage of the wizard, click the browse button. the select bluetooth device dialog appears and the system searches for a compatible device. The resulting list will show both associated and nopn associated devices.
2. Select the device you'd like to connect to and click OK. This returns you to the wizard.
3. Click next to continue. Then, in the next stage of the wizard, select the file you'd like to transfer by clicking Browse and navigating to the file.
4. Click next and the file transfer will start. Depending on the device, you may need to accept the file transfer. On a pocket PC, for example, you will see an authorization req screen that will let you accept or deny this transfer.

5H. Recieving Files From a Bluetooth Device
Receiving files via Bluetooth is similar to the preceding steps, except that you choose recieve a file from the bluetooth devices pop up menu and then refer to your bluetooths devices instructions for initiating file transfer.

5I. Removing a Bluetooth Device
To remove, or disassociate, a bluetooth device from your PC, open the bluetooth devices control panel applet, select the device you wish to remove, and then click the remove button. WARNING: This funtion doesnt use any sort of "Are you sure" dialog, so make sure you're serious about removing the device before clicking the button.


Well thank you for your patience in reading this. I will update this and add stuff everyonce in a while. I hope you enjoyed it!!