If you are looking for a printer/scanner/copier then Canon’s £150 PIXMA MP640 should definitely be on your list. There are two paper trays, it can print on both sides of a page, will work in a wireless network and it has a colour LCD display.

The control panel is located in the scanner lid of the MP640, and it is protected when not in use by a fold-down cover, which also contains the machine’s 75mm LCD display. Some careful thought has gone into the design of the control panel which has easy-to-use buttons, including two that can be used for programming, and a click-wheel for navigating the menu.

The flatbed scanner is located beneath the lid and this raises to let you get to the printer cartridges. There are cyan (CLI-521C), magenta (CLI-521M) and yellow (CLI-521Y) cartridges as well as a black one for printing text (PGI-520BK) and another one for photographs (CLI-521BK). The Canon PIXMA MP640 has facilities for CompactFlash, SD, MemoryStick, xD and USB in a covered housing at the front right of the machine.

The MP640’s two 150 page capacity paper trays give plenty of printing options. Either can be used for most printing jobs although Canon recommends you use the rear tray for photos and the cassette tray for plain paper. You also have the option to print on Cd’s and DVDs using a facility which is is accessed by pulling down an internal cover.

Drivers for Windows and OS X operating systems are included with the Canon PIXMA MP640 as well as an excellent selection of software.

Wireless connection proved to be straightforward. This was achieved by a two-part process where the printer was first logged onto the wireless network using WPA or WPS. The software then picked up the printer.

The Canon PIXMA MP640 proved to be very good at copying both documents and photos. Reproduction, both in mono and colour, was well defined and the colouring was faithful. Photos were reproduced with similarly impressive results. Skin tones and other colours were spot on.

Prints from the Canon PIXMA MP640 were just as good. Mono prints were rich and well defined and colour documents had plenty of detail. Printing speeds were also impressive, taking about 13 seconds to print a document. Double-sided printing brought the speed down to about 3.5 pages per minute.

Scans from the MP640 were also of excellent quality. One slight disappointment is that it is not possible to scan film.

The Canon PIXMA MP640 is an excellent PSC machine with no real weak points. Whatever you use it for you will not be disappointed.

You can get Canon PIXMA MP640 ink cartridges here.

Theodore Beach is a long time member of the Cartridge Concept team which specialises in printer cartridges.

A processor is the heart of a computer be it a desktop computer or a laptop. It is a microchip, which is fitted within the motherboard in a special socket meant for it. A laptop processor controls the flow of data, providing logical tasks in the laptop. It is one of the most important components of a laptop since it actually carries out the entire data processing task. Higher is the speed of your processor, the better will be your laptop function. The unit for measuring the speed of a processor is Gigahertz or GHz. Usually processors can have a speed ranging between 2.6 GHz to 3.66 GHz.

There are mainly two significant manufacturers namely Intel and AMD. Both the manufacturers offer different series of these processing devices. These are listed below:

Mobile Intel Pentium 4-M:
The Pentium 4-M laptop processor has a speed up to 2.6 GHz. It consumes less power, does not support hyper threading and runs cooler. Mobile Intel Pentium 4-M works best with the mid-range laptops.

Mobile Intel Celeron:
Mobile Intel Celeron is mainly found in cheap laptops. It has a speed of up to 2.4 GHz. This processor is best suited for people who use laptops to run basic applications like MS office and similar other light applications. The Mobile Intel Celeron, due to its small on-chip cache memory is not as powerful as other processors.

Intel Pentium M:
Intel Pentium M processor, which is a part of the Intel Centrino package, is an upgraded version of Mobile Pentium 4 processors. There are different variations in these laptop processors. The earlier version of Intel Pentium M processor had 1 MB and 2 MB of level 2 cache, but the latest version has an added 533 MHz front side bus support. Pentium M performs effectively and provides tremendous battery savings.

AMD Mobile Athlon:
AMD Mobile Athlon is a low budget laptop processor. It is cheap and offers reliable performance.

AMD Mobile Athlon XP-M:
AMD Mobile Athlon XP-M is the successor of the AMD mobile Athlon processor. It is an improved version that has double the cache memory from its predecessor. AMD mobile Athlon is inexpensive and offers better performance than Pentium laptop processors.

There are different types of Laptop processors available in the market today and each has its own unique features and performance. Choose a processor that would work with your laptop notebook efficiently. Ever heard of a dual processor laptop.

A number of things can go wrong with your LCD monitor. You may lose power, the display may not work, the monitor may prematurely shut down, there may be dead pixels, or the backlight may die. There are many issues that can come about that can cause you a headache or two.

But what do you do when you need LCD monitors repair? Do you troubleshoot yourself or do you choose a repair technician to take on the task for you?

The answer is that you can do both. If you are confident enough, you can attempt to repair the issue on your own. If you are unsuccessful, you can then choose an LCD monitors repair technician to

Troubleshooting LCD monitors repair

The first step in troubleshooting an LCD monitor issue yourself is to open up the monitor’s cover. You can then check for any loose connectors, burnt components, or a cracked board. You can perform a voltage test by using a voltage tester. You can save lamp testing for last because the lamps rarely ever go bad.

One of the most common issues you can look for is an issue with the filter capacitor. If there is an issue with the voltage, this is one of the first places you can look. If you find that there is an issue coming from the flow of the filter capacitor, then all you have to do is replace the filter capacitor.

As for how you identify the issue, you can use the voltage tester to test the start of a circuit and the end of the circuit to ensure the flow is not interrupted. If the flow is interrupted, then you know that there is something along that voltage flow causing the problem.

You can also take a look at the small electrolytic caps on the boards inside the monitor. If they are bulged outward, then there is a problem. You may even see a small amount of black discharge, which us an indicator of total failure. You can simply replace the affected parts rather than buying a new monitor. The components can usually be found at a store that sells computer components. You can solve a host of problems, including display problems when replacing the caps.

Hiring a professional

If you would prefer to have someone else repair the monitor, you can have an LCD monitors repair professional take on the job. Most repairs are minimal, while others may be more extensive. It is best to receive an estimate on the repair so that you can determine whether or not you should purchase a new monitor instead. Nowadays, new monitors are inexpensive and can cost less or just slightly more than a repair by a professional. If you paid high dollar for your monitor, then you may consider the repair option.

So don’t let the power board or the inverter board scare you away. It is possible and rather simple for you to take on LCD monitors repair on your own. Nevertheless, there is always the option of hiring a repair professional if you feel that is the best route for you.

Swati is a freelancer, a work from home mom, who loves to write. She is a postgraduate in English and an MBA. She has written on practically every niche on the web. She writes articles, blogs, web pages, reports, press releases, product descriptions, eBooks, sales letters and newsletters. Visit Swati’s blog at http://swatibanerjee.wordpress.com now if you need content for your business or personal needs.