FAQS! FACTS! FAX! 003 (31/06/96)

BELATED BACKUP

Having suffered a major hard disc failure on my computer, loosing almost two years work in the process, I’m now acutely aware of the need for some form of data backup for my PC, what are my options?

J.P., Wembley

A

Backup systems fall into two broad categories: tape and disc. Generally speaking tape backup devices are slow but cheap, discs systems tend to be faster, but they’re usually a lot more expensive.

One of the most unusual tape-based systems on the market is Backer, made by the UK company Danmere and it costs around £45. It’s a plug-in card that converts data from a hard disc into a form that can be recorded (and retrieved ) on an ordinary VCR. A three-hour VHS tape can hold up to 1.5 megabytes of data! It’s quite slow though, the data transfer rate is between 4 and 9 megabytes per minute (Mb/min) and depending on the amount of compression used, the contents of a 500 megabyte hard disc can take more than two hours to download.

The most popular solution is a purpose-designed tape drive, sometimes called a ‘streamer’. They use a variety of tape formats, including 4mm DAT and 8mm video cassettes. Tape streamers can be installed inside a PC and they’re comparatively inexpensive, selling from under £80 to £500, depending on speed and capacity. Data transfer rates vary from 8 to 50 Mb/min.

Disc systems use a variety of storage technologies, including magnetic, optical and magneto-optical. The Iomega Zip drive, (around £180) can store up to 100 megabytes at a time on removable magnetic discs, with data transfer rates of over 50 Mb/min. Recordable CD or CD-R drives operate in the 20 to 40Mb/min range and several models now sell for less than £800. Each write-once, read many times (WORM) disc can hold up to 650 megabytes of uncompressed data and be read on an ordinary CD-ROM drive

Contacts: Danmere Ltd  (01606) 74330

PANEL GAME

I’m thinking about buying a portable computer but I’m confused by the various types of display panels. What are the main differences, and which one would be most suitable for my purposes? I’ll be using it mainly for word-processing and some accounts work.

P.M., Northampton

A

The overwhelming majority of portable computers nowadays have LCD (liquid crystal display) screens. If a colour display is not important to you, or you’re on a tight budget (less than £800, say), then your best bet would be one with a monochrome screen. The resolution can be very good, and they’re fine for text-based Windows applications, such as word-processors and spreadsheets. There are two types of colour LCD screen: dual-scan or passive-matrix, and active-matrix or TFT (thin-film transistor). Laptops with colour LCD screens cost between two and five times as much as mono models. Passive matrix screens are the cheapest, but colours have limited depth and they can look a bit wishy-washy, moreover patterning can sometimes be a problem. Active matrix screens are far better, but they cost more, typically adding between £200 and £400 to the price. Colours are sharper and brighter though, and some models can display up to 64,000 colours at screen resolutions of 800 x 600 pixels.

PICTURE THIS

I want to be able to get video images into my PC, possibly using them for visuals on a Web page, or creating an ‘electronic CV’ with my photograph on it. I already have access to a camcorder, but what extra hardware will I need? I am a student, so my funds are strictly limited.

T.S., Sutton

A

Assuming you have a reasonably recent IBM or compatible PC (fast 386, 486, or Pentium) then you can use a video capture board. The Mediavision Pro Movie Studio is one of the least expensive on the market, it sells for around £80. However, don’t expect too much, video capture systems tend to produce quite coarse, whiskery-looking images. You will get much better results scanning a photograph; simple high-resolution (600 to 800 dpi) hand-scanners start at around £80, colour models cost less than £100.  

Contacts: Pro Movie Studio, Sterling Management, (01483) 301331; Mustek Scanners, Evesham Micros (01386) 765500