Author Archives: J.D. H.

Bought & Sold: Olympus E-P1 – 12.3 MP Digital Camera & 14-42mm lens

Introducing: Bought & Sold This entry marks a new feature on jdhodges.com: Bought & Sold Here I will list items that I purchased and then sold at a later date. Simple enough huh? Here we go… First item: Olympus E-P1 12.3 MP & 14-42mm kit lens This was my second Micro Four Thirds based camera and it was quite a lovely little camera. 🙂 Purchase date: 2009.06.16 Purchase price: $799.99 (from Amazon.com) Sale date: May 27th, 2011 Sale price: $320.00 Owned for:

The best dynamic-range cameras, updated for 2013

P1010169-dynamic-range

NOTE: this is a rough-draft and as such it is meant to be updated, please view these findings as preliminary and in progress. Thanks! As photography enthusiasts are well aware,  there are a number of image-quality criteria that are important when choosing a camera: +lens/optical quality +color fidelity and color vibrance +dynamic range I will save the first two for later, but today I did want to briefly discuss dynamic-range and start compiling a list of the best d-range cameras:

Does amount of RAM (size) affect hibernation time? [yes]

Today some laptops, such as the Dell M6500, can have up to 32GB of RAM! (4 sticks of 8GB DDR3) Drawbacks of more RAM However, before you load up your laptop with as much RAM as it can hold, there are some potential drawbacks to more RAM that you may want to consider: #1 Slower hibernation times – if you use the “hibernate” feature of Windows, be aware that the more RAM you have, the longer hibernation will take. Related:

How can I lock the Kindle DX screen orientation? [easy]

Q. Hi. I have a Kindle DX and I really love it, but sometimes when I am reading it rotates the screen orientation WHEN I DON’T WANT IT TO. How can I “lock” the screen orientation so this will not happen? A. Great question! First a bit of info, then the solution. 🙂 Here’s how Amazon describes the screen rotation/orientation feature: The Kindle DX screen image can rotate to match the way you’re holding your Kindle. The display changes accordingly

Adding a 3rd hard drive (or SSD + HDD + HDD) and RAID1 on Dell M6500

NOTE: via mSATA it is possible to have FOUR drives in a M6500!!! Complete tutorial to be published soon (with photos). Here are some links in the meantime. More resources:   2nd HDD / SSD Caddy – DELL Precision M6400, M6500, M4600, M6600 [OBHD9-SATA-SATA-B] – $42.00 : NewmodeUS, Hard Drive Caddys for Notebookshttp://www.newmodeus.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=269Notebook Hard Drive Caddys Drive Cloning Drive Adapters Cables Backup Software External Enclosures Desktop Brackets AC Adapters Other Products   Dell M6500 Service Manual – Documentation for removing

How to backup StarCraft 2!

Reinstalling Windows or building a new PC and don’t want to lose all your installed games and their updates/saves/replays etc.? Here are some tips to help! How to Backup StarCraft 2 SC2 is okay with just a copy/paste from your old Windows install into a new Windows install, however, the following slightly longer process should help make sure that you get all your saves/replays/settings as well as already downloaded updates and maps, all copied over so you’ll be good to

ACPI\TOS620A Unknown Device driver download [solved]

Question. from Laptop Lover: Hello, I have a Toshiba Tecra R10 laptop and I recently installed Windows 7. Almost everything is good, however, after running Windows update I still have ONE unknown device in device manager. It is called ACPI/TOS620A and I do not know what it is or how to get it working. The only other info I have listed is 2&daba3ff&0.  Where can I find the correct driver? Answer. That is the hard drive shock protection feature of your