Category Archives: Gadgets and Tech

OSD Lockout message on HP LCD [SOLVED]

If you have a newer HP LCD monitor like the HP Pavilion 23xi you may encounter the on screen display “OSD Lockout” message when trying to access the OSD (on-screen display). This message locks you out of any adjustments to brightness, contrast, color, etc. and only displays OSD Lockout: Thankfully, to disable the lockout, you only have to press the OSD button for approximately 10-12 seconds and then the normal OSD will appear! 🙂 If you are struggling with the

How to flash BIOS upgrade on MSI motherboard via USB

If you are trying to update your BIOS on a MSI motherboard, like the new MSI AM1I, be aware that there are some requirements. Specifically, if you are using a USB thumbdrive to contain the BIOS update file, make sure you format it as FAT32 and not exfat or NTFS! You can download the latest version here: (dl link) Once you have a FAT32 formatted USB drive containing the BIOS update, you can boot into the BIOS /UEFI (press DEL

AMD Kabini Athlon 5350 review and overclocking

I finished my new AMD Kabini Athlon 5350 build yesterday. Here are the specs: AMD Kabini Athlon 5350 at 2.1GHz (overclocked from 2.05GHz) Stock cooler 4GB Kingston Blu DDR3 memory 64GB Lenovo SSD MSI AM1I mini-itx motherboard Mini-itx case Windows 7 So far I am impressed with the system. It boots in < 10 seconds and is very responsive. CPU OC screenshots: http://www.eteknix.com/amd-kabini-am1-athlon-5350-apu-fs1b-review-winning-sub-60/12/ http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1390-page5.html http://www.overclock.net/t/1480711/various-socket-am1-kabini-apus http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2377334 http://www.anandtech.com/show/7933/the-desktop-kabini-review-part-1-athlon-5350-am1 http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/athlon-5350-am1-platform-review,3801-9.html

SD cards for the Yoga 2 Pro that don’t stick out as much

In general, the Yoga 2 Pro is an excellent upgrade over the original Yoga 13. One of the few drawbacks of the Pro 2 is that Lenovo made it so normal SD cards stick out (rather than sitting flush like on the original Yoga). Thankfully, there are some shorter SD cards that meant to at least partially resolve this issue. You can find some more info at the links below:   PNY StorEDGE 128GB Flash Memory Expansion Module (P-MEMEXP128U1-EF): Computers &

Dual monitors on HP Pro 3500 desktop PC? [SOLVED]

Today I received the following PC question: Yo JD, Can you suggest a video card for us to order? We hired an individual at our office, and we purchased two monitors for his computer, but I don’t think the video card it came with will push two monitors. The computer is a “HP Pro” – stock off the shelf – purchased at a Office Depot type store. The existing video card is a Intel(R) HD Graphics Card. Can you suggest

Ideal walkaround Micro Four Thirds camera lens

Recently I was asked “what is the ideal walkaround micro four-thirds camera lens?”. Of course the answer varies by the style and taste of the individual photographer, but for me the ideal walkabout lens is the Olympus 17mm f1.8 prime lens (34mm equivelant). Olympus M.Zuiko 17mm f1.8 (Black) for Olympus and Panasonic Micro 4/3 Camerashttp://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CI3R4VUThe lens works well on the OM-D-EM1, wonderful first lens for the camera. With micro 4/3 the 17mm is the same as a 34mm lens on