Thursday, September 20, 2012

Use Fixed Size Disks to Speed Up Your Virtual Machines (and Other VirtualBox Tips) [Virtualization]

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5944656/use-fixed-size-disks-to-speed-up-your-virtual-machines-and-other-virtualbox-tips

Use Fixed Size Disks to Speed Up Your Virtual Machines (and Other VirtualBox Tips)Virtual machines are great for running another operating system on top of your desktop, like testing out Windows 8 or running OS X inside Windows. They can be notoriously slow, though, and using a fixed size disk can help you speed things up.

Use Fixed Size Disks to Speed Up Your Virtual Machines (and Other VirtualBox Tips)Our friends over at the How-To Geek round up a bunch of tips for speeding up your virtual machines. Some you may already know, like allocating more RAM or CPU resources to the system, while others you might not. Here's one we didn't know about: using a fixed size disk can actually make your machine run faster than using the space-saving, dynamically allocated disk—particularly when you're writing large amounts of data to your virtual machine (big file transfers, downloads, and so on). It'll also decrease the amount of fragmentation your disk experiences. To use a fixed size disk, just choose the option when prompted during the initial setup of your machine.

The How-To Geek has all sorts of other performance-boosting tips in their guide, from placing VMs on another drive to excluding those files from antivirus apps. Hit the link below for the full guide.

The HTG Guide To Speeding Up Your Virtual Machines | How-To Geek

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Google Maps for Android update brings your full location search history to handhelds

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/19/google-maps-for-android-update-brings-your-full-location-search/

Google Maps for Android update brings your mapping search history to handhelds

While Google Maps may have found itself on the outside looking in on the just-released iOS 6, it's got a fresh update for Android devices that makes sure any locations you've searched are right at your fingertips. Rolling out now in Google Play, it includes results from your search and directions history (whether on your phone or on a PC that you were logged in to) whenever you start a new search, and in the search or directions tab under My Places. The other tweak noted in the changelog is the ability to zoom with just one finger -- double tap the map then hold down your finger and slide. There's no word specifically on what's in store for Apple's hardware but the final line of the blog post mentions improving the Google Maps experience across all devices -- draw your own conclusions from that.

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Google Maps for Android update brings your full location search history to handhelds originally appea! red on < a href="http://www.engadget.com">Engadget on Wed, 19 Sep 2012 18:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ZTE Warp Sequent now available on Boost Mobile for $200

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/19/zte-warp-sequent-now-available-on-boost-mobile-for-200/

DNP ZTE Warp Sequent now available on Boost Mobile for $200

Boost Mobile has a history of recycling Sprint's smartphones, but every now and then it releases a first-run phone of its own. This time around we're looking at the ZTE Warp Sequent, a fitting follow-up to last year's ZTE Warp. Packed to capacity with entry-level goodness, the Warp Sequent features a 4.3-inch qHD display, a 1.4GHz processor, a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera, a 1.3-megapixel front shooter, 768MB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage and Android 4.0. So, if you've got a serious hankering for an off-contract Android running last year's operating system, the ZTE Warp Sequent can be yours for $200.

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ZTE Warp Sequent now available on Boost Mobile for $200 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Sep 2012 21:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HP's 24-inch x2401 monitor is just 11mm thick, arrives in November for $249

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/20/hps-24-inch-x2401-monitor-LX2401/

HP's 24inch x2401 monitor is just 11mm thick, arrives in November for $249

It wouldn't be a seasonal HP product launch without dozens of PCs and at least one monitor, right? This go-round, the company is launching the x2401, a 24-inch, 1080p display with a slim, 11mm-thick frame. Though the last two monitors we saw from HP were IPS, this one makes use of MVA technology to help ensure wide viewing angles. If you're looking to add a display to your setup, this one has a DisplayPort socket and HDMI-in. (You can also mount it to the wall, if that's your bag.) Expect it to arrive on November 7th for $249. Additionally, HP will sell a business-oriented version, the L2401x, the main difference being that the commercial version has a three-year warranty, instead of one. Not bad, considering the business version costs only ten bucks more.

Continue reading HP's 24-inch x2401 monitor is just 11mm thick, arrives in November for $249

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HP's 24-inch x2401 monitor is just 11mm thick, arrives in November for $249 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Sep 2012 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HP announces Envy m4 thin-and-light, along with two slimmed-down Sleekbooks

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/20/hp-envy-m4-pavilion-sleekbook14-sleekbook-15/

HP announces Pavilion m4 thinandlight, along with two slimmeddown Sleekbooks

Remember the Pavilion m6? It was one of many, many lightweight laptops HP announced last spring. To recap, it didn't technically fit Intel's Ultrabook specifications, but it was still quite thin, and offered features not normally found on ultraportables -- things like discrete graphics and a subwoofer. In any case, HP is expanding that particular line: it just announced the Envy m4, a 14-inch companion to the 15-inch m6 that went on sale this summer.

Like the m6, it has an aluminum design, along with Beats Audio and a subwoofer. Spec-wise, it'll be offered with Core i3 and i5 processors, up to 8GB of RAM and either a solid-state drive or up to 1TB of HDD storage. The display resolution is fixed at 1,366 x 768 -- typical for mid-range laptops. (Note: only one configuration will be available in the US, though additional variants will be offered in other countries.) Intel Wireless Display is standard, and the battery promises up to eight hours of runtime. It also has a fingerprint reader, which you can use with HP's SimplePass technology to log into the PC and as well as websites.

Meanwhile, HP added two models to its growing line of Sleekbooks (read: thin-and-light laptops that for whatever reason don't meet Intel's Ultrabook requirements). These new models include the Pavilion Sleekbook 1! 4 and 15 , which look like the company's entry-level G series, but are significantly trimmer. The laptops, available in black and red, will be offered with Ivy Bridge chips, optional discrete graphics, 1080p displays, up to 8GB of RAM and up to 1TB of HDD storage. In both cases, the battery life is said to max out at six hours -- less than the m4 or most Ultrabooks, but still decent.

Last thing -- and this really is apropos of nothing -- HP also mentioned in its press release that the existing 11-inch Pavilion dm1 will be offered with an HSPA+ radio capable of running on T-Mobile's network. HP says it will offer up to 200MB of free data per month, for two years. That deal is effective next month, on October 26th.

The Envy m4 will start at $900 while the Pavilion Sleekbook 14 and 15 will go for $500 and $560, respectively. These, too, will arrive on the 26th, the day Windows 8 launches. For now help yourself to photos galore past the break.

Continue reading HP announces Envy m4 thin-and-light, along with two slimmed-down Sleekbooks

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HP announces Envy m4 thin-and-light, along with two slimmed-down Sleekbooks originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Sep 2012 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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