Category Archives: Hardware

Category containing all information relating to hardware.

Tiscali Router (Siemens SE587) and confusing port forwarding…

4 Replies

I use Tiscali Broadband very regularly, and generally the service they provide is fantastic. The broadband is very cheap for what you get, and most of the time I have no problems. Except…

The Tiscali router firmware is quite strange. Especially in the port forwarding settings. In my scenario, I need to be able to port forward my Network Drive up to the internet so I can access it when I’m not at home (or so that downloads on http://download02.geekonthepc.com work). Ok, that’s fine, I just put the port forwarding info into the config settings…

 

Router Config

Look OK to you (you might want to see a full size image but clicking on the image)? Looks OK to me.

So I go to test it – open up Filezilla, and go to my IP, and wait a sec – connection rejected by server? What?

So I go back and check the settings again. No, they are fine. What’s going on?

Well, after several hours of endless confusion, I’ve finally worked out how (oddly) it works.

It does actually port forward, however if you try and access it on the same Tiscali router you are trying to port forward from, for some reason the connection is rejected. But if you go to another wi-fi connection, it will allow it and you’ll get in.

It’s very odd, but at least it’s working. You can be sure that its working if you go to http://status.geekonthepc.com/networkdrive and it’ll ping it from the Tiscali router (update: the server has since been taken off the internet).

So there you go, Tiscali port forwarding does work – it’s just a firmware bug that Tiscali/Siemens should just sort out.

EI System 1201 (DSG Retail) and RAM

2 Replies

I own an EI System 1201 as one of my laptops, as I thought it was an excellent budget buy. I bought it in June ’08 with Vista Home Premium… and sadly 1GB of RAM. Vista and 1GB RAM don’t mix, trust me.

Anyway, I googled some RAM for the system and many sites are telling me that it only has 1 RAM module. However, I’m not totally sure of this. I’ve taken the back off and this is what I saw:

Image 1

Image 2

Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that is two slots.

Many sites are claiming that it is one slot only, but I think there may be another one hidden underneath it.

I am also trying to get clarification on whether the maximum memory is 2GB. I’ve seen this site, Ei Systems Laptop Memory :: 1201 Laptop Memory :: Offtek.co.uk, the Memory Superstore, which claims that there is a 2GB module avaialble for the system.

It’s all very blurry for me – can you get 2GB in by either getting 2x 1GB modules or 1X 2GB module. If you’ve got any experiences in installing memory in this laptop, please post a comment? Have you ever got 2GB in?

Update 7.2.09 – Thanks very much to Mark (see comments) who has now can confirmed he can upgraded his EI System 1201 with a 2GB PC5300 667mhz of RAM, and that he is relatively sure there is only one slot. So my mistake if I got that wrong :).

Update 21.2.09 – Have ordered a 2GB piece of RAM for the laptop from Crucial, so will report back when I have it delivered and installed. Wish me luck.

I can confirm the RAM upgrade was successful.

Overheating in Dell laptops

2 Replies

I was helping a friend fix a laptop that was constantly overheating. To be a little more specific, it was a Dell Inspiron 1300 laptop that is about 4 years old now. It would constantly shut down on random occasions, and we couldn’t work out why.

In the end we guessed that it was probably just a problem with a fan either not working or a blocked fan.

We took apart the back of the laptop, and had a look at the main fan.

And you would not believe what we saw – several millimeters of pure dust and fluff! It was horrifying. There was probably 3 or 4 years of dust and dirt bunged into a small gap in the fan space.

So we got some pressurised spray designed to blow out dust and took it all out. Worked perfectly afterwards.

But if you are experiencing problems with overheating, Dell may tell you that its just a case of sending the laptop to them and having a new motherboard fitted. Rubbish. All you need is a small screwdriver, some dust remover, and about 10 minutes of time. You should find the laptop works much better afterwards.

The toughest phone around – the JCB Tough Phone

Leave a Reply

Now most people aren’t that brutal with mobile phones. I mean, people bash them around a bit and scratch them a little, but nothing horribly serious. 

Unless you are the kind of person who is really, really lethal to your mobile phone, this post won’ t interest you. However, if you’re phone is constantly being replaced because you keep cracking the screen or dropping it excessively, this might be of interest to you.

It’s called the JCB Tough Phone. Incase you don’t know who JCB are, they manufacture farm machinery and very large tractors. The JCB tough phone is one of the strongest phones around, claiming that it is splash resistant, shock proof, drop resistant and dust resistant. 

I got hold of one recently and gave it a quick test. It’s very thick and well-made, and it’s well protected from drops and other common damages.

And that’s not it. It comes with 3 year warranty and no matter how you damage it, it if gets damaged, they’ll send you a brand new one for free. That’s it. No arguement. 

In terms of features, it is slightly down. There’s no camera, but there is bluetooth and most other common phone features.

It is quite costly at £170 SIM free but it might just be worth it if you damage your phone a lot.

If you want more info, head over to http://www.play.com/Mobiles/Mobile/4-/3517231//Product.html?searchstring=JCB&searchsource=0 or www.jcbphone.co.uk

The working Freecom Network Drive review…

Leave a Reply

Well now I finally have a working Freecom Network Drive (http://www.geekonthepc.com/2008/12/12/the-final-freecom-network-drive-update/), I thought its only fair to post a real review for it.

So, I’m reviewing the Freecom Network Drive 500GB (available from http://www.freecom.com/ecproduct_detail.asp?ID=3402&CatID=8020&sCatID=1146266&ssCatID=1147446)

For a drive costing just under £80 plus a bit of delivery, it’s really quite good value. You get a 500GB drive, 10/100MB ethernet connectivity, USB connectivity, a local FTP server which can be made available all over the internet via port forwarding on your router, adjustable IP configuration, seperate directories, and a couple of other things you don’t really notice.

There are a few pros and cons…

Pros:

  • Very good value for money
  • Huge amounts of storage
  • Useful powersave option
  • FTP (local and internet-wide)
  • Generally does the job fine

Cons:

  • Occasionally crashes
  • Powersave option doesn’t totally turn it off
  • Gets quite hot due to it not having a fan
  • Only capable of about 2mbps when uploading to drive which isn’t rocket speed
  • FAT32 formatting means the dreaded 4GB file size limit; change it to NTFS and you won’t be able to access it over LAN (only USB)

So it does have it’s good and bad bits, but overall it does the job fine. It does get noticeably hot so beware of that but its not caused any problems so far. I believe it shouldn’t be a problem because the alliminium casing is designed to allow heat to flow through the device. On the upside, the lack of fan means electricity usage is very low.

I’d recommend it to most people as long as your not storing files more than 4GB per file.

General thoughts: Very good for most people, ideal as a home storage solution. Maybe not so useful for people who store DVDs on their hard disks, for example.

Update 3.2.09: Since I did this post back in December, Freecom have increased the price of this drive. However, the drive itself is still the same and they have not modified it.