'Half facts' in technology (Part 2)

You think that when you have an LCD TV, a cell phone 'overflowing' and surfing the web with Firefox . will life be "more beautiful"? Think again.

>> 'Half truths' in technology (Part 1)

HD LCD TVs are better than Plasma

If when buying an HD TV that the seller suggested buying an LCD monitor and reassuring that the LCD gives a better picture, you should not believe it. There are countless reasons to choose to buy a Plasma monitor such as: display dark colors better, have a wider viewing angle and especially cheaper than LCD screens especially in large screen size products.

However, the LCD screen also has its advantages such as greater refresh rate (refresh rate) and less power consumption than Plasma screens (especially in newer models), so if you consider it In the long run, an LCD TV will be more economical, but buyers pay a price that is not comfortable at the moment.

Despite its advantages, generations of Plasma displays are still being snubbed by manufacturers and removed from the market for many reasons. Therefore, if you buy a TV today you can still have a chance before this type of screen completely disappears within the next few years.

Cell phones more 'wave columns' mean stronger waves?

No one denies the number of wave columns (wave bars) displayed on your mobile phone's screen indicating the signal strength from your location compared to the nearest transceiver station. But in many cases, the number of wave columns is still so much that your phone is still difficult to contact or has very low call quality. The reason is that in the radius of the base station there are too many people using it now.

Besides, the algorithms used in each different phone model to display the number of wave columns are also different, so sometimes you will see the mobile phone of the person next to the "tense wave" but only yours. 3 bars'. In the test of the ability to receive broadcast of some recent smartphones on the occasion of the iPhone 4 model complained about the ability to catch the wave, people also found that, Apple has used the algorithm to iPhone 4 can Displays the number of wave columns more than the actual signal strength to '2 columns'.

Inkjet printers are more expensive than laser printers

To determine the 'expensive-cheap' nature of each printer series, people not only rely on the original purchase price but also the number of printable pages per cartridge. That's why laser printers have a relatively high initial price but lower average cost per page. Regarding the quality of each printout, the laser printer still cannot get past the inkjet printer.

But that's a matter of years ago, today, manufacturers have constantly improved the technology to produce significant inkjet models that "close the gap" compared to laser printers without degrading the quality. print volume.

Wider screen, higher productivity

In 2008, the University of Utah scientists discovered an interesting point: the productivity of an office worker will be 30 to 50% higher if they are equipped with a computer screen. size larger than 18 inches (jobs mainly involve text and spreadsheets).

But this increase in productivity is only a certain level and later studies show that for an employee, the 26-inch screen is too big and the best productivity only fluctuates within 22 inches. .

Using a refilled cartridge will damage the printer

Many businesses are advised to use genuine manufacturer's ink cartridges and should not 'refill ink' for reuse because that cartridge is not designed to add ink and from there will arise problems. Try to damage the printer. However, the reuse of old cartridges still happens because everyone has learned and found that: It doesn't work as long as you don't reuse too many times.

IE is less secure than other browsers

Users have long been warned that Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE) browser often has security holes and can make them vulnerable to web surfing. Each one has an opinion but most people recommend switching to Firefox, Chrome, Opera or even Safari. But is this true?

Take a look at the latest Internet security threats reported by Symantec security company (Internet Security Threat Report, published every 6 months): Firefox has 169 security holes, Safari has 94 , IE has 45 and Chrome with 41 . If this report, Firefox is the biggest danger.

According to data from the US Computer Emergency Response Center (US-CERT), Apple's Safari browser tops the risk of insecurity with 51 vulnerabilities, Chrome has 40, Firefox has 20 and IE is low. most with 17 vulnerabilities discovered in the last 3 months.

Of course, this has not yet been able to completely confirm which browser is more secure because it depends on the time from when the manufacturer discovered it until it could release the patch. Although there are few vulnerabilities, those holes are "exposed on the Internet" without being patched for a long time.

According to Symantec's report, the average time to release the patch in 2009 for IE is less than 1 day, 2 days for Chrome and Safari must wait for . 13 days.

At this point, we can also confirm that IE is not the most dangerous browser, but to be able to use IE more safely, you should note: Regularly update the latest patch, use it. Using the latest IE version (IE 8), only use carefully tested and reliable plug-ins .

Symantec said that the plug-in ActiveX (the default built-in IE) is the culprit of 134 vulnerabilities, followed by Java SE with 84, Adobe Reader with 49, Apple QuickTime with 27 and finally the Adobe Flash Player with 23.

The conclusion is: Don't pay too much attention to the browser, but pay attention to the plug-ins that come with the browser.

Source: PCW