All you need to know about SSDs (Solid state drives)

The fastest medium of data storage

Solid state drive is it useful or just a gimmicky name? To understand them at first we need to focus on what they really are?

  Solid state storage devices store computer data on non-volatile “flash” memory chips rather than by changing the surface properties of magnetic or optical spinning disk. With no moving parts Solid state drives (SSDs) are also the future for almost all forms of computer storage. It is widely believed that solid state drive are likely to replace spinning hard disks in most computers. Several manufacturers are now offering hard disk replacement SSDs. These are often very fast indeed, extremely robust and use very little power. Unfortunately the prices of solid state drives are currently high as we compare them to the traditional hard disks. They come with the lowest capacity of 30 gigabytes and range up to a massive 4 terabyte (SanDisk's new 4TB Optimus MAX SAS SSD).  

Due to this high price they are not present in every computer. People can buy a hard drive of more storage in the same cost of SSD. But on the other hand if we forget the pricing issue then SSDs are superb, they are very fast in comparison with traditional drives. Average reading and writing speeds in SSDs can range up to a 200mbps. Additionally SSDs doesn’t have any moving parts so they are less power consuming and they work very silently. SSDs are more rugged and durable than traditional disk drives. Today new high end laptops and Pcs are already equipped with them. Thus providing more user friendly experience.

So what can we do if we don’t have enough budget to buy a high capacity SSD? Surely there’s an answer to it you can buy a Small capacity SSD of 32 or 64 Gigabytes and then use It as the primary drive on your system. Try to install all apps and programs into it. Store all of your media files into a secondary traditional hard drive. Thus this setup will finally result into rapid increase in performance of your Pc. Making it faster than before. Hence SSDs soon gonna change the storage game if they become cheap which I know they will be.  

All about SD cards

 

Sd cards, the compact generation of storage.

 

 
With the introduction of more compact technology Sd cards became the most popular medium of storing data on compact devices. They can be found everywhere taking from mobile phones, tablets, Mp3 players, digital cameras, camcorders, voice recorders and many more. Although their function is same but their specifications are quite different from each other.
For a start SD cards comes in three physical sizes. These comprise standard-size SD cards (first developed in 1999), smaller mini SD cards (introduced on some mobile phones in 2003), and the even smaller micro SD cards. The latter were invented in 2005 and are becoming increasingly popular on smartphones and tablets. While the larger cannot fit in smaller card slots, so adapters are available to enable micro and mini SD cards to be accessed by any device that accepts a standard size card.
The SD card comes in three capacity types known as SD, SDHC and SDXC. The first of these can store up to 2 gigabyte of data. SDHC (SD high capacity) cards are then available in capacities of between 4 and 32 gigabyte, while SDXC (SD extended capacity) cards range from 32 gigabyte up to a theoretical 2 terabyte (although at present only 200 GB cards are on the market (SanDisk)).
Because SD cards now come in three capacity types, not all SD devices can access all SD cards of the same physical design. While standard SD cards can be read by any device, SDHC cards should only be inserted into SDHC or SDXC devices. SDXC cards must then only be used with the latest SDXC hardware. Even if you try to use an SDXC or SDHC card in a device that does not support it then you may suffer from loss of data or even damage the card itself.
SD cards have different classes, different classes have different read and write speed. These classes are known as Class 2, Class 4, Class 6, Class 10, and UHS-1 (ultra high speed 1). Many manufacturers also label cards with multiple that compares them to a CD-ROM drive. Absolute data transfer ratings are sometimes also included. However, in practical terms it is the speed class that really matters. The higher SD card's speed class, the faster it be but the more it will cost. For most purposes class 4 or class 6 cards are fine. Class 10 or UHS-1 are best for high definition video or when otherwise handling large quantities of data. Also there are UHS-2 cards which are best of 4K recording. Currently SanDisk is the pioneer in the SD card market, they have all kind of Sd cards.

Here's some useful charts:

 

How to resolve battery draining issues on android

How can we squeeze more juice out of our battery

 
Smartphone market has evolved rapidly. Every year we see new revolutions with screens, processors, rams, form factor and OS but the main thing which still lacks is the battery life of the devices. Still we are stuck to 1 single day of active usage whereas different factors like processing power has improved a lot but the battery life is still the same as 2012. We know there lots of new technologies like wireless charging, quick charge technology etc but in the end of the day you will just pray to have a lot more juice in your device. So how we can sort out the problem of battery life? Well we can perform some tricks which will help you get some extra juice out of the battery. Although the tips won't increase the battery life with big numbers but still they are quite useful.
Here are some tips and tricks that you can easily perform on your device to get more juice:

• Try to avoid installing apps from unknown sources. Always install the apps from the Google play store. Side loading of apps can cause spyware, adware issues which can let to serious battery problems. But there's one more argument against this point i.e, "How will I install pirated apps and games?" , If this is your question then try to verify the apk installation by google setting app.
• Read this article from Cnet to know which app is consuming the battery the most. http://www.cnet.com/news/whats-killing-your-battery-androids-top-10-performance-sapping-apps/
  
• Turn off the auto sync option. It will save you a lot battery as it will stop the synchronization between the apps. If you still want to synchronize some data between apps then manually turn it on for a while and then turn it off when you're done with your work. This option is one of the well-known method to save battery and mobile data, this option also cuts and restricts the background data to a limit which will cause less mobile data consumption.
• Set the brightness manually. Yes today the devices have auto brightness sensor but the sensor also takes some juice out of the battery to make it work properly. The best way is to toggle the brightness manually according to the lighting conditions. You can install a widget to toggle the brightness if quick toggle is not available in your device
• Try to set a minimum screen timeout time in order to get sufficient consuming the battery life. Set it to 10-15 seconds and you will get an additional boost with this trick. Usually when the user leaves his/her device the screen is left on for additional seconds which can cause high battery drainage if the user is frequently using the device with several intervals.
• This tip is for the pro users, go to settings then developer settings, then select the transition effects and lower it down to 0.5. This will make the phone look bit faster and also will provide less stress to the GPU of the device thus finally resulting in extra battery life. This works as the transition effects are bunch of cool animations which requires the GPU to work and if you lower the effects down then less power will be required from the GPU.
• Try to uninstall unnecessary apps that you never use. Installing apps on android is quite fun everyone likes to keep more apps in their smartphone but the problem is the more you install the apps the higher the Ram space is eaten by them. High usage of Ram means that there is now more stress on the Ram than it used to so gradually resulting in serious battery drain. Try to keep checking the free Ram space on your device after installing app your phone, at least 350 Mbs should be free to make it work faster and without any extra stress. Keeping a track on free Ram space will let know that how many apps you can install on your device.
• If possible then you should factory reset your phone in every 4-5 months. This method will make your refresh and will get rid of malwares etc. Also it will clean up the Ram and will make it work like the day 1 when you bought the device. You can restore your contacts and some data using google account.
• Try to use 2g networks when you're not using mobile data on your phone. This method is quite useful in the countries like where 3g bands are still hard to catch on the devices. Disconnecting from 3g and connecting to 2g will be big increase in your battery bar. You can always switch back to 3g when you are up to use mobile data.
• Carry a separate battery or a power bank if you can. This is the ultimate solution to battery problem in the modern era.
• You can install battery saver apps like DU battery saver to extend some battery. Although I'm not a big fan of installing an extra app to save some battery. Maybe it could work but I personally think that it's just bunch of adware on your device.
• Try to turn off the Gps on your device. Set it to battery saving mode, that mode is also quite precise compared with high accuracy mode. Manually turn it on when you are to use some navigation application.
• Always kill the application after using it. Go recent apps and swipe away every single app to completely dismiss them, sometimes apps shown on the recent apps menu may be opened in the background and also consuming battery unnecessarily. It's better to destroy every single activity after using the apps.
• Try not to install the apps or games which shows advertisement in them. This is because as those ads will continuously get updated even when you are not using that particular app. usually new ads banners are downloaded in the background. Thus all this background processing will eat up some extra battery power.
• Although the micro USB is made for universal charging but still I would recommend to use the proprietary charger of the device. This will keep your battery healthy for a long time. Never use faulty charger as they may damage the battery or even can cause fatal explosions.
• Always try to keep your home screen simple and clean. Adding too many widgets can cause high battery and performance drainage. Widgets are cool but they eat up a lot battery. If you still want to use widgets then increase their refresh time as increasing the refresh time will make them update less frequently thus you will save battery.
• Try to avoid 3^rd party launchers. Surely the launchers look awesome but they are also responsible for battery drainage in devices. In most of the devices when the user is using a 3^rd party launcher as the main launcher that time the default launcher of the device is also running behind the 3^rd party launcher.
• Whenever your battery is at 10-15% don't play any heavy game as they require too high processing power. Ultimately will result into a battery drain of about 3% in just one minute of gameplay.
  
   
  So there you have all the tips I know so far. I prey to the manufacturers to build some new technology for the battery, every day I see revolution in every field except this one. Hope soon will be another revolution.

Why you shouldn't buy a samsung entry level device!

Top reasons for not buying an entry level Samsung galaxy device as your first android device!!!

 I am not an anti Samsung, my first android phone was also a Samsung. Samsung is currently the leading brand in the android market, but there are some considerations that you should consider before buying a Samsung device. Samsung’s market share is rapidly decreasing in the entry level segment as the users are getting better specifications in lower price point. For a light or regular user Samsung devices works well but when it comes to gaming on entry level Samsung devices it simply sucks. Due to the heavy bloat ware and custom UI a huge amount of RAM is being consumed hence heavy gaming becomes a catastrophe on a entry level Samsung device. But on the other hand the high end Samsung devices like the S series and the note series are the top end performing devices in the world as they have the top end specs and high optimizations with apps and games. The developers and Samsung really try to test each and every apps and games on the top end devices. So the optimization are far better. All these things creates a misconception that android devices are laggy and insecure. Although the feature rich apps requires high end hardware thus they perform well on flagship devices but not in entry level devices. Here are some reasons for not buying an entry level Samsung device

·         Samsung has some core services like google ( ex- Samsung store, music hub, games hub, movie store), which are completely useless to the entry level users.

·         Bloat ware is one of the big issue on Samsung devices. Some devices comes with preinstalled games and apps which can’t be unistalled.

·         Samsung’s touchwiz (custom skin/theme) creates a misconception for the new users that the user interface of google’s android is as it looks on their entry level device.

·         Due to extra features inbuilt on Samsung devices users may experience a lack free RAM space availability. This results to poor multitasking and low performance. Even though those extra features can be installed on any android phone by installing a third party app from the play store.

·         Poor display, yes you heard it right. On the entry level segment the display panel are still poor TFT, also the resolution and ppi are relatively very low. Outdoor visibility is hideous and you should also forget about the auto brightness thing on some devices, switch with manual toggles.

·         Battery life maybe a problem for you when it comes to entry level devices by Samsung. I’ve read so many articles about this thing and finally came to a conclusion that this fact is true about these device. This is just because of the customs apps and skins.

·         No future updates. Buying an entry level Samsung device means that you are totally stuck with one version of android and there will be no updates given to your device. Samsung gives occasional updates to these devices but they are only some bug fixes nothing else. Whereas some devices at the same price points offers OS updates.

·         Poor apps and games support on these devices. Yes we can play mediocre games on these devices but new games which require higher system requirement are not compatible. Even some apps are incompatible.

So what's the verdict of this discussion, simply here you simply can't go for a brand factor. You need to consider the specifications instead of a brand name. Otherwise you have to be ready to dump your phone after a year or you'll have to suffer the sluggish performance afterwards.