Technostorm: Jing Garcia tackles more gadget questions

Jing Garcia answers more gadget questions and tells us what to do with a clicking hard disk.

Jonard Mendoza asks: Good Morning. My external hard disk (Toshiba 500G) was diagnosed to be defective by one of our local computer shops and every time I plug it, it makes some notable clicking sounds. Unfortunately, most of my family’s precious photos were saved in the same external hard disk. I’m in a dilemma now on how I can retrieve the files. Seeking your great advice. Thanks a lot!"

JING: Jonard, you’re in a rather sad digital-reality situation right now. A clicking sound from a hard disk drive is bad. Really bad. This could only mean your drive is near death or dead already. If a computer can still read the drive and you could still see the files, save everything that you can immediately. If not, then you’ll need professional services that could open the drive, pull out the disk and retrieve the files. Unfortunately, such services will cost you money.

It could have been easier to recover the files if you just accidentally erased or deleted them. Software are available online. But the clicking sound is something to worry about. And only a professional service center could fix.

Lesson learned people: Backup, backup, backup! Backup one, backup two, backup three. That’s how I do it. If you can’t afford more drive there’s always the cloud. There’s no guarantee in the digital realm.
Really.

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Carlo Delos Santos asks: “Ano po ba ang mas magandang gamitin? Samsung Galaxy Tablet or iPad? Ayaw ko po kasi masayang yung perang ipambibili ko. Sana po matulungan nyo po ako. Salamat and God bless.

JING: Hi Carlo. Ang pagbili ng gadget ay depende sa iyong budget and pangangailangan. At dahil pinili mo na ang Galaxy Tab at Apple iPad sa iyong tanong, naniniwala ako na may budget ka na para rito.

Ngayon, saan mo ito gagamitin? Sa bahay ba? Eskuwela? O sa opisina? Kung ano ang gamit sa iyong eskuwela o opisina, ay marapat-dapat lang na iyon din ang gamit mo. Kung may “ecosystem” ka naman ng isang partikular na brand –- Samsung man o Apple – yun dapat ang bilhin mo.

Ibig kong sabihin ng “ecosystem” ay kung puro Apple naman ang gamit mo - iPhone, Mac, at mga audio docks o accessories na compatible sa Apple – tama lang na iPad na ang kunin mo. Ganoon din sa Samsung o kaya naman sanay ka na gumamit ng Android.

Kung first-time buyer ka naman, marapat lang na piliin mo kung saan magiging komportable – Android ba? O iOS?

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Ester Jimenez asks: Which is more durable and inexpensive: a laptop or a tablet?

JING: Hi Ester. Right now, tablets are inexpensive especially the ones running on Android. In the case of durability, it's simple: you get what you pay for. If I were you, I’d stay away from really cheap unknown brands and get something that has aftersales support. In the case of laptops, there are low-priced laptops below P20,000 and it can do a lot of stuff tablets can’t. Again, it all boils down to your budget and how you would use it to your everyday digital life.

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Lyn asks: It is possible to edit a burned DVD to include a message midway of disc 1 and 2?

JING: Hi Lyn. If the disc has been “closed” or “finalized” by the burner, it’s no longer possible.

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Dante Garcia asks: I have a laptop which is almost perfect for my use. Specs are Acer 4GB RAM, 2GB vcard, 640G HDD. Basically for Autocadd and Google sketch. My question is, with my present LT, is there a counterpart if I change this to whatever POD or tablet etc.? Thanks po.

JING: Hi Dante. If you want to use CPU-intensive applications that you mentioned, then go for hybrid Intel-based laptops that turn into tablets, although these models are still expensive. Bear in mind that most consumer tablets available now are still based on CPUs not meant for high-end applications, but they are slowly getting there.

Jing Garcia, a veteran tech journalist, is currently the news and content editor for Infotech and motoring sections at InterAksyon.com - the online news portal of News5. Prior to that, he was tech editor of Tech Times, the infotech section of the The Manila Times and online IT news websites Techbytes.ph. He is also a sound artist and a multi-award winning recording producer.

Source: Yahoo News!