Pimp Your PC with Peripherals – Speakers and Webcams!

You know that there is nothing quite so pleasurable as Pimping out your PC – and what better way to do it than with upgrading your peripherals. In this week's Tech Tip, we’ll look at some cool peripherals that will get your desktop PC styling in no time! Specifically, we’ll be looking at computer speakers and webcams.

Most computers already come with a set of speakers and while they are just fine for playing around on the desktop computer, sometimes you just yearn for a little more. So when it comes to wanting your computer to sound its best – whether for gaming, movies, music or online web experiences – then you find that "Pimping your PC" with an upgraded set of speakers makes you computer “come alive.”

Some things to consider when getting a new speaker set for your PC:

1. If at all possible, try to listen to the speakers in person. If not possible, then try to hunt down some reviews (like on Amazon or review.cnet.com)
2. Most computers use 3.5mm audio jacks (like the kind you see on portable music players)
3. Some computers will also include a digital audio jack (SPDIF); for this type you need a digital speaker set (be sure to set your PC to SPDIF audio out too).
4. Adding a subwoofer is usually the cheapest, quickest way to give your computer better sound.
5. Speaking of subwoofers – these are usually bundled with a speaker set. Speaker sets that include subwoofers are usually referred to as “x.1” sets where x is the number of other speakers. (for example, a set with 4 speakers and one subwoofer will be called a 4.1 set or surround sound speaker set.
6. If using a multiple speaker set, check your audio card connectors to be sure that you can actually connect all the speakers (newer computers will usually have them – older ones will be 2 speaker set-up only).
7. You can always (of course) connect your computer to your home stereo with the proper cable connection.
8. Speaker wattage ratings can either be listed as PMPO (Peak Maximum Power Output – usually given for the entire set combined) or RMS (Root Mean Squared – listed for either each individual speaker or for the entire set combined). The RMS rating is more of a true indicator of the speakers “power” (in fact, take those PMPO ratings with a grain of salt).

Webcams

Honestly, if you already have a webcam, then you know all the cool things that you can do. From video conferencing, to VoIP (think Skype) to just goofing around and uploading a video to YouTube – a webcam enhances your PC experience.

These days you can easily pick up a basic webcam for next to nothing (some are even well under $10) and for many first time webcam users, this may suffice. But with the market being the way it is, you will also find that for just a few extra dollars you can get higher end webcams that will make the experience that much better (even if you have an integrated webcam – don’t worry, you can have both on the PC – however, most programs will only let you choose one at a time).

For a more extensive look at picking out just the right webcam, be sure to see the Tech Tip “Choosing Your Webcam”

Some things to consider when getting a new webcam:

1. The most basic webcams will usually be either a 100k or 300k (as in kilopixels – think either 0.1 or 0.3 megapixels) resolution (100k is 320×240 and 300k is 640×480 resolution – these are both good for basic “webcamming”).
2. Higher end webcams will usually bump the resolution to either 1.3MP (megapixels) or even 2.0MP.
3. Most webcams use a manual focus.
4. Webcams are usually the stand alone type that sits on your desktop or computer monitor though some models can also clip onto a laptop monitor or desktop LCD monitor.
5. Most have a USB interface and come with very basic software (or sometimes none at all). A camera can comes with a composite video connector (but will need a capture card), an Ethernet connection or even be wireless (WiFi) – but these are not usually called or sold as “webcams” per se (they are usually more for surveillance purposes).
6. Some webcams may include infrared LEDs for a low-light night mode.
7. Other accessories a webcam may have are headsets (earphone with mic) or a microphone built right into the webcam.
8. Even higher up, but usually for the bigger bucks are the webcams that have pan, tilt, zoom capabilities (commonly abbreviated as PTZ) and webcams with tracking (generally when you start getting into these features, they start being sold more as surveillance cameras than webcams).

Final Thoughts

One of the cool aspects of owning a PC is being able to upgrade it and as we have seen, by far one of the easier ways to Pimp out your PC is by looking at what peripherals can be added to it or easily upgraded. We hope that this week's Tech Tip looking at speakers and webcams got your creative juices flowing and your mind working for these (and other ways) you can Pimp your PC!