As a not for profit organisation, you will have lots on your mind. There are endless donor lists, causes, campaigns to be planned and much work to be done. All of this naturally needs the backing of a sound IT set up and, for this, good IT Support is absolutely essential. Most small, not for profit organisations feel that this is something they can easily work around. Hiring a part time IT professional, who may not be all that qualified, is what most places resort to; however, in the long run, this is not a good idea.

When setting up a not for profit organisation it would be a good idea to start up strong. This way you will not have issues going forward. Rather than visit discount sales for hardware, speak to suppliers and see if they can give you quality products for a good price. This way you know you have good computers and hardware to begin with, remember the total cost of ownership is the primary consideration, the investment in getting equipment setup to your specific needs can be more valuable than the cost of the actual hardware – reliable hardware is cheaper in the long run.

When it comes to IT Support, it would be a good idea to hire a professional who knows what they are doing. Don’t be fooled by a slick image, look for someone qualified and with experience working in the not for profit sector.. Have them come and look at your organisation and recommend the best way of maintaining the equipment.

You could also consider hiring managed service providers or MSPs. These are computer professionals who take on managing your IT as their responsibility. This means you do not need to train your own staff. They are readily available, around the clock if necessary, and can fix any problems that you may have.

In choosing an IT service provider you will need someone who understands the requirements of the not for profit, such as funding, privacy and compliance. A provider with a portfolio of not for profit clients will have vast experience with the related applications such as DHS systems, donation and fund raising software, accounting system and accessing discount opportunities relevant to your sector.

There can be several problems in not having a good IT set up in place. It can cause glitches in your fund raising campaigns. It can prevent you from being organised in your approach as well as the dispersion of funds. It can make simple correspondence, which is integral to the not for profit organisation quite the task. Being smart about your IT management is the key.

A computers motherboard is fundamentally the most important component inside the PC. It is responsible for all the communication between devices internal and external. If you get it wrong then many things can go wrong and other components can get damaged.

Motherboards can come with all major devices such as audio and graphics fitted onboard or without these components, allowing for better performance audio or graphics cards to be fitted independently. This decision is usually determined by the final use of the PC. A gaming PC would usually have a separate graphics card fitted to allow upgrading as gaming is a fast paced industry and the requirement for the latest hardware is based upon the types of games played.

When replacing a motherboard there are a few things that should be considered to reduce the risk of damage or generally getting it wrong.

The first thing to consider is your existing system. If you are replacing your existing motherboard then you need to know what specification you have. Your computer may be a branded PC such as HP, Sony etc and the motherboard may have their branding stamped on it. This makes things a little bit difficult as a replacement may only be obtained from the manufacturer and sometimes this may be impossible due to age of the machine. If this is your situation then a look at the motherboard may help you to determine who originally manufactured the motherboard. (PC manufacturers do not make their own components they are usually made and branded by the component manufacturers). When looking at the motherboard write down every visible number or word that is written on it. Now turn to the internet and use a search engine to search these numbers and names and see what comes back. Usually it will not take long before you have the original manufacturer and model number of the motherboard. User forums can be very useful when trying to obtain this information.

If building a new PC from scratch it will be necessary to decide which processor brand and type you wish to use as this will directly affect which motherboard series you can buy and install. The motherboard contains a socket which holds the processor. AMD and Intel use different styles of socket and this determines the motherboard that they can be fitted to.

The next consideration is the case size. Motherboard sizes are called their “Form Factor”, this determines the size of board required. It is important to note the form factor of the PC case or chassis as the motherboard should be the same. For example a micro ATX motherboard is designed to fit in a micro ATX case.

After determining the above points you are half way there to determining which motherboard you require. The next important thing to note is the availability of ports and slots that hold other devices. These need to be considered carefully if you have existing devices to connect such as printers, digital cameras or external hard disk drives etc.

Make a list of all the hardware that you need to connect to the motherboard internally and externally. Once you have this list check each requirement off against the motherboard specifications to determine that it can support the devices you have. Pay particular attention to the amount of USB devices you have. All the ports you see on the rear of your computer are part of the motherboard. Also make sure there are enough internal connectors for your hard disk drives and CD/ DVD disk drives.

Motherboard Checklist
1- Check the computer case or chassis size also known as the form factor.
2- Determine your processor type and supported types and sizes.
3- Check the memory type and how much the motherboard supports.
4- How many internal devices does the motherboard support such as hard disk drives, CD / DVD drives.
5- Determine the amount of expansion card slots the motherboard has for installing Graphics cards, sound cards etc.
6- Check how many external devices you may need to support and determine how many ports the motherboard has for these devices.

What does HDMI mean?

HDMI represents “High Definition Multimedia Interface”, a standard designed by a few electronics brands. It is an audio/video protocol that is used to transfer digital data. Information is transmitted in the form of 1 and 0. The benefits of transmitting data in digital format is that the data losses due to interference could be minimized. When compared with analog interfaces including S-Video, electronic interfaces have way less signal loss.

Devices Supporting This Standard

Many modern-day multimedia electronic products support this standard. For example, most video gaming units e.g. Xbox 360 (the most recently released ones) and PS-3 have an output port that conveys signal in electronic form. Almost all new video players have this port too, including Blu-ray disc readers and set-top boxes. Some computers also have this interface so that the computer screen could be outputted in digital form to televisions.

How to Purchase

To link up two devices both having HDMI interfaces, a matching cable is needed. There are several types of connectors, the most typical one is the standard type but there are some types with different sizes and forms. For example, mini-HDMI is a lot smaller than HDMI. You ought to examine your appliances before buying a cable.

These cables may be readily found in many shops selling electronic equipment. If you want to shop on the internet and getting the item delivered to your house, you could purchase it from Amazon. These cables have different lengths. Find out the separation between your machines before hitting the buy button. I often allow for a bit longer length to prepare for unexpected problems. For instance, if the distance between two devices is 6 feet, you have to purchase a cable of 9 ft long. After all these cables are not very costly, it do not cost you too much to purchase something a bit longer.

Another matter to note is the plating on the connector. A typical plating material is 24K gold. Many people believe that this coating was applied to attract purchasers. No, they aren’t. The truth is that ordinary connectors have lower level of resistance to rusting, by applying an additional covering we could increase the durability of the cable. Buying a gold-plated cable does not cost too much more, but may lengthen the life of the cable. Hence you are suggested to buy gold-plated cables.

If you buy the cable from internet stores, make sure you read the appraisals left by other consumers. These appraisals are really helpful since these people bought the cable and actually tested them. Their reviews may provide some concepts to you about the product. Particularly for very good or bad items, people really like leaving comments about them.

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