Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Beginners Guide to Choosing a Laptop


Laptops are very popular nowadays. Based on recent news, laptops have even outsold desktops in terms of number of sales. The trend nowadays is for computers to be handy and portable, this is the advantage that laptops have over desktops. Because of advances in technology, laptops have become as powerful as desktops

People who would be buying their first laptops would be amazed at the number of brands and models available in the market today. The choices are so many that we would not know what to get. This a beginners guide for people who would be purchasing their first laptop, just a couple of tips to make you a happy laptop owner.

First, we should know what we need from our laptop. Do we need it to process lots of information and do intensive graphic editing? Do we need it just for word processing and sending quick emails? Do we need it for just browsing sites online and note taking? Based on this we can narrow down our choices of available laptops in the market today. There are powerful laptops that could run processor intensive programs like graphics editing software and 3D games, other laptops however are just mainly good for word editing and getting online. Whatever need we have for a laptop make sure that you get the one that suits your needs.

Second, get the best specification you can have for your specific laptop
. Surf the Internet to get better information regarding your laptop choice. Make sure to get information regarding the hardware specifications like processor speed, memory, disk space and battery life. Can your laptop connect wirelessly? Does it have enough ports like VGA, USB etc.? Does it have a built in optical drive and can it burn DVD's? these are some of the things we have to research before we purchase a laptop.

Third, compare prices for the specific type of laptop you like.
Visit different stores and compare prices and purchase the one that is the cheapest. Do check on the warranty information of the laptop as well so that you won't have a problem in the future.

By following these simple steps you would definitely be happy with your laptop purchase.

Friday, December 26, 2008

Beginners Guide to Good PC Maintenance


These days, a lot of people rely on the PC to assist them in their daily lives. From communicating via email to ordering online, whether you are 8 or 88 you would soon wind up in front of a PC. It was just a couple of years ago that the only people who used computers were those tech savvy students, engineers or businessmen. Right now even ordinary housewives or grandmothers have their own PC. Whatever the purpose you have for a PC sooner or later you would encounter some problems on it and need to call the technical support number for your product.

Imagine an ordinary person without any PC technical knowledge who just uses the PC to do emails and browse the Internet. Suddenly the PC stops working, doesn't get online or your email client suddenly gives out a 0x800 error message. Ever been in a situation where your PC monitor suddenly goes black? The browser loads up the pages really slow? Well this guide is for you. Here a few simple steps to keep your computer healthy and fully functional. Hopefully we would avoid all of these PC issues.

1.Maintain the cleanliness. Make sure that your PC is free of dust or food particles. A lot of people eat chips and drink soda in front of the PC. This is a no-no since the crumbs might end up in your keyboard and soon accumulate there. You would be having a problem in typing the letters once those keys are clogged in there.

2.Maintain the security software. When you purchase your PC it would come with a security software. This software contains all or parts of the following components, anti virus, anti spam, anti spyware and firewall. There are a lot of new viruses and spywares coming out of the woodwork everyday that we need to update all the definitions in our security software program so that we may be able to detect the latest threats to your PC. To update your security software just set it to automatic so that whenever you are online it would download all the necessary data from the servers of its manufacturer. You could also update it manually by clicking on the update button.

3.Avoid downloading free software. When you get online you might open some websites that offer free software. There is a very high probability that these free programs would cause harm to your PC. Some of these programs when installed to your PC would then send out vital information stored in your PC or it would let intruders in to your PC.

4.Maintain your operating system. The operating system is what makes your PC function the way it is. The most popular operating software right now is Microsoft Windows. If your operating system has a problem then you would not be able to use your PC normally. Make sure that you update your operating software regularly. For Windows, there is a setting which you could set to automatically update it. Clear out all the deleted items in the Recycle Bin as well to free up your disk space. Make sure to shut down your PC when not in use and not just hibernate or log off. Shutting down the PC actually resynchronizes the software and the hardware of your PC. Make sure that only important programs are included in the start up items. As much as possible try to disable the instant messengers, download managers and other programs that are not needed when you turn on the PC.

5.Maintain your browser. A lot of people complain that their Internet is slow. When doing a check with the ISP tech support however, it is not the Internet that is the problem but the browser. If you are using Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox make sure to regularly clear the temporary Internet files and the cookies as well. The cookies and the files that certain websites store in your browser would accumulate in there and when there is a lot of them already it would really drag down your Internet.
You won't be needing to call the technical support number of your product by just following these five simple steps