So your laptop died. It happens to all of us at some time or another. Be it due to spilled coffee or a momentary loss of fine motor control (a.k.a. butterfingers) or maybe your laptop just didn’t wake up one day. But it’s been a few years since you were in the market for a laptop and the rules have changed. In the past, hardware engineers worked tirelessly to condense the same technology we use in desktop computer to a size and form factor that could be easily carried around. The computers that were considered small would often weigh upwards of five pounds and take up as much space in a bag as a large binder. This is no longer the case.
Posts Tagged ‘Laptop’
Portable Computing: The Good, the Bad & the Ugly
Thursday, March 10th, 2011Search History Everywhere – Never Forget a URL Again
Thursday, August 5th, 2010
Years ago (not that many), there were only 1 or 2 places that you might find yourself searching the web, home or work. Now, thanks to laptops, iPhones, iPads, portable game systems and a myriad of high-speed internet connections (Wi-Fi, WiMax, 3G, 4G, etc.) you can surf the web from just about anywhere you can imagine.
The freedom to surf on-the-go is still fairly new and so are the challenges associated with doing so. One problem that crops up occasionally is finding a site that you have already visited. Maybe you were out gymnastics practice with the kids, surfing the web with your CLEAR USB modem, or sitting in a movie theater playing on your iPhone (before the show started of course), when you went to Google and searched for something that caught your eye. Three days later, you realize that you want to revisit that site, but you can’t remember the URL or enough information to locate it again via a Google search. You also find yourself lost in the “where was I and which device was I using when I looked at….” struggle.
Tweak Your Computer’s Power Settings for Improved Performance
Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010
One of the most popular services we offer at JumpstartMyPC.com is a PC Tuneup. Why? Because people want speed from their computer and they have steadily watched their PC slow down, down…. down to a crawl. We have highlighted numerous ways that anyone can improve their own PC performance (like defrags, registry cleans and deleting unnecessary files) but today we tackle the simplest tweak possible, power settings. Most people have no clue that their computer is designed to monitor and control power usage. This feature is built into Windows and changing the settings is super easy.
WARNING: Before jumping into the step-by-step, it is important to note that changing these settings may very well provide you with a performance boost, but it might come at a price. Pay close attention to the temperature of your system (especially with laptops). I have seen cases where increasing the power settings has resulted in a system that “runs hot.” While this is not the standard, it is something to keep an eye on. It is also important to keep in mind that these settings are to be used while the computer is plugged into a constant power source. If you are using a laptop and are concerned about prolonging the battery life, be certain that you change the “running on batteries” settings or “power plan” accordingly.
Hard Drive Space is Really Not an Issue, NOW
Tuesday, October 20th, 2009
One of the main reasons that I upgraded to new PCs over the years was hard drive space. My first computer held less than a CD of information. The next one, less than a DVD. So on and so on. Until recently, it really wasn’t affordable to add more hard drive space or storage to a computer. Within the last 2 years, the price of this storage has dropped like a lead balloon. Now I can keep every song, TV show and movie I ever dreamed of and I would like to continue to add more. There is one major hurdle to this thought process however. How do I take it all with me?
Mobility has become one of the key factors in most every tech/gadget purchase we make. Smaller, lighter, faster, easier…. These are all the buzzwords that surround a truly cool gadget and they all apply to hard drive space as well. Sure, I can run out and buy a 1TB external hard drive for under $100. The problem is that I have to lug it around with my laptop if I want all of my music, photos, movies, etc. As part of our ongoing “celebration” of the Windows 7 release on Thursday, today’s topic is for those who really do NOT plan on upgrading.
