a laptop battery

I love my laptop computer. I take it with me everywhere. Sure I can do most of the things I do on my laptop on my cel phone, but my cel phone screen does not give me the visual impact that my laptop does. I want to see the full screen. The only real problem I have is that my laptop battery runs out fairy quickly, and I am not the only one who complains about this problem.

Currently, the average battery life for a rechargeable laptop battery life is 78 minutes. That means after an hour is up, you need to start hunting for an outlet to recharge your battery. This can be a bit inconvenient if you are airborne on a cross country flight in economy class.

That 78 minutes is an average and can either be extended or shortened depending on what you are doing with your computer. If you are playing games, or watching a DVD or streaming video, you will use up more battery than if you are simply checking email. With that in mind, there are a few things you can do to extend the length of time you go between charges.

One of the easiest things you can do is to lower the brightness of your screen. The brighter your display, the more batter you will use. Obviously, you need to keep your display bright enough so that you can see what you are doing. And some laptops automatically dim when you move to battery power. But if yours does not, or even if it does, it is a good practice to keep your monitor dimmer when you are on battery power. You will also want to lower your screen resolution. And if you can limit your use of graphics, that too will help your battery last longer.

External devices are another huge drain on battery power. Use your touchpad instead of a USB mouse. Any peripheral device will drain your battery power and it is never a good idea to charge your devices through your laptop when your laptop is on battery power.

Remember, when working on battery power, multi-tasking is bad. You should reduce the number of programs that are active in the background as well as limiting what you are using. When you are operating on battery power it is always a good idea to shut down anything you do not need.

Easy to use programs like email and word processing or spreadsheet programs are more usable when you are trying to conserve battery than playing games. If you are using an application that has an auto-save option, turn that off. You will need to periodically save your work manually, especially as you get battery is running out of power.

Newer computers often allow you to maximize your battery life. This is usually found in the control panel, or equivalent area. Also, you should switch from standby to hibernate as a way to conserve battery life.

Finally, if your batter no longer holds a charge well, you can buy a new battery, however you will probably not gain much time between charges. Or you may want to consider buying a new laptop. There are some laptops which promise hours of battery time. Just make sure to do your research ahead of time to get the computer that will best suit your needs.

Tags: laptop computer by Stephen Almanson
No Comments »

Be forewarned; Electricity derived from an outlet is dirty! Ideally, the electricity should issue from outlet at a precise voltage and a precise frequency. Technically it is viable to have untainted power out of an outlet, but financially, most consumers (homes and businesses) just dont want to pay that price, so power companies will not provide it. They do not have to; vacuum cleaners, fans, air conditioners, TVs, printers and light bulbs work just fine with that polluted electricity.

Computers, however, are much more particular about their electricity requirements. Some of the spikes or brownouts are just a bit too much. When that happens, the computer starts becoming unruly: 1. it goes to sleep, 2. it shuts off instantly, 3. it corrupts a file or two, 4. it goes into hibernate, 5. it burns out an electronic component. The penalty may be noticeable right away or appear at a later time; the consequences are never good. At home or at work, a computer should always be on a UPS. Laptops have their own UPS and are excluded from this requirement; they have a battery built in.

A UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) is a battery pack that continually monitors the electricity from the outlet. When the electricity from the outlet exceeds preset thresholds, such as not enough power or too much power, the UPS kicks in and takes over. Now, a surge protector is not the same gadget as a UPS. A surge protector only protects from too high of a power from the outlet, such as surges or spikes. A UPS protects from too little power and too much power. This is vital for a computer. A computer needs relatively untainted power to operate appropriately. The return on investment, ROI, for a UPS is fair. Just consider the hassle and value of corrupted files and you will grasp that every computer must have a UPS and every server an even bigger one.

Since all computers have a distinctive power consumption, it is hard to express which UPS is the right one for your computer or server. Typically you will find 300 to 700 Volt Ampere UPSs in the store. They have 300VA or something like that written on the box. It doesnt matter which one you buy. The 700 VA UPS will last at least twice as long as the 300 VA UPS if the power fails. This could mean that your computer may keep running for twenty minutes rather than ten minutes. Just appreciate that these UPSs you buy at the store are the cheap stuff; they are so-called standby-UPSs.

When the power from the outlet becomes too dirty, a little switch will switch over to battery power. Some computer power supplies or motherboards cant even handle the 5 milliseconds of no power when the switch activates. For people with such finicky computers it is better to go to the website of the UPS manufacturer and look for a so-called continuous UPS. These UPSs are more expensive, but the computer is at all times feeding from the battery and the outlet is just constantly recharging the battery.

Warning: Server rooms and any high availability hardware should always run off a continuous UPS. Oh, never plug a laser printer into a UPS. The fuser, a component that fuses the toner onto the paper, needs so much power at once that it overburdens a UPS. Always plug a laser printer directly into the outlet of the wall.

Tags: laptop computer by Frank Mesmer
No Comments »

Are you going to buy a new laptop? It can be very confusing. Most people over-spend on their new laptop, buying too many bells and whistles they will never use to its full extent.

The average laptop user, which accounts for 40 percent of all laptop users, only needs to use email, the internet, and a word processor.

I have seen the average laptop user buy up to 3 GB RAM with a hard drive space of 200 GB"just to use the internet! Most people are so confused, they dont really know what their buying when it comes to laptops.

If the average laptop user new what they should buy, they could save a great deal of money. The average user only needs 512 MB of RAM and 40 GB to 80 GB of hard drive space. In addition, the average user does not need to use Microsoft Vista or higher"all they need is Microsoft XP.

I also believe that a majority of users who do not know what they need (concerning RAM and hard drive space) are making recommendations to other people; who in turn are giving advice to others"similar to a circular math error.

Basically, refurbished laptops go through a visual screening process by the quality control department by the manufacture, and then are tested to see if the laptops need any new components. Once tested, they are brought back to the original design specifications for the laptop, and resold to the consumer.

If youre going to be an average laptop user, then you need a laptop with 512 of RAM (possibly 1 GB), and a hard drive space less than 100 GB. Then you will need a laptop that costs less than $500 dollars. I highly recommend this laptop link.

If youre into gaming, look for a laptop with 1GB, 2GB, or even 3GB of RAM with hard drive space up to 250GB of hard drive space. If youre buying a computer for business, you either fall into one of two groups. The first group; uses email, the internet, spreadsheets, presentation software, word processing, and Skype. You will need a 1 GB to 2GB of RAM, and need up 80 GB to 150 GB hard drive space. The second group, uses email, the internet, one or two specific work related software programs. You will need 512 MB to 1 GB of RAM, and 40 to 80 GB of hard drive space.

I hope that clarifies in better detail what you need when you buy a laptop. The bottom line, if the laptop is tricked-out, and youre an average user--youre over-spending.

Sincerely, John Roth

Tags: laptop computer by John Roth
No Comments »

Troubleshooting computer problems is a pain in the ass. I know how you feel.

In this post, I'll discuss 5 straightforward steps to troubleshoot most PC laptop and desktop problems, from hardware to software, from Windows OS to Mac Safari.

Step 1. Determine if it's a software or hardware problem

Usually it's a stupid performance problem - either a very slow computer, or your monitor flickers, or the internet isn't working.

Computer performance problems are 99% of the time caused by software - and 95% of the time it's a Windows-based PC because they just fuck up a lot.

Macs are built cleaner and lighter - with less trojans and viruses. You have fewer concerns and fewer bad guys trying to beat the crap out of it.

Step 2. If it's a software concern, uninstall the bad application

How do you find the offending program? Whatever software app loads and causes your computer to freeze, or is running when your laptop/desktop is super slow is probably the culprit.

You can also run a virus cleaning app or Resource monitoring program to determine which software apps are selfishly using the most resources or behaving erratically.

Then, uninstall the offending application. Reinstall the latest version, making sure you patch it with any driver updates.

Reboot the offending computer - this should solve it.

Step 3. If it's a hardware issue, isolate the hardware equipment and get a replacement that works

Let's say it's your compact disc drive. Your CD drive isn't burning CDs, doesn't read a simple movie DVD, or simply keeps making clicking noises for no reason.

There are only 2 options - replace the compact disc drive yourself, or find a local computer repair shop (unless you're still under warranty, have a ton of patience, and want to use your manufacturer computer replacement).

Step 4. Cleanse your computer hardware and software

This means both the software and hardware. Use a pressured wind spigot can to clear dust from your keyboard, monitor, mouse, wire ports, and speakers. Keeping small particles out of your hardware parts clean while prolong their useful life.

Then, do a software cleaning. Defragment your hard drive. Install any new updates to your OS and key support pieces like AVG Anti-virus.

In addition, remove applications that you don't use or "use rarely". Delete docs and mpegs and music mp3 files that you rarely view. Clean your recycle bin. Use something like CCleaner to fix the registry and update drivers and remove DLL files.

Step 5. Turn your computer off and let it rest

Don't reboot your PC - that's critical. Turn it off, unplug the power outlet, and let it rest for 24 hours. Often hardware is simply exhausted and needs to cool down for a short period to let key parts run smoothly once again.

That finishes our examination of computer troubleshooting tips!

Tags: laptop computer by John Smith
No Comments »

Laptop warranties from the manufactures are very deceptive to say the least. It always amazes me when I purchase a new laptop what type of warranty hog-wash the computer manufactures are willing to print and distribute to the consumer.

Lets go over a warranty from a laptop I purchased last week. In the warranty the manufacture claims that the laptop is free from defects in workmanship for a period of 12 months. But goes on to say in the same paragraph that the warranty does not include failure caused by improper operation or normal wear and tear; does this mean that my teenager, who is a known abuser of the T.V., car, and stereo, who is very hard on the computer keypad will absolve the warranty?

There are times when you will buy a laptop, you get the laptop home, and you may not like how the mouse works or you feel the color just doesnt suit you. So you take it back to the distributor, and they in turn send the computer back to the manufacturer. The manufacturer tests the laptop, and brings the computer back to its original design specifications to be resold to the consumer.

To make matters worse, if you analyze all the laptop distributors, 67 percent of these laptop distributors will not have any type of refund policy. The 33 percent of laptop distributors, who do have a refund policy, either have a 7 day refund policy or a 14 day refund policy.

Its estimated that people who return their laptop (within 30 days) after purchase only account for 4 percent of the over-all refurbished market. The other 96 percent of refurbished laptops re-sold are between two and three years old, which the standard and extended manufactures warranties have expired.

Lets say you purchased a laptop for $400 dollars on the internet from a standard laptop distributor. And lets say for discussion the laptop was damaged in transit. You would want your money back.

The laptop was created so you take your computer with you"wherever you decided to go to. The warranty sounds contradictory to the design goal of building and manufacturing a laptop.

Lets take a look. The price of the laptop was $290 dollars; they then charged a restocking fee of 15%, which brought the value down to $246.50 dollars. But you lost $110 in additional shipping costs to ship the laptop to you, and you spent another $110 dollars to ship the computer back to the distributor.

What about refurbished laptops? Approximately 96% of all refurbished laptops have no warranties at all, since the warranty had expired for some time. But I see on the internet that distributors of refurbished laptops claim there is a 3 or 6 month warranty"but in reality there is none. I call this deceptive marketing, and Im being kind to them.

But there are some very honest laptop distributors willing to tell you the truth concerning warranties, but they are few. Make certain if you buy a refurbished laptop; that it comes with a minimum of a 30 day money back guarantee, with a 100% store credit for 90 days so you can get a new laptop"just in case your computer breaks down.

In addition, only 45 percent of distributors offer a parts and labor warranty outside of the manufactures warranty"and the majority of these warranties are for 30 days. How sad.

And again, always get a warranty through the laptop distributor, beyond the manufacturers warranty"just in case youre refurbished laptop breaks (or any computer for that matter). Laptops are machines, and all machines break down sooner or later, so you might as well have a warranty that is on the consumer side versus the manufacturers.

Sincerely, John Roth

Tags: laptop computer by John Roth
No Comments »

Only a few years ago, I was flabbergasted by the cost of card compact flash memory for my digital camera. My family was planning a trip, and I needed a bigger capacity card that I could fill up with photographs. Today, I'm still flabbergasted but that's because of how incredibly affordable these cards have become.

Uses of Card Compact Flash

The Card Compact Flash cards will actually come in convenient now. The new digital camera I purchased applies them, even though my daughter's Sony camera only takes the proprietary memory stick storage. Almost every other digital camera on the market applies these flash memory cards. They may store a large number of pictures, but remember the higher megapixel rating of your photos the bigger the file will be.

Many of the MP3 players on the market are also uses card compact flash as a technique to expand their space. This is an excellent option for individuals who don't actually recognize how much music and video storage size they need or for people who need to be able to swap cards with other people as a method to share their musical tastes. Again, you're going to need a pretty large capacity for the purpose. Smaller ones can work well for the purpose if you're going to be moving large amounts of files.

Choosing the Right Card Compact Flash

One fine thing about this kind of memory is that most of them are ranked very high with customers regardless of their producer. Back while I bought a 1 GB card for my digital camera, I paid $50 in a retail store.

Price is no longer a motive to pick the lesser accepted producers. A 2 GB Sandisk Ultra II card costs under $8 while the 4 GB type prices less than $18. Whilst the cost is a little bit more than doubled, it's still a pretty good deal.

Now if you will be using this flash memory in a camera or MP3 player, your most excellent bet is to find the biggest storage capacity possible for your budget. At the highest size levels, costs do rise pretty high.

For example, the SanDisk Extreme III 32 GB model costs a hefty $216. That's more than what most digital cameras and MP3 players cost. Nevertheless, when you require the storage, you might not consider it's such a poor deal for card compact flash memory.

Tags: laptop computer by Anne Ahira
No Comments »

Computer repair shops are invaluable for people who have broken PCs, desktops, laptops, Macs, and so forth.

If your computer runs slow, click here to learn how to fix the problem. If you can't solve it, it's time to look into computer repair shops.

Laptop and desktop repair centers serve 3 functions:

1) Fix hardware issues

2) Fix software issues

3) Serve as a training center for computer technicians and computer support personnel

These repair shops for desktops and laptops are incredibly helpful because they:

1) Are generally cheap

2) Will solve 80% of problems thus saving you stress and hassle

3) Are experienced in fixing with common PC issues (eg, pixelated monitor, failing memory and drives, worn out computers)

You should first troubleshoot computers on your own - click here for advice.

To find the right computer repair center for you, you should use an Internet Search for keywords such as:

-PC repair shops

-Computer support shops

-Local computers support

-Online computer help now

This is just a quick start and suggested list. You should find local - area computer repair personnel are more convenient should there be issues in fixing your personal computer.

If you have a regular desktop, it's very easy. Laptops are more expensive because hardware is smaller - from memory to harddrives.

If you have a Mac, take it to a local Apple Store - support at the Genius Bar will generally help solve problems.

Computer repairs shouldn't take more than 3 weeks max. It may take some time to order hardware parts, but that won't take longer than 2 weeks at most.

Tags: laptop computer by JD Chang
No Comments »

Computers crimes are everywhere these days, there are entire divisions of law enforcement teams devoted to working on crimes that, in one way or another are linked to the use of a computer.

The root of many of the crimes perpetrated through the use of a computer stem from the fact that the highly sensitive information present on many personal and business computers isnt disposed of properly. You may not realize it, because it may not really seem like a big deal at the time, but you have tons of highly sensitive information stored on your personal hard drive - and if you operate a business you may have many other peoples (your customers) highly sensitive information on there as well.

You could have: full names, social security numbers, complete addresses, accounts numbers (including bank and credit card). If you are getting rid of an old hard drive, even though you think you may have gone through every step to properly ensure that this sensitive information has been erased, it could still be present for anyone with even basic knowledge of computers to bring back and have full view of. Even if you have a good deal of computer knowledge and you make every effort to wipe a hard drive clean, there is no guarantee that an experienced computer programmer or hacker couldnt easily resurrect the sensitive information and do whatever they wanted with it.

Whether its a business, computer rental Ottawa or personal computer, if the sensitive information that is present on the hard drive gets into the wrong hands it could be incredibly damaging to the computer owner. PCs that are "breached" once disposed of can very easily lead to a nasty case of identity theft that is very hard to track - the offender may literally have access to every single bit of personal identity they need to effectively steal the former PC owners identity. For those of you whove never been a victim of identity theft, rest assured its not a very pleasant experience and can affect your credit for a very long time as the investigation is held and the details sorted out.

For business computers the scenario can be equally as bad, a business customers private information can be made public. This can be damaging to the business customers by having their sensitive information go out to the public and it can cause a wide rift created by distrust towards the company who let the information get out. One situation like this that isnt swiftly and efficiently handled can spell almost instant doom for a business.

It you dont want the potential disaster of highly sensitive information getting into the wrong hands, then its imperative that the information be completely wiped away from the hard drive. The only one way to one guarantee that the information is completely destroyed is to use a hard disk crusher.

For a home PC, there are services available that you can enlist that will use the hard disk crusher on your system to remove all of the sensitive data before you dispose of the hard drive, or you can rent one from a service and perform the job yourself. For businesses who will be getting entirely new office equipment and have a multitude of machines that need to be "crushed", there are companies that lease or sell hard drive crushers that you will then have access to forever, or as long as you may need it.

If things continue to go the way they are going, it may not be long before crimes stemming from information found on computer hard drives comprise the bulk of the crimes committed in the US. Dont let yourself fall prey to this type of situation, before you dispose of any hard drive - use a hard disk crusher to clean all of the sensitive information off of it.

Tags: laptop computer by A Noton
No Comments »

The need for a laptop is growing each day. College students need it to do research and make their school projects. For many businessmen, their laptops are their mobile offices - something that can get their job done anywhere. Nowadays, more and more people are choosing a laptop over desktop PCs. Buying a laptop will not be that simple, you have to consider several factors and do proper research to get the right one for you.

Choosing the brand of laptop matters a lot. One of the most known high quality laptop brands is Apple, as it is known to have longer life as compared to any other laptop brands. Compaq is known to be more convenient and economical. When purchasing a laptop, it would really depend on how much you are willing to invest on such device. You'll have a hard time finding a Mac laptop that has a price under $1000. However, you can get some laptops that can last longer and perform better from spending a little over $1000.

Screen size is important as well, and it is very subjective. A lot of folks love laptops with large screens. Macbooks come with a 13.3" screen. Not everybody is going to able to enjoy such a small screen. Netbooks have even smaller screens. You should choose a laptop that comes with the right screen, so you can more work done without wishing you had a bigger or smaller screen.

CPU clock is another factor that you should be concerned about when buy a new laptop. You can always spend a fortune getting the latest laptop on the market, but why pay a premium when you can settle for a fairly new system that comes with enough power to help you get your work done. The same approach can be applied to RAM and hard drive. You can get as much as 8 GB ram on some laptops, but why pay more when you can get your work done with only 4 GB of Ram.

Before spending your hard earned money in buying that laptop make sure to weigh things carefully. If you want a laptop that can replace your desktop computer then go for the high performance hardware. On the other hand if your priority is portability you may go for those lighter ones with smaller screens.

Getting the best value for your money is not really difficult you just have to know your needs and stick to your budget. The laptop market today offers a wide array of choices to choose from, there will always be one out there that suite your needs and budget.

Tags: laptop computer by Michael Tan
No Comments »

There are numerous components associated with the operation of a personal computer. From the monitor, to the keyboard, the operating system, the mouse, the hard drive and the memory, there are numerous factors to consider when purchasing a computer for your family.

One of the most critical aspects of the machine is the data storage. Computer data storage can be classified numerous ways. There are literally dozens of methods in which data can be stored on to a device for use by a computer operating system.

There are numerous names for data storage, and there can be a bit of confusion when attempting to decipher the nomenclature. The two most commonly used methods of storage are called Random Access Memory and Mass storage devices. The functions of which are vital to the operation of a computer. The first type of data storage mentioned,Random access memory, is more commonly referred to as RAM.

The purpose of the RAM is to directly access the central processing unit, or CPU. The CPU will read the information that is stored on the RAM and will execute the commands as it is required by the operating system. One of the draw backs of the RAM is that it is volatile, meaning that when the device looses power, the information stored on the RAM cards will be lost.

A more permanent solution to the volatile nature of RAM, is secondary data storage. These devices will not loose the information stored on them when power is withdrawn. The secondary storage devices are not directly accessed by the CPU, but rather information is loaded on to the primary storage by an intermediary area. Meaning the CPU cannot directly access the information that is stored on the secondary device. IN order for it to access a piece of data, the necessary information will need to be located, and then loaded on to the RAM. Once the information has been loaded the CPU can access that piece of data.

Computers have evolved to the point that the methods by which the machines operated in the past no longer hold true to the present. At one time, data storage consisted of magnetic tapes that stored massive amounts of data, relatively speaking. Today, the same amount of information can be stored on a device that is the size of a stick of gum.

Tags: laptop computer by Rulon Timberland
No Comments »