Buying a Desktop Computer - Some Important Considerations

Written on March 8, 2010 by Kay

Buying a desktop computer is a considerable investment can be a bit of a gamble, with pros and cons to support the purchase of both new and second equipment. Unless you know what to look for, you could be throwing good money down the drain.

No matter whether you intend to purchase new or second hand equipment, it is important to objectively weigh up whether it is in your best interests to make a different choice.

Compare the prices of both new and second hand/refurbished equipment. If there is a big gap between them - ask yourself why, and what risks purchasing second hand may pose for you. Are you competent enough to cope with problems associated with second hand gear? Do you understand how computers work, and how to analyze and replace/repair/reinstall whatever may have gone wrong.

Do you understand enough about compatibility - the concept which describes how well all the components of a computer fit and work together. This involves both hardware and software and is critical to the correct functioning of the machine itself. Older computers are particularly susceptible to this problem. Outdated hardware, for example, will not run the latest editions of software, which could severely impact your virtual happiness.

If you are comfortable with the inner workings of PCs and feel you can handle the situation - be sure to go and physically check out the equipment, talk to the seller, and enquire when it was purchased, if there are known problems, and why they want to sell. If the answers satisfy you - switch on, and check for yourself the hardware and the versions of the software the machine is running.

Heed the warning ‘Buyer Beware’, or else within a short time - you will be compelled to sell the box on again.

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How To Select The Right Laptop For You

Written on March 6, 2010 by Kay

Laptop Buying Tips

I must admit that I’d take a laptop over a desktop machine simply by virtue of portability. Think about it. With a laptop, one can fold up and take their digital life (work, games, applications, entertainment system) anywhere with ease. It’s difficult to do this with a desktop box when it’s shackled to the wall with wires.

Whether you’re in the market for a new laptop to replace your old one, or are thinking of buying your first laptop and don’t know where to start, there are a few suggestions that you can use to maximize the pleasure of your purchase.

Test Drive Before Buying

You wouldn’t buy a brand new car without taking it for a test drive, right? The same logic holds true for laptop computers. Many users purchase their laptops online (newegg.com), and the process, most of the time, is incredibly convenient in my experience. But the problem with buying a laptop online is that you don’t know how the keyboard feels, or how well the screen displays video, or if the case is made out of some material that attracts unsightly fingerprints, or whether it’s too heavy to lug around, and the list goes on and on.

Finding lower prices and the convenience is why so many users shop online. But when buying a laptop, sure, search around online for a model that catches your eye, write the model number down, and pay a visit to your local brick-and-mortar electronics store to see if they have that model in stock so that you can give it a test drive before buying it on the web.

Install Your Own RAM

The more RAM your laptop has, the speedier it’s going to feel. Let’s say you buy a laptop that comes stock with 2GB of memory; you check the specs and you realize that your laptop is expandable to 4GB or RAM. See how much it costs to max out your laptop’s memory from the seller and compare that price to buying a separate memory module and installing it yourself.

While a do-it-yourself operation can save you money (and teach you quite a bit), you still need to do a little homework. Before buying laptop memory, make sure that you know the proper type of RAM module your laptop takes and that you have an empty slot for the new memory module to live in.

I personally recommend Crucial.com as they have an online scanner which scans your PC and identifies a compatible upgrade option

Know Your Accessories

Many first time laptop buyers don’t realize how important battery life is. If you’re not near a wall outlet, then you’re pretty much stuck with battery power if you want to use your laptop. When buying your new laptop, see if a spare battery is an option. It’s always best to go with a battery that was specially made to go with your model. If it all possible, try not to buy after-market batteries that weren’t specially designed to compliment your laptop. They may be cheaper, but they probably store less power to make up for the price cut.

I don’t know one person that’s in love with their laptop’s touch-pad. Less precise than a traditional desktop optical mouse, laptop and notebook touch-pads feel like they should only be used as a last resort. Consider buying a wireless optical mouse for better control.

Go Fast

I don’t think anyone ever complained that their computer was running too fast. If you can spare the cash, get the faster processor, double the memory, extend the storage. It would be a shame to spend the next couple of years with a laptop that cannot keep up with your computing demands. In order to avoid buyer’s remorse, you’ll want to remember the saying “You get what you pay for”, and this usually holds true when you’re dealing with hardware in particular.

A faster processor and more memory means that you’re prepared for the future. As applications get more complicated internally, the code it takes to run them is going to need more juice from your computer for optimal performance. When in doubt, upgrade your options.

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Get The Best From Windows And Your PC

Written on March 4, 2010 by Kay

A Windows Primer

In order to get very far in the world of Windows, one needs to know the absolute basics before going on to the fun stuff (web surfing, Facebook, e-mail, etc.) It’s foolish to assume that every user knows how to navigate Windows Explorer and the difference between a single-click and a double-click. We all have to start somewhere, crawling before we can walk, and so this article will begin with basic Windows skills that every user needs to know more or less.

Save As Dialog: Icons

Mostly every PC user is running some version of Microsoft Windows, and every user will likely have many files saved to their hard drive. Whether you’re using Word or Excel (or any other application that saves files to disk) you’ll need to eventually save your file for safekeeping. You may be familiar with the Save As dialog box, but did you also know that handy icons reside on said dialog box to make your work easier?

For instance, when saving a Word document, you’ll see 4 icons right next to the “Save in” drop-down on the top of the window. The 1^st icon (arrow pointing left) will take you back to the last folder you visited, the 2^nd icon (folder with green arrow pointing up) will take you back one folder in the tree, the 3^rd icon (folder with an orange spark) will allow you to quickly create a new folder, and lastly the 4^th icon lists the various views that affect file presentation. Get to know this last option very well, as adjusting the presentation and sorting via Date Modified stamps become essential when organizing and viewing your files and folders.

Files vs. Folders

It’s important to get this distinction out of the way right off the bat, as seeking a solution via technical support depends on your ability to explain the problem in the proper technical terms. Many novices understandably confuse files and folders. For instance, a user might not know where they saved their e-mail file attachment, and when explaining the problem to tech support, they may phrase it like this: “I’m not sure what file my e-mail attachment is saved in”.

Now, it’s obvious that the user is confusing file with folder. Let’s talk a little about what files and folders are. First off, a file can be a photo of your Christmas vacation, or an mp3 of your favorite singer, or a Word document, or an Excel spreadsheet, or a software device driver, and the list goes on. A folder is an abstract structure that you store your files in. Folders can be nested within other folders (sub-folders) which forms an upside down tree structure with the root folder at the top. You’re probably already acquainted with the most commonly used folders such as My Documents, My Music, My Pictures and so on and so forth.

Single-Click vs. Double-Click

I see computer novices (and even seasoned users a few times) single-click when they should be double-clicking and double-clicking when they should be single-clicking. I blame Microsoft Windows for this confusion, as it’s not immediately obvious and it’s not something Windows teaches from the get-go with a shiny wizard dialog widow to hold your hand.

The most common clicking mistake I see is when users double-click on web page links. They’re so used to double-clicking shortcuts on their desktop that it’s become a habit. Just remember this: if you’re dealing with a web page, then a single-click will do every time. Also, anything on the Windows task bar (quick launch icons, application shortcuts, et al.) requires only a single-click. Put simply, you may only need to double-click on your desktop shortcuts and even this can be turned off. All in all, double-clicking was introduced so that more mouse options could be utilized, but make sure you know the difference between single-clicking and double-clicking.

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Clean Your PC – Purging Prefetch Items

Written on February 27, 2010 by Kay

PREFETCH Items is a feature in Windows XP that caches your files, making it quicker to access programs and data. Unfortunately, with too many files cached, Windows can spend more time looking for the caches than actually opening the file. For this reason, it’s a good idea to clear your PREFETCH items fairly often, approximately every one or two months.

Step 1: To begin, we need to bring up the PREFETCH files. To do this, hold the Start key and press the R key to open the “Run” command. Type in the path “C:\WINDOWS\PREFETCH” (assuming your system drive is C:) and press “OK”.

Step 2: And now a new Explorer window should have opened, showing all the files that have been cached. We need to select all of these and delete them. First, go to the Edit menu and click “Select All”.

Once they have all been highlighted, open the File menu and select “Delete” (or simply press the Delete key on your keyboard).

Step 3: Windows will now confirm that you want to send the items to the Recycle Bin, so press “Yes”.

Depending on the amount of files to remove, this may take a few moments. You can watch the progress with the “Deleting…” window.

Step 4: So now all of the cached files are in the Recycle bin. Since they are of no use now, you can go ahead and empty the Recycle Bin. First, close all open windows, find the “Recycle Bin” icon on your desktop, and right-click it. From the pop-up menu, select “Empty Recycle Bin”.

Again, Windows asks for delete confirmation. Click “Yes” to physically erase the files from your computer.

And now you have removed your PREFECTH cache files from your computer. A final word of caution, however. This procedure will cause your computer to take a little longer on the next one or two reboots, so if you notice a lag, this is the reason. Again, you should only follow this procedure about every month or so, any sooner is not likely needed, and will slow down your computer.

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Speed Up Your Netbook Computer

Written on February 24, 2010 by Kay

Netbook OS Alternatives

As of this writing, buying a netbook nowadays means that your portable computer will come loaded with Windows 7 Starter Edition. The Starter Edition is a stripped down version of Windows 7 with such limitations such as the inability to change your Desktop background image and the absence of Windows Media Center.

Microsoft may have the monopoly on desktop operating systems, but that doesn’t mean that you’re stuck with Windows. There are alternatives, and with a little bit of elbow grease, you may find that installing and configuring an alternative OS (like Linux) is a fun and rewarding experience.

The Linux Operating System

Linux is a popular operating system for users that don’t want to deal with Windows. It’s free, very powerful, and comes in a scads of flavors (distributions). It just so happens that custom versions of Linux have been tailored to work with the limited hardware that today’s netbooks come with. It’s a shame that navigating the Linux world can be a murky endeavor but I’m going to show you 3 Linux distros that can turn your boring Windows netbook into a little Linux-powered workstation.

Ubuntu Netbook Remix

Ubuntu Linux is my personal favorite out of all the distributions. Put simply, it’s the easiest Linux distro to use and it doesn’t require you to type out arcane commands in a shell or learn what a tarball is. It’s a popular desktop and server operating system, and there’s also a netbook tailored version called Ubuntu Netbook Remix or UNR.

A UNR image needs to be downloaded and copied to a flash drive. To install UNR, reboot your netbook with the flash drive inserted (make sure that you configure your netbook to boot from a USB port). Typically, most users use their netbooks for simple tasks: web surfing, e-mail, occasionally editing a Word document. UNR is perfect for these simple tasks. Open Office—a free alternative to MS Office—handles Word and Excel documents with ease, and Firefox fires up very quickly and does its web surfing job with gusto.

Ubuntu Netbook Remix is an excellent alternative to Windows, and stands out as a shining example of why Linux is so popular. It has a tight integrated feel and is easy to configure. If you’re familiar with the way that Windows operates, you’ll feel right at home with Ubuntu.

Moblin 2.0

Moblin Linux is another distro that was made to run on netbooks. Installation is pretty much the same as Ubuntu—flash drive install. As a matter of fact, Ubuntu is built on top of Moblin. Moblin 2.0 might take some getting used to, as its GUI isn’t what you’d come to expect from the standardized Windows interface. The entire Moblin interface consists of a single toolbar that floats at the top of your desktop like a phantom. It appears when you hover your mouse’s pointer at the top of the screen and disappears when you move the pointer elsewhere.

Moblin is a capable netbook OS but it does have its foibles. For instance, there are no office suites included with this distro, which means you can’t edit Word or Excel documents right off the bat, and (a real downer) it doesn’t come with Firefox but a less-than-capable browser based on the same rendering engine that has trouble with javascript intensive web sites (Facebook, Gmail, et al.).

Jolicloud Linux

Jolicloud is built on top of Ubuntu Netbook Remix (a lot of code recycling going on here) and sports the same type of GUI as Ubuntu. As of this writing, Jolicloud is still in alpha and is not widely available to the public, but you can request an invite to check it out.

One of the cool things about Jolicloud is that it features an updated application directory that automatically updates itself. With a single click, you can download the newest applications and services. Even though it’s still in alpha mode, Jolicloud looks like it’s going to be a formidable contender in the Linux netbook world.

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