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With all the powerful features come built in with the modern notebook computers, they are threatening the very existence of their desktop alternatives. The modern consumers have practically run out of good reasons to buy desktop computers as they can find all the essential features available with the notebook with no dramatic difference in the prices. Well, despite how close the notebook computers have come to their desktop replacements, some of us still need one or more features which may not be found in the notebooks.

However, this is not a very good reason why you should buy a desktop computer while you can get the same features and even more in a notebook at the same price. I have seen many users complain about the small screen size, absence of DVD burners, and other stuff like that which some standard low-cost notebooks might not have. However, the good news is you can always upgrade your notebook with any accessories you want. Let`s talk about a bit about the common features people have been heard complaining about and how to solve these problems easily.

DVD Burner: Some people crib that the notebook doesn`t have a DVD burner. If you are one of them then you can buy an external DVD burner and connect it with your notebook via the USB port. You will be ambushed with a galaxy of DVD burners; however, you can count on Hewlett-Packard DC4000 External DVD RW Writer. It can convert video from different formats such as Betamax, Digital8, VHS and Hi8. It also works as any other standard DVD writer and burns music, data, photos to DVD and CD. While taking a DVD burner take care of the compatibility of the accessory with your notebook.

Flat-LCD Screen: Few prefer watching their favourite action flicks on your notebook; blame it on the small screen. Take home a Flat- LCD screen monitor and watch your favourite movies in the virtual theatre surroundings. You can search and check for different Flat screen LCDs available and compare their prices. Also check for the contrast ratio, resolution and scanning frequency.

Musical Experience: Listening to music on the tinny notebook speakers is hardly interesting to any music lover. If you are suffering from this problem, buy your notebook a pair of speakers, preferably a model that comes with 5.1 speaker system with Dolby Digital and DTS Hardware decoding. It will offer you superlative sound quality both for listening to your favourite music and watching your favourite movies on your notebook.

Notebook Keyboard: Using the keyboard of the notebook can be tiring and painful for your fingers. How often have you ended up with your finger experiencing an unusual pressure? Even the notebook users may have experienced the generated heat on their hand. An additional keyboard is the best solution for it. You can enjoy the functionality from a wireless keyboard with a separate media pad for accessing. The keyboard combo is also available with a wireless optical mouse have great sensitivity of movements. Keyboards of varied types are available; just you need to find the best for you.

USB Mobile Port Replicator: Of course you are taking a notebook to take it with you wherever you go. But where are you going to plug in all these accessories if you are taking it to some other place. You can`t afford every time to plug them out while moving and plug in again while using. You can sort the problem out with an USB mobile port replicator. Whatever you need to plug into your laptop you can plug into it and plug in the USB mobile port replicator to your notebook.

This article can be accessed in portuguese from the Article section of page www.polomercantil.com.br/notebook.php

Roberto Sedycias works as IT consultant for www.PoloMercantil.com.br

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Every computer user should know at least a bit of computer troubleshooting. There will always come at time when you need to do some computer troubleshooting of sorts to meet an urgent need of your computer.

Before resorting to taking your computer to a computer repair guy or calling a technical support, it is best to try a few simple computer troubleshooting techniques first.

If you have been using your computer for more than a year now, it is expected that you know your computer well enough to be familiar with its basic information such as brand, model, processor, RAM or memory, operating system you are using and hard disk capacity.

You need to keep in mind that every detail prior to a computer error counts. Try to recall what you’ve been doing before the error occurred and note them down to make it easier for you and the technical support people to determine what troubleshooting strategy to use.

Computer Troubleshooting In Few Easy Steps

If you are quite familiar with your computer’s performance, you will be able to determine the right button to push and the correct tweaking to administer. But for now, here are the basic easy-to-follow steps that you can routinely practice in case errors persist.

1. Try rebooting first your computer. It’s no surprise that rebooting resolves most errors.

2. Update and run your anti-virus application. If you have an active anti-virus it will automatically update while you are online.

3. Determine the error- if it is a network, software of hardware problem. If you’re having trouble accessing the internet, surely enough it is a network error. You can also check the network status or connectivity of your computer by looking at the network icon on your system tray. It should be active and both computer icons should have blue lights.

4. Check the cables that are attached at the backside of your computer tower. Sometimes we overlook this, but it happens, so it’s best to check as part of this routine.

5. Check the hardware attached to the power supply. All should have their lights on when the power supply is turned on. If there are lights on, check if the computer will start and if sounds will come out of your speaker. If nothing happens, there could be a problem with your power supply. You need to replace you power supply and not use it to try and check your computer. Seek a computer repair man’s help.

6. If your computer hangs up on you, reboot your system and immediately press F8 to put rebooting into safe mode. Uninstall the last application you installed to see if this is causing the problem.

If in case still nothing happens to your computer, you may seek the help of a computer repair man or an online technical support. You can supply your findings to them to make it easier for them to do computer troubleshooting.

For the latest tips to
Optimize PC performance visit our site. We provide independent software reviews, daily PC news and various PC tips and tweaks to help you get the most out of your computer.

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When the first PCs started turning up in the late seventies and early eighties they where designed to help businesses manage spreadsheets and if you were lucky help you write a letter to the bank manager asking, no doubt for more money, because you needed to re-mortgage the house for the latest breakthrough in cutting edge computing.

Nowadays computers come in all shapes and sizes and are capable of far more than just adding up a couple of sums. You can surf the web, play games, edit photos, listen to your music, make music even, oh and still of course get them to help you with your spread sheets and perhaps rather than a letter to your bank manager, simply manage your bank account online yourself.

But hardware doesn’t just cover computers and laptops but the multitude of accessories to go with it. The latest monitors that let you enjoy your desktop more, the 1TB hard drives that let you store all the data. Then there are the keyboards and mice that let you control it and that’s before you’ve got to the speakers to let you listen to it, the network modems that let you connect to the internet or the other massive plethora of USB devices that will do everything from letting you read a memory card to warming up a pair of slippers so you don’t get cold feet when doing your work.

The ultimate computer set up at home in my mind would consist of the following:

Apple MacBook Pro laptop.

Apple’s MacBook Pro laptop is one of the best laptops around allowing you to manage your work and play on the go with ease. Using the Apple Leopard OS you don’t have to worry about viruses as the system is so far know to be immune to them. Additionally the software just works letting you get on with your work and play. Used by creative types around the world the laptop is great for managing music and images. Time Machine, its backup software solution is by far the best offering out there meaning your data will be safe always.

Seagate hard drive.

If you’ve got lots of data and you backup regularly (which of course you should, it goes without saying) then you’ll need a decent hard drive to back up to. Seagate’s range of FreeAgent drives come in sizes of up to 750GB, more than ample enough, and offer fast performance for both Mac and PC users via USB 2.0 or Firewire.

Samsung 22-inch monitor.

Your laptop might come with its own screen, but you’ll want to maximise your working capabilities in the office with a massive monitor. Get yourself a widescreen monitor with a good resolution. You can then use your laptop monitor as a second screen for chat or email windows leaving the main large screen solely for working on documents or whatever your main focus should be. And before you eek with “isn’t it going to be expensive?” the answer is no - you can get a 24-inch for under 250 pounds.

Logitech Keyboard and Mouse.

Logitech have long been making decent keyboards and mice so it’s good to invest in something from the company. Mac owners might do better to opt for a Mac keyboard and a Logitech mouse however to get the best of both worlds. Something like the MX revolution or the MX Air.

Computers form a vital component in our lives today and with the wide selection of hardware out there this trend is only set to continue.

Technology expert Thomas Pretty looks into the importance of hardware reviews when looking at buying additional components for your computer.

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My first printer was a dot matrix model that looked and was the size of a vacuum cleaner. In fact it made about as much noise as one to. Today however and printers are very different beasts coming in a variety of shapes and sizes and offering to meet a variety of demands from the office machines that churn out 1000s of pages a minute to photo printers at home that save us from having to go to the developing lab to print out of favourite images of family and friends.

So what’s what in the printer world? Well HP has a range of photo printers that promise to get the job done. The company has two ranges that it focuses on - its all in one models aimed at small medium businesses such as home workers looking to print, scan, copy and sometimes fax documents and a portable range of printers that are the size of a large wash bag. The portable range fondly known within the industry as the toaster range will let consumers print 6×4-inch prints quickly via a computer, a camera through PictBridge or via a memory card. Most of the company’s models feature touchscreen’s so you can see the picture you are printing as well as make slight adjustments like fixing Red-eye.

But HP aren’t the only company to offer printing solutions with a difference, some of Lexmark’s printers come with CD drives built in so you can back up your images without the need for a computer at all. It also means you can print directly from the disk, again without the need for a computer.

Kodak’s unique selling point over its rivals is its price. Ink, which is always expensive, promises to be 50% cheaper from Kodak making a big difference when it comes to managing a budget in an office. The Kodak models might be cheaper to run, but they are big beasts.

The same can’t be said for the Polaroid PoGo. A pocket sized portable printer that comes without ink and is tiny. In development for over 10 years, the printer offers users the chance to print business card sized (2 x 3 inch) colour photos from their mobile phone via Bluetooth or digital camera via PictBridge without the need for a computer. The size of a large smartphone (0.93 x 2.83 x 4.72 inches), the Polaroid PoGo printer uses thermal printing meaning there is no ink needed.

Instead users will use Polaroid’s specially designed paper, which will cost an expensive 3 pounds for 10 sheets. The process takes just 60 seconds from pressing go to a print in your hand and the photo paper will have a sticky back so you can stick them to your mates, the wall or anything that moves. The printer does come with a lithium-ion battery, however it will be able to print just 15 images before needing a recharge.

Of course if none of those sound your cup of tea you could always opt to get everything printed online. Kodak, Photobox and a number of other companies offer to print your images for you and then send them in the post. You can even use the image galleries online to publish books, t-shirts, photo mugs or wall paper with your ugly mug on it as well as push them to a digital photo frame saving you having to print them at all. All this is a long way from my first dot matrix.

Technology expert studies the importance of valid printer reviews when buying a new printing device.

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There are many reasons why a computer slows down after years of usage, but the most common reason is the lack of computer maintenance from the user. Owning and using a computer requires basic knowledge on the hardware and software, and computer troubleshooting. The bit of know-how is important to sustain the life of your computer and its performance.

If you have a computer that has the best hardware and software features, you still need to check the integrity and the performance of your machine. It is not enough to leave your computer on its own especially if you are connected to the internet and using it extensively.

A weekly or monthly computer maintenance check will make a difference in the performance of your computer. You need to know the basic tools that can help maintain your computer’s good-as-new performance. If you are awkward and daunted by this task, you can pay a computer technician to do the job for you.

Do-It-Yourself Weekly Computer Maintenance

There are some basic tasks that you can do to maintain your computer. But always remember that your need to do these tasks on a weekly or monthly basis to help protect your computer from deadly elements that can penetrate it through a number of ways.

* Defrag your computer at least once a week. If you do so, your computer can write and rewrite data files in order, improve your computer’s speed, organize scattered data files and utilize blank spaces in the hard disk accordingly. Defragging your computer allows it to work at a minimal a mount time, speeds up processes efficiently
* Computer scanning is a must everyday, so make sure your anti virus software is turned on and running real time. Updates are quite crucial for anti virus software as viruses are being developed each day.
* Spyware scanning. Use you anti spyware software everyday and make sure it is updating every time. You want to make sure that this is happening everyday to prevent spyware from penetrating your machine.
* Extensive virus and spyware scanning. You can do this weekly apart from the daily live scans. Extensive scanning can detect and destroy remnants from viruses and spyware that have been deleted. It’s better to be safe than sorry.

Compute maintenance is a small responsibility that makes a huge difference. Being careful and conscientious about your computer usage will extend the life of your machine.

For the latest tips to
Optimize PC performance visit our site. We provide independent software reviews, daily PC news and various PC tips and tweaks to help you get the most out of your computer.

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Many people now opt to build their own computer so that they are more in control of the specifications they want and save more than just a few dollars. There are a multitude of DIYs found all over the Internet, and yes, it is possible to build one yourself! But before doing so, you must choose the right components for your computer. Here are some of the very basic components you need to get:

Computer Case

Computer cases now come in a variety of designs and colours. Some now even come with a panel window where you can see the inside parts through. What is important when buying a case is that the size of the case should support the size of the motherboard. A mid-tower case is highly recommended as it has enough room for all the hardware.

Power Supply

The power supply must provide you at least 300 watts and fit right into the computer case you choose. If you are one of those who extreme users or gamers, you may want to buy a bigger power supply to feed additional cooling, USB devices and case lighting.

Processor

The processor is the most important choice you need to make in setting up your own computer. You have to know exactly what kind and how fast you need. There are a variety of options from AMD and Intel, for example: AMD Athlon, AMD Sempron, AMD Duron, Intel Celeron, Intel Core Duo, among others. If you only use the computer to surf the web, do word processing, gaming and some graphics editing, the 1.8 GHz - 2.0 GHz might be enough. Extreme gaming, 3D rendering and video editing would need at least a 2.4GHz processor.

CPU Cooler

Processors usually come with a fan and a heat sink. But it is best to get a cooler that is more efficient and quieter than the one included in the package. Remember to get a thermal compound to put onto the CPU core.

Motherboard

Choose a motherboard that matches your processor’s socket type and supports the same bus speed as the CPU.

RAM

Similarly, choose a RAM that is compatible with the motherboard’s bus speed. Get at least 512MB of RAM.

Hard Disk Drive (HDD)

The HDD is your permanent storage for system files, applications, documents, games and so on. Get the largest hard drive capacity that you can afford. If you are on a tight budget, you can get at least a 60GB. Most motherboards have IDE slots for hard drives. Newer ones also have SATA connectors for SATA HDDs, which are quite faster than IDE HDDs.

Graphics Card

If you use the computer for regular office work, you can get a motherboard with a built-in video card. If you use it for gaming, you might want to buy a separate video card. Video cards usually use an AGP slot or a PCI Express slot on the motherboard.

Sound Card

Most motherboards have built-in sound cards which generally have good quality. If you use sound mixing or audio/video editing, you can get at least a 24-bit sound card for better quality.

CD/DVD

Of optical drives, it is best to seek for a DVD/CD-RW combo or a DVD+-RW; the latter is a better choice. DVDs have larger capacity to allow you to store more music and movie files and back-up data. If you do not expect to burn disks, you can opt for a CD-R or a DVD-R drive.

This article is distributed by MDofPC LLC MDofPC Custom Computers and Download Software

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