Laptop Computers

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Computer consultant skills don’t have to be bleeding edge. Since most small businesses don’t keep up with cutting edge technology, various levels of expertise can be possible for a computer consultant.

computer-consultant, computer consultant, computer-consultants, computer consultants

I’ve had more than one person tell me, “Well, I’m a MCP or I’m a CNA and I’ve got this one cert but I’m working on like 15 more certs and as soon as I get my 19th cert, five years from now, I’ll be all set to be a computer consultant.” That’s just a hunk of bologna. Know why?

Small Business Aren’t Using Cutting-Edge Technology

Most small businesses don’t care how many certifications you have. Small businesses are usually at least 12-18 months behind the curve from an IT standpoint. Sometimes they’re as much as two years behind the curve. There is no ego-driven CEO or corporate salesperson in small businesses advocating upgrading every 12 months just for the sake of upgrading.

Some Small Business Technology is Outdated

As a computer consultant, what kind of hardware and software and peripherals and infrastructure would you be working with in a typical small business? A lot of their equipment will be just fine and some will need updates and upgrades.

But there’s very little stress among small-business technology to keep up with the latest and the greatest bleeding edge. So that removes a lot of the early-adopter stress out of the equation for you, the beginning computer consultant.

Do You Have the Skills to be A Computer Consultant?

Do other people come to you for computer advice? Do people ask you for help with their software and hardware and getting their PDA to talk to Outlook or sync up their wi-fi, etc.? Are they coming to you for help because it’s part of your job or simply because you’ve developed a reputation as the kind of guy or gal that knows a little more about PCs and notebooks and software and the Internet and viruses than the average person? Are you already perceived as a good resource person for these kinds of problems? If so, you’ll make a great computer consultant

A Computer Consultant’s Skills Vary

It really doesn’t matter how junior or senior your skills are, there’s definitely a place for you in helping small businesses with IT problems. Just like there’s are entry level and senior staff within a corporate IT department, there’s all also different levels you can perform in as a computer consultant.

Copyright MMI-MMVI, PC Support Tips .com. All Worldwide Rights Reserved. {Attention Publishers: Live hyperlink in author resource box required for copyright compliance}

1045

Create a wireless desktop with the use of wireless technologies such as keyboards and mice. Plus Wireless networking, printers, speakers and headphones removes the need for wires on your PC. Have a clean desktop, have a wireless desktop.

wireless, desktop, speakers, mice, keyboard, printer, network, networking

We live in an age of technology and as such we are always looking for ways to make life easier or ways to make things look better. In the home or office (or even the home office) making things look better involves getting rid of clutter. This is where the wireless desktop comes into play. No wires means less clutter and because when using Bluetooth wireless devices line of sight is not needed, you can use your desk space to its optimum with no worries.

There is more to the wireless desktop than you might think as well. You will all be aware that you can get a wireless keyboard and mouse. But wireless technology and Bluetooth in particular stretches much further than that. Your mobile phone if a recent one will probably have Bluetooth technology built into it. This means that you can easily connect it to your PC. Companies such as Logitech offer software that really gets your mobile phone and your PC working together. Synchronization is just one aspect of this, but how about being able to type an SMS text message on your keyboard and send it without having to touch your phone. This is all possible with the power of Bluetooth. Communication with your mobile phone is not the only method of contact with Bluetooth. You can also get Bluetooth headsets that work with Microsoft Messenger so you can add an easy chat functionality to your desktop. As new products come on the market Bluetooth becomes more and more popular. Peripheral devices such as Printers and Scanners can now be found.

The Wireless Keyboard and Mouse

This is the first device that you will probably buy for your wireless desktop. This is the basic starting point and probably the most effective. The keyboard and mouse wires cannot be hidden away from sight as they have to be straight in front of you. plus limiting the mouse wire can mean limiting the mouse movement as well. So A wireless keyboard and mouse will give you a better looking desktop as well as freedom to move your keyboard where you want it. You can have it on your lap or anywhere else in range. Having a wireless mouse will also help in gaming. Most wireless mice are just as responsive as corded ones and your wire wont snag at that vital moment when online gaming.

Wireless Printers

While printers are not being produced as wireless as yet. The idea is very much being worked on. Currently what you can by for your USB connected printers is a two small connecters that plug into your printer and USB port which connect together like a wireless network. Its almost a wireless USB connection if you like. I doubt that is how it will be described though. The advantages of the wireless printer as well as the lack of wires behind your PC is the range can be increased as well as you being able to place your printer in a place where a USB cable would be unsuitable to travel. A second advantage would be that connecting your printer to a wireless network for sharing will be much easier.

Wireless Networking

I think the biggest advantage of wireless technology has to be Wireless Networking. While Bluetooth technology is does not have the range in which to be affective at networking computers together. RF technology is still used however and is very easy to setup. For a simple network (peer to peer) on two computers all you need is two wireless networking cards setup to the same channel. More complex networks can also be setup using a server and workstations. Anything you can do with a wired network you can do with wireless technology.

While we keep saying that the main advantage of wireless technology is that you don’t have wires lying around everywhere, this is more true than ever when we are talking about wireless networking. When your computers are likely to be located in different room, the last thing you want is for wires to be laid around your home or office being an eyesore. Plus should you wish to move your computer at anytime, you don’t have to re-route the wires connecting your network together.
Security on Wireless networks is set by adding a name for your network which all computers on that network must be assigned to connect to, plus then you can add a password to keep unwanted intruders out from your files. Software firewalls are also recommended on wireless connections (as well as wired) just for added security against unwanted virus’ or Adware/Spyware.

Wireless Headphones / Microphone

Wireless headphones are readily available from many manufacturers. These are really one of the most practical uses of wireless technology behind the networking. Wireless headphones allow you to freely listen to your music, game or whatever noise your PC is making anywhere in your room without the restriction of wires. Even if your wires are long enough they will still be a little dangerous stretched across the room. And we all know you like to dance around your room listening to your favourite tracks. A set of wireless headphones could save you a few quid on broken items that your headphone wires have snagged on and brought crashing down to the floor .

Wireless Speakers

Wireless speakers are poking out of the woodwork and those of you that have a 5.1 or above sound system will just how many wires are involved in that setup. Not only do you have connection to the computer but each speaker is connected to the sub / power box and and you also have the volume control to deal with. At time of writing this the US seem to have a decent supply of wireless speakers where as only a few can be found in the UK. I am very sure that wireless speakers will become a lot more popular in the UK over the next couple of months. Wireless speakers will remove loads of wires from the back of your computer. Using a 5.1 wireless system will allow you to place your speakers in the perfect position without any restrictions or ugly wires running along your walls or floor.

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Cheap and inexpensive laptops are available plenty in number in the market. While buying laptops, price factor alone should not limit the purchase. Find out how you can buy the right cheap laptop for you.

laptop, laptops, used laptops, refurbished laptops, cheap used laptops, laptop backpacks, used computer, used computers, cheap used computers

Cheap and inexpensive laptops are available plenty in number in the market. While buying laptops, price factor alone should not limit the purchase. Cheap laptops are made available to the consumer to suit the budget as well as specific requirements. The person buying a laptop should be very clear regarding the required features, options and then conduct a search to match his needs. The place of purchasing cheap laptops is also important. There are various sources from which a person can buy cheap laptops. Out of all the sources, Internet is considered to be the best place to purchase laptops. A same laptop model can be sold at different prices in different websites. The purchaser can easily select the one with a lesser price easily. Also it is better to avoid impulse purchase as far as laptops are concerned, since it is impossible for a lay man to comprehend the hi-tech lingo associated with laptop computers like the flat panel TFT, WiFi connectivity, wireless and many more features.

Features to be considered before buying cheap laptops:

Processor of the laptop: A processor is very important to run applications and to perform on-screen tasks. The processor should not be less than 1.4 GHz as it may affect the quick performance of the laptop. For day today operation using word processing, e-mail, spread sheets etc the above processor speed is enough. When Pentium processors are bought they assure a longer battery life and at the same time they are quick.

Screen size of the cheap laptops should not be less than 12.1 inches. The screen size of laptops is measured diagonally. The larger the screen size, the higher the resolution, making it easy for viewing more information all at once.

Laptops should have a good battery life as they are carried with the operator for presentations, or for calculations whenever and wherever they are required. A laptop with a good battery life should be able to perform jobs ranging from 3 to 7 hours of non stop work without any electrical charge required in between. Lithium ion rechargeable batteries are an ideal choice.

The hard drive capacity is very important to store large amount of data on to the laptops. A cheap laptop can be chosen with a hard drive capacity ranging from 20 GB to 40 GB depending on the person’s usage.

The keyboards of laptops are different from those of the desktop computers. The keys on the keypad are relatively smaller and are packed closely with each other. Hence, it is very important to see if it can be handled comfortably before purchasing a cheap laptop.

Touchpad or pointing stick inbuilt with a laptop can be more very useful than a mouse connected via USB port. Two USB ports are more than enough for a cheap laptop; in case more ports are required the user can use an external USB hub.

The ideal weight of the laptops should be between 4 ?10 pounds, never go for a more weighing laptop even if it comes for a very cheap amount. In order to reduce the weight of the laptops, external CD drives can be used. For communications a built in Ethernet port is more ideal than the serial ports or infrared ports.

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Printer users will know how expensive it is to buy new printer cartridges for your ink jet printer. The best way to save money is to buy cheap ink jet cartridges. Finding cheap ink jet cartridges can be easy if you know where to look for. There are mainly two ways of buying printer cartridges ?shop online or from the retail store.

The internet is the best place to buy cheap ink jet cartridges. Due to increase in demand for printer cartridges many printer suppliers find it…

printer cartridges, ink jet cartridges

Printer users will know how expensive it is to buy new printer cartridges for your ink jet printer. The best way to save money is to buy cheap ink jet cartridges. Finding cheap ink jet cartridges can be easy if you know where to look for. There are mainly two ways of buying printer cartridges ?shop online or from the retail store.

The internet is the best place to buy cheap ink jet cartridges. Due to increase in demand for printer cartridges many printer suppliers find it profitable to sell their products online. The online dealers have their websites, which offer information on the various types of ink jet cartridges available for purchase. Most online sellers offer discounts, especially on bulk purchases. These are really useful for office set-ups. Shopping online gives you the option of comparing the prices offered by the different sellers and choose the cheapest discounted price. Visit three to four websites before placing your order.

But care has to be taken when you are buying online. Make sure that you buy from reputed online printer suppliers. Reputed dealers give guarantee on their products and service. Some even have replace faulty cartridges without any extra charge. Buying cheap ink jet cartridges online doesn’t mean that you save only on the product. You can save on shipping and traveling expenses as well. Online dealers may have free shipping facilities, if you spend over a certain amount.

The other option of finding cheap ink jet cartridges may be your local retail computer supplies store. Though prices of ink jet cartridges at retail stores are considerably higher than those offered by the online stores, sometimes the retail stores may also offer discounted prices on their printer supplies. So you have to watch out for such deals and discounts offered by the retail store.

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The printer manufacturing market seems to be a booming one. Manufacturers are no doubt eyeing expansion and coming up with newer products to capture the burgeoning market.

printer, toner, colour printers, monochrome, Lexmark, IT, home users, small offices

The printer manufacturing market seems to be a booming one. Manufacturers are no doubt eyeing expansion and coming up with newer products to capture the burgeoning market. The manufacturers are interested in the colour -printer sector for purely reasons of expansion. There is stiff competition between the makers as all are concentrating to keep the prices low to capture the market. It must be said here that while in the monochrome department Hewlett-Packard co. are the market leaders, the reigning company in the colour segment still remains undecided.

However the future of the colour printer market is purported to be a bright one according to those investing in these companies. The investors are much optimistic, as these printers, using four times the toner cyan, magenta, yellow, and black of a monochrome printer, will produce pictures of a much higher quality. The market, currently a billion dollar industry, will increase manifold.

Adding on to its product range, printing giant Lexmark introduced its c52x series, which included the c524n last June. Earlier there was a huge gap in its colour line up-there was simply the low- end c510 with a capacity of printing about 8 colour and 30 monochrome pictures in a single minute which wasn’t all that fast. There also existed, side-by-side, the high-end c762 which, though having a higher speed, was much more expensive, thereby difficult to afford for the smaller offices and home users. As there was no other product catering to the demands of the users the competitors of Lexmark had an edge over it.

The introduction of Lexmark’s c524n however changed things.
They introduced this product with a very low price range, thereby making it affordable. Offering a dpi resolution of 1200*1200, this network ready colour laser printer has an outstanding colour output and can print up to twenty pages per minute. The very first page may be printed in as little as 13seconds. The model has a monthly maximum duty cycle of 65000 pages, which is quite impressive. The new c524 also reduces the time taken by print jobs considerably as it has a 437.5MHz processor and 128Mbytes of memory. The memory can be expanded up to 576, which decreases the waiting time taken for print jobs. Moreover, colour care technology and Lexmark coverage estimator help in managing the cost involved in using colour toner. The model, weighing 57 pounds, is 17.3 inches wide, 19 inches high and 20.2 deep. With the model also comes a CD consisting of the user guide and the printer software, a power cable, a paper exit extension tray, set up sheet and toner cartridges for cyan, yellow, magenta and black. The product has a one-year warranty period for on site repair.

It goes without saying that that outsourcing of IT and consumer electronic products lower manufacturing costs of the product, which helps lower the prices of the produced good. The question is how low must the producers keep their profit margins in order to stay in the race in today’s colour printing market?

The current analysis lab examined the c524n at a product volume of 1,20,000 units under the assumption that the model was produced in china. An analysis was made of the procurement costs of commodity components, manufacturing costs of fabricated components and location labour rates. The production cost was estimated to be around ?65 / unit. The cost distribution showed the cost of the printer mechanism and its assembly to be about ?1. The electronics and assembly account for ?0. Other costs included laser power supply, consumables assembly, fuser assembly, paper assembly, control panel assembly electronics assembly, final arrangements, etc.

At the time of launching the product, the product was supposed to be priced at ?90. However, Lexmark priced the product at almost half of the originally intended price at some places. To maximize its revenue, the company in a clever move, outfitted the toner with different toner cartridges. The toner content was increased or decreased according to the budget of the customer. The more expensive models containing more toner catered to the demands of the enterprise segment while the lower priced models with low yield cartridges were ideal for small offices and also home users.

The product, being suitably priced, was a great success, perfectly fitted to meet the needs of the buyers and the manufacturers and compete with its competitors in the lucrative colour printer market. Lexmark claimed the print quality was Photorealistic. On account of its chemically processed, spherical toner delivering a 1200*1200 dpi resolution and also because the new print head four lasers in one unit with a mirror. The machine enabled Lexmark to take on the enterprise market as well as their competitors, especially Hewlett-Packard.

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If you just need a basic system for work or school related tasks the Acer Aspire 3004WLCi is a solid performer that can handle average use with ease. I would definitely recommend this unit to college students or traveling professionals who need an inexpensive, user-friendly laptop, but who do not plan on using their laptop on batteries very often, or who do not intend on playing many games or movies. For the price conscious consumers out there, this system is definitely worth the money.

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I recently found myself in need of a new laptop. With a tight budget and moderate needs, I knew it wasn’t going to be easy to find a product that would do what I wanted and still be in my price range.

As a Network Technician and a Web Designer, I needed a machine that would have enough storage to store all my software, projects for my clients, and still be able to handle an occasional temporary operating system backup from a client’s machine. The qualifying candidate also had to have a decent amount of RAM and a reasonably fast processor to keep up with the demands of multitasking and using Studio MX ‘04 on a daily basis.

At first, I checked the auction sites, the refurbished outlets, and the wholesale warehouses. I found a few good deals for under $500, but nothing that would handle the processing load that Studio MX 2004 would place on it. The average machine had 256MB of PC133 RAM, a 20GB HDD, and a 1.0GHz Pentium processor. Not too shabby for a student machine, but for daily service in the fields I work in, not nearly enough space or power to keep up with my demands.

I quickly realized that a new laptop would be needed in order to meet my needs. Realizing that most decent laptops are priced at over $1,000, I wasn’t expecting a whole lot when I started shopping around. However, to my surprise, a local retail chain had a special running on the Acer Aspire 3004WLCi for $600 after a $150 rebate. This was the top end of my budget, but the specs were far more than what I thought I would find in this price range.

Quick Specs:
AMD Mobile Sempron 3100+ (1.8GHz) w/ 256K L2 cache
512MB DDR333 SODIM RAM (expandable to 2GB)
60GB 4200rpm Hard Disk Drive
15.4 Wide Screen WXGA Monitor
CD-RW/DVD-ROM Combo Drive
3 USB 2.0 Ports (1 front / 2 side)
Front Audio / Microphone jacks
Integrated Microphone / Speakers
Integrated Audio Controller
Integrated Video Controller (up to 128MB shared)
Integrated 56Kbps Data/Fax Modem
Integrated 802.3 10/100 Ethernet NIC
Integrated 802.11b/g WiFi
Maximum screen resolution: 1280 x 800
External monitor maximum resolution: 2048 x 1536
One type II PCMCIA Slot
AC Power Adapter / 4-cell lithium-ion battery
1.5″Hx14.3″Wx11″D / 6.2lb. w/ Battery
Microsoft Windows XP Home SP2

OK, before I go into the Pros and Cons of this system, let me first say this… As a Network technician, I’m a bit of a stranger to Acer products. I’ve seen them before, but I’ve never used them. In an industry dominated by Dells and HPs, Acer seemed more of an “off-brand” to me. With that in mind, I wasn’t expecting a whole lot for my money. Fortunately, I was not disappointed, but neither was I entirely wrong.

Also, it is worthy to note that before I used this machine, XP Home was trashed in favor of XP Professional SP2 and I went through the system and performed several minor software performance tweaks on the operating system; all of which can be performed using the native Windows XP Pro utilities.

Pros:
The Acer Aspire 3004 WLCi is a reasonably powerful system for $600. Even at the original $750, this system is hard to beat in the performance department. The Sempron 3100+ processor is surprisingly fast and capable. It handled running Dreamweaver MX 2004, Fireworks MX 2004, Microsoft Word 2003, Microsoft OneNote 2003, Firefox 1.5, Internet Explorer 6.0, Opera 8.5, Resize Browser, CPick, Java JRE, NOD32 Anti-Virus, Hotmail Popper, and several system services and minor utilities running in the background simultaneously and didn’t complain or produce any unacceptable sustained CPU usage spikes. This is partly due to the generous and fast 512MB of DDR333 RAM, but even so, the processor surprised this long-time AMD user.

The 60GB hard drive provides an ample amount of storage for average users. It is on the lower end of my requirements, but sufficiently large enough to handle all my installed software, over 12GB of service software needed for service calls, all my client projects, and it still has enough space left over to easily accommodate a 20GB client system backup.

In addition, this system has a very good Broadcom WiFi controller. In my 3 story townhouse, which has excellent insulation, this system can be used anywhere in my home with a signal strength of “Very Good” to “Excellent”.

The system is ergonomically laid out. I have rather large hands, and most modern laptops are entirely too small for me to realistically use for any extended period of time. Usually, within 20 or 30 minutes, my wrists and hands begin to ache from trying to maintain a very unnatural position in order to type the documents I’m working on. Not so with the Aspire 3000 series. These laptops have a relatively large chassis with a keypad that is almost perfect for someone with large hands. I’ve actually found that I can type nearly as fast (roughly 35wpm) on this laptop as I can on my desktop system that has an ergonomic split keyboard (40wpm).

Cons:
If you’re looking for a Multimedia system, or if you plan to do any graphics intensive gaming, keep on looking; this system is not for you. Even with the widescreen WXGA display, this machine is not well suited for watching DVDs. The integrated video controller is only acceptable and the monitor requires a lot of “fiddling” with in order to find the “just right” position for viewing. Furthermore, the glare on the screen of this unit is terrible. I’ve found that in most brightly lit rooms I’m spending more time straining my eyes to see past my own reflection. Also, the viewing angle is unimpressive. If you try to view the screen from anything greater than 15 degrees in any direction, you’re either looking at a washed out or negative variation of the original. I’ve never been a big fan of LCD. I’ve always felt that a high quality CRT always looks better, but this screen is more reminiscent of a LCD of three years ago than a brand new product.

The integrated audio and video controllers are a definite sore spot as well. I’ve always preferred expansion controllers over integrated controllers, but in this price range, I knew I would be stuck with the so-so quality of an integrated controller. No surprise here. As usual, the quality and performance is sub-par with these controllers, but for my needs, they do the job. However, if you plan on listening to any audio playback on this machine, you had better pack a quality set of headphones. The tiny speakers on this machine are terrible sounding. Again, no big surprise.

Now, about battery life. I don’t know who was in charge of defining this aspect of this machine, but they need a checkup from the neck up. Battery performance on this machine is absolutely unacceptable. Unless you tune the system down significantly, it is very difficult to squeeze more than an hour of real usable time out of this system’s battery life. The manufacturer states that it will run for 1.5 hours on the battery. I’ve never been able to get more than an hour out of the unit. In this day and age, this is not acceptable. Fortunately, there are very few occasions when I need to use this system where I’m not close to a power outlet.

My only other major complaint is the lack of expandability of this system. You get two SODIM memory card slots (filled with 256MBx2 sticks from the factory), three USB 2.0 ports and a Type II PCMCIA slot on this machine, and that’s it. No internal expansion capabilities, no firewire, no serial or parallel connections, and you cannot swap out the combo drive easily. Given the price range of this system, I’m really not surprised, but I am a bit disappointed. Fortunately, there are an abundance of USB adapters available that allow me to do whatever is needed.

Summary:
If you just need a basic system for work or school related tasks the Acer Aspire 3004WLCi is a solid performer that can handle average use with ease. I would definitely recommend this unit to college students or traveling professionals who need an inexpensive, user-friendly laptop, but who do not plan on using their laptop on batteries very often, or who do not intend on playing many games or movies. For the price conscious consumers out there, this system is definitely worth the money. In my humble opinion, you get more than what you pay for, but not by much.

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Before you even think about building your own computer make sure that you go for the best technology possible. This is an important task and you want it to turn out as close to perfect as possible.

building pc,computer

Before you even think about building your own computer make sure that you go for the best technology possible. This is an important task and you want it to turn out as close to perfect as possible. When your PC is complete you want it to have the best hardware available.

One of the biggest benefits of building your own computer is that you can customize it. You know what is most important to you. Maybe you are a graphics user. MP3’s might be the closest thing you have to a best friend. Perhaps you are writing the great American novel and you are mainly interested in text. If you are building your own machine, you can concentrate on what you want but if you’re building it for a third party, you obviously need to consult them first.

Collecting the hardware for your new computer is the most time consuming part of the process. You want to make sure that you get high standard equipment that works well with your needs. Take your time and don’t try to skimp on your hardware. If you don’t heed both of these suggestions, your computer could bite back later.

If you are building your own PC, you probably know that the Motherboard is the most important part of your computer. Everything that you plug into your computer will meet here. Be especially choosy when buying a motherboard. And make sure that there is an instruction manual. Some cheapies will not have one.

Be aware that the Motherboard will control the future of your computer. All upgrades will have to be compatible with your Motherboard. The chipset in the Motherboard deserves careful investigation. What will it support? Find out before you buy. Take your time. There are a ton of chipsets out there.

Pay close attention to how many PCL slots the Mother board has. The more, PLC slots the better because they fill up quickly. How is the board laid out? Check for any problems such as something blocking your long PCI slots.

When selecting a case, be aware of the form factor. You want an ATX form factor because that is what almost all new systems are operating on. Try to go with a screw free form factor because it will be easier to work with. One equipped with fans would be optimal.

Three are three groups of processors; low end, average and high end. The low end processor is okay for simple tasks. Letters, invoices and other noncomplex applications can be performed on a low end processor. If you do choose to go with a low end processor, realize that these are fast becoming outdated.

Average processors are faster and they are just a bit more expensive. For a few extra dollars you will be able to access higher level applications without hassle. This will provide more speed as well satisfying the average computer user.

High end processors are the cream of the crop. They are expensive and usually reserved for those on the high end of the pay scale. You will have high memory and no problem accessing complex CPU programs.

Memory is a vital element of your computer. Spend the money and purchase the best you can afford. If you don’t, more than likely you will need to go out and repurchase a better processor later. Also you will want to make sure you get memory that works with your system.

Get a video card that suits your purposes. If you are a small business owner, go with a cheaper, jack of all trades card. If you are building this computer for home use you might as well reward yourself with some perks. Now don’t go and spend five hundred dollars on a video card that a top financial institution might buy. Purchase a card that provides just slightly more than you need, but not so high end that it cost as much as the rest of your hardware.

You have your mouse and keyboard, right? Get a good hard drive. Buy a new one, opposed to used, to make sure you are getting the best quality.

CD-ROM drivers are cheap. Spend a little extra cash and get a really good one. If you want a more advanced unit, buy a DVD player. A DVD player will play CD-ROM’s and DVD’s. It will serve multiple purposes.

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Many people are interested in making the most of their hardware. So here are 10 simple tips on how to make your Windows computer run faster without having to purchase additional hardware.

10 ways to speed up Windows

Many people are interested in making the most of their hardware. So here are 10 simple tips on how to make your Windows XP computer run faster without having to purchase additional hardware.

1. Defrag Disk to Speed Up Access to Data

One of the factors that slow the performance of the computer is disk fragmentation. When files are fragmented, the computer must search the hard disk when the file is opened to piece it back together. To speed up the response time, you should monthly run Disk Defragmenter, a Windows utility that defrags and consolidates fragmented files for quicker computer response.

* Follow Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter
* Click the drives you want to defrag and click Analyze
* Click Defragment

2. Detect and Repair Disk Errors

Over time, your hard disk develops bad sectors. Bad sectors slow down hard disk performance and sometimes make data writing difficult or even impossible. To detect and repair disk errors, Windows has a built-in tool called the Error Checking utility. It’ll search the hard disk for bad sectors and system errors and repair them for faster performance.

* Follow Start > My Computer
* In My Computer right-click the hard disk you want to scan and click Properties
* Click the Tools tab
* Click Check Now
* Select the Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors check box
* Click Start

3. Disable Indexing Services

Indexing Services is a little application that uses a lot of CPU. By indexing and updating lists of all the files on the computer, it helps you to do a search for something faster as it scans the index list. But if you know where your files are, you can disable this system service. It won’t do any harm to you machine, whether you search often or not very often.

* Go to Start
* Click Settings
* Click Control Panel
* Double-click Add/Remove Programs
* Click the Add/Remove Window Components
* Uncheck the Indexing services
* Click Next

4. Optimize Display Settings

Windows XP is a looker. But it costs you system resources that are used to display all the visual items and effects. Windows looks fine if you disable most of the settings and leave the following:

* Show shadows under menus
* Show shadows under mouse pointer
* Show translucent selection rectangle
* Use drop shadows for icons labels on the desktop
* Use visual styles on windows and buttons

6. Disable Performance Counters

Windows XP has a performance monitor utility which monitors several areas of your PC’s performance. These utilities take up system resources so disabling is a good idea.

* Download and install the Extensible Performance Counter List (http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/techinfo/reskit/tools/existing/exctrlst-o.asp)
* Then select each counter in turn in the ‘Extensible performance counters?window and clear the ‘performance counters enabled?checkbox at the bottom button below

7. Optimize Your Pagefile

You can optimize your pagefile. Setting a fixed size to your pagefile saves the operating system from the need to resize the pagefile.

* Right click on My Computer and select Properties
* Select the Advanced tab
* Under Performance choose the Settings button
* Select the Advanced tab again and under Virtual Memory select Change

* Highlight the drive containing your page file and make the initial Size of the file the same as the Maximum Size of the file.

8. Remove Fonts for Speed

Fonts, especially TrueType fonts, use quite a bit of system resources. For optimal performance, trim your fonts down to just those that you need to use on a daily basis and fonts that applications may require.

* Open Control Panel
* Open Fonts folder
* Move fonts you don’t need to a temporary directory (e.g. C:FONTBKUP?) just in case you need or want to bring a few of them back. The more fonts you uninstall, the more system resources you will gain.

9. Use a Flash Memory to Boost Performance

To improve performance, you need to install additional RAM memory. It’ll let you boot your OS much quicker and run many applications and access data quicker. There is no easiest and more technically elegant way to do it than use eBoostr (http://www.eboostr.com).

eBoostr is a little program that lets you improve a performance of any computer, powered by Windows XP in much the same way as Vista’s ReadyBoost. With eBoostr, if you have a flash drive, such as a USB flash thumb drive or an SD card, you can use it to make your computer run better. Simply plug in a flash drive through a USB socket and Windows XP will use eBoostr to utilize the flash memory to improve performance.

The product shows the best results for frequently used applications and data, which becomes a great feature for people who are using office programs, graphics applications or developer tools. It’ll surely attract a special attention of laptop owners as laptop upgrade is usually more complicated and laptop hard drives are by definition slower than those of desktops.

10. Perform a Boot Defragment

There’s a simple way to speed up XP startup: make your system do a boot defragment, which will put all the boot files next to one another on your hard disk. When boot files are in close proximity to one another, your system will start faster.

On most systems, boot defragment should be enabled by default, but it might not be on yours, or it might have been changed inadvertently. To make sure that boot defragment is enabled:

* Run the Registry Editor
* Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftDfrgBootOptimizeFunction
* Set the Enable string value to Y if it is not already set to Y.
* Exit the Registry
* Reboot

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Are you considering the purchase of your very first PDA? If so, what should you look for? How much should you spend? What features should you get?

Before making the final decision to purchase a PDA, have you thoroughly researched what they can do, and if you really need one or are you just intrigued by having a new gadget like your friends? Let’s start with this question. One of the first and still major uses for a PDA is an appointment book or calendar. If you are current…

PDA

Are you considering the purchase of your very first PDA? If so, what should you look for? How much should you spend? What features should you get?

Before making the final decision to purchase a PDA, have you thoroughly researched what they can do, and if you really need one or are you just intrigued by having a new gadget like your friends? Let’s start with this question. One of the first and still major uses for a PDA is an appointment book or calendar. If you are currently using an appointment book like a Franklin Planner, the PDA can certainly replace this. One advantage of a PDA over an appointment book is that changes don’t require constant erasing and re-writing. A PDA is usually backed up on your PC, so there is always a back-up.

A new PDA does not have to be purchased every year like a Franklin Planner, so in the long run it will be cheaper. This plus the previous mentioned advantages may be enough to make the switch. Of course there are many other features and uses for a PDA besides an appointment book, among which are:

?Address book
?Calculator
?Internet Access
?Notes and document management
?Games
?GPS

Given that you are ready to go forward with the purchase, your choice of a PDA model will depend on what you need it for-what you want it to do. Following are some of the important considerations:

Memory ?If you plan to use your PDA for storing large documents and other reference works, then you’ll need the corresponding amount of memory. Also check to see if the memory can be expanded. You’ll need to consider the other software that you might want to run on your PDA.

Size ?All the features do you no good if you don’t bother to bring the PDA with you due to its bulky size.

Input Options ?If you plan on using the PDA to take notes with, a compact external keyboard is essential. The built in stylus input is designed for small amounts of data only.

Battery Life ?Again, dictated by your specific needs.

Finding the best place to purchase your PDA can be done easily with online shopping portals. Ebay of course always has offers. One thing to consider for a PDA is a buyers protection plan that is offered by many local retailers. Normally these end up costing more than they are worth, but just one drop of your PDA onto a hard surface can destroy it. If you are buying a high end PDA and will be running around with it daily, a buyers protection plan may be worthwhile.

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It is very important to check a used computer thoroughly before buying it as it may lead to problems in the future. This article lists out a few key points that you should keep in mind while buying a used computer.

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It is very important to check a used computer thoroughly before buying it as it may lead to problems in the future. A hard drive will not show any outward signs but may be deteriorating. The same way the needle can suddenly slip and can cause scratches on the disc ultimately leading to memory loss as used computers can fail any time. If they are checked, the faults which may occur can be known. Let us first see the possible faults which may occur while purchasing a used computer.

Hard disk failures can happen due to heavy wear and tear over a period of time. The read and write heads of a hard disk are used to retrieve or recode data stored on the hard disk with the help of a disk platter rotating at a high speed. Over a period of time the risk of failure or malfunction of disk increases. Faulty sectors of the hard disks can be found out only if a full surface scan is done on the used computer. The scanning time depends on the capacity and size of the hard disk of the used computer. Many skip this procedure due to the time consuming process of scanning the whole disk and end up purchasing a used computer with a faulty sector.

Monitors need to be checked for any faults. The malfunctioning of a monitor is called a “dry joint?which results in the monitor not working after getting warmed. This can be checked only if the monitor is made to work for at least 20 to 30 minutes after switching on the computer.

Next is to look for any possibilities of the central processing unit getting freezed. Normally all the central processing units have a fan and heat sink for keeping the unit cool. Over a period of time the fans may not work properly due to the accumulation of dust and dirt resulting in over heating of the central processing unit and even leading to stopping from functioning. While buying a used computer the fan needs to be checked and if any abnormal sound is heard, it is not good for purchase.

The used computer may have a higher possibility of getting crashed and freezed due to the usage of the operating system for a good number of years. There may be a cache or RAM fault due to the over exposure leading to loss of data. To increase the performance of the computer and to avoid crashing, the operating system of the used computer can be reinstalled with a new operating system or a fresh one.

While checking the used computers for any faults, it is good to disconnect the network connection if any present before performing the tests. Also it is advisable to check the drives like the CD or DVD by opening and closing them and also playing something on the drives to see how they work. Monitors of the used computers can be checked for the resolution and brightness by trying different options of color, settings and so on. To check the hard disk size the CMOS setup can be gone through and to verify the speed of the processor, cache and RAM the pause button is pressed when it appears on the screen during the booting process. To check the booting process, the computer can be turned on and off a few times and seen how it responds. Checking should be done to see if all the passwords are erased before purchasing a used computer.