I had the honour of going to a client’s house to do some work on their website.  As you all know my laptop is a little old (about three years old) and I was demonstrating to the client how to upload their photos to their stock photography agency website. Needless to say, though my battery meter said I had over an hour remaining, my laptop battery decided to die.

Thinking about it, I had just read an article about laptop batteries and their expected lives. According to research a laptop battery should be good for about three hundred charges or so and you can expect the maximum battery life to decrease by 1 % per month. So in my case, I should expect only about 64% of the original charge (or roughly an hour or so).

Checking out the battery calibration utility, we can see that my 4400 mAh battery only has 2935 mAh capacity. Breaking out the trusty calculator, that leaves me at 66.7% of the original capacity.

Anyways, if I had just looked at the battery configuration utility, I would have known what to expect. We will look at battery calibration in a later article.
 

In my line of work, I get alot of questions on how to clean the LCD screen on their new laptop.  Unfortunately, most people either don’t know what to do or they do the wrong thing.

The most cost effective way to clean your screen is to use a damp cloth and then using a dry cloth to dry the screen off.  Be sure to be careful that you do not apply too much pressure to the screen as it may damage it.

There are also LCD cleaners available on the market.  These also work very well and they come either in a can (usually some type of foam) or they come in a package of wipes.  You can pick these up for about $5 and up at any computer store.

One last word of warning:  never use any amonia based cleaner on your LCD screen.  Not only will it not clean the screen very well, but will damage the screen in the process.

For those of you with Windows Vista, there is a new technique that can boost your battery life by up to twenty minutes.  You may have heard of ReadyBoost which uses either a USB flash drive or memory card to supplement your PCs memory.  Test have shown that you can get an increase of up to twenty minutes of battery life by taking advantage of ReadyBoost - it keeps your machine from having to use the harddrive and therefore saves battery life.  Try it out!

If you are like me, you are using a “slightly” older notebook, in my case it is three years old.  I just recently purchased a Samsung 20″ LCD monitor that I wanted to hook up my laptop to for when I am working at home.  I hooked the notebook up to the display, installed the drivers and to my dismay, the notebook would not show the optimum resolution for my monitor. 

So, I went online looking for new drivers for my video card (in my case it is an ATI 345M IGP).  To my dismay, I was unable to find any official drivers for the card, so I was forced to look for non-traditional options.  I found two places where I could get custom drivers and I had the opportunity to try them out.

The first drivers I tried were the Omega drivers from Omegadrivers.net.  The install went fine and I tried them out for a few days.  I was impressed by the number of resolution options I was given - more than you may need, but basically you could hook up any monitor, projector, or tv to the laptop and the resolution that you would need was available.  Also, fo ryou gamers, you can install an overclocking utility to get the most out of your video card.  My only complaint is that sometimes you could see that the notebook was visually having problems displaying the correct resolution (at 1400 x 1050).  It was at this point I decided that I would try the other site I came accross.

I came across another website DriverHaeven.net.  What they offered is a mod tool that would modify the regular desktop drivers so that they would work with my notebook.  Installation was a breeze: I just had to download the most recent Catalyst drivers and then run the mod tool.  The advantage of this method was that you can use the regular catalyst control panel provided by ATI.  Aslo, I find that the drivers do a better job showing the resolution on my external monitor.

An upgrade to your video card driver will allow you to work better with bigger resolutions (for example with an external monitor) and may let you play some newer games.  On the other hand, even with a driver update, if your machine is a little older, you will still be limited by the hardware that is in your notebook.  So what I would suggest is try it out - if it doesn’t work to your likeing, you can always reinstall your original video card driver that came with your notebook.

Computers are changing rapidly into new pc equipments of different sizes and kinds especially laptop pc. Electronics companies like Sony even opted to share business with computer manufacturing with sophisticated technology and made state of the art Sony laptops. Third world countries are being provided with refurbished laptops for their computer users. Handy laptops become an easy prey of thieves. Now laptop companies provide their clients with stolen laptop guide. Customers must understand the laptop guideline uses for their easy and convenient handling of their laptops.

I know Windows Vista is not exactly news (it came out eleven days ago if you didn’t notice), but I did come across something that is.? It is an opportunity for you to test drive Windows Vista to try out some of the new features and get a feel for the “new” (insert some sarcasm here) interface.? You can test drive it at:

http://vistatestdrive.com

For some of us (like me), it will be the only way for me to try it until I get a new laptop.? Mine doesn’t quite meet the system requirements.? Sigh.? Guess I will have to start convincing the wife…. what a great valentines day present!

Marc

In most cases when you are buying a laptop online (either new or used), chances are that you will get the notebook shipped to you.

Usually it is shipped in a box with bubble wrap or those foam wormies or some combination thereof.  Now, when you pay for your shipping, you have the option to insure it.  I would definitely suggest it.

Let me tell you a story about the value of insuring a laptop purchased online:

A few years ago, I bought a laptop online on ebay. At this time it was my second laptop that I bought on there and I was confident that I would get what I paid for it. The total cost for the notebook and some accessories including shipping and insurance was $1250. I waited patiently until the package arrived to try out my new baby.

When the packaged was delivered, I madly opened it. Plugging the laptop in and turning it on, there was a problem. A big problem. The screen, which according to the auction ad was good, was visibly damaged. Damaged to the point where I could see it. Do you think I was happy with my damaged $1200 investment No. I made a quick call to the shipping company complaining that my package arrived damaged.

They had to send someone out to verify that my package was indeed damaged as well as verify that it was packaged appropriately. After a couple of weeks of corresponding back and forth between the shipping company and the person I bought the laptop from, eventually I received a cheque for $1200.

Had I not used the insurance, I would have had a broken laptop. So make sure, if you do buy online, purchase shipping insurance. You won’t regret it.

Have you ever wished that you could bring more than one computer on your trip?  Maybe you use windows to do your work, but on your downtime you like playing a game that only works in windows 98.   Maybe you still even use DOS from time to time, but it doesn’t make sense to install it on your laptop.  How about that website you are working on, wouldn’t it be handy to bring along a linux server so that you don’t have to depend on having an internet connection?   I have the solution for you, and you should try it.

I don’t know if you’ve heard about virtualization software, but there have been numerous articles in papers and on websites lately.  It is not a new invention (I have been using it since 2002 - and it has been around before that!), but it allows you to better use your computers resources by “splitting” it into a number of virtual machines that behave just like an actual computer - but don’t require a wall outlet.  This technology can allow you to bring along as many computers as you’d like - depending on the speed of your processor, the amount of RAM you have and the hard drive space you have.  Check this screenshot as an example:

This not only saves you power, but gives you the versatility of the different operating systems at your fingertips.  Also, for testing purposes, it is safer, because the virtual machine is a closed system, therefore, you don’t screw up your own computer.

I would suggest giving virtualization a try - it has worked very well for me over the years (and saved me money on power), and it is now available for free.  The products available to try are:

1.  Microsoft Virtual PC

This product comes in two flavours: one for the Mac and one for Windows.  They are currently in the beta testing stages for the 2007 version which you can try out for free.  This product is the one I use and I have been very happy with it.

2.  VMWare Server

A very good offering.  They have this free version, and paid versions up to enterprise level virtualization.  Very highly recommended.

3.  Parallels Workstation

I just recently read alot of reviews on this product and it seems that it is good.  I haven’t taken much time to try it out but it seems ok.  The catch is there is only a paid version.

I can get eight virtual machines on 2 GB of RAM.  That would make nine computers (eight virtual and one real) that can fit in a laptop bag - let me know how it works out for you!

Recently, I decided I wanted to upgrade the RAM (random access memory) in my laptop.  Digging out my manual, I found that I could install up to 1.0 GB of RAM in the laptop.  So, I went to the store and purchased two 512 Mb sticks of PC3200 DDR RAM SoDimms for my laptop.

Returning home, I installed the RAM in the bottom of the computer.  Make sure you read your manual to find out where to put the RAM and how to install it.  Once I had installed the RAM, I went to start the computer.

Nothing happened…..

Checking to make sure I installed it properly, nothing happened again.  I made a quick call to the computer store where I purchased the memory, and after talking to them, they let me know that you need to have the exact speed of RAM that is matched to your motherboard.  So, in my case, the new PC3200 RAM was not the same as my old PC2100 RAM.  Arggh!  So, make sure that you keep this in mind when upgrading the RAM on your laptop:

Make sure that your new RAM matches the speed of the current RAM in your laptop when upgrading.

I will let you know how the RAM upgrade went (with the right RAM) in a later entry.  Just make sure to learn from my mistakes. 

When people go out to buy a laptop, most retailers and online shops will offer extended warranty.  Some of these extended warranties include repair and replacement for owner negligence such as dropping the laptop on the floor, leaving it in the cold, and other careless acts that damage the laptop.  They are a good option if the cost of replacing the notebook is “a lot of money” to you.  Just a word of warning though - read the fine print.

It is very important that you read the details of your extended warranty - some are better than others.  Also, some have clauses or limitations on what they cover, and some have limitations on the number of claims you can make before the warranty is void.

If you get the extended warranty from the manufacturer of your notebook, what usually do is extend the base warranty - that is they will repair the notebook due to hardware failure in the time that you purchased the warranty.  Also, this type of warranty adds to your existing warranty, so if you were to purchase two years extended warranty from the manufacturer, your total warranty would be three years if the base warranty covered the laptop for a year.

Retailers on the other hand offer different types of extended warranties: some increase your coverage on the manufacturers warranty (replacement instead of repair), some extend the base warranty (similar to the manufacturers extended warranty), and some offer full replacement for the term that you purchase.  Make very sure to read how the warranty you purchase works, also the terms in which the warranty applies.  I know that one local retailer in my home town (which is a large national chain here in Canada) tries to get you to purchase extended warranty on any computer they sell.  The catch with their extended warranty is this:  it is a one time replacement.  The worst part is that if your one time is for example used on day 15 that you own the laptop and it breaks again : too bad for you.

So, make sure you take the time to see what you are getting into by buying extended warranty on your notebook or laptop: it may save you from a nasty surprise later on.

Recently, I was on the Canadian Dell website customizing a laptop.  This particular notebook I wanted to get 2 GB of RAM.  Just as I was going to check out I noticed that the RAM was only 533 MHz but the front side bus (FSB) of the processor was 667 MHz.  Finding that there was no option, I went on the live help and asked one of the Dell sales people if I could get the better RAM as an option.  The response they gave me is the following:

“Sorry sir, but the motherboard does not support the faster RAM and it is not an option.”

Now you might ask what would that mean to me, right   Well, by not putting the right speed RAM with the right processor, what has been created is a bottleneck.  A bottleneck is a place on the computer that slows down, or hinders the machine from working at its fastest possible speed.  Think of this analogy:

“You go to a motorcycle dealer and they sell you a motorcycle with four wheel drive.  When you take the motorcycle home and try to use it, you realize that you can’t: the motorcycle only has two wheels.”

Needless to say I didn’t buy the laptop because it ended up that it wasn’t a very good deal.  Just do yourself a favor and make sure to check that the RAM speed is the right one for your CPU.