What to Look for in a Good Laptop

Laptop computers are becoming more and more popular these days as the computer of choice. This is not only true among business people but also among college students, travellers, and young people in general. In many ways, the thinking is, why be weighted down by a clunky desktop when I can have a laptop and take my computer wherever I go?

Laptops were originally designed for, and used by, business people. They gave people the ability to walk around with their electronic files and to easily make presentations away from their offices. Laptops are still used for business purposes, however many non-business people use them as well.

Students use laptops increasingly. They bring them to lectures and study sessions and many non-students and non-business people use them as their main, standard computer. Laptops are convenient to carry around and they take up little space, and fold up nicely.

When you are buying a laptop, you should check all of the usual specifications such as processor speed, RAM and memory. If your laptop will be your main, personal computer, then you will need it to be just as quick as a desktop pc. If not, you will get very frustrated very fast.

There are certain things that pose a challenge for manufacturers of laptops. Some companies have mastered these challenges and others have not yet. So be sure to check that the laptop you are buying is lightweight. Modern, slimline components mean that laptops don’t have to weigh a ton anymore. Check that the power adaptor is small and not large and clunky. Check that the working life of the battery is at a minimum two hours – you will appreciate this every time you have to work off the battery.

If you already have your eye on a particular laptop, do your homework. Go online and find some reviews written by everyday consumers like yourself. The durability of your laptop is of key importance. Laptops are more subject to wear and tear than desktops, mostly due to the fact that they are moved and carried around more. It is a good idea to also check the warranty and perhaps get some extra coverage if it is available in the store where you purchase it.

Lastly, be sure that you like your laptop screen. You will be looking at it for a long time. There are a variety of screens that are popular these days. The clarity of laptop screens gets better and better with every passing year which makes laptops a great tool also for watching DVDs and not just for serious work.

Geeks2U can always help with your laptop problems and our excellent technicians are always ready to help. You can contact us on 1300 443 572 to book a technician in your home or office.

What Kind of Computer is Good for Gaming?

I am not sure whether you have any gamers in your family or among your close group of friends. Gamers are unique. They spend huge amounts of time trying to reach the highest levels of the games they play. Their free-time is booked up and spent on gaming. Those that don’t play computer games can only look and wonder why? What is the fascination?

Gamers love what they do and they really put their computers through a pounding. They run their computers to the max because the games they play usually use high resolution graphics, sound effects and lots of memory. When it comes to buying a computer for gaming, a lot of gamers prefer to either build their own computer or have one built specifically for them. Building your own computer is the least expensive way of doing things and it is the most customisable because you can make your computer into whatever you want it to be.

Your average computer is not made with gaming in mind but rather for the average, every day computer user. You can use a regular computer for gaming however you probably would not be satisfied for long because your games would most likely max out your computer system resources. To use a computer for gaming you may need some enhanced components. Definitely you will need to invest in an above average graphics card. Your graphics card will affect the way that images, colours and the scenes in your game will display on the monitor.

The main components that your computer will need for gaming are: an excellent graphics card, a good sound card, speakers (preferably with a sub woofer) and also a good monitor. If you want to upgrade a computer that you currently own, you will at least want to turn things up a notch with an upgraded sound card and graphics card. You can easily buy and add a new graphics and sound card to the computer set up that you already have.

If you are one of those people that doesn’t like to get into the nitty-gritty technical stuff, you probably prefer to be pointed to a particular computer brand rather than have to understand computer specifications and memory requirements. If this is you, then be on the lookout for Alienware computers. Alienware is one of the most popular brands for gaming. They do great desktops and laptop computers. Gaming computers cost considerably more than your every day computer. Still, if you are heavily into gaming, the cost will be well worth the hours of entertainment you will get from gaming on a computer you love.

Geeks2U can always help with your PC upgrades and our excellent technicians are always ready to help. You can contact us on 1300 443 572 to book a technician in your home or office.

What is World of Warcraft and Why is it so Popular?

World of War Craft (WoW) is an online role-playing game. Everything that happens there is virtual and takes place in a virtual world. Players subscribe to WoW in order to participate in the game. They do this through the World of War Craft web site (www.worldofwarcraft.com). Once signed up, players create a profile for themselves. From that moment on, they begin their existence in the War Craft Universe.

World of War Craft falls under a gaming category called, ‘massively multi player online role-playing game’ (MMORPG). In this particular game, players take on a character that represents them though the use of an avatar; a small cartoon-like image that represents the person playing. Thousands of people, in all areas of the world, play this game at the same time, each person’s character interacting with the characters of the other players. World of War Craft is extremely popular and said to be highly addictive!

Those that play World of War Craft say that it is very easy to be drawn into this alternate universe. Those that are close to those that play World of War Craft cannot understand how even adults can become so completely obsessed with a computer game. Still I don’t want to give the impression that obsession is all that WoW is about. The game provides challenges for players as they calculate moves, figure out how to survive in the WoW universe and work their way to the highest levels of the game. World of War Craft has a big social element to it. Players are in conversation with each other constantly through chat messengers, as they work their way through the game. They become familiar with each other’s characters through playing the game together on a daily basis.

Up to twelve thousand people have been known to play World of War Craft all at the same time. The game is mentioned in the Guinness Book of Records for this feat. Games like this do provide people with a form of escape. After a hard day at work, some people want to play a video game and de-stress. The fact is, many people find it easier to socialise in the virtual world where their physical flaws, real or imagined, are not on display.

Few players make their way to the highest levels of the game and when they do, it is often with the help of others pointing out hidden ways to prolong their virtual life or cheat articles that lay out the game and all of its secrets.

LCD Monitor Reviews

These days, most computer users will choose an LCD when they are shopping for monitors. LCD monitors offer excellent image quality and they hardly take up any space. For those of you that previously worked with old-style, computer monitors that were bigger than your kitchen TV, this is a sigh of relief! You can expect to pay quite a bit when purchasing an LCD monitor but once you have it up and running in your home, you will forget the dent it made in your wallet!
Below are reviews of some of the popular brands in LCD monitors.

Samsung
Samsung monitors come with a hefty price tag. Their prices tend to be in the upper ranges of comparable monitors by other brands. When it comes down to it though, Samsung do great LCD monitors. If you are a gamer or do a lot of graphics work, you will be very happy with a Samsung monitor as they provide excellent picture clarity. Samsung monitors usually come with speakers built in to the monitor itself. This is not an option I prefer however for many consumers it offers convenience.

Dell
Dell monitors are very popular among computer users. In its upper ranges, Dell offers its UltraSharp line of LCD monitors. These monitors offer great image quality and come in average and larger than average sizes. Dell monitors usually give users a lot of flexibility by building in a wide range of ports into their monitors. This gives users the option of attaching external videos, computer games and other peripherals to the monitor. Some users have complained that the base of some Dell monitors are unstable. Be sure to check this is not the case with your model before you leave the store.

HP
HP LCD monitors are not rated among the best in LCD monitors but they are still a good option for the every day computer user. HP LCDs do offer a crystal clear image in most cases however they seem to struggle with clarity when movies are being played on them. The design of HP monitors are attractive and eye-catching. HP LCDs are fine as a first time LCD screen but if you use your computer for movie watching or gaming, then you may want to look for something else. Do leave room, however, for HP to improve on this in coming years.

Acer
Acer monitors are great functionally. They deliver a crystal clear picture, they are lightweight and they are practical. Whether you like your monitor to come with speakers is a matter of personal preference. Personally, I like my speakers separate from the monitor so on this point, Acer monitors get a ‘thumbs up’ from me. There are some design issues with some Acer models. Users have complained that the stand for the monitor only allows for backward and forward tilt but not swivel. This poses somewhat of a limitation. Acer monitors can be found for a great price but this does not mean they are cheap. Acer gives you great value for money.

If you are having porblems with you LCD or computer in general Geeks2U can always help. Our excellent technicians are always ready to help. You can contact us on 1300 443 572 to book a technician in your home or office.

How to tell if you have Spyware/Trojans/Virus

The Internet is revolutionary and it has, and will continue to, change our lives in ways that we have not and could not have imagined. Although the Internet brings great opportunities and conveniences into our lives, there are some negatives that have developed alongside the positives. I am sure you have heard of viruses. I doubt that there are many Internet users that have not been attacked by a computer virus at some point or another. Viruses are the plague of computer and Internet users and so are Spyware and Trojan horses.

You may have heard less, though, about Spyware and Trojan horses. Spyware is software (a computer program) that is created to spy on computer users through the things that they do while they are on their computers. Some Spyware programs are designed to record every letter/word that is typed, some silently watch the web sites that are visited. Other Spyware programs have the ability to take control of your computer, change your settings, redirect your browser and basically wreak havoc on the user experience.

Trojan horses are programs that can potentially access all of the files on your computer. They do not stop there. They are usually programmed to send your files to another computer (usually a computer specified by the programmer of the Trojan horse). Without software to detect Trojan horses, there is no way for you to know when you have one and when one is operating on your computer.

Spyware and Trojan horses get onto your computer in the same way that computer viruses do. This can be through infected files that have been downloaded to your computer, infected flash drives and sometimes through visiting web sites that are infected with them. Often the writers of this malicious software will break into a web site and install the program there to catch web site visitors unaware.

To detect and remove Spyware and Trojans, you not only need a good antivirus program, you need a software that specifically sniffs out Spyware and Trojans, as well as viruses. The makers of strong antivirus software spend their time investigating new viruses, Spyware and Trojan horses and then writing programs that will counter what the writers of malicious software (malware) intended.

For continued protection against malware you must have a strong antivirus installed on your computer. You must keep your subscriptions up to date and run updates regularly. Updates link to your antivirus maker’s web site and provide you with protection against any new malware they have discovered. A good firewall is equally important. Firewalls guard against unauthorized access to your computer and prevent your personal files from being sent to writers of malware.

The Advancement in Home PC

Here is a good question. Ask yourself how long was the time gap between when you first heard about computers and when you first started using them. Your answer to this question, can potentially tell you a lot about yourself. In fact, sociologists say this information identifies where you fall between five categories on adopting new technology.

There are some people that just enthuse about every new gadget that comes on the market. They are always the first to have the newest, next best thing and they spend hours talking about what makes it work and how it was done. Yes, these are known as Geeks! Sociologists call them ‘Early Adopters’.

It has been quite a while now that the personal PC has been out and also some time since Windows software was developed, which made PCs easier to use and more accessible. PCs are now, without a doubt, an everyday household and workplace item. This was not always the case. There is a sociological theory called ‘Moore’s Theory’ aka the ‘Technology Adoption Lifecycle’ that basically states that when new products and ideas come into being, there are trends in way in which human beings adopt them. Some jump at new technology, others wait a while and a few slowly drag their feet resisting change all the way.

Geoffrey Moore wrote a marketing book called, Crossing the Chasm where he attempted to teach technology innovators and marketers how to narrow the gap between early adopters and the majority of people that wait and look before leaping. Conquering this chasm would reduce the gap between people that quickly adopt new technology and those that take time to adopt a new idea. This obviously has financial benefits for technology companies but it can also be good for us if the idea is beneficial.

I think that as all of us get older, we tend to shun anything that requires us to do things in a new way. In the case of PCs, many adults were somewhat ‘forced’ to begin using them because their jobs adopted their use. And even then, they only learned what they ‘had to’ do and nothing else. Many young people on the other hand grew naturally into PCs because they were accessible in their schools. For example, the 5 year old daughter of one of my friends had typing as a course during her first year of school. This is an extreme case yet it proves my point. She will never have any problem using computers.

Latest Internet Trends

Social Networking continues to blow up in popularity. These sites just get more and more popular. One web site however stands out from the crowd and that is Facebook. ‘Are you on Facebook?’ Seems to be a question that is asked as frequently as, what is your name or where are you from? If you have ever used Facebook and all of its resources, it is very easy to understand why. You can literally catalogue your life on Facebook. And depending on how much of an exhibitionist you are, you can share almost every aspect of your life with the whole world!

Instant messaging has been around as long as the Internet. An Instant message sent on ARPANET was the first proof of concept for the Internet. MSN messenger is definitely the Instant Messenger application of choice. Almost every Internet user has an MSN messenger account. This program grew significantly in popularity when they opened it up to be used by people even if they did not have a Hotmail email account. MSN now allows a connection to a user’s MSN Space through Instant Messenger as well as Internet phone calls however MSN remains to be

Gaming and computer games in general have been popular for some time. Early computer games were very rustic and primitive, and with graphics that were no more than a circle or a square blob. Advances in PC and Internet technology allow gamers to play computer games together, online. These games can be played between a few individuals or between a very large group of people.

Internet telephony comes in many forms and is offered by many different companies however Skype is the ultimate in Internet telephony. Skype.com set the pace a few years back and challenged every other form of communication in existence while doing so. Skype offers free phone calls computer-to-computer and very low cast calling from Skype to traditional phone numbers.

Auction sites are still popular. Ebay is the recognizable name in auctioning sites although there are many other sites that are popular that specialize in a particular product or service. Job and trade auctioning web sites are growing increasingly popular these days. These are web sites where business owners list projects so that contractors can bid to work on them.

Basic Photo Management

The introduction of digital cameras and digital photos has allowed us the freedom to take photographs with complete freedom. We do not have to worry anymore about the cost of developing a roll of film or printing copies of photos for family members. The only limitation these days is perhaps storage for all of those photos.

If you haven’t found a good method of managing your photos, you may find that you have a problem finding the great photos that you have taken. There is nothing more frustrating than knowing you have a great photo but not knowing where that photo is. This can happen with hard copy printed photos but it can also happen with digital photos on your computer.

It is important to have some type of filing system for storing your photos. The system that works wonders for me is to store photos in folders according to the event at which they were taken. So, all of the photos from an event will go in to the same folder. I will then label that folder by date (yyyymmdd) and then with the name of the event, for example, ‘20081225Christmas’, or something similar.

There are a few editing tasks that most digital camera users find they need to do on a regular basis. Often, they want to adjust the lighting in a photo. Either the photo is too dark or too light. Another issue is, knowing how to crop photos. Have you ever taken a beautiful photo of someone only to look at it later and find there was someone in the background pulling an ugly face or making some type of symbol with their hands? This is the type of thing you would want to crop out. Also, you will often have photos that need to be turned 90 degrees so that they are right way up.

All photo editing software functions slightly different to another. Usually, when you buy a digital camera you are offered some type of free software that allows you to edit your photos. It is important to read through the basic instructions that come with this software to learn how to do the three basic editing tasks listed above. If you did not receive editing software with your camera, your computer usually has at least one program installed upon purchase that offers basic photo editing. With PCs running Windows software, Paint is that program. If you don’t already know how to do these tasks, check out the Help section in Paint (or other programs) to learn how to use these great features.

Data Management Tips

Your personal computer contains a large amount of your personal information. Files held on your computer are called data in ‘techie’ talk and they are more important than you might think. Often when I talk to people, they speak about their computer files as though they are not important. They are not worried at all about getting viruses or about others accessing their personal data because they feel they have nothing important stored on their computer. I think the reality is that we quickly forget what we actually have stored on our computers.

Everyone uses their computer in a different way and at different rates. Some people are on their computer 24/7; they are online, working, doing homework or just socializing. Through doing these simple-sounding tasks, stacks and stacks of data is created and held on your computer. Work files are created, records of instant message conversations, bank passwords and more. My advice is to place a lot of value on the data stored on your computer.

The amount that you use your computer should determine how often you choose to back up your computer. Backing up your computer can serve two purposes. It can simply save your information in another location in case your computer is stolen or comes to some type of harm and files are irretrievable. Creating back up files can also be beneficial if you are running low on storage memory and you need to place files in a different location to make room for new data.

If you don’t use your computer very often, then you could potentially back up your computer every six months or even once a year. If you use your computer for work or school then it is wise to back up your computer often. I recommend that the average user back up their files every three months at minimum. Higher than average users should do back ups more often because they have more to lose should anything happen.

Backed up files can be placed wherever you want. If you have a back up drive with huge amounts of storage memory then you can place your files there. Alternatively, you can record files on a CD or DVD and file them for later retrieval. When doing this, I often make two copies of the data since CDs and DVDs are susceptible to scratches and damage.

Celebrity Geeks

The Internet age has brought us a huge crop of “Celebrity Geeks” – “techies” that have acquired celebrity status. More often than not, they gain celebrity status through success and achievement in an area of technology.

Bill Gates

Of course, no celebrity geek article can be written without mentioning Bill Gates.
I feel confident in saying that Bill Gates through his Windows software completely changed the world! There are not many people that will die with such an accolade beside their name. Windows technology put the use of personal computers in the hands of the every day person for the first time in history. Not only was Gates able to make computers easier for the every day person, he was strategic enough in his thinking to be able to get this accomplishment into their hands. Bill Gates has always been very generous when it comes to charitable donations. These days he is semi-retired and focuses his energies on his charitable organization.

Jeff Bezos

Who could ever have anticipated that an online book store could be so successful? Sometimes it’s not so much about selling the right product as it is about getting the selling of the product right. Amazon.com was able to offer the most convenience, with the fastest delivery and the lowest prices to those that chose to buy from their web site. They completely left the competition in the dust. The rest as they say is history!

Mark Zuckerberg

Mark was a college student when he started Facebook. Facebook was always popular but there were certain decisions made along the way that served to sky-rocket both the popularity and the widespread use of the web site. Originally, it was a web site only for Harvard students, then Ivy League students, then any college student could sign up and so it went on. When Facebook was opened up to any user, it sky-rocketed to success. More recently, Facebook began to be offered in languages other than English. This too, boosted the popularity and the prevalence of Facebook users. The thing that makes this web site popular is that it is easy to use, it is light and quick to surf and it is free of bugs. With Facebook, literally all of your friends worldwide can be found in one place.

The great thing about today’s technology is that everyone has access to it. Who will be the next big thing in technology, who knows? Pair a great idea with good business sense and it could be you… only time will tell.

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