Accessories for Your Laptop
With how much laptops cost, you should be treating it as a personal treasure. You should be maximizing resources to make it the best. Included specifications of a laptop upon purchase is not enough. And besides, you need to protect your laptop. Some helpful and basic accessories to be purchased are:
1. Laptop bag - one of needed accessories since you’ll be bringing your laptop on places. Need to have a comfortable, padded (for protection), and does have pockets to put in other accessories. There are cool laptop bags designed to suit your style.
2. Extra battery - optional but would be recommended. One of the major problems of laptop users is battery life. Especially when these batteries have been used for a long time, batter life span turns to be somewhat unreliable. So battery backups is a good idea.
3. External drives - some laptops, especially those that have been purchased long before won’t have the latest disk drives. You may be needing external hard drives for storage purposes, or an external DVD writer to burn files.
4. Mouse and Keyboards - for gamers, a mouse would be needed since using touchpad is hard to use. And use of a mouse would be easier since it is easier to navigate. An external keyboard would not really be needed, but maybe, a keyboard of numpad keys would be helpful especially for accounting persons.
There are a lot of other accessories that could make your laptop even better. Some are needed, some are optional. Just browse computer stores, you would be finding external fans, laptop cleaners, etc. You’ve purchased a lot for your laptop, why not spend a few more to make it better.
S-video Output port: Use your TV as Display
Have you ever tried using a Television as a display screen for your laptop? Most users purchase laptops for portability, meaning, they go for smaller sizes and lightweight, resulting to small LCD display. Why need a large LCD display that would result to heavier weight, if you could use a LCD, projector, and a TV as its display? Connecting your laptop to a TV is possible because of the S-Video output port.
You could watch saved movies from your laptop in a TV screen, meaning, small LCD size won’t prevent you from enjoying an entertainment experience. Turn your laptop into a portable DVD player. A plus is, you could enjoy browsing pictures in that huge TV screen. Instead of using DVDs or CDs, store more movies in your harddisk drive space.
Is External HardDisk Useful for Laptops?
Is external hard disk drives useful for laptop computers? My first thought about it is you bought a laptop for portability, so isn’t an additional hardware a hassle to bring with it? Yes maybe it is, but why do we need external an hard drive in the first place?
Since laptop is not that easy to upgrade in the first place, expanding a laptop’s internal hard drive should have been planned before purchasing a laptop. So what can we do if we need more storage space? The use of an external hard drive is the easiest option. You don’t need to bring you laptop in a service center to change your current hard drive.
Laptop is mainly used to bring your needed files where ever you go. But you don’t need all the files especially pictures and movies that you have already watched everywhere you go. And external hard drives are the best options for backups. A bonus is, you may also bring it anywhere you want.
HP Pavillion tx1000z series
One of the best ultra-portable notebooks created by Hewlett Packard is the HP Pavillion tx1000z. It is lightweight and can be carried anywhere you want, in work or for any destinations where you would want to watch DVD movies from your notebook PC. With its integrated touch screen (optional) and its design where the LCD can be rotated of upto 180-degrees, one highligth of the tx1000 is it can be converted into a tablet PC in an instant.
Besides its cool design, it is built with powerful specifications. Designed primarily for Windows Vista, the tx1000z is powered with AMD Turion 64 x2 dual-core processors. It has a built-in 1GB DDR that can be expanded of upto 2GB DDR. Save more entertainment or work files in its hard disk of upto 200GB storage space.
This notebook also includes fingerprint sensor for better security. And for better communication, it has a built-in webcam and mic plus an Altec Lansing speakers. Be connected with its 802.11b/g wireless LAN or using its bluetooth, LAN card, or modem.
I would say that this is the best one I’ve browsed so far, considering the over all features (design and specifications). Of course there are lot more powerful laptops with better specifications.
Best Buy…Notebook or Desktop?
As written in my previous article, a personal computer is somewhat a necessity for most of us especially in the IT industry but there is always a dilema on deciding if he will be buying a traditional desktop computer or a portable notebook. I’ve read an article stating pros and cons of each side.
“If the main purpose of buying a computer is for occasional use, regardless if it is for work or entertainment activities, one may consider buying a traditional desktop computer taking in consideration that its price is usually lower than the portable version.
If the main reason for the purchasing of a computer is portability, then in this case the notebook will be the right choice.”
A more detailed discussion could be read at their website. It still depends on the main purpose why you are buying a personal computer. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, either would be helpful. You may just need to consider practicality and quality.
My Own Notebook PC
After a long wait, and long time of browsing different models of notebook computers, I was able to choose and purchase one, the HP Pavillion tx1105au. I’ve been searching for models considering my primary purpose for buying one. Since I would be bringing it to work everyday, I chose portability over specifications. But it didn’t mean that I won’t be looking for powerful notebook computer. Of course I would still consider those specifications, but my primary factor was would it be easy to bring anywhere I go.
So far so good. Satisfied with what I’ve got. Being convertible to a table pc is a plus. I can watch DVD movies when the notebook is in table form. And what can I say, I greatly recommend this notebook model. With its cool design and powerful features, the price is very reasonable.
Fingerprint Scanner: Hard to Use
My laptop, HP TX1105au, has a built-in finger print scanner which comes as an added feature for your security. I have previously written an article about fingerprint scanner, and it does gives an added security for your computer in addition to setting passwords.
The thing is, some fingerprint scanner, like the one installed in my laptop are too sensitive. I need to swipe my finger a couple of times for it to be recognized as a valid log in. You need the right stroke, the right weight of pressing, and the right speed of swiping your finger.
As a tip, always try to maintain your fingerprint scanner clean so dirt won’t be a factor in making scanned image blur.
Is Vista Right for Laptops?
New laptops are specifically designed for Windows Vista. The features that it possess and functionalities of certain hardware parts works with drivers for Windows Vista. But is Vista really a good choice of OS (Operating System) for laptops?
For me, I don’t see any problem in using Vista as my OS as the specifications of my laptop minimizes the effect of high resource consumption of this operating system. This is the main point you would hear arguements on using Windows Vista, with all the animations on its user interface. It eats up a lot of computer resources, memories, CPU usage, etc. So the only problem I see is that using Windows Vista could eat up battery life.
You won’t have a problem if you’re using your laptop with available electronic sockets where you could plug your adaptor anytime. But for usage on the road, it might eat up battery life. As a work around, I try to use the classic theme of Windows when using battery mode.
Work at Home…
Most of us would say that never bring your home at work. But for some instances, especially for busy seasons, this is inevitable. Moreover, especially for IT persons such as programmers, some ideas would just pop out on your mind even if you’re doing something else other than work. And being out of the office would avoid you to apply the idea immediately since your computer and files are at the office.
This is where a laptop would be helpful for you. It may not be a necessity, but would make your life so much easier, but of course, it would depend on your nature of work. As for my personal experience, acquiring a laptop was such a great help for my work. Even at the office, I’m using my laptop as my main computer so all the files I’m working at are saved in it. So even when I’m home, I do have all my files with me where I can review every documents I need so I could prepare for the meeting the next morning. No need of spending overtimes at the office. You may be at home spending time with your family, and may just take a look at your files in your laptop.
Added Security: FingerPrint Reader
Want to have more security for your own personal belongings? Especially gadgets containing important personal data or critical company data. There is a feature that is just right for you. Some notebook computer manufacturers now integrate Fingerprint reader into these devices. A more efficient way to secure your computer than the use of passwords, which are now easily hacked by the way.
With the use of fingerprint readers, you can prevent unauthorized access from other users trying to get data from your computer. No two persons have the same fingerprint, so if they want to access your computer, they need to get your finger first. Ouch!
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