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Do you have an old laptop which you feel is in need of an upgrade, or a tune up? Well, the possibilities for upgrading an existing laptop are quite limitless. From Bluetooth to wireless adapters, and additional RAM to a new hard drive – these are all stuff you can do to improve your existing laptop. In this article we will look at 5 laptop upgrades you can easily do yourself, without bringing the machine to the manufacturer. Sounds good? Read on and find out more …
Upgrade 1: More RAM Ok, laptop upgrade Number One is to increase the RAM on your laptop. Now, dollar for dollar, increasing your system’s RAM is most value for money upgrade you can perform. If your Windows Vista is chugging along with a lot of hard disk swapping and slowing down terribly, pump in another 2 GB of RAM and watch what happens. You’ll be amazed at the speed improvement. Head to Crucial.com to check out some good laptop RAM deals.
Upgrade 2: A New Hard Drive Another favorite improve selection is the laptop tough drive. I used to have a miserable 60 GB tough drive in one of my aged laptops. And I can say you in this daytime of enormous videos and MP3 music, 60 GB is NOT enough. Do yourself a favor and improve that tough drive to something like 160 GB. The other option is to get an external tough drive (say a 320 GB monster) and then you can forget about running out of tough drive space.
Upgrade 3: Bluetooth Connectivity Bluetooth technology is incorporated in some laptops but not others. For laptops without in-built Bluetooth, you can buy a USB dongle with Bluetooth ability from any fine computer shop. This normally comes with some software which allows you to instal Bluetooth ability into your laptop. Very necessary for those you like to synch their Bluetooth enabled mobile phones to the laptop.
Upgrade 4: A Laptop Stand Ok, this is not precisely an upgrade, but I find laptop stands increasing favorite with the mobile computing crowd. Laptop stands are fine for your posture, and some of them also allow your laptop to cool better. It’s surely a fine ‘upgrade’ to assume about whether you leave your laptop at home a lot. Just plonk the laptop stand on the desk and you’ll be capable to enjoy better computing posture really soon.
Upgrade 5: An Extra Battery If you’re on the road a lot, you should truly assume about buying an additional battery for your laptop. In particular, whether your laptop runs out of battery juice quickly, a second battery is nearly a must. I bought an additional battery for my ThinkPad X61 and I can sit at a cafe typing away for 8 solid hours, without requiring a recharge.
Conclusion Well, now you know about 5 laptop upgrades you can easily perform yourself. The next time you feel your laptop needs a bit of a tune up, look to the above list and see what components you can upgrade. Sometimes a small upgrade (especially additional RAM) will do wonders for your laptop and overall computing experience. By the way, if you’re interested in learning more about the ins and outs of laptops, you may want to check out my laptop guide. Click here to download it.

Whether it’s Conflickr or a new fake anti-spyware program, it seems like spyware and viruses are inescapable for any computer connected to the Net. It’s estimated that the amount spent annually on security software in the United States has risen to over $800 million in recent years, but computers are still getting infected daily. Why aren’t we virus free yet?

The answer lies in the character of malicious programming. Computer viruses don’t spring up out of nowhere, they’re designed by programmers who either have nothing better to do and think it will be fascinating, or pros who earn cash by abusing your PC. Whenever anti-virus companies are made aware of a new virus, they create a new definition for their anti-virus software to help isolate and remove that virus if it is downloaded onto your PC. Once the new definition is widespread enough that a serious proportion of PCs are safe against that virus, a newer one is made by the malicious programmers and the cycle starts again. Almost 2000 new viruses were identified every day in 2007, and the issue isn’t going away soon. This is the reason why you need to allow your anti-virus software to download new virus definitions so often.

Annoyed hackers bored with the rapid turnover of “regular” viruses have graduated to attacking your PC’s defences directly: your anti-virus software. Many new viruses include programming that either hides itself specifically from many popular anti-virus programs, forestalls them from downloading new virus definitions, or shuts them down entirely. Even if these new viruses are identified quickly, many PCs will already be infected and the software on the machines will not be able to remove the virus. In circumstances where one virus shuts down the anti-virus software totally, other viruses will often infect the machine and can render it inoperable in a few hours if not minutes. Still other nasty viruses employ tricks to avoid removal methodologies, and will re-infect a machine after an anti-virus program or a user tries to delete them.

The war against computer viruses is non stop, but you can do something to help protect your system. Installing a good anti-virus program and permitting it to update often is just step 1, but beware of fake anti-virus programs you’ll find online (many of these are viruses themselves). The fake anti-virus programs normally go by the names : Antivirus 2010 Pro, Windows Pro Police, System Guard 2009, Personal Antivirus, Antispyware XP 2009, and plenty more. You can see a pattern in how they name themselves. Never download anything from a person or website you don’t trust, never open a suspicious email (you don’t always have to open the attachments to get infected), and don’t go to websites with a poor reputation. If you take these steps and your personal computer still gets infected, have a trained professional remove the virus for you instead of trying to remove it yourself. Modern viruses can be terribly difficult to isolate and remove, and it’s very easy to break your system accidentally while attempting to remove one.

What to Look For in a Computer

The good news is that PC prices have dropped a lot over the past few years, and the computing power you get for your money is going up! I don’t recommend used computers for people, because the rate of change of computer technology will render most systems obsolete within three years. If you’re a computer novice, wondering what kind of computer, monitor, hard drive, memory, and operating system to get… here’s some advice to get you rolling.

Windows or Mac?

You may have friends, relatives or neighbors trying to pull you into the “Windows vs. Mac” wars. In my opinion, the choice of operating system really doesn’t make much difference. From a beginner’s perspective, each has point & click interfaces that are pretty easy to use. Both will take you to the same Internet, and enable you to send and receive email. Both offer word processing, and the documents they create are interchangeable. Because Windows-based computers make up 90% of the market, they are cheaper. It’s the law of supply and demand in operation. And in some areas, it may be hard to find technical or repair support for Apple Macintosh computers. So if you’re budget-minded, and you don’t have any friends willing to help you with Mac issues, I suggest you go with a Windows-based PC.

A good entry-level computer with monitor can be purchased for under $400, and sometimes you even get a printer in the deal. So what should a newbie look for in terms of speed, monitor, memory and hard drive specs? It doesn’t have to be all that confusing…

What about Horsepower?

The CPU (central processing unit, or “processor” for short) is the brain of your computer. In general, the faster the better. Processor speeds are measured in gigahertz (GHz) and as of this writing, the fastest models available operate at about 4 GHz. Entry-level machines start at about 1.5 GHz and are more than adequate for web surfing, email and word processing. If you see a computer with a processor that has a speed specified in megahertz (MHz), steer clear — these are older models.

The Memory

The next decision you have to make is how much RAM memory you need. Don’t confuse RAM with hard drive (file storage) space. RAM is the temporary working memory that your computer uses to perform calculations and manipulate files. When you open a document, it is copied from the hard drive into RAM. As you and your word processor work on the file, the modified copy exists only in RAM. When you save the file, it is copied from RAM back to the hard drive, or permanent storage. And as with CPU power, the more RAM you have, the better your computer will perform. I recommend you have a minimum 512 megabytes (MB) of RAM, but with 1 gigabyte (1024 MB) you’ll notice better performance.

The Hard Drive

The hard drive is your permanent file storage. All of your personal files, such as word processor documents, photos, music, and emails are stored here, in addition to software packages and the operating system. Most new PC’s come with a hard drive that’s 40 gigabytes (GB) or larger. I recommend you start with a hard drive of 80 GB, but consider doubling that if you plan to keep lots of photos, music or videos on your computer.

Go For a Large Monitor

Here’s the formula: Larger Monitor = Less Eyestrain and Less Scrolling. I recommend a 17-inch monitor, or even a 19-inch if you don’t mind spending a bit more. Don’t worry about brand names here, they’re all pretty much the same. Stay away from 14 or 15-inch monitors, they’re just too small to be practical.

What About Software?

Most of the software you need will come pre-installed on your new PC. Windows comes with Internet Explorer (for web browsing) and Outlook Express (for email). Many PC systems include a word processor, such as Microsoft Word, WordPerfect, or OpenOffice. If your computer doesn’t come with any of these, I suggest you purchase Microsoft Works, which will give you MS Word, a spreadsheet similar to MS Excel, and other useful programs.

Look for a computer that comes with anti-virus software pre-installed. If yours doesn’t come with any anti-virus package, check with your Internet service provider to see if they offer anything for free. Failing that, you can download the free AVG package.

Dave Burton

www.discount-notebooks.net