Jan
28

Laptop or Desktop Which is the Right Computer for You

Posted by Della Comments Off

These days, a computer is more than a luxury. It has become a household necessity. Where television and radio once served as the primary resources for news and entertainment, computers with Internet access are fast taking the number one spot on the list of top communication devices. They are vital to communities large and small, a must for every family.

That said, it goes without saying that no one computer can satisfy the needs of every family. When planning to purchase a computer system, one should consider a number of factors before handing over a credit card to a sales clerk. What do you need the computer to do? How fast does it need to run? What peripherals do you need in order for it to work to satisfy you?

Moreover, are you better off with a laptop computer, or a desktop system?

It may not seem like a decision worth consideration, but the fact is: how your computer system comes packaged can determine its usefulness for you and your family. As with buying a car, a television set, or any large appliance, you want to be sure the computer you purchase is the right one. Your computer must have the capabilities and memory to suit your needs, it is a purchase you should never regret making.

Before you make a decision, take note of a few lifestyle factors and determine from there what you need to buy to serve you and your family in the best way possible.

Home Life

Do you work from home? Do you have children who might benefit from using a computer for learning? Do you prefer to do your banking and other financial transactions online? Does your job or class load require you to create documents or presentations? Would you rely upon a computer heavily for entertainment? Does your household need a great amount of organization and filing?

Work Life

Do you travel often for your job? Are you able to afford an Internet connection for your home? Are you required to have documents and presentations handy at short notice? Do you find you would use a computer more for work than for leisure?

For families in which everybody would benefit from a computer, a desktop system may be the right decision. A desktop arrangement can offer a large monitor, whether traditional or flat screen, so all ages can see graphics and documents clearly. All of your household finances and files, genealogical information, and educational games may be stored within for simple access. A strong Internet connection, too, provides convenience for young students doing research.

For people married to work, a laptop may be a good investment. If you travel often for work, a laptop’s portability is its greatest asset. Take all of your work documents and presentations with you and distribute through the Internet as needed. Take advantage of cafes and public areas with free wireless access and do your job anywhere. Special messaging software with voice functions also allow you to use your laptop as a phone, so you are always in touch.

Usability, convenience, and luxury are three factors involved in your decision to buy a computer. Price may ultimately be the tiebreaker, but always remember to take every aspect of work and play into consideration before making a purchase.

About the Author
Kathryn Lively writes for The Computer Connection affordable computer financing for military and government personnel.

Article source:
Laptop or Desktop Which is the Right Computer for You

Categories: laptop computers
Jan
25

Tips For Going Wireless With Your Own Notebook Computer

Posted by Della Comments Off

In this article we are going to look at the basics of a wireless router. How they work and what you can do to make sure it stays that way. If you have a recent model notebook computer you probably have wireless technology built into it. If not you can get a wireless card to install into your notebook to work in conjunction with your wireless router.

Once you are wireless you will know the joy of picking up your computer and walking anywhere around your house with it. Depending on your signal strength you may even be able to hang out on your patio.

Newer notebooks are Wi-Fi ready. It already has the wireless hardware and software built into your computer. Several people in your family may be wireless as well. It is a beautiful thing to see everyone hang out in the family room with their notebooks all able to work or play online at the same time.

You will always be able to connect using the Wi-Fi network at work or steal bandwidth from someone else. There are hotspots everywhere you go including your own neighborhood. You are better off setting up your system in a secure way to avoid your neighbor’s doing this to you and then you do not do it to them either.

If you are not wireless yet you will need a few things to convert your home network into a wireless network.

1. You need a Broadband connection using a Cable or DSL modem. You can not have a wireless network if you are on Dial-Up connection
2. A router to broadcast the wireless signal
3. A wireless computer

To set up your wireless network turn off the power to your computers and your Broadband modem. Your computer will communicate with your router automatically when you start it up enabling you to get on the network without any confusion. The router and your notebook should not need any further configuration. The default settings should work.

Your Internet connection should be present. The Modem will have two connections. One for the Cable or DSL modem and one for your computer.

Take the Ethernet cable that is connecting your computer to the Modem. Reconnect it to your wireless router in the WAN connector. If all the cables are correctly placed, you should now be able to get on the Internet from your existing computers and your wireless computers.

A wireless router allows you to communicate to the Internet. A wireless computer communicates to the router. When the two are working in harmony you have a great system that allows you flexibility to enjoy your notebook whenever and wherever you want.

About the Author
Steve Lee invites you to visit his routers website for the best articles, tips, and information on routers.For all of your router needs and answers to your questions you can learn more here: http://www.routersguide.com

Article source:
Tips For Going Wireless With Your Own Notebook Computer

Categories: laptop computers
Jan
25

How to find the best laptop buy for you

Posted by Della Comments Off

Now that the holidays are over, it’s an excellent time to go shopping for that new laptop. Most retailers didn’t enjoy a booming sales season, so now is when you’re apt to find the best prices. The problem for most of us is being able to discern just what we need, in terms of memory, disc space, features and the built-in applications we’ll actually use. Now, there’s also a tendency for manufacturers to include trial versions of some of the most used applications, such as malware, virus and spyware protection, as well as the big-name word processors – which incidentally carry a hefty price tag which you must pay after the trial period expires. (Unless you pay, the software becomes basically read-only.) If you’re not yourself a geek and worse, don’t know one, how are you to determine which machine constitutes the best laptop buy? Here we’ve got some guidance to help you get the best value for your purchase.

First, you’ll want to get online and do a little comparison shopping between websites. Most online electronic shops show the most expensive and feature packed units on page one of the results. However, they also usually have a ’sort’ button, somewhere at the top right hand section of the page, which gives you a number of choices in the way you’d like your list sorted. For example, by price, high-to-low or low-to-high, by manufacturer and so on. You may find your best laptop buy on page one – then again, the super deal, at the perfect price and with just the applications you’re looking for, may be way back on page 5. Start saving the web pages (in a separate directory on your hard disk), which look like the qualifying best laptop buys, in terms of price and features. This way, you can go through each and compare descriptions and prices at your leisure.

When you do start reviewing these pages, make notes of features you’re not familiar with, or aren’t even sure you’d use. List the manufacturer, price and model number, along with the descriptor you’re puzzling over. You may find that you end up with several potential best laptop buys – once you’ve defined exactly what those strange features in your notes mean!

Take your list to one of the big local electronic stores and ask to speak to a staff person who can answer your questions on a few different laptops. This approach gives you an advantage, in that the sales person is going to skip the hard sell, assuming you know what you’re talking about, as well as perceiving the whiff of a sale coming his or her way. Go from machine to machine and get all your questions answered. If a particular salesperson can’t answer your questions, ask for someone who can.

If the online shop which stocks your final choice of the best laptop buy offers free shipping at a certain price ceiling, then you’ll want to ask the local shop if they can match the online shop’s price. You can be assured they’ll certainly try!

Once you clearly understand all of the features on your question list and have decided which manufacturer and model best meets your needs, you’re ready to buy. Your best laptop buy is the one with the features you’ll need and the best price.

Categories: laptop computers
Jan
24

Dell Laptop - Dell Vostro V13 Slim and Sleek Business Laptop

Posted by Della Comments Off

Dell Vostro V13 Features:

  • Intel Low Voltage processor
  • Option of 2GB or 4GB of DDR3 Memory
  • Thin as 0.65 inches
  • Weight: 3.5 pounds
  • Brushed-aluminum casing
  • Reinforced zinc hinges
  • Low voltage Intel processor
  • Full-sized keyboard
  • 13.3″ display
  • Optional FDE (full-data-encrypted) hard drives
  • Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit
  • Integrated Webcam
  • Integrated Microphone

The super-slim and sleek Dell Vostro V13 ultra-portable laptop is a new offering from Dell. This 13.3″ Vostro V13 laptop comes with either a single-core or dual core Intel ULV processor. How good the performance for the V13 is dependent on your processor choice. Also with the decreased size of this laptop Dell only put one DDR3 DIMM slot for memory, thought you should know if you were planning on upgrading memory yourself. Another thing you should know is that the Vostro V13 comes with integrated graphics and no HDMI connectivity.

If you compare the price to what you actually get it’s not that bad of a deal. If your just looking for a ultra-portable under $800 then this is a good choice. Other possible choices you have are the HP Pavilion DM3, Lenovo ThinkPad Edge and Acer Apsire Timeline.

Pros:

  • Good looking brushed aluminum case
  • Low price the most expensive starting price is $649
  • Super-slim and lightweight; 0.65″ thin, 3.5 pounds
  • Good sized Memory and Hard drive space
  • Windows 7 Home Premium
  • Options for Linux for an operating system on the cheaper models
  • eSATA port great for using with an external hard drive; 1.5GBps transfer rate (that’s fast)

Cons:

  • Limited connectivity ports: (2)USB, (1)VGA and no HDMI port
  • Not so extra-ordinary battery life; 4.75 hours
  • You have to spend a little extra to get a dual core CULV processor

Check out my blog on Laptop news here at http://laptop-updates.blogspot.com/ and also check out my Laptop reviews at my website http://laptop-computer-planet.com/

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/laptops-articles/dell-laptop-dell-vostro-v13-slim-and-sleek-business-laptop-1771958.html

Categories: laptop computers
Jan
23

DvD Drive Can not Write to Writable Discs (Windows 98, ME, XP)

Posted by Della Comments Off

I got hp dv6000 laptop, problem is it is not writing dvd’s.. My dvd drive has stopped reading and writing dvds though it is reading cds. I have tried to uninstall and reboot several times. it’s out of warranty now. is there any way to correct it.

answer:

Use the steps in this document to troubleshoot problems that can occur while trying to burn discs with a recordable CD or DVD drive. Start at Step 1, do not skip to other sections until Step 1 has been completed.

Step 1: Identifying the drive in Device Manager

Use the following steps to determine if the drive is being properly recognized by Windows and to find important information about your drive:

1.In Windows XP, click Start , and right-click My Computer .
In Windows 98 and Me, right-click My Computer .

2.In Windows 98 and Me, select Properties , and click the Device Manager tab.

In Windows XP, select Properties , click the Hardware tab, and then click the Device Manager button.

3.Click the plus sign (+ ) next to DVD/CD-ROM Drives (or similar) category.

Figure 1: Drive device name in Device Manager


4.If the CD or DVD drive is not showing up in Device Manager, close Device Manager and use the support document CD or DVD Drive is not Detected .

If the name of a CD or DVD drive is listed but is listed as “CD-ROM”, skip to Step 4 to set the drive as a recordable drive.

If the name of a CD or DVD drive is listed, write down the name of the drive and continue to step 2.

NOTE: If the drive name contains an error (a yellow triangle or a question mark), double-click the drive name to read the error message. You can then use this information to search for more troubleshooting information in the event the rest of these steps do not help.

Step 2: Ensuring your system is compatible with the CD/DVD media

Read and understand each of the following items before attempting to troubleshoot further:

*You cannot burn DVDs with the Windows XP disc burning process. At the time of this writing Windows XP only supports CD burning, not DVD burning. To burn DVDs in Windows XP you must use separate software – such as RecordNow or Creator Basic. Please continue using this document if you are having problems burning DVDs with special software.

26.99 USD –HP Mini-2133 USB CDRW Black 24X

* Make sure your drive is actually capable of burning to the type of media that you want to use. For example, a combination DVD/CDRW drive cannot burn DVDs. Eject the drive door and look at the front of the drive to view all the various formats that the drive is capable of using.

*If the drive is having problems burning discs that you know are compatible with the drive, either the disc is bad or the drive’s firmware may be able to be updated. Updating the drive’s firmware may make the drive compatible with more brands of discs. Updating the drive’s firmware does not enable the drive to burn a new type of disc. For example, you cannot update the firmware of a CD or DVD Drive so that it can burn to DVD+R or Dual-Layer discs.

If you want to update your drive’s firmware or you are still not sure if the drive supports the disc you want to burn, please refer to the support document Identifying the Preinstalled CD or DVD Drive .

*If your drive is not burning or recognizing any discs, use quality CD-R discs for testing purposes as CD-R is highly compatible.

*Dual-Layer discs can only be burned by DL compatible drives. To check, open the drive door and look for a “DL” printed on the front of the drive.

*Blu-ray discs can only be burned by BD compatible drives and requires special software to burn. To check, open the drive door and look for a “BD” printed on the front of the drive.

After checking each of these items, continue to Step 3.

Step 3: Decreasing the burn speed

If the drive is not recognizing the disc at all, skip to Step 4. Decrease the CD writer’s burn speed by half to increase the likelihood of a successful burn. Decreasing the burn speed is a quick, easy way of increasing successful disc burning sessions, at the expense of taking more time to create a disc. The following steps are for Windows XP only. For Windows 98 and Me, decrease the write speed from within the software that you are using to write discs (RecordNow, Easy CD Creator)

1.Click Start , and then My Computer .

2.Right-click the drive icon, and select Properties .

3.Select the Recording tab and reduce the Current Write Speed by half (for example, from 16x to 8x).

4.Click OK and close the My Computer window.

Try burning a CD. If the drive fails to create the CD, go to the next step.

Step 4: Setting up disc recording in Windows XP

If the computer does not have Windows XP, skip to Step 6.
If you are using Windows XP, use the following steps to ensure that native burning is enabled:

1.Place a blank disc into the drive.

NOTE: If the error is not accessible. Incorrect function. ” opens, close it and continue using these steps to correct this problem.

2.Click Start , and then My Computer .

3.Right-click the writable drive icon, and select Properties .

4.If a Recording tab is shown, select the Recording tab, select Enable CD recording on this drive , and then click OK . Try burning a disc again. Continue to the next Step if you are unable to burn a disc.
If a recording tab is not shown, continue using these steps.

Figure 2: Enable CD recording on this drive


5.Look for a Recording tab:

If the Recording tab is not shown, Windows XP has not detected the drive as a recordable device. Use the following sub steps to enable the Recording tab:

1.Click the following Microsoft Fix it Solution to clean the registry filters automatically:

If you cannot use the Microsoft Fix it Solution, continue using these steps to clear the upper and lower registry filters manually.

2.Click Start , Run , and type regedit in the Open field.

3.Backup the registry: Select My Computer from the list, click File , Export , type a name that you will remember, and click Save .

4.Click OK , and browse to the following registry key: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerCD BurningDrives

5.Click the Volume key that matches the CD or DVD Drive that is capable of writing discs. If only one drive is installed, one volume key is listed. If you have more than one drive, examine the data values (by double-clicking them in the right pane) to find the correct drive.

6.With the volume key selected in the left pane, double-click the Drive Type value in the right-pane.

Figure 3: Drive Type registry value (CDRW)


7.Type the number 1 in the Value Data field if the drive is capable of recording to CDRW discs (including CD-R discs). Type a 2 if the drive cannot write to CDRW discs but can burn CD-R discs.

NOTE: A value of 3 indicates that the drive is only capable of reading discs. Changing this value to a 1 or 2 enables Windows to view the drive as a recordable drive.

8.Click OK , and close Registry Editor.

9.Repeat the steps in this section, starting with step “b”.
NOTE: For more information about enabling the Drive Recording tab, please refer to Microsoft support article 316529 CD Drive or CD-RW drive is not recognized as a recordable device (in English).

Step 5: Resetting the drive in Windows

Use the following steps to replace the drive settings in Windows.

1.Remove the drive from Device Manager :

1.Open Device Manager and select the CD Drive name.

2.Click the Uninstall or Remove button (in Windows XP this is the square button with a red X).

3.Click Yes or OK to remove the CD listing. Do not restart the computer.

4.Close Device Manager .

5.If your computer has Windows XP or 2000, go to the next step without restarting the computer .

If your computer has Windows 98 or Me, restart the computer, wait until all “New Hardware” messages have resolved, and then try burning a disc. If problems persist, skip to Step 6 .

2.Clear the registry filters (for Windows XP only):

1.Click Start , Run , and type the following into the Open field: regedit

2.Click OK . The registry editor appears.

3.In Windows XP, click File , Export , type a filename that is easy for you to remember, and click Save .
A copy of the registry has been saved for back-up purposes. You can double-click the export file to restore the registry in the event of a problem.

4.Click the plus sign (+ ) next to the following items in the listed order:

* HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
* SYSTEM
* CurrentControlSet (or the current control set with lowest number if that is all that is listed)
* Control
* Class

Figure 4: Delete: LowerFilters value


5.Select 4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318 .

6.Select UpperFilter in the right window and press the Delete key.
Confirm the deletion by clicking Yes .

7.Select LowerFilters in the right window and press the Delete key.
Confirm the deletion by clicking Yes .

8.Close the registry editor, restart the computer , and wait until Windows configures the necessary drivers for new hardware.

9.After Windows is done configuring the new hardware, uninstall all CD writing software (RecordNow, EZ CD Creator) using add/remove programs.

CAUTION: Make sure you understand how to install your burning software before uninstalling it. HP disc burning software can be reinstalled through the application recovery process.

10. After all CD writing software has been removed, restart the computer and then reinstall the CD writing software using the HP or Compaq application recovery software or by using Compaq’s quick restore.

11.Try burning a disc. If you still cannot create a disc, go to the next step.

Step 6: Using Microsoft System Restore

If the computer still cannot write to the disc, use System Restore to go back to a time when the drive was recognized by Windows. This step is only for Windows Me and XP. If you do not know how to restore Windows, use the Support document ” Using Microsoft’s System Restore Feature .”

When done, try burning a disc again to see if it works. If it works, you are done. If it does not, go to the next step.

Step 7: Using HP System Recovery

If the computer still cannot write to the disc, recover the computer. If you do not know how to recover the computer, use one of the following documents:

*Pavilion: Running a System Recovery in Windows 98 and Me

*HP and Compaq Desktop PCs: Performing a System Recovery in Windows XP

* If the Presario computer came with quick restore discs, insert the first disc into the top CDRW Drive or DVD drive, restart the computer, and follow the onscreen instructions.

When done, try burning a disc again to see if it works. If it works, you are done. If it does not, go to the next step.

Step 8: Determining if the drive hardware is bad

If the computer still cannot write to the disc, open PC Doctor to gather more information and respond accordingly (not on Presario units manufactured before 2000).

1.Click Start , Run , and type the following into the Open field: pcdrw32

2.Click OK and wait for the PC Doctor window to appear.

3.Open the appropriate CD/DVD-ROM test from the list of tests (as in the column to the left of the first menu).

4.If an error code is reported, the computer may need to be serviced. Run the test again to confirm the error code. Use the following support document if you need more information: Using PC Doctor

5.If, after you have tried all these steps, the drive still cannot write to recordable discs, the drive is probably bad and should be replaced.

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Categories: laptop computers