Travel tip from a customer…

A major light bulb went off today when a customer of mine talked about a tech travel tip he had recently received. For better or worse, when many of us travel today, we bring along cell phones, cameras with rechargeable batteries, laptops, MP3 players, portable DVD players and more. These gadgets crave power and usually at the same time! When I travel, I’m usually unplugging lamps, clocks and other devices in the hotel...

Everyone is an expert….

I put gas in my truck every week, but I’m not a car expert. We raised some goats from ‘kids’ to their adulthood, but I’m not a farm or goat expert. It always strikes me as funny when some folks who merely ‘use’ computers think they are computer experts. Today, a client of mine illustrated this point perfectly. He has a widescreen Compaq laptop (not the typical almost square monitor). The...

Tools of the trade

Every profession has its tools. I have found a number of great tools that help get me through the day. If you or someone you know tinkers with computer, here are some of the essential tools. 1. Swiss Army USB flash drive knife – This is a genuine Swiss Army knife with a built in USB flash drive, flashlight, ball point pen, screwdriver (perfect size for computer screws), scissors and knife. 2. External hard drive...

Blood relation does not equal computer expertise

A few years ago, I added two items to my list of common advice that I give. 1. Don’t let your kids fix your computer, no matter how old they are or who they work for. 2. Blood relation does not equal computer expertise. I know that this makes me sound arrogant at times, but my first appointment this morning was a case in point. It was a simple enough job, I was to setup a laptop and get it online. My client didn’t...

Laptop vs. Desktop Computer II

Starting this week and for the next month, millions of students will be returning to school. Some of these students go to college, some to high school and some are adults going back to school part-time or nights. All these students can benefit from a computer. For the mobile lifestyle of students, I recommend getting a laptop. Laptops can not only be toted to class, the library or your home, more and more they can be...

Laptop vs. Desktop Computer

A question that has been popping up more and more lately from computer users looking to buy a new computer is: “Should I buy a laptop computer or desktop computer?” As with most computer shopping questions, the answer is ‘it depends’. In this article, I will point out the pros and cons of each and what type of user would benefit from a laptop. In terms of performance, both laptops and desktops handle...

Flat Panel and Laptop Monitors – Comfortable...

Flat panel monitors (those diminutive, skinny, sexy monitors no thicker than a couple of inches) now come packaged with many new computers. Their price drops over the past year make also them attractive upgrades for existing systems. Flat panel monitors use the same technology as the monitors laptops use..LCD (Liquid Crystal Display). These monitors look great and cause much less stress to our eyeballs, but sometimes the text...