Laptop Bags and Accessories

Why do I need a new iPad Case?

Guest Post — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 12:17:08 +0000

We recently have seen the new iPad in all its glory with a nice Retina Display and good performance because of the A5x chip. Now, if you have put your hands on one of those over 3 million devices Apple has sold, then you will surely want to protect your $500+ gadget. Recent tests have shown that the new iPad is actually more fragile than the second version of this tablet, so having a case is a must. Today we are going to tell you about two cases you can buy, but for more information about why do you need a new iPad 3 cases make sure to check out Daniel’s post on TipsAvenue.

First of all, we have the Apple Smart Cover which is clearly a good option for the new iPad. It comes with the patented triangle-shape which also gives you a stand in the same package. Prices vary on the Smart Cover, ranging around $40 for most models, provided that you buy them online. In Apple stores I’ve found them to be a little more expensive and frankly not worth the extra money. You can go in stores to test them out, especially if you are worrying about the sleep/wake functionality. We can tell you from now: it works!

Second of all, if you don’t like the fact that the Apple Smart Cover offers protection only to the front of the tablet, then you can go for a good alternative: the Case-Mate Textured Tuxedo Case which goes at this moment for about 60 bucks. It’s about double the price, but if you come to think about it it’s double the protection. With a soft interior and though corners, it’s a great protection accessory to have for your device.

Moreover, there are also some cheaper alternatives to the Smart Cover or the Case-Mate. From the top of my head I can recommend you the CrazyOnDigital Leather Cover which is at a jaw-dropping $15 over at Amazon. It has a leather finish and soft microfiber interior, so it will surely be worth the money you spend on it, but don’t expect the leather quality to be that of $100+ cases. Another argument for buying this is the $23 package price for two chargers, a leather cover and a screen protector. Now isn’t that a good deal?!

All in all, having a case to protect your new iPad is not only a good idea, but also a must. Tests have shown that over 30% of iPad accidents could have been avoided by using a case, so it could make the difference between a working and a broken iPad. If you want more information about cases, make sure to check out TipsAvenue where they have more info about it.

Acer Aspire S3 – no matter how you put it, it’s worth the money

Guest Post — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 10:17:06 +0000

Why do we like ultrabooks so much? They are powerful, light, nice looking, and really trendy to have. These are the reasons why you would want one, but there is one big disadvantage to ultrabooks: we’ll have to dig pretty deep in our pockets to get one, because they are rather expensive at this moment. One alternative is to go for a netbooks, but let’s face it that netbooks are not nearly as powerful as ultrabooks. The second alternative is to go searching for an inexpensive device, such as the Acer Aspire S3 we are going to talk about here today.

To start with, the Acer S3 comes at a price of $899, which even if high is by far better than what we see on other devices such as the laptops from HP which have a $1300+ starting price. Unfortunately, this results in some minuses: you don’t have a full aluminum body, and to be honest the glossy screen is also something we should mention here, but let’s dig more into this review for more in-depth information about the S3.

On the top of the Acer Aspire S3 you’ll have a brushed aluminum panel which adds a nice finish to this ultrabooks, even if the underside and the palm rest are made from plastic. From this Acer Aspire S3 review we have found out that the device weighs roughly 2.98 pounds and measures 0.69 inches at its thickest point. It will surely not add a lot of bulk to your backpack, even if it’s not actually comparable to the Asus UX21 for instance which weighs close to 2 pounds.

Opening the lid will reveal the big 13.3-inch panel with a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels that gives the possibility to natively run HD content. The finish on the screen is glossy, which from what we have seen is one of the biggest minuses of this device, but other than that the Acer Aspire S3 is a nice ultrabook. The keyboard is fairly responsive and offers well-spaced keys, even if we are not too fond of the directional keys which are too small.

In terms of performance, you will get an Intel Core i5 CPU clocked at 1.6GHz with 4GB of RAM and integrated Intel HD 3000 graphics. The graphics card is not the most powerful we have found, and this component combination is not suited for gaming, but overall we like the responsiveness of the Acer S3. It’s designed to handle browsing, document editing and even movie processing without a problem, so if you know you will not stress it too hard then it’s perfect for your needs.

To sum up, we think that the Acer S3 is one of the best ultrabooks you can get for under $900. It’s not the only one, with low-cost ultrabooks such as the Novatech nFinity ready to take on the market, but it provides good performance for the buck.

Lenovo Laptops – A Chinese Brand with a Difference

Guest Post — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 04:28:04 +0000

People have always been skeptical about the quality of Chinese products. There are but very few brands that have been able to prove otherwise and Lenovo is one among them. Lenovo Computers has been on the market for quite some time and the company has earned itself a brand recognition that competitors are finding hard to surpass. Lenovo manufactures all kinds of products ranging from low cost laptops (priced under 200 dollars) to high end performance machines costing above 1000 dollars.

The reliability and quality standards set by Lenovo have not come easy. The company has put extensive effort into making a name for themselves with innovative economy products such as the Lenovo laptops under 500 dollars coupled with world class marketing strategies. Lenovo has also been using Mergers and Acquisitions to strengthen their company image and brand value. Lenovo acquired IBM’s personal computer business which put brands such as Idea Pad and Think pad under the Lenovo name. The company also associated with companies such as Medion and NEC (A Japanese Personal Computer manufacturer).

In China, Lenovo holds about one third of the total market share and the company is looking to expand business to both Americana and European markets. Although Lenovo has products such as printers, mobile phones and servers, the company would be looking to expand using their ever popular laptop/netbook products.

Lenovo is the second largest computer hardware manufacturer in the world in terms of volumes. The company is also listed in the Fortune 500 list. It would be very interesting to watch how Lenovo takes on future challenges such as IBM logo going off from Think Pad series products. However, with the company having such a strong presence in world computer market, we can assure that challenges such as these or anything else would be easily dealt with.

My Computer Keeps Freezing – What Can I Do?

Guest Post — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 14:27:04 +0000

This article details a checklist of PC maintenance tasks I run through whenever my computer keeps freezing. They are listed according to priority with the checks for hardware faults coming first.

Before troubleshooting why the computer freezes, backup all your personal data just in case hardware has a fatal fault, as trying to retrieve data after a hard disk crash is costly.

If there are scratching or clicking noises coming from the hard drive then this may indicate the drive has been damaged, so contact a PC technician to examine and make the repairs straightaway. You can also review the CPU temperatures in the BIOS menu to make sure the computer is not overheating. If the temperatures are high then make sure air inlets are clear of dust, the fans are undamaged and the CPU heat sink and fan filters are in good condition.

You can now proceed to check software and operating system files. If my computer keeps freezing after copying/downloading large files to the disk then this can often indicate the hard drive is running out of space for virtual memory. Microsoft recommend keeping 10% of the disk drive empty for this purpose. You can clear out extra space by removing programs you don’t use or transferring larger files to CD or and external storage system.

Next, try checking hard drive for signs of any viruses, malware applications are hardware. These can corrupt the operating system and lead to computer freezes. Update your anti virus software first before running a scan.

Many computer faults relate directly to the Windows registry file being damaged or corrupted and this includes computer hangs/freezes. Install a good quality registry cleaner and scan this critical system file for signs of any faults or damage.

Finally, you may have simply got too many applications running at once so try shutting down some of your background applications or services to free up some much-needed RAM memory.

Features to expect in a Laptop costing around 500 Dollars

Guest Post — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 18:47:06 +0000

So you need Laptop under $ 500 but not sure what features to expect for in it. Lets take a brief look at what to expect and what not to expect for such kind of gadget.

Hard Disk Size

Nowadays in latest Laptops Hard disk sizes are coming in the range of 500 plus GB, but in budget Laptops under 400 dollars, the realistic one should be around 350 GB. Some companies are giving less as well( e.g 250 GB), depending upon the model and market, but still that’s what you’ll get.

Wireless Connectivity

This aspect set is an important one for a Laptop. The available options are WLAN and Bluetooth. Since Bluetooth is not that costly, you can expect it in laptops under 500 or 400 dollars, but WLAN its both the ways. It may or may not depend upon company to company.

USB Ports

Due to its easiness of use and speed, USB connectivity is quite common. A Laptop without any USB port shall not be of much use after all. So chances are pretty high that you shall get at least 2 USB ports in the Laptop that you tend or plan to buy.

High-End Graphics

If you want to play high end graphics such as latest video games and stuff like that, then don’t expect too much. These low end Laptops do not have a GPU or high-end graphics support as such. An average performing graphics is what seems to be realistic.

Latest Technological Advances

Latest and advance techs such as Thunderbolt or FireWire are difficult to find in budget Laptops. Some companies are giving FireWire but as said, they may compromise on other aspect. Thunderbolt is surely no no since it also requires high speed CPU that is missing in most budget Laptops.

Rugged or Robust

You can expect medium level of ruggedness in these devices since it again is a costly affair, which needs lots of testing and strength.

How I Solved My Laptop Sound Problem

Guest Post — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 22:19:07 +0000

Over the years computers laptops and netbook have become a multimedia device and are used to not on plays music but video as well. The sound system in our computers is now an essential part of how it communicates information to you. That is why when the sound stops working on your computer is not just frustrating but essential to get it fixed.

I recently had a laptop which had no sound emanating from it’s tiny laptop speakers. Now I knew it use to work, so had to investigate the cause of the problem.

Firstly I had to play a sound to confirm they weren’t working properly. Now I had a few options for this either by entering a cd into the DVD drive, playing a system sound or playing an MP3 file. I quickly opened iTunes and played a lady gaga album I had previously ripped to my hard drive.

I could see from the sound level bouncing up and down with the beats of “Just Dance” within iTunes, so was confident it was playing some sound it’s just I couldn’t hear it.

The next area I checked was volume control within Windows 7. You can access this from either the control panel or the bottom right notification area by clicking the speaker icon. If there is a red sign on the speaker then this is most likely your problem as the speaker is muted. If you slide the speaker volume to the top then this should unmute the speaker and leave it at maximum volume.

If there is still no sound coming from your speakers then check for an external volume control wheel on the side of the laptop or a mute of volume buttons on the keys. Finally check nothing is plugged into the headphone socket as this usually mutes the speakers.

If after all this you still have no sound then you need to check and update the driver software by going in the control panel, System and device manager. Select the sound card controller and right click to update the software.

This is how I fixed my problem for some reason the sound card driver had got corrupted and by simply updating the driver the speaker sprang into life.

A great website I found to walk you through these steps in more detail is at www.techtumble.com

Stress-Free Travel for the Jetsetting Entrepreneur with Hartmann Luggage

Guest Post — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 09:39:06 +0000

Traveling may be fun for someone who only leaves home to visit exotic places. However, for frequent travelers, like businessmen and entrepreneurs, it is quite a pain. Imagine having your life in a bag that you tow around from place to place. There, you have to bring all your things, important documents, and gadgets. Instead of admiring the scenery and visiting the sights, you also have to keep meeting important people to improve and expand your business. And that’s not all of it. Preparing for the trip can be stressful and very costly.

That is why it is very important for businessmen to have dependable luggage that makes every trip comfortable and stress-free. One brand that you can always rely on is Hartmann luggage. Since 1870, it has been providing a way to bring around your things without the headache. In fact, it has its very own patented Baggage Link System that will help in doing just that. Aside from its aesthetically elegant design, it is also equipped with wheels suitable to any type of terrain.

Having the quality and craftsmanship of a Hartmann Luggage is both a bargain and an investment. It’s a bargain since it’s very durable and can last a lifetime. It is an investment since a luggage like this may not come at a price that an average person can readily afford. However, you can be assured that having an elegant luggage set is absolutely worth it.

Aside from luggage, a jetsetting entrepreneur should also have a dependable laptop case. Because he or she needs to communicate with people from his company, he needs to bring around a laptop as well. It will serve as a means to get connected with his staff to check on his business every once in a while.

Bringing a laptop can be a headache, because it can easily get dropped or mishandled. Because the best laptops are expensive, it should be taken cared of properly. If the laptop falls and needs repairing, the lifeline to your business is cut off and you will have to deal with looking for internet cafes. Laptop cases help in taking the worries of damaging the laptop out of the way. Different styles of laptop cases are available. You can get something that looks like a brief case, purse, or even a backpack.

Traveling can be stressful, but make an effort to make it fun. Take care of your belongings by investing in proper luggage and laptop cases. You’ll be glad you did.

The power of netbooks

Guest Post — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 06:08:06 +0000

“Knowledge is power” is a world renowned quote which still stands tall today but in the world of computing it can be adapted to see the complexity of devices nowadays:”The speed of manipulating knowledge is power”. There has been a strong debate when talking about the most powerful netbooks due to the fact that from a technical point of view many of them are similar in capabilities and features, so decision making often stands at the hand of the client when dealing with these devices.

First of all, we will have to take into consideration the raw computing power of the netbook to make a general estimate from a component-wise point of view. Thus, many of the powerful mini laptops out there base their CPU on the Intel architecture, mainly on the Atom 1.6GHz model. This makes the computing differences between some laptop models insignificant. The speed of the RAM dictates the power of the netbook and here we have big differences. Ranging from 800 MHz to 1066 MHz, the RAM speed affects both the computing speed of the device and the data transfer rates.

Added to this, there is always the discussion which arises from the gaming capabilities of the device. One knows that this range of small computers is not designed for gaming but for the dynamic people out there wouldn’t hurt to know that this option is always under the keyboard if they need it. Many games and mostly the new ones are too complex for the little Atom CPU, even that of the giants of this little industry.

Moreover, movies have also grown impressively in resolution nowadays and sometimes give headaches for even the best of the laptops but this seems to be no problem for a small but really intelligent netbook: the HP Mini 311. As advertised and reviewed on a multitude of websites the image quality is more than reality and with both 720p and 1080p HD video capabilities powered from behind by the Nvidia ION which if included in the specifications of a netbook is a good sign that it is a good mini laptop.

If you would like to save some money on powerful netbooks, try to save some money for big shopping events such as Black Monday 2011. Here you can get a good netbook for under 80% of its usual price, so don’t underestimate Cyber Monday netbook deals because they are here to help you save some money.

All in all, a balance has to be kept between battery life and performance as well as keeping in mind the fact that the most powerful components don’t always interact in the best way so the buyer is being advised to make a decision based on the domain of use for the netbook. If it is being acquired for everyday tasks such as document writing and reading e-mails the extra $200 or more are not such a good investment, but for gaming they are a must.

The Grid 10 Review Roundup

admin — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 10:52:33 +0000

Tablet computing has taken off in the past few years and one of the newest, and hotest tablets on the market is the Grid10 produced by Fusion Garage, a new company based in Singapore, yet several authoritative sources have already written up their Grid 10 review and found that the device is decidely lacking. Although this is a promising new entry into a category in which big names such as Dell, Sony and others have struggled to come up with the definitive iPad killer it doesn’t look as if it is going to be the one. Here’s a roundup of several of the prominent reviews of this new slate computer to help you decide.

The WSJ’s Grid 10 Review

One of the biggest names in technolgy is Walt Mossberg, the Wall Street Journal’s technology guru. In a recent review of the Grid 10, he toyed around with the new device and its radical new software system.

I found the Grid 10 to be a mixed bag, and I can only comfortably recommend it for people who either are looking for a bargain or who enjoy using cutting-edge, but unproven, designs. The Grid software is clever and innovative in many ways, but rough around the edges and hobbled by glitches.

source: Fusion Garage

He seemed to think that its main benefit is its low price (a Wifi Grid 10 with 16 gig of flash memory was marked on sale for $299, compared with the $499 of the equivalent Apple iPad 2. The other innovation is that it uses its own operating system, Grid OS, which runs on top of the Google-designed Android system. This adds a whole bunch of cool new apps and also helps filter out some of the junk that has cluttered the Android App ecosphere.

But Mr Mossberg found that battery life was poor and the system was bit buggy and needed numerous software fixes. He also thought the browser was slow and that the camera wasn’t great.

In summary he concludes that:

The Grid 10 is packed with interesting design ideas and is priced attractively. But it needs work, and anyone buying it is betting it’ll get better.

Engadget’s Grid 10 Review

Engadget, a tech blog, has a great in depth review that is filled with pictures and detailed descriptionsl. You can find it here, and I highly recommend you take a look. I summarize the main points below, but one of the things they really liked is the Grid OS, which gives each icon its own little box, and a screen that scrolls like the map in a role playing game.

The key points that they liked in it are:

a high resolution display for a 10 inch tablet
the Grid OS file mangement

What they didn’t like

battery performance
poor viewing angles
slow processing speed

In short, they don’t go out of their way to recommend it either:

If you’re going to go out of your way to bypass an established option like Honeycomb and do your own thing, your own thing had better be damned good. The Grid10 isn’t even pretty good. It’s borderline pretty bad. Software performance is sluggish, battery life is atrocious and we’re left with a device that simply fails to beat the best of the Android tablets — never mind the rest.

The PC Advisor review

Britain’s PC advisor has also written up a Grid 10 review and theirs was a bit more positive, especially on the price, which will be £259 in the UK when it launches on October 24th.

Fusion Garage is clearly expecting big things of the Grid-10. This is its second tablet. The first, the JooJoo Internet Tablet, had some clever touchscreen navigation ideas, but they weren’t sufficiently well implemented, especially by comparison with the Apple iPad, which launched soon after.

A Tribute to Steve Jobs: Rest in Peace

admin — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 10:19:11 +0000

This is just a quick and heartfealt tribute to Steve Jobs, who did more to change the way we use technology than almost anyone else alive.

He not only radically transformed computing, mobile phones and other gadgets, he also changed our expectations of what could be achieved and why we should not settle for anything less than perfect.

He was an inspiration to many, me included, and it was with real sadness that I read about his passing this morning. The world will be a poorer and less interesting place without him. I also wish his family and colleagues well in this difficult time.

Steve Jobs: Who changed the world for the better Photo:Apple.com