Laptop Maintenance

Tips for Maintaining the Laptop or Notebook

taken from zenexpress.com

Laptops are expensive gadgets made for mobility. Generally, they are not very tough, and are not known to take too well to being mishandled. If you do end up messing your laptop, even the smallest of repairs will set you back by thousands of rupees. Read on to learn how to care for your laptop. We have also included some important pointers you need to stick to before, during and after using your laptop.


Clean It Right

Since your laptop is such an expensive gadget (falling prices notwithstanding), be extremely careful while cleaning the screen. Make sure the cloth is very soft, and has no imprints or monograms on it, as these may scratch the screen. Also ensure that the cloth is lint-free, else it will leave fibres on the screen, and make the display unclear. Make sure you don't spray any cleaner directly on the screen. Instead, spray onto the cleaning cloth, and allow the cloth to capture the dirt and contaminants.

Choosing The Spray

The screen is the most expensive component of your laptop. Adequate care must be taken while choosing the cleaning spray. Harsh sprays could turn the screen yellow, and may even cause cracking. Use plain water or vinegar to clean the screen.

Placing The Laptop

Hard drives work on the property of magnetic flux, so any electrical field may damage the hard disk and the data on it. Make sure your laptop is at least 13 cm away from any electrical appliance that generates a strong magnetic field-such as a microwave oven.

Give It A Breather

If you have just shut down your laptop, give it 30 seconds before you start it up again. This ensures that the hard drive has spun down, and is not subjected to sudden switching on and off.

Data Backup

Always back up your data. Laptops are mobile devices, and are susceptible to breakage. Also, it's possible that the hard disk simply crashes. Remember, you can never back up too frequently.

Laptop Battery Care

The bane of most laptop users is the lack of a really long battery life. There are three main types of laptop batteries:

* Nickel-Cadmium (Ni-Cd)
* Nickel Metal Hydride (Ni-MH)
* Lithium Ion (Li-ion).

Nickel-Cadmium

This type of battery must be fully discharged and then fully recharged every few weeks. If you don’t do this, it will quickly lose battery life due to what is known as the `memory effect'.

The memory effect means if you don't follow the above procedure, your battery will only charge up to the percentage of the last charge. For instance, if you discharge it to 30 per cent, it will only charge up the remaining 70 per cent. Do this repeatedly, and the 30 per cent will become unusable, giving you an effective 70 percent charge even though the indicator will still show a 100 per cent charge each time you charge it.

Nickel Metal Hydride

Ni-MH batteries are similar to Ni-Cd batteries, although they are less susceptible to the memory effect. They also have a higher capacity.

Lithium Ion

These are the latest type of batteries, and have no real problems as far as the memory effect is concerned. The problem with these is that they lose their effectiveness if overcharged or ­left for a long time with a full charge. Always discharge these batteries if you're going to be storing them away.

Keep Your Battery Healthy

* Before the first use, charge the batteries for 12 hours or the minimum charge time, as mentioned in the manual.
* For daily use, charge the battery to capacity, then run the laptop on battery power until it is completely drained (for Ni-Cd or Ni-MH batteries, this prevents the memory effect) or almost drained. (For Li-ion batteries, this can help prevent overcharging).
* Don't leave your battery unused for long periods of time. Even if you use AC power most of the time, use the battery regularly to keep it in good condition. Switch off your AC adapter when the laptop is not in use. This prevents overcharging.

To extend battery life, you can try decreasing the LCD brightness while using your notebook. You can activate the `Standby' and `Hibernation' power­saving modes, too, for better battery life.

Battery Storage

* If you do not use your laptop for extended periods of time-a week or more ­remove the battery pack from the laptop, but only after discharging it fully.
* The batteries should be stored in a cool dry place, removed from heat, humidity and dust as well as metal objects.

Use A Laptop Case

It is advisable to spend a couple of thousand rupees and get a sturdy carry-case for your laptop.The case should ideally be hard from the outside and soft on the inside, while being a comfortable fit. It should be able to absorb shocks and carry your laptop accessories.

Keep Eatables Away

Obviously, no eating and drink­ing near or around your laptop. The least bit of water could short-circuit some sensitive laptop circuits, and render it useless.

No Hard Booting

You may sometimes be tempted to turn your laptop off by simply holding down the power button until it powers down. Although quick, this method is harmful to the laptop and could cause data loss.A hard reboot should only be used as a last resort. Sometimes this is inevitable, for instance, when Windows hangs. But this should not be a regular practice.

General Tips

* Shortcuts To Success

Create shortcuts to your most commonly used applica­tions, folders and files on the desktop. This way, you can access them quickly. If you like your desktop clutter-free, you can also create custom toolbars in Windows XP.To do this, right-click on the Windows taskbar, go to `Toolbars' and click `New Toolbar'. Next, choose the drive or folder you want to access using the toolbar. You can create different toolbars for different drives and folders.This is expecially useful for sales executives who want easy access to presentations, pro and other information they use on a day-to-day basis.

* Clean up The Junk

Uninstall applications you don't use. Apart from saving on disk space, you'll also prevent your notebook from slowing down.Be resourceful-keep backups of the OS, drivers and commonly used applications on a secondary partition so you can do some re­installing on your own if you face any issues when travelling. Carry driver CDs and recovery disks.

Laptop Security

* Don't Be A Jerk

Don't subject your laptop to jerks and shocks. This will help avoid damage to your hard drive.Preferably, power the notebook off before moving it from one place to another.

* Dusty Notebooks Don't Impress

Protect your laptop from dust. Ensure vents are clean to enable good air flow.

* Drinks And Laptops A No-No

Don't place any containers filled with beverages (hot or cold) near your notebook, to prevent accidental spills.

Power Saving Tips

* Let Power Be Managed By The Pros

Set the device to switch off the LCD screen, and hard drive after fixed intervals of time.

* Disconnect

External peripherals and accessories such as external opti­cal drives, PC cards and USB keyboard lights draw power from the notebook. Disconnect such devices when not in use.

* Suspend Your Notebook

Booting the notebook when it is not connected to a power source draws a lot of power from the battery. Instead of shutting down your laptop in the middle of a meeting, choose the `Suspend' mode if you wish to use it again after just a short interval. This will save battery and help you restart your work faster.

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Apple MacBook Pro, Which Size MacBook Pro should I Buy

This article taken from guides.macrumors.com

Overview

After several months of rumors, accurate predictions and real photographs, the Rev. F MacBook Pro was finally released at Apple's notebook event on October 14, 2008. The new "Unibody" enclosure enabled Apple to produce a slightly slimmer case, yet also slightly heavier. The new design also allows hard drive access, as an officially user installable part.

After teaming up with NVIDIA, Apple decided to use two GPUs in the MacBook Pro, a 9400M GT for light work and a 9600M GT for graphically intensive applications. According to NVIDIA, the MacBook Pro does not feature HybridSLI. Apple also decided to use a NVIDIA chipset, although it still has the same 1066 MHz FSB capabilities as Intel's Montevina. DDR3 RAM was also included for the first time, and RAM upgrades were made much more affordable through Apple than they have been in the past.

The 17-inch model is still awaiting an update but is presumed by many to be released within a few months.

Which size MacBook Pro should I buy?

The most significant benefit to purchasing a MacBook Pro is having both power and portability. Ideally, the nature of what you will be using the MacBook Pro for can help dictate what screen size MacBook Pro you invest in. Prior to making your purchase, ask yourself: "Will I be using my MacBook Pro for travel or primarily as a convenient portable solution around the home?" If your professional career dictates that you carry a MacBook Pro with you every day through airports, hotels and business meetings then investing in a 17" model might prove to be too cumbersome a companion for you. Likewise, if the majority of the work you do is stationary, with travel being relatively rare, both 15" and 17" MacBook Pros are appropriate.

MacRumors Examples

Scenario	Our recommendation	Why?
I'll be using the MacBook Pro for graphic design and/ or movie editing. I plan to occasionally move around from place to place with the MacBook Pro.	17" MacBook Pro	You'll benefit from the better screen size and resolution. If you move around quite frequently, a 15" MacBook Pro with an external display may be a better choice.
I require something I can take everywhere with me, but I do demanding things like playing games and heavy photo editing.	15" MacBook Pro	While a 17" MacBook Pro is thinner and lighter than some of the 15" Windows laptops, it is still quite heavy and large to be carrying with you everywhere. It may be worth investing in an external screen to extend your real estate when at home.
I just want something to surf the Internet with, check email, listen to some tunes and word process with.	MacBook or 15" MacBook Pro	A MacBook Pro would be overkill in this case, however, if you really want a bigger screen, then the 15" MacBook Pro would be fine if you have enough funds.

If you need more update information about Apple MacBook Pro, you can visit Apple website.

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Sony Vaio Z550

This review from mobiletechreview.com by Lisa Gade, Editor in Chief

A year ago we reviewed the Sony Vaio SZ650, a powerhouse ultra-portable 13.3" notebook that combined excellent performance with carbon fiber styling and a compact design. It looks like we're at the end of the SZ series life-- but that's not a bad thing. For those who thought the SZ could have been even sexier looking and lighter-- thoughts that might not have arisen were it not for the MacBook Air-- there's the new Vaio Z series, announced this summer and shipping now. The Z makes the 4 pound, smaller than everything else on Best Buy shelves SZ look a tad large. It's got the performance and dual-graphics of the SZ series at a size and weight that put it between the Vaio TZ and SZ series. Pricing is similar to the SZ series, and Sony has the SR line for those who liked the SZ line's size and performance minus the high-end appointments like dual graphics cards, higher-end XBRITE-DuraView display and carbon fiber casing. The SR line isn't cheap compared to the average basic back-to-school HP or Dell, but at its $1,699 starting price, it's cheaper than the Z that starts around $2,099 in retail configuration.

The Vaio Z550 left, and the SZ650 right.

The 13.1" Sony Z550, available at retail locations and online, is one of the first notebooks running on the Intel Montevina platform (Centrino 2). It has an updated 25 watt (that's really low power for a non-ULV Core 2 Duo) 2.4GHz Intel P8600 CPU that uses the 45 nanometer process. This Core 2 Duo CPU plus Montevina's improvements make for a very powerful, yet power-frugal system that's future-proof enough to keep most owners satisfied with performance and features for 3 years. What does Montevina, the successor to Santa Rosa, offer? A significantly smaller motherboard that allows manufacturers to shrink designs (hence the smaller Z compared to the SZ), more powerful Intel GMA X4500 integrated graphics with an HD option that decodes HD video, support for lower power consumption CPUs (translates into longer battery life and cooler temps), a faster implementation of WiFi 802.11n, a 1066MHz FSB (up from Santa Rosa's 800MHz) and support for DDR3 RAM.

The Sony Vaio Z series notebooks come in several configurations, including build-to-order when purchased from Sony's web site. The Z550 ships with a 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo, 3 gigs of DDR3 RAM, a dual layer DVD burner, hybrid graphics (Intel 4500HD and NVidia 9300M GS), a 250 gig 5400rpm SATA hard drive and a 1366 x 768 XBRITE display. When building to order, you can go with a Blu-ray drive ($500 up-charge), or a 1600 x 900 resolution XBRITE display (better have good eyes or be ready to twiddle with Vista's font dpi settings). Other options include 7200rpm SATA hard drives, higher capacity hard drives and single or dual SSD drives.

The Vaio Z, is one of the few notebooks that combine extreme performance and extreme portability. At 3.31 lbs. it's just 5.4 ounces heavier than the MacBook Air and similar in weight to the IBM ThinkPad X300 equipped with a 6 cell battery and DVD drive. The Sony isn't wafer-thin like the Air, nor even as thin as the X300, but it has a smaller footprint than either. This Vaio is wickedly faster than the Air and X300: it packs the performance of a high end notebook with discrete graphics into a package even granny could carry. For the excellent performance, classy carbon fiber packaging and small size, the Z550 is reasonably priced.

Z vs. SZ

Is it worth upgrading if you have a current SZ model? Can't decide which to buy? That depends on your needs in terms of portability and battery life. The Z offers somewhat upgraded performance (mostly in the graphics department) and a nearly identical feature set-- the size, weight and longer battery life are more significant.

* While the SZ series features Sony's XBRITE display, the Z has their XBRITE-DuraView display that's supposedly more impervious to scratches and more importantly has an anti-glare coating. Some folks love the richness of a high gloss display while others are driven mad by the glare. The Z's display is noticeably more color saturated than the SZ (on par with the MacBook Air, minus the gloss), but it's a bit less bright (the SZ could burn your retinas on high brightness settings).

* The Z has a true widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio of 1366 x 768 pixels while the SZ has a more standard WXGA 1280 x 800 display. You won't see black bars on widescreen movies on the Z but older games that support only the more standard 1280 x 800 resolution will run at 1024 x 768 on the Z (if you use an external monitor for gaming, this doesn't matter and most games released in the last two years support 1366 x 768).

* The Z can switch between Stamina and Speed modes (integrated vs. dedicated graphics) on the fly without a reboot, unlike the SZ. The battery and compartment have been redesigned and the battery doesn't have that little bit of jiggle like the SZ.

* The Z's keyboard is radically redesigned and is similar to the Vaio TZ series with raised keys that are much easier to type on than the SZ's.

* The Z runs cooler than the SZ, with both being louder than average when the CPU is doing serious work in Speed mode, but the Z being a few decibels louder at lower stress settings.

* The Z adds an HDMI port that works in conjunction with the NVidia dedicated card.

Sony Vaio Z550 and MacBook Air.

Looks aren't everything but they sure help

These days consumer electronics are personal style statements. The Z is certainly one of the sexiest laptops on the market with its carbon fiber casing, new barrel hinge design that hides the battery along with the illuminated power button and power jack (one on each hinge cap). The chrome accents on the carbon fiber give it a more daring look than the SZ and the display bezel is impossibly thin. Sony can make the display panel thin thanks to the rigidity relative to thickness of carbon fiber. You can can flex the display panel, but not more so than a MacBook Pro. Pressing a finger on the lid doesn't cause light distortion or pooling which is surprising given how thin this thing is. You can pick up the notebook by the display panel (a scary thing to do) and it flexes a decent amount but not enough to harm the display (nor does it crack and break). Note-- this doesn't mean we advocate doing this kind of thing under the guise of normal use.

Open the Vaio and you get another dose of high tech eye-candy. The dark silver (with just the slightest hint of Sony's old signature Vaio purple) wrist rest is brushed aluminum. The trackpad has a dot pattern that looks cool and the biometric fingerprint scanner nestled between the 2 mouse buttons is smaller than ever (yet it works well). The raised keyboard keys not only look like sculpted entries for a modern art museum competition but they make for an extremely good typing experience. There's plenty of space between the keys and the backboard is also brushed aluminum (the entire top interior panel is one piece of curved aluminum) which means there's none of the usual notebook keyboard flex. Since this is a small notebook, the page up/down keys are integrated into the arrow key pad-- pretty much the only concession to size. You need not poke at the very small tray open button on the side of the DVD drive-- there's an eject button just above the top row of keys, along with Sony's usual 2 programmable application launcher buttons.

The machine feels extremely light (no kidding) and is small enough to fit inside a briefcase or large tote. Build quality is excellent, and every port, vent and label on the Vaio looks perfectly made.

Ports

The Z550 has two USB 2.0 ports (one on each side), a VGA port, HDMI port (both on the right, and you can only use one at a time), DVD burner (right), 4 pin unpowered FireWire port, 3.5mm headphone and mic jacks, modem and Ethernet (both under covers). There are SD and Memory Stick Duo card slots on the front edge and a wireless on/off slider switch. The Z series has one ExpressCard/34 slot and no PCMCIA slot.

Performance and Graphics

Here's the fun part-- usually 3.3 lb. notebooks are weak performers and we have to explain how cramming chips into small spaces requires performance concessions. Put that thought on hold; the Vaio Z550 will compete with any notebook currently on the market and outperform many of them. The Intel Centrino 2's smaller motherboard requirements, lower power consumption and lower heat generation mean that a small notebook can be powerful (plus Sony has had years of practice at making high end subnotebooks). The Z550 ships with the Intel Penryn 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo processor with 3 megs of level 2 cache and a 1066MHz front side bus. A 2.53GHz CPU with 6 megs of level 2 cache is available on other Z models, and all but the base model ship with 3 gigs of DDR3 -1066 (PC3-8500) RAM. The machine can hold a max of 4 gigs, and there are 2 SODIMM slots under a door on the notebook's bottom. One slot has a 2 gig SODIMM and the other has a 1 gig SODIMM, so if you wish to upgrade to 4 gigs, you need only replace the 1 gig SODIMM. This is more useful with 64 bit Vista (not a shipping option on the Z) which can make use of all 4 gigs or if your graphics card is using a lot of shared memory.

The notebook is up to all manner of high demand tasks from DirectX 9 gaming full-throttle (NVidia turned on), DirectX 10 gaming with modest in-game settings, video editing (including HD video editing), HD video playback, Photoshop, Visual Studio, ripping MP3s from disc quickly and more. Despite Vista's famously high overhead, our Vista Business SP1 32 bit edition machine feels extremely fast. Unless you want a desktop-class DirectX 10 gaming experience to play the latest extremely demanding 3D games at high settings, the Z550 should be more computer than most folks need. The standard 5400rpm 250 gig hard drive performed well experientially and in benchmarks, and was fairly quiet and cool (ours was an Hitachi disk). For those who want more performance (and possibly more heat and fan noise), there's a 7200rpm option on built-to-order, and there are SSD (solid state drive) options for an even faster, cooler and quieter machine. Currently Sony offers pricey single and dual 64 gig SSD options ($720 for 64 gig and $1,320 for 128 gigs total). The SSD drives use the slower Ultra ATA interface (most common on SSD drives) and the 2x64 gig is configured as a RAID.

All Vaio Z series notebooks come with a dual layer DVD burner. A Blu-ray drive is optional, and currently only available with the 1600 x 900 display option which also doubles dedicated NVidia graphics memory to 256 megs. Intel's new graphics chipset, the GMA 4500HD is a very good performer that's perfect for DVD playback and light gaming with older titles. The NVIDIA 9300M GS has 128 megs of dedicated DDR3 RAM (256 megs on the 1600 x 900 display version) and can also use shared memory as needed.

Benchmarks

PCMark05, NVidia graphics, Vaio Optimized power setting (Speed switch setting)

PC Marks: 5272
CPU: 6082
Memory: 5155
Graphics: 3506
HDD: 4761

PCMark05, Intel integrated graphics, Vaio Optimized power setting (Stamina switch setting)

PC Marks: 4904
CPU: 6048
Memory: 5074
Graphics: 2271
HDD: 4656

Windows Experience Score (Nvidia, Optimized power setting)

Processor: 5.3
RAM: 5.9
Graphics: 4.4
Gaming graphics: 5.1
Hard disk: 5.2

Battery Life

The Vaio ships with a 5400 mAh Lithium Ion battery and Sony offers their (as usual overpriced) extended 8100 mAh extended battery for $249. Centrino 2 lives up to the hype, and we managed 5 hours and 15 minutes on the Optimized power plan and Stamina setting with WiFi on and screen brightness set to 65%. For a notebook this powerful, that's very impressive, and it's significantly better than the current Vaio SZ notebooks. With the Optimized power plan and the speed setting using NVidia discrete graphics we managed 3:30. For our tests we did a mix of heavy surfing, checking email every 15 minutes using Outlook, working with Office documents and watching a few streaming short videos.

Networking

It's all here: WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n courtesy of the Intel WiFi Link 5100AGN, Bluetooth 2.0 +EDR with A2DP support, wired gigabit Ethernet, a modem and Sprint EVDO Rev. A wireless module with an internal antenna and GPS capabilities. You'll need to start a Sprint data plan contract to use the Sprint fast WAN service, and those speeds are impressive. Sprint has very good EVDO metro regional coverage that's handy for the business traveler but not so well suited to vacations in the boonies where cellular service is sometimes lacking. Note that you do not have to use the Sprint module or start a contract if you don't care to use the service, and there are Z models that come without the Sprint modem (there is no 3G GSM option for the US, unfortunately). You can also use a Bluetooth enabled GSM 3G or EVDO phone as a wireless modem for the Z. We tested it with the Nokia E71, a lovely 3G HSDPA smartphone with an AT&T SIM inside. Speeds were very good and we loaded heavy pages at rates equivalent to a slower WiFi 802.11b connection. WiFi with our 802.11n router rocked thanks to the Intel 5100AGN module which gave excellent range and very fast data transfers.

Conclusion

The Vaio Z550 is a stunningly light, compact and beautiful notebook. And it's got more than just good looks, with top notebook performance. Clearly it's not priced to compete with the average bargain notebook, but the specs, combined with the small size, light weight and very good build quality make this notebook a bargain compared to ultralights on the market that either cost significantly more and/or are underpowered in comparison.

Pro: Extremely light and small, especially for powerful notebook. Hybrid graphics offer flexibility and performance as needed. Beautiful looks and great design. Excellent build quality. Has the latest Centrino 2 technology inside, and likely won't leave you wishing for an upgrade for a few years. One of the most color-saturated displays we've ever seen-- it looks lovely and is accurate enough for serious graphics work. Runs cooler than most notebooks in this performance class, including the SZ series. Fan noise is definitely acceptable for a performance notebook. Good sound quality and volume from the built-in stereo speakers and great sound through headphones. Sony has cut back on the bloatware, and what's there is easier to cleanly uninstall.

Con: As usual, spare Sony standard and extended batteries are keenly overpriced ($199 for a standard battery, $249 for the extended).

Price: $2,099 (Z550), other Z models are available at different price points. 1 year warranty

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