A relevant question arises in the mind of the first time buyers of computer system i.e., which is a better option; laptop or desktop computers. And surely it is a tough decision to take with age-old trust on desktop computers and rising popularity of the laptops. For this one has to make sure which is the one he needs and knowing the purposes met by both.
Definition
From the name one can understand desktops are kept over desks and have a fixed position and since is advisable not to shift its position quite often. The monitor, keyboard, mouse, CPU tower, UPS generally makes a desktop complete. Whereas a laptop is a moveable gadget. It has major inbuilt components facility.
Why use desktop?
Hardware components of a desktop can be assembled, if purchased separately accordingly to own need, financial capacity which is the most is the most finest benefit of desktops. When any part is detected faulty only that part can be easily changed keeping the other parts intact. Motherboards have improved in supporting capacity for advanced PCI, USB, expansion slots, various cards-sound, or video graphics and ports. Cheap up gradation can be done for the hard disk, memory or processor. The screen size is also varied.
Why use laptop?
Portability causes many people to prefer laptop or notebook over desktop as many business people or VIPs need to carry them to their job place. LCD technology provides greater display. The user is not limited to one place owing to the batteries as their inner power resource. Again, no fixed link is needed with the introduction of the cable less broadband service.
Drawing a parallel
It is quite easy to find drawbacks for both laptops and desktops. Laptops don’t offer very many size options (generally 15”-17”), insufficient cooling of the CPU, limited configuration changing choice, experts needed for up gradation or any device related problem etc. Desktops need constant AC power supply, immobility, and use of branded PCs may not be beneficial etc are the many complaints against desktops. So, we can see one’s advantage is the other’s disadvantage and reverse. Thus, instead of pointing fingers at one another it is better to treat both as complementary to each other.
'Going Green' seems to be the new fad these days, doesn't it? Well, going green isn't really too hard with computers laying around the house, sucking all the power. Pc Tramore has a few tips that could impact your bill significantly. Try the following for a month and see the difference: -Set your computer monitor to shut off after 3 minutes of no use -Turn off your screensaver, it doesn't hurt anything, but wastes power -Set your computer to go to 'sleep' after 30 minutes of no use -When not using your computer, completely unplug it from the wall Try these for one month: A recent study at St. Cloud State University showed that the organization could save over $10,000 per year in energy costs, just from shutting the monitors off after 10 minutes. Plus, it will increase the life of your monitor - hows that for going green?
As part of the ongoing cost-cutting exercise, we are proposing a major change to our Laptop/Desktop policy and a further move towards a paperless office. The goal is to remove all laptop computers by January 2009 and all desktop computers by February 2009. Instead, everyone will be provided with an Etch-A-Sketch. Technical Justification: 1. No boot-up problems
Frequently Asked Questions from the Etch-A-Sketch Help Desk: Q: How do I turn my Etch-A-Sketch off? Q: What's the shortcut for Undo? Q: How do I create a New Document window? Q: How do I set the background and foreground to the same color? Q: What is the proper procedure for rebooting my Etch-A-Sketch? Q: How do I delete a document on my Etch-A-Sketch?
2. No technical glitches keeping work from being done.
3. No more wasted time reading and writing emails.
4. No more worries about power outages.
5. Budget savings on upgrades huge.
Q: My Etch-A-Sketch has all of these funny little lines all over the
screen.
A: Pick it up and shake it.
A: Pick it up and shake it.
A: Pick it up and shake it.
A: Pick it up and shake it.
A: Pick it up and shake it.
A: Pick it up and shake it.
A: Pick it up and shake it.
A: Don't shake it.
As computer users nearly all of us are aware that our data is priceless. We put our photographs, music collections, videos and home movies, and important documents on our hard drives. Once it's on the computer many of us pretty much forget about all that valuable information until we either need it or our computer crashes.
The most common question by far that I get is, "My hard drive crashed; can I get my data off of my computer or did I lose all of my pictures (or documents, etc)?"
There are so many things that can be wrong with a "crashed" computer and just because your computer won't turn on or you're getting error codes from the OS, doesn't mean that the data is lost. Just as true however is the fact that just because you can get your computer to boot and get into your OS doesn't mean that you haven't lost data. Data stored in different parts of your hard drive can become corrupted and you can lose that data even though everything else is running great - scary huh.
The most common way people lose data is that the hard drive itself crashes/dies and the user hasn't backed up properly. When a hard drive crashes it is extremely hard to retrieve data from it and it usually requires the hard drive to be sent to a data recovery specialist like DriveSavers. Places like this have the ability to rebuild the hard drive and while this is a very expensive process, it can save your data in many cases. When I say expensive, it's generally in the neighborhood of $1000 and up. One good thing about DriveSavers is that they don't charge someone if they can't retrieve the data; you only pay for what you get. The cost of this type of operation is very prohibitive and usually only companies take advantage of this.
If the actual hard drive hasn't crashed physically but:
- The computer will turn on but will not boot up to the Operating System
- The computer won't turn on at all (like there's no power)
- The computer starts to boot but you get the "BSOD" (blue screen of death)
- You got a virus or spyware
then there is an excellent chance of recovering important data from the machine. It could be as easy as replacing a hardware part or repairing the OS or it could be as difficult as removing the hard drive from the bad machine and connecting it to a good machine to retrieve the data. This type of work can be done by local techs like My PC Pros and usually runs in the $100-$300 range depending on what is wrong and how much data needs to be retrieved and moved to a different media.
One way you can protect your data and give yourself peace of mind is to sign up for one of the automated backup services that are offered. These services work by purchasing an account and downloading software. Most of them automatically configure themselves to backup important types of documents by looking for the extension on files. For example, they'll look for all .jpg, .png, .gif, .doc, .xls, .pst, and so forth. You can then tell it to specifically back up certain files and folders and customize it to your liking.
The two most popular are Mozy and Carbonite.
Mozy Online is a popular service that offers users 2GB of free (yes free with no catches) space to backup your files. Most people have a lot more than 2GB to backup but this is an awesome way to start. You can signup for a free account HERE. They also have an unlimited play for non-business users that will backup all your important documents. This service is $4.95 per month (1 month free for 1 year signup and 3 months free with 2 year signup) and you can use our link HERE
Carbonite is probably the most well known in this category and they run radio commercials all the time. Their service does not offer a free program but they do have the unlimited backup plan like Mozy does. They also charge around $5/mo and don't have a discount but because they are well known, some users feel more comfortable with them. You can signup HERE.
(full disclosure - Yes I do get a small referral fee if you use the links above but I'd recommend either of these companies for free and have done so many times. I also have accounts with both of these companies for my personal computers. Also with Mozy using my link in combination with the month's promo code above will save you 10% so it's a win-win)
What I'm trying to get across is this:
1. Your computer WILL crash2. Backing up with automated software makes it worry-free - it's always working
3. If you don't want to pay for data backups then make sure you backup somehow
4. If you don't backup it can be expensive and in some cases impossible to retrieve your data after a crash