How to shop for a new laptop: (What to look [Out] for)
One of the topics we are often asked at RiteTech concerns how best to shop for a new laptop computer. As the costs of PCs continue their slow drop, laptops and other mobile devices are becoming more and more the “new normal” for a typical professional’s work equipment. However, there are several key areas to be careful about when selecting that portable device – particularly for those who may be first-time buyers – or, if it’s been a while since you’ve purchased:
1. If possible – Test-Drive the laptop’s keyboard! Not all laptop keyboards are made alike. Some are backlit, others are unexpectedly noisy (particularly in meetings), yet others may have the “full number pad” (numeric keypad), while others do not. Some keyboards may have strangely-shaped or sized keys, etc.. Others may have a strange “feel” to them… how would you know, without trying one out in advance? A detail this seemingly “mundane” can quickly turn a laptop purchase into “laptop-buyer’s remorse”. See further below for more tips on how to help avoid that…
2. Beware the Trackpad. The Trackpad can potentially cause nearly as much frustration as the keyboard. Some have a button to turn them “off” (which can be very handy when you’re not in the mood to use it). See similar comments as #1.
3. Screen size and weight: Bigger isn’t always better (in fact, it normally isn’t). Keep in mind that the larger that the laptop’s display is, it will add to the weight and size of the unit. Larger screens also mean greater space required for the unit itself (not a good thing when crammed on an airplane), and typically mean shorter battery lifespan. Lastly, large displays are more likely to be potentially damaged – just because you have more screen “real estate” to deal with. Our personal recommendation is normally to stay within about 14″-15″ display for a laptop. It is much more important for the screen’s resolution to be higher (quality/fineness of the pixels) than it is for the display to be large.
4. Does the unit have a DVD/CD drive? Does it need one? More frequently, we’re seeing more units which either don’t come with the DVD/CD drive, or where it’s a separate plug-in. This decision is going to be more driven by the typical use of the unit. E.g. how frequently do you need (or want) to play CD’s/DVD’s, load new software from optical media, etc.? That should be the main factor on this item.
5. Kensington “Lock” Port (security). This is the small “Lock” plug (sometimes labeled with “K” or a Lock icon) which is a fairly standard feature of most laptops. This allows an optional security cord (lock) to be tethered to the device, to help discourage quick thefts of the equipment. HOWEVER – the “K” lock is frequently omitted from many smaller devices – such as certain Apple laptops, such as certain MacBook Air’s. While we are huge fans of most Apple hardware (where appropriate of the job), this is an area where we respectfully disagree with their design philosophy. In our opinion, any laptop should have the Kensigton lock port. That said, this shouldn’t be the primary driver of your purchasing decision – however, if physical security of the equipment is a moderate concern – you may want to stay with models which have the Kensington lock port included.
6. Extended warranties, On-Site service warranties, and/or breakage warranties. The simple fact is that the typical PC in an office setting will require some form of physical repair or service within the first 2-3 years of ownership, such as a hard drive or power supply replacement, noisy fan, etc.. That’s even more likely for laptop and/or portable devices- which experience additional abuse as compared to stationary desktop PCs – and are much more likely to have physical damage from drops, spills, etc.. We strongly suggest an on-site warranty for all business PCs, and a breakage/damage warranty being considered for laptop PCs, particularly for those who are “rough” on their equipment, or with an extensive travel schedule.
All of that said, where’s the “best place” to shop for laptops, try them out in advance, and/or what are the best brands or configurations? These are all great questions, that the team here at RiteTech can help you with. Contact us for additional information…
Liquid Beverage Damage to Dave’s Laptop: Delicious, but deadly!
… So, for those of you who think that these kinds of perils can’t happen to your favorite IT company – think again! …
This time, it was Dave’s laptop that was the victim of liquid damage – specifically, the display. Yes, this does really happen – even to IT people. How exactly Dave’s laptop screen got damaged by liquid is not important. The type of beverage involved in said liquid is also not important, although I will say that had it been alcoholic, I probably would have felt better about how things went over the next few hours than I actually did…
The laptop’s LCD screen, shall we say, was not very happy to be entirely saturated in liquid, regardless of whether it was a beverage, or not, or regardless of its alcoholic content (or lack thereof). The LCD screen took on kind of an unhealthy, “puffy”, almost “swollen” sort of a look, kind of like it had gotten punched in the face, or some kind of strange infection…
Organization Goes Low Tech
Happy New Year!
What are your resolutions for the year? I’m guessing almost everyone wants to be more organized, correct?
I am no exception. My desk is never as neat as I want it to be and I always seem to have tons of receipts and pieces of paper in my purse and computer back. I’m a tech geek, I am proud to say, so all my contacts, emails and calendar items live happily on my laptop, iPhone and iPad.
But…I like lists. To Do Lists. Grocery Lists. Lists of things to pack on vacation, lists of development ideas – well, you get the idea.
Who Owns Your Data?
As a provider to cloud-based services, we always talk to our clients and prospects about understanding ownership of their data hosted in the cloud and to understand what happens if the hosting company or provider goes out of business or is sold.
The Washington Post has a great article about this very topic today: view the article at www.washingtonpost.com.
This article focuses mainly on personal data, such as sites that host your photos and such, but it is something that anyone – individual or business – thinks about when they copy their data elsewhere.
Happy New Year!
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Cloud Power
Office 365 revolutionizes Small to Medium-sized Businesses (SMB’s) by now offering productivity and reliability options that have been either cost- or equipment- intensive up until now. With Office 365, SMB’s can now choose to host their business-critical data and applications such as Microsoft Exchange E-Mail, Microsoft SharePoint, etc. fully in the “Cloud”, helping to reduce the expense, maintenance needs, and reliability challenges of “hosting” such a complicated and critical system in a traditional SMB office setting. The familiar Microsoft Office software is also now available with a Cloud option, as well. For more information, contact RiteTech sales at (703) 561-0607, or sales@ritetech.net
More Ways To Save
Microsoft Volume Licensing helps save money!
Is Your Data Safe?
Rite Tech can help protect your organization’s data!
RiteTech offers a number of traditional (on-site) and off-site (Internet-based and site-to-site) data backup solutions that are affordable, proven, field-tested, and are also the same ones that we use internally to protect our own critical servers, accounting systems, web sites, and databases. Don’t let an unexpected PC failure or virus attack ruin months or years’ worth of work!
Live Blogging – SMB Nation 2011
SMB Nation has gotten off to a great start at 7:00 local time here in Las Vegas. It is early, but there is a lot of excitement.
I’m currently watching the main keynote with Cisco, which is making a big push into the small and medium business space. Since SMB’s drive the economy, this is great news.
Some of the points being made are that they need technology to stay competitive, are shifting to the cloud for efficiency and reliability and are shifting away from a full time IT staff.
At RiteTech, we’ve been working with Cisco for over a year by testing some of their new devices and services.
We also urge our clients migrate to the cloud and consider ourselves your “outsourced” IT department, so we are right on track.
I look forward to the rest of the conference!
Cisco Features RiteTech and Dave Bainum in Video
Back in July the RiteTech office was busy preparing for our big screen debut. We cleaned the office, painted the walls and wrapped the vehicles! All our efforts paid off, for the video is great! Check it out: http://www.cisco.com/web/partners/sell/smb/onplus/grow_my_business.html.
For over a year, RiteTech has been working with Cisco to perfect their OnPlus network device and service. This device allows us to better monitor our client’s locations and network. We know within minutes if a network goes down – invaluable information in our line of work.
