simon's blog

When it comes right down to it, you interact with your computer through the keyboard, mouse and screen.

Screen size

For laptops, screen size is an important issue because it usually affects the overall weight of the unit as well. Smaller screen size usually means lighter weight and better mobility. Larger screen size means you can fit more on the screen. Balancing these two issues is a personal thing, and will depend on how much "mobile" use the laptop will get.

Storage on a computer consists of two parts:

Working out what the most appropriate Brain (CPU) is for your computer can be very  confusing. There is now "Dual" and "Quad" cores and at least six different CPU's to choose from and that is just from Intel.

The good news is that it doesn't have to be confusing!

There are three main chips that you should be considering in a new computer for general use. They are the Intel Core i3, i5 and i7 chips, and they will give you the best chance of enjoying your computer's performance over the next few years.

You might have seen the adverts, or heard the buzz, and be wondering what is Cloud computing?

Well, the good news is that if you are using Google or Facebook (amongst many others), you are already using Cloud computing!

Cloud computing is simply utilising a server that is "somewhere" in the internet for a service.

In the case of Google or Facebook, its actually thousands of computers around the world.

How does this affect you?

If you are an individual, then you are almost certainly using one or more Cloud based services already, without knowing it.

If you are in business and not on the Internet these days, then you are almost certainly missing out on business. But how do you get started?

There are multiple steps involved, but just like you pay to be listed in the phone book, you will need to pay to be on the Internet.

Some of the steps required are listed below:

* Register a domain name - yourbusiness.com.au
* Arrange hosting for the domain name
* Get the website graphically designed
* Get the website loaded onto the Internet
* Get the website added to all the search engines

One of the most common problems we see is that the notebook power cord is broken. This can be caused by the notebook being connected to the power cord while used on a soft surface, like a blanket or quilt on a bed. This can bend the cord upwards at sharp angle.

The problem is that too sharp an angle can eventually cause the wires within to break, which is usually quite obvious as the cord will then become quite floppy in that area.

To keep your power cord working well, try and avoid bending it unduly, and if you do roll it up, try and roll it up the same way each time.

You've probably heard before, that your 3 year old computer is actually 97 in computer years!

Did you know that most accountants will have a business write the complete cost of a computer off within 3 years, and with good reason.

Computer technology evolves very quickly, and in the last 3 years we've had:
* Windows 7 - resolve those Vista issues
* Office 2010 - Word, Excel, Outlook are all updated
* Intel 'Core' processors - faster, more efficient
* LED LCD's - more efficient
* HDMI Video output - connect to your big screen TV

At iseek, we get some challenging problems, today a customer brought in a USB that had all the contacts completely snapped off.

Luckily, Matt was able to solder it onto a motherboard USB plug, and retrieve the data for the customer.

Remember, use a USB stick for a COPY of your data, not as the original, they are to easy to lose, break, step on, drop in a drink, etc..

Most of us have had a digital camera now for a few years, and have downloaded all the pictures we've take to the computer for viewing, and we believe that they're stored on the computer safely.

But don't be fooled, one of the most common things to fail in a computer is the hard drive!.

While its often possible to recover some or even all the data, that can be an expensive exercise.

External hard drives are useful as backups, but are as fallible as internal hard drives. In fact they are probably more likely to fail given how often they get dropped and passed around.

We've been hearing about various computer scams recently. These are some of the scams, and some tips to pick up on them yourself.

* It's a scam if - you get a call out of the blue from "Microsoft" or another software provider, stating that your computer has reported an issue and if you give them your credit card, they can resolve it.