I have always loved writing and have managed to indulge in it for a long time with just my old reliable paper and pen.  The introduction of the computer into daily use hardly made a ripple in  my everyday routine of writing since I found it quite cumbersome to go through the motions of opening it and having to be where it is during the times that inspiration suddenly strikes.  And then the laptop came…

Having always been a traditional person, I did not jump at the first opportunity to use it.  I tried to use the same reasoning I used against desktop computers but found myself unable to resist as strongly as I used to when confronted with a new gadget.  I believe that the old ways will always have its reason and its charm and that the new ways will somehow destroy  it.  When old meets new, conflicts are bound to arise, or so I thought.

This was different.  It offered portability, convenience, and accesibility at any given time and place.   It is not as imposing and disturbing as its bigger counterparts.  It is able to blend in with the scene so well that I could probably imagine a well-renowned novelist holding it instead of a paper and pen and not be disturbed by it at all. It probably gave the most liberating feeling that any writer can ever hope for in a writing implement.

I will not pretend not to enjoy the advantages of using a laptop and intend to use one until something better comes along.  I have not totally given up with my paper and pen since using them still brings me the joy that has become very familiar to me.  Writing with my laptop however is a joy that I haven’t finished discovering yet.

If you are anything like me, then your laptop is your lifeline. I work on my laptop, attend school on my laptop, keep up with my socializing on my laptop . . . and, overall, use my laptop to manage my life. I don’t know what I would do if something were to happen to my laptop. Therefore, when I travel with my laptop I take extra special precautions to ensure its safety. I will share with you what I know, so that you can protect your precious friend, too. Here are five tips for protecting your laptop while traveling:

Electrical protection. You may not know that you’ll have a stable or reliable electrical current where you are going, so it’s always a good idea to carry a voltage converter and a surge protector that is compatible with your plug adapter.
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There are a number of different approaches to buying inexpensive laptops. The bottom line, though, is that if you need a laptop that performs well and don’t have a lot of money to spend on one, that is definitely possible in this day and age. It arguably makes sense to spend a very moderate amount of money on a technology that is produced in abundance, especially if these fairly troubled economic times (or some other situational factors) have resulted in your not have much extra cash to burn. With this in mind here are some approaches to finding cheap and decent laptops that will stand by you for a while. Pick and choose which ones seem be the best suited to your budget and requirements. Read more…

Technology has gotten to be something else. You can now buy laptops that are built just for gaming. This makes it possible for you to play your internet and other games anywhere you go. You may need Wi-Fi for some of these games but nowadays you can find Wi-Fi anywhere or just about anywhere. Besides gaming laptops there are computers that run special versions of windows. I don’t know what I would do without windows on my laptop. It makes life so much easier. With special hardware on the laptop new versions of windows will run even better.

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MacBook Pro

How long does your laptop’s battery last on a single full charge? I still remember when this MacBook was new – I could stay unplugged from four to six hours (depending on what I was doing) without becoming edgy because of having to be absolutely sure that there was an available socket. Today, after many months of almost constant use, my laptop battery gives me about 3 hours max – if I am lucky.

I know that, for sure, I am not alone in this. Every laptop user experiences battery issues, and I am willing to bet that many will pay for a solution that results in longer battery life – as long as it does not involve having to lug around an extra 5 pounds!

The good news is that there is an existing solution to getting more out of your battery. It is simple – you simply need to change the way your laptop uses Wi-Fi. Of course, the average user will not want to waste time monitoring and tweaking settings all the time. And it may not even be possible to monitor and retrieve all the necessary data.

That’s where the new system called SleepWell comes into the picture. This technology has been developed by Justin Manweiler of Duke University. His idea is based on the fact that Wi-Fi drains the laptop battery (and other devices, for that matter) faster than a mosquito can suck your blood. ¹ This is even more applicable when there are a lot of devices around you competing for the Wi-Fi signal. With the plethora of Wi-Fi enabled gadgets these days, it is inevitable that your laptop’s battery will always be working hard because of Wi-Fi.

The solution? SleepWell will take control of the laptop’s activity with respect to accessing the Wi-Fi when there are other devices around. This simply means that when another laptop in the vicinity is hogging the bandwidth temporarily and there’s nothing you can do about it, SleepWell will let your laptop “rest”, thereby conserving your battery. The great thing is that SleepWell has been designed to cycle stagger the activity cycles of your laptop (or other device) so that you will not notice (or barely notice) the sleep times – performance is not affected.

The ultimate result – possibly double the battery life that you have now!

This is very new, but if it really does work as it is supposed to, we might very well see the technology applies in the near future.

Via
Photo courtesy of niallkennedy

1. Okay, exaggeration. [↩]