Articles

NAS, what are they and should you have one

NAS, or Network Attached Storage is basically a large external hard drive that is not physically attached to a computer. Instead, it is connected to your home or business network and can be accessed by all your computers and/or many devices. The primary use for NAS devices is for simple network file sharing. If you have several computers that need to access the same documents, videos, pictures or music…

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The cloud explained in simple terms

The cloud is simply a bunch of computers on the internet. While that may be a little to simplistic and not explain thing, that is the simple truth to it. What that doesn’t explain is all the services available via the cloud and how you can use those services to make your life easier and better. That is what we will really be working on explaining in this article….

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Why do computers get slower with age?

I am always being asked why computers get slower with age. The truth is, they don’t. Yes, they do take longer to do things and appear to run slower, but they actually are just as fast as the day they were new. So what is going on? Even if you have nothing installed on your computer at all except for Windows or MacOS this happens, and that should be…

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Switching from traditional computers to tablets

Why are people switching from traditional computers to tablets, and should you? This is a popular question, especially from the old guard who have had computers sitting on their desks for the past fifteen years. Lets start by defining the typical uses of all computing devices today and then we can see what devices can handle those tasks. In my experience the primary use for all computing devices today…

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Do you need antivirus today?

Do you need antivirus today? That was a question I was asking myself the other day when I tried and failed to remember the last time I actually found a virus on a computer. Let me back up a little and define what I am taking about. There is a critical difference between a virus and other types of malware out there. For the sake of this discussion I…

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Microsoft Surface Pro review

The Microsoft Surface Pro is an excellent ultraportable notebook or heavy  tablet primarily aimed at business users. Specifications: Size – 10.81 in (27.5 cm) x 6.81 in (17.3 cm) x 0.53 in (13.46 mm) Weight – About 2 pounds Screen – 16:9 aspect, 1920 x 1080, ten point multi-touch, 208ppi, IPS, glossy Memory – 4GB (not upgradable) Storage – 64GB or 128GB (128GB tested) CPU – Intel Core i5-3317U…

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How to upgrade computer memory

Few things are easier to do or provide better results than to upgrade computer memory. Unless you spent a ridiculous amount of money buying the maximum memory that your computer could come with then the time will come you need it upgraded. I have even bought a computer with the minimum RAM you could get it with so I could upgrade it immediately upon arrival. This tends to save…

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Computer warranties, technical support and service

Once upon a time computers were bought from very specialized dealers, were incredibly expensive and required a lot of maintenance. Those days are over. Today, just like almost everything else, computers are commoditized as are the services that support them. Assuming you are using an actual desktop or laptop computer and not a tablet (or more likely, in addition to) the computer you are using was probably made overseas…

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Apple vs Android, and unbiased comparison

I have been asked about Apple vs Android products for years. I hope to provide as unbiased a comparison as possible but I honestly think that being totally unbiased is probably impossible. Every day when I walk out the door to go to work I have two smartphones with me, one Apple, one Android. Both of them are the same generation, currently an iPhone 6 and a Samsung Galaxy…

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Acer C670 Chromebook CB3-111-C670 review

The Acer C670 CB3-111-C670 is a entry level Chromebook which retails for $150 from Amazon. A Chromebook is a computer (usually a notebook) that runs Google’s Chrome OS operating system which is a Linux based system developed for delivering web applications and data. This system provides many of the functionality of a Windows based, or MacOS based computer at a lower cost. Specifications: 11.6″ 16:9 anti-glare screen with 1366…

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