Black Friday Tips for PCs

Black Friday is almost here! It's the day that officially marks the beginning of the holiday shopping season. Shoppers will line up in front of stores at the crack of dark to be the first to take advantage of crazy deals. Many online retailers like Amazon have begun posting special "Black Friday" offers almost a week before Thanksgiving.

If you have someone on your gift list with an interest in electronics, you may be privy to the year's most incredible deals. Wherever you shop, it's still important to walk in armed with the knowledge to shop wisely. For your benefit, we've assembled some important tips for shopping for this year's hottest tech.


Netbooks

Netbooks are already an amazing new low-cost solution for portable computing. Many retailers will want to draw in consumers who passed up the back-to-school deals just a couple months ago. Some stores are offering netbooks for under $150!

Be sure you also get the right accessories for your netbook! Netbooks don't have built-in optical disc drives like their laptop cousins. Remember to grab one to install your needed software or back-up your data.

A spare netbook AC adapter couldn't hurt either.

A word of caution: Beware of deals that are too good to be true. Some netbooks that are closer to the $100 mark will be offered at places like Kmart. However, these are poor quality netbooks that run Windows CE. For just $50 more, you can get a better netbook that runs either Windows XP or the new Windows 7.


Windows 7

Speaking of Windows 7, this is the ultimate PC gift that keeps on giving! Microsoft's latest version of Windows has been receiving exemplary reviews since its release in October.

Users running Windows Vista will be grateful of the vast improvements that Windows 7 will make on their PC's operating system. Those who are even fond of the older, more reputable Windows XP will have reasons to upgrade to Windows 7.

If you'd like to spread the joy of Windows 7 with someone you love for Christmas, we'd love to help! Installing an operating system can be tricky; especially for older family members or anyone unsure about their computer savvy.

Triangle Laptops performs professional Windows 7 installation for customers who would prefer to trust the task with experienced hands. All versions of Windows 7 are available and we offer additional benefits with our services. Contact us for more information!


HDTVs

High-definition televisions are practically being given away during the holidays. Several retailers like Radio Shack and Target are offering 32in HDTVs for prices well under $400.

With the end of the football season approaching, now is the time to strike for viewing it in beautiful high-definition! A big-screen HDTV is the perfect center piece to a Superbowl party!

An added bonus to these HDTVs is that they also expand upon your PC experience. HDTVs actually double as computer monitors. For most laptop or desktop PCs, all you need is to connect the video output into the HDTVs input. Older laptops may have either an S-video or external VGA port that works perfectly. Newer models of PCs with advanced video cards may have either DVI or HDMI ports.

Once your PC is connected (here's our tips for how), you're able to use your HDTV to carry out tasks or surf the web from the comfort of your living room couch. You can also stream video from sites like Hulu, watch other video files, or play video games loaded on your computer, turning your HDTV into the ultimate media center!


Accessories

Whatever your gift agenda, making sure you've picked up the necessary accessories could be the linch pin of achieving the full holiday experience. After all, what fun is it to receive an awesome new toy if you aren't equipped to play with it?

As always, Triangle Laptops offers the most key components for your computers and other electronics. This includes the most crucial parts, such as AC adapters and batteries, but also important peripherals like external drives and docking stations. We even offer video game accessories to maximize your gaming experience.


Triangle Laptops, in addition to its laptop part catalog, also offers PC repair and upgrades.

Backing Up Ain't Hard To Do!

If there's one tip that I could ever pass on to our fellow computer users, it's to routinely back up your data. Heaven forbid, but there may come a time, when you least expect it, that your computer's hard drive will be damaged or fail. This can be especially devastating if any of your important files can no longer be accessed from the drive. Or worse, destroyed.

Data stored on our laptop hard drives are most critical, since they can be more expensive than desktop PC hard drives, and tricky to repair.

The first item that you'll need for backing up your data is some form of data storage. The amount of storage you'll need of course depends on how much data you're backing up.

For some, a recordable CD or DVD might be plenty. If your laptop or desktop PC doesn't have a recordable optical drive installed, you can easily use an external DVD burner. This should be enough if you're backing up your documents, address book, email, internet bookmarks, or other small projects.

For things like this, you should probably create a CD or DVD back-up disc once every week. I suggest doing so on a Friday evening, so you have complete peace of mind for the weekend.

You might have projects that you want to back up daily. Losing even a day's worth of work can be cumbersome, depending on what your project might be. Backing up your work to a new CD-R or DVD-R can get expensive, so in this case I recommend a portable USB flash drive. 1GB to 8GB should suffice, though larger capacities are available, should you need it. You'll not only have more storage space available on a thumb drive, but there are also security applications out there that will protect the data in case of theft.

If you have much more data that you'd like to insure an extra copy of, then you might want to invest in an external hard drive. An external hard drive is ideal for copying large media files (video or music collections), digital photo collections, or software downloads. A hard drive that's the same, if not double the capacity of your local hard drive is most recommended. As of the time of this writing, a 1TB (that's 1,000 gigabytes) external hard drive can easily be bought for under $80.

Off-site data storage services are also available. Depending on the service you sign up for (like Carbonite or Mozy), you'll be able to upload your data to their backup facility. This kind of service is useful in the event of a disaster that destroys all your local equipment. After all, if a fire or flood destroys your computer and the back-up drive sitting next to it, you're still out of luck.

Now that you have the storage, you'll need the tools to start creating the back-ups. A computer novice may make the mistake of simply storing their files on the external drive and call it a "back-up". But here's the rule: If you only have one copy, it's not a back-up! You'll need to create and synch multiple copies of your files to truly cover your bases.

Windows has some built-in back-up utilities, depending on which version you're using. You'll be able to create back-ups of files, settings, or your hard drive's entire contents.

Windows XP has its Backup Utility in the Start menu here:

Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Backup

In Windows Vista and the new Windows 7, go to the Backup and Restore Center from your Control Panel. From there, go into System and Maintenance and click on Backup your computer. From here, you'll have the option to use Automatic Backup, which will schedule a regular back-up of selected files. Complete PC Backup will back-up everything, including system files and your installed applications.

There are plenty of third-party software utilities as well; many of them available for free. Though most of the free ones will only create copies of files and synchronize your back-ups with your local data.

High-end back-up software (such as Acronis True Image or Norton Ghost) will create complete disk images of your local drive. A disk image is essentially an exact copy of everything on a hard drive contained in one massive file.

This is why I recommended an external drive that's equal or greater than your local drive, as you may want to create multiple disk images. You can then use these images to perfectly recreate your system onto a new hard drive. This is a fantastic ability for not only replacing damaged drives, but also for simple hard drive upgrades.


In the unfortunate event that your hard drive does fail, Triangle Laptops can help you recover your lost data. As part of our laptop repair service, we perform an extensive check on your failed hard drive and take as many steps necessary to recover your important files.

For more information about laptop hard drive data recovery, take a look at our laptop repair service page. You can also send us your questions via email or call toll-free 1-877-456-7869.

Privacy on Social Networks

Social networking online has exploded over the past decade. Services like Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter have made the web incredibly accessible for everyone to create their own content to share with the world. It's never been easier to express yourself and communicate with friends.

This revolution we know as "Web 2.0" is phenomenal, but is also a double-edged sword. Used irresponsibly, social networking services can be used by criminals to take advantage of us. Employers look to the web to keep tabs on their staff, using what they find to affect whether they hire or fire employees.

Students tend to be the most careless with their digital footprints, but anyone can make devastating mistakes online. It's easiest to just say not to sign up for any social networking sites, but with so many people depending on those services and other websites integrating social networking features, it's almost impossible to avoid.

Here are some tips for protecting yourself against online predators...


Use Private or Friends Only

Most online networking services offer security functions for their members. If you do have any photos that may appear a bit shady, you should set them so that only those specified on your Friends list are able to see. Some services are keen enough to let you select only certain friends or groups can see certain material on your page. This is especially helpful if you choose to include co-workers into your social network.

By default, most online services are set to display all of your information publicly. You'll need to go into your user settings and choose what content you want to be made public and what you want to give restricted access.


Pretend It's Your Mom

The easiest rule of thumb is to not publish anything on the web that you wouldn't want your mother to see. Regardless of your security settings, files can still be shared by third parties across the web. Once it's on the loose, it's only a matter of time before it reaches someone who disapproves.

You're lucky if a photo taken at a drunken New Year's party is only embarrassing. In may ways, your boss at work is like your mother, because if you're caught misbehaving, being fired is like being grounded.


Use Email to Send Photos

Many people use social networking sites to host and share photos. But if there are photos that you really only want to share with a few people, it might be best to simply attach them to an email. Try to think of it as the difference between sending a letter directly to someone and posting it on a public bulletin board.

This could also be a big favor to friends that you want to show photos to, but don't want to sign up for their own Facebook or MySpace account. Some people may appreciate a direct correspondence, rather than making them put forth the effort to look at what you want them to see.


Don't Post Personal Information

This is the mistake that most students tend to make, especially teenagers. Stalkers or sexual predators often disguise themselves as a student-aged person to start up an online relationship with their victims. They'll then use any personal information found on a website to contact young, naïve people to contact them.

Addresses, and phone numbers are definite no-no's. Avoid letting your age be known, since that may attract predators. Posting your email in public may be okay, especially if you set up a separate email account to use exclusively for your social networking accounts. If your website account is for personal use, you should also avoid sharing information about where you work or go to school.

Making too much personal information available can also leave you susceptible to identification theft. Never share your social security number or drivers license information with anyone online.


Use Pseudonyms

If you're a blogger that enjoys writing about controversial topics, you may want to use a nom de plum. Make that part of yourself into an online persona, giving out no personal information whatsoever. This practice goes back to the old days of the internet, when most users would adopt an online handle (or nickname) to provide themselves with a level of anonymity. In a way, it's like being yourself without anyone knowing it's really you.

The only exception is if you intend to blog professionally. In that case, you'll definitely want to post some kind of contact info, but no more than you'd put onto a business card.

Ergonomic Health Tips for Laptop Users

More and more people are relying on laptops to get their work done. Laptops allow us to improve our productivity by working on tasks just about anywhere; not just in the office or class. In fact, in 2005 laptop computers outsold desktop PCs for the first time in history. With prices of laptops continuing to drop and netbooks making portable computing even more accessible, more and more people are relying on laptops for their primary computer.

With this trend on the rise, there are some increasing health risks that affect the growing number of users. No, it's not catching a computer virus—it's more about how we position ourselves while we use our laptops. According to the 2007 Labor Force Survey, nearly half a million workers suffer from upper limb disorders. Staying in the wrong position for long periods of time over the course of months or years can do significant nerve and joint damage.

Below are some helpful tips for avoiding some painful ergonomic conditions that may arise from avid laptop use.


Use a Separate Keyboard & Mouse

For your eyes and your posture, it's ideal for your keyboard to be close to you and your screen to be at a distance. Unfortunately, those two devices are firmly connected to each other on a laptop.

So unless you're using our laptop on the go, use an external keyboard and mouse whenever possible. An external keyboard can be moved to whatever position is most comfortable and convenient for you. You can even use an ergonomic keyboard as an alternative. Using an external mouse also gives you more freedom to move about than awkward laptop touchpads or trackballs.

USB keyboards and mice are very affordable and Bluetooth keyboards and mice greatly help with mobility.


Use a Docking Station or Stand

As much as possible, resting your laptop on your lap. The heat that a laptop produces can do internal damage to your legs with long-term direct contact. Instead, set the laptop on a stable surface. Better still, use a docking station or laptop stand. They're specially designed to keep your laptop steady and most expand your laptop's functionality.


Get in Position



While typing, we tend to lean or hunch over to get your face closer to the screen. Your back should be straight with your head centered above your shoulders. The best place to position your keyboard is level with your elbows as your arms are positioned where they're most comfortable.

If necessary, place a pillow or cushion underneath your forearms for additional coziness. Contrary to popular belief, you shouldn't rely on resting your wrists on a wrist pad. Instead, keep your wrists straight with your arms and rest the ball of your hand on the pad.


Adjust Your Screen

The best viewing distance between you and your screen is between 18-30 inches. A good way to avoid eyestrain is to position your screen perpendicular to your line of sight. It's also helpful to lower the light level in the room, if possible, to reduce glare.

Clean off your LCD screen often, but be gentle since too much pressure can damage the displays pixels. And always use proper cleaning fluids.


Take Frequent Breaks

Of course...take a break; you've earned it! Every 30-60 minutes, take a quick breather from your work. Stretch your arms and legs to help with blood flow and maybe take a quick walk around the office. This may help refresh your mind as well as your body.

To help prevent carpel tunnel syndrome, try this easy exercise with every break:

1. Make gripping motions with your hands. Squeezing a tennis ball is a great help.


2. Extend your arms with your palms facing forward. This will stretch the tendons in your wrist.


3. With arms still extended, make fists while turning your hands downward.


4. Finish it off with a good few swirls of the wrist.

Carry On

How you carry your laptop also as important as how you use it. Try not to overload your laptop's travel bag with additional cargo. This will take extra weight off of your shoulder. To further improve comfort, use a travel bag that has a cushion on the shoulder strap. Switch shoulders periodically to balance out the burden on your shoulder muscles.

Backpacks that are designed for carrying laptops are great for not only distributing the laptop's weight on your back, but also as camouflage for potential thieves. Wheeled luggage carts are even better since they take the weight off your body entirely.


Make it a Habit

It's always best to get in some preventive medicine. If you wait for when you start feeling the pain, then it's too late—the damage is already done. Instead, start getting into these habits early. Your aching co-workers may notice your exercises and ask, "But you don't have any joint problems!" You can then tell them that's right...that's how you know it works!


For more information about laptop docking stations and other useful laptop accessories, please take a look at our online store. You can also contact us with any questions via email or by calling 1-877-456-7869.

Top 10 Laptop Battery Tips

Your laptop battery is the lifeblood of your portable computer work. The longer a laptop battery can stay juiced up, the more work we can get done between charges. And when the battery eventually dies, it can be costly to replace. More so if you have an older laptop whose parts are hard to find.

So in order to keep your laptop running strong, you'll need to take good care of your battery. It's easy to neglect the laptop battery; they don't stand out as much as most notebook accessories. As they say, out of sight, out of mind.

To arm you with the knowledge you need to maintain your beloved laptop, we've come up with this list of essential Top 10 tips for extending the life of your laptop's battery!


1. Avoid The "Memory Effect"

Older laptops that use nickel-metal hybrid batteries are tricky in how they are charged. If you frequently use battery power for a short period of time before recharging it, the battery life will gradually shorten.

For example, if you typically use only 15% of the battery's power before recharging it back to full capacity, the batter will "remember" this habit and over time will only make that 15% available. That means 85% of the battery's full capacity will become wasted. For older batteries, it's best to not recharge it until it reaches below 25%. This will improve the battery's chances of "remembering" its actual full capacity.

Laptop owners with newer Lithium-Ion batteries shouldn't worry about this phenomenon. In fact, a full depletion of battery charge is only recommended for every 30 recharges.


2. Power Options

You can easily adjust the power settings in your laptop to optimize your battery power usage. For Windows users, access Power Options in your Control Panel. From there, select the Max Battery power scheme to get the most power from the battery. Adjust the wait time before the laptop's screen or hard drive is shut off.


Mac users can click on System Preferences from the Apple Menu. When running on battery power, select the Power Saver power plan. When your laptop is plugged into an AC adapter, switch the power plan to High-Performance. You can adjust when the screen shuts off from here as well.


3. Keep The Laptop Cool

As is true for any type of hardware, heat is a killer. Never place your laptop on an insulated surface like a pillow or blanket. Avoid using your laptop in areas where the temperature exceeds 80°F. Make a habit of blowing compressed air through your laptop's fans and vents to clear out any dust or hair. And if at all possible, get a cooling pad to rest under your laptop to insure a cooling airflow.


4. Hibernate, Not Stand By

Two key areas to pay attention to while you're managing your laptop's power options are Hibernate and Stand By. Sending your system to Stand By will save some power while the laptop is idle, but many functions remain active.

When your laptop goes into hibernation, it saves the state that your system is in before shutting itself off. When the laptop switches back on, that state is send back into memory so you can pick up where you left off while saving significantly more power in the meantime.


5. Save To The Hard Drive

It may not look like it, but CD- and DVD-ROM drives use a lot of power to keep spinning. If you need to access multiple or large files that are stored on a disc, save the files to the hard drive first. You'll save a lot of power reading the files from the hard drive than keeping the optical drive's motor continuously spinning.


6. Defrag Often


Since we recommend reading your data from the hard drive, you'll need to make sure the hard drive is in optimal shape. The easiest thing to do is to defragment the hard drive every week or two. By defragmenting our hard drive, data that's used most often is kept close together. As a result, the hard drive won't have to work as hard to gather up that data, thus using less power.

As a bonus, you'll notice a vast improvement in load time!


7. Avoid Multitasking

The more tasks that your system has to juggle, the more battery power you'll eat up. If possible, try to only have one or two applications running at a time. Using the Task Manager in Windows, shut down all the background processes that you aren't currently using.

Multitasking applies to hardware as well! Minimize the amount of devices you have connected to the laptop at a time. Each USB device you have connected to the laptop uses battery power to operate. Obviously, it may not be wise to charge the battery in your cell phone or iPod through a USB cable while your laptop itself is running off battery power.


8. Dim Your Screen

Your laptop's monitor screen is like a big, flat light bulb. Turn the brightness setting of your laptop's display as low as you can comfortably see. If you're using your laptop in a dark room, you should be able to turn the brightness levels to their lowest setting while still seeing the display clearly.

As mentioned before, set the display to turn off shortly after you stop working on the laptop. Avoid relying on a screensaver while on battery power, since they tend to keep the screen's backlight on unnecessarily as your laptop sits idle.


9. Disable WiFi

If you're not accessing the internet while you're running on battery power, disable your laptop's wireless internet adapter. Even if you're not actively working online, the wireless adapter will continue to seek and connect with nearby WiFi hotspots.


10. Disconnect The Battery

If you're at home or anywhere that you can connect your laptop to a laptop AC adapter, you may want to remove the battery once it's been fully recharged. This will decrease the risk of overloading the battery. Store the battery in a cool place, since heat can damage the battery even when not in use. A fully-charged battery should be used again within three weeks in order to maintain longevity.

While your battery is disconnected, it's important to keep the connectors clean. Use light amounts of rubbing alcohol on the connectors of the battery and the laptop (just make sure the laptop is turned off first!).


One habit we like to encourage: Always keep a spare! While traveling with your laptop, keep a spare laptop battery packed with you in case your first battery gets used up.

Additionally, we recommend carrying a spare laptop AC adapter wherever you take your laptop so you're never too far from a recharge.

If you're experiencing strange power glitches in your laptop that you can't explain, we can take a look at it for you! Our laptop repair service includes checking your laptop's battery or DC power jack. For any questions, send us an email or call 919-620-6886.

Awesome Gaming Laptop Tips

Traditionally, laptop computers have been used for business and academic applications. But as laptop technology has advanced, video game lovers have been generating demand for high-powered gaming laptops for portable PC gaming. Using a laptop PC for video games is a fantastic way to play your favorite games anytime, anywhere. Especially when gathering with your friends in a multiplayer LAN party.

If you're shopping around for a new laptop with gaming in mind, there are some things that you need to be aware of in order to give yourself the best laptop gaming experience possible. We've put together some ideas for you to help you along!


MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

Every PC game comes with a list of minimum system requirements needed to play the game. If your specs don't make the grade, then it's game over before you've even begun!

Video games will also list the recommended system specifications that the developers suggest for the best results for playing their games. It's best to look at some of the newest titles that are out right now and look for a laptop with hardware specs that are just above the games' recommended requirements. Not only will you be ready to play the hot new titles, but you'll also have invested in being prepared for games coming out in the near future.


At the time of this writing, we recommend a laptop that has at least a dual-core CPU of 1.6Ghz, 60GB of available hard drive space, and as much RAM as you can get!


PRICE

Naturally, the price of a laptop weighs heavy into how you shop. If you're looking for a laptop that you know you'll want to use for video games, then you'll have spend a bit more. Realistically, low-priced netbooks and "red tag sale" laptops will only frustrate you if you try to use them for video games.

The only exception being if you have a more casual attitude toward gaming and intend to use your laptop to play PC games that are older than 7 years or Flash games found on the web. Otherwise, expect to pay at least $1500 for a machine capable of playing current popular game titles.


VIDEO PROCESSOR

A computer's GPU (or Graphics Processor Unit) is the keystone of a PC video game's performance. What you definitely don't want is a graphics processor that's integrated with the motherboard. A separate graphics card is best since it takes care of the whole video workload by itself, freeing the laptop's system resources.

ATi and nVidia make the best laptop graphics cards on the market right now with 128MB-256MB of video memory.


SCREEN SIZE

How you view your video games is a crucial part of how you interact with them. Luckily, laptop LCD screens have come a long way in quality over the past couple of years. While smaller displays come with the territory of smaller, more portable laptops, size matters for video games.

For the best view of your PC games, you'll want a laptop screen that's at least 15 inches. We recommend a screen that's closer to 17 inches just so you don't have to squint as much while trying to concentrate on a PC game's finer graphical details. A screen with a natural resolution of 1280x800 pixels is also best for getting the clearest quality of picture.

You may need to consider whether or not you prefer a laptop with a standard or widescreen LCD display. More computer monitors and laptop LCD screens are being produced in widescreen format to keep up with trends in high-definition television.


However, not as many PC games are being developed with widescreen displays in mind. Playing a PC game in fullscreen mode on a widescreen display may cause the game to appear stretched out or fuzzy. We recommend a widescreen display because of its advantages outside of gaming and in expectation that more PC game developers will adopt widescreen display options.

Of course there are details like contrast, viewing angles, etc., but that’s a whole different topic in itself! The best idea is to go to your local retailer’s laptop displays and let your eyes be the judge. Note the specs of whichever ones look the best to you and shop around for laptop models with similar displays.


PERIPHERALS

There's always more gadgets that you can add to your laptop to enhance your gaming experience! Most laptop owners that use a laptop at home prefer to connect a full-sized USB keyboard and mouse, as well as connect their laptop to a docking station or port replicator to expand their audio/video options.

Whether you're at home or on the go, we recommend at least using a USB optical mouse with your laptop for the best possible control of your game.

The #1 killer of computer hardware is heat and laptops are notorious for overheating, due to their compact design. Of course, nothing heats up a system more than a CPU/GPU generating high-quality 3D graphics! For this, you should look into picking up a cooling fan for your laptop. If for no other reason than to keep from cooking your legs from resting your laptop on your lap! Ouch!

Most PC games come with the option to play with a gamepad or joystick, which is great for people who aren't used to playing on a keyboard. Arguably, the gamer's favorite controller design of all-time is Sony's Dual Shock controller for its PlayStation consoles. By using a PlayStation-to-PC USB adapter, you can connect any PSone or PS2 controller to your laptop.

This includes any other controller accessory made for PlayStation, like steering wheels and dance pads. The most popular use is for connecting arcade-style joysticks for playing classic arcade games or competitive fighting games like Street Fighter IV.


For all of our available video game accessories, please browse through our online store. If you have any questions about PC gaming or for more gaming laptop advice, please feel free to send us an email!

Back-To-School Checklist for Laptops

The new school year is upon us! With the fall semester just about to start, it's important to make sure that you or your student are well equipped for handling all their schoolwork.

To make sure you have everything you need to be prepared, we've put together a list of tips to maximize your gear:


NETBOOKS

Netbooks are the hottest new tool for portable computing. They're ideal for students because of their petite, travel-friendly size, economic prices, and easy mobile web access. While they're not as powerful as most desktop or laptop computers, they pack just enough power to dedicate to schoolwork and basic web-based communication.

Whichever model of netbook you plan to buy, you'll need to make sure that you have all the right netbook accessories. Using a slim, external DVD drive is essential for installing all the necessary software that you or your student may need for school projects. Netbooks lack any kind of optical disc drive, so it's good idea if you need to read or backup any data to a CD or DVD. You may also want to pick up a spare netbook AC adapter, to make sure that your netbook can be fully charged no matter where you go.


LAPTOP BATTERIES
& AC ADAPTERS

Notebook PCs need love just as much as netbooks. If you're frequently on the move, keep a spare laptop battery handy to double your mobile computer work time. And just in case of an emergency, pack a spare laptop AC adapter to make sure that you're laptop is powered up and your work time goes on, uninterrupted.


SECURITY CABLES

Keeping your laptop or netbook secure is crucial to keep from falling into the hands of thieves. Most laptops and netbooks come equipped with slots to connect a Kensington notebook security cable lock. These laptop cable locks will keep your notebook or netbook firmly tethered so that they don't sprout wings and fly away. Laptops are expensive enough to replace, but imagine losing any irreplaceable schoolwork that might be stored inside!


BACK-UP!

Hardware failure, viruses, theft... No matter how you lose your data, it could cost you hours, days, or even weeks worth of work! Back up your data routinely; preferably every day. You can use a USB thumb drive (2GB or more) or an external DVD burner for backing up smaller files or projects, or you can use a larger external hard drive for larger tasks. Remember, though, it's only a back-up if you have more than one copy!


WIRELESS CARDS

Public WiFi access is increasing, with free wireless web access becoming available in most restaurants and other local businesses. However, not every laptop comes with wireless hardware built in. If your laptop doesn't have a laptop wireless card, you should definitely get one. With wireless accessibility, your laptop can truly be mobile, connecting to local wireless networks and WiFi hotspots.

Staying connected is becoming more and more critical for school to keep in touch with teachers, fellow students, and other online resources.


DOCKING STATIONS

If you want to get the most out of your laptop, you can use a laptop port replicator or docking station to expand the functionality of the laptop while working at home.

A laptop itself is excellent for mobile computing, but when you return home to your desk, it's nice to be able to view your work on a larger monitor and hear music through full-sized speakers. A port replicator can get your laptop working like a desktop, allowing it to connect to just about any computer accessory.


TRAVEL BAGS

While carrying around your laptop, you want to make sure that it has as much protection as possible. Most people use laptop travel bags (which are great), but they stand out like a beacon through the eyes of thieves. Your best bet is to use a backpack to blend in with the crowd, but make sure it has extra padding to protect your laptop. Many new backpacks are designed with special compartments for storing laptops or netbooks, so picking up one of those is definitely recommended.


GAMING

Naturally you'll want to have some fun with your laptop or netbook. Any computer you own for the purpose of school or business should be considered a tool first and a toy well below that. But there's always that rule of all work and no play...

To provide some extra comfort in your game time, we offer the PlayStation-to-PC USB adapter. This little gadget will let you connect any PSone or PS2 controller or accessory to your PC. It's compatible with any desktop, laptop, or notebook computer with an available USB 2.0 port. It's great for any joystick-enabled PC games or ports of classic games found on download services like Steam.


With all this kit on hand, you should be ready to make the grade! Of course, if you're ever in need of repair or upgrade service for your netbook or notebook PC, Triangle Laptops offers it's fantastic laptop repair service in order to keep your computer up and running! For more information, please visit the Triangle Laptops homepage or call 1-919-620-6886.

Choosing the Best Landscape Lighting Light Bulbs

We’re always happy to receive feedback from our customers; especially when they provide handy tips for our products!

One customer, Jeff, recently contacted us about some landscape lighting light bulbs that he’d recently purchased from us. Jeff was looking for an solution for a landscape lighting solution that was both energy-efficient and cost effective. Luckily for both of us, he found our CFL landscape lighting light bulbs.

Jeff writes:

I reported last year that I was trying some 12V MR16 LED bulbs for our landscape lights. While they worked well, the better ones were pretty expensive at about $20 each. More recently I found a 5W Feit 12V MR16 compact fluorescent light bulbs that works very well in the landscape lights, and is less than half the price of the better LED bulbs. The Feit model number is BPESLEXN. I just finished converting all our 20W halogens to these CFLs, and they put out the same amount of light on 1/4 the power. Any noise generated by them is blocked by the step-down transformer, and the in-line X10 relay switch powering that transformer still works fine.

Thanks for the in-depth evaluation, Jeff! Triangle Laptops aims to carry the best products to suit our customers' needs. It's great to know that CFL light bulbs are proving to be the recommended choice for landscape lighting light bulbs.

Laptop Travel Tips for Your Summer Vacation

Summer is upon us! Kids are getting out of school and it’s time to think about how we’re going to spend our vacation time.

Of course, we can’t escape completely—we live in an age where we can still bring our computers with us wherever we go to stay current with work and keep in touch with friends. Better still: Blog about your adventures! Portable laptops and netbook PCs have made it too convenient (though not necessarily in a bad way) to bring our desktop environment with us on summer trips.

That being a given, there are some important things to keep in mind in order to keep your laptop and precious data safe while traveling. Here are some summer laptop tips:


TAKE A SPARE BATTERY AND AC ADAPTER

There’s nothing more essential to a laptop than keeping it powered up. Remember to bring along your laptop’s AC adapter so that you can plug into any nearby outlet, wherever you might be staying. Also be sure that you have the right power cords and international power adapters if you’re vacationing to countries with different power plugs. It’s also a clever idea to keep a spare AC adapter around: One for home and one for travel.

Of course, for true portability, the laptop battery frees us from the tether of a power cord. Especially if you’re booting up inside planes, trains, and automobiles. The average battery is built to last just a few hours. For extra long trips and emergencies, keep an extra battery handy!


USE A TRAVEL BAG

You’ll need a place to store your laptop, adapter, batteries, and whatever other gadgets you carry with you. A laptop travel bag holds your laptop accessories all in one convenient place, wrapped in protective padding to prevent damage.

However, most experts will agree that it’s wise to use travel bags other than a traditional laptop bag. When a thief sees a laptop bag, they know exactly what’s inside; almost as if you’ve stuck a “Steal me!” sign on your computer. Instead, use a well padded backpack or messenger bag. Since they’re more common, they’re less likely to be stolen.


SECURE YOUR LAPTOP

While you and your family are out seeing the sights, you should secure your laptop in case of a break in. A laptop security lock and cable will fasten your notebook so that the bad guys can’t make off with it.

In the event that your laptop still gets stolen, you’ll also need to protect your data. A laptop only costs a few hundred dollars to replace; the private data that criminals can pull from your laptop can cost you thousands! Password protect as much software as you can. It may be a hassle at times, but it could very well save you.

There’s also the option of using a USB security key. These devices look similar to USB thumb drives and are very reasonably priced. Most of these security keys use software that will keep your laptop’s data encrypted or limit access unless they’re connected to the laptop while running. Fancy ones have features like thumb print scanners to insure that you and only you are the one accessing your personal computer.


REMEMBER ALL CABLES AND ADAPTERS

If you plan on looking over the photos on your digital camera while on your trip, you’ll need to be able to get those files from your camera to your laptop. To pull the files from the camera’s memory card, there are a wide variety of flash card readers that will do the trick, but that’s unnecessary weight to be carrying around. The most convenient method is connecting the digital camera directly to the laptop and reading the files from there. Most digital cameras are equipped with a mini-USB port to connect to any PC.

Keep a couple mini-USB cables stashed in your laptop travel bag, depending on how many gadgets you bring along with you. Mini-USB is a near-universal connection for plugging portable electronic devices to a PC. You can even use them to charge your cell phone or video games, like the Sony PSP, in case you’d like to leave their bulky AC adapters at home!


USE A WIRELESS PLAN FROM YOUR MOBILE PROVIDER

It’s possible to find free wireless hotspots while you’re on vacation, but who wants to drive around searching for one when you could be relaxing by the pool? You can sign up for a data plan through your mobile phone service for your own secured connection. Most services are able to provide connection speeds as fast as broadband!


PORTABLE PC ON A USB DRIVE

There’s always the crazy alternative: Leave the laptop at home! If you’re visiting family or anywhere else that already has an accessible computer with an internet connection, you can still carry your own software, settings, and files with the use of a simple USB flash drive.

There are hundreds of free portable applications that can easily be installed on a USB flash drive that will allow you to check your email, edit pictures, and even balance your check book wherever you go! They’re very effective for their size and you should be able to pack all you need in a USB drive no larger than 2GB.

It’s easy to find portable, stand-alone applications online, but the easiest way is to install the PortableApps Suite onto the USB drive. It comes with several popular applications and you can add as many as you want from their software library. Best of all, they’re all free!


With these tips, you'll earn yourself some peace of mind with your laptop by your side. After all, you should relax...you're on vacation!

Connect Your Laptop To Your TV With Ease!

With streaming video services like NetFlix and Hulu, watching high quality movies and television shows on-demand are just a click away. But how comfortable can it be to watch them sitting in your desk chair on a cramped computer screen? Nothing beats snuggling up with your loved ones on a couch across from a large, high-def screen.

So how do we bring the convenience of internet broadcasting together with the comfort of the living room theater? It’s easier than you think, and in fact there are dozens of ways to do it!

A lot of people will build a dedicated media center PC that stays connected to their entertainment center. This is a great option, but that kind of hardware can be bulky and incredibly expensive.

We recommend taking advantage of a laptop for this setup. They’re compact and mobile, so they won’t take up too much space in your entertainment center. If you already have a laptop, you’ll save money by getting extra use out of something you already own. And if you don’t have a laptop, they’re fairly inexpensive and you get the dual benefit of having an excellent media device and a portable computer!

Now it’s time to hook it up! The first question is how to connect the video. Laptops typically have a video output of some kind built into them. Older laptops may have a Composite or S-video connection. Newer laptops are readily equipped with DVI or even HDMI (which is the best option). Just about all will have a VGA output. If your laptop doesn’t have DVI or HDMI, then VGA is possibly your best option since it’s still able to support higher screen resolutions.

If you have a high-definition television, you’re in luck because most new HDTVs have input connections for just about all forms of video input. In some cases you may need to get an adapter. For example, if your HDTV doesn’t support VGA, you can get a VGA-to-DVI or VGA-to-Component adapter. For older TVs, you may have to get an S-video-to-Composite adapter.

Of course, one of the best options is to use a laptop docking station or port replicator for your laptop. A laptop port replicator expands the capabilities of your laptop, giving it the full array of connections found in a full-sized PC. For example, the Dell Precision E/Port Plus port replicator has two DVI outputs, allowing for a simultaneous dual-screen setup with high-definition displays.

A laptop port replicator will also give you more audio options. Most laptops will only be equipped with the standard 3.5mm headphone jack. Laptop docking stations can have better audio options, including optical connections for the best quality digital sound. In some cases, the headphone jack of a laptop is rigged to double as a digital coaxial output, so you may need a 3.5mm-to-RCA digital coaxial adapter. Or, there are external USB soundcards that will come with the connectors you need.

Once you have the hardware together, it’s time to boot up! If the picture doesn’t show up on your TV right away, you may need to adjust the video software settings on the laptop. For machines running Windows, simply right-click on the desktop and click on the Properties option. In the Display Properties, click on the Settings tab on the right. From there, you can either set the TV as an extension of the laptop’s screen, or set it as the single primary display.

All that’s left is to pull up your favorite video, full-screen it, and hit Play! With this set up, you can also play your favorite games, give presentations, or watch photo slideshows.

8 Easy Laptop Security Tips

There are few things scarier than having your laptop stolen or compromised. Most of us rely on our notebook PCs as the keystone of our professions. There are always people out there that would like nothing more than to steal your private data.

Here are some handy tips for beefing up your laptop's security so that you can rest easy about your crucial data...

1. Back up your data and do it often! Invest in an external hard drive to copy your files to each night. Thumb drives are great for smaller documents. Some people back up their files on to recordable CDs or DVDs to store at home or office. You can also sign up for off-sight back-up services that will let you upload your data to a secure location. These services are great in the event of a fire or traveling.
   
   


2. Disable the infrared sensor, if your laptop has one. Bad guys can access your laptop remotely through it.
   
   


3. Don't trust WiFi! Wireless internet connection is a fantastic convenience, but free WiFi hotspots allow anyone on that network to access your laptop. This includes website passwords, unencrypted email... All the private information you need to keep private!
   
   


4. Rename your Windows "Administrator" account. Many hackers go right for that account once they can get into your machine. You can even create a bogus "Administrator" login and a few extra redundant accounts to throw them off the trail.
   
   


5. Use a docking station for your home or office. This will lock down the laptop to a more secure location, in case visitors or staff get a case of sticky fingers. It also gives you a place to charge your battery and back up your data when you're not traveling.
   
   


6. Use a complicated password. The best type of password is a completely random mess of numbers, letters, and symbols. But if you need to use words for a mnemonic, replace some of the letters with similar numbers. For example: "p4s5w0rd".
   
   


7. Don't save passwords or use automatic logins for websites on your laptop. If someone were to get their hands on your laptop, they'd have instant access to all those important accounts. Anywhere from your FaceBook to your online banking!
   
   


8. Finally, use encryption whenever possible. There are loads of software and USB devices out there that will help keep your data encrypted and secure.

Keeping your data secure will save you loads of time and money. With these simple tips, you should be able to sleep easy knowing that your vital data is safe.

Have any tips of your own? Add them to the comments! We'd love to hear any ideas that we might have missed!