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Actual for You - How to Buy a Laptop / Notebook Computer
As entrepreneurs looking to grow our businesses, we mostly tend to focus on the marketing of our businesses (and I applaud this, of course). I’m known to get on my soap box and say, “If you don’t market today, you won’t have clients in 6 months. And if you don’t market consistently, you won’t have clients consistently.” Obviously, marketing is crucial to staying in business.One thing that’s become clearer and clearer to me over the years is that there’s also an INNER game to Client Attraction. Our mindset, our thoughts, our beliefs and how we FEEL, have a lot to do with what shows up in our lives and our business. What we think about, and how good or bad we feel, literally dictates the number of clients and the level of revenues we pull in.Client Attraction is just that, PULLING in what we want.I’ve been studying the Law of Attraction for many years and have been w
Don’t ignore a floppy drive - most laptops don’t have floppy drives any more. But don’t worry - USB external floppy drives are cheap. Ask the salesman to give you one for free; he will oblige you if he wants to make the sale. While you are at it, ask him for a free laptop bag as well.
Get a laptop with lots of USB ports which will come in handy and will improve the versatility of your laptop. Make sure that the USB ports are USB 2 (technology which is much faster than the old USB 1.0). An external USB mouse is a must as the inbuilt pointing devices are really painful to use.
All laptops come with built in modems and usually have LAN connectivity. Some laptops offer card slots where you can read/write to memory cards (as used in cameras).
Most laptop companies offer minimum software - Windows XP and basic stuff. They won’t even give you Office software. You will have to add more software yourself. To keep prices
Link building is such an important area of owning a business website. It’s a great way to promote your site and your business. And it is also critical for search engine rankings. Think of link building as networking for your site. The more people that know about your site and can find it the better.Like networking, link building is fairly simple. It’s all about communication. The drawback – you have to invest a lot of time. Here is the basic process of link building. You need to find websites that you would like to link with. You have to make a request to get a link from theses sites. Then you have to wait for an answer to your request. You have to manage the links on your site. Finally you have to make sure that the link is actually in place. As you can see from this process it relies to a great deal on other people’s participation. This is where it gets tricky as there are no guarantees that p
Before I go into details, a quick recap of processors is essential. Be aware that it is the processor (cpu) that governs the price of the laptop (along with the screen size). The two major companies manufacturing CPUs are Intel and AMD (there’s Apple too but lets stick to mainstream laptops). Intel makes the famous line of Pentium processors (’’Intel inside’’ ting tong ting tong!). For laptops you have three main cpus available - Mobile Pentium 4 (basically a desktop P4 processor), Pentium M (low voltage cpus which enhance battery life and are specially built for laptops) and the Mobile Celeron processor (poor man’s P4 cpu). Wait a minute, you say, you didnt mention the Centrino processor. That’s because Centrino is not a processor - it’s a technology. Centrino is a combination of 3 things - Pentium M cpu + 855 chipset + Wireless Pro (802.11b). The other company is AMD - they make really good cpus that rival Intel’s cpus. Traditionally AMD cpus have had heat generation problems but lately there aren’t many complaints. I would advice you to stick to Intel processors which have good re-sale value.
The next Q is....what will you use the laptop for? Are you going to use it for simple stuff - spreadsheets/word processing / internet browsing? Then go in for a Celeron CPU. If you are going to do more serious computing, intend travelling frequently and want to run the laptop on its battery, go in for a Pentium M laptop. If you need wireless access go in for a Centrino laptop or a Pentium M laptop (u can add wireless technology using a pcmcia card). If you aren’t going to move the laptop around much or you want a laptop for games, get a Mobile P4 laptop. But be aware that a Mobile P4 laptop is a desktop replacement - it will be heavy and will run hot.
Now that you have the CPU decided, think about the size of the screen. 15’’ is today’s ’’sweet spot’’. But you do get smaller or bigger screens. Choose the size that fits your budget. 14’’ or less is a bit too small these days unless of course you want a ultra portable (read expensive) laptop. For gamers, the bigger the screen the more fun they will have. Bigger screens are also good for spreadsheet warriors and DTP professionals.
The next item on your list is RAM (temporary memory). Most laptops come with Windows XP which needs at least 256 mb ram to run happily. I urge you to upgrade to 512 ram for best results. The more RAM you have, the better your laptop will behave. It is said that increasing your RAM is the best and cheapest way of improving performance of any computer (i.e. without changing the motherboard/cpu).
Another thing to look at is the graphics memory. You can either choose dedicated video memory or shared architecture. Dedicated memory means that your video card has its own memory and does not have to ’’beg’’ for memory from the system memory (RAM). A rule of the thumb - dedicated memory = fast performance. Gamers and DTP guys must insist on dedicated memory. Good graphic chips are ATI Mobility Radeon or Nvidia GeForce. The more video memory you have, the better it is. Try to get a laptop with at least 32 mb video memory. Most laptops use shared architecture these days which is a cost cutting measure (an example of shared architecture is Intel’s extreme graphics). If you are not going to play serious 3D games or run heavy duty graphic programmes, shared architecture will be just fine. But make sure that you have enough system RAM (read 512) because the video memory is going to steal part of your RAM.
The hard drive capacity will be in the region of 30 gb and above. Get the maximum bang for your buck - don’t fall into the ’’I’ll never need that much capacity’’ rut. You will need all the hard drive space you are given so get the biggest capacity you can afford. For normal laptop users 40 gb is sufficient. You can easily increase hard drive space by buying an external USB 2.0 hard drive.
Battery life is very important for road warriors. Expect 3-5 hours battery life from most laptops. Mobile P4 laptop batteries will last much less. Always go in for a lithium ion battery as against a nickel hydride one.
Most laptops offer optical drives - the best value for money today is DVD-ROM + CD-RW drive. This means that you can read DVDs and read/write CDs. If you have lots of money to spend, get a laptop with a rewritable DVD drive.
Sound quality on laptops is just about acceptable for movies/songs/games – you cant go wrong with Harmon Kardon / Altec Lansing speakers.
One important factor to consider is weight. You don’t want a dislocated shoulder do you? So ....the lighter the laptop, the better it is for your health! The catch is that the lighter the laptop, the more expensive it is going to be. Don’t forget the AC adapter - some laptops have huge adapters which weigh a ton!
Don’t ignore a floppy drive - most laptops don’t have floppy drives any more. But don’t worry - USB external floppy drives are cheap. Ask the salesman to give you one for free; he will oblige you if he wants to make the sale. While you are at it, ask him for a free laptop bag as well.
Get a laptop with lots of USB ports which will come in handy and will improve the versatility of your laptop. Make sure that the USB ports are USB 2 (technology which is much faster than the old USB 1.0). An external USB mouse is a must as the inbuilt pointing devices are really painful to use.
All laptops come with built in modems and usually have LAN connectivity. Some laptops offer card slots where you can read/write to memory cards (as used in cameras).
Most laptop companies offer minimum software - Windows XP and basic stuff. They won’t even give you Office software. You will have to add more software yourself. To keep prices
Security Consultant's Perspective...Regardless of your type of business, size or location, the threat of workplace violence and terrorism is all around us these days. It could involve you, your employees and your business at any time. Protective Measures seem a bit of theatrics yet failure to be vigilant or to exercise due diligence could result in a disaster or a civil suit. I believe protecting the workforce is a never-ending task of vigilance, awareness and training. Protecting the Mail Rooms and educating your workforce is all part of the workplace security process. All employees should be given a security awareness briefing on the topic of handling suspicious pieces of mail and Mail Room Security Procedures.The Mail Room Threat...The handling and processing of incoming mail today remains a businesses weakest point. Incoming mail is not routinely isolated
The next Q is....what will you use the laptop for? Are you going to use it for simple stuff - spreadsheets/word processing / internet browsing? Then go in for a Celeron CPU. If you are going to do more serious computing, intend travelling frequently and want to run the laptop on its battery, go in for a Pentium M laptop. If you need wireless access go in for a Centrino laptop or a Pentium M laptop (u can add wireless technology using a pcmcia card). If you aren’t going to move the laptop around much or you want a laptop for games, get a Mobile P4 laptop. But be aware that a Mobile P4 laptop is a desktop replacement - it will be heavy and will run hot.
Now that you have the CPU decided, think about the size of the screen. 15’’ is today’s ’’sweet spot’’. But you do get smaller or bigger screens. Choose the size that fits your budget. 14’’ or less is a bit too small these days unless of course you want a ultra portable (read expensive) laptop. For gamers, the bigger the screen the more fun they will have. Bigger screens are also good for spreadsheet warriors and DTP professionals.
The next item on your list is RAM (temporary memory). Most laptops come with Windows XP which needs at least 256 mb ram to run happily. I urge you to upgrade to 512 ram for best results. The more RAM you have, the better your laptop will behave. It is said that increasing your RAM is the best and cheapest way of improving performance of any computer (i.e. without changing the motherboard/cpu).
Another thing to look at is the graphics memory. You can either choose dedicated video memory or shared architecture. Dedicated memory means that your video card has its own memory and does not have to ’’beg’’ for memory from the system memory (RAM). A rule of the thumb - dedicated memory = fast performance. Gamers and DTP guys must insist on dedicated memory. Good graphic chips are ATI Mobility Radeon or Nvidia GeForce. The more video memory you have, the better it is. Try to get a laptop with at least 32 mb video memory. Most laptops use shared architecture these days which is a cost cutting measure (an example of shared architecture is Intel’s extreme graphics). If you are not going to play serious 3D games or run heavy duty graphic programmes, shared architecture will be just fine. But make sure that you have enough system RAM (read 512) because the video memory is going to steal part of your RAM.
The hard drive capacity will be in the region of 30 gb and above. Get the maximum bang for your buck - don’t fall into the ’’I’ll never need that much capacity’’ rut. You will need all the hard drive space you are given so get the biggest capacity you can afford. For normal laptop users 40 gb is sufficient. You can easily increase hard drive space by buying an external USB 2.0 hard drive.
Battery life is very important for road warriors. Expect 3-5 hours battery life from most laptops. Mobile P4 laptop batteries will last much less. Always go in for a lithium ion battery as against a nickel hydride one.
Most laptops offer optical drives - the best value for money today is DVD-ROM + CD-RW drive. This means that you can read DVDs and read/write CDs. If you have lots of money to spend, get a laptop with a rewritable DVD drive.
Sound quality on laptops is just about acceptable for movies/songs/games – you cant go wrong with Harmon Kardon / Altec Lansing speakers.
One important factor to consider is weight. You don’t want a dislocated shoulder do you? So ....the lighter the laptop, the better it is for your health! The catch is that the lighter the laptop, the more expensive it is going to be. Don’t forget the AC adapter - some laptops have huge adapters which weigh a ton!
Don’t ignore a floppy drive - most laptops don’t have floppy drives any more. But don’t worry - USB external floppy drives are cheap. Ask the salesman to give you one for free; he will oblige you if he wants to make the sale. While you are at it, ask him for a free laptop bag as well.
Get a laptop with lots of USB ports which will come in handy and will improve the versatility of your laptop. Make sure that the USB ports are USB 2 (technology which is much faster than the old USB 1.0). An external USB mouse is a must as the inbuilt pointing devices are really painful to use.
All laptops come with built in modems and usually have LAN connectivity. Some laptops offer card slots where you can read/write to memory cards (as used in cameras).
Most laptop companies offer minimum software - Windows XP and basic stuff. They won’t even give you Office software. You will have to add more software yourself. To keep prices
I had an e-mail from Karon of Wollongong, Australia who finally plucked up the courage to ask her employer for some outside professional development training to be attended in working hours. Here is what she had to say.Encouraged by your newsletter I thought I would check if my company was willing to pay for training in company time so that I could advance my career within the company.I enjoy my job and I know they value my expertise, but they had never thought of staff development and although surprised by my request, and my sales pitch as to how it can benefit them, they said yes. That was the beginning of a nightmare. I knew I wanted to do Project Management, but had no idea how to look for an accredited course, if possible.I tried the Universities and TAFE colleges. None offered courses specifically dealing with Project Management, so I turned to the Internet. It soon became
Another thing to look at is the graphics memory. You can either choose dedicated video memory or shared architecture. Dedicated memory means that your video card has its own memory and does not have to ’’beg’’ for memory from the system memory (RAM). A rule of the thumb - dedicated memory = fast performance. Gamers and DTP guys must insist on dedicated memory. Good graphic chips are ATI Mobility Radeon or Nvidia GeForce. The more video memory you have, the better it is. Try to get a laptop with at least 32 mb video memory. Most laptops use shared architecture these days which is a cost cutting measure (an example of shared architecture is Intel’s extreme graphics). If you are not going to play serious 3D games or run heavy duty graphic programmes, shared architecture will be just fine. But make sure that you have enough system RAM (read 512) because the video memory is going to steal part of your RAM.
The hard drive capacity will be in the region of 30 gb and above. Get the maximum bang for your buck - don’t fall into the ’’I’ll never need that much capacity’’ rut. You will need all the hard drive space you are given so get the biggest capacity you can afford. For normal laptop users 40 gb is sufficient. You can easily increase hard drive space by buying an external USB 2.0 hard drive.
Battery life is very important for road warriors. Expect 3-5 hours battery life from most laptops. Mobile P4 laptop batteries will last much less. Always go in for a lithium ion battery as against a nickel hydride one.
Most laptops offer optical drives - the best value for money today is DVD-ROM + CD-RW drive. This means that you can read DVDs and read/write CDs. If you have lots of money to spend, get a laptop with a rewritable DVD drive.
Sound quality on laptops is just about acceptable for movies/songs/games – you cant go wrong with Harmon Kardon / Altec Lansing speakers.
One important factor to consider is weight. You don’t want a dislocated shoulder do you? So ....the lighter the laptop, the better it is for your health! The catch is that the lighter the laptop, the more expensive it is going to be. Don’t forget the AC adapter - some laptops have huge adapters which weigh a ton!
Don’t ignore a floppy drive - most laptops don’t have floppy drives any more. But don’t worry - USB external floppy drives are cheap. Ask the salesman to give you one for free; he will oblige you if he wants to make the sale. While you are at it, ask him for a free laptop bag as well.
Get a laptop with lots of USB ports which will come in handy and will improve the versatility of your laptop. Make sure that the USB ports are USB 2 (technology which is much faster than the old USB 1.0). An external USB mouse is a must as the inbuilt pointing devices are really painful to use.
All laptops come with built in modems and usually have LAN connectivity. Some laptops offer card slots where you can read/write to memory cards (as used in cameras).
Most laptop companies offer minimum software - Windows XP and basic stuff. They won’t even give you Office software. You will have to add more software yourself. To keep prices
When it comes to writing a new business plan, there is nothing quite as valuable as having a guide to go by, and having a quality business plan sample at hand will make the task of writing a new business plan a lot easier.While the exact needs of every business will differ, there are a number of elements that must be part of any type of business plan, and having a business plan sample at hand can help any business owner include these essential elements.Elements You Will Need To Include In Your Business PlanSome of the most important elements of any business plan sample will be such things as a current a pro forma balance sheet, a current income statement and an up to date analysis of cash flow.It is important to look for a business plan sample that includes all of these required elements, and just as important to tailor those elements to the needs of your own business
The hard drive capacity will be in the region of 30 gb and above. Get the maximum bang for your buck - don’t fall into the ’’I’ll never need that much capacity’’ rut. You will need all the hard drive space you are given so get the biggest capacity you can afford. For normal laptop users 40 gb is sufficient. You can easily increase hard drive space by buying an external USB 2.0 hard drive.
Battery life is very important for road warriors. Expect 3-5 hours battery life from most laptops. Mobile P4 laptop batteries will last much less. Always go in for a lithium ion battery as against a nickel hydride one.
Most laptops offer optical drives - the best value for money today is DVD-ROM + CD-RW drive. This means that you can read DVDs and read/write CDs. If you have lots of money to spend, get a laptop with a rewritable DVD drive.
Sound quality on laptops is just about acceptable for movies/songs/games – you cant go wrong with Harmon Kardon / Altec Lansing speakers.
One important factor to consider is weight. You don’t want a dislocated shoulder do you? So ....the lighter the laptop, the better it is for your health! The catch is that the lighter the laptop, the more expensive it is going to be. Don’t forget the AC adapter - some laptops have huge adapters which weigh a ton!
Don’t ignore a floppy drive - most laptops don’t have floppy drives any more. But don’t worry - USB external floppy drives are cheap. Ask the salesman to give you one for free; he will oblige you if he wants to make the sale. While you are at it, ask him for a free laptop bag as well.
Get a laptop with lots of USB ports which will come in handy and will improve the versatility of your laptop. Make sure that the USB ports are USB 2 (technology which is much faster than the old USB 1.0). An external USB mouse is a must as the inbuilt pointing devices are really painful to use.
All laptops come with built in modems and usually have LAN connectivity. Some laptops offer card slots where you can read/write to memory cards (as used in cameras).
Most laptop companies offer minimum software - Windows XP and basic stuff. They won’t even give you Office software. You will have to add more software yourself. To keep prices
Thinking about selling your home? Perhaps you should give this some thought too... I have already touched upon the importance of a home seller viewing himself or herself as the employer who is “hiring” an agent to sell their home and to screen them like you are hiring an employee. Specifically avoid hiring part time agents (unless you want part time representation).So let’s assume that you have retained an agent, your home is listed and you get an offer on your home. Sounds great right? Maybe, maybe not. When you accept an offer, depending on the language of the offer, you are effectively removing your home from the market until you determine whether the buyer can, in fact, buy the home. You would hope that there has been (and often is) some financial pre-qualification of the buyer by the agent before the offer is presented to you and accepted. But agents are not loan officers and sometimes
Don’t ignore a floppy drive - most laptops don’t have floppy drives any more. But don’t worry - USB external floppy drives are cheap. Ask the salesman to give you one for free; he will oblige you if he wants to make the sale. While you are at it, ask him for a free laptop bag as well.
Get a laptop with lots of USB ports which will come in handy and will improve the versatility of your laptop. Make sure that the USB ports are USB 2 (technology which is much faster than the old USB 1.0). An external USB mouse is a must as the inbuilt pointing devices are really painful to use.
All laptops come with built in modems and usually have LAN connectivity. Some laptops offer card slots where you can read/write to memory cards (as used in cameras).
Most laptop companies offer minimum software - Windows XP and basic stuff. They won’t even give you Office software. You will have to add more software yourself. To keep prices down, some companies offer Linux operating systems - unless you are seriously strapped for cash, I would advice you to stick to windows. As soon as you get your new laptop, make copies of the recovery CDs and store the original CDs safely. Carry the copies with you when travelling extensively.
Now, armed with the above knowledge dive into the market and choose the best laptop you can afford. Compaq and Toshiba make excellent laptops so check them out first. Compaq is generally cheaper than Toshiba. I used a Compaq laptop initially but later on moved to Toshiba as I found their laptops better. This is a personal choice so don’t read too much into it. Compaq and Toshiba are well established in most countries so repairs are not a problem. Find out where the nearest repair centre is and keep that information handy.
A laptop is usually a long term buy - forget about upgrading laptops. So choose carefully. Check the warranty - National and International. Remember that some companies will not honour your International warranty and will tell you to take the laptop back to the country where you bought it! Make sure you clarify this point before you buy the laptop.
Take good care of your laptop. Invest in a surge protector. Don’t move the laptop when it is switched on. And remember the golden rule - NEVER drink tea/coffee while working on a laptop!
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