Video gaming is a form of entertainment for all ages. The main demographic is 18–34 years, but those 34–54 are another big segment – even larger than the under-18 group – although the youngest group may spend the most hours gaming, especially during a pandemic. Regardless, PC gamers of any age want the most powerful and fastest computer they can get.
A laptop can hold your life. If you’re working from home, it’s essential to your income. For students, it’s where you keep all your notes and essays. Plus, there are the personal photos and videos. And you sometimes use it to stream your TV shows, or to video chat with friends and family. You may even make music, create art, or be writing the next bestselling novel on your laptop. So, you want to keep it in great shape. Here are five tips to protect your laptop.
Or throw it, or stand on it, or expect it to withstand any serious impact. OK, that’s pretty obvious. You also don’t want to use your laptop in the bathtub or at the pool. Even a simple water spill on a laptop can damage the circuitry. If you do get your laptop wet, immediately turn it off and unplug everything attached to it.
Laptops are getting thinner in every iteration. Some now even have foldable screens. The thinner and more flexible screen may look sleek and cool, but it’s also less rigid, which makes it more prone to damage. Especially on lower-cost laptops, the screen can flex if you open the computer up from just one side.
Yet, many of us hold a laptop in one hand and open the lid with the other. This can cause the screen to twist. Use both hands to open the laptop. Or get into the habit of opening your laptop from the center to avoid flex.
Stop for a moment and think what you have got saved on your computer or laptop. Precious photos, work documents, files full of important information; the list goes on. Now think how you would feel if your hard drive was damaged or stolen and you never saw those items again, it doesn't actually bear thinking about does it? Everyone who stores all of these, and more, in one place is running a real risk of permanently losing them.
Technology is only great while its working properly and at some point your computer will stop working and the cost of recovering what is on your hard drive can be a very costly business. Likewise, if your hard drive is damaged it depends on the severity of the damage as to whether any of your saved data can be retrieved, and this too can prove to be a costly exercise. Computer back up should be a top priority irrelevant of whether you have personal or business data stored, and thought of as a form of insurance.
The average cost of recovering data is considerably higher than what it will cost for an effective back up solution. Data recovery from a damaged hard drive can cost from upwards of £500 depending on the amount of data you need retrieving and, as mentioned previously, the extent of the damage. The question you should be asking yourself is not could you afford either of these but can you afford NOT to have back up?
The experts at Cumbria Computer Repairs recommend a three point plan when it comes to computer back up. This simply means having your data in three different locations; in a Cloud storage system, on an external hard or DVD drive and another of your choice, such as a flash drive. This is not being over zealous, this is simply covering all bases so that if one fails you can access your data through one of the other two means. At present, your images, videos, files etc are only as safe as long as the device they are saved on remains active, don't wait until it's too late to bring your back up plan into action.
We don't say this lightly, but if you have a computer or laptop which is running slowly or a few years old you might think you have to replace it. You don’t! There is a better option. All you need to do is upgrade your hard drive to a SSD drive. SSD gives slow machines a new lease of life and we know from experience that it speeds up every machine we have upgraded. Upgrading your computer can normally be done within a day. If you are interested in upgrading your computer, you can email us from this form or ring 01228 576090
There are many problems with isolation. We don’t want to get you started. We know it’s true, but one issue we can help with is computer repair. Yes, there are problems with your home devices that we can address remotely.
Perhaps before sheltering in place you were willing to make do, or you're only facing challenges now. You're working at home, kids are online learning, and you're sharing the same computer.
You need to remain connected to the world and continue working, but you don’t want someone to come into your house to check your computer, and you’re not keen on going out to wait in line at a computer repair shop. Fortunately, with technology today, it’s much easier for IT experts to resolve computer issues remotely.
There are many common computer issues that we can help address remotely. We’ll start out by sending you a link to download a tool that gives us remote access and control of your computer. Please know that we value our customers’ privacy. Even with this tool, we’ll still be able to access the computer only when you allow us to.
Now, what can we do once we have eyes on your computer from our remote location? Many things.
The majority of homes today have at least one computer, and that’s unlikely to be the full extent of the technology. Everyone has a smartphone, and there may be streaming devices, modems, routers, or printers, and – we’re guessing here – lots and lots of power cords! When something goes awry with any of this tech, homeowners can feel stuck. In an office setting, there’s the IT support desk, but at home, you could be relying on Google search, YouTube videos, and the efforts of a digital-native teen. Talking with IT experts well versed in residential technology issues can help.
As with doctors, it can be worthwhile to get a second opinion. Having an IT expert for your home can save you money and prevent disasters. With an IT guru on speed dial, you can make smart decisions for buying, repairing, and upgrading tech.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of unscrupulous computer businesses out there. They will take advantage of a buyer’s lack of knowledge about all things tech. Doing your own research is great, but it can get overwhelming. A search for a Wi-Fi-enabled, Mac-compatible printer nets hundreds of options, rankings, and reviews.
You try to evaluate a laptop or printer on function, quality, and price, but all these other elements get mentioned. You don’t even know what they mean! How can you ask the right questions? An IT expert can narrow the field and make recommendations based on your needs. You don’t have to wonder what that salesperson is not telling you.
Maybe you usually go to a big-box store to buy your technology. Yes, they can have good deals, but often there’s a reason that laptop is so cheap or that printer is such a great deal. These temptingly priced technologies can be just too slow to do the job, or they’ll break down sooner. Or that astounding deal on a color printer is going to backfire on you down the road because the cost of the ink is crazy!
You invest heavily in information
technology. You depend on your equipment to support your business. Then, the
equipment fails. It’s inevitable. Only cockroaches survive forever. You’re left
scrambling to find a replacement solution for essential tech. It’s a tough
place to be, but it can also be an opportunity.
When you hear the news that a piece of equipment has failed, the
headache starts soon after. It can mean costly downtime. You’re going to need
to budget for a replacement. You have to spend time and effort determining the
next, best solution. Users, and potentially customers, get frustrated, too.
If the equipment that’s conked out is a hard drive or server, don’t
even reach for that headache remedy. Stop everything, and call for expert help.
Anything you do can result in more data loss. This includes the age-old IT
self-help remedy of turning it off and on again!
When anything carrying data fails, the next question is whether you
have a recent backup. Can you restore data from that backup? We recommend you
have as many as three data backups for safekeeping, with at least one of them
kept off-site.
After the initial panic, once you’ve determined that technology is
kaput, take some time to reassess.
