Some tips to protect your electronics from heat damage

When travelling to Dubai, many people completely overlook the incredibly hot temperatures, and how this affects their gadgets and electronic devices. This is a mistake as it could severely damage of destroy your important pieces of technology unless you take precautions. These things are going to be covered in this article.

Keep them cool

If you are using a laptop in Dubai, then try to keep it as cool as possible. Use a laptop stand so that air can circulate around it. If you can find those with a fan then it will help even more, especially if you are working outdoors.

Safe range of temperatures

When it comes to laptops, you need to keep them inside a safe range of temperatures. In specific terms, the temperatures should be from 50 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit or 10 to 35 degrees Celsius. One other thing to keep in mind is that you need to let the laptop (or other electronic device) acclimate to the indoor temperature before you switch it on. This is important when you bring the laptop indoors from the hot outside temperatures in Dubai.

The heat of the sun

As the sun in Dubai is so bright and direct, you need to be very careful about leaving your electronic devices in direct line. If they are exposed to the incredible heat of the Dubai daytime they will likely be ruined or damaged. The key point to remember is that you should never leave the device in direct sunlight, whether it is powered up or shut down.

One consideration that you can make is to use a laptop hood if you want to use your laptop outdoors. Try to find a suitable location that will shade you and the laptop, and a place that is also cooler than the general outdoors.

Try to use your electronics indoors

While you are in Dubai, try to use your electronic devices in an air-conditioned room whenever possible. If you are able to do this, then you will find yourself without issues. The most important factor to consider is how you store your device when not using it. If you are planning to go outside, then store your device in a cool location. If you do need to take an electronic device with you, then aim to use a holder or case, which prevents direct sunlight from targeting it.

If you use the tips given above, you will be able to use your electronic devices without problem in Dubai. Ensure that you pay attention to where your electronic devices are placed and never leave them in direct sunlight.

5 Signs that your laptop might be having hardware problems

If you find that your laptop is just not working as well as it used to then it could be an issue with the hardware. While there are issues with software and technical problems, which comprise most of the commonly seen laptop issues; hardware issues are often some of the most difficult to identify.

1) The laptop is running on battery only

One of the most common problems is that laptops face power issues, especially when it comes to the power jack. In such case, you should look to change the full jack, rather than just changing the pins of the power jack on the motherboard. This is because they will often fail again, leading to the same issue again.

2) The laptop won’t turn on

If you are trying to get the laptop to turn on and it won’t boot up, then it could be an issue with the laptop’s battery. Please note that while it could be an issue with other hardware in the laptop, it is most likely to be a battery issue. The first thing to check is whether the battery light is illuminated, and if there is a full charge. If the battery light is not on, check to ensure that the power adaptor is fully engaged at both ends.

3) The laptop is running more slowly than before

This is a very common complaint with laptops that are over one year old. Many people imagine that simply removing some of the software, photos and documents will speed up the laptop again, but there is a more fundamental hardware problem that could be at cause. The most effective procedure here is to add more RAM to your laptop, as you will see an instant bump in the speed of functioning.

4) The battery doesn’t hold a charge as much as it used to

One major frustration for those that purchase laptops is the rapid decline in the battery’s ability to hold its charge over time. Many people don’t realize that they need to train the laptop battery to make it work as efficiently as possible. One way that you can do this is to let it drain fully and then recharge it to full capacity. This can take a long time but it will help with longevity of the battery life.

5) Blue screen of death

The blue screen of death is commonly associated with a random access memory (RAM) problem. If it is a memory issue then it is quite easy to fix. You should be able to find the specific information online, depending on the message you receive. You might need to replace the RAM in your laptop in order to resolve this issue.

5 Reasons why you should try out the Mac OS if you are a Windows User

If you have used Windows with every computer you have ever had, you might not want to try out the Mac OS, or see any reason to change. This is understandable, but there are many reasons that you should give it a go. This article is going to cover 5 of the top reasons for giving Mac OS a try. Here they are:

You can still use windows

When you have an Apple computer, you can still install Windows and run both operating systems using parallels. If you need to use a Windows program then you can, as you simply need to boot up into Windows. Once you have completed the task, you can go back into Mac OS. You can even find software that will allow you to run both Mac and Windows applications at the same time. This means you get the best of both worlds.

Easy to use interface

Mac OS has a very simple, easy to use interface that can be understood and used by complete newbies or technophobes. You don’t need to be experienced or have a lot of technical knowledge, as everything is very intuitive on the Mac OS. It is very easy to use for home based users but it has enough power for programmers and serious graphic designers as well.

Take up fewer resources

The Mac OS will use up far less resources than Windows. This is very important as it means you can run more intensive software, run multiple applications and still have space to run other programs. Windows is known to take up huge amounts of resources when it is processing tasks.

Less chance of viruses

With the Mac OS you have much less chance of acquiring a virus than you do with Windows operating systems. While many of the reasons for this center on the fact that Windows is much older, and there are more security risks, it still remains a valid reason for choosing to try Mac OS.

Integrates suites

Mac OS comes with a set of suites that all work very well together. This is in contrast to the Windows applications. For example, Mac OS has iLife and iWork suites by Apple. In fact all of the applications that come with the Mac OS work very well together. They allow you to perform the tasks that you need such as emailing, word processing and making movies. All of the things that can be done via Windows can also be done on the Mac OS. As such, it is well worth trying this operating system as an alternative to Windows.

9 Quick Tips on Computer Care / Laptop Care

Here are some tips on taking care of your PC/Laptops. Some of these tips are very commonly practiced but if you use most of these tips you can assure yourself a hassle free computing experience.

Tip 1

Avoid liquid nears your device, this is common knowledge that having liquids near your device could be hazardous to your device so keep them away! Or if you badly need to have them near use things like keyboard protectors and other covers to shield them from damage through liquids.

Tip 2

Antivirus, you need them it’s as simple as that if you are using Windows you can use Microsoft security Essentials which is a proven free anti-virus and developed by Microsoft itself, who knows Windows better than Microsoft?

Tip 3

Food, yes just like liquid food is also hazardous to your computer keep them away, you don’t want your tasty sharwarma to be inside your keyboard do you?

Tip 4

Your Hands, now yes you might be thinking it is difficult to keep them away from your keyboard right? We don’t want you too as well. There have been some reports stating that your keyboard might harbour more germs than your very own Toilet Seat, yes keep your hands clean at all times that bottle if hand sanitizer might be helpful. Also practice regularly cleaning your laptop/computer with cleaning products meant for electronics. Read More here http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3505414.stm

Tip 5

LCD Screen, Whenever you shutdown your laptop and close your lid make sure there is nothing in between, not even a small pen it might cause serious damage to your screen which will end up as an extra cost for you to repair.

Tip 6

Pulling the cord, Say NO to it always practise holding the power socket with your hands and carefully tugging it. Not doing it might cause damage to your adaptor which in turn might damage your device.

Tip 7

Don’t leave it in your car, yes you know what temperatures it reaches here in the UAE, it is unsafe to leave any living thing as well as any electronic item in your car.

Tip 8

Get dust cleared, once a year get your unit cleaned for the dust it might accumulate it will affect a lot of internal components and might increase the internal temperatures as well. Or you can manually use an old toothbrush to clean around your exhaust fan area

Tip 9

Flat Surface, always try to use your laptop on a flat surface, and no your bed is not a flat surface as it is soft and will cover the whole bottom of your laptop not leaving any ventilation space in turn increasing your laptops temperature which might damage it.

Ultrabook Buying Guide [Dubai]

The latest in laptops for 2012 is Ultrabooks. Why? They are wonderfully designed machines that’s thin, light and responsive. By Intel’s definition, Ultrabooks weigh less than 1.81 kg and measure 0.8 inches thick or less. They’re also designed to wake from sleep almost as soon as you lift the lid, thanks to the use of SSD Drives. This last aspect is what really separates an Ultrabook from any other ultraportable notebook, with the goal of delivering the instant-on experience of a tablet.

What do you expect to pay? Current ranges starts from AED3700 and goes upto AED5200

What are your current options in Dubai?

Acer Aspire S3-951-2464 Ultrabook with 13.3-Inch HD Display AED 3700

• Introducing the Acer S3 Ultra book, the PC that will have you instantly powered on and connected to the Web in no time- and at a price you can afford!
• The ultrathin 13.3″ design weighs in at just over 3lbs and is only .5″ thin while packing powerful 2nd Gen Intel Core i5 processor performance. All the best new experiences in a streamlined design, changing your mobile-computing way of life!
• Acer Instant On resumes your computing session in less than 2 seconds and from deep sleep in 6 seconds, thanks to the 20GB SSD drive that stores the current PC state just as you left it.
• Acer Green Instant Connect reconnects you to the Internet within seconds(3)! The Acer Aspire S3 remembers previous Wi-Fi spots you’ve used so that when they are in range, it instantly connects you to the Internet.
• Low power consumption through Acer Hybrid Standby Technology enables up to 50 days of standby power and up to 6 hours of continuous usage and work confidently knowing you’ll always be powered on and ready to go.

HP Folio 13-1000 Ultrabook Intel i5, 4GB RAM, 128GB SSD AED4200

• Transform any table, airplane, or park bench into a space for work or play. HP CoolSense automatically adjusts to deliver the optimum level of comfort wherever you decide to set up shop.
• Stay mobile.
• Look sleek carrying the metal steel gray chassis. The Ultrabook starts at 3.3 lbs and has a battery life up to 9 hours – cool, light, and long lasting for ultra-mobility.
• Speed you didn’t know you could have.
• For fast performance and data protection, the latest Intel processor technology plus up to 128 GB SSD handle your most demanding tasks.
• Cinematic Sound.
• Enjoy downtime listening to music or watching a movie. It will sound better with Dolby Advanced Audio v2.
• Don’t let technology stand in your way. Take it with you.
• Multiple connectivity options keeps you accessible so you can keep chatting via the HP TrueVision HD webcam. Ports you need to share information with friends or co-workers.
• A true multi-touch experience.
• Get creative with photos or interact with text in an intuitive way. The HP Imagepad supports 1, 2, and 3 finger gestures providing precise and improved gesture responsiveness.

Toshiba Portégé® Z830 M110 Ultrabook – Ultimate Silver Intel i5 , 128GB SDD 13″ Lightweight AED4750

A BREAKTHROUGH THIN AND LIGHT DESIGN
Thenew Portégé® Z830 series is so thin and light you might forget you have it—until you see what it can do, and hear all the compliments on its sophisticated styling. With a 0.63-inch profile and less than 2.5 pounds, the Portege Z830 ultra slim and light laptop bests its competition right down to the core. Executives, prosumers and mobility moguls: this is your “it” machine.

BUSINESS FEATURES
What makes this laptop ideal for today’s mobile business professional? It starts with advanced Intel® vPro™ technology that delivers not just faster, more energy efficient performance, but next-gen security and IT manageability, too. It also features the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) that strengthens overall platform integrity, disk encryption and password protection—and a fingerprint reader for highly secure log-in every time.

DURABILITY AND RELIABILITY
To keep this PC stiff and strong against everyday use it has a magnesium alloy casework concealing a unique architecture that includes pillar technology, a rib wall structure and a high efficient cooling system that expels heat better. The Portégé® Z830 also comes with acclaimed Toshiba EasyGuard® Technology, so you can go mobile with confidence, including a smart, shock-absorbing design

ASUS ZENBOOK UX31E (RY008) Intel i5, 4GB RAM, 256GB SSD, 13.3″ Screen Ultrabook AED5200

• Incredible 3mm at the front and 9mm at the rear
• Spun metal and hairline aluminum for incredible beauty
• ASUS exclusive Super Hybrid Engine II with instant on
• 2-second resume, four to five times the standby time, automatic data backup and recovery, and 25% longer battery life!
• SATA Revision 3.0** solid state drive and USB 3.0 incredible speed of data transfer rates
• SonicMaster technology co-developed with Bang & Olufsen ICEpower® increases audio performance with lifelike surround impact
• The latest Intel® Core™ processors

As ultrabooks keeps coming to the market Computer Care will have them as soon as they are released so remeber to check out our website regularly or send us a email at information@computercaredubai.ae if you have any queries regarding ultrabooks.

Improve your Laptop’s Performance

It’s been proven that adding more memory to a computer system increases its performance. If there isn’t enough room in memory for all the information the CPU needs, the computer has to set up what’s known as a virtual memory file. In so doing, the CPU reserves space on the hard disk to simulate additional RAM. This process, referred to as “swapping”, slows the system down. In an average computer, it takes the CPU approximately 200ns (nanoseconds) to access RAM compared to 12,000,000ns to access the hard drive. To put this into perspective, this is equivalent to what’s normally a 3 1/2 minute task taking 4 1/2 months to complete!

For limited period Computer Care UAE will be providing this upgrade service for free! 2GB RAM for only AED99 and 4GB RAM for only AED149.

Our Store Details:

Email: information@computercaredubai.ae

Computer Care: Dubai Mall

SF-176, Dubai Mall,
Level 2, Next to Kidzania, Cinema Parking,
Dubai. U.A.E.

Tel: +971 4 330 8240

Top Tablets this Winter 2011

Here are our current top-sellers, if you are looking to buy a tablet this winter there are some very good options available:

1) Apple iPad

It is a excellent product, with a revolutionary design, easy to use interface, virtually thousands of apps available. It is currently they king of Tablets. Our Prices start from only AED1975!

2) Samsung Galaxy Tab 

Sleek, and light, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 this tablet is the closest it gets to the iPad in terms of popularity.

3) Sony Tablet S

Sony took its time with the Tablet S, and it shows. The industrial design is smart, and the software refinements are both practical and restrained.

Best Online File Storage Services

Working with the same files in multiple places used to be a hassle. You’d have to make sure to bring the file with you, email it to yourself, or save it in a place you could get to it later. Now, there are a number of online file storage and syncing services that will make your data available on as many computers as you like. Here’s a are some of the most popular online file storing solutions available for free online.

DropBox

This is one of the most popular file storage sites.It gives free 2GB of file storage space, Dropbox will deliver your files to you on your Mac, Windows, or Linux system or your BlackBerry, iOS, or Android device with little hassle, and the service offers public and photo folders you can use to store and share galleries or other files with select individuals you share them with or with the world.

Box.net

It gives 5GB free,Install the Box Sync app to sync your files with the web, and install the mobile apps to get access to your files on your iOS device, Android device, Blackberry, Touchpad, or Playbook.

Windows Live SkyDrive

It lets you start our with a enormous 25GB for free!

SugarSync

This service is the biggest competition to dropbox and offers you 5GB free in the start.

 

SSD vs. HDD – what is the difference?

A lot of people have been asking us the differences between a SSD drive and a normal HDD ; on how much impact will it make to their usage so here are some quick notes gathered from various sources:

An embedded system is supposed to operate like an appliance. When you turn on a microwave oven or

TV, you don’t expect to wait half a minute for it to boot its operating software from a disk drive. You want

it to perform its intended function instantly. Such systems, if they contain microcontrollers, normally load

their software instantly from a ROM, not from a disk drive.

A solid-state drive (SSD), sometimes called a solid-state disk or electronic disk, is a data storage device that uses solid-state memory to store persistent data with the intention of providing access in the same manner of a traditional block i/o hard disk drive. SSDs are distinguished from traditional magnetic disks such as hard disk drives (HDDs) or floppy disk, which are electromechanical devices containing spinning disks and movable read/write heads. In contrast, SSDs use microchips which retain data in non-volatile memory chips and contain no moving parts. Compared to electromechanical HDDs, SSDs are typically less susceptible to physical shock, are silent, have lower access time and latency, but are more expensive per gigabyte (GB). SSDs use the same interface as hard disk drives, thus easily replacing them in most applications.

The below video was out in 2009 when samsung was showing off their SSD drives and it pretty much gives a good overview on how things change with SSD drives

A solid state drive will improve overall system performance, run cooler, and quieter.

This detailed review of the impact on SSD drive for gamer’s proves that the performance in all aspects increase but the costs are still higher than a regular HDD.

We will be features a few systems featuring SSD drives inbuilt soon so keep a watch out on this space.

Why You Should Swap Your Hard Drive for an SSD

Low battery life in iPhone 4 and 4S? We have the solution!

A lot of our customer have been talking to us and everyone is very happy with their new iPhone 4S and the old iPhone 4 but one complaint which always come up is the battery life. Yes it is true the new 4S had some issues in the software and Apple is aware of it and made the fix for it already but even after that is out for the public to update and use the battery life is still not something worth writing home about. Then there is Siri, she can end up using a lot of battery. The solutions are cases which act as a protective case as well as a additional source of charge. You simply recharge your phone normally and the case will recharge in-turn charge your phone, so you have virtually doubled your battery life.

We have two such products for you to choose from:

   Energizer AP1201 rechargeable silicone case with built-in battery for iPhone®

iPhone 4 and 4S Kensington PowerGuard™ Battery Case with Card Stand (Black)