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Cheap--but Good--Laptops Starting at $375
Sat, 11 Feb 2012 14:19:00 +0200
You want a cheap laptop for work and personal use but don't want to spend an arm and a leg. While average laptop prices have been dropping dramatically over the years (reaching an all-time low of $407 in November 2011 for Windows notebooks, according to market research firm NPD), do a search for "cheap laptops" and you'll generally find netbooks (which are okay for work but not exactly ideal) or a confusing array of other laptops which may be poorly made or underpowered. Don't worry, there really are laptops out there for about $400 with decent specs, performance, and quality build.
I've rounded up five of those inexpensive laptops under $500--ones that have earned great reviews from professional laptop reviewers and consumers too. Two of them in particular I would lean towards myself--the HP ProBook 4530s and the Lenovo ThinkPad E420, both of them because they are built for business users and I'm biased towards business grade laptops. My previous experience in testing ProBooks have been positive and I've also always been a big fan of ThinkPads (especially their meticulous attention to keyboard design).
However, if you're looking for the best deal right now, the HP Pavilion g6t is on sale for 25% off--priced at $375 until February 12. It includes a free upgrade to 4GB of RAM and a 500GB hard drive, plus free shipping and you can configure it some more if you like. You'll need to use the coupon code SAVE25HP to grab the laptop deal and you can also use a $50 stackable coupon: NBJ5867 (via LogicBuy and Laptop).
I don't think you can go wrong if you're looking for a decent laptop for everyday computing with one of those five laptops. If you know of any others, let us know in the comments.
Stay on top of the latest in mobile computing, telecommuting, and working on the road: Free weekly newsletter | Blog posts subscription | Follow me on Twitter: @melaniepinola or Google+ Cheap--but Good--Laptops Starting at $375 originally appeared on About.com Mobile Office Technology on Saturday, February 11th, 2012 at 14:19:51.Permalink | Comment | Email this
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How to Add Up to 5GB of More Dropbox Space to Your Account
Sat, 11 Feb 2012 09:59:00 +0200
Dropbox
Dropbox, one of the best free file syncing and online storage services, is offering a massive free 5GB of free storage to customers who try out their latest photo and video automatic uploading feature. Here's how to get this free space on your account during this beta period (hurry):
...How to Add Up to 5GB of More Dropbox Space to Your Account originally appeared on About.com Mobile Office Technology on Saturday, February 11th, 2012 at 09:59:29.Permalink | Comment | Email this
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Gift Suggestion: The Perfect Laptop Bag
Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:47:00 +0200
A laptop bag might not be as romantic as a bouquet of roses, but this is one modern accessory that both men and women can appreciate. The difference between a well-designed laptop bag--with quality stitching, comfortable straps, and lots of organization pockets--and a cheap one is huge. (So huge you feel the difference in your shoulders and your arms.) This Valentine's Day, consider giving someone special a bag to carry his or her laptop, phone, documents, and other everyday objects in style.
To help you find both a sturdy and attractive laptop bag, check out this gallery of women's laptop bags, top laptop bags for men, and, the ultimate laptop bag gift--one you can design yourself.Gift Suggestion: The Perfect Laptop Bag originally appeared on About.com Mobile Office Technology on Monday, February 6th, 2012 at 15:47:37.Permalink | Comment | Email this
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Quick! Grab This iPhone Tethering App While It Lasts
Mon, 30 Jan 2012 16:02:00 +0200
This cheap app lets you use your iPhone as a modem for your laptop for the one-time fee of $1.99, no monthly charges. You can grab QuasiDisk on iTunes now, but who knows for how long, as tethering apps have had a history of being pulled by Apple. The folks at TheNextWeb report it works with a fair amount of tweaking. So download it while you can.
Learn more about tethering and how to use your cell phone as a modem.Quick! Grab This iPhone Tethering App While It Lasts originally appeared on About.com Mobile Office Technology on Monday, January 30th, 2012 at 16:02:26.Permalink | Comment | Email this
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How to Stop Your Apps from Eating Up Your Data Minutes
Tue, 24 Jan 2012 22:02:00 +0200
Many smartphone apps are data hogs. News and weather apps like to update in the background constantly. Social media apps have a real internet addiction. The problem is more wireless plans are counting every little bit. If you're on a prepaid plan, especially, you'll want to monitor your mobile data usage, but there's also a neat trick that a reader emailed in which will stop your apps from draining your mobile data minutes altogether. It can come in handy if you travel internationally and want to avoid hefty data roaming charges.
All you need to do is change your mobile device's APN (Access Point Name) to a non-working APN and then your apps will only connect over Wi-Fi. Here's where/how to change the APN settings on iPhone or Android.
Stay on top of the latest in mobile computing, telecommuting, and working on the road: Free weekly newsletter | Blog posts subscription | Follow me on Twitter: @melaniepinola or Google+How to Stop Your Apps from Eating Up Your Data Minutes originally appeared on About.com Mobile Office Technology on Tuesday, January 24th, 2012 at 22:02:58.Permalink | Comment | Email this
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Megaupload Online Storage Site Shut Down by Feds. Here Are Alternatives, Cautions
Sat, 21 Jan 2012 13:11:00 +0200
It was a historic, very political week on the web, with Wednesday's largest online protest in history to stop SOPA and PIPA and then on Thursday the Department of Justice shut down file sharing and online hosting service Megaupload and arrested seven employees of the company, also seizing several assets. Then hacking group went on a tear attacking several sites including the DoJ's, Universal Music Group, and the Recording Industry Association of America. So, some thoughts.
Megaupload is one of the services I included in my roundup of how to send large files for free. It was one of the most-used services, and not just for pirated movies or music, but for people and companies sharing photos and large files. There are still alternatives like YouSendIt and MediaFire (see the article for a brief comparison).
The Megaupload drama does bring up again important concerns about storing your files in the cloud. It's really important to have an off-site backup, but you can't rely on it as your sole backup. In case the service goes down (not because of legal problems like this, per say, but maybe bankruptcy or even just temporary disruption), you need to have another backup elsewhere besides on your own computer.
The second issue is one of privacy. Make sure any sensitive data you're uploading is encrypted. TrueCrypt is a free program to password-protect your most important files and it's easy to use.Megaupload Online Storage Site Shut Down by Feds. Here Are Alternatives, Cautions originally appeared on About.com Mobile Office Technology on Saturday, January 21st, 2012 at 13:11:55.Permalink | Comment | Email this
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AT&T's New Data Plans: More Value or Bum Deal?
Sat, 21 Jan 2012 09:57:00 +0200
AT&T's new data plans, rolling out on Sunday, give wireless subscribers more bandwidth at a lower cost per GB, but it's also a forced higher bill for new customers.
Current subscribers can keep their current plans if they don't don't want to change. Those options are now $15 per month for 200MB of data or $25 per month for 2GB of data.
New customers or current subscribers who want to switch will have these options on Sunday, January 22: The new plans charge $5 more per month but add more data: $20 per month for 300MB of data and $30 per month for 3GB of data.
For mobile hotspot users, plans are also hiked: $30 a month for 3GB of data and $50 a month for 5GB. The $15 a month plan for 250MB won't change.
AT&T says in its blog the reason for the new data plans is to protect customers from overage charges. This, however, doesn't seem to vibe with AT&T's previous statements that the majority of users don't use over 2GB of data--reasoning the company has used before to get rid of its unlimited data plans and move to tiered pricing in the interest of "making the internet more affordable to more people". Sure.
Calculate how much data you need.AT&T's New Data Plans: More Value or Bum Deal? originally appeared on About.com Mobile Office Technology on Saturday, January 21st, 2012 at 09:57:35.Permalink | Comment | Email this
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Incredible (Not in a Good Way) Roaming Rates
Sun, 15 Jan 2012 15:14:00 +0200
Data roaming rates are 500 to 1000 times more expensive than domestic rates, according to the European Commission (says Wikipedia), and after taking a look at the data roaming fees of the major US wireless carriers, I'm not really surprised that international data roaming is notorious for drawing incredibly high costs. I've previously noted some strategies for how to avoid data roaming charges and am in the midst of testing a new tip (should be up in the next couple of days) shared by a reader that can help you prevent your apps from trying to access data unless you're on a Wi-Fi network--useful if you're on a prepaid plan too.
Until then, if you're getting ready to travel abroad, take a look at this reminder of all the things that can trigger those data roaming fees (including sneaky things like Visual Voicemail), and what you can do to monitor your mobile data usage.
Stay tuned!.Incredible (Not in a Good Way) Roaming Rates originally appeared on About.com Mobile Office Technology on Sunday, January 15th, 2012 at 15:14:32.Permalink | Comment | Email this
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Why Your WPA-Protected Wi-Fi Might Not Be Secure After All and What You Can Do
Mon, 09 Jan 2012 10:00:00 +0200
Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS)
...Why Your WPA-Protected Wi-Fi Might Not Be Secure After All and What You Can Do originally appeared on About.com Mobile Office Technology on Monday, January 9th, 2012 at 10:00:31.Permalink | Comment | Email this
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Use Namebench to Find the Best DNS Server and Boost Your Internet Speed by as Much as 130%
Sat, 07 Jan 2012 14:07:00 +0200
Namebench - find the best DNS server increase your web browsing speed
Everyone wants faster Internet speed. Unfortunately, if you just use the default settings from your cable modem, fiber, or DSL provider, you might be missing out on the top speeds you could be getting. Namebench is a free utility that might help you more than double your web browsing speed.
...Use Namebench to Find the Best DNS Server and Boost Your Internet Speed by as Much as 130% originally appeared on About.com Mobile Office Technology on Saturday, January 7th, 2012 at 14:07:03.Permalink | Comment | Email this
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