The season for new laptops and computers is upon us!
With the launch of Windows 7; and with the holiday season upon us, a lot of us are looking at new computers and laptops. With that in mind MLD Services has written this blog posts to assist the buyer in their purchases.
Since laptop sales have now exceeded desktop sales we refer to laptops and list a few items to keep in mind while shopping for a new laptop, but most of these items can be applied to a new PC.
First off is most laptops are actually manufactured in Asia by outfits known as Original Design Manufactures (ODM), and then sent to Dell, HP, and other marketers. And now that Apple uses Intel chip sets and processors they to use manufactures in China. Why is this important to know? Because when you are shopping for your laptop you can now concentrate on the look, feel, and specifications and less on the brand. Brand name is still important for warranty and service, but finding a laptop with a screen and keyboard you like is the most important part, because they are what connects you with the system. If your an audiophile then test the speakers, find the headphone jack, is it in a convenient location? What about the volume control?
Instead of listing all the ODM used by the different companies I have included several links if you would like more information.
mopo.com
www.mindconnection.com
After your purchase two things have to be done when unpacking and starting up that new laptop or computer.
The first thing to do is to not connect to the Internet, but make the DVD or CD of your system restore software! Most manufactures no longer include these, and while some will prompt you to create them others do not. A lot of manufactures will charge you after your warranty expires to ship them! So look at the fast setup poster or booklet that came with your laptop or computer for more information on how to do this task.
Now for step two, what about all the bloatware, junkware or crapware that comes on a new system?
In my opinion you should remove them all, and if you decide later that you want to try out a product go to the manufactures web site and look for a trial version. But that is a lot of work! Well either contact MLD Services about a system cleanup or do it yourself. Want to know a little secret? From a different computer go to http://www.pcdecrapifier.com/home and download this small utility, transfer it to your new PC, start it up, follow the instructions, and let the house cleaning begin.
The next step is about security. Should you buy a security suite or go the freeware route?
Think Security Suite when looking at the different products. Some vendors free products do not offer all the protection that their “pay for” products include. Sure you can install a free anti virus product, a free spyware product, and use a free firewall, but this complicates updating and scanning.
A new freebie from Microsoft shows some promise! Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) offers full protection and with Windows updates enabled and the Windows firewall running, you will have a pretty well protected system. I have been a beta tester for MSE for the last 11 months and it seems to works just fine.
So if you are going with a fee product, decided to use the security software that might have come with the new system, or make an online purchase, we now need to connect to the Internet and start the installation and updates. So either download and install the Security product or run your currently installed security software updates and the Windows updates.
Now we have cleaned our new system of the junk software, our security software is installed, and Windows 7 is updated.
I have included a few hyperlinks to more Windows 7 tips; tricks, and some freebies. Enjoy!
If you are thinking about the free OpenOffice suite read this first.
Questions, comments, or concerns? Just let us know.