Eugene Computer Geeks Blog

Laptops have always been the traditional selling juggernauts of Black Fridays past, and this year is looking to be no different. Although expected to face stiff competition from that other class of portable PCs (tablets, for those not in the know), great deals and the fact that laptops are just that functionally robust are sure to give them the edge when all is said and done.

The following are prospects of what to expect in this year’s upcoming Black Friday laptop shopping spree.

Desktop Replacements: High-End Specs at Low Low Prices

Also called (rightly or otherwise) “gaming laptops,” desktop replacements are more often than not expected to hit retail price tags beyond the $1,000 mark due to the high-end hardware they carry. Surprisingly however, this year has seen some releases tagged at just under $800. For comparison’s sake, $800 was the Black Friday 2011 discount price for this laptop class.

If patterns stay true, we could be looking at desktop replacements that could drop to as low as $525 come November 23^rd. With laptop components like quad-core i7s, powerful APUs and/or dedicated GPUs, and a minimum of 8 GB of RAM, gaming enthusiasts can expect some rather sweet deals.

Budget Laptops: Drilling Holes Below Rock Bottom?

The previous Black Friday event had budget laptops sold for as low as $180; and some of these were even 15”-16” computers. While these laptops aren’t exactly powerhouses, at that price range, they are liable to get their fair share of the market, especially among the casual computer user crowd.

Going below $180 could prove to be a real challenge, so don’t get your hopes up too high. Still, wouldn’t it be great if we could score laptops for $170?

Thin-and-Lights: Staying Strong

15-inchers embedded with Intel’s latest Ivy Bridge processors have proven to be great sellers in the laptop market. These CPUs give laptops extra horsepower beyond those expected of mid-range portable PCs; and their integrated graphics aren’t too shabby either. Overall, they’re everything most casual users could ever need (or want) in their laptops.

Even better, Ivy-endowed laptops have seen great price drops since this summer, going with discounts as low as 27%; that’s roughly $400 for a machine that’s initially priced at $550 or so. And if past Black Fridays are any indication, we may see these prices drop even lower to $360.

Ultraportables: Popularity Resurgence

When Apple’s MacBook Air came out this year with a redesigned build, consumer interest was reignited, and the ultraportable market was suddenly rife with competition again.

With Ivy Bridge processors sporting more-than-adequate graphics processing power (and with some even having dedicated GPUs of their own), a lot of ultras are nearing the power levels of the bigger laptop types while still retaining their travel-friendly chassis.

Summer price drops brought some ultraportables down to $500, possibly indicating that $400 ultras at this year’s Black Friday isn’t such a stretch. If there ever was a time to own one of these babies, that time would be now.

About Colleen Northcutt:

I’m Colleen Northcutt, a writer, web promoter, and blogger from Reno, Nevada. I work for LaptopAid.com, where I write about various topics relating technology. Most, of course, are about laptops and notebooks. I am a very passionate, optimistic, and dedicated woman who takes up responsibilities with utmost enthusiasm. In my spare time, I love playing PC games and checking out the latest technological news.

Apple and Samsung, both competing to provide the consumers with high tech mobile devices. Apple has declared its latest iPhone 5 as the best device they have ever made. Compared to that, Galaxy S III is also experiencing the best sales record with its multicarrier availability, 4G LTE capability, larger display, and robust performance. The comparison of both phones is presented in the lines below!

Display
The new screen of iPhone 5 is 4 inches, compared to 3.5 inches of the iPhone 4S. Although, Galaxy S III has 4.8 inches screen, and many other Android phones have larger screens, iPhone 5 seems bit smaller, but it all depends on the choice of the consumers. iPhone 5 is handy, whereas the larger screens can’t be used by one hand. However, for business owners, larger screens means larger display, that’s what they want.
The pixel density of iPhone’s retina is 326 pixels while Galaxy S III has 306ppi.

Cameras
Cameras are what give the iPhone 5 an edge over Galaxy S III. The rear-faced camera is 8 mega pixels and front faced camera is 1.2 megapixels. The front camera is dynamic, work excellent in low light, and can support videos upto 720 pixels. All it makes the FaceTime chats bit better. The Galaxy S III doesn’t work well in low light, although it has 1.9 megapixels front-faced camera.

Performance
The processor of iPhone 5 is A6, that is better than iPhone 4S. It ensures better gameplay. The dual core chip of GSIII is better than iPhone 4S; however, it’s given a tough time by iPhone 5. The Ram of GSIII is 2GB, whereas, iPhone 4S has 512MB and iPhone 5 has 1GB. It gives Samsung an edge over iPhone 5. The battery life of iPhone 5 is 8 hours) despite being LTE capable). However, GSIII has 8-12 hours of battery, depending on how much a user uses the device.

Operating System
iPhone 5 has the latest operating system, iOS 6. There are many additional features offered in new OS. The Google maps and YouTube app are the most interesting features.

The bigger screen makes the apps appear clearer, but if they are updated. The older apps appear in a letterbox mode.
Siri is also updated in iPhone 5 that enables the users to search for movies or score sports. The voice quality is made excellent even with 3 mics. One can realize that while being in a noisy area. The voice quality of GSIII is not as good as that of iPhone 5.

Price
iPhone 5 starts with $199 (16 GB) and $399 for 64GB. The company offers two-year contract. Galaxy S III is available at $199 (16GB version); however, the 32GB version is being sold at $249. It shows a less price compared to iPhone 5. GSIII doesn’t have the 64GB version.

Both iPhone 5 and GSIII are the popular devices among mobile consumers around the globe. The benefits of both are huge; however, one device may have an edge over the other device due to the users’ preferences. To gain maximum advantages of iPhone 4, you will have to unlock iPhone 4 by using authentic software. Go to the vendors that are reliable and ensure guaranteed satisfaction.

Author Bio:
This contribution is made by Michael Shore. He is working as writer and auditor with unlockiphonezone which provides unlock iPhone 4 services.

Printers are increasingly becoming a must-have item, for every office environment. They are devices that allow you to transfer material from your computer to paper, quite literally from soft copies to hard-copies. Considering the fact that there are many occasions where the organization will need some information to be in the hard copy form, this makes the printer an indispensable item.

When choosing a printer for your office, you ought to consider several factors. The first one is the type of printer that will meet your needs. There are 4 basic types of printers; the dot matrix printer, line printer, inkjet printer and laser printer. These printers carry out their functions differently and you need to understand how they function so that you can know the best pick for your office.

1. The dot matrix printer as the name suggests, transfers the characters to paper in a series of dots. The printer head has a couple of sharp pins, which transfer dots of ink onto the paper. This type of printer is quite cheap, but it produces terrible noises while working, it not the best idea for an office which requires a quiet, serene environment!

(Photo credits: tsakshaug)

2. The line printer works in a similar way to the dot matrix printer but it is much faster as it produces whole lines of text as opposed to one character at a time. The quality is however quite low.

3. Inkjet printers work by spreading tiny jets of ink onto the paper to produce high quality print material.

4. The laser printer on the other hand uses laser light to produce very high quality printed text. The type of printer you choose will largely affect the output you get so choose wisely.

Another consideration you need to make is technological advancements. The technology behind printers has undergone serious evolution in the recent past. You are not, for instance, limited to printers that require manual, wired connections to the computers in the office. With wireless technology, you can print easily from wherever you are within the office.

Some modern printers even come with the option to connect them to the internet, meaning you can print remotely from thousands of miles away. Another aspect of technology you can consider is whether the printer will require you to turn the pages over manually so that it can print on both ends or it can do so automatically.

Once you have determined by comparing your office requirements with the exact type of printer functionality that you want for your office, then you are free to go online to do your brand name research. Many companies sell printers, but you want the very best. The simplest way to make sure that you are purchasing from the best company is by doing an online search.

Some of the key things you should look out for in this search are the customer reviews of the printers. A given printer might appear quite attractive to you having all the qualities you require, but it is only someone who has used the product who would be in a good position to tell you which problems the printer might have.

Some of the common printer issues include paper jams, which are incidences of the paper getting stuck while printing is going on. This usually results in ink smudges and leaks. You want to avoid such problems. A good quality printer should produce a neat and highly legible output.

(Photo credits: zen)

The printer should also not be slow. The average speed should be about 10 pages of printouts per minute. This is what you should look for in customer reviews so that you can be sure that the printer you finally settle on is the best in the market.

Price is not and should not be the most important element of consideration, but it would be foolish not to give it some thought. You should be prepared to spend a bit of your money to ensure that you get a good printer. This should be viewed as an investment in office infrastructure.

Do not buy a low quality printer because it is cheaper, this is a decision you will definitely regret. You would be better advised to even give it some time for you to raise enough money so that you can buy a problem-free printer that everyone in the office will enjoy using.

This article has been written by Chad, an IT technician who has in the process had quite some experience with printer cartridges.

Everyone seems to be throwing a fuss over the new iPhone.  Deciding whether to upgrade?  The new iPhone 5 is taller, but there is a market for more generously sized screens (like the Galaxy S III).  Every iPhone is usually faster than its predecessor, and phones do slow down over time as applications evolve and utilize more resources.  Apple has added a new chip to the iPhone 5: the A6 chip.  Apple claims it to be twice as fast as the iPhone 4S.

Apple also bumped up the camera in the new iPhone 4S.  While it’s still the same old 8 megapixel camera, The shutter is now much faster.  It no longer lags in between shots.  You can also take panoramas.  The software was also improved, and is better at low-light images.  It’s now easier than ever to share your photos on Facebook and Twitter, with the new integration available in iOS.

Do you use your iPhone as a navigator?  Every iPhone 5 comes with iOS 6, which removed Google Maps and added Apple’s own map application.  While Apple’s user interfaces are awesome, they are not the best at data collection.  Streets are missing, images are messed up, et al.  While they scramble to make the application work properly, users have found a quick fix: using maps.google.com.

Are you a movie watcher?  The iPhone 5 has a slightly bigger screen at four inches, giving applications more room.  This is fantastic for anyone who watches a lot of videos on their phone, reads a lot, and much more.  With the added space, there is now an added row of icons to the home screen.  Text that used to be hard to read should now be easy to see.

Is the iPhone 5 worth the upgrade?  If you have anything less recent than an iPhone 4, yes.  The retina screen on the iPhone 4 and its later models is much better.  If you have an iPhone 4, unless you’re a serious gamer or would find use out of Siri, you should wait until the next iPhone, when all of the iPhone 5 adopters will have old technology.

You own a laptop. Your friends own laptops. Chances are everyone in your family owns a laptop. They’re simply amazing devices and make everyone’s lives better. But at some point the inevitable act-of-god freak accident occurs where your beloved electronic goes whirling to the floor and cracks into pieces, and you instantly being to panic thinking of what critical information (or funny bookmarks) you just lost. Sounds dramatic? It is. But it’s also the most common way your laptop, or any electronic device for that matter, will fail.

Take a step back for a second and remember that these devices are designed for consumers. Electronics these days are built following tens of thousands of standards. Have to pass near-infinite amounts of reliability tests. Have to be checked, tested, retested, and finally certified. Everything is built for reliability. This is all important because reliability is one of the main competitive advantages, nobody wants to buy something that will break down, and no manufacturer wants to produce something that will be recalled by the millions. As a result, modern electronics are incredibly reliant and robust. If handled properly they can last many years if not decades.

This might sound strange, don’t electronics break down all the time? Sure they do. As hard as manufacturers try to make their devices immune to all sorts of shock, electrostatic discharge, and fluctuating temperatures, it’s unfortunately impossible to make them immune to people.

We humans seem find all sorts of creative ways to destroy our electronics. From dropping them onto ceramic tiles in the kitchen, to running over them with a car, to submerging them in all sorts of delicious tasty liquid. If it’s possible, we’ll eventually do it. And not just once. Many many times.

It’s for these reasons that the overwhelming majority of consumer electronics fail not because of “poor design” but rather because intense abuse by the consumer himself. The number 1 repair job for all repair shops is replacing cracked screens and LCD’s for all sorts of devices that have been dropped. Or replacing various plugs because someone ripped the cord out and broke them. Or drying out the device and hoping it turns back on after being covered in chocolate milk. Compared to these instances, it’s relatively rare to find an actual failure where the device was at fault. Most cell phones for instance almost never fail without being dropped and cracked.

Although this may sound ominous and depressing, there is good news. If you follow a few common-sense safety precautions, you can successfully keep your electronics alive for many years. Always carry your Laptop with both hands, or better yet keep it closed while being carried. Be extremely gentle with any mechanical plugging and unplugging, anything mechanical is most likely to break. And keep all liquids as far away from your device as possible. Don’t drink anything. You might get away with it for a year or two, but it will eventually come to bite you, which is might be in the worst possible moment. Keep your electronics safe and handle them properly, and there is no reason they won’t last you many many years.

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If you’re near San Jose, CA and need your electronics repaired, come to Bay Area PC Repair for all your laptop repair San Jose needs! We repair everything from regular computers to iPhones and Macbooks!

Acer Computers

Acer Inc.. is a Taiwanese computer manufacturer that creates desktops, laptop/notebooks PC’s, hardware, netbooks, electronics. tablet computers, servers, smartphones, and monitors. Acer Inc. was founded in 1976, but didn’t gain popularity until the 2000′s.

Acer is a very popular brand and is known for it’s low prices. They are the fourth largest PC manufacturer in the world. Even though Acer’s prices are very affordable, they tend to make very decent products.

Recently Acer has been selling some of their laptops with various distributions of Linux, and has announced they will be making Chromebooks.  (The new Google Laptop). See below for a list of some of the most common Acer models.

ACER REPAIR AND IT SERVICES IN THE EUGENE / SPRINGFIELD, OR AREA

Are you in the Eugene, Oregon area, and need help with your Acer laptop, desktop, or notebook?  We offer on-site or drop-off services. At Eugene Computer Geeks, we are eager to help you with your Acer Computer.  Our rates are some of the lowest in Lane County, Oregon only $30 an hour! Free estimates and flat rates are available upon request.  We can come on-site to your home, business, or location of choice to anywhere in the Eugene / Springfield, Oregon area. You are also welcome to schedule a drop-off.  100% Satisfaction Guaranteed! In some cases a free diagnoses may be provided. (For Drop-Offs Only)

COMMON SERVICES WE PROVIDE FOR ACER COMPUTERS

We specialize in repairs with Acer computers and provide services of all types including;

• Speed up Computer
• Upgrades
• Laptop / Notebook Repairs
• Data Recovery / File Restoration
• Restore Acer computer to original factory state
• System Restore
• Data Backups
• Virus Removal
• Training / Tutoring

WHO ARE EUGENE COMPUTER GEEKS?

Eugene Computer Geeks is a group of freelancers based in the Eugene, Oregon area.  We are experienced, educated, polite, and have good teaching skills.  Our technicians always strive to make our clients happy, and provide 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed. When you use Eugene Computer Geeks for your Acer product repairs, you can rest assured that you will be pleased with our services.

Eugene Computer Geeks also operates a 100% Free Computer Help Chat provided by employees of Eugene Computer Geeks and volunteers from around the world. Everyone from around the world, (including clients) are welcome to join the chat and receive free technical support by experienced technicians.

Acer is one of the most common brands Eugene Computer Geeks work with.  Below is a list of some of the common types of Acer computers we have experience working with.

Laptops / Netbooks

• Acer Aspire Notebook
• Acer Ferrari
• Acer Ferrari One
• Acer Iconia
• Acer Extensa
• Acer TravelMate
• Acer Extensa
• Acer Aspire One Series

Desktops

• Acer Aspire Desktop
• Acer Veriton
• Acer Aspire Predator

Give Eugene Computer Geeks a try and you’ll see why we are the best option for Acer computer repair services in the Eugene / Springfield, Oregon area. We guarantee you’ll be satisfied with our repair services, and our rate is at a price everyone can afford. ($30 an hour) Call us at (541) 357-7222 or e-mail [email protected]

Please visit our home page at http://www.eugenecomputergeeks.com/

Google ChromeBook Laptop

If you are tired of running virus scanners, clean-up utilities, disk defragmenters, firewalls, and tired of having to ask a relative or neighbor to get your machine working again (or worse- having to pay someone to do it) then cloud-based computing may be for you.  ChromeOS is designed to be an extremely fast operating system, start up in less than 10 seconds, and resume from sleep instantly.

One very important thing to note is that most Chromebooks do not have much storage space.  I haven’t seen one with anything bigger than a 16 gigabyte solid state drive. However, you can use online storage, like Box.com and Google Drive.  Setup for Chromebooks is suprisingly simple:  start it up, connect to your wifi network, and you’re ready.  A Chromebook is a fantastic laptop to give to someone who isn’t computer-literate.  For advanced users, it may not be the best laptop.  You can’t run Windows applications, and most “applications” (which are just shortcuts for a website) require an internet connection.

The Chromebooks were designed with security in mind: websites run sandboxed which means that malware can only affect what’s inside the sandbox, and can’t affect anything that is outside of it.  The Chromebooks also have some features which would be extremely appealing to consumers, like it’s fast boot- the Chromebook is ready to be used in less than 8 seconds.  Cloud storage is also a very convenient feature built into the Chromebook- you can take your files anywhere (with an internet connection, anyway).

There are also some disadvantages to Chromebooks.  Is it the best idea to rely primarily on Google’s servers, with all the news of break-ins and data loss?  The Chromebook is also linked with your Google account: Google could potentially collect more information about you this way.  You also have less choice when using a Chromebook.  Would you buy a laptop with an operating system where you had to use the default browser?  To take advantage of most of the Chromebook’s features, you also need a good internet connection.  Most Chromebooks come with Verizon 3G internet built in, but Verizon only gives you 100 megabytes/month.  100 megabytes can go pretty quick.

The Chromebook essentially is a web browser.  It can’t run Windows applications, however, but you can access other machines running Windows on your Chrome device.  With Chrome Remote Desktop, a web application for Chrome, you can access and run software stored on any of your other computers, over the internet.

Overall, the Chromebook would be a fantastic laptop to give to someone who isn’t very computer-literate.  They’re fast, offer tons of web applications, backs up with Google’s cloud storage automatically, and have anti-virus and security measures built in.  They also automatically update, so the user doesn’t need to worry about constantly needing to update their laptop.  Chromebooks also have very good battery life- 6 to 8 hours of usage.  Most users primarily use web applications and spend most of their time on the internet.  The Chromebooks would fit the needs of most users, but the more advanced users may not like the operating system.

HP offers totally free online computer classes in their learning center, for students of all skill levels and experience.  You can print out a certificate of completion and use for a resume.  It’s also a great way for businesses to train their employees without having to pay the expensive tuition for going back to school or getting certified.

HP’s Learning Center offers well over 100 different computer related classes that are always changing on a regular basis. Take advantage of this wonderful free service and learn Computer Science and other technology related topics.  Excellent for anyone looking for a job or wants to improve their computer skills for free.

Main categories of classes are:

• At Home
• At Business
• Business
• Business Basics
• Digital Entertainment
• Photography
• Home Office
• IT professionals
• Lifestyle
• Adobe and Microsoft Office
• Technology
• PC security and maintenance

To see a full list of classes, check the class list at http://h30440.www3.hp.com/learningcenter/Classes/ClassAll.aspx

If you have a question or stuck on a particular class, you can try our Free Computer Help Chat.

EXTEND IPHONE BATTERY

The following guide will tell you everything you need to know to extend IPhone battery life.

TURN DOWN SCREEN BRIGHTNESS
Turning down the screen brightness as much as possible will greatly increase battery life for your iphone. Keep in mind that lowering the screen brightness will make it very difficult to view your screen when outside on sunny days.

To adjust screen brightness, click the “Settings” icon, then goto “Brightness”. 

TURN OFF VIBRATE
Turning off the vibrate feature for incoming calls is another excellent way to help increase battery life. The vibrate feature uses a lot of power and will eat up your battery quickly.

To disable vibrate, goto “Settings” icon, then click “Sounds”, and then set “Vibrate” to “off”.

TURN OFF WIFI AND BLUETOOTH
If you can get away with turning off WIFI or Bluetooth, it can save quite a bit of battery life.

To disable WIFI, goto “Settings” icon, then click “WIFI”, and then set to “off”.

To disable BLUETOOTH, goto “Settings” icon, then click “GENERAL”  ”BLUE TOOTH”, and then set to “off”.

AVOID 3D GAMES AND MOVIES
While using your Iphone on the battery, avoid 3D games and movies which take up a lot of power.

TURN DOWN SOUND
Sound can use up a lot of power and eat up battery life. Use your volume control to turn it down.

USE A SHORT RING TONE
Use a short ring tone, and avoid using a song or anything that uses a lot of volume or power.

TURN AUTO-LOCK DOWN
The auto-lock feature lets you choose how long the screen will be on after you have pressed a key or touched the touch screen. Turn down AUTO-LOCK all the way down to 1 minute.

To turn down auto-lock, goto “Settings” icon, then click “GENERAL”, then  ”auto-lock”, and then set to “1 minute”.

TURN OFF SCREEN WHEN NOT IN USE
Click the off key once right after you use the phone to turn off the screen.

TURN OFF PHONE WHEN NOT IN USE
Completely power the phone off when you are not using it, which is one of the best things you can do to save battery life. Hold down the off button and slide the red slider to the right to turn off phone.

DISABLE LOCATION SERVICES
GPS location services eat up a lot of battery life, so be sure to turn it off if its not necessary.

To disable location Services, goto “Settings” icon, then click “GENERAL”  ”Location Services”, and then set to “off”.

CHECK E-MAIL LESS
Having the phone check your e-mail less can save a small amount of power.  Every little bit counts, and it is worth changing the settings to check your e-mail less to save some battery life.

To change, Click Settings Icon ,  Mail, Contacts, Calendar , Fetch New Data , Select Your Preference

GET ANOTHER BATTERY AND KEEP IT CHARGED
Having another battery for when your first one goes out will extend battery life by double. Also remember to always bring your charger, and buy a car charger if you are driving often and away from a wall plug.

Living in Eugene, Oregon there are limited options for buying a new or used computer locally.  The following guide is a list of computer stores in Eugene where you can buy a new computer or computer parts.

BEST BUY – The store with the best selection is Best Buy in the Gateway Mall, but I don’t recommend them for several reasons.  They only have a 15 day return policy, unfriendly staff that are generally unhelpful and inexperienced.  They also try and get customers to use their Geek Squad repair service, which is a huge rip off.  Check their reviews on Google Places or Yelp, and you’ll see what I mean. There is a reason they are going out of business.

STAPLES  – Better return policy than best buy. Decent selection

OFFICE DEPOT - I’ve had good experiences here although I’ve noticed that a lot of the computers and printers they have on display they don’t have in their inventory.

VOS COMPUTERS-  People have told me mixed things about VOS.  I’ve heard they are slightly over priced, but they are local and family owned, and they parts in stock that nobody else in town likely has.

NEXTSTEP RECYCLING-  Personally I feel like they are way over-priced on a lot of items like used computers and cell phones, but have good deals on some parts and other items. They don’t have a return policy. They have a limited exchange policy and with a very short period after purchase.  I’ve noticed their used computers tend to be over priced, and you can get a much better deal on a used computer off of Craigslist.

RADIOSHACK- Radioshack just isn’t the store they used to be. They have a very small inventory, and high prices.  They do have a somewhat decent selection of electronics parts.

CRAIGSLIST- Craigslist is one of the best way to find good deals on Computers and Parts in Eugene.  Just make sure to do a full check on everything you buy, and their is always a small risk you take when buying from a stranger online.

MAC STORE- If you like apple products, the Mac store is the place to go.

EUGENE COMPUTER GEEKS-  We don’t sell computers but we will help you find the right computer for you, free of charge. For Computer Repair Services or web design, please try EUGENE COMPUTER GEEKS.
WHERE TO BUY ONLINE
If you don’t mind the wait, the best deals and selections can be found online.  The Internet is a buyers market and you can find great deals if you know where to look.

Newegg.com- Excellent prices and selection. Good return policy.

Amazon Market Place-  Amazon Market Place is an excellent way to buy computers, electronics or parts in new or used condition from sellers from around the world. This is not to be confused with regular Amazon.com.  Make sure the seller you buy from has lots of positive reviews and feedback. 

Ebay-  Now days, Ebay has become a buyer’s market.

Google Shopping- Google has added a shopping feature to their search, which allows you to search for millions of stores on the Internet.  I also use it to look up a certain item and get a good price comparison.

Thanks for reading my guide. I hope you now have a better idea of what the best computer stores in Eugene Oregon are.  Please Comment and Share.