Bristol and Bath Home Computers

Link: http://www.bristol-and-bath-home-computers.co.uk

There are many precautions that can be made when working on a notebook computer, some are obvious but often neglected, some are not so obvious but just as or even more important.

Note book computers were designed to be light and small, for some reason the new generation of notebook computers have become almost the size of laptops with the newer wide-screen displays, I guess many notebook users use it as a normal home PC and some never leave the home, this is not a good idea although perhaps they look cool and can be as powerful or even more powerful than a desktop pc should problems occur repairs can be very expensive.

A few simple precautions can be taken to minimise a costly repair.

1/ Never put drinks near a notebook computer, I have been to many call outs for drink soaked notebooks.
2/ Never put pens on the notebook keyboard, if you forget and shut the lid the display is very likely to shatter.
3/ Never touch the screen or use a pen for a pointer fingerprints are difficult to remove and pen is near impossible to remove, please click here to read our post on cleaning LCD displays.
4/ If using for an extended length of time on mains power remove the battery when fully charged, leaving the battery in will reduce the life of the battery greatly.
5/ Always ensure the ventilation holes are clear, notebooks have powerful CPU’s and due to the confined space require efficient cooling, poor ventilation can result in computer shutdown or cpu meltdown.
6/ Security, try to ensure that your notebook is not visible from passer byes, thieves will take a few seconds to gain entry take your notebook and scarper even with you in the house, consider buying a Kensington slot type lock to secure your notebook even when in your house, kensington style locks are available at a reasonable price from Marked For Life Limited click here for details.
7/ Always set a password, although some passwords can be reset in the event of a theft your confidential information can be secured or extreme difficulty to obtain and thus avoiding the much publicised identity theft.
8/ Have your notebook serviced every year, servicing a notebook is critical, with constant movement many screws can come loose and short circuit boards, break the case, chassis and display, we can service your notebook for just £45 to ensure its maximum life.

Bristol and Bath Home Computers special offers, you may well be aware that Bristol and Bath home computers repair Computers in Bristol and Bath and surrounding area’s, perhaps the name was a bit of a give-away, at Bristol and Bath home Computers we not only like to give the best service possible to our customers but we like to give a little bit more.

Because we have access to the best suppliers in the trade not only as Bristol and Bath Home Computers but as Bristol Clone Centre (See our about page)having developed a good relationship with some of the major importers, trade suppliers and manufacturers over the many years we have traded in the IT sector many suppliers giving us good discounts over the normal trade price, we can pass this discount on to you.

We will bringing to you many discounts for products that you would not normally think of as well as products you know you would like and special options for cut price installation of computer components if bought through us at our discounted prices.

As soon as we get offered a great deal from our suppliers we will advertise it here for you to see, you can subscribe to this blog to receive information as soon as they become available to avoid any chance of missing that unbeatable deal on that item you have been wanting for so long.

Please remember to subscribe today to avoid missing any deals, its easy to unsubscribe, we wont give your information to anyone else your privacy is safe with Bristol and Bath Home Computers.

PS. if there is anything you want leave a comment and we will try to make that item our next discounted product.

Buying a computer

Computers are now very powerful, there are many desktop pc’s that are as or more powerful than many of the servers I have repaired.

Even the most basic computer is capable of performing some very powerful tasks, buying the top of the range is not always necessary.

Computer Brand
Everyone knows Compaq, Hewlett Packard, Dell and IBM, these are some of the main personal computer manufacturers, buying a Compaq, Dell or any branded name means you have a reputable company behind the design of the computer, this used to mean a price tag to match, with the competition building computers the main manufacturers have brought down their prices to match some of the clone manufacturers.

Although some of the branded names use clone components at times normally the branded computer has a machine specific component, this being the motherboard, power supply etc, this is OK provided the computer is working or the computer is in warranty, as soon as the computer is out of warranty you are in a situation where in the event of a breakdown you can only buy the parts from the manufacturer or a manufacturer authorised supplier, this leaves them in a situation to control the price, should the price be too high you can only buy second hand or buy a new machine.

Clone Equipment
Clone computers are computers that are freely available to anyone, there are manufacturers normally in China and Taiwan that build components for computers, they sell these components through distributors in the UK and the rest of the world, any computer shop can buy these components and build their own machines badged with their own logo, if you buy a clone machine, when the warranty has expired you can take the computer anywhere to be repaired, any company can get replacement parts and there is no artificial price control.

Technology
I remember when the 486DX2 66 came out, we had one on the bench in our workshop and I went over to look in awe at the ultimate in power machine, these were £2000 plus (new) at auction and ridiculously high from branded manufacturers, I wondered how something so powerful could be reliable.
That 66Mhz machine is not powerful enough to run many of the modern scripts and programs today, we are now looking at speeds of 2Ghz plus, there are limits to the speed with current technology, these speed limitations are being minimised by fitting more than one CPU on a chip, duel and quad core, no doubt as technology advances there will be other ways emerging but at current technology 2ghz is about the normal maximum.

Things to consider
Unless you want a computer for a specific use there are very few things to take into consideration when buying a machine, even the most basic machine will serve as a powerful platform for a word processor, accounts package or games machine, some of the following things are things you may want to consider when looking around.

CPU
The fastest the better, there is often very little price difference between most speeds of CPU’s, then you will see a huge difference in the next level, this has always been the case, the top of the range is a lot dearer than the next one down, look at the current speeds and compare the prices buy the one that is the highest spec at the lowest price range.

Memory
Memory is cheap, buy as much as you can fit on the system board, when computers first came out the amount of memory that was directly usable was 640K and a hard disk of 40meg was huge, because of this programmers built programs that used little resources such as memory and disc space, Billy Gates brings out Microsoft Windows and the Bloatware was born, Windows demanded more memory the world memory companies supplied it and the price fell, the 640k memory limit was removed, hard drives increased in capacity programmers no longer needed to write small files and memory efficient programs, they could bloat out their programs knowing that the PC world would need to keep up.

Hard Disks
As with the CPU there is a specification level where the price goes up in a large step, my advice is to buy the largest capacity before the huge price increase.

Monitors
CRT monitors are heavy and bulky, LCD monitors are now cheap enough for anyone’s budget and should be a priority when purchasing, 17″ is fine but buy what suits your situation.

My mate can make a computer
This is a quote I have heard from many of my customers, if a friend says they can make a computer or they have a friend who can make a computer for you think twice and ask them the question, “Do they have an anti static workstation” if the answer is what is that or no then the chance of your computer lasting until old age is minimal, I ve seen on forums people saying “I made my computer on the carpet and it still works” it may or it may not but it wont last for long in most situations.

Bristol and Bath Computers
At Bristol and Bath Home Computers we do not actively sell computers, if requested by customers to make them one we will source the best value components and build the computer at our anti static workstation, we buy all components when required so you get the latest technology.

Cleaning a Keyboard

You may remember in my previous post about cleaning your computer system unit that cleaning your computer system unit can cause more harm than good, the same is true with keyboards.

Most computer keyboards are membrane keyboards, this can consist of two layers of plastic etched sheets and an insulating layer between the two, pressing a key pushes the contact on one layer of plastic through to the contact on the other through a hole in the insulating sheet, there are also rubber membrane keyboards that are rubber contacts that short across the contacts of the switch with carbon pads, gone are the days of the individual key switches.

The easiest and safest way to clean a keyboard is to turn it upside down and shake out the crumbs then turning it so the keys are facing you and shaking will make the crumbs fall out and not be collected by the key tops, a vacuum is a good option but you must make sure that the keys don’t fall off and get sucked inside, the miniature vacuums available for cleaning small places do not have enough suction to be any use cleaning a keyboard.

It is a good idea to avoid the use of air dusters, air dusters can cause the debris being flushed out to enter the membrane and stop the keys working.

A brush can be used to loosen the crumbs but extra care should be used to avoid moving the key tops and breaking or loosening the shaft.

There was a time when I would take a keyboard apart and clean every individual key switch, those days are way gone, the price of keyboards being so low doesn’t justify the time taken.

Finally a piece of damp cloth and a small amount of household soap can be used to clean the individual key tops, do each key top individually to avoid damaging the key top and stem.

The easiest way to clean a keyboard is to throw it away and buy a new one.

Cleaning a mouse

When you feel the mouse has a rough movement or the cursor doesn’t move up or down or left and right it is time to clean your mouse.

To clean an optical mouse couldn’t be easier, just blow the light under the mouse, if there is visible dust that doesn’t want to move the use of a soft cloth will normally shift it.

To clean a ball mouse it is still an easy job but a bit more fiddly, remove the ball by turning or pulling back the cover, there are normally arrows to show which way to open it, use a cloth to dust off the ball, look inside the ball hole and there is 2 rollers and 2 long shafts, the shafts control the up and down and the left and right movement and the rollers are there to steady the ball and to allow it to turn.

Using a blunt blade remove the material from the rollers and the shafts, try to remove the material from the mouse body, leaving it in there can cause a blockage to the light source and light censor, reassemble and use.

Link: http://milsom.biz

Bristol and Bath Home Computers cover all the following areas with no mileage surcharge, for areas not listed please give us a ring for a visit quote, we don’t charge by mile but by travel time and we can arrange visit times after customer visits near you and avoid any extra charges altogether.

Abbots Leigh | Almondsbury | Alveston | Backwell | Barrow Gurney | Bedminster | Berkeley | Bishop Sutton | Bishopston | Bitton | Blagdon | Bradley Stoke | Brislington | Bristol | Bristol Airport | Chew Magna | Chipping Sodbury | Clapton In Gordano | Clevedon | Clifton | Clutton | Clutton Hill | Coalpit Heath | Codrington | Coombe Dingle | Cotham | Countywide | Dundry | Easton-In-Gordano | Eastville | Emersons Green | Failand | Farrington Gurney | Felton | Filton | Fishponds | Flax Bourton | Hallen | Hambrook | Henbury | Horfield | Horton | Hotwells | Kewstoke | Keynsham | Langford | Lawrence Weston | Long Ashton | Longwell Green | Mangotsfield | Montpelier | Nailsea | Old Sodbury | Oldland Common | Olveston | Patchway | Paulton | Pensford | Pill | Pilning | Portbury | Portishead | Redhill | Redland | Saltford | Severn Beach | Severn View | Shirehampton | Southville | St Pauls | St Philips | Stanton Drew | Staple Hill | Stapleton | Stoke Bishop | Stoke Gifford | Temple Cloud | Temple Meads | Thornbury | Tockington | Westbury Park | Westbury-on-Trym | Weston-super-Mare | Whitchurch | Wick | Winscombe | Winterbourne | Winterbourne Down | Wotton-under-Edge | Wraxall | Wrington | Yate | Yatton |

Ashwicke | Bath | Bathampton | Batheaston | Bathwick | Bradford-on-Avon | Claverton | Clutton Hill | Clutton-on-the-Mendips | Colerne | Combe Down | Combe Hay | Corsham | Countywide | Englishcombe | Farmborough | Hinton Charterhouse | Holcombe | Holt | Kingsdown | Lacock | Larkhall | Limpley Stoke | Midford | Midsomer Norton | Monkton Combe | Norton St Philip | Odd Down | Peasedown St John | Pensford | Radstock | Rode | Shoscombe | South Stoke | Ston Easton | Swainswick | Trowbridge | Twerton on Avon | Walcot | Wellow | Weston | Wick | Widcombe | Woolverton |