Tagged: laptop

Vizio’s new computer line

General / Links
16 Jan, 2012

Vizio recently announced their new entry into the consumer laptop and all-in-one desktop market with what I consider a stunning pair of computers.

Welcome to good taste, Vizio!

The linked article shows off some closeup photos of these awesome looking pieces of hardware, but perhaps more importantly, points out that they will run an optimized and bloatware-free install of Windows. I’ll not be switching to Windows any time soon, but if I had to run Windows daily, these are the machines I would want to run them on.
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View extended laptop battery info with Coconut Battery

Mac & OS X
11 Mar, 2010

If you have a MacBook or MacBook Pro, your battery is vital to the usefulness of the machine. While Apple offers you basic information about your battery life, little information is displayed about the overall health of the battery. This is where coconutBattery comes in.

coconutBattery is a simple utility that goes beyond just showing you the current charge of your MacBook’s battery. You might say it gives your battery a complete physical exam. coconutBattery can show you the current maximum capacity of the battery compared to what it was when you first took it out of the box; perfect for anyone who’s thought “the battery used to last longer.”

coconutBattery offers a wealth of information about your laptop's battery

The diagnostics don’t stop there. You can get a better idea of how many complete charge cycles are left in the life of your battery by checking the loadcycles (how many times you’ve fully charged your battery) – useful because every battery has a set amount of full battery charges before it just doesn’t charge anymore.

If you’re a multiple-laptop family, you’ve no doubt been faced with the question “is that the MacBook charger or my wife’s MacBook Pro’s charger?” coconutBattery can let you know if you’ve plugged your laptop in with the wrong charger.

coconutBattery is a free, Universal Binary you can download here.

Add anti-glare film to glossy-screen laptops and desktop displays

General
15 Jul, 2009

Anti-glare film for laptops If you’re not a fan of the glossy LCD screens Apple puts on all new laptops, iMacs and the 24″ LCD display, this product is for you! RADTech offers ClearCal, an anti-glare film for glossy displays, that significantly reduces glare, is easy to apply, and can be removed and washed a number of times. I have a glossy-screen MacBook Pro. While I’ve not really had a problem with the glossy displays, save for a few working hours in bright sunlight, I can see how a product like ClearCal can be a life-saver for photographers and designers who work outdoors, or in an office with a large window or bright light source behind them. ClearCal costs $20 for laptops, and $25 for the iMac 24″ and 24″ Cinema Display.

Thoughts on an Apple Netbook

General
2 Jul, 2009

Mac netbook Apple Announces Netbook! That’s the headline you wanted to see, right? That’s the headline that industry analysts and so-called experts believe Apple must have in order to remain relevant in today’s economic climate. That’s also the headline you’re not likely to come across unless it happens to be April 1st. The truth is, Apple already has a netbook on the market, which they’ve been selling for quite a while now. It’s called the MacBook Air. In MacBook Air is the Apple Netbook, I discuss why I believe Apple isn’t offering a netbook, and why we’re not likely to see one any time soon.

Get the most out of your laptop battery

General / Mac & OS X
30 Dec, 2008

If you know the right tricks, you can maximise the lifespan and battery life of you MacBook or MacBook Pro. The way you charge the battery, the conditions is which you use and store your laptop and the way you have your energy saver preferences set all have an effect on how long your battery will last and how well if performs. The OSX System Profiler can help you assess the condition of your battery’s current health.

MacOSXTips recently published Get the most out of your laptop battery, which covers some best-practices for maintaining a healthy battery life on your MacBook and MacBook Pro. My recommendations are to power-off your laptop overnight, cycle the battery completely each time you use it – which means to run the laptop on battery power until it’s down to at least 20% charge before you plug it in to recharge, and make sure you have the battery optimization set to “Better Battery Life” in the Energy Saver system prefs pane. And if you plan on not using the laptop for a few days, such as a vacation or long weekend, take the battery out of the laptop completely after powering it off. The laptop battery only has so many recharge cycles in its life, recharging the battery when it’s still at 80% needlessly uses up a cycle, thereby shortening the life of the battery. Using the tips provided in the article will go a long way in prolonging your investment.

Fixing various power issues on MacBook/MacBook Pro

General / Mac & OS X
18 Dec, 2008

If you find your MacBook or MacBook Pro having various power issues such as:

backlighting
hard disk spin down
sleep or wake issues
battery issues
trackpad control

the first thing you should try doing (after simply restarting your computer to see if that fixes it) is resetting the System Management Controller (SMC). The SMC is a chip on the logic board which is responsible for power management of the computer. Issues can and do pop up that render the settings in the SMC unusable, resulting in problems with the above mentioned items. Many times, resetting the SMC is all that is necessary to fix the problems. To reset the System Management Controller on the MacBook or MacBook Pro, do the following:

Turn the computer off
Disconnect the AC Adapter and remove the computer’s battery
Press and hold the power button for 5 seconds, then release it
Reconnect the battery and AC adapter
Press the power button to restart the computer

The process is similar for MacBook Air users, as well as users of older Apple laptops which use the Power Management Unit (PMU) rather than the SMC. You can view this Apple support document for more info.