• A laptop computer, or simply ‘laptop‘, is a small battery powered personal computer that usually weighs around 1 to 8 kilograms.

    These days, many office workers use their laptop as their primary source for computing using an external mouse,and monitor when in the office, and using the laptop‘s organic screen, pointing device and keyboard when traveling.

    Laptops usually run on a single main rechargeable ibm laptop battery, or from an external AC/DC adapter that charges the battery while also supplying power to the computer itself.

    Laptop batteries usually last from between 2 and 5 hours between recharges. New battery technology due for release this year, is set to extend their useful life by factors of 3 or 4 times.

    Most laptops also have a button cell ibm fru 92p1141 battery to run the clock and store the computer‘s bios. In most cases, the laptop also holds an image of the main operating system that can be used to restore full functionality after a virus attack or other computing disaster.

    Laptops contain components that are similar to their desktop counterparts and perform the same functions, but are miniaturised and optimised for mobile use, low weight and efficient power consumption.

    Typically the laptop gives less computing power per dollar because they use customised components and propriety designs to lower weight and give lower power consumption.

    Laptops usually have colour liquid crystal displays, and most of them use different memory modules than standard personal desktop computers .

    In addition to a built-in keyboard, they may also offer users a touchpad (also known as a trackpad) or a track-ball for input, though an external keyboard or mouse can usually be attached.

    The first commercially available portable computer was the Osborne 1 in 1981, which used the CP/M operating system. The Osborne 1 weighed 10.7 kgs, had a tiny 13cm CRT display, and a single density floppy disk.

    Although it was large, heavy and useless compared to today‘s laptops, it had a revolutionary impact on business. Computing and engineering professionals were able to take their computer and data with them for the first time.

    Since these early days the major developments in laptops have been focused on processing power, weight reduction, price reduction, ibm thinkpad r32 battery life, and more recently, aesthetics.

    It wasn‘t until the mid to late 1990s that laptop computers became common place as prices reduced and they became less burdensome to travel with. As far aesthetics are concerned, Apple‘s range of laptop computers are examples of brilliant industrial design combined with serious computing power.

    Weighing in at less than 3 pounds, the MacBook Air is less than .77 inches thick and will run for up to 5 hours on a single charge.

    The future for laptops looks promising. As industrial design and ibm thinkpad r40 battery,ibm thinkpad t42 battery technology improves, laptops will get faster, smaller and lighter. The laptop will become more of an industrial strength PDA than a computer. It won‘t be too long until you will be able to get full computing power in a handheld device 12 x 12 cms by 8mm thick. The Apple iPhone is half-way there.

  • If you've had your digital camera for more than a few months, chances are your is overdue for a spring cleaning, despite what the calendar says. It's much easier to find the photos you need when they're organized. Programs such as Adobe Photoshop Elements and Corel Photo Album are designed for just this sort of task, but you can take control of your digital photo collection without spending much (or any) money,notebook batteries,with these low- and no-cost options.

    Rename files in batches: Your digital camera assigns seemingly meaningless names like 'DSCN0001' and 'PC000023' to pictures. Renaming each by hand can take hours. Instead, select a set of photos--say, the 20 or 30 you took at Thanksgiving. Right-click the selection and choose Rename Type a descriptive label such as Thanksgiving-2006 and press <Enter>. The photos take that name, with a sequential number tacked on to the end, making it easier to find relevant photos by scanning the names or using Search. Rename pictures regularly; if you procrastinate, you'll have thousands of images to rename,apple laptop battery, and it'll never get done.

    Try nuclear-powered renaming: You don't have to depend to organize your files with smarter file names. The $10 utility Name Dropper enables you to create a slew of name fragments and assign them to a dozen buttons. To rename photos, you simply combine the fragments into descriptive compound names. Siren, a free alternative, gives you access to the metadata associated with your photos--including camera model,apple a1175, ISO, exposure data, lens information, and date taken. You can combine this data into file names to see all you need to know about the photos at a glance.

    Rotate easily: You can rotate your sideways images in batches, as well. If many photos on your computer are turned sideways (probably because you snapped the shots with your camera turned on its side),apple a1185 , select them and then right-click to gain the option of rotating them clockwise or counterclockwise. Make your choice, and Windows will do the rest.

    View their thumbnails: We humans are visual animals. Even if you give every photo you take a descriptive name, you'll still find it easier to locate a specific image if you can see what it looks like. Windows XP tries to show you thumbnails when it finds folders full of photos, but sometimes the OS gets confused. If XP represents the contents of a folder of photos as nondescript icons,apple m8403, choose View, Thumbnails (or View, Filmstrip if you want a large preview of the selected photo). If you can't find those options on the menu at all, select View, Customize This Folder, and in the folder template menu choose Pictures (best for many files).

    Get some free help: When it comes to organizing your photos,apple powerbook g4 , Windows XP isn't especially helpful. Enlist the aid of some freeware to find your pictures more easily. Both Adobe's Photoshop Album Starter Edition (which is a stripped-down version of the photo organizer that comes with Photoshop Elements; and Google's Picasa allow you to group pictures with descriptive labels and then place the photos into albums.

    If you've had your digital camera for more than a few months, chances are your hard drive is overdue for a spring cleaning, despite what the calendar says. It's much easier to find the photos you need when they're organized. Programs such as Adobe Photoshop Elements and Corel Photo Album are designed for just this sort of task, but you can take control of your digital photo collection without spending much (or any) money,powerbook g4 15inch battery, with these low- and no-cost options.

    Rename files in batches: Your digital camera assigns seemingly meaningless names like 'DSCN0001' and 'PC000023' to pictures. Renaming each by hand can take hours. Instead, select a set of photos--say, the 20 or 30 you took at Thanksgiving. Right-click the selection and choose Rename Type a descriptive label such as Thanksgiving-2006 and press <Enter>. The photos take that name,apple a1012, with a sequential number tacked on to the end, making it easier to find relevant photos by scanning the names or using Search. Rename pictures regularly; if you procrastinate, you'll have thousands of images to rename, and it'll never get done.

    Try nuclear-powered renaming: You don't have to depend on Windows to organize your files with smarter file names. The $10 utility Name Dropper enables you to create a slew of name fragments and assign them to a dozen buttons. To rename photos, you simply combine the fragments into descriptive compound names. Siren, a free alternative, gives you access to the metadata associated with your photos--including camera model,apple m8244 , ISO, exposure data, lens information, and date taken. You can combine this data into file names to see all you need to know about the photos at a glance.

    Rotate easily: You can rotate your sideways images in batches, as well. If many photos on your computer are turned sideways (probably because you snapped the shots with your camera turned on its side), apple a1079, select them and then right-click to gain the option of rotating them clockwise or counterclockwise. Make your choice, and Windows will do the rest.

    View their thumbnails: We humans are visual animals. Even if you give every photo you take a descriptive name, you'll still find it easier to locate a specific image if you can see what it looks like. Windows XP tries to show you thumbnails when it finds folders full of photos, but sometimes the OS gets confused. If XP represents the contents of a folder of photos as nondescript icons, choose View, Thumbnails (or View, Filmstrip if you want a large preview of the selected photo). If you can't find those options on the menu at all, select View, Customize This Folder, and in the folder template menu choose Pictures (best for many files) (see FIGURE 1 FIGURE 1: Force photo folders to show a thumbnail view of your images,apple a1078 ,apple a1148 by using Windows XP's folder customization dialog box.

     

  • In the old days, making prints was pretty easy. You'd take a roll of film to the corner store,laptop battery,and in an hour you'd get a bunch of 4-by-6-inch prints. If you especially liked one of them, you could order a 5-by-7 or an 8-by-10. That was pretty much all there was to it.

    These days, it's not so simple. There's really no standard print size for digital photos--you can print at any size you want as long as you can fit the paper into your printer. And if you're using an online service like Shutterfly or Snapfish, the sky is the limit,ibm laptop battery, with posters as large as 20 by 30 inches a real possibility. But how do you know what size to choose? What dimensions will work well with the images that come out of your digital camera? Keep reading to find out.

    It's All in the Megapixels

    The answer is surprisingly simple. The more pixels you have, the larger your print can be. For most home inkjet printers,IBM thinkpad t40 battery , you should assume that you'll get the best results when you print about 300 dots per inch, so just take the dimensions of your photos and divide them by 300 along both the horizontal and the vertical. Whatever you get is the largest size that you should consider printing.

    Consider this example: You have a photo that's 2240 by 1680 pixels. Do the math, and you get an image size of 7.5 by 5.6 inches; in other words, with a little rounding, you can safely make 5-by-7-inch prints. Or how about a 3872-by-2592-pixel image? That's 12.9 by 8.6 inches, or thinkpad t41 battery, in terms we more commonly use, a standard 8 by 10.

    Another way to think about this problem is by referring to the number of megapixels. The 3872-by-2592-pixel image I discussed earlier is from a Nikon D200,thinkpad t42 battery , which makes 10-megapixel photos.

    Here's a list that correlates megapixels to print size:

    • 2 megapixels = 1200 by 1600 pixels = 4 by 5 inches
    • 3 megapixels = 1536 by 2048 pixels = 5 by 7 inches
    • 6 megapixels = 2400 by 3000 pixels = 6.5 by 10 inches
    • 10 megapixels = 2592 by 3872 pixels = 8.5 by 13 inches
    • 12 megapixels = 4368 by 2912 pixels = 9.7 by 14.5 inches

      Okay, It's not That Simple

      Now that I've given you a handy-dandy reference,thinkpad t43 battery, let me add that it may not as simple as I've led you to believe.

      For starters, the list assumes that you're printing at 300 dpi--and if you do, you'll generally get great results. But the reality is that you can print at lower resolutions and still get fantastic prints. This is especially true of larger prints that you'll hang on the wall. If you're making a 20-by-30-inch poster, most people will stand back and look at it from several feet away. And the farther away you view a photo, the lower the resolution needs to be to give you great results. Think of your digital photo like a television screen--the closer you sit to it,thinkpad r50 battery, the more obvious the imperfections are. From across the room, almost any TV looks great.

      The lesson here is that you shouldn't be afraid to experiment. Try printing your photos at sizes larger than what I've suggested,thinkpad r51 battery , and see if you like the results.

      In addition, techno-purists will argue that there's more to print size than pixels alone--and they're right.

      Your camera's sensor size, for example, affects picture quality. A small point-and-shoot might take the same 8-megapixel images as a more costly digital SLR, but the SLR probably relies on a physically bigger sensor. That adds up to a higher quality image,IBM fru 08k8193, and the resulting prints will be better. As a result, you might have better results printing your point-and-shoot photos a tad smaller.

      Your camera's exposure settings can have an effect on print quality as well. Remember that a high ISO will add digital noise to the final print. An ISO 800 photo will look better printed at 5 by 7 inches than at 8 by 10, even if you use a 10-megapixel IBM 92p1060.

      Hot Pic of the Week

      Get published, get famous! Each week, we select our favorite reader-submitted photo based on creativity, originality, and technique. Every month,thinkpad r40 battery , the best of the weekly winners gets a prize valued at between $15 and $50.

      Here's how to enter: Send us your photograph in JPEG format, at a resolution no higher than 640 by 480 pixels. Entries at higher resolutions will be immediately disqualified. If necessary, use an image editing program to reduce the file size of your image before e-mailing it to us. Include the title of your photo along with a short description and how you photographed it. Don't forget to send your name, e-mail address, and postal address. Before entering,IBM 92p1101, please read the full description of the contest rules and regulations.

      This Week's Hot Pic: "The Bean," by Lisa Swiderski, Chicago, Illinois

      Lisa writes: "I took this photo of 'The Bean' in Chicago's Millennium Park at night. I use a Canon Digital Rebel with an 18-55mm lens. I cropped the photo, used curves and autolevel to improve the image,IBM 92p1089, and then cloned out some bright lights on the left side and removed a person from the right."

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  • My friend Mary has been known to do some crazy things. Last summer, she won a hat contest by affixing pieces of fried chicken to a straw bonnet and accessorizing it with biscuit earrings.The notebook battery.

    But before boarding a recent flight, Mary did something particularly crazy: She packed her laptop in her checked bag, a canvas duffel that also contained shoes,acer laptop battery, clothes, and toiletries.

    "What's the big deal?" Mary asked me. Her notebook, an ultraportable Sony Vaio TX,acer btp-43d1 , was enclosed in a padded envelope. Wasn't that enough protection?

    At this point, I hasten to add that Mary wasn't born yesterday. She's a savvy entrepreneur whose small business has been profiled in The Wall Street Journal. Still,travelmate 220 battery, her laptop packing strategy leaves much to be desired.

    So why shouldn't you pack your notebook in a checked suitcase when you travel by plane? Here are three excellent reasons.

    1. Your Notebook Could Be Damaged

    You may have taken the utmost care in packing your notebook. However, acer btp-58a1 , what happens to your suitcase and its contents once you check it is out of your control.

    "Airlines often load bags on top of one another in the cargo hold of your flight," warns the Transportation Security Administration on its Web site. "Your baggage may be loaded with hundreds of other bags, ace btp-60a1, with possibly several on top of yours. Hundreds of pounds of pressure in conjunction with high altitude and the resulting low temperatures" while the plane is in flight "create an ideal environment for damaged laptops," according to the site. "These conditions crack cases and damage screens among other things. For these reasons, we recommend that you keep your laptop in your carry-on bag when traveling."

    2. Your Notebook Could Be Stolen

    While I'm sure the vast majority of baggage handlers and airport screeners are honest,travelmate 240 series battery , all you need is one dishonest opportunist who spots your laptop in an X-ray screening.

    For instance, on two different trips,ace btp-52ew, I packed low-cost electronic items in my checked baggage--mainly iPod accessories--and found them missing when I unpacked. (Needless to say, I no longer pack any electronics in my checked suitcase.)

    Also, keep in mind some thieves are more interested in a laptop's hard drive data than the computer itself. The drive may include information, such as social security numbers,ace btp-63d1, that can be sold or exploited for identity theft. Do you really want to risk having data like that fall into the wrong hands?

    3. Your Notebook Could Get Lost

    If you've packed a notebook in your checked bag and the airline loses that bag, you're out of luck. Oh,travelmate 2300 battery , and do you think the airlines will reimburse you for that laptop? They probably won't.

    On U.S. domestic flights, there's a $2800 compensation limit per person total (not per bag) for lost or damaged baggage. And so, in theory, if you've packed a $3000 laptop in your checked bag and the bag goes missing in action, you're out at least $200. For international trips, aspire 1680 battery, airline liability is capped at $1500 per passenger.

    However, many airlines specifically exclude computer equipment from their liability--meaning they don't have to pay you anything if your laptop is lost, stolen, or broken during a flight.

    For example, go to Delta's Declaring Baggage Value page and you'll read this policy: "Delta is not responsible or liable for cash, camera equipment, commercial effects,aspire 1410 battery, computer software and equipment, electronic equipment, fragile articles, jewelry, lifesaving medication, negotiable papers, irreplaceable business documents, works of art or other similar valuable items contained in checked or unchecked baggage."

    Other airlines have similar policies, including American Airlines,travelmate 4500 battery ,acer lcbtp03003 ,acer aspire 1300, acer btp-aqj1 , acer btp-arj1 ,asus a42-a3 Continental Airlines, United, and US Airways.