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Learn to Connect a Laptop to a TV in Under a Minute


There was a report recently about how young people these days, while they do watch television shows like everyone else, like to watch those shows on their computers or their cell phones.

More and more, television manufacturers are coming to understand that people don’t just want to connect their TVs to their cable or satellite dish and watch stuff as it comes.

They want to watch stuff that comes on their computers on demand., But they do want their TVs – to use as a monitor so that they can connect their laptops and iPads and cell phones to them and watch their on demand content on those big screens.

If you want to do the same, but you’re not quite as comfortable with all these new things the way young people are, here’s how to connect a laptop to a TV.

Here’s the thing – it doesn’t take much to connect a laptop to a TV. The connections are easy. You just need the right kind of cable, and your three-quarters the way there. If your laptop is somewhat recent, you’re sure to have an HDMI port on there.

Chances are though, that your laptop isn’t that recent, and you might not have one of these. What you might have instead is regular old-world VGA connection or, if you’re lucky, a DVI connection.

If you have one of these, you’re in luck. You get adapter wires that have an HDMI connection on the one side to plug into your TV, and a DVI or VGA connection – whichever you have on your laptop – on the other end. All you need to do is to plug each side into the right port, and you’re practically there.

The thing is, that DVI and HDMI are practically the same thing when it comes to the picture department. The only way in which they are different is that HDMI will carry sound only (if it’s there) and DVI won’t.

So if you’re connecting your laptop to your TV with a DVI to HDMI adapter cable, you only get the picturing on your TV. For the sound, you’ll need to run another wire from the headphone output on your laptop to the audio input on your television.

If you’re running a VGA  adapter cable from your laptop to your TV, your TV probably has a VGA port too, and it’s usually marked PC Input. If you don’t have that, an adapter cable will work just as well connecting your VGA output to the television’s HDMI input.

If you have a MacBook of any kind, you probably have a Mini DisplayPort connector. In this case, you’ll have to buy the right Mini DisplayPort-to-HDMI adapter, and you’re set.

On the television, whatever way you choose to connect a laptop to a TV, if your TV is getting the signal through some means, you’re now ready to view it.

On your remote, look for a button with an icon that looks like a square with a right-angled arrow pointing in. When you press that, it’s going to show you a list of all the inputs on your television. You just have to select the input that you’ve plugged your laptop into, and you’re set.

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Inexpensive Laptop Computers Are for Me


I have worked for a number of years as a freelance sports writer, where a laptop is an absolute necessity. Because the lifespan of a laptop in my line of work is about two years, I am always looking for inexpensive laptop computers to make sure that I am covered.

The first year that I started covering high school sports was 1999. I was not really sure at that point of all the things I would need, but I did know that I had to be able to keeps stats and produce a story in some form or fashion.

I had been made aware of some inexpensive laptop computers that I could purchase to use, but at that point, I was not even sure how I would use one in what I was doing, which was covering high school football, as all of our stats and stories were called in by phone.

So, off I went to my first high school football game with a note pad, a score sheet and two pencils, and man, did I feel stupid!

Every other reporter at the game had a computer, and it became pretty clear fairly early on that I was the rookie out of the bunch.

I got some looks, and after a few people had asked if I needed to plug in and I explained that I did not have a computer, I got some very interesting comments.

Several of the writers tried to tell me about places where I could go to get inexpensive laptop computers, and I think it was then that it finally started to sink in that I would actually need one. I made a trip to a local electronics store the next day.

The store I went to had a pretty impressive selection of inexpensive laptop computers, and I was able to get a pretty good deal on one of them.

I took it home, got it all set up, and felt a lot better about going to cover my next game with my new laptop. The reality of the matter is, however, that I really was not using the laptop the way that many of them were.

All I was doing was completing my write-ups on the word processing program that came with the computer. I was not entering stats, updating online or doing anything else that everyone else was.

Fast forward a few years, however, and now everything is online and done by laptop. I get paid an awful lot more for assignments now and am in the market for inexpensive laptop computers every few years these days.

It’s funny how things change, because something I hardly used when I first started freelancing and for which I really did not see much purpose is something I could not get along without these days!

ASUS Republic of Gamers G74SX-AH71 17.3-Inch Gaming Laptop (Black)


In general, if we want a good gaming laptop, the laptop should be able to play all the games that you wanted and you can take it anywhere with ease. Game never is separated from the computer. Be it a PC or laptop.

Not infrequently we find in offices, when there are breaks or leisure time, some people play games on their computers. This is fine, as long as not to interfere with work. If the office does not allow, play games on a laptop can be an option.

As I said above, Gaming Laptop is supposed to be able to be used for any game you like and convenient to carry wherever you like.

One best laptop that you can use to enjoy the games is ASUS Republic of Gamers G74SX-AH71 17.3-Inch Gaming Laptop (Black). Performance of G74SX-AH7 has no doubt.

By combining the second-generation Intel ® Core ™ i7-2670QM CPU and NVIDIA ® GTX 560M GPU with GDDR5 VRAM 3GB, G74SX-AH7 will satisfy users to play any games. G74SX-AH7 was asked as the fastest notebook in this country because it has a score of P2008 in 3DMark Vantage 3DMark11, and P9180.

If you have this notebook, you not only have the fastest rig in the city, but also the ability to play the game in a long time. This could happen because it is supported by DirectX ® 11.

Overall, the ASUS Republic of Gamers G74SX-AH71 is the best choice for gamers who want to feel the sensation of playing games with a maximum capacity. If you claim to be a true gamer, you should immediately have it.

Another great way to improve gaming and enhance overall performance on this excellent laptop is by going to www.activextest.com

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ASUS Gaming Laptop G74SX-AH71 17.3-Inch


In general, if we want a good gaming laptop, the laptop should be able to play all the games that you wanted and you can take it anywhere with ease. Game never is separated from the computer. Be it a PC or laptop.

Not infrequently we find in offices, when there are breaks or leisure time, some people play games on their computers. This is fine, as long as not to interfere with work. If the office does not allow, play games on a laptop can be an option.

As I said above, Gaming Laptop is supposed to be able to be used for any game you like and convenient to carry wherever you like. One best laptop that you can use to enjoy the games is ASUS Republic of Gamers G74SX-AH71 17.3-Inch Gaming Laptop (Black). Performance of G74SX-AH7 has no doubt.

By combining the second-generation Intel ® Core ™ i7-2670QM CPU and NVIDIA ® GTX 560M GPU with GDDR5 VRAM 3GB, G74SX-AH7 will satisfy users to play any games.

G74SX-AH7 was asked as the fastest notebook in this country because it has a score of P2008 in 3DMark Vantage 3DMark11, and P9180.

If you have this notebook, you not only have the fastest rig in the city, but also the ability to play the game in a long time. This could happen because it is supported by DirectX ® 11.

Overall, the ASUS Republic of Gamers G74SX-AH71 is the best choice for gamers who want to feel the sensation of playing games with a maximum capacity. If you claim to be a true gamer, you should immediately have it.

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Buying Guide for a Laptop for Gaming


If you’re a gamer and you’re working off a limited budget (who isn’t?) then you’re almost always better off buying a desktop computer and not a laptop. You get a lot more mileage for your money.

But laptops, more and more, are becoming mainstream and don’t really cost as much more than desktops as they used to.

You really could find a laptop for gaming that was designed with all the right features, that wasn’t that much more expensive than the desktop equivalent. This is what you need to know.

How do you know that a given machine is a gaming laptop? Well, usually, they don’t build them to be as slim and lightweight as regular laptops. These, they built for performance, even if it means a less flattering figure.

Now a laptop for gaming isn’t just a powerful laptop. It needs to have specific features built in that don’t all have to do with performance.

Let’s look at something to do with performance first of all and get out of the way. It goes without saying that a laptop for gaming needs a powerful graphics card built into the system.

Since this is meant to be an evergreen advice article and not just something for today, it’s hard to specify what kind of graphics card it should be.

As of late 2011, one specification you could look for would be a card built-in that had 2GB in graphics memory. That isn’t the only specification you need to look for though. Just look for the best discrete desktop graphics card for gamers they are selling at the moment, and look for something that’s nearly as powerful for your laptop.

A good way to judge how adequate the graphics card on your laptop is, would be to look up the recommended configuration for the games you intend to play. If your laptop has something like that, you’re good to go.

But apart from the performance, you’re looking for things that make gaming actually easy and convenient. For instance, if they call it a laptop for gaming and the keys seem all crammed together, that’s poor design.

Look for well-spaced backlit keys and a tapering keyboard design. You need to be able to hit those keys in a split second.

Of course, you need a good screen that’s at least 15 inches, and Full HD would not be a bad idea either. But you do want screen quality and sound quality that really live up to what the game designers have intended. And intend very well, they do.

They build those games these days to spectacular Hollywood movie levels of budget. The better your screen and sound are, the better you’ll enjoy your game.

Look for audio ports that will allow you to directly plug your laptop into a surround sound system if it’s available.

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What are Kids Laptops Anyway?


Looking at children these days, it kind of feels like they were born with an iPhone in one hand. Why, if you give them a BlackBerry or another kind of phone with actual buttons and keys, they keep trying to swipe their fingers across them and expecting them to spring to life.

That’s how used they are to technology. Needless to say, kids’ laptops these days make for a great idea. Not just because they’re going to play video games all the time or anything, but because theywill actually them learn well as well.

A lot of the time, parents have never heard of kids’ laptops. When they first chance upon them at a local electronics store, there are a little wonderstruck – what is it about a laptop designed for a kid that makes it different from one designed for a grown-up?

Well, some of the differences are rather common sense. For instance, you can’t get your kid a regular laptop and then expect him to be careful with it. Without a doubt, kids, when you place them in charge of anything, are going to be a little playful and rough with it.

So a child’s laptop is usually kind of toughened up – with a rugged and colorful exterior and a screen protector for the time your child decides to actually clamber on top of the screen in his enthusiasm to get to the bathroom.

Actually, if this were the only concern, you could easily buy a regular laptop and buy a protective shell for it.

But that isn’t the only kind of protection kids’ laptops need. Even if you do insulate it against all kinds of knocks and falls, how about the fact that a regular laptop has a very delicate moving device inside – the hard drive?

Hard drives aren’t really built for any abuse. Neither is a DVD drive. Kids laptops are built with solid-state hard drives – expensive storage devices that are made entirely of flash chips.

These are quite expensive, but you’ll find that your kid gets to keep his new laptop a lot longer this way.

As much as you would like to build protection and security into a kid’s laptop, what do you do about the weight? Even netbooks will tend to weigh at least 3 pounds. What do you do about that when even adults have trouble logging their laptops around sometimes.

They try to kiddie size everything on a child’s laptop. The one thing that makes a laptop quite heavy is its battery. They cut down battery size, and, to still keep the laptop usable over extended periods of time, they cut all kinds of other things to keep power consumption down. Kids’ laptops rarely have more than 10 inches.

What do kids love to do on their laptops more than anything else? It’s plain gaming, of course. You can get a child’s laptop built to handle this kind of thing. In fact, if you don’t, your child’s going to lose interest in it very quickly.

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Buying the Best Laptop for Students


If you haven’t actually bought your college-going kit a laptop yet, he is probably pestering you for one right about now.

How do you pick the best laptop for students going to college, actually?

Does he really need a full-blown laptop that costs $1200?

Won’t a $400 netbook do just as well if they just want to take notes in class or something?

Well, your kid probably so badly wants an iPad at this point that he’ll try to convince you that it could be his main computer for college.

Don’t buy that line of argument though. Most of what your kid will do in college, will involve typing. And doing that on an iPad can be a pain – even with a Bluetooth keyboard.

So basically, the best laptop for students is a laptop (surprise!). How powerful a computer is your kid going to need?

Well, he is going to need something for his homework – which, unless he is studying animation or computer music composition, is going to be fairly routine.

An Intel Corei3 processor and a 15-inch screen could do.

If your kid is a slightly built girl though, that kind of computer might be all too heavy to lug around between classroom, dormitory, library and home. A 13-inch laptop should be completely serviceable and should be large enough too.

You can’t just buy a computer for what it does though. Even if it’s technically exactly what it needs to be. College is as much about the social experience of being with your friends and getting along as actually getting work done. Basically, you want to get a machine that’s good-looking, too.

If you really like the idea of an ultrabook – which would be something like the MacBook Air – that might be workable, except that it’s really expensive without really bringing anything to the table other than lightness of weight.

Which actually brings us to an important point. College kids are not known for how careful they are with their possessions.

There’s certainly going to be a fair amount of being dropped, and being slid across floors, and being sat on involved (for the laptop, and not the kid).

While the idea of getting a really lightweight computer might appeal, and ultrabook like the MacBook Air is not really going to be suitable.

Because these computers are by definition, really, really thin and light. They aren’t going to take that kind of abuse. This isn’t the best laptop for students.

You could go with a standard MacBook or MacBook Pro depending on your budget. That’ll cost you about $1200 or so.

On the Windows side of the aisle, ta Core2 Duo or Core i3 should be perfectly adequate. A Core i5 and a 1TB hard drive wouldn’t be a bad idea, either. A machine like this shouldn’t cost more than $600 or so.

Do see if you can get an educational discount. You can usually get $100 off when you’re buying a laptop for a student.

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Choosing a Laptop in a Market that’s Constantly Redefining Itself


It used to be that your real computer was always your desktop. Your notebook was always the standby – what you tried to use when you were outside.

You came home and tried to sync your laptop to your real computer so that you could get some real work done. But that’s all changed now.

There is only one real computer in our lives, and it isn’t a desktop. Choosing a laptop these days though isn’t just about choosing a laptop. Laptops have just gone and morphed themselves into a half-dozen different subcategories.

There are the full-featured laptops of course that everyone knows and pays $1500 for. But there are lots of other contenders for the throne – chrome books, net books and ultra-books being important among them. How do you know what to buy?

Let’s start with the newest in this category – the ultra-book. As far as mobile electronics manufacturers are concerned, thin and light are the mantras to live by.

It’s actually a pretty great one as mantras go, and it’s driving quite a bit of innovation in the mobile PC market right now.

You could say that Apple invented the ultra-book category with its MacBook Air. These are notebooks that have a full-sized keyboard and screen and full-sized power – except that the notebooks are thin enough to dangerously bend when you try to do that.

The MacBook Air was quite expensive at first; and rare. But many manufacturers have hopped on the bandwagon now and they all offer something at about $1000.

These laptops are quite powerful full-sized devices; the only place they ask you to sacrifice anything is in the connectivity options they give you and in the presence of an optical drive.

Asus invented the netbook category. It was so successful that Intel really went to town with a whole new kind of stripped-down processor for the category – the Atom.

While ultra-books look incredibly sleek and attractive, net books don’t try to be small in that way. They’re actually just small – with screens under 10 inches.

Their keyboards are small and cramped, and they clearly look like budget offerings. But they’ve been runaway hits with physically very small.

You can get netbooks the size of paperback novels for $250, and they fill a real need – anyone can throw one of these into a handbag or even a coat pocket. And for most purposes, these do work like actual full-sized laptops.

Google came into the market at some point and wondered if it could do something with the popularity of the netbook and hijack the market to its own ends. They’ve come out with something they call the chromebook. While netbooks and ultra-books run proper Windows or OS X operating systems and are real computers in every sense of the term, chromebooks run a special Crome OS. It’s an all new operating system that you can’t really install programs on. There’s just one thing you can do with it – you can run the Chrome web browser. Whatever you want to do, you’re supposed to do on the cloud through this web browser.

Ultra-books really are the perfect compromise. While they are full-size, they’re very light. And you don’t sacrifice any on performance. The ultra-book can usually give you almost everything you are looking for in a computer. They’re the new benchmark.

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Things to Keep in Mind when Buying Laptops for Students


If you are on the market for a laptop for the student in your family, there are basically four things that you need to keep in mind as you shop around.

Laptops for students need to be light because they do need to carry them around a lot, and they need to be small enough to slip into a satchel or something.

They need to have the kind of power your child’s course of study requires, and they need to be the right operating system for the kind of software your child will be using in the course of her studies.

What that means is, if you have a student who is studying video editing or animation, you don’t want one of those mass-market $300 laptops. Those will almost certainly be underpowered for this kind of thing.

On the other hand, a powerful and bulky desktop replacement type with powerful graphics processing ability will be overkill somewhat for the student who just wants to take down notes in law school. Let’s look into it a little bit deeper.

As much as you would want to buy the most powerful machine out there that you can afford, you do need to remember that with bag and power supply all put together, a powerful computer can end up weighing 10 pounds.

It’s really too much to expect students to carry around all the time. You don’t want something that’ll tire her out before she even gets into class. So when it comes to buying laptops for students, you have to really accept that portability trumps power.

And it’s not just about how light the machine is, either. While you might find yourself loving a large 16 inch screen on a laptop when you’re working at home, try using that same laptop at the coffee shop or something where there are lots of other people and you don’t find yourself free to spread out.

That’s the kind of environment your child will be using her laptop in – in class or in the dorm. There really isn’t much room at a classroom desk for a large laptop. Go for something that’s 11 inches or 13 inches in screen size, and your child will thank you for it.

Actually, the small size of the thing should work out really well. The smaller the screen on the laptop is, the smaller the battery has to be. All put together, it has to make for one lightweight laptop. Not to mention, a smaller screen is likely to use less power. That’s more battery life for you.

Try your best to look for a laptop that has the longest lasting battery. Try to get something with seven hours of battery life at least. It shouldn’t be that hard these days.

And finally, you really don’t need to buy a really powerful computer unless your child really needs it in the course of her studies.

You do need to remember that a young person can be really tempted to stray into gaming in her spare time if she has a really capable computer. Get as little computing power as your child can actually manage with.

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Cheap Refurbished Laptops can be Unbeatable Value


So let’s start with the basic question here — what is a refurbished laptop? Is that like a really old laptop that’s been used for three years and sold by someone and cleaned up for sale again? Not really.

A refurbished laptop is, in the lingo, also called B-stock. It’s either a laptop that’s been on the computer store’s display for while and been poked and prodded by everyone passing, or it’s a laptop that was sold to someone but was returned for one reason or another.

Sometimes, these are review units handed out to different magazine reviewers for a few months; and sometimes, these were returned after a business lease expired. In any case, the laptop is given a proper once-over by the manufacturer, and is certified to be as good as new.

Refurbished laptops are not secondhand or used in any way. These are the latest models. If you are willing to have something that’s not factory-sealed in a box, cheap refurbished laptops could be spectacular deals.

Choosing to go the refurbished way, you can either buy directly from the manufacturer or you can buy from some vendor that you trust. If you haven’t done this before, going with the manufacturer would be best.

Whatever source you buy from, cheap refurbished laptops should still come with at least a three month warranties. Sometimes, it’s six. Compare this with used or pre-owned laptops, and you’ll find that it’s a poor deal in every way. These are usually obsolete models and they don’t come with warranties either.

Whatever vendor you buy your cheap refurbished laptops from, you want to make sure that you read all the fine print. You never know about the warranty they offer you until you read all the exclusions there.

This should be especially required reading when you go with a previously untested vendor. The warrantee aside, every purchase should come with a return policy in case the unit doesn’t perform to your satisfaction.

As soon as you receive your laptop, make sure that you do a few tests — try the optical drive in a few ways; use all the ports a few times; try switching the resolution of the screen; and charge the battery to see how well it holds up.

When you find a good unit advertised anywhere and it’s priced just the way you want it, you shouldn’t hesitate too much. Laptop prices and inventories go up and down really quickly. You wouldn’t want to lose just the right model to hesitation.

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