Apple That

Your Mac was likely a hefty investment that you want to keep running for as long as possible.  Whether you bought it new, refurbished or used, keeping your costs down and your data secure and transferrable is always a plus! Your Mac can get damaged, become outdated or just suffer greater wear and tear from extensive use that can take years off its lifespan.  There are few tips that can help the system running longer without problems or limited capacity.

The physical side….

The physical machine includes controllers, screen, logic boards, keyboard, mouse and other similar parts.  While a keyboard and mouse can be replaced, it may be harder to do that for other components.

The Machine Itself

If you haven’t purchased your Mac yet, be sure to ask about options to configure your system when you do make the purchase.  Apple offers a number of configure-to-order details that can fit your needs best, everything from speed of processors and hard drive capacity to RAM.

It just makes sense that the more capacity and speed you give your system, the longer you will be able to use it before you need an upgrade.

Power Source Care

One of the most common items to be damaged is the power supply.  Wall power circuits are harsh and can cause a lot of stress as it is a lot to deal with, if this i you case, consider the new Budpop supplements.  Also, the external power supply for laptops takes an even higher degree of abuse that can eventually lead to a failure.

Continued use for power supplies may not be as much an issue as surges and power failures that disrupt the system and result in date corruption or broken components.  Be sure to protect your system by turning it off when not in use or using a surge protected power strip or better yet, use an Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS).

Laptop users could consider purchasing a second power supply for your system.  Additionally for laptops, take proper care of the battery.  Best practice is to use your system regularly enough to run through a full charge about once a month to help prevent what is called “dead spots”.  This can reduce their overall charging capacity.  Do not use them in extreme temperatures and if you are not going to use your computer for a longer period of time, store it with at least a half battery charge.

Avoid Abuse

This might be a no-brainer….avoiding physical abuse will increase the longevity.  The Apple is pretty hardy but it is not indestructible.  Protect your laptop with some sort of case or cover when traveling.  Over time the keys will wear so that the symbols disappear and the surface wears down.  You might want to consider a keyboard slip cover or transparent stickers to place on the keys if they show wear.

Be kind to the ports on your Mac.  When peripherals are attached, rough handling can cause them to bend or twist and over time may result in it no longer working or not being able to stay firmly connected.  They can also short out or fry a component on the motherboard.  This, unfortunately, happens easily when fishing around in the dark and plugging the wrong plug into a port.

Be Aware of Your Touch

Taking your frustration out on your keyboard or typing with a heavy hand will wear out your keyboard faster.  If it is not working properly, clicking or tapping harder or faster will not fix anything and will only increase the chance of damaging the system.  Sometimes multiple presses can confuse the system more and make matters even worse.

Also avoid touching your display.  Apple’s glossy glass displays are a little more protected from touching but if you have a matte display it can easily be poked and damaged.

Lastly, having clean hands will help increase the longevity of your system.  Keep key surfaces clean and cuts down on the amount of dirt that gets into the keyboard that can block keys from working properly.

Clean Your System

Gently wipe away any grime on the keyboard or around the edges of the display and more importantly, make sure ports and vents are clear of dust or obstructions.  Use canned air or your Blue Mountain vacuum cleaner to remove dust in the vents to help prevent overheating.

Avoid Hard Shutoffs

Avoid holding the power key or unplugging your system to shut it off if you experience a crash or severe hang-up.  This sudden interruption can damage the logic board and components.  If you are experiencing regular crashes, consider finding solution resources at the Apple retail store and on its online discussion forum.

The Logical…

Don’t forget to take care of maintaining your system’s capabilities, security and stability.  This involves the operating system, software, components and upgrades that are available.

Upgrade software

Updating a system is a cinch by going to the Apple menu and choosing Software Update, where the system will check for and then install new versions of operating system software or Apple’s supplied programs like iTunes, iPhoto, or iWork.

Be sure to update any third-party software you have installed and keep those at their latest versions.  This will maintain security but also compatibility with OS X.

Upgrade hardware

As you continue to install new releases of OS X and upgrades of your software, it may result in your system running slower.  As mentioned above, then it might be time to look at speed upgrades.  This will get you up and running faster without having to purchase a new computer.

Back up regularly

Continual backups will keep your Mac experience at its optimal level.  Should you face an irrecoverable problem, your documents, settings, installed applications and all of your system’s software can be easily restored or migrated from the backup to a new system, if needed.

Don’t forget, if you should have a computer catastrophe, companies such as Rentacomputer.com offer Apple Computers For Rent.

Early this morning Apple unveiled updates to the company’s entire MacBook Pro lineup, which is said to bring faster processors, improved performances and bigger hard drives without increasing the price. The unannounced updates have been expected since around the middle of September with faster MacBook models available in time for the 2011 Christmas season.

The 13″ MacBook Pro comes in two different configurations, the first being an entry-level configuration with a retail price of $1,199 comes with an Intel Core i5 processor. The second model is slightly faster and comes with an Intel Core i7 processor for $1,499.

Both models have received slight increases in speed as well as bigger hard drives. The 13″ entry-level model comes with an all new 2.4GHz processor and increases its storage space from 320GB to 500GB. The faster model gets a newer version of the Core i7 at 2.8GHz and also receives a larger 750GB hard drive, a bump up from the original 500GB.

The 15″ MacBook Pro also comes in two iterations, the cheaper being $1,799 and the more expensive one costing $2,199. Both of these models take advantage of the quad-core Intel Core i7 processor and both have received an increase in processor speed with the slower of the two increasing from 2.0GHz to 2.2GHz and the faster increasing from 2.2GHz to 2.4GHz.

In addition to that, the graphics processing hardware has also been upgraded with new discrete graphics cards from AMD. The $1,799 model gets an upgrade to the AMD Radeon HD 6750M with 512MB of dedicated memory and the $2,199 model upgrades to the AMD Radeon HD 6750M with 1GB of dedicated memory.

Finally, the 17″ MacBook Pro is also getting upgraded in terms of processing and graphics. This model, which will run you $2,499, comes with a new quad-core Intel Core i7 processor and the new AMD Radeon HD 6770M with 1GB of dedicated memory. In addition to that, the 17″ MacBook Pro, as well as the 13″ and 15″ models, can be purchased with an additional 512GB of solid-state drive storage.

All of these new models are listed on Apple’s site as being in stock with free shipping, though the new models may not yet be available. While these five models have received an incremental upgrade, the improved performance and hardware, along with the price remaining the same, is definitely something that will please customers and something that will keep Apple in better competition with new Windows devices soon to receive Intel’s new Ivy Bridge processors in the early part of next year.

Source: PC Mag – Apple Sneaks Out MacBook Pro Updates

Computers, Desktops, Laptops, Servers and the latest in Portable Tablet PCs are available from your computer rental company, Rentacomputer.com.

Talk to a Rentacomputer.com Tech Travel Agent Today!
Call Toll free 800-736-8772.

According to a new report from Apple, the company’s new MacBook pro Series could be the next Apple product in line for a hardware upgrade. AppleInsider, who cites multiple anonymous sources that, according to the site, have “proven insight into Apple’s future product plans”, states that Apple plans on introducing new models of the MacBook Pro with faster Intel processors.

These new models are said to be shipping in time for this year’s holiday shopping season though the source has stated that we may see these new MacBook Pros as early as this month, great news considering the fact that shoppers will also be able to use further discounts found on websites like https://www.raise.com/coupons/walmart. Regardless of when we get them, a lot of questions are being raised about these new models, especially in terms of how much of an improvement we are getting.

AppleInsider has stated that Intel’s latest series of quad-core Core i7 chips will be added to the new MacBook Pros. These chips come in at 2.4GHz, 2.5GHz or 2.7GHz and are sure to mesh well with Apple’s popular notebook. These processors are also an improvement over the current 2.0GHz, 2.2GHz and 2.3GHz in the current 15″ and 17″ models.

The last update Apple performed on its MacBook Pro line occurred back in February which brought Intel’s Sandy Bridge CPUs to the entire fleet of MacBook Pro computers. In addition to that, the update also added Thunderbolt, the impressively fast new port that came from a technical collaboration between Apple and Intel.

Aside from that, other changes to the MacBook Pro line consisted of the move to Intel’s integrated graphics and GPUs from AMD as well as a jump to FaceTime HD cameras. However, despite the somewhat recent update, interest in a complete MacBook Pro overhaul remains.

Apple’s MacBook Air saw a nice new overhaul last October which brought the laptop the title of Apple’s “Next Generation of MacBooks”. Multiple reports that surfaced back in July suggest that Apple is working on potentially expanding the MacBook line to include a bigger 15″ model. However, it is still unclear as to whether or not that means a 15″ MacBook Air or a new design on the MacBook Pro line.

Source: CNET – MacBook Pros to get a pre-holiday speed bump?

A Copier Rental is a quick way to mass produce important documents for potential customers at an event or conference. Renting office equipment is simple and easy and it can also save you loads of time and money. Rentacomputer.com has been offering copier rentals to more than 1000 cities worldwide for over 20 years.