Laura would like to purchase a smartphone and wants some information about functionality. She asks the following question: “Can I replace some of the functions of my laptop with a smartphone?” I have pretty much replaced my laptop and desktop with a smartphone and am finding a PC less and less necessary the longer I use my phone. Smartphones have many of the same functions as PC’s.
A smartphone is a cellular phone with additional computing capabilities. Although there are no standards for smartphones, most manufacturers use Android, iOS or Blackberry for the operating system. iOS and BlackberryOS (used on Apple and Blackberry products) are proprietary to each brand. Android can be found on many different brands of phones and is open-source in nature.
Without spending a ton of time going through every phone’s benefits I’m going to tell you about my personal phone. I currently use the Samsung Moment (Android based) from Sprint. The processor in this phone is 800 MHz and it has 288MB of memory. The phone has a full keyboard and can run many different applications.
No matter your choice, there are enough applications available to make using your phone both enjoyable and productive. Installing the applications is usually done through a few clicks and within minutes the program will be up and running. With the exception of writing this article, doing my accounting tasks and some very limited applications, I would say my phone has replaced my laptop.
As you search out phones, you need to look at all of them and ask the salespeople for a demonstration of each. I made my decision based on my current and perceived future needs. You should also compare the available applications to make sure there are enough to suit your desires.
Hannah has accumulated a lot of extra files on her computer and would like a simple method of removing them. Her question is: “Can you recommend a simple utility for cleaning up my computer?” Hannah, I’m sure you’re not the only person who is facing this issue. Windows based operating systems store cache files of almost everything you do on the computer; from web surfing to some applications. Most of the time this just takes up unnecessary space.
Over the years, I’ve stuck with two applications which are both free and do a phenomenal job at removing this junk. CCleaner and CleanUp both have a pretty small footprint and are on-demand. This means neither piece of software takes up a ton of space and they only run when you start them. You can find either title by searching Google.
CleanUp is a pretty no-frills utility which simply scans and removes all the junk from various places on the PC. CCleaner has a few more features which puts control in the user’s hands. One of the nifty features of CCleaner is the ability to securely erase data – making it virtually irretrievable. I have found using both utilities at the same time to be a valid solution. When I manually check my internet and application cache they are both empty after running scans.
Neither piece of software will delete documents from the user folder. Pictures and documents will not be touched – only junk will be scanned and removed. Finally, I usually run a registry cleaning using CCleaner. Cleaning the registry removes unused entries usually left behind from uninstalling software. Periodically cleaning and removing temporary files and registry entries will aid in decreasing startup times as well as speeding up normal functions of the computer.
Tip of the week: Remove dust and debris from inside computers using a can of compressed air. It will make the computer run much more efficiently.
(Jeromy Patriquin is the President of Laptop & Computer Repair, Inc. located at 509 Main St. in Gardner. You can e-mail him at Jeromy@LocalComputerWiz.com or call him directly at (978) 919-8059.)