Tag Archives: Laptop

Q: Is it expensive to add a Thunderbolt port to a budget priced laptop?

Posted on December 10, 2019 by quill

A: Yes, because it means buying a new laptop. The Thunderbolt protocol is an extension of the PCI-e bus and therefore cannot be converted from USB or any other common interface. Thunderbolt relies on having a Thunderbolt hardware controller chip, … Continue reading →

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Q. Can I get a good gaming laptop? For under $700?

Posted on September 19, 2012 by quill

First things first.  There is no such thing as a real gaming laptop – not if you mean a laptop machine that is portable, battery powered, and has game performance comparable to a desktop machine with a good graphic card … Continue reading →

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Q. How do I upgrade the hard drive in a Windows laptop?

Posted on June 30, 2012 by quill

Most modern notebook machines have hard drives that can be replaced with a larger, faster 2.5″ SATA hard drive or upgraded to a 2.5″ SATA Solid State (SSD) flash drive. Older notebooks may have 2.5″ IDE (Parallel ATA) hard drives, they can still … Continue reading →

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Q. Can I upgrade the processor or the graphics card in my laptop?

Posted on June 1, 2012 by quill

The short answer is No. The longer answer is that many laptops have the CPU soldered into the motherboard. Even where the CPU is socketed, the motherboard chipset and BIOS would have to specifically support the new CPU, and laptop … Continue reading →

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Q. How do I install RAM in a PC Notebook?

Posted on May 3, 2012 by quill

The RAM memory in most notebook computers is user-upgradeable. Almost all notebook machines use SODIMMs (Small Outline Dual Inline Memory Modules). Part of the trick is to discover where the memory modules are located in a notebook machine. The best … Continue reading →

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Q. How do I make my notebook battery last longer?

Posted on March 10, 2012 by quill

First of all, how old is your battery?  Batteries last from one to three years on average, and it would be expected that the capacity is down by 40 – 50% after three years.  So if you have an old … Continue reading →

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Q. What RAM memory and hard drives fit my Mac PowerBook G4?

Posted on February 20, 2012 by quill

The Powerbook G4 was a revolutionary notebook when it was released, having an all-metal casing manufactured with a Titanium alloy. In Early 2003 Apple switched to an aluminum allow for the case, and introduced 12″ and 17″ models. At the … Continue reading →

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