Home & Small Office Computer Guide

Have you noticed your PC shutting down suddenly for no apparent reason recently?

It seems that some people - particularly Dell users - have been noticing this problem happening a lot lately. If it’s happening to you then is your mobile phone sitting close to the PC?

Some people who have been experiencing the sudden shut-down syndrome have found that it happens at the same time a text message arrives on their mobile phone.

Dell suggests that the best solution is not to keep your mobile phone close to your PC - now who would have ever thought of that solution

CNet is running a news item that suggests that Dell is preparing to announce “a major price initiative” for consumers and small business customers.

You can read the details here but they would have to be giving PCs away before I would think of switching to a Dell.

A wander through their customer message boards or a search in Google will soon turn up enough information to make you want to think twice.

The computer shop that we’re involved in currently has a beautiful wide screen Dell monitor sitting on the floor. It was brought in by a customer who said it stopped working the day after the warranty period expired and it cannot be repaired.

There is a lot of money tied up in something that is never going to be anything more than a boat anchor … or a prop in the shop’s next television commercial.

Meet Sony’s ultra portable micro PC. It comes with a 4.5″ widescreen SVGA display and is powered by an Intel Core Solo Ultra Low Voltage processor.

The Sony UX180P also comes equipped with Microsoft XP Professional.

Just in case the image gives you the impression that the Sony UX180P is the size of your average laptop let me tell you that it basically fits in the palm of your hand.

The Sony UX180P may not be for everyone - I’m not sure my big fingers would be able to cope with that keyboard - the price is definitely not going to suit the size of my wallet

You can read more about the Sony UX180P here.

Like many people, when we’re on the road we travel with our laptops. Those laptops keep us connected to our business and our clients but the also make us vulnerable to taking a serious hit from thieves.

It’s not the loss of a laptop if it gets stolen than is the problem, it’s the data we could be carrying on that laptop that could be the major loss.

To minimise the potential loss we never carry vital data on our laptops (in fact our laptops carry the bare minimum in software as well). Instead we either carry it in removable data storage devices such as thumb drives that stay in our pockets or we keep it online and only access it when we need it.

Of course, not everyone can do that and for some preventing their laptops from being stolen will also prevent their data from disappearing too. You can find some good suggestions on that topic here