Computers, Laptops & Tablets

As the go-to person in my large Irish family, I’ve helped young and old pick the technology that works for them. It’s a question of figuring out their likes and dislikes to fine tune what they actually need rather than what they think they want. This approach seems to work as we’ve ended up with a wide range of products that has made everyone happy. Is there a product here that suits your family?    

Now that the tablet market is maturing, pretty much any of the mainstream devices will offer decent performance. So how do manufacturers distinguish their products from all the rest on the shelves? Going Ultra is one of the best ways to stand out. Ultra thin, ultra fast, ultra big —pushing the boundaries gets attention and these Ultra tablets are worth considering if you’re looking for one that stands out in a crowd.

From the Nexus 9 —the first of a new generation of Android Lollipop tablets— to convertible touchscreens, AiO PCs like the 14.7 million pixel 27-inch iMac with 5K Retina Display and designer laptop bags, these are some of the hottest trends in desktop, laptop and tablet computing.

It may be the best mechanical keyboard put out yet, and it’s just landed at Best Buy.  The Razer Blackwidow Chroma takes the popular series of keyboards to the next level, featuring even better durability, more convenience features, and for visual fans – Up to 16 million backlit color combinations. Come check out this next generation keyboard.

Eurocom is a well known manufacturer of high performance gaming laptops. I’ve had the opportunity to test several of the company’s models in the past and they always impress. This time, I have a Eurocom Armadillo, something different. It’s a thin ultra-portable with a touchscreen display and long battery life—something different for a gaming laptop. Read on to see what I thought of the Armadillo.

Buying a new tablet for yourself is one thing —you know what you like and what you want. But what about buying one for someone else? With the holiday shopping season fast approaching and a new tablet on many wish lists, a lot of people will be trying to figure out how to find the perfect tablet for someone else. I have a few pointers to help you out.  

There are many different strategies that can be used when picking a tablet. For example, it’s always a good idea to know what you might use the tablet for before choosing one. Often, it just comes down to price and your budget. Today, manufacturers are offering tablets ranging in price from under $100 to over $1,000. The choice can be overwhelming, but I’ll try to make things easier with my pick from each of the most popular price categories.

When it comes to home and small office Wi-Fi networking, speed has always been important. But optimization is increasing becoming an even bigger deal. The Linksys ac3200 Tri-Band Smart Wi-Fi router is the latest model from this leader in wireless networking and this one combines speed with optimization, making it ideal for congested networks.

A tablet is a great device for doing just about anything you can imagine —playing video games, surfing the net, seeing what your Facebook friends are up to or watching videos— but many of these activities require an Internet connection. No problem at home, but what happens when you go mobile? How can you keep playing Simpsons:Tapped Out, watching YouTube or checking your News Feed when your tablet is no longer connected to your home network? In this post, I’ll show you how to access Wi-Fi on your tablet, from virtually anywhere.

Apple continued its fall tradition of releasing a new version of the OSX operating system that powers its Mac computers and once again, it’s a free upgrade. This year’s version is OSX 10.10 Yosemite. Should you make the leap? I’ve spent the past week test-driving OSX Yosemite on a MacBook Air and put together a guide of how to do it, what to expect and what you need to know before making the decision.