LaptopAdvisor

Last week was a big one for Microsoft, with the Windows 7 launch, but it looks like Apple wants to steal away some of the spotlight with their new MacBook. It could be a necessary update, random chance, or an actual direct competitor to sway the potential Windows 7 users. Whichever it is, the new MacBook has many upgrades, making it that much more like its bigger brother, the MacBook Pro, ading incentive for those looking to buy a cheaper Apple laptop.

First of all, there were some minor changes to the internal specs of the MacBook. These include a processor upgrade to 2.26 GHz (up from 2.13 GHz), a hard drive capacity of 250 GB (up from 160GB), and new DDR3 memory (upgraded from DDR2). Aside from those tweaks, there weren’t any major changes to the internal components of the MacBook.

Now on to the more serious business: the external changes. Most of the features include implementing the MacBook Pro technology into the MacBooks. The multitouch trackpad, allowing users to perform zoom, scroll, and more is now possible just by using a couple of quick finger swipes. The screen now has LED backlighting, giving the display a brighter, more eye-catching feel. And finally, Apple’s very valuable feature, the built-in battery; though you won’t be able to remove or replace the battery, you get a much better battery life, and less degradation over time.

The last change the MacBook received was a rubberized bottom. I have to say, this isn’t one of my favorites, and I’m a little confused as to why Apple decided include it. Traction usually isn’t a problem, even on a slick surface. The heat generated by the laptop combined with that rubber bottom could also prove to be a small disaster. Guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Priced at $1000 and coming out during the week of the Windows 7 release, Apple has given several users that have been swaying between PC and Mac another reason to go Mac. With overwhelmingly positive reviews of Windows 7, we’ll have to wait and see if the new Macbook is a real contender this holiday season.

We recently published an article on the new touchscreen features of Windows 7, and why it’s considered to be one of the top selling points of Microsoft’s new operating system. But the more I look on the internet, the more I see the same evaluation of a desktop or laptop touch screen: it is useless. I don’t entirely agree, but there are some valid points among this criticism.

Touchscreens are fine and dandy for iPhones, LG Dares, and the plethora of other touchscreen phones because it doesn’t seem out of the ordinary to control these hand-held devices with your finger.  With desktops or laptops on the other hand, the mouse and keyboard just feel more natural — not to mention that your fingers are inefficient on the larger platform.

The fact of the matter is that scrolling, clicking (especially right-clicking), and the handwriting feature on a Windows 7-equipped touchscreen are frustrating at best and futile at worst. It may be good for a quick laugh or some fun when you’re bored, but the novelty will wear off (and it’s definitely not conducive to productivity). If you haven’t tried any of these features with a touchscreen PC, try running over to a local Best Buy; they usually have one on display for you to play around with.

But here’s my criticism of the common criticism, if you will: Just because a few novelty features don’t work that well doesn’t mean that you should judge the entire system as a failure. For example, I own an LG Dare (a touchscreen phone), and it includes an option to handwrite text messages. That method is slow, and 30% of the time, the letters I write are misrepresented. In short, it’s a feature I don’t use because it doesn’t work well. Now, does this discount the entire touchscreen phone as a whole? Definitely not.

The touchscreen features of Windows 7 that you will really want to focus on are the zoom, the pan, and the rotate features. These features tend to be difficult to execute with a mouse, and can’t be done easily by a keyboard. So using a quick finger swipe to rotate a photo or zoom in on a website, while reading and scrolling with the mouse, for example, could turn out to be very efficient in come centexts. Basically, your fingertips can come in handy in the cases where a mouse and keyboard come up short.

So all in all, despite all of the negative reviews of the touchscreen features, Windows 7 will still be a serious contender in the market given all of the innovation it has put into its touchscreen. The touchscreen will definitely not replace the mouse or keyboard, but the usefulness lies in its ability to interact with the mouse and keyboard, rather than to replace them.

From tech savant to first time user, one thing is very clear, people love touch screens. From the ever-popular iPhone to more obscure products like the Tissot T-Touch, the world is going touchscreen. If you love to get hands-on with your technology like so many other users, you may want to give Windows 7 another look.

The touch screen interactivity is where the magic lies in Windows 7. I say “magic” because no one outside of the core Windows programmers really knows how this technology works, but the general consensus is that it’s flat out amazing. Not only can you drag windows and scroll through websites with a touch of a finger, but it supports a multitude of other features like pan, zoom, and rotate. And it works with almost every program out there, not just special programs designed to interact with the touch features.

This is not to say that the technology doesn’t have it’s share errors. Like most other new technology, touchscreen tech is fighting an uphill battle. I’m sure it’s nothing that the brilliant minds at Microsoft can’t fix. When this technology comes to fruition, it surely will not disappoint.

To go hand in hand with this new touchscreen technology, Windows 7 comes with a program called Bumptop. If you’ve ever seen the movie Minority Report, with Tom Cruise controlling his computer and moving windows around the desktop with the flick of wrist, this is it. (I would recommend a quick visit to Youtube if you haven’t seen it.) In short, it’s a desktop organizer that allows the user to quickly bump and toss objects around the screen, to create your own customized, easy-to-use desktop.

Who knows what makes touchscreens so attractive. Maybe it’s just that they’re more fun. But if you’re anything like me, and love the thrill of having complete control, literally, at your fingertips, then Windows 7 is definitely in the foreseeable future.

Update 1/11/10: We originally published this post back in October as a holiday guide to help you choose a laptop for you or your loved one. The holidays are over now, but this post has taken on a life of its own — we get new comments every day seeking advice, too many to keep up with most of the time. We’ll keep this post up at the top of Laptop Advisor until the models we listed below are obsolete (which, in the laptop world, is probably another two months). In the meantime, we’re busy keeping up with the newest models and planning a major update to LaptopAdvisor.com, so feel free to chime in with some advice for your fellow laptop buyers. Thanks all!

Whether you’re planning to make a switch over from desktop to laptop, upgrading from an old laptop to a new laptop, or just buying a gift for a loved one, finding a new laptop can be daunting. It can be a lot like buying a car. First you have to choose whether you want an SUV, a van, or sedan, then pick a manufacturer, then look at the dozens of other options and find out which features you want or need. Finally you sift through hundreds of cars and find the perfect one for you, only to be left with the choice of color.

Buying a laptop has essentially adopted a similar methodology. That method may be great for some, but for those of you that don’t want to spend hours comparing complex spec lists, and don’t want to look at hundreds of laptops, here’s a different method. We’re going to make recommendations based on interests and specified needs:

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Maybe I’m beating a dead horse here, but Windows has a pretty big Achilles’ heel. In fact it’s so big, that it’s probably an Achilles’ foot or leg. And of course, the problem I’m referring to is the Windows Registry. As much as I would like to rant and gripe about why Microsoft should take out the Registry, I’ll limit it to an informative discussion of what the Registry is, and why it’s such problem, for those of you that don’t already know.

First of all, the Windows registry is, quite simply, a database. It contains several stored settings from the operating system, to applications, to hardware that the computer uses. Now on first glance this seems like a great idea because all of your settings are saved in one place and can easily be edited or deleted as needed. The registry determines what programs start when your computer starts, saves several default settings so you don’t have to constantly re-enter them, and unlike its predecessor, gathers all of this info in one place.

It sounds good in theory, and that’s why it was originally put in place. But here’s a short list of the bad and downright harmful aspects of the Windows Registry:

1) It slows down your computer at startup. Many applications get into the startup unintentionally, either because you don’t notice a checkbox when you’re installing the program or because the program automatically includes itself. The list grows and grows and your startup becomes slower and slower.

2) It’s a stockpile of junk. There is a lot of useless application data in the registry for applications you never use or settings you don’t even care about. This makes the registry impossibly hard to navigate unless you know exactly what you’re looking for and where it is.

3) Spyware and Viruses! Spyware does a load of bad things to your computer through the registry. For one, the spyware starts itself through the registry so you don’t even have to open a file for the spyware to launch. Long gone are the days where you actually had to open a bad email attachment or download a virus from a random site on the internet and, subsequently, open it.

4) Spyware automatically starts up when your computer starts up. This makes it easier for the spyware to get access to your computer, and it also makes it harder to get rid of because if the registry files aren’t deleted properly, then the spyware regenerates even when you think it’s gone.

5) Spyware and viruses shut down important applications through the registry. One of the biggest is the Task Manager (the savior of Windows, ctrl + alt + del), and some even go as far as to remove all of your icons. Not only does this make your life an utter pain, but it makes it extremely hard to get rid of spyware.

So, in short, if spyware has been a problem in your life, or you really don’t want it to be a problem you face in the future, thank twice about buying a Windows laptop. Nowadays, spyware can infect your computer from something as simple as an internet search for a recipe for flan, so you can never be too careful or too informed.