Accessorizing Your Laptop
One thing that's kept the
computer industry alive for years and years is that the
computer purchase never stops with the computer itself.
First comes software. Then follows more hardware and even
more hardware. Peripherals! Gizmos! Gadgets! And then you
can get fun accessories like mouse pads and tchotchkes to
sit atop the monitor. The computer is endlessly expandable.
Check out these fun or must-have items to expand your laptop
universe:
Laptop bag or travel case: Buy yourself and your
laptop a handsome laptop bag.
Spare battery: Nothing cries "freedom!" to the laptop
road warrior more than an extra battery. Having a bonus
battery doubles the time that you can compute without being
tethered to an AC wall socket. Some laptops even let you hot
swap from one battery to another while the laptop is still
running, meaning that the total time you can use your
battery greatly exceeds your capacity to do work. Make sure
that the spare battery is approved for your laptop, either
coming directly from the manufacturer or from a reliable
source that guarantees compatibility. Using the wrong
battery in your laptop can meet with disastrous results.
Docking station or
port replicator: A docking station or port replicator
helps immensely when it comes time for your laptop to serve
desktop duty. A port replicator also gives your laptop more
ports and more expandability options than the laptop may
come with on its own.
Cooling pad: The
ideal accessory for any modern laptop is the laptop cooling
pad. This is a device upon which your laptop sits. The
device contains one or more fans and is either powered by
the laptop's USB port or standard AA batteries. Your laptop
sits upon the device, and the fans help draw away the heat
that the battery and microprocessor generate. You get a
cooler-running laptop, which keeps the laptop happy.
Mini-vac: You may
find the mini-vac handy for cleaning your laptop, especially
the keyboard. You can find these wee vacuums in most office
supply stores. You may be surprised (and disgusted) by the
gunk that the mini-vac can suck from your laptop.
USB lamp: Your
laptop's LCD screen is illuminated, and you can even see it
in the dark. Sadly, however, most laptop keyboards don't
light up. To help you see the keyboard, as well as other
important things around your laptop, in the dark, you can
light things up with a USB-powered lamp. The lamp plugs into
a standard USB port on your laptop. It either has a stiff,
bendable cord or a clamp so that you can position it. Flip
the switch and let there be light!
Full-sized keyboard:
Although you may not want to tote one around with you, you
may find a certain pleasure when using a laptop with a
comfy, full-sized keyboard. Especially if you rely on the
numeric keypad, either for numbers or cursor control, it's a
joy to use a full-sized keyboard with a laptop. You don't
need to do anything special to connect a full-sized keyboard
to your laptop, but do note that most laptops don't sport a
PC keyboard port. Instead, use the USB port, or if you have
a port replicator or docking station, you can connect the
full-sized keyboard to it, instead. In addition to (or
perhaps, instead of) a standard full-sized keyboard, you can
select any of a number of fun and different keyboards for
your laptop.
You can find keyboards
with special Internet buttons, ergonomically designed to
make typing easier on the human bod, as well as wireless
keyboards. Because your laptop didn't come with a full-sized
keyboard, it's your buyer's paradise as far as choosing one
for your laptop. Or if all you need is that numeric keypad,
you can find special USB numeric keypads for your laptop.
External mouse: As
with a keyboard, you aren't limited in your choice of an
external mouse for your laptop. You can get a basic mouse,
one of those space-age optical glowing mice, a mouse with a
lot of buttons, that weird mouse that you can hover in the
air and use like a TV remote, wireless mice, trackball mice,
those tiny laptop mice, and the list goes on and on.
ID card or return
service sticker: If your laptop wore underwear, you'd
most likely want to write the laptop's name on the
underwear. But since laptops don't require underwear, the
next best thing is to create an ID card for your laptop. You
stick your name somewhere on your laptop not only to claim
ownership of it, but also to pray that if you ever lose it
(or someone steals it), some good citizen can recognize the
laptop as your own and contact you. A better solution is to
use a return service and take advantage of its
tamper-resistant asset tags.
Theft prevention
system: The perfect gift for the laptop that you love -
either some type of cable to keep your laptop from walking
off or one of those annoyingly loud my-laptop-has-been-moved
alarms. Ease your fears, secure your laptop!
<< back
Laptop
Accessories Buying Guide
|
