Cheap Notebook Tweaks

Want to suck a little extra power out of your crusty old laptop computer? Unlike desktops, it can be tricky to breathe new life into a notebook PC, but PC World has provided a gaggle of ideas that can help you identify hardware upgrades, find essential peripherals, and put other advice into action that will make your laptop sing again.

Some of the best tips in the piece:

• Upgrade your hard drive. This is easy to do, but reinstalling Windows on a laptop without a recovery disc (you saved your recovery disc, right?) can be frustrating to many people. You might try an external drive if you only need occasional storage.
• Add RAM. Easily done with a small screwdriver, $50 in RAM, and five minutes out of your day. I always, always, always tell people that adding RAM will solve all their problems and make their lives worth living again. And I'm not really joking.
• Add a USB mouse. The touchpad is fine on the airplane, but when you're at your desk, you'd be nuts not to add a mouse to the mix.
• Get a smaller power brick. I don't know how many times I've said this one. A multi-device brick makes it even better.
• Add an external monitor. You can use both the LCD panel and the external at the same time to double your viewing area.

There's plenty of additional good advice to be found in the full story. Click on over. It's an easy read, too.