This week we’re talking about ‘back to school’ for your computer thanks to Carbonite online backup.

If your kids are not already back at school then they soon will be and while you may have lunchboxes, uniforms and shoes all sorted you should also think about whether the Computer you kids will use is also ready for the new school year.

what needs to be done?

Chances are that the computer got a good workout over the holidays with games and general Internet use which means a clean up is in order.

This doesn’t have to be a physical clean of the computer hardware but it doesn’t hurt to turn the computer off and run a special cleaning cloth over the screen and even give the keyboard a wipe down.

Now to what’s inside the computer, take a look at what programs have been installed recently and see what’s not needed – if its not going to be used then its just taking up hard drive space.

Next up do a full scan with your Internet security program to seek out any net nasties that may have found their way onto your system, and make sure this scan is set to automatically run once a week.

At this point you can start to iron out some of the wrinkles in your computer that may be problems like long start-up times or generally running slow.

Two programs that I recommend for the job are AVG Tune up and iolo System Mechanic.

If its just slow startup times you are dealing with on a windows PC then for the more adventurous there is a manual way to fix this.
After clicking on the Windows Start Icon type MSCONFIG then press Enter. The windows configuration utility will open and you should select the STARTUP tab. You will now see a list of all the programs that start-up when windows does, along with a check box beside each to disable them.

At this point a word of warning – be careful what you disable as you could end up turning off your Internet security software or other vital services. Try just disabling the programs that you are familiar with and see if that helps then you may need to google some of the more obscure entries in the list to check what their function is.

Cleaned up and Tuned up your Computer is now ready for homework.

I’ll be back next week thanks to Carbonite Online Backup. Carbonite is secure, automatic and you can backup the entire contents of your computer with unlimited file storage for less than 6 dollars a month. For a free trial visit Carbonite.com.au.

This week we’ll look at a couple of cool new Gadgets – thanks to Carbonite Online Backup

First up 3D!
It’s been a rocky road for 3D entertainment at home. Televisions that support 3D movies and games have been on the market for a couple of years now, yet to due to the initial lack of 3D content the take up hasn’t quite been as expected, however here’s something a bit more special than just another 3D TV.

Sony has just annouced that from Friday they will be accepting pre-orders of its wearable Personal 3D Viewer.

Basically you slip this set of ‘goggles’ on your head and you’re facing two tiny OLED HD panels
which create the equivalent of sitting in front of a 750inch screen (that’s one big screen).

The personal 3D viewer also has built-in virtual 5.1 channel surround sound which also makes the device feel more like a cinema experience.

Now how comfortable will it be to wear the viewer for the length of a movie? Well the head unit weighs in at around 420 grams which is connected to a processing unit by cable that’s a bit heavier – but you don’t have to wear that. The processing unit connects to your Blu-Ray movie player or games console via HDMI connection.

The price…$899. Look for the HMZT1 personal 3D viewer at www.sony.com.au

Over to tablet devices and Toshiba has just announced their latest which may give some of the competition a run for their money.

Hitting stores next month is the AT200 Tablet by Toshiba which is the world’s thinnest and lightest 10.1 inch tablet device at just 535grabs.

Just as a comparision with similar devices, there’s not much in it in weight. Apple’s iPad with a 9.7inch display weighs in at 601grams ,Samsung’s Galaxy Tab with 10.1 inch display weighs 560grams and the Motorola Xoom Wi-Fi is 730grabs.

In terms of thickness Toshiba’s new device is just 7.7mm thick…while the Samsung Galaxy tablet is 8.6mm, the iPad is 8.8mm and Motorola Xoom Wifi is 12.9mm thick.

Apart from weight and thickness, other features of the AT200 tablet include a min HDMI port so you can connect it to your TV display…plus a USB 2.0 port and micro DS card slot to you can either add a memory card to increase storage or move files between devices or a cameras. There’s also twin HD cameras for photos video recording and video chat.

If you’re considering an Android Tablet device, Toshiba’s AT200 will hit stores later next month for around 579 dollars.

I’ll be back next week thanks to Carbonite Online Backup. Carbonite is secure, automatic and you can backup the entire contents of your computer with unlimited file storage for less than 6 dollars a month. For a free trial visit Carbonite.com.au.