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As we can only talk about the machines we have actually tested it does limit us a little to the wide range that Dell offer.  But here are our Top 3!

1. Studio 15 – This may not be a high end laptop, but not everyone can afford a Precision or XPS Studio!  The Studio 15 starts at around £399 and comes with the options to be a very  powerful or gaming laptop.  Intel Core Duo 2 Processors, up to 4GB Memory, Running Windows Vista, Graphics Card from 128MB!  Perfect for the average home gamer!  These laptops are stylish and well built and best of all great value for money!  Can’t be bad!
2. Latitude E5500 – Starting at around £530 this isn’t a cheap business laptop, but neither is it a really expensive one with some great like back-lit keyboard, ambient light sensor as well as all the usual stuff this laptop has incredible battery life, one user in particular can’t believe how good it is.  If you are looking for a machine that will give you a long time running the machine away from a power source then the Latitude E5500 is a certain.  We haven’t reviewed the E5500 but here is our review of the E6500 which is a similar machine!
3. XPS M1330 – This neat little laptop is brilliant, although no cheap.  For anyone who wants a lightweight, small notebook this should definitely be considered.  With options for high memory and a decent graphics card it is really a showy off laptop!  Read our Dell XPS M1330 Reviews:

• Dell XPS M1330 – Long Term Test

• Dell XPS M1330 Crimson Red Laptop Review

What exactly is computer memory and what does it do?

Memory in industry is known as RAM (Random Access Memory), its main job is to momentarily remember information for different tasks to be completed.  The computers CPU (Central Processing Unit) is then able to access the information, stored in memory, very easily and quickly.  In simple terms the CPU could be described as the boss of a company, it tells the different parts of the machine what to do.  For example, if you were to open up an application program like Microsoft Word, the CPU then brings the program into memory.  Therefore, as the program has been brought into memory you are able to perform the task at a quicker rate because you’re not waiting around as long for the program to load as the program is ready to be accessed in memory.

A process can be started by simply just typing something on your keyboard.  The CPU interprets what you have done and tells the hard drive to load the information required into memory.  Once the information is in memory, the CPU is able to access the information quickly, especially when compared to having to access the information itself.  In simpler terms, this is a bit like saving your files in a certain folder on your computer, because you know where they are you can find the files quickly, whereas if you were to save then in any old place you could be searching for the file for ages.

How does memory affect performance?

Adding memory to a computer, in most cases, increases the performance of the machine significantly.  If a machine doesn’t have enough memory to store the required information the computer creates what is called ‘virtual memory’.  This means that the CPU reserves space on the hard disk for the data which simulates additional RAM.  This process, known as swapping, considerably reduces the performance of your computer (slows it down a lot)!  So you get an idea of how much slower here are some figures, for an average machine it takes 200ns (nanoseconds) to access RAM, compared to 12,000,000ns to access the hard drive.  So you get an idea of how big the difference really is, think of a basic task at home like washing up…instead of it taking 3 1/2 minutes to wash up, it takes 4 1/2 months.

What difference is made when upgrading memory on a PC or Laptop (usually)?

When you add more memory to a PC or Laptop you notice the difference straight away…

• Programs open quicker,
• Web pages open faster,
• Your machine can cope better with multi-tasking,
• General jobs are performed much faster and reliably

If your machine is getting a slow and you can afford it, it’s well worth increasing the memory!

This tutorial will show you how to run a ScanDisk on your Vista PC.

What is a ScanDisk?

ScanDisk, also known as ‘Error Checking’ simply scans the file system and repairs any errors or bad clusters.  This just helps keep your computer running smoothly and hopefully quickly, so its worth doing.  How often depends on how much you use your machine, every three months for the home user should be fine.  Busy home machines or business machines I would say monthly ideally.

How to run a ScanDisk

1. Firstly, close all programs.
2. Click on the Start Orb.
   
3. Select ‘Computer’
   
4. Right-Click on the drive which has the Label ‘(C:)’ and then select ‘Properties’.
   
5. Select the ‘Tools’ tab and then ‘Check Now’ (Click to Enlarge Image)
   
6. Ensure that both boxes are ticked, then click ‘Start’.
   
7. Click ‘Schedule Disk Scan’ and then restart your machine.
   

Any questions?