Apple Notebooks

With a little bit of care, you can maximize the battery life (i.e. the time your battery will run before it must be recharged) and lifespan of your notebook's battery. Most importantly, use your Apple notebook in its comfort zone for temperature (See “Keep Your Notebook Comfy”). Don’t leave it locked in a hot trunk during the summer.

Your New NotebookBe sure to fully charge your portable when you plug it in for the first time, and then run Software Update to ensure you have the latest software. Apple periodically releases updates that may improve battery performance.

Standard MaintenanceFor proper maintenance of a lithium-based battery, it’s important to keep the electrons in it moving occasionally. Apple does not recommend leaving your portable plugged in all the time. An ideal use would be a commuter who uses her MacBook Pro on the train, then plugs it in at the office to charge. This keeps the battery juices flowing. If on the other hand, you use a desktop computer at work, and save a notebook for infrequent travel, Apple recommends charging and discharging its battery at least once per month. Need a reminder? Add an event to your desktop’s iCal.

Long Term StorageIf you don’t plan on using your notebook for more than six months, Apple recommends that you remove and store the battery with a 50% charge. If you store a battery when it’s fully discharged, it could fall into a deep discharge state, which renders it incapable of holding any charge. Conversely, if you store it fully charged for an extended period of time, the battery may experience some loss of battery capacity, meaning it will have a shorter life. Be sure to store the ejected battery at the proper temperature. (See “Notebook Temperate Zone.”)

Optimal SettingYou can choose to use your Apple notebook in a way that maximizes its battery life.

• Energy: The Energy Saver control panel offers several settings that determine power levels for your PowerBook. Your portable knows when it’s plugged in, and runs accordingly. When on battery power, it will dim the screen and use other components sparingly. If you change this setting to maximize performance, your battery will drain more quickly.


• Brightness: Dim the screen to the lowest comfortable level to achieve maximum battery life. For instance, when watching a DVD on an airplane, you may not need full brightness if all the lights are off.


• AirPort Wireless: AirPort consumes power, even if you are not using its features to connect to a network. You can turn it off in its control panel to save power.


• Bluetooth Wireless: Likewise, you can turn off Bluetooth to maximize your battery life, as it also consumes power when not in use.


• Applications and peripherals: Disconnect peripherals and quit applications not in use. Eject CDs and DVDs if not currently accessing them.

credit by: http://www.apple.com

10 Essential Notebook Accessories

So you have just bought your first notebook or laptop computer! Congratulations!

To fully appreciate your laptop or notebook you do have to considersome essential accessories that can greatly improve the enjoymentand pleasure you get from owning one of most highly sophisticatedmachines this side of the Model T... the notebook computer.
Here are some of the essential or near essential laptop accessoriesyou should consider:

1. Carrying Bag or Backpack - This is essential if you will be doing a lot of traveling. You might even want to consider a wheeled bag for thoseheavier laptops.

2. Extra Battery - Since most batteries last less than 5 hours you willneed an extra battery or two. You should also check out bringing alongan external battery for your laptop. If you're looking for laptop batterieshere's a general guide, along with links to different brand name notebookbatteries.

3. Port Replicator - This is one essential you should consider buying for yourlaptop or notebook computer. It's a real hassle dealing with all those wiresand connections on your laptop - that's where your port replicator or dockingstation solves your problem. Plug all your peripherals into the docking stationor port replicator - connect and disconnect your laptop with ease without havingto deal with all those wires and connections. A must have!

4. Auto and AirPlane ac adapter - Another essential laptop accessory if youdo a lot traveling, battery life on most notebooks is not great so havinga handy source of ac power from your auto or from an airplance is a 'no-brainer'!

5. USB Hub - Some older model notebooks come with one or two USB ports; if youneed more - try a handy USB hub. It will give you more options.

6. Wireless Card - Most laptops and notebooks now come with a wirelesscard. Many top brands have 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g or all three!If your notebook doesn't have a wireless card, you can get a rather inexpensive802.11b Linksys PC Card adapter for under $50.

7. Optional External Hard Drive - Most notebooks or laptops now come with a 40 to100 gig hard drives, but still if you download and save a lot of movies or DVDsyou will take up that storage space quicker than you ever thought possible. If you needan extra hard drive for storage or back-up - try an external hard drive.

8. Optional External DVD Burner - Many laptops now come with a built in DVD drive but in case you need this extra for CD or DVD burning (movies, songs, videos, etc.) try an external DVD burner for your notebook. For maximum compatibility, try to get one that supports both DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW formats.

9. Optional Wireless Keyboard and Mouse - Might sound strange suggesting this option since most laptops already come with a keyboard! But depending on your notebook make and model, the keyboards on most notebooks are not the greatest to type with. It all has to do with the wrong angles and the shape of the laptop - so if you wanta wireless desktop style keyboard and mouse - it is relatively cheap to buy.

10. Insurance! If you do a lot of traveling, you may want to invest insome laptop insurance. Laptop theft is a still a big problem and it'sbetter to be safe than sorry.

Notebook (style)

Notebook is a style of writing where people jot down what they have thought or heard at the spur of moment. The contents of a notebook are unorganized, and the number of subjects covered in a notebook are unlimited: a paragraph of autobiography can be followed immediately by one on astronomy or one on history.
Some famous authors are also famous for the notebooks they left. The Italian poet Leopardi kept a notebook, called Zibaldone, from 1817 to 1832. The idea of keeping that, which contains no less than 4,526 pages, was possibly suggested by a priest who fled from the French Revolution and came to live in the poet's hometown. The priest suggested that "every literary man should have a written chaos such as this: notebook containing sottiseries, adrersa, excerpta, pugillares, commentaria... the store-house out of which fine literature of every kind may come, as the sun, moon, and stars issued out of chaos."[1]
There are writers who earned their posthumous fame solely by their notebooks, such as the German scientist and humorous writer Georg Lichtenberg. He called his notebooks "waste book", using the English book-keeping term. He explains the purpose of his "waste book" in his notebook E:
Die Kaufleute haben ihr Waste book (Sudelbuch, Klitterbuch glaube ich im deutschen), darin tragen sie von Tag zu Tag alles ein was sie verkaufen und kaufen, alles durch einander ohne Ordnung, aus diesem wird es in das Journal getragen, wo alles mehr systematisch steht ... Dieses verdient von den Gelehrten nachgeahmt zu werden. Erst ein Buch worin ich alles einschreibe, so wie ich es sehe oder wie es mir meine Gedancken eingeben, alsdann kan dieses wieder in ein anderes getragen werden, wo die Materien mehr abgesondert und geordnet sind.(See on-line source)
The notebooks of scientists, such as those of Michael Faraday and Charles Darwin, can reveal the development of their scientific theories. On the other hand, the notebooks used by scientists for recording their experiments are called lab notebooks.
The notebooks used by artists are usually referred as sketchbooks, which may contain more than sketches. Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks contain his writings on painting, sculpture, architecture, anatomy, mining, inventions and music, as well as his sketches, his grocery lists and the names of people who owed him money.