Health checks for your gadgets

Buying a new smartphone Or A computer sounds great!?

But do you know maintaining your old gadgets can be fun too!

Vincent Lai

(Here are few excerpts of advice from Vincent Lai and Kyle Weins, the CEO OF i-Fixit courtesy 

the International New York Times and Deccan Herald)

·       Reality Check-Maintaining smartphones and tablets are fairly easy.

# Factor No. 1 (Storage)

When your device is running out of storage and OS may slow to crawl. It is high time that you free space in storage. Here Lai recommends that for Android phones- photos, movies etc., should be downloaded on a removable memory card. This will free some space and let the system to run faster. However for Apple iPhones and iPads which lack support for removable memory card, managing free space can be tricky. Here the solution as recommended by a user on reddit.com is to rent a movie on iTunes that exceeds the amount the space you have left, so when device detects that lack of space it will automatically rejects the download  and clear out cached data lingering in apps. Lai says he has applied this tactics and it sped the performance of his tablet significantly. He adds further that after all this; if you are still struggling with storage, than consider deleting apps that you rarely use or backing up all the data & reinstalling the phone’s OS.

# Factor No. 2 (Battery)

Every mobile battery has a maximum number of cycles or number of times it can be depleted or recharged. For iPhones, apps like coconut battery reveals battery statistics and for Android, apps like macropinch can tell general health of a battery. The rule of thumb is every 2 years consider replacing smartphone battery and for tablets at least every 4 or five years.

·       Reality Check- It is easier to remove & upgrade computer parts than mobile parts.

Factor No. 1(Hard disk)

A.    Ditch traditional hard disk drives for a new storage technology called solid state. Although solid state has less storage but can upload applications faster and are more durable.

B.    RAM – Install the maximum amount of memory that your computer supports to speed up the things.

C.     Culprit called DUST-Spend on a can of dust removing spray & blowing out dust from air vents and fan every few months because dust generates heat and accelerate PC’s aging process.

D.    Check the amount of storage and battery capacity that remain – For Mac book , app called coconut battery will do the job and –For Android , app called infoview  will show the health of the battery.

(Disclaimer: This piece of information is compiled by Purna Sarkar based upon the news available in media and thus should not be hold responsible in any court of law.)