Tech Questions & Answers Archives - Page 2 of 203

Q&A: Is it safe to keep my laptop plugged into an outlet all the time?

Posted on August 15, 2019

Question from Chris E.: Hi Rick. I’ve asked this question of several people who should know and received conflicting answers.

I guess this is one of those things that boils down more to opinion than science.

I’ve been reading your blog for quite a while now and I think you really know what you’re talking about, so I thought I’d ask your opinion on it.

So here’s the question: Is it safe to leave my laptop plugged into a wall outlet for extended periods of time even when the battery is fully charged? [Read more…]

Q&A: How do I view a web page’s HTML source code in Google Chrome?

Posted on August 14, 2019

Question from Garry M.: Rick, I’ve been a faithful Internet Explorer user for years (I guess you can say I’m a creature of habit) but after hearing everyone talk about how much better Chrome is I decided to give it a try.

Now that I’ve tried it for a few weeks, I have to agree with all the good things I’d heard about Chrome because it doesn’t crash all the time, and it seems to really be a lot faster than IE too.

I knew there’d be a learning curve, but it wasn’t all that bad really.

But there’s one thing I just can’t figure out. How the heck do you display a web page’s HTML source code?

In IE it was easy. Just click View>Source. But I can’t find a way to do it in Chrome.

I know it has to be pretty simple, but how do you do it?

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Q&A: Can you recommend a good camera repair service?

Posted on August 13, 2019

Question from Barbara T.: Rick, I have a Canon DSLR camera that I absolutely love, but I need to have it repaired.

My 4 year old got her hands on it somehow when I was out of the room and she broke the door to the battery compartment off. The memory card slot seems to be damaged as well because the card won’t stay in place.

I bought this camera from a local camera store that has since gone out of business, and the nearest camera repair shop is 110 miles away.

Do you know of a place I can ship my camera to in order to have it repaired? The cost isn’t my primary concern, but cheaper is always better as long as the service is good. There are tons of places on the web, but I have no idea who to choose. Thanks for your advice!

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Q&A: Do nano size USB Wi-Fi adapters work as well as the larger ones?

Posted on August 11, 2019

Question from Alexis F.: Hi Rick. I’m very interested in ordering the Edimax USB Wi-Fi adapter you mentioned in this post, but I’m concerned that the small size might keep it from working as well as a full size adapter might.

Is that something I need to worry about?

The Wi-Fi signal in my basement office isn’t super strong, but it’s definitely usable. I just need to make sure I’ll be able to establish and maintain a good connection.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Q&A: How can I connect my new iPad Pro to my projector?

Posted on August 11, 2019

Question from Don H.: For a while now I’ve been using an HP laptop and an Epson VS240 projector to display presentations to my Art History students.

The laptop’s hard drive died on me a few days ago and I don’t plan on having it replaced.

What I’d like to do is use my new iPad Pro and Apple’s Keynote presentation app to send video to the projector.

The problem is the projector has an HDMI port but the iPad Pro has a USB-C port.

Is there a simple way to connect the iPad Pro to my projector?

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]