Rick's Daily Tips

Monthly Tech Giveaway – February 2024

Posted on January 31, 2024

Note: The links on this page are affiliate links.

February’s winner will receive this super-compact, but powerful Beelink Mini PC.

This little gem is about the size of an extra wide brick but it has all the power and features of a full-size mid-grade desktop PC.

All subscribers to the Standard edition of my Rick’s Tech Tips Newsletter have an equal chance to win.

Premium subscribers have two chances to win (their email addresses are added to the “pot” twice).

Not a subscriber? Just enter your email address in the form on this page. Once subscribed you’ll be eligible to win each month’s drawing – starting with this month!

The drawing for this Beelink Mini PC will be held on the evening of February 28 and the winner will be notified by email. The winner will be selected at random.

Good luck!

Does your Apple device qualify for a free replacement battery?

Posted on January 29, 2024

For reasons I explained in this post, I usually recommend skipping the extended warranty when you buy a new computer or mobile device.

That being said, plenty of folks disagree with me, and that’s fine.

If having your new computer or other device covered by an extended warranty gives you a warm and fuzzy feeling and lets you sleep well at night, then I’d say it’s money well spent.

And guess what? If you happen to have an Apple device that’s covered by an AppleCare Protection Plan, it might already qualify to receive a new battery at no charge under the plan. [Read more…]

Q&A: Why are new computers slower than really old ones?

Posted on January 29, 2024

Question from Larry: I was digging through some junk in my basement and found my old 1990s era Gateway computer with Windows 3.1 on it.

Just out of curiosity I hooked it up and was surprised to see it come on and boot up.

I spent several minutes just fooling around with it and I noticed how fast it was running.

I have a four month old Dell laptop that has an Intel i5 CPU and 8GB of RAM but it seems to run a lot slower than that 20+ year old Gateway.

Why would a modern computer with supposedly much better hardware run slower than a PC that’s over 20 years old? [Read more…]

Q&A: Why are my Internet download speeds so slow?

Posted on January 29, 2024

Question from Kellie: I have Xfinity Internet and the plan I’m on is for 200 Mbps download speed.

I used SpeedTest.net to run several speed tests yesterday and again this morning. The fastest speed I got was around 65 Mbps.

I called Xfinity this afternoon and they ran some kind of test from their end and said I was getting all the speed I’m paying for.

Is there something I’m doing wrong when I run the speed test or is Xfinity just blowing me off? [Read more…]