Rick's Daily Tips

Review: Acer Predator Helios 300 Gaming Laptop

Posted on April 3, 2019

Serious gamers have long preferred desktop gaming PCs over laptops because they were more powerful and more easily upgradeable.

But now that preference is beginning to change.

The latest gaming laptops to arrive on the market pack plenty of power for running even the most demanding games, making them a great choice for gamers who like to take their rigs with them when they travel.

A perfect case in point is the Predator Helios 300 Gaming Laptop (#ad) from Acer.

This laptop packs tons of speed and power, yet it’s about as affordable as a machine of this caliber can get. Here’s a quick look at the specs: [Read more…]

Scam alert: Office Depot fined $25 Million dollars for charging customers to remove non-existent malware from their PCs

Posted on April 1, 2019

Have you ever taken your laptop or desktop PC into Office Depot (now Office Depot/Office Max) for a free “PC Checkup” or some other service?

If so, did you end up paying them big bucks to remove malware from the machine?

Well, if you did you were probably scammed.

[Read more…]

Review: Samsung 860 EVO 2TB SATA III Internal SSD

Posted on March 28, 2019

Thanks to the advent of 3D V-NAND and other new flash memory technologies, solid state drives are getting both larger and less expensive all the time.

While SSDs are still considerably more expensive than hard drives with the same amount of storage capacity, the cost differential is now smaller than ever.

A perfect example is the new Samsung 860 EVO 2TB SATA III Internal SSD (#ad), one of the largest commonly available solid state drives on the market today. I recently had the opportunity to check one out, and I came away quite impressed. [Read more…]

Remotely control when and how your children can use their mobile phones

Posted on March 28, 2019

Do you wish you could control when your children can use their mobile phones and which apps they can use at what times, even when you aren’t with them?

Well, thanks to a great app called DinnertTime Plus, you can. Simpy install the app on both your child’s phone and your own phone, then link the two phones via a text message. [Read more…]

Review: Silverstone Tek 3.5″ to 2 X 2.5″ Hard Drive HDD/SSD Bay Converter

Posted on March 26, 2019

Most solid state drives sold today were designed to fit into a standard 2.5 inch drive bay.

This is perfect if you’re upgrading the hard drive in your laptop to an SSD. Simply remove the hard drive and slide the SSD into it place.

But a problem arises if you’re planning to add an SSD to a typical desktop computer. Most desktop PC cases don’t have an empty 2.5 inch drive bay, so an adapter bracket is required in order to make it fit properly into an empty 3.5 inch bay.

A few days ago I ordered a Silverstone 3.5″ to 2 X 2.5″ Hard Drive HDD/SSD Bay Converter (#ad) that I needed in order to install a Samsung 860 QVO 1TB SSD (#ad) that was shipped to me for review.

After working with the converter I came away very impressed. [Read more…]