Rick's Daily Tips

Review: LG gram 15Z960 i7 15.6″ Laptop

Posted on April 11, 2016

lg-gram-15z960-laptop In my humble opinion, a modern laptop should be blazing fast and have a large screen, yet be comfortably light and compact.

The computer manufacturers are getting better at designing machines that meet this goal, and whenever I see one that looks promising I’m always eager to spend some time checking it out.

I recently had the opportunity to put the new LG gram 15Z960 i7 15.6″ laptop through its paces, and while it isn’t perfect (does a “perfect” laptop even exist?), I found it to be a very good machine that easily meets the fast CPU/large screen/lightweight/compact criteria mentioned above. [Read more…]

Q&A: How do I put a password on my notes in the Apple Notes app?

Posted on April 11, 2016

Question from Ellis H.: I know that Apple now lets us put a password on our notes in the Apple Notes app, but I can’t figure out how to do it on my iPhone.

I mainly use the app on my iPhone 5S, but every now and then I use it on my MacBook too.

I figured out how to password a note on my MacBook, but not on my phone. How do I do it?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Amazon Prime members in 27 metro areas now get free same-day shipping!

Posted on April 10, 2016

About a year ago Amazon began offering free same-day shipping on eligible items to Amazon Prime (#ad) members who lived in one of fourteen selected U.S. metropolitan areas.

For the lucky folks living in or near those cities, their already awesome Amazon Prime memberships became even more awesome virtually overnight.

Well, Amazon has just announced that they have extended the free same-day shipping perk to Prime members living in twelve additional metro areas.

That brings the total number of U.S. cities covered by the free same-day shipping policy to 27. Here is a list of the lucky locales: [Read more…]

How to easily prevent your PC from automatically updating itself to Windows 10

Posted on April 7, 2016

Are you still running Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 on your PC and have no desire to upgrade to Windows 10?

If so, you should know that Microsoft has made it extremely difficult to avoid having your current Windows installation automatically updated to Windows 10, whether you want to install the upgrade or not. [Read more…]

Q&A: Why do new computers still come with USB 2.0 ports?

Posted on April 4, 2016

Question from Robert C.: I’ve been shopping for a new computer, and I’ve noticed something that’s puzzling me.

Virtually all of the desktop and laptop PCs currently on the market still have USB 2.0 ports on them, and that includes the newest models.

I guess I had just assumed that by now all new computers would come with USB 3.0 exclusively.

My question is why are the computer manufacturer’s still including USB 2.0 ports on their latest models?

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]