When looking to buy a new computer many consumers feel swamped by the amount of choice available. To make the best choice it’s important for consumers to think about where and how they will use their new computer.

The most common types of computers are desktops, laptops, netbooks and tablets. All of these types of machines have their own pros and cons which will be discussed below.

Desktop computers are quite large and comprised of several parts: a tower unit (this is the actual computer), a monitor, a keyboard and a mouse. Desktops are generally more powerful and better suited to processor intensive tasks such as video editing, gaming and high resolution photo editing.

The main disadvantage of desktop computers is their lack of portability. As they are larger and comprised of several parts, dismantling and moving a desktop computer can be a chore. Also, desktop computers need to be plugged into an electricity outlet, limiting your choice of location.

A laptop is a portable, feature-rich computer generally capable of all the functions a desktop computer can carry out. Laptops are built as a single unit which houses the main computer, the keyboard, a track-pad (a laptop alternative to a mouse), the battery and the monitor, all-in-one.

The inherent design of laptops means that they are quite portable devices. However, some laptops can be quite bulky and heavy, limiting the ease with which they can be carried around. While laptops can generally perform all of the functions which a desktop can, they are often slower at completing processor intensive tasks.

Netbooks are similar to laptops, but are smaller, lighter and more portable. Other than size, the main differences between laptops and netbooks are the amount of features they have and how powerful they are. By definition, netbooks do not have an optical drive (CD, DVD or Blu-Ray). They also generally have less RAM, a smaller hard-drive and less powerful processors. This can mean that some netbooks struggle to perform functions which a laptop or desktop can easily cope with e.g. playing high definition video or editing high-resolution photos.

Netbooks can however perform many basic functions very well: they can easily cope with browsing the internet, creating spread sheets, word processing, viewing photos and watching non-HD video. Due to their size, netbooks are very easy to carry around, they also tend to be considerably cheaper than laptops.

Modern tablet computers are typified by having a touchscreen display and no keyboard. They are ultra-portable and tend to be thinner and lighter than netbooks. However, they generally have a different set of functions to a netbook. While typically having less processing power than the average netbook many tablets can handle HD video, making them very suitable for portable entertainment uses.

On the down side, many tablets have rigid operating systems. This means that there are many major software applications which can’t be installed on them. However, it is common to be able to find stripped down versions of high-profile programs that have been specifically made for popular tablet operating systems. As they have no keyboard, tablets are also more difficult to type on.

The great thing about all of the options is that they will allow you to get online easily. If you want to make them most out of your new device make sure to pick up a good cheap broadband deal.

As a general guide: if you need a lot of power for video editing or gaming go for a desktop, if you want a lot of functions and portability go for a laptop, if you want cheap and portable basic functions go for a netbook and if you want ultra-portable entertainment and web-browsing go for a tablet.

Fiona Roy writes for a digital marketing agency. This article has been commissioned by a client of said agency. This article is not designed to promote, but should be considered professional content.

When connecting to Wi-Fi networks you may have seen notifications referring to WEP, WPA and WPA2, but what exactly do these terms mean?

Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) was the first standard implemented to make Wi-Fi networks secure. It was designed to be a strong type of security encryption which would keep Wi-Fi user’s data safe. However, it was discovered that WEP had some serious flaws and was not particularly difficult to hack.

Unfortunately, many Wi-Fi users are unaware that WEP is vulnerable and continue to use this type of encryption. This is not helped by the fact that some wireless router manufactures still ship their devices with WEP set as default when the routers are capable of more secure encryption.

Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) was developed to replace WEP and address the security issues associated with Wi-Fi networks. This more secure type of encryption was developed by the Wi-Fi Alliance and released in 2003. The Wi-Fi Alliance is an organisation dedicated to promoting and improving wireless networking technologies. It was founded and run by a group of companies which had an interest in standardising and improving wireless networking technologies.

While far more secure than WEP, it is still possible for a skilled and determined hacker to break WPA encryption. To further improve Wi-Fi security the Wi-Fi alliance developed WPA2. The main difference, in terms of security, between WPA and WPA2 is the type of encryption algorithm used.

WPA uses Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) encryption. When introduced it was thought that this type of encryption was extremely secure. However, as security advances, so do hackers and WPA’s TKIP encryption was eventually hacked in 2008. As it was based on the WEP type of encryption it was found to be vulnerable to similar, but more advanced, types of attack.

WPA2 uses Counter Mode with Cipher Block Chaining Message Authentication Code Protocol (CCMP, although sometimes known as AES). CCMP was a significant improvement on TKIP and has proved to be extremely resilient to attack. While it is theoretically possible to hack CCMP encryption it would require tremendous computing power and would take an extremely long time.

Remember it is very important to keep your wireless network safe; you should make sure you are using WPA2 in order to keep your data secure. This is especially true for business broadband users. Businesses often have very sensitive and potentially damaging information on their networks and a successful cyber-attack could cost a company a lot of money.

Fiona Roy writes for a digital marketing agency. This article has been commissioned by a client of said agency. This article is not designed to promote, but should be considered professional content.

The internet is already considered by many people to be an essential part of everyone’s life and not having access to it can put you at a great disadvantage.

In recent years governments in the western world have gone to great lengths to connect all of their populaces to a high speed internet connection, even in the remoter regions, as people have come to demand access to the internet, in much the same way as they demand running water.

As well as connecting to the internet through their phone lines, people can now access the internet on mobile devices like their smart phones and tablet devices. The internet has become ubiquitous and essential.

Every year people are demanding faster and faster connections, as people look to the internet more and more as a reliable source of entertainment and business. Fibre optic broadband is heralding a new age of superfast broadband into people’s homes and offices and with it may come an even more essential utility, remote processing power.

In the future processing power may become a utility just like electricity. In this brave new world you would access this processing power through cheap, low-specification terminals; all of your documents and data would be securely stored externally, online; and all the operations on them will be carried out by software provided, run and upgraded by online application providers, perhaps Google. Like any other utility, the more processing power you use, the more you will pay for it - and vice versa.

This future is not as far away as you might think, you probably already store a lot of your data online, be it in email inboxes, drop box accounts or new services like Apple’s iCloud. The concept of running software remotely is something familiar to anyone that has ever used the remote desktop function in windows and running software remotely is already being commercially sold by video games companies like OnLive.

What will be essential to the development of this technology will be the necessity to connect everyone to fibre optic broadband, as a large bandwidth would be essential in ensuring that computers could communicate rapidly across the internet.

The possibilities of this new technology could be astonishing. Imagine just a simple, small, basic computer terminal connected through fibre optic broadband to an online network of supercomputers. You could call upon as much processing power as you need, to run whatever program you want, from the latest computer games to modelling your own weather forecast.

Fiona Roy writes for a digital marketing agency. This article has been commissioned by a client of said agency. This article is not designed to promote, but should be considered professional content.

Buying your first property can be stressful. It seems like there is a mountain of paperwork to fill out just so you can get a foot on the property ladder. Once you have found and bought the right home, you have to spend time getting the essentials like furniture, insurance and utilities.

Take, for instance, essential utilities like gas and electricity. The phone has always been a popular way of communicating with friends and family. Now the prominence of the internet means broadband can be added to the list of essential utilities.

Many people use different suppliers in order to save money. This doesn’t have to be the case when buying a phone line and broadband for your new property, however. It is possible to combine both into a package that suits your level of use.

Also known as bundles, packages are a great way to save money. Suppliers often give discounts for choosing to buy both services from them. Another way that packages can save money is picking the correct one to suit your needs.

As everyone will have different levels of use, companies will offer a range so you can make sure you have enough to match your lifestyle. For example, if you use both sparingly, you can save money by picking a less costly package. Equally, if you are a big user of both, you don’t have to worry about not having enough - simply pick a larger bundle.

The choice can be overwhelming. The first step is to look at what you think you will use and how often. Suppliers may have deals which offer special rates during a particular time. This could be cheaper calls during the evening or weekend; perfect for those who make calls at that time.

When choosing broadband, look at the gigabyte allowance. This is especially important for those who upload or download media such as movies and music. The allowance also affects how much you can watch on TV catch up services too. Speeds will also vary from location to location. Some areas may have access to fibre optic wires which produce the fastest internet speeds.

While setting up your first property and making it into a home can be stressful, buying your phone and broadband needn’t be. Companies will often supply a router, taking the pain out of finding a suitable model to maximise your broadband. Start your search by using the internet to find the best deal for you.

Fiona Roy writes for a digital marketing agency. This article has been commissioned by a client of said agency. This article is not designed to promote, but should be considered professional content.

According to an internal document released by ThisIsMyNext shows an Apple Fixer Installation on the 21st October which comes in the time zone of Apple iPhone 5 release. Fingers crossed on how the new phone will look like as i personally don’t believe in the designs leaked out.

I was stumbling via stumbleupon on the university links when i landed on the website of Carneggie Mellon University’s project that kicked Spam’s ass by a very big number called the CAPTCHA.

For those of you who’re not sure about CAPTCHA, the official CAPTCHA site defines it as “a program that protects websites against bots by generating and grading tests that humans can pass but current computer programs cannot. For example, humans can read distorted text as the one shown below, but current computer programs can’t.”

Its a handy and useful tool though, you might wanna read more about it on the CAPTCHA site.