Ten Plus Systems Blog

Graduated and Need to Buy a New Laptop? Here’s What to Look For.

June 16, 2022 | Technology, Tips

Are you considering buying a new laptop but wondering what’s best for you? Many people search for the best devices with high-end features but miss what to look for, which is what they need and what’s best for them. Here we’ll discuss what to look for.

Processor

This is also referred to as a chip or CPU (Central Processing Unit). Intel and AMD are the two companies that make processors for laptops.

Core i3 is weaker but cheaper. Yet this chip is still ample for everyday computing tasks. This is available as dual-core and at multiple speeds ranging from 1.30 GHz up to 3.50 GHz, with features of either 3MB or 4MB of cache. 

One may ample if you run web browsers, Office applications, media software, and low-end games. But it can’t handle content creation, heavy editing, or video work. It may also slow down with tougher games.

AMD Ryzen 5 and Intel i5 are indistinguishable when browsing the web or editing documents. Core i5 CPUs are capable of handling a broader range of situations. 

This is usually available as dual-core or quad-core. Its multiple speed ranges from 1.90 GHz up to 3.80 GHz, with 3 MB, 4 MB, and 6 MB cache. Ryzen 7 and Intel Core i7 can also be similar. Intel i7 features either four cores or six cores with frequencies of 2.60 GHz up to 3.70 GHz. This processor is primarily marketed to gaming enthusiasts, gaming artists, filmmakers, and makers.

The Core i9 processor is the most powerful among the four units. These CPUs feature six to eighteen cores with two threads per core when hyper-threading is enabled. It has 2.9 to 3.6 GHz, and up to 5 GHz frequencies if using Intel Turbo Boost. 

In terms of graphic performance, AMD tends to have an edge. So if you’re a video editor or a gamer, this is likely to be your upper hand. 

Memory

Choosing the right memory might boost your device’s performance. It’s been a norm to have 8GB as the bare minimum as it fits our budget and it can already meet our productivity fairly. But for experienced users, it’s not a great choice.

Your machine may get sluggish because some programs demand more memory capacity even modern web browsers lightens the load. So most users who want to multitask without the slowdown are recommended to choose 16GB of main system memory or 36 GB for those heavy multitaskers like video editors. 

The more RAM you have, the faster your laptop performance is. Check if the RAM is soldered to the motherboard, you can upgrade the RAM yourself if it is not soldered. You would also want to check if it has DDR (Double Data Rate). DDR 4 RAM is speedy and common in most laptops. But the manufacturer will give you a list, so it’s better to check before buying.

Storage

This is your laptop’s filing cabinet. The most common storage choice these days is a solid-state drive (SSD), but some budget laptops still use spinning drives. SSD is can be budget-friendly and faster especially if they use an NVMe connection. 

The recommended minimum space amount is 256 gigabytes. If you use Cloud, you can choose less. But it’s better to have a ready space for more. It will eat up space quickly if you install a lot of software or games. You may notice that the hard drive doesn’t have the same space as what was advertised. The space didn’t reduce, it just has something to do with the difference between the binary that Windows use and decimal bytes that drive makers use. 

Battery Life

Many focus on the number of hours that the manufacturers quoted. A laptop’s battery life is often different from what is said on the box. It can differ due to the screen brightness, type, or amount of software you run. These affect how long the battery lasts. 

The battery life of your device also differs from the type of processor that you use. You should look for the rating of the battery in milliamps-hours (mAh) or Watt-hours (Wh). If the number is bigger, the battery will last longer.

Design

You should consider your laptop design according to which field you are in or where you use your laptop for. If you travel and take your laptop with you a lot of times, you might like the slim ones. There are also notebook laptops, which are slimmer, lighter, and simplified sets of tools. Ultraportable and Ultrabook are quite similar to notebooks. 

Ultrabook’s strong point is strong security and anti-theft protection. In convertible (2-in-1), you can quickly switch to touchscreen mode or the traditional keyboard model. Convertibles also transform in various ways like detaching, sliding, twisting, and fold-back mechanisms. The most high-end convertible has a high-resolution screen with a wider color gamut, optimized for multimedia that is great for watching videos.

After you narrowed down your choices, check the reviews and look for something beyond the specifications you prefer. I hope you find this article helpful.

iPhone Battery Health: How to Check and Improve It

May 11, 2022 | Technology, How To

Just like all batteries, iPhone batteries tend to deteriorate in performance over time. An iPhone that can last you 12 hours out of the box can only last you two or three hours after a year or two. You wonder, why does my iPhone’s battery health deteriorate so fast?

4 Smartphone Features You’re Not Using

April 13, 2022 | How To

Did you pay a few hundred bucks or over a thousand dollars for your smartphone? Then you should be milking its every feature for what they're worth. Read this article to learn what features you might be missing.

What more can you get out of your device?

Aside from being able to obtain driving and commuting directions, video and voice calling people, taking high-definition photos and videos, and many more, there are other features that one can’t even fathom to come with a handheld device.

Here are some of the surprising things you can do with your smartphone:

1. Using it as a closed-circuit camera alternative.

If you need a quick fix when it comes to monitoring surroundings you can’t stay in, you can tap your smartphone’s ability to capture videos and images coupled with motion detection. It’s as simple as downloading an application from your smartphone’s corresponding application store. For iOS users, they can use the iPhone CCTC application from the App Store. Android users on the other hand can make use of an application called Motion Detector.

Unsurprisingly, you can use an old phone for longer CCTV use. Download the application, make sure the battery is juiced up, and place it somewhere you want to monitor. If the old phone’s screen has screen damage that will compromise the quality of what it captures, bring it in for LCD repair services. 

2. Displaying contact information on lock screens.

It’s impossible for a smartphone not to have its lock screen. Any phone from all price ranges comes with this feature, and they’re also highly customizable. A user can opt to display images, calendars, and contact information.

Displaying contact information is useful when you lose your phone or get in an emergency where you can’t access your phone all by yourself. The person who found your phone will be able to locate you to either return your property or contact family members to alert them of your situation.

3. Screen time management.

When you have a handheld device that can cover any task or type of entertainment, it’s difficult to pry your fingers and eyes off it. Fortunately, smartphones now come with built-in screen usage features that monitor the time your phone’s screen is on with the activity. At the end of the day or week, the feature tells you about your phone usage habits. They can even show the applications you spend most of your time using.

This is extremely helpful if you want to minimize your screen time and focus on more important tasks.

4. Dashboard camera alternative.

The nearly 4 billion smartphone users have drivers in the mix. These users can turn their smartphones into dashboard cameras when they’re on the road. We’re all aware of how useful they are because they can be used for the safety and protection of people on the road. Simply plop your smartphone on your dashboard and make sure the placement is sturdy, open your camera application, then begin recording. It’s optional if you want to leave your phone inside your car, but isn’t ideal when it gets too hot inside vehicles and you might damage your phone, or worse, it might even turn into a hazard.

Final thoughts

Depending on the brand and model of your smartphone, you may have fewer or more features within your reach. Some brands have features unique to them, and some features are universal, but some manufacturers do them better. If you already have a device and would want to make every dollar worth it, make sure you use your phone’s hidden features that can help with your daily tasks.

5 Ways to Free up Space on Your iPhone Storage

March 14, 2022 | Tips

Before we had 1TB storage iPhones (iPhone 13 Pro Max), the biggest iPhone storage capacity users could have was 8GB (the first iPhone). If we were in the year the first iPhone came out, 8GB is probably more than enough for music and low-quality photos and videos. 

But in 2022, a 1TB iPhone is easily filled up by 1080p@60fps videos and HDR photos. Put some mobile games on top of that, and a 1TB iPhone will start giving your iPhone storage warnings. We can’t even begin to fathom what an 8GB iPhone can bring (or can’t bring).

As your trusted iPhone repair experts, it’s necessary for us to help you maximize your iPhone’s storage and avoid missing photo ops. 

Here’s a list of five ways to free up space on your iPhone:

Check which unused apps are taking storage space

You might have iPhone apps that you used only once that are taking storage space but aren’t actually useful to your daily smartphone use. Fortunately, you can easily check this by going to Settings > General > iPhone Storage.

In there, you’ll see a breakdown of file types and apps that take space. Since newer iOS versions have the “Recommendations” section that’ll give you tips on how to free up space, you can follow those and get a few good GBs.

Alternatively, you can scroll down and view the list of apps and figure out which ones you don’t use and how much space they’re taking. If you don’t use them at all, just remove them, especially if they’re taking a lot of space that you can use for other stuff.

Back up your photos and videos in iCloud

Each iPhone comes with a free 5GB iCloud storage users can take advantage of to back up files on their iPhone. It works for anything you store inside your iPhone, even emails. The free iCloud storage is perfect for storing photos and some videos. However, if your iPhone’s gallery is heavy, you might need to purchase additional iCloud storage.

To check if your iCloud backup is turned on, go to Settings > Apple ID > iCloud.

As an alternative, you can use Google Photos. It offers free 15GB worth of storage you can use to back up your iPhone’s photos and videos. This means you can keep your gallery’s content and still save iPhone storage.

Delete music you stopped listening to

Your music taste might have changed over the years, but you forgot to refresh your Apple Music’s contents. Since most songs average about 20MB per file, having a hundred songs you don’t listen to takes around 2GB of iPhone storage you can use to store other files.

Fortunately, it’s easy to delete songs on your iPhone. Go to Settings > Music > Downloaded Music. Tap “Edit” at the top right corner and tap “-” to delete a music file. 

Alternatively, you can turn on “Optimize Storage” to let your iPhone delete music that you haven’t played in a while. You can find this option in Settings > Music > Optimize Storage. Tap the toggle and turn it green.

Delete old downloaded videos from Netflix or YouTube

Both Netflix and YouTube have offline downloads that take space on your iPhone storage, especially if the videos you’ve downloaded have piled up. They can take significant space if you continue downloading them without deleting old ones.

To delete downloaded videos in streaming apps, launch them and go to the downloaded videos section. Delete what you don’t watch anymore, and you should get free space to store other files.

Delete old messages

It’s possible that your iPhone’s messages from the start are still in your phone and taking a lot of space. That includes media such as audio messages, photos, and videos sent over the Messages app.

You can manually delete messages from your Messages app or go into 

Settings > Messages

. Tap 

“Keep Messages” 

and change it to

 30 Days 

or

 1 Year

. Either option will delete messages received and sent based on your choice. This can save you significant iPhone storage since piled-up messages can take space.

Which iPhone Model Is the Best for You?

February 21, 2022 | Technology

Apple usually comes out with 2 to 4 models of the iPhone with every generation. That means you’ll have to choose between 4 different iPhone models to find the best iPhone model that will suit your daily productivity, social, and entertainment needs.

Moreover, if you’re a smartphone user who takes high-quality photos and videos, plays heavy mobile games, and does other hardware-demanding tasks on your phone, you’re bound to look for an iPhone that can serve all your needs without an issue.

Fortunately, we came up with a list of iPhone 13 models to find the best iPhone model for you. Go through our list and finish reading it to find a suitable smartphone:

1. iPhone 13 mini

Today’s smartphone mantra is the bigger, the better. That doesn’t stand true for the iPhone 13 mini. It has a 5.4-inch Super Retina XDR display, which is by far the smallest viewable screen since the iPhone 8. 

Since not everyone is a fan of big smartphones with wide screens, the iPhone 13 mini is perfect for people who like to have their cell phone fit just right in their hands and pockets. It’s never easy to always have to hold your phone in your hands because it won’t fit in any of your pockets, right?

With the iPhone 13 mini, you get 5G support, a powerful dual-lens rear camera that can capture up to 4K@60fps videos, the A15 Bionic chip, and up to 17 hours of video playback on Wi-Fi. When it comes to storage, you can have up to 512GB to store all your images, photos, files, and apps.

Even with all those features, the iPhone 13 mini is still mini – it only weighs 140g! Size-wise, this is the best iPhone model for users to like the comfort of having a cell phone with a size that’s just right to fit in their palms and pockets.

2. iPhone 13

The iPhone 13 mini made a slight jump and became the iPhone 13. The iPhone 13 is just a tad bigger, with a 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR display and the same rear camera power. It’s also powered by the same A15 Bionic chip but has a bigger battery that can play up to 19 hours of video on Wi-Fi.

It’s also 5G-enabled to let you stream videos without a problem. However, you get 63 additional grams for a bigger display and battery. If you think carefully, 2 hours of additional video playback and .7 inches of additional screen size isn’t all that big of an improvement to accept carrying a 173g iPhone around when there’s the 140g iPhone 13 mini with the same features.

But if you’re looking for the selling point of the iPhone 13, it’s the familiar size that the colorful iPhone XR has. Are you a fan of the XR? The iPhone 13 is a good way to look back.

3. iPhone 13 Pro

Since iPhones are famed for their superb camera quality, the iPhone 13 Pro gets a huge upgrade from the iPhone 13’s dual-lens rear camera set up.

The iPhone 13 Pro has a triple-lens set up with 6x optical zoom, LiDar Scanner for better photos in Night mode and low light environments, a bigger battery that allows up to 22 hours of video playback on Wi-Fi, and up to 1TB of storage.

However, the screen size didn’t change. The iPhone 13 Pro still has the same 6.1-inch screen you’ll see in the iPhone 13 but with ProMotion. Even if the Pro version weighs 33 grams more (203g), the only changes you’ll see is the better camera, bigger battery, and more storage capacity.

So if you want the iPhone 13 with a better camera and more storage to take advantage of the quality of that camera, get the iPhone 13 Pro.

4. iPhone 13 Pro Max

The brightest of the iPhone 13 line is the iPhone 13 Pro Max, which has the same camera as the iPhone 13 Pro. However, its screen size is much bigger, with 6.7 inches of the viewable area on Super Retina Display with ProMotion.

It has a beefier battery, allowing up to 28 hours of video playback on Wi-Fi. Its storage capacity is also capped at 1TB, which we think is enough if you’re not trying to shoot movies on your iPhone.

The iPhone 13 Pro Max has the biggest display, so this one is perfect for creators who want to utilize the camera power of the 13 Pro Max for content creation. In addition, you’ll also appreciate this model if you love watching videos on your phone.