upgrades

How to upgrade your laptop's Wi-Fi card

Memory and storage are probably the two most commonly upgraded components on laptop computers. They're easy to upgrade and have an immediate impact on system performance. Wi-Fi cards are upgraded less frequently, but upgrading them can have a dramatic impact on performance as well, with greater range and faster throughput.

In this tutorial, we're going to upgrade the Intel Centrino Wireless-N 2230 inside a Toshiba U925t Ultrabook, with an Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6235. The Intel 2230 card is a good midrange card, but it lacks dual-band support, so we're going to replace it with the Intel 6235, … Read more

Cause of PC malaise? Designs not 'compelling,' says Intel

PC designs have been lackluster, offering no good reason to upgrade, according to an Intel executive speaking at the company's Spring Analyst Summit in London.

Navin Shenoy, vice president and general manager of the Mobile Client Platform division, was responding to a question from an analyst when he said the following on Thursday:

We think the usage patterns aren't the driver for elongation [of the PC upgrade cycle]. It's more that we haven't had products in the marketplace that were compelling in any way to the existing product, either from a form factor point of view, … Read more

Get a 480GB internal SSD for $299.99, shipped

Ready to get serious about solid-state storage? If you've looked into SSD upgrades for your laptop, you know that you can easily spend upward of $175 for a measly 128GB drive. That's fine for some users (myself included), but not nearly enough for others.

This should be enough: For a limited time, and while supplies last, Newegg has the OCZ Agility 3 480GB SATA III internal SSD for $299.99, shipped. That's after applying coupon code EMCYTZT3478 at checkout. (Note that you must be a Newegg newsletter subscriber in order to use the code.)

That's an … Read more

Even Wall Street is left impressed with the HTC One

Will the HTC One be HTC's savior? Some Wall Street analysts are starting to come around to the idea.

HSBC upgraded the company's investment rating on Friday, citing the impressive flagship phone, according to MarketWatch. The ratings change comes after another firm, Daiwa, also raised its ratings and recommended buying the stock.

HTC has had a tough go at it recently, with sales and profits sinking with each successive quarter. On a marketing and distribution basis, Samsung and Apple have it completely outgunned, and its market share position remains anemic, not even breaching the top five smartphone vendors. … Read more

Make your portable hard drive faster by upgrading to USB 3.0

The most common portable hard drives have USB 2.0 connections, which are great for compatibility, but terrible for performance. If you have an old USB 2.0 portable hard drive, you can increase its transfer rates by upgrading it to USB 3.0. For as little as $15, you can double your drive's real-world performance. Here's how:

Disclaimer: Opening your portable hard drive's enclosure will likely void your warranty. It's also possible that you'll damage the original enclosure and or the internal hard drive. We recommend you back up any data that may be … Read more

Use the Apple Store app to alert you when it's time to upgrade

Apple released on Tuesday a small update to its Apple Store app for the iPhone. The update added the ability to add your wireless account to the app and receive an alert once your line is eligible for an upgrade.

Adding your account to receive upgrade alerts only takes a few seconds. Before you add your account, you'll need to know the last four digits of the account holder's Social Security number, the billing ZIP code, and the account password. At least this was the information I needed for a Verizon account; your experience may vary.

To add … Read more

Cry for Verizon to kill contracts grows louder

The calls for Verizon Wireless to drop the contract are getting louder.

The petition posted on Change.org calling for Verizon to kill off its contract model has garnered nearly 120,000 signatures, with 25,000 signatures added over the weekend alone.

The petition was created by Verizon customer Mike Beauchamp on April 7 after Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam told CNET on the sidelines of an event held earlier this month that he would consider moving to a no-contract model if consumers demanded it, and said the process to shift to no-contracts wouldn't be difficult.

The comments came shortly … Read more

Verizon's new phone upgrade policy draws scrutiny

Verizon Wireless' decision to extend the wait time for a phone upgrade has some concerned about the potential consumer reaction.

Verizon recently said it would do away with early upgrades, forcing consumers to wait the full 24 months before they are eligible to buy a new phone with the lower subsidized price. Customers previously had to wait only 20 months before getting the early upgrade.

The move comes as T-Mobile said it would do away with contracts and subsidized pricing, providing a better financial deal to consumers. From a broader industry perspective, more consumers are starting to move away from … Read more

T-Mobile's imagined upgrade club a boon for gadget freaks

Always itching for that next great smartphone? T-Mobile might have the answer for you.

One of the ideas being bandied about is the concept of a club that would allow for "anytime upgrades," which the company defines as a maximum of two upgrades per year.

Members would pay a "very small" membership fee, though it's unclear if this would be an annual or monthly one. In exchange, they'd get insurance for their phone and the option to upgrade their device twice a year.

The idea is just one that's being thought out loud, … Read more