The Impact of Tablets – 5 Ways Businesses Are Using Them

From just a few short years ago, tablets have gone from being non-existent to becoming a common device that is being adopted by many businesses. As a tool, tablets are being used as companion

devices that provide a powerful computing platform for workers on-the-go to access data locally and in the cloud.

Employees want to use tablets. Tablets run operating systems that are familiar to employees, avoiding the support nightmare for IT when transitioning to new technology. Many businesses view the tablet as a tool to improve the way they do business.

5 Ways to Use a Tablet for Business

1.       Point of Sale System – Tablets can used for transactions that occur away from the storefront and can be found at tradeshows, farmers markets and other areas away from the store front . They have also become popular for processing credit card and debit payments. This opens up opportunities for small business that may not have offered payment by debit or credit cards previously. It also opens opportunities for mobile businesses such as mobile food trucks. Click here for info about accepting mobile payments.

2.       Presentations & Proposals – Showing your presentation to prospective clients on your tablet is useful for a small group setting. Some tablets also come with ports that will allow you to connect them to a larger screen, such as a TV screen.

3.       Access to documents – With the growth of cloud technology, documents can be accessed and viewed from our devices and often edited as well.

4.       Training – Employees can take training with apps that interact by clicking on pop-ups to reveal additional information or taking a quiz at the end. If information becomes out-of-date it can be updated quickly and without the expense of creating new paper copies.

5.       Video - An underexploited element of tablets today that's likely to grow. Whether watching prerecorded video or  making a video call , the use of video in sales makes it much easier for someone to call up a 30-second video from the device and hand the tablet to the prospect to watch it or to speak face to face with a client that can’t be met with in person.

Now the only decision left to make, which tablet is best for your business?

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#1 - 495 Banks Road Kelowna, BC V1X 6A2
Phone: 250.762.7753 Fax: 250.861.1861 Toll-Free: 1.877.257.2896
Email: sales@northerncomputer.ca or service@northerncomputer.ca
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Mobile Printing

We live in a world that is always on the go and our devices have adapted. Many of the devices that

we carry around used to require us to stay in one place to use them. Today cell phones allow people to make calls everywhere, MP3 players can store all your music on a device that you can take anywhere and smart phones, tablets and laptops allow us to have constant access to email and calendars.

Documents can be created on the go, but printing those documents can be tricky. A mobile printer saves plenty of time and money that would otherwise be spent in travelling to a stationary printer to print something and then travelling back to hand it over to whom it is required. For example, a service technician may want to print an invoice or report to be signed off by a customer while on a job site. The real time availability of producing these items also reflects professionalism.

Some of the main points to consider when selecting a mobile printer:

• Functionality. Do you need to print a variety of documents or just snapshots?
• Print Speed. More than often, the mobile printer is used to product on-spot receipts and invoices. The printing speed of mobile printers should be good to avoid delays and to avoid keeping the customers waiting. The print speed of mobile printers is measured in inches per second (IPS).
• Size and Weight. Some models can weigh more, especially if being used with a battery and can take up a lot of suitcase space.
• Accessories. Find out what’s included. Is a battery or car power adapter included? Is wireless printing available?

Canon Pixma iP100

The rugged, compact iP100 Mobile Printer delivers remarkable quality and print-anywhere portability. This model has a very high print resolution, can print a borderless 4" x 6" photos in under a minute, offers automatic duplexing, and can print a book (or 290 pages of a book) in one charge of its optional battery. A car power adapter and bluetooth connectivity are optional accessories.

Dimensions when closed: 12.7" x 7.2" x 2.4"

Weight: 4.4 lbs

Max print resolution: 9600 x 2400 dpi

MSRP: $279.99






Northern Computer - Your Trusted Partner
#1 - 495 Banks Road Kelowna, BC V1X 6A2
Phone: 250.762.7753 Fax: 250.861.1861 Toll-Free: 1.877.257.2896
Email: sales@northerncomputer.ca or service@northerncomputer.ca
Web: http://www.northerncomputer.ca

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Sleek. Thin. Powerful. Light.

What is an Ultrabook?

If you are looking to buy a new laptop, you may have come across the term Ultrabook. Ultrabooks are a new category of laptops that are lightweight, sleek and powerful.  The term ultrabook was coined by Intel to describe a laptop that has the following characteristics:

• Thin and Lightweight. Less than 0.8 inches or 20mm. Most weight between 3 and 4.5 pounds.
• Powerful. Run via a low voltage and high-powered Intel processor.
• Near instant on and instant resume capabilities. They need to be able to resume from hibernation in less than eight seconds.
• Longer Battery Life. They must boast a battery life of at least 5 hours.

Are Ultrabooks a good option for you?

Without a doubt, Ultrabooks are an excellent choice if portability and design are highly important to your lifestyle. For example, if you travel often, or if you use your laptop to write, conduct Web research, and perform similar activities, an Ultrabook is definitely the way to go. However, if you require the use of heavy graphics and portability is not a priority for you, it might be in your best interest to consider other options.

Buying Tips:

• Rigidity – Is it as thin as a piece of cardboard and just slightly stronger? The exterior should be able to handle some pressure. An all-metal chassis is preferable for durability, as opposed to a design that sports a metal lid and plastic area around the keyboard.
• Heat and Noise - Their small size can make cooling components difficult, and since Ultrabooks are the smallest laptops of all, they have the greatest challenge to overcome. Some may be a bit noisy or hotter than others.
• Get the right ports – Some Ultrabook makers sacrifice certain ports to achieve a thinner design, but what should you be willing to live without? You may want to opt for an Ultrabook that includes both an Ethernet port (for wired Internet connections) and VGA (for connecting to projectors).
• Warranty – An inexpensive mainstream laptop almost always has a one-year hardware warranty – and that’s about it. Higher end models will have longer warranties.

Lenovo Twist - $849



Toshiba Progete - $1199

Northern Computer - Your Trusted Partner
#1 - 495 Banks Road Kelowna, BC V1X 6A2
Phone: 250.762.7753 Fax: 250.861.1861 Toll-Free: 1.877.257.2896
Email: sales@northerncomputer.ca or service@northerncomputer.ca
Web: http://www.northerncomputer.ca

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Torture Tests of the Lenovo All-in-One PC

200 test units, 10 torture tests, 20,000 hours of testing-Lenovo ThinkCentre All-In-One desktops are built tough.

Northern Computer - Your Trusted Partner
#1 - 495 Banks Road Kelowna, BC V1X 6A2
Phone: 250.762.7753 Fax: 250.861.1861 Toll-Free: 1.877.257.2896
Email: sales@northerncomputer.ca or service@northerncomputer.ca
Web: http://www.northerncomputer.ca

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Lenovo ThinkPad Twist Demo Modes

 

Learn about the many modes of ThinkPad Twist in this functional overview.

Northern Computer - Your Trusted Partner
#1 - 495 Banks Road Kelowna, BC V1X 6A2
Phone: 250.762.7753 Fax: 250.861.1861 Toll-Free: 1.877.257.2896
Email: sales@northerncomputer.ca or service@northerncomputer.ca
Web: http://www.northerncomputer.ca

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Power Anxiety

You’ve got calls to make, emails to send and you just received the low battery warning on your device. Your heart begins to beat a little faster – you’re almost out of power! You forgot the adapter or don’t have a power outlet. Arrgghh!

Many of us develop a great deal of anxiety over the battery life of our devices. If you experience power anxiety, you might consider buying a backup battery for charging on the go.

Backup batteries will vary in size and weight depending on capacity. Battery capacity is measured in milliampere hours (mAh). The more milliampere hours a battery has, the longer it will run, somewhat like gallons of gas in a car. Most smartphone batteries have a capacity of 1,500 to 2,100 mAh while tablet batteries are in the 6,000 to 11,000 mAh range. To fully recharge these devices, you need an auxiliary source that meets or exceeds that capacity.

Which one is best depends on how much power you want on hand and how much weight you are willing to carry. A larger footprint and more heft will provide even more charging capacity. Below are a few peripherals to help to keep your devices backed up.

Targus Backup Battery for
Smartphones
$39.99
 

Featuring 2000 mAh of battery capacity, users can triple the talk time of their Smartphone. Just connect the backup battery to any Smartphone to recharge and continue calling, gaming, or surfing the web.






Targus Backup Battery for iPad
$69.99

Featuring 4800 mAh of battery capacity, the battery provides users with an additional 5 to 10 hours of use on iPad and can fully charge a Smartphone 3 to 5 times on a single charge.

Plug-N-Power Charging
Station with USB Charger
$29.99

This portable charging station features a USB fast charger (2.1A) for rapid charging of iPad and tablets. This charging station features 15 watts of total USB power and includes 3 AC outlets with 540 joules of surge protection and 2 USB charging ports for simultaneous charging.




So with your power anxiety remedied, you can move on to other neuroses, like the bacterial density on your mobile device’s touch screen.



Northern Computer - Your Trusted Partner #1 - 495 Banks Road Kelowna, BC V1X 6A2
Phone: 250.762.7753 Fax: 250.861.1861 Toll-Free: 1.877.257.2896
Email: sales@northerncomputer.ca or service@northerncomputer.ca
Web: http://www.northerncomputer.ca

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5 Reasons to Consider an All-in-One PC

If you aren’t already feeling overwhelmed by the consumer devices available on the market today, AIO (All-in-One) PCs are striving for a piece of the competitive market alongside traditional desktops and laptops. With an AIO, the computer components are integrated behind the LCD panel or in the base of the display. Below are a few advantages of an AIO PC:

1. Space - They require less desktop space than a traditional PC and monitor. The single-unit design also requires only one cable to power everything, which eliminates the mounds of wiring that can create chaos when installing multiple components.
2. Mounting flexibility – they can be mounted to walls, used on pedestal stands or used for digital signage.
3. Touchscreen technology – An option available on some models. You can have a giant touchscreen tablet in your office that doubles as a desktop computer.
4. All your video and audio components are right there – integrated HD cameras and speakers – no need for the extra clutter of having to connect everything through USB ports and you’ll have a cleaner desktop area.
5. Cost Savings - AIOs consume about 18 percent less power than equivalent desktop systems and less hardware to purchase with built in components - monitor, speakers and camera.

Unlike with traditional desktop PCs, with an all-in-one computer, what you see is what you get—for the life of the PC. With few exceptions, such as a memory or hard drive upgrade, upgrades to AIO systems are limited due to their small nature.

For those that have limited space for a computer and don't need to move it around, an AIO may be the answer. Faster processors, larger screens and more sophisticated multi-touch capabilities are all pointing to a bright future for this desktop form factor.

Lenovo M72z AIO 20"
4GB RAM - 500GB HDD - Core i3 3220 (3.3 GHz)
3 Year warranty
$799

Lenovo M92z AIO 23" (Touch)
4GB RAM - 500 GB HDD - Core i5-3470 (2.9 GHz)
3 Year Warranty
$1149

Northern Computer - Your Trusted Partner
#1 - 495 Banks Road Kelowna, BC V1X 6A2
Phone: 250.762.7753 Fax: 250.861.1861 Toll-Free: 1.877.257.2896
Email: sales@northerncomputer.ca or service@northerncomputer.ca
Web: http://www.northerncomputer.ca

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