Brian Nadel

Author Archives: Brian Nadel

3 Windows 10 tablets put to the test

Anyone who depends on their tablet throughout the workday knows that disaster can strike at any moment -- it can get accidentally pushed off a desk or dropped while you're running for your airline connection, or caught in a sudden storm, or sat on by your three-year-old.If you want to avoid last-minute catastrophes, then you may want to consider buying a ruggedized tablet.There were about 530,000 rugged tablets sold in 2016, about 0.3% of the overall computer market, making it a niche within a niche, according to Chetan Mohan, lead hardware and semiconductor analyst at market-research firm Technavio. He forecasts sales to rise to 720,000 systems by 2021, an annual increase of over 6% -- a rare portion of the PC market that is prospering.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

4 mini projectors: A show wherever you go

If you're on the road and want to give a presentation to your clients, you're not going to impress them if they have to squint over your shoulder at a laptop screen. But with the latest generation of mini projectors, most small enough to sit in the palm of your hand, you can carry the equivalent of a big-screen display around with you.Rif6 CubeTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

Review: The HP Elite Slice for Meeting Rooms

Videoconferences can reduce an organization's travel expenses and make people more productive by virtually bringing far-flung employees together, but -- as we all know -- they can be frustrating to set up and conduct.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

Better safe than sorry: 5 apps for encrypting and shredding files

While safeguarding personal and business data has always been important, the necessity for maintaining digital privacy has become even more vital as more of our records are digitized.People are starting to realize that passwords alone aren't enough. Even with password protection, anything on your computer can potentially be viewed by an enterprising hacker. And if your computer is lost or stolen, its hard drive can be removed and connected to a new computer, revealing its secrets. To be safer, encryption is the way to go. These days, the accepted standard for encryption is the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) algorithm with a 256-bit key.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Better safe than sorry: 5 apps for encrypting and shredding files

While safeguarding personal and business data has always been important, the necessity for maintaining digital privacy has become even more vital as more of our records are digitized.People are starting to realize that passwords alone aren't enough. Even with password protection, anything on your computer can potentially be viewed by an enterprising hacker. And if your computer is lost or stolen, its hard drive can be removed and connected to a new computer, revealing its secrets. To be safer, encryption is the way to go. These days, the accepted standard for encryption is the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) algorithm with a 256-bit key.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Review: 4 mini-PCs give you full power in a very small package

There is a new generation of mini-PCs out there -- small, inconspicuous but powerful. They offer a number of advantages for businesses over laptops or more traditional desktop systems. First, they can be placed where most traditional desktops and laptops won't fit, and can be set up in creative ways, such as in a drawer, on the underside of a desk or on the back of a display. As a result, they are perfect for places like call centers or school computer labs, where you want to maximize space and keep the computers out of sight. They also don't use a lot of electricity, so they are excellent for environments where electrical current can be an issue, such as a construction site trailer. In fact, one of the units we review, the InFocus Kangaroo Pro, is so small and power-efficient that it can run for more than an hour on battery power.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Review: 4 mid-priced laptops that mean business

Every day an army of business people heads out to offices, meetings and coffee shops, equipped with little more than a smartphone and a laptop. To get the job done, that laptop has to be secure enough to protect sensitive data, rugged enough to bounce around in a backpack, and with enough battery power and performance strength to get through a day of presentations, emails and online chats. All without busting the company budget. Welcome to the world of mid-priced Windows laptops. According to Linn Huang, research director for devices & displays at IDC, today's typical business systems are far from the high-end, high-cost ultraportables and 2-in-1s that usually get media attention.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Review: 4 powerline kits step in when Wi-Fi fails

Are there places in your home or office where your Wi-Fi signal doesn't reach? You're not alone. Because of Wi-Fi's limited range -- and old-school building construction techniques like thick plaster, brick or masonry walls -- even the best Wi-Fi networks have dead zones. If you have that problem, you have several options.You can start drilling holes in your walls so you can run network cabling. You can try a Wi-Fi range extender (which might help, depending on the strength of your Wi-Fi and the efficiency of the extender). Or you can use a powerline kit, which routes data over your electric cables by piggybacking the data on top of the electrical current's 60-hertz wave and then extracting the data at the other end.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here