The Addesso Z12 to try out is a nice looking tablet that seems very sturdy and well made. At an MSRP of $149, the Z12 is $50 less expensive than Wacom’s comparable large Bamboo Fun tablet, so it invites a little side-by-side comparison of the two.

The Z12 is larger than the Bamboo Fun, with a 6x10 inch active surface, compared to the Bamboo Fun’s 8.5x8.3. The Z12 also sports 1024 levels of pressure for inking, twice that of the Bamboo Fun, however, the Bamboo Fun has higher resolution, with 2,540 lines of resolution compared to the Z12’s 2000.  The result is that the Z12 gives very good performance and the bigger active area makes it a bit easier to use, especially if you have a widescreen monitor.  I actually liked the Z12 better for handwriting and found it was easier to get good handwriting recognition in Windows Vista.

Read our Review: Adesso Cyber Tablet Z12

Whether you have a keyboard or touchpad that is not working, want something better, or just need a desktop keyboard or mouse when working in the office, there are a wide range of choices available to the notebook computer user.  Here are a few of my favorites.

Even though most people prefer the common mouse for working with their computer, I have always preferred a trackball.  I find them easier to use, take up less workspace, and are great when traveling on a plane where there is almost no space to use a mouse.  My favorite has always been the Kensington Orbit Trackball

The original Orbit was a mechanical trackball that always needed cleaning due to dust, lint, and oil building up on the ball and transferring to the rollers inside.  The new Orbit Optical Trackball has eliminated that problem with an efficient optical design.  The Orbit features Left and Right mouse buttons and a small, comfortable ball.  The Orbit connects to the notebook via USB.  The top of the Orbit is covered in a black coating that makes it more comfortable and your hand is less likely to slide off the trackball.

Read: Extend the life of older notebooks: Part 7 - Keyboard and Mouse

As with any computer, the real enemy is heat.  My notebook does get really hot, especially at the hard drive which is right under the space for the left palm.  A really bad design on the part of Acer engineering.  The cooler you can keep your notebook, the longer it will last.  Other than making sure there is unrestricted airflow around you notebook, there are a number of products you can use to improve the notebooks’ cooling efficiency.

The Lapinator is a passive cooling device design to give your notebook good air circulation and improved comfort.  It is available in two versions: the 11 oz., 13"x12"x1” Lapinator and, its large brother, the 15 oz., 18"x12"x1” Lapinator Plus for larger notebooks.  Both use 3M Thinsulate sheets to block 95% of the heat from reaching your legs or desktop.  By improving the air circulation, the Lapinator helps the notebooks’ internal cooling system run more efficiently.  So the Lapinator helps to improve heat dissipation, comfort, and ergonomics.  It’s also thin enough to fit in most notebook bags.

Read: Extend the life of older notebooks: Part 6 - Cooling

If you have any older notebook, there is the possibility that sooner or later your power supply will die.  In fact, there is a good chance that it will fail before your notebook does.  So whether you need a replacement power supply, an extra one for the office so you do not always have to plug and carry one with you, or you need a more flexible alternative when you travel, check out some of the power supply choices on the market today.

The Targus Mobile 70 Universal AC/DC Adapter is a good replacement power supply for any notebook.  With a set of included power tips for most notebooks, and other tips available from Targus, this power supply will work with almost any notebook.  Check the Targus web site for compatible tips for your notebook.  With 70 watts of continuous power and up to 90 watts of peak power, this power supply can handle the needs of any power hungry notebook.

Read: Extend the life of older notebooks: Part 5 - Power

If you have a notebook computer, sooner or later, you will be taking on the road with you.  Or at least moving it from one place to another.  When this happens, what you really need is a good, protective bag or case to protect your investment. And don’t forget to use a security device to keep your valuable property from taking a walk without you.

This is a great bag for overnight travel and features many zippered pockets and compartments.  The back is contoured for comfort against your leg when carrying the bag by the two part handle.  The handle design is made of two part that are connected to the bag separately and fit together to give a comfortable grip and balances the weight of the bag.  A mesh pouch for a water bottle is attached to the left side and Velcro down to store it when not in use.

The rear side of the bag can be unzipped to reveal 2 large pouches and 2 smaller zippered pouches.  The top of the bag contains a zippered compartment for the telescoping handle, a zippered compartment for the top-loading notebook sleeve which can be unzipped and removed from the bag.  The notebook protection of this bag is good, but not designed for heavy abuse.  So don’t let the bag take too many bumps and tumbles. 

Read: Extend the life of older notebooks: Part 4 - Protection

Good audio is one thing that most notebook computers lack.  With only 2 tiny little speakers, the average notebook cannot generate the type of sound that most people have been accustomed to from their music, movies, and games.  Of course there are a few notebooks such as the old Toshiba 5105 line that have good sound due to small Harmon-Kardon speakers and a built-in subwoofer, but even most expensive, high-performance notebooks do not have great sound.

Since there is no way to change or upgrade the internal speakers on a notebook, the best alternative is to use a set of external speakers when you are in your home / office or a set of headphone.  Headphones, especially ones with microphones, can serve a dual purpose by giving you better sound in and out for Skype, gaming, or internet chatting.  Most notebooks have built-in microphones that are about as good as their internal speakers.

Logitech, being one of the biggest companies in the accessory market, has a wide range of speaker and headphone products.  So for this profile, we would like to introduce you to a couple of our favorites.

Read: Extend the life of older notebooks: Part 3 - Audio

Notebooks operating on Windows XP or Vista require large amounts of RAM memory and hard drive space.  And every time you install a new program to your computer, the need for both increases.  If you are looking to upgrade the performance of your older notebook, there are two things that are absolute must do’s.  The first is adding more RAM memory since the more memory you have available to the operating system, the faster the system will run.  The second is replacing or adding a new hard drive.  With the increased storage capacity, your operating system will run more efficiently, there is room to increase the cache area to simulate for memory, and you will have more room for programs, media, and data backup.

If you are already using the Vista operating system, then you must be aware of the Microsoft Experience Index.  This is Microsoft’s way of rating the overall ability of your computer so that software publishers have an easier way of informing the customer of the resource and performance needs of the software.  So as new software become available and more performance is required, you will be able to easily determine if your computer can run the software efficiently.  Memory and Hard drive space have the most significant impact on the E.I.

Read: Extend the life of older notebooks: Part 2 - Memory and Storage

Recently I started to think about buying a new notebook computer.  As I looked at all the choices at my local computer store, I wondered about all the other things I wanted to buy and thought to myself: “Can I get another year out of my old notebook?”  Thus began my quest to find products that would help to extend and protect the life of my notebook while also keeping it current with today’s models.

For this “experiment”, I decided to use an Acer Ferrari 3400 notebook.  A flashy little notebook which was very fast, feature filled, and top-of-the-line when it was released 2-3 years ago.  But now the basic model with its AMD Athlon64 3000 CPU, 512MB of RAM, 80GB 4800rpm hard drive, etc. is starting to show its age.  Even though its features still compare pretty well against most current notebooks, it is no longer considered “top of the line”.  So how could I “upgrade” this notebook?

Read more of Extend the life of older notebooks: Part 1