How long do MacBooks last?
I have a 2005 13″ MacBook and 2006 17" and 15" MacBook Pro all chugging along. The MacBook battery is dead, and I upgraded the disk drive on the 17" Pro about three years ago to 1.5tb. Everything's working just fine.P.s., I drove my car over my 17" MacBook Pro in 2009, it survived. I did have to replace the screen and DVD drive. It was an accident, nothing to do with my opinion of the hardware. Curiously, Apple didn't chose to share my story as a testimonial.Update: 8/2016. My 2006 17″ MacBook Pro, which has been turned on 24/7 for much of the past 5 years, is starting to have hard disk errors. Fortunately, I have my photos and music redundantly backed up. I'm moving to an 27″ iMac with an external drive system for archive, etc. The other 2006 MacBook Pro and 2005 MacBook are still chugging away. I use and iPad or iPhone for most of my former laptop stuff. Probably won't replace the laptops anytime soon.Update 6/2017: All three MacBooks are still working. The occasional disk errors on the 17″ continue, but the CPU and screen are still hanging in there. They are 11 and 12 years old.Update 1/2018 : the hard disk errors on the 17" required a reformat. Works better after rebooting.Regarding Apple.Frankly, I liked the 17″ screen. I want a 17″ display. Also, the prices charged by Apple for their 13 and 15″ pro systems as of 2016 are way too much for my taste. The 15″ is priced about the same as what I paid for the 17″ in 2006. These prices should be coming down, Apple! I also so dislike the trend toward less connectors and configuration options. I can live without a DVD drive. A thin form factor is sexy, but that's what iPads are for, IMHO.I ALSO WANT PORTS!!!!If I need a high-powered laptop, I'll probably look PC in the future. I used PCs for 20 years, moving to Mac in 2005 when I got sick and tired of PC class systems inability to manage video, etc, predictably, out of the box (2004–6 or so). The macs “just worked” and I loved them. No futzing.
Which method charges cell phones faster - a wall charger or a USB charger via computer?
TyRanker
Which port should I use on my external power pack, the 1.0A or the 2.1A? I recently purchased an 11000maH USB travel power pack and wondering whether any device I plug in to either port is safe for the device or not.
Current trends suggest that everyone has a main device that needs the extra juice (2.1A) and some secondary devices that don't. Before Android, nobody really needed more than 0.5-1A. So the answer is this: it's cheaper to have a 2.1A and a 1A port than 2x 2.1A.Now about your power pack... It's safe to charge any device on any port. But for the Nexus and tablets, I recommend the 2.1A port. Why? Because they might discharge faster than they charge on the 1A port. Basically all devices have a maximum discharge rate and a maximum charge rate. Even if you had a 10A supply, the maximum (reported) charge rate for Nexus 5 is 2.1A. So the device will only take up 2.1 of 10. If you're giving it only 1A, it will take the full 1A.So plugging something that takes up less power (BT speaker, etc) into the 2.1A port is not going to make it charge faster than into the 1A port.The only thing that should worry anyone is the supply ripple voltage. But that's usually a problem for wall chargers, not external power packs. Battery-powered power packs shoul usually operate somewhere in the 1-1.5MHz range, whereas wall chargers need to stabilize 50-60Hz (even if they use switching supplies for the 5V end and therefore have the same 1-1.5Mhz range, the initial supply stage that takes 110/220V and makes it low enough for the switching supply stage is still affected by the AC outlet spikes).So you're safer with an external power pack on any port. You can also use it as a buffer when you're charging stuff at home. It's cheaper to replace than a phone.
I no longer receive notifications for text messages on my iPhone 4. How can I best troubleshoot this?
Thanks for the A2A.If you haven’t done so already, try restarting your iPhone.Also, tap Settings, then tap Notifications and scroll down until you find Messages. Tap it and check your notification settings. Also check to make sure Do Not Disturb is not turned on. (It is really easy to accidentally turn it on in Control Center). You can tell if Do Not Disturb is on if there is a moon at the top of the iPhone screen next to the location, bluetooth, and battery indicators.If none of that works, you could try doing a Factory Restore.That’s about all you can do short of taking it to an Apple Store or buying a new phone. (Hey, it’s an iPhone 4 — maybe its time.)