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Originally posted by Farmpunk:
Babblers with laptops - what's the best and safest way to clean screens and keyboards?

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Screen: turn it off, remove battery, unplug and use a damp, soft cotton cloth.

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Originally posted by Boom Boom:
Speaking of laptops, I just got a small Dell Inspiron 1500 series. The instructions don't say if I can leave it plugged in, or if I should run it on battery power and then re-charge when necessary.

So - any Dell laptop users out there? Can I leave my Inspiron pluuged into a power bar and into the wall?

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Originally posted by Farmpunk:
Red wine, hot sauce, and sweet corn juice on the keys and board. How hard can I scrub?

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Jeez, I thought this was about cleaning laptops, not about your last date!

Ba-dum-dum!

I recently got a macbook and, well, apple has all this custom stuff to go with their exclusive product line and I got this package called, wait for it, iclean. There's a soft cloth, some cleaner in a spray bottle and some "travel wipes", like it's an infant or something!

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Originally posted by RevolutionPlease:
It's fine to leave them plugged in, optimal almost as the display is usually better. If you're going to unplug and use it occasionally then I would recommend letting the battery fully drain before recharging the first few times.

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Thanks! That's just what I needed to know. I'll unplug it every night. It can't over-charge the battery, can it, if I forget?

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Originally posted by Boom Boom:

Thanks! That's just what I needed to know. I'll unplug it every night. It can't over-charge the battery, can it, if I forget?

I wish Dell would tell us in the instructions!

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Originally posted by Frustrated Mess:
Who said that? And even if it is, what will you do, conserve one day of the machine's life over its life-cycle? Turn it off when not in use and conserve energy as well as help keep some coal in the ground and out of our lungs. Geesh.

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With proper power management, it wastes less energy in sleep than constant powering down and up. From my experience, the extra life span is many years.

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Originally posted by RevolutionPlease:

With proper power management, it wastes less energy in sleep than constant powering down and up. From my experience, the extra life span is many years.

The cost of recycling my toxic computer is far more important than the miniscule energy use. Better to put it off a few years.

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I power my computer down every time I'm away for more than a few minutes and guess what? It works good as new (on Linux) and it's at least six years old and I expect to get another two or three out of it.

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Originally posted by Frustrated Mess:

One I don't buy it; two, why are you constantly powering it up and down?

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I'm not. But my observance of comps that are is not good.

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And how old is your computer? Ten years? Twelve years? Less than three?

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One is 15 (my nephews have that), My Commodore64 in storage probably still works too. Another is 9 (recently shutdown for back-up), another is 5 and most recent is 1. Only 2 running at the moment, 3 if my nephews are on.

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I power my computer down every time I'm away for more than a few minutes and guess what? It works good as new (on Linux) and it's at least six years old and I expect to get another two or three out of it.

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You bought a good one.

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... revolutionaries tied to the apron strings of capitalism ...

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