Q: My iPhone's earpiece no longer works. I can only hear con­versations over the speakerphone and through earphones. When I called customer service they said I need to bring it in to diagnose the problem. Is there anything else I can do?A: Dirt and dust can easily get trapped in the headphone jacks of many phones and laptop computers. On the iPhone, this can trip a sensor inside the jack, which tricks the phone into thinking headphones are plugged in. (This sensor automatically mutes the phone's earpiece.) , the Web site of Al Luckow. Find a cotton swab--I recommend the Q-tip brand simply because the cotton fluff tends to be less likely to shear off, but any should do. Cut off one end until only a tiny bit of cotton remains, just barely larger than the diameter of the swab axle. Dab a very small amount of rubbing alcohol on the shorn end. Slowly and gently ease the tip into the headphone jack and swish it around. Your goal is to remove any gunk that may be stuck in there.Luckow, who posted a video of this trick on his site, first tried cleaning his iPhone's headphone jack with canned air and an air compressor.

Neither worked as well as the humble cotton swab, which successfully exorcised what he believes was lint that had been picked up from his pocket. For laptops, the biggest worry is the crumb- and dust-filled bottom of an uncleaned bag.A protective case may help guard against pocket grime, but it has its drawbacks--particles of dirt and sand can get trapped in the case and end up scratching your phone. Even if this doesn't happen to you, I'm still for ditching the sleeve when it comes to the iPhone. After all, what's the point of carrying around such a slender phone if it doesn't easily fit in your jeans pocket?And while compressed air might not have done the trick for Luckow's iPhone, giving your gadget ports and inputs the occassional blast of air is a great way to keep them from becoming clogged in the first place. 14 iOS Tips to Turn You Into an iPhone and iPad Master 20 Cool Connected Tech Products for a Smarter Home Yes, Apple Is Working on an Amazon Echo Competitor Too

Conan Mocks Apple's Newest Brilliant Innovation, the "AirBag" Watch Every iPhone Ever Speed Tested All at Once Build (and Crash) Your Own Wacky Lego Drones with Flybrix Your TV May Be Using Way More Power Than You Think The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, Reviewed Fitness Trackers Don't Improve Weight Loss, Study Says Totally Ridiculous DIY Flashlight Is Water-Cooled, Bright as Day From $1000 to $1500 From $1500 to $2000 How to clean your laptop for longer life and faster performance The Top One Way to damage your laptop David Letterman is famous for his top ten lists. Mr. Letterman were to read a Top Ten list of 'Ways to Ruin Your Laptop Computer', the Number one spots would go to those who block or do not clean the ventilation system onIt is no secret that M-Tech makes the most powerful laptops in the industry. A fact of life is power and heat go hand in hand. Even if you had a laptop that is powered down for energy conservation, you could still

blister your finger in a second or less by touching theThis heat left unchecked will slow down then eventually destroy the components on the motherboard if not the motherboard itself. First to go is usually the GPU AKA video card AKA $350 out of your pocket to replace. There, we thought that may get your attention. When asked how to keep these new generation of M-Techair purifier reviews usa laptops clean and cool, surprisingly Wesley Kuo, (M-Techbest carpet cleaner spray uk support department head) stated simply enough to getphilips air cleaner 75 access to a blow nozzle on an air compressor and blow back and forth from the vent to the fan, then the fan to the vent, this is the only thing short of removing the bottom

plate on the laptop itself, that will adequately remove the dust bunnies from the fan, heat sink and cooling Your laptop can run faster and live longer by simply keeping a $5 can of compressed air close by your laptop and at least once a week use it to blow free any dust that may be gathering. Do this at least once a week or more often and you can avoid having to findThis simple investment in a can of air will not only save you a week without your laptop and at least $350, bit it will also make your laptopGot your attention again didn't we? Heat builds resistance in electronic components and resistance kills speed. What are some other ways to damagePlacing your laptop on your lap ( we know, your laptop can't go on your lap?) on anything that is not a hard and flat surface. the accompanying shows, your laptop setting on a towel, bed sheet, blanket, couch cushion or carpet, will in short order cause your laptop to overheat.

(and make you have sad faces) performance and eventually, as mentioned, will kill your laptops video card and shorten the life of the recommends always keeping your laptop on a well designedWe emphasize a "well designed" cooling tray. M-Tech tested 29 cooling trays and had just about given up on finding a cooling tray that helped keep our laptops cool, in fact some trays even damaged the laptop. Persistence paid off and we eventually found several models that do indeed protect your investment. M-Tech and ask an advisor to look over your choice of cooling tray before purchasing it. A cooling tray is a must but only if it is well designed and built to cool the type of cooling system your laptop has. advisor stands ready to help you choose the cooling tray as well as teach you how to keep your laptop clean andA CPU cooling fan is a dedicated fan which cools down the heatsink and eventually the CPU (Processor). Usually the CPU cooling fan comes as a part of the heatsink assembly – a metal part drawing heat from the CPU chip.

In addition to the CPU cooling fan, some laptops have a dedicated GPU (graphics processing unit) fan which cools down the GPU chip. The CPU and GPU cooling fans connect directly to the motherboard via a cable running from the fan. When CPU and GPU chips get hotter, the cooling fan spins faster. On some laptops the cooling fan can be easily accessed through a door on the bottom, as on the following Gateway laptop. If you cannot find it on the bottom, then it’s buried inside the case, as on the following Dell laptop. If your laptop feels very hot and shuts down without any warning, it’s possible that you have a faulty fan. Listen for the fan. Sometimes you can see the fan through the fan grill on the bottom of the laptop. Can you see the fan spinning? If the fan never starts, probably it is bad and has to be replaced. When the fan bearing goes bad, the fan starts making grinding noise. In this case you’ll have to replace the fan. If your CPU fan works hard all the time, most likely it happens because the heatsink is dirty and is clogged with dust and lint.