What’s Wrong With Your Computer?
KIMBER: If you take anything away from this entire podcast, please update your software. Please update your operating system, update your computer.
CHRISTINE: I’m Christine Cyr Clisset.
CAIRA: I’m Caira Blackwell.
ROSIE: I’m Rosie Guerin and you’re listening to The Wirecutter Show.
ROSIE: Hey, pals.
CHRISTINE: Hi.
ROSIE: Hey, we’re going Tech today.
CHRISTINE: I think that you both know and that hopefully, our listeners know that I’m like a super, super tech whiz.
ROSIE: Yeah.
CHRISTINE: I know all the things.
ROSIE: Uh-huh. You do.
CHRISTINE: So I’m looking forward to-
ROSIE: You’re going to school our guests.
CHRISTINE: I’m going to school our guests today.
ROSIE: Mm-hmm.
CHRISTINE: Nothing could be farther from the truth, honestly.
ROSIE: Yeah, because your nose is growing and growing and growing and growing, Pinocchio style.
CHRISTINE: Yeah.
ROSIE: Yeah. We are always thinking about what kind of tech episodes we can do. And the truth is that not one of us is particularly tech-savvy.
CHRISTINE: And it’s ironic because Wirecutter’s actually known as a tech site, foundationally. That’s where it started. So it is ironic that the three of us feel so out of our depth when we’re talking about computers.
ROSIE: Well, all these years later, there are a lot of really, really clever and talented techie people at Wirecutter who now help us. One of them is Kimber Streams. Kimber wrote a piece on the site called How to Make Your Old Computer Feel New Again. And I think each of us individually has bookmarked that piece.
CHRISTINE: Oh, yeah. It’s been on my list of to-do all the things in this article.
CAIRA: Yeah.
ROSIE: To do. So, Kimber is our guest today, and we’re going to get into just that, how to make your laptop, your Mac, your PC, feel new again, what you can actually do and how to empower yourself to do that.
CAIRA: And the first step isn’t, surprise, panic and take it immediately to your local Apple genius bar or whatever you-
ROSIE: Or buy a new one.
CAIRA: Yeah, exactly.
CHRISTINE: Right. Right. But I think Kimber will be able to help guide us in when there is a limit to what you can actually do to make your computer feel faster and more efficient, and when it is actually time to buy something new.
CAIRA: Well, I’m really excited. You guys know that saying when you don’t know how anything works, everything’s a conspiracy? Every single time my laptop twitches, I’m like, Steven Jobs has something to do with this.
ROSIE: Well, I think Kimber might have a different perspective, so let’s hear from them right after the break. Stick around.
CAIRA: Welcome back. Today, we’re talking with Kimber Streams, Wirecutter’s senior staff writer covering laptops. Kimber has tested hundreds of laptops including ultrabooks, gaming laptops, Chromebooks and budget Windows laptops, plus a ton of keyboards, mice, and other accessories. They’re a laptop wizard and I cannot wait to hear your best advice, Kimber.
CHRISTINE: Hey Kimber, it’s great to see you.
KIMBER: It’s great to be here.
ROSIE: We’ve established you test laptops, specifically, PC laptops plus accessories like keyboards and mice. I’m always curious how different folks at Wirecutter got into their line of work. So how did you get into this?
KIMBER: Yeah, so I’ve always been the person that people in my life come to for laptop advice, but if you’re looking for my villain origin story-
ROSIE: Yeah.
KIMBER: Was-
ROSIE: What kind of spider bit you?
KIMBER: Yeah, a radioactive laptop bit me. Back when I was a broke college student, my laptop died and I needed a new one and I had no money, so I saved up and I saved up and I finally bought a new one and it was awful. It was complete garbage. It just gave me grief forever. So now, I make it my job to save other people from the same fate.
CAIRA: That’s amazing.
ROSIE: What actually made you interested and intrigued? Because I think if my laptop broke, I would call for someone to fix it.
KIMBER: Yeah, I didn’t have anyone like that to lean on. I was the most tech person around. So, I went on the internet and I learned about all the different laptop specs and what to look for in a laptop and did a lot of reading, and then I got into tech journalism and here I am, the rest is history.
ROSIE: And autodidact. How do you test laptops for Wirecutter? What is this process like for you?
KIMBER: We test laptops at Wirecutter by using them just like everyone does. So we browse the web, I do work on them. I binge-watch shows on them. We also have our own battery test that we designed that simulates real world web browsing use that gives readers an idea of how long a laptop’s going to actually last versus some of the more synthetic benchmarks that there are out there that don’t do that.
ROSIE: What is this battery test you created?
KIMBER: So it’s a Chrome extension and it cycles through a series of popular websites and it opens a Google Doc and it messes in the Google Doc. It opens up a YouTube video, it has audio streaming in the background. It checks email, it does all of the things that you would usually do on a laptop.
ROSIE: That’s trippy. How many laptops are you testing a year?
KIMBER: Yeah, so last year I tested around 90 laptops. So far, this year I’ve tested more than 80, but I also just got some more delivered yesterday, so I’m sure that number’s going to go up before the year’s out.
CHRISTINE: Kimber, what are you doing with all these laptops once you’re done with them, where are they going?
KIMBER: So they go back to the companies that lend them to me for testing. The ones that we’ve bought, we either hold onto for long-term testing to make sure in a year, how does it feel to use? Did the screen break? How’s it going? And then the ones that we own that we don’t use anymore, go to a recycling service called Reviven.
ROSIE: Are you stress testing them at all? Because I was typing last night and I accidentally spilled some seltzer on my keyboard, and so I’m just suggesting that there are real people who make mistakes.
KIMBER: Mistakes. I do some basic stress testing, like I’ll flex the hinge a bunch and I’ll grab the screen and see how flexible it is. I’ll push on the lid and see if it’s creaky or bendy or if it cracks. I did crack the underside of a laptop once doing that and I’ll push on the keyboard. But we don’t do spill testing on laptops because generally, aside from one laptop that I’ve tested that actually had holes underneath the keyboard to vent liquid out, it was designed for kids specifically.
ROSIE: I feel attacked. I clearly need a laptop with holes on the bottom.
KIMBER: Yeah. Generally, we don’t spill liquids on them on purpose.
CAIRA: Kimber, these days, how long should you expect a laptop to last?
KIMBER: So, a great laptop is going to last at least five years or longer if you’re lucky. And don’t spill liquids on your keyboard.
ROSIE: Okay, okay. Okay.
KIMBER: It doesn’t actually differ too much based on the brand, but rather, the price bracket that you’re working in. So cheaper laptops that are under $500 aren’t going to last as long as five years. They’re going to start to feel slow probably in just a few years because they start with slower processors, less memories, slower storage, just lower stuff overall.
CHRISTINE: To that point, Kimber, what are some signs that your current laptop might need some love or might need to be replaced?
KIMBER: So if your laptop is super slow to boot up, it takes a long time to launch some apps or just generally feels sluggish to use, it might need some TLC.
ROSIE: Your article about fixing laptops blew my mind, Kimber, mostly because it’s never really occurred to me, like I said, to fix my own laptop. I’ve always assumed that if there’s something wrong, I should bring it somewhere and have someone who knows how to do it, fix it, like I think about my car. You suggest in your piece that we should actually think differently about troubleshooting our laptops. Can you talk about that a little bit?
KIMBER: We live inside of our computers nowadays and the space that you live in gets messy and cluttered. So you might feel like your computer is a car because it’s a complicated piece of technology, but it’s really more like your home. It’s like your living space. So, cleaning up your files and tidying up unused apps isn’t like electrical or plumbing work. It’s not something that you need an expert for. It’s more like vacuuming or picking up some dirty socks that are on the floor. If you can do those things, you can clean your computer too.
ROSIE: Again, I feel attacked. So essentially, you’re suggesting that a lot of the issues people have with laptops are coming from maybe the fact that they’re not caring for them in the way that they could be?
KIMBER: Yeah. I think people feel intimidated by technology and that neglect builds up over time, but if you take 15 minutes here or there just to do a little bit of routine tidying, it’s going to add up over time. Just like the opposite adds up over time.
CHRISTINE: I love this analogy of a computer being like your home because I, also like Rosie, always have thought of my computer as this chore that I’m going to take to someone else to fix. But if you’re thinking about cleaning up your computer as you would your home, do you have a strategy for how you time that?
KIMBER: I guess I’ll out myself too here. I do it, whenever my desktop is completely a mess because that’s where I save all of my files to and that’s my biggest indicator of this is a huge cluttery mess. Or like everyone else, whenever something’s broken and doesn’t work, then I need to sit down and do something about it. If I were a perfect person living in a perfect world, I would say probably every three months you could sit down on a Saturday morning with a cup of coffee and take a little bit of time to tidy up your computer.
CAIRA: So, let’s assume that I have the confidence to try to fix my own laptop. How hard is it going to be to fix it at home? And will I mess up my computer in the process of doing this?
KIMBER: You could totally do it. Fixing your computer is not as scary as you think it is. A lot of these things are things that you could do in about 15 minutes, maybe 30 if you have a lot of files to go through. And you don’t have to be a tech wizard to do any of this.
CHRISTINE: I imagine you are probably the person who all your friends come to with questions about their laptops. Is that right?
KIMBER: Yes, that is absolutely correct.
CHRISTINE: This is broken. Can you help me?
KIMBER: Yeah, family too.
CHRISTINE: And I would imagine a lot of these problems are maybe individual problems. Everybody has their own issues, but are there themes that you find are the common things that seem to be problematic with computers? Why they’re slow, why they’re slow to boot up, why they’re not doing the things you want them to do as fast as they used to? I guess advice, the first biggest impact things that you would tell somebody in general to do if they’re feeling like their computer isn’t operating as well as it used to?
KIMBER: The first one would be to tidy up your files and make sure your storage isn’t too full. After that, you should get rid of any apps or browser extensions that you’re not using anymore. And you should also make sure that everything is updated, your operating system and your apps and those three steps will fix probably 90% of computer problems if not more.
CHRISTINE: Okay. So those seem simple enough, those three steps you just listed. But let’s dig into each of those a little more, starting with cleaning up your storage. Why do you need to do this and how do you start?
KIMBER: When your storage is close to full, your computer can actually slow down. It’s also just a good idea to tidy things up, to make stuff easier to find and get rid of stuff you don’t need anymore because otherwise, you’re going to be looking at just multiple filing cabinets worth of documents and you can’t find anything anywhere. So in Windows, you’ll click system and then storage. And in here, you can get rid of your temporary files. That’s an easy way to free up some space and you’re not going to break anything by doing that. I also recommend checking your downloads folder because a lot of cruft ends up in there that people forget about.
On Mac, you’ll open the system settings and go to general and then you’ll click storage and there’s going to be a little “i” symbol next to stuff in there. You can see what’s taking up the most space on your computer and you’re going to get rid of anything that you don’t need. Personally, in there, whenever I was doing the research for this piece, I found a two gig GarageBand Sound Library. I’m never going to use that app. I got rid of that.
CAIRA: Isn’t that what comes with the laptop when you get it? Or that was your own personal project that you saved to your laptop?
KIMBER: No, I’ve never opened GarageBand in my entire human years on this earth. I don’t need it. It probably came with the laptop. That’s two gigs I could use for anything else.
CHRISTINE: And just to be clear, I know this is such a basic question, but you drag all this stuff into your little trash can and then you need to empty your trash can?
KIMBER: That is correct. You do need to empty your trash can or your recycle bin whenever you’re done.
CAIRA: But that’s the scariest part. Haven’t you guys ever thrown away something and then you put it out in the dumpster and you realize that you actually needed something in there?
CHRISTINE: Yeah. So Kimber, what if the trash person has come? What do you do if you’ve put something into the trash that you’re like, oh gosh, I didn’t mean to get rid of that?
KIMBER: It’s gone.
CHRISTINE: Yeah.
CAIRA: See, don’t tell me that.
CHRISTINE: Okay.
KIMBER: That’s what happens when you throw things out. They’re gone.
CHRISTINE: So, it turns out you can screw some things up, Kimber.
KIMBER: Yeah.
CAIRA: Is there a failsafe for that or an extra security measure for it?
KIMBER: Well, if you have your things backed up to an online backup service, like the one Wirecutter recommends or to a separate drive, then you could probably get a copy of your file from one of those other locations if you have it there. But otherwise, you really should just be getting rid of garbage that you don’t need.
ROSIE: Otherwise, you embrace the transience of life.
KIMBER: Yeah, you’re free.
CHRISTINE: Yeah, you’ve lost those Bitcoin passwords. Never find them again.
KIMBER: Caira could be rich on Bitcoin by now.
CAIRA: So next, let’s talk about apps. What should people know about the apps installed on their computer and what they’re doing to potentially slow it down?
KIMBER: We’ve all installed apps for one specific task that you needed to get done to e-sign something or make one particular clip of a PowerPoint and then you forgot to uninstall the app after you were done. So again, it’s a good idea to take 10, 15 minutes to go through that list of apps and get rid of anything that you don’t need anymore. This is going to free up even more drive space and it’s going to make your computer feel faster by reducing the number of things that you have running at the same time in the background. Windows laptops also come with a lot of bloatware that you didn’t ask for.
CHRISTINE: What is bloatware?
CAIRA: I like that term.
CAIRA: Yeah.
KIMBER: Yeah. It’s-
CHRISTINE: It’s what I wear during a certain time of the month.
ROSIE: That’s actually really funny.
KIMBER: So, this happens the most in cheap Windows laptops that are under $500. It’ll come with stuff like random salad games and a free trial of some editing software. Like there’s already editing software in Windows. You don’t need all this other junk, so you should go through and get rid of those things.
CHRISTINE: What about Apple? Are there things that people should be looking out for on the apps that come pre-installed on Apple computers?
KIMBER: So Mac does not come with as much pre-installed garbage, and at least all of it is like first party. It’s from Apple. Apple controls the operating system, the hardware, all of that stuff. So it’s only things that Apple wants you to have.
CAIRA: Like GarageBand.
KIMBER: Like GarageBand. Exactly. So it’s not going to be random salad games, but it is still going to be like, I don’t need a two gig GarageBand Sound Library. So there are things you can get rid of, but it’s not as necessary.
CHRISTINE: I recently did this on my computer because it was really slow and what I realized is my daughter, who is 12, and now uses a computer for her homework, had been using my laptop and basically, it’s hers at this point, but we have two different profiles. So I log into my profile, she logs into her profile and I think she had downloaded some stuff. There was some graphics app that was running a huge amount of the space on the computer, and when we figured that out and turned that off, all of a sudden, the computer was really fast. So if you are sharing your computer in a household, is there anything you should watch out for there?
KIMBER: Yeah, basically, just the experience you described. So you’ll want to have an administrator account so that you can see what everyone on the computer is doing, and then your daughter’s account would be an account with less privileges, basically. She would need permissions to install things and delete things and all of that. And then your account would be the one that can do all of that stuff.
CHRISTINE: Okay. So I need to go back and do my homework and I like being called the administrator. I will tell her that that is my new role.
KIMBER: Bonus tip, you can also limit how many apps launch whenever you start up your computer, which is also going to help it run faster. Whenever you launch your computer, it’s going to try and launch all of the apps that it thinks you might need, but you don’t necessarily use them all the time. So you can go into the list of applications on both Windows and Mac and toggle off ones that you don’t want to launch whenever you boot up your computer and then you can just go launch them the normal way that you need to whenever you are actually going to use that app.
ROSIE: That’s interesting. I never thought about that.
KIMBER: Yeah, it helps speed up how slow your computer is when it boots a lot, a lot.
ROSIE: This is a wild card question, but do we need to be turning our computers off at the end of the day?
KIMBER: No, you don’t need to do that.
ROSIE: Do we need to turn them off ever?
CAIRA: What?
KIMBER: Sometimes, yes. So you’ll get a software update and then it’ll say, “Hey, I would like you to restart your computer.” You should do that.
ROSIE: Right?
KIMBER: But otherwise, not really. They’ll go to sleep, they’ll wake up. You don’t really need to do anything beyond that.
CHRISTINE: Hypothetically, if you never update your computer, what happens then? I’m pulling a Rosie here. I’m asking for a friend. Is that going to make everything slower and work worse?
KIMBER: Yes. And also, I come to your house with a spray bottle and-
CHRISTINE: You’re going to spray water on me like I’m a cat?
KIMBER: Yes.
CAIRA: Bad Christine, bad.
KIMBER: I’m going to reprimand you.
ROSIE: I imagine, tell me if I’m wrong, Kimber, but if you’re never installing software updates, you’re not necessarily getting updated safety things that come with new operating systems or updates to operating systems. Is that right?
KIMBER: Correct. So if you take anything away from this entire podcast, please update your software. Please update your operating system, update your computer. I know that we all get grouchy whenever that pop-up shows up. You’re in the middle of something, you’re busy. You don’t have time to be restarting your whole computer right now or on the other side of that, okay, you updated your apps, you updated your operating system, and now, nothing is where it was before and you’re just mad because the menus are different. Even so, it is very important to update your computer. This will help keep your computer more secure. It will also keep it running better than it did before. Everything will be smoother. It’s a good thing to do even if it’s annoying.
ROSIE: You hear that, Christine?
CHRISTINE: I hear it loud and clear. Thank you very much.
CAIRA: So to recap, it sounds like fixing your laptop at home isn’t as scary as it sounds if you’ve got Kimber by your side. A lot of the issues we experience, like a slow startup or quickly drained battery can be solved with three simple steps: Number one is tidying up your files…. Which is getting rid of anything you don’t need and deleting it from your trash can. Second is deleting or turning off apps you never use. And third, remember to update your operating system.
ROSIE: We’re gonna take a quick break, but when we’re back, Kimber will talk to us about when to consider getting a new laptop… and how to find an affordable one. Be right back.
CHRISTINE: Welcome back. Today we’re talking with Wirecutter senior staff writer Kimber Streams about all the great advice they’ve got in their article “How to Make Your Old Computer Feel New Again”.
ROSIE: All right, Kimber, I’ve psyched myself up. I’ve read your article. I’ve cleaned my storage, I’ve taken an inventory of my apps. I’ve checked what software my computer is running, updated, all of the things, and I’m still convinced it’s not functioning as well as it should. When do you know it’s time to give up on your old computer and get a new one?
KIMBER: Well, first of all, great job. You did all of this stuff.
ROSIE: Thank you so much.
KIMBER: I don’t have to show up to your house with a spray bottle. I’m just very proud that you did all of those things.
ROSIE: Thank you. I feel seen.
KIMBER: But now, I have bad news for you. If your computer is still frustratingly slow, it’s probably time to consider an upgrade.
ROSIE: What should the average person be looking for in a new machine? What’s important to pay attention to? What do you not have to pay attention to?
KIMBER: The two biggest questions whenever you’re shopping for a new laptop that I always ask everyone is what do you need to do on the computer and how much can you spend on the computer? They’re actually very big picture questions that will inform everything else that comes after that.
ROSIE: So you mentioned earlier, and I thought this was a pretty hot take, that if you are spending more, you’re likely getting a better product. Is that fair to say, Kimber?
KIMBER: Yes, absolutely. A laptop that’s probably $800 or more is going to last you longer than a cheaper laptop. That’s generally, in my experience, of a lot of research and testing over the years, that’s where the cutoff is. That’s not to say that every laptop over $800 is great and will definitely last you that long. That’s just to say that tends to be the, this is a budget model where you’re making compromises versus this is a really good laptop that’s going to last you.
CAIRA: Why is that? Is it because you’re buying more storage space? Is it because the internal software is better? What makes these $800 plus laptops last longer?
KIMBER: It is a combination of both the specs that you’re getting inside of the laptop. So the processor, the storage, the memory. You’re going to have faster and better options in that higher price range, but it is also partially the build quality and the materials of those laptops. So to make a laptop cheaper, it’s going to cut corners. They’re going to put a crappier screen in it. The body is not going to be made out of metals like aluminum. It’s going to be made out of crappy plastic that creaks and crunches whenever you move it. So it’s not going to really survive being thrown in a bag and run all over the place the same way that a higher end laptop will.
CAIRA: I often do see deals for relatively cheap laptops, especially on Amazon. I feel like they’re always trying to push the lowest price for the most unrecognizable product ever. But if I’m shopping for a cheap laptop, I want the price to be at least $500 or lower. I don’t know how realistic that is. So baseline, how much do you think people should expect to be spending on a solid cheap PC?
KIMBER: To get a great PC, meaning one that’s going to last you at least five years. You do typically need to spend at least $800. You can get a decent PC for under $500, but you have to be careful because a lot of them are pretty bad.
CAIRA: Meaning they just won’t last that long.
KIMBER: Yes. Meaning they’ll be bad the day you get them. Like my college laptop.
CAIRA: Oh, right? And then it’s just dead on arrival, essentially.
KIMBER: Yeah. It’s just going to give you a hard time the whole time, and then you’ll have to replace it sooner than if you had just spent a little bit more money upfront in the first place.
CAIRA: Yeah, super frustrating. Is it the same with Macs too?
KIMBER: Macs have a reputation for being more expensive, and historically, they have been, but Mac prices are honestly really great right now. Our top pick, the M4 MacBook Air has regularly been on sale for $800, which is a pretty bonkers price for just a general purpose MacBook. Walmart also still sells the 2020 MacBook Air for about 600 bucks, which is the best option if you’re working on a tight budget. That model is fast enough for basic tasks, but it did come out five years ago. So it struggles with some more intense workloads and it’s not going to get new features like Apple Intelligence.
CAIRA: Say you are in the market for a new laptop. Christine, Rosie and I all use MacBooks, but do you think there’s an argument to be had about maybe switching completely over to an PC?
KIMBER: PC versus Mac has been a very long-running debate. You’ve seen the commercials with John Hodgman, even though it’s a long-running debate. I use both for work. It’s my job to use both. And my advice is really just get whatever operating system you’re the most comfortable with. Neither one is better than the other. If you’re not already wedded to a particular operating system that you love, that you know that you’re already deeply embedded in, you should consider the other devices in your life in that decision. So do you already have an iPhone? Do you have an Android phone? And you should also consider how easy it is to get support. So if the most tech-savvy people in your life use Windows or your school or company provides support for Windows, then you should get that. If you live near an Apple Store and you want to be able to take things there whenever they do break for real in a way that you can’t fix at home, you should get a Mac.
ROSIE: And let’s say I find a great deal on a budget laptop, and let’s say it’s a brand I’ve never heard of. Would your advice be to scoop up that deal as quickly as possible or pause because it might be a scam?
KIMBER: Please, please, please, please, please, do not just buy that random laptop from a brand that you have never heard of. I’m begging you. My advice is to be patient. Check Wirecutter. I have advice for you. I have done all of the research and testing to find cheap laptops that are not bad, so please, do not do that.
ROSIE: Before we move on, I want to know your guidance for buying secondhand. Where can you buy that’s safe and reliable, and how do you help folks determine which is the best route?
KIMBER: So, I would always start with manufacturer refurbished laptops, which means those are straight from Apple, Dell, Lenovo, HP. The first party manufacturers, these refurbs are computers that have been returned to the company that made them, that company then repairs them with new parts and then resells them in like-new condition with the same warranty that you get on a new device. So that’s the best case scenario.
ROSIE: And those are going to be less expensive, but perhaps not as cheap as something that’s used?
KIMBER: Correct. Yes.
ROSIE: And what’s the deal with used?
KIMBER: So used is for retailer refurbs from sites like Best Buy or Newegg. In that case, refurb is more just a fancy word for used. You’ll want to look for excellent, like-new, or very good condition, and you want to look for the longest warranty that you could possibly get. So if you can’t go into a store like a Best Buy and physically touch that laptop to say like, “Okay, I like the condition it’s in.” You want to look for longer than 90 days, but you can get away with a shorter warranty if you can actually go check that laptop out in person.
CHRISTINE: Kimber, I feel that you are our genius bar. You’re our laptop doctor, whatever we want to call you, I want to throw you a few questions of common problems that people have with their laptop, maybe some of our listeners have with their laptop. And I want you to diagnose the problem.
KIMBER: Let’s go.
CAIRA: Let’s do it. Okay. My laptop is really hot and the fan is really loud.
KIMBER: So, first out, dust out your laptop if you can see the fans. You can get some compressed air, dust, laptop out. If you can’t really get in there, you can also use a Q-tip and a toothpick to pick any debris out of the vents carefully. Another important thing is to not block the fans. Sometimes, it’s up under the hinge. Sometimes it’s on the sides or sometimes it’s on the bottom of your laptop. If you’re using your laptop on your lap or on a pillow or on a blanket, like a lot of people will just lay down with their laptop all in their cozy zone, you’re probably blocking something you shouldn’t. We do have lap desk picks that will help with this.
CHRISTINE: All right, this one is my problem. My battery seems to run out really quickly.
KIMBER: So, the first thing you can do is to turn down your screen brightness a little bit because the brighter your screen is, the more energy your laptop needs to power that. Also, if you followed the recommendations from earlier and you’ve cleared out some of your apps, having fewer apps running all at the same time in the background will also help use less battery. You can also toggle on energy saver mode in Windows or enable low power mode on Mac if you’re really in a pinch and you need to get through the rest of the day.
CHRISTINE: Okay, help, my laptop won’t turn on.
CAIRA: Scary, the scariest one.
CHRISTINE: Yeah.
KIMBER: It’s just absolutely terrifying. But don’t panic. That’s step one. Don’t panic. Plug your laptop in and let it sit there and charge for an hour or two. Then try holding the power button down for at least 10 seconds until it turns on.
CHRISTINE: Why 10 seconds?
KIMBER: That’s going to do a hard reboot, so it’s going to force shut down whatever it was stuck on before and then turn it back on fresh.
CHRISTINE: I need that on me like a hard reboot. 10 second hard reboot. Okay. My keyboard and/or my touch-pad are not responding.
KIMBER: You can try restarting your computers and hope the gremlins that are living inside of their leave. If they haven’t left yet by restarting your computer, you’ll want to make sure that everything’s updated with the latest version of your operating system, which is going to pull down drivers, which is how your computer talks to your keyboard and mouse.
CAIRA: Well, how are you supposed to figure that out if your touch-pad isn’t working?
KIMBER: Plug in an external mouse!
CHRISTINE: We have the technology. And then what, in the case for Rosie, if you spilled coffee or soda or something on your laptop, what then?
KIMBER: Turn it off immediately, shut it down and then flip it upside down. Just let it dry out for a little bit for like a day.
CAIRA: Does rice work here?
KIMBER: No. Don’t put your stuff in rice. Do not put your tech in rice.
CAIRA: What? Not even your phone?
KIMBER: No, not even your phone.
CAIRA: Okay.
CHRISTINE: We have a piece on the site that explains what you are supposed to do, which we will put in the show notes.
ROSIE: I dropped my phone in the bay like a month ago and then put it in rice. And spoiler alert, I’ve got a new phone now.
CAIRA: Rosie.
ROSIE: I know. I know. I’m doing my best.
CAIRA: Okay, Kimber, we’re down to our final question. What’s the last thing you’ve bought that you’ve really loved?
KIMBER: I love crossbody bags that are really cute. It’s like my favorite way to add whimsy to an outfit. Back in January, I think I shot a video with a video team that also had my frog bag in it. And everyone on Instagram wanted to know about this custom-made frog bag that I had. The bag is a frog. He’s very long and green and he’s got big eyeballs. And when you unzip his mouth, it’s red on the inside and then you put everything into his mouth and then he’s got long little goofy arms.
CAIRA: Cute. I like it.
KIMBER: So there’s a shop called ChimeraBunny. It’s like a couple of artists work together to design these bags. So earlier this week, I got the sequel to the frog bag. This one is a Pacman frog. So he’s very round and yellow and he looks absolutely ridiculous.
CAIRA: Oh my goodness. That is so cute.
ROSIE: Wow.
KIMBER: Yeah.
CAIRA: I love this.
KIMBER: So this is what’s bringing me joy right now.
ROSIE: Kimber, thank you so much. Really appreciate you coming on and appreciate all your recommendations and insight. Come back soon.
KIMBER: Here to help.
CHRISTINE: All right. Do you feel more educated? Do you feel like you know what to do with your laptops?
CAIRA: Yeah, I think I know how to handle the ghost in the machine now.
CHRISTINE: Yeah. Okay, great, great, great.
ROSIE: As often happens at the end of these episodes, I feel slightly more empowered.
CAIRA: Yeah.
CHRISTINE: Educated.
CAIRA: It doesn’t seem as hard as I’ve been making it to be in my own head.
ROSIE: One of my takeaways is that if you pay more for a laptop, you often are getting more.
CAIRA: Hard pill to swallow, honestly.
ROSIE: Sorry dad. But the other thing is that you can choose your own adventure for operating system. If you are a PC person, go PC. If you’re a Mac person, go Mac. It’s whatever works for you. Whatever works for your life.
CHRISTINE: My takeaway is I am going to take one of these Saturdays coming up and I’m going to sit with Kimber’s article and I’m going to go step by step on how to clean up all the different things on my computer because it has been really slow and sluggish. And I’ve been wondering, do I need to get a new one?
CAIRA: In the same vein, I need to get my digital household in order. I know that I constantly put stuff in my trash can, but then I never actually delete the stuff in the trash can because I’m scared. So I’m going to do the same thing. I’m going to sit down and make sure I’m not about to delete anything forever that I will need again. And I think that will make my laptop a little bit faster. And then one of the tangential things that I learned from Kimber today is that rice is not the option when you drop water or any liquid on any of your tech.
CHRISTINE: Yeah. Turns out.
CAIRA: I had no idea.
CHRISTINE: Yeah, you’re just going to get wet sticky rice on your devices, so, yeah.
CAIRA: Great.
ROSIE: The more you know.
CAIRA: Yes.
ROSIE: Well, if you want to find out more about any of Kimber’s reporting, all of it is so helpful. The piece we’ve referenced today is called How to Make Your Old Computer Feel New Again. Check it out. We’ll be back with a new episode next week. Thanks for listening.
KIMBER: Bye.
CHRISTINE: Bye.
CAIRA: Bye.
ROSIE: The Wirecutter Show is executive produced by me, Rosie Guerin, and produced by Abigail Keel. Engineering support from Mattie Masiello and Nick Pitman. Today’s episode was mixed by Catherine Anderson. Original music by Dan Powell, Marion Lozano, Alicia Bet-Etude, Rowan Mimisto, Catherine Anderson and Diane Wong. Cliff Levy is Wirecutter’s Deputy Publisher and General manager. Ben Fruman is Wirecutter’s Editor-in-Chief.
CAIRA: I’m Caira Blackwell.
CHRISTINE: I’m Christine Cyr Clisset.
ROSIE: And I’m Rosie Guerin. Thank you for listening.
CAIRA: We have a piece on the site that explains what you are supposed to do, which we will put in the show notes.
ROSIE: I should read Wirecutter.
CAIRA: It is a great site. I’ve really fallen in love with it over the years.
CHRISTINE: Yeah.
CAIRA: Yeah.
