L ook before you leap. Prevention is better than cure. Better safe than sorry. Roll your eyes as much as you want but there’s good reason most of us grow up with these oft-repeated clichés ingrained into our psyches. So too with your gadgets — there are simple tips to keep in mind that are as commonsensical as locking your door when you leave the house.

Secure your OS: It’s a no- brainer that you should invest in a good Internet security suite like Norton 360, so that your basic antivirus and Internet protection needs are met. 360, for example, even installs a Facebook plug-in that monitors your wall and news feed for malicious links, and deletes them. That apart, keep your Windows updates and PC software up to date — many software makers release fixes for known bugs and security flaws, and avoiding these updates is just downright asking for trouble.

Secure your data: With USB flash drives becoming ubiquitous, most of us carry significant amounts of sensitive data (think bank passwords, statements, etc) on these little devices. Buy USB drives that come with at least basic software that prevents access to the drive only after your supply the right password. The top end Windows 7 and Vista platforms allow you to encrypt your hard drive with a utility called BitLocker, but you could also use free options such as Encrypt Stick or True Crypt. The more paranoid can opt for drives with built-in fingerprint readers for additional security.

Secure your smartphone: Pretty much every smartphone these days lets you set an unlock pattern or a password to prevent unauthorised use. Agreed, it’s a pain to unlock the phone every single time you want to use it, but it’s better than prying eyes peering into your email, right? And use protection — invest in software like McAfee’s WaveSecure which, for about Rs 900 a year, lets you not only track the location of your Android, BlackBerry, Symbian or Windows Phone device but also keep tabs on what the thief is using your phone for. Apple users can use the free Find My iPhone tracking service.

Secure your Wi-Fi: With security rising in the national consciousness, it’s time you do your bit and lock down your wireless network. Use WPA or WPA2 encryption standards available on all routers to set a password to your wireless router, and do not use the default password supplied with the router. You can even set your router to allow only pre-specified devices to connect to it — these settings can be found on the router home page (check your manual), but it’s worth doing this to restrict unwanted elements (not to mention freeloaders) from accessing your connection.

Secure your public browsing: If you can, avoid using public computers or networks like the plague — they could be infected with spyware that could track and harvest your details. Use them for web search or maps, not bank transactions or email/ Facebook.

An ace act

The Acer Aspire 4253 laptop is no looker, that much I can tell you. Dull, dreary looks point to its distinct budget-conscious sensibilities. Why then am I so excited about this laptop? It’s one of the first laptops that sport the new AMD Fusion APUs (Accelerated Processing Unit), which essentially combine a multi-core CPU and DirectX 11-capable graphics GPU on a single chip. In the 4253, you get the Zacate E350 variant of the Fusion APU, which packs in a dual-core processor clocked at 1.6-GHz (each core) and an AMD Radeon HD 6310 graphics with 512MB memory. That may not sound like much on paper but this meek beast can deliver stutter-free full-HD 1080p video playback, unlike most notebooks in its class (and certainly far ahead of netbooks). Don’t expect this to game very well, though.

Battery life gets a leg up as well, lasting between four to five hours of browsing and light document work while keeping its 1366x768 pixel 14.1-in screen running on medium brightness. At the price, performance may be middling but the combination of the power-sipping AMD solution plus the roomy 500GB drive earns this a recommendation as a capable, albeit basic, home or student laptop.

• Rating: 8/10

• Price: Rs 25,749 (taxes extra)

• URL: http://bit.ly/mhTb1X' http://bit.ly/mhTb1X

Case study

Auto tech isn’t just for roads. It makes a lot of sense for your precious smartphones as well. Much like crumple zones in cars which crush on impact, protecting the occupant, the OtterBox Reflex series of smartphone cases have a 1cm plastic zone along the edges that extend into the corners. These reflex zones bend upon impact and spring back into position, thereby protecting the phone from any potential damage. All this without adding significant bulk. The snap-away design allows you to remove the bottom for on-dock use as well.

• Price: $44.95

• URL: http://bit.ly/jqN3ky' http://bit.ly/jqN3ky

technocool@kanwar.net, follow me on twitter @2shar