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It's not like Windows, and doesn't spoon feed you like iOS, but Android 3.0 is amazingly powerful and highly customisable.
Here's our top 20 Android 3.0 tips to tune and tweak your tablet, and you won't have to root it to do a single one.
1. See the normal web (pt1)
Android's phone-based heritage means that many websites see it come and serve up mobile versions of their content that looks terrible on a 10inch screen. You can get around this by changing the way the Browser identifies itself - go to the Browser settings (in top right-hand corner of the screen) tap Advanced and change the 'User agent string' to desktop or tablet.
2. See the normal web (pt 2)
Not all tablets have the user agent option available. Acer's Iconia A500, for example, needs a bit of a hack. Open up the browser and type 'about:debug' into the address bar. Now when you go to Settings, you should see a menu for 'Debug' - the user agent switch is in here.
3. Speed up web browsing
The beauty of Android is that it can handle Flash-based web content. But websites with lots of interactive banner ads will still slow it down. Go to Browser > Settings > Advanced and change 'Enable plug-ins' to 'On demand'. Flash applications will appear as an arrow you must click to start them off.
4. Speed up your browser
Do web pages take ages to render, or does typing on the keyboard feel laggy when filling in web forms? Try opening up the Browser Debug menu in tip 2 and turning off OpenGL rendering. Success varies from site to site, but it can give you a bit of a boost.

5. Sync your bookmarks with your desktop
If you use Chrome as your desktop browser, one of the big advantages of Honeycomb is that you don't need an app like Xmarks to sync your bookmarks. It's all done via Google's sync tools, hidden on Preferences > Personal Stuff on the desktop version of Chrome and Settings > General in Honeycomb's browser.
6. Get the 3.1 browser
Fire up the browser and go to Settings > Labs and you'll notice an option for 'Quick Controls'. This gives you a little thumbwheel at the side of the page for navigation and will be turned on as standard in the next update.
7. Make your own wallpaper
All 10-inch Android tablets so far have a screen resolution of 1280x800, but with Android's Holographic UI and its swipe-able homepages, the background image has to be bigger than the visible area. You can use the in-built cropping tool to create your own desktops, but if you're preparing a pic for others the ideal resolution is 1920x1408.
8. Take control of your desktop PC
Want to get at your Windows apps while you're on the go? Asus' Transformer ships with a skinned version of Splashtop's remote access client, and it works brilliantly on a Honeycomb tablet. You can get it on other tablets from the market; just download the server to your PC at home from Splashtop.

9. Encrypt your data
One of Honeycomb's killer features for business users is the ability to encrypt the built-in storage, so if someone takes off with your tablet they can't pull your data off the hard drive. You'll need to fully charge your battery and set a password or pin number to the lock screen, then go to Settings > Location and Security.
10. Find network shares
Android's built-in File Manager is OK, so long as you can wrap your head around Linux's unusual way of structuring its hard disk, but for some reason Google decided the ability to browse shared folders on your network was an optional extra. Download File Expert from the Market instead.
11. Get a browser with plug-ins
Look, this isn't a phone, alright? Your tablet is more than capable of handling browser plug-ins like LastPass and Xmarks for easy net navigation, but the default browser can't do it. Get Dolphin HD from the Market.
12. Filter the apps menu
Hunting for a particular app and don't know where you installed it? You may not have spotted this, but if you open up the full list of installed apps by touching the menu button in the top right of the desktop, there's an option to show 'All' or 'Downloaded' at the top of the screen.

13. Transfer files in MacOS or Linux
A baffling design choice in Honeycomb was to use the Microsoft MTP protocol for connecting via the USB lead. What does that mean? If you plug a tablet into a Mac or Linux machine, you can't browse its hard drive. Either get the File Transfer Utility (for MacOSX) or the Android SDK for Linux.
14. Search by voice
Another shortcut you may not have noticed is the microphone icon next to the search bar on the main homepage. This opens up Google's Voice Actions, which lets you control your tablet or search the net without using your hands.
15. Quicklink to Dropbox folders
Got the Dropbox app? Of course you have. Did you know you can create quicklinks to your online folders on the Honeycomb desktop though? Tap and hold the desktop to bring up the customisation screen and scroll right to 'More'. You'll find the icon in here - it vastly speeds up working with files if you don't have to open up a separate app first.
16. Make your battery last longer
Go to Settings > Wireless & Networks > Wireless Settings > WiFi Sleep Policy, and change it to 'When screen turns off'. That'll disconnect the wireless antenna while the tablet is in standby: you won't get new email alerts, but your battery will last for days.

17. Add folders to your desktop
Why did Google remove the ability to create desktop folders for apps in Honeycomb? It's there in Froyo et al. Must be because they thought five huge homescreens was enough space - but it's not. Get Smart Shortcuts from the Market and organise your workspace the way you want.
18. Use your phone as a modem
There's some confusion over whether or not Honeycomb supports tethering in the normal manner. The good news is that yes, it does. Go into Settings > Wireless & Networks > Bluetooth turn on Bluetooth and pair it with your phone. Now click the spanner icon next to the phone's name in the list there, and you'll find an option for internet tethering.
19. Uninstall apps the easy way
If you've used Android before, you might recall that uninstalling apps is a bit of a laborious trawl through the settings menu to find the right control panel. In Honeycomb, just open up the full launcher, hten drag and drop app icons to the trash can to fully remove them.
20. Encode video the right way
A lot of fuss has been made about Tegra 2's ability to decode HD video, but the truth is that Honeycomb and Tegra aren't as well matched as they could be for accelerated playback. If you're going to copy videos over to your tablet, re-encode them using Handbrake and the settings shown here.

Notebooks have evolved from being computers for businessmen to mainstream computing machines. There are those who continue using notebooks on the move, while some others use notebooks as their everyday computers. In the midst of all the upgrades and updates being made by notebook manufacturers, marketing jargons and competition between brands, the consumer is left confused as to which notebook to buy. There are quite literally hundreds of models you can find in the market today. By the end of this guide, we hope to leave you with a clear picture of what a good notebook ought to have.

 

Like we mentioned earlier, each person has different needs from the technology he or she buys. The needs differ from person to person and it’s important to choose a notebook that fits your needs. It’s important to set budgets for the purchase accordingly, as well. For example, don’t expect to find a high-end gaming notebook for anything less than 80,000 or so and don’t expect a Rs. 40,000 notebook to play high-end games.

The cheapest of notebooks in the market start from around the Rs. 23,000 range. Netbooks start at prices closer to Rs. 13,000. Broadly, there are four segments of notebooks that most people look at. Most people spend between Rs. 23,000 and Rs. 40,000 on a notebook. Many of these users are going to use these notebooks as their primary computer at home and maybe at work. These notebooks won't offer excellent performance for gaming and content generation purposes, but they will do just fine for desktop applications. Although cheap, they cover most of the needs that majority of the people have.

The slightly more power hungry user will want more performance than these notebooks can offer. While the feature set of costlier notebooks doesn’t change a whole lot, notebooks priced above Rs. 40,000 have faster processors and even entry-level discrete graphics solutions. Screen sizes also drop at this point. While most mainstream notebooks that we talked about earlier have 14 and 15-inch screens, notebooks above Rs. 50,000 or so can be found with smaller 13-inch screens.

Gaming notebooks are more expensive and way more powerful than the cheaper notebooks that we’ve been talking about. Prices of gaming notebooks start roughly from Rs. 80,000 and go on well over a lakh. These notebooks come with powerful graphics solutions and have large screens, as well. They offer poor battery life in comparison and carrying them around is a pain. On the other hand, there are ultraportable notebooks that are designed for people who travel a lot. They aren’t as powerful as the gaming notebooks but will offer way better performance than netbooks.

The processor is one of the key components of a notebook. An entry-level Intel Core i3 i380M might be sufficient for most purposes, but when you start using more CPU intensive software and multitask with a number of browser windows open, CPU performance is essential and a faster processor can come handy. Majority of all the notebooks sold around the world come with Intel’s processors, so although AMD too has solutions in the market, you’re more likely to come across a wider range of Intel processor-based notebooks. A decent speed Core i5 such as the 480M processor is a good start. Also look for one of the newer Sandy Bridge processors from Intel.

HDMI connectivity is handy when at home you want to connect a notebook to an external display.

Most notebooks these days that come with an HDMI port are also capable of playing full HD content smoothly. You can watch movies on your TV or use it as a primary display and use the notebook like a desktop PC. Simply connect a USB keyboard and mouse, disable the notebook display and you’re good to go.