How to Maintain and Extend the Life of Your Electronics
A little maintenance goes a long way in extending the life of your personal tech devices. In fact, good preemptive care of all of your electronic devices can increase both their longevity and efficiency, says Arthur Zilberman, president of Laptop MD, explains. "Batteries can maintain high charges for longer periods of time, mechanical parts can last longer, and your devices can maintain their speed." When improperly cared for, Zilberman warns that your go-to tech products can become sluggish, hard to operate, and more susceptible to physical damages. To bypass these problems, he says it's crucial to invest in protective covers, such as tempered glass and quality cases, for your smartphone, as well as silicone keyboard protectors and cases for your laptop. "Having that extra layer of protection can mean the difference between keeping or losing your new device," he explains.
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Looking for more advice about how to extend the life of your favorite tech devices? We asked Zilberman for tips on the best maintenance practices for smartphones, laptops, tablets, and more, and here's what he had to share.
Related: How to Clean All of Your Tech Devices, from Your Smartphone to Your AirPods
Smartphones
Above all else, Zilberman says the most important maintenance measure you can take with your smartphone is to always back it up. "Go into your settings and make sure your contacts, pictures, and videos are being backed up to iCloud (iPhone) or Google Cloud (droids)," he says. He also suggests installing or running a phone optimizer app, such as Droid Optimizer, once a day or so to boost your phone's performance and speed. "It will put apps that aren't being used to sleep and disable data background usage, which saves lots of battery power and mobile data," he explains.
Laptops
According to Zilberman, using a good antivirus suite—one with firewall, antivirus, and anti-spam capabilities—can make a world of difference for your laptop. He also recommends installing an adblocker extension for your browser, to stop unnecessary ads and spam cookies from popping up. "It will also keep your search history private," he says.
Tablets
When it comes to caring for your tablet, Zilberman says to follow the same steps you would when maintaining your smartphone, including turning on all backup features and running a phone optimizer app. To preserve the battery of your tablet, he recommends against leaving it plugged into the charger for an extended period of time. "Overnight is okay, but charging it for more than a day at a time will stress your battery and cause it die way sooner than intended," he says.
Mp3 Players
Along with investing in quality cases and tempered glass covers, Zilberman says the best thing you can do for your mp3 player is to keep it away from water and steam as much as possible. "Not even water-resistant devices are waterproof," he says. If avoiding water exposure is a problem, then he suggests buying a protective case to help protect your mp3 player from liquid damage.
Chargers
If you're not using a brand name charger to power up your tech devices, Zilberman says you're doing it wrong. "Do not buy aftermarket charges or power packs," he warns. "Pay a bit more and save yourself from a headache going forward. The same goes for the cords (USB cords for example). We have seen plenty of cases where cheap aftermarket charges or cables burn smartphones beyond any reasonable repairs."
