INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PROMOTION AGENCY: IP in Africa - Begining from Ghana

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PROMOTION AGENCY: IP in Africa - Begining from Ghana: Intellectual Property (IP) is the intangible assets that result from the human mind and creativity. New inventions such as intelligent syst...

HOW MUCH SHOULD I PAY FOR A LAPTOP IN GHANA

How much should you pay for a laptop in Ghana?

Tech adviser GH

There are not absolute prices in Ghana when trading in the local market. This is because Ghanaians mostly trade by negotiation, so it will be in the buyers’ interest to know the price range of what he’s buying so he’s not cheated. Other than that, he can be made to pay as much as twice or even trice the price of the product.

The same applies to buying a laptop in Ghana if you’re buying in the general market (i.e. not a registered dealer)

The price of a laptop is usually determined by its individual components. Thus its processor, hard drive, screen size, graphics card, etc. These things are what Ghanaians use in pricing laptops in Ghana.

The problem is sometimes you can pay twice the price of something if you don’t know its price range in the market. Many a time, people ask me what’s the price of this or that, sometimes its about laptops.. So I made this blog to try give a market price range of laptops in Ghana.(mind you this does not include Accra Mall prices,lol)

Here are a  few Terms I’ll be using:

Dual core: a computer has 2 processors

Quad core:  4 processors

Pre-owned (previously owned): used or second hand

These market Prices are for laptops with windows 7 or above, 250 to 500 gig hard drive and a normal graphics cards.

Type                                             price range (GHC)

One processor (1 Ghz- 1.2 Ghz)

New:                                                   500-800

Pre-owned:                                      about 500

Notebook computer

New:                                                 500- 800

Pre-owned                                       400 and less

Dual core (1.2 GHz-2.3 GHz):

New:                                                  800-1000

Pre-owned:                                       650 and less

Quad core (1.2 GHz-2.3 GHz):

New:                                                   950-1200

Pre-owned:                                       900 and less

Intel i3

New:                                                   1000 -1300

Pre-owned:                            about 1000 or less

Intel i5       

New:                                                     1400-1700

Pre-owned:                           about 1200 or less

Intel i7       

New:                                               1500 and over

Pre-owned:                             about 1300 or less

Mac book pro (i5):

New:                                       2400 to about 2700

Pre-owned:                                         about 1800

Mac book pro (i7)

New:                                        2700 to about 3100

Pre-owned:                                           about 2000

Mac book air

New:                                                   2500 to 2700

Pre-owned:                                           about 1900

These price ranges show the market prices of laptops in Ghana. So from these ranges you can draw your budget when you want to buy laptop in Ghanaian market. Of course, you may get it at a cheaper price or not, it all depends on your bargaining skill and the brand of laptop also. The more common that laptop is in Ghana, the less the price and vice versa.

Also Prices tend to be higher depending on:

·     If the laptop has a touch screen, movable screen or has a unique feature..

·     Where it was imported from and the brand

Hope this is useful.. My next post will be on what type (based on specs) of laptop to buy that meets your needs.

Thanks guys and please leave a comment and I’ll get back to you

MY ANDROID PHONE IS TOO SLOOOOOWWW

My android phone is too slow

TECHADVISOR GH

This is usually the cry of android phone users in Ghana (well the girls mostly).Here are some tips on how to make your android device(eg smart phone or a tablet) work fast.

The android phone works like a computer(it is a computer actually)..it has a processor and a ram. And like any other computer, the computer programs that run on it compete for processor speed. So the as many programs run, the slower the computer becomes. This concept is applicable to android phones. The more apps on it the slower it becomes as they are sharing the same resources.

Most android users install apps that they don’t use at all. because it makes them cool (I think), want to have a feel of it or just to be abreast with time(technologically updated). This makes (among other things) the device slow

Here are a few tips that can make your device work faster

1. Delete all apps u don’t use. Ghanaians don’t usually like to delete apps on their phone. Most of the apps they download, they don’t use (about 40%). A step to check this is, Monitor yourself for a week (in terms of your app usage) and track the apps on your phone that you use and don’t use. Those you don’t use, delete them. You can always download them again when you need them.

2. Download performance optimizer apps. There are apps that helps you utilize your processor and RAM better. Some of these apps include task manager, cache cleaner, etc. They free processor space by stopping apps running that u are not using at the moment. Task managers simply manage tasks (processes running on your app). Mostly when you close an app, it runs in the background , sharing your processor and RAM. if you’re not using it, the close it (simple). You can get one from the android market. Type task manager in the search column, and you will find many of them.(I will do a list of better apps to download later)

3. Another way of doing this is by

• Going to setting on your android phone,

• Select apps. This will show you apps running on your device and how much resources they are using.

• Then stop apps running that you are not using at the moment.

4. Get an antivirus. Viruses can corrupt your files (even your android OS) and even make your smart phone slow. A few good anti-virus on the android market are AVG,AVAST, etc

5. If your smart phone is still slow for your lifestyle, get a better faster one. Probably

It has a small processor size and ram. If you use your smart phone for a lot of tasks get a faster device: probably a dual or quad core with a higher ram.

These are a few tips for making your smart phone fast. Hope it helps.

32 bit and 64 bit processors.. the final battle

The battle between 32 bit and 64 bit processors

Techadviser gh

Many questions have been asked about what the difference between a 32 bit and a 64 bit processor. Customers do not know the difference when buying a personal computer. I will try to explain in simple terms these 2 kinds of processors, them and try to answer the popular FOQS on them

32 bit processor

The 32 bit processor was developed by Microsoft in the 1990’s.. Most of the operating systems as used then till now adays were designed to run on a 32 bit processor. Computers with 32 bit processors could take a max of 4 gigabyte (gig) RAM (random access memory) and work with data which in 32 characters. The RAM basically holds programs that are running on the computer. So the higher the RAM the more programs a computer can run simultaneously. Computers with 32 bit processors are becoming obsolete as they are being overtaken by newer computers with 64 bit processors

64 bit processor

The type of processor was initially developed for a super computer by IBM in the 1960’s, it wasn’t for home use.. It was later adapted for personal computers in the later versions of windows XP, latter to windows 7 and 8. 64 bit computers can take more RAM, which means it can work faster and run more programs simultaneously. They can take Rams above 4 gig and are usually dual core, quad core or higher. Newer versions of windows run on a 64 bit processor.

32 64

Max ram is 4 gig Takes 4 gig and abouve

Single core processor Dual, quad core or higher

Does not affect sound, or video graphics Same

Foqs

techadvisor

• should I buy a computer with a 32 bit or a 64 bit processor?

Well, 32 bits are getting obsolete so it will be better to buy a computer with a 64 bit processor

• How do I know my computer is a 32 or 64 bit?

To check, go the control panel, select systems

Under system types, the type of windows (32 bit or 64 bit) will be displayed

Or

In the control panel, select performance information and tools (if you can’t find it, use search in the control panel),

Select view and print detailed performance and system information.

This will give you a general overview of your system (including the type of processor you are using )

• Can a 32 bit processor run a 64 bit program or vice versa?

No a computer with a 32 bit processor can’t run a 64 program

On the other hand, a computer with a 64 bit processor can run a 32 bit program but it may not function well..updates are usually available to update 32 bit programs into 64 bit programs hence run well on computers with 64 bit processors.

I’ve answered a few questions here, if you don’t understand anything please leave a comment and I answer as soon as possible.

Take care and God bless..