Blog posts in Computer hardware

How flash data solutions can boost your productivity

New technologies, like flash data storage, can help you and your business by:

• Saving the time spent on everyday tasks and activities
• Limiting downtime of your website or file server
• Creating an efficient working environment
• Reducing everyday frustrations caused by slow network response times
• Giving your savings, investments or growth a boost.

Inefficient data storage is causing serious bottlenecks for businesses. Complex workflows, sprawling infrastructure and a growing demand for higher service levels are forcing companies to rethink their data strategy.

Individual business objectives can range from increasing efficiency or reducing costs to improving responsiveness; flash solutions stand out among the alternatives with their ability to meet any and every one of these requirements.

Although flash solutions were once considered as tactical measures for patching up individual application-level pain points, they have become increasingly popular alternatives for servicing entire data centres. With industry experts predicting that flash is here to stay, we wanted to take a moment to outline the ways that small businesses can benefit from deploying this technology.

Before diving deeper into the universal advantages of flash solutions, let’s take a closer look at the technology allowing the fast and reliable performance that has become synonymous with all-flash arrays.

All-flash arrays, or AFAs, are defined as enterprise storage arrays that contain several solid-state disks (SSD) to substitute the spinning hard drives of traditional hard disk drive (HDD) solutions. This type of non-volatile memory can be erased and reprogrammed in an instant – or "in a flash".

Faster, better, cheaper

Compared to conventional hard drive arrays, the ultimate benefit of flash technology is that it enables significantly faster data transfer rates, while improving the access to data and bringing down costs.

As SmartData Collective’s Rick Delgado has said: "Whereas hard drives usually take a while to fully boot up whatever machine they're attached to, flash storage can get equipment up and running in mere seconds. Flash storage can handle larger workloads much more quickly, making them excellent choices for working with complex data sets and operations."

Simplified infrastructure

When it comes to data storage and management, less really is more. With EMC’s XtremIO, businesses can also free up valuable space. Storage Switzerland’s George Crump said: “What formerly occupied eight fully configured cabinets in the data center now occupies a single 42U rack. This is translating into significant floor space and power savings." The savings in facilities and power costs alone are a significant improvement but that’s not all there is to it.

Reliability and simplicity are often among firms' highest data management priorities. Businesses are increasingly looking for solutions that don't require extensive expertise. Intuitive and user-friendly flash solutions help divert critical resources to other tasks, enabling companies to do more with less.

Always on

Immediate access to data and the ability to perform real-time analytics have become core business requirements. On the other hand, strict service level agreements and growing workloads are putting constant pressure on IT departments. All-flash solutions meet the varied demands of businesses with always-on services that enable the provisioning, de-duplication, compression and protection of data in real-time, with no application downtime.

However, the best part of all-flash data solutions is that they are agile, completely future-proof and can handle additional workflows as they occur. This means that new business activities and growth is met with ease, limiting the need for accurate predictions of future requirements.

Costs down, margins up

All-flash arrays' high I/O throughput and low latency can deliver significant savings in hardware costs. Furthermore, the reduced number of required CPU cores is reflected in lower software license expenses, further improving the economical efficiency of all-flash solutions.

Businesses can then use these savings to improve their pricing strategy, offering more competitive deals to customers or investing in long-term product improvement.

Sponsored post: copyright © 2016 Rob Bradburn, Senior Web Operations Manager, Digital Insights & Demand, EMC – EMEA Marketing

More on this topic:

• Storage devices and media
• How to expand your data storage capacity
• How solid state drives can boost IT performance

Why your next printer should be a network printer

Network-connected printers have become a cornerstone of the modern work environment. They let you have one printer to which anyone in your office can print, rather than requiring employees to operate individual printers, or to print from a particular computer

Why get a networked printer?

A network printer is one device for everyone. Because it's connected to your computer network, anyone in your business can print from it. They don't have to email documents to their long-suffering colleague who has the printer on their desk.

It may also be one device for (almost) everything. That's because, despite the name, network printers often do more than just print.

Many have copying and scanning functions built in. Typically, you can scan a document and have it emailed to a specific person or saved to your central network drive.

There are obvious benefits to this approach. For instance:

• Instead of managing several printers, scanners and other pieces of equipment in your business, you only have one device to worry about.
• You can print from any networked device, not just computers. For instance, print wirelessly from a smart phone or tablet.
• It's easier to keep track of what you're printing and when, because you can create a log of all print jobs. This also means you can oversee all operations or even impose individual print quotas.
• Many networked printers include comprehensive management software, so you can lock-in settings such as double-sided printing or cover sheets.
• Buying one powerful printer may cost a similar amount as purchasing a basic printer for each employee. However, it will usually print faster and have lower running costs.

But perhaps most importantly, networked printers are more efficient. With a dependable way to run off high-quality hardcopies, your staff will spend more time focusing on their work, and less time faffing around with a cheap or unreliable printer.

"Network printing really supports the modern office, simplifying daily tasks and making complicated processes incredibly efficient," explains Christian Ralph of Printerland, the printer and ink company. 

"The increased capabilities of modern printers have made it easier for offices of all sizes to add multiple devices to a single machine."

How to set up a network printer

Setting up a networked printer is usually fairly straightforward, so you won't necessarily have to pay your IT supplier or support company to do it for you.

Having said that, if your printer includes centralised management software or other advanced functions then you may want to seek advice before ploughing ahead!

To set up a networked printer, there are two options:

1. Use printer sharing

Cheaper printers may not include a dedicated network connection.

In this case, you'll need to connect the printer to one of your office computers (or servers). You can then use the software on that computer to set up printer sharing.

This will allow anyone in your company to access the printer, but only when the computer to which it's connected is switched on.

2. Get a direct network connection

If you can, it's best to invest in a printer with a dedicated network connection. This might cost a little more, but means you'll be able to print without having to first check that a particular computer is switched on.

Printers that are connected to your network directly are usually faster and more reliable. Most businesses take this approach.

If you use Windows, Microsoft provides lots of information to help you set up a printer using one of these methods.

Keeping an eye on the risks

Modern printers are very different to their counterparts of 10-15 years ago. Your typical networked printer isn't a 'dumb' slave to your computer; it has processing power, memory and even software of its own.

It uses this to manage print queues, optimise print jobs, resize images and more.

Occasionally, this increasingly-sophisticated software can go wrong. Back in 2013, a Xerox photocopier had a bug that meant it sometimes changed the digits in documents that it copied.

And, just like any other computer, networked printers can fall victim to hacking attacks.

Indeed, they could conceivably provide a soft target, as businesses may overlook the importance of protecting a networked printer. (Hackers have previously targeted broadband routers in a similar way.)

Printer manufacturers are aware of these issues, of course. Many have developed security software that protects these devices from attacks. And your business should make use of it.

Do your people know how to use a printer?

Printing off a document isn't always as simple as it looks. Employees may have to grapple with confusing quality and paper setting. Some companies even have smartcard or PIN-based systems to control printing quotas.

If staff don't know how to use these features and settings properly, it can waste their time - as well as ink and paper.

Sure, 'printer training' can be a tricky one to sell to your staff. But if you can overcome the 'do I really need that?' factor then it can help to develop standard, secure printing practices across your business.

In short, creating a positive printing environment can standardise all your printed output. That means quality will never suffer - and cries of 'is the printer working?' should be few and far between.

Sponsored post: copyright © Printaland

More on this topic:

• How to cut your printing costs
• How to decide what printer you need
• Case study: why we chose an inkjet printer for our business

Why does tech cost more in the UK?

Ever since the term ‘rip-off Britain’ gained popularity in the ‘90s, there’s been a lingering suspicion that UK consumers and businesses pay over the odds for some items.

Now new research from Which? seems to suggest that the concept of rip-off Britain is still alive and well. The consumer organisation has found that UK buyers are paying considerably more for tech products than US consumers.

Comparing identical tech products

The Which? research compared the prices of identical tech products in the UK and US. It found UK consumers pay more virtually across the board. In some cases, price differences run into hundreds of pounds.

And not all of that difference is accounted for by UK VAT, which — at 20% — tends to be a higher than sales taxes in the US. The research examined tax-free prices, revealing stark differences.

Here are a few examples:

• An Apple MacBook Pro 13” laptop costs £1,249 in the UK. But in the US, you’d pay around £1,055.
• A 65” Samsung TV will set you back £2,749 in the UK. Across the pond, expect to pay £2,347 — around £400 less.
• Adobe’s Creative Cloud Suite — a must-have for design professionals — costs £469 a year in the UK. In the US, it’s £355.

Richard Lloyd, executive director at Which?, is predictably frustrated by these pricing disparities:

“UK consumers are getting a raw deal by paying up to hundreds of pounds more for the same tech products on sale in the US. Manufacturers should play fair and explain why consumers are paying more for buying in the UK.”

What you can do to save money

Although this research confirms what many have long suspected, there’s not much you can actually do about it if you’re in the market for new technology.

When you run a business, there comes a time when you have to invest. At that point, the cost of not spending a bit of cash will almost certainly be greater than the cost of your new IT.

To cut costs, you can — of course — shop around. There are often considerable differences in prices between retailers.

And when you’re buying software, consider whether there are any free alternatives to which you could switch. This strategy is particularly useful when looking for software you’re only likely to use occasionally.

Total cost of ownership is what counts

But where business is concerned, it can be dangerous to focus on the sticker price above all else. Actually, you want to know the ‘total cost of ownership’ — TCO, for short.

This gives you some idea of what a piece of technology will cost you over its lifetime. So, if you’re buying a laptop that you expect to last five years, the TCO includes what it will cost to buy, maintain and so on.

Gartner research suggests that 80% of IT costs occur after the initial purchase, demonstrating that TCO is the figure that really matters.

Printers are a great example of this. A basic laser printer could set you back £100. But if you’re going to be spending £50 every time you need to replace the toner cartridge, what’s most important is the price of the toner, not the price of the printer.

Sadly, there is no easy way to calculate TCO. It depends on what technology you’re buying and how your business uses it.

And that’s where our last piece of advice comes in: your choice of IT supplier is most important of all. If your company doesn’t have IT expertise in-house, it’s definitely worth finding a local supplier that does.

Yes, it will cost you a bit of money. But the investment could pay for itself many times over in terms of efficiency gains and effective technology use.

• Choose and use IT suppliers
• The best ways to upgrade your PC on any budget
• How to plan your IT maintenance

IT for Donuts: scan documents without a scanner

IT for Donuts is our regular Friday feature where we explain a tech term or answer a question about business IT.

This week, we reveal that you don’t need an expensive document scanner to create digital copies of documents. If you have a smart phone made in the last couple of years, its camera should be more than up to the job. 

Use your phone as a scanner

While dedicated scanners are fast and produce high-quality images, your smart phone’s camera provides a quick way to create passable digital versions of documents, receipts, business cards and more.

The most obvious way to scan a document with your smart phone is to open the standard camera function, point it at a document and press the take photo button.

Once you’ve taken a photo, you can check the quality by zooming in to make sure the text isn’t blurred.

You might need to experiment with the flash or other settings to get the best-quality image. However, if you’re after a copy of a receipt or need to send a key page to a colleague, this will do the job.

You can use your phone’s email function to send the scan to yourself or someone else, or connect it to cloud storage like Dropbox to save scans elsewhere.

With this approach, it’s best to make sure your phone’s camera is set to its highest-quality, so scanned documents stay legible.

Get a dedicated scanning app

If you plan to use your phone as a scanner regularly — or just want to take a slightly more efficient approach to your scanning — there are a number of scanning apps available.

These are good because they make sure your camera is set for the best-quality scans. Some apps can also convert scanned text into editable documents, which is great if you need to work on them in future.

You can try these apps:

• CamScanner converts scans into proper text and lets you add annotations to share with colleagues or contacts.
• Genius Scan includes tools to enhance the images you create, can export to PDF and connects to cloud storage services.
• Google Drive has a scanning function built in. It also converts documents to PDF format and saves them in your Google Account.

If you have a lot of scanning to do, you’ll want to invest in a proper scanner instead of using your smart phone. But for occasional use, the convenience of a smart phone trumps the quality of a scanner, every time.

Previous IT tips:

• How to wipe data from your computers before disposal
• How to copy formatting in Microsoft Word
• How to take a screenshot on your iPhone or iPad

Why 3D printers are useless for business

3D printers are coming, and they’re going to change the world. Shops will soon be printing products to order. Garages will print parts for your car on the spot. And instead of cooking dinner, you’ll just print it out.

Well, one day all those things might be true. But right now, 3D printers are nothing more than novelty items. They’re ok at printing plastic trinkets and ornaments, but not so good at creating practical items.

Printing a plastic mess

We’ve been as guilty as anyone of hyping 3D printers as the next big thing. And yes, there’s potential. The problem is that the technology — especially the affordable 3D printers you can buy today — is way off achieving that potential.

While forward-looking articles talk excitedly about printing bicycles, houses and even human organs, people who actually own 3D printers seem to have mixed results, to say the least.

You only need to take a look at the art of 3D print failure, a Flickr group containing hundreds of photos of 3D printing gone wrong.

Some of the warped plastic shapes are impressive. But they demonstrate that the technology — at least at the affordable end of the market — is more for hobbyists than businesses.

The drawbacks of 3D printers

3D printers available today don’t just suffer from questionable reliability. They also tend to be slow. It can take hours to print relatively simple objects.

What’s more, the raw plastic is expensive. You’ll also need to know how to use relatively complex software in order to design the objects you’re going to print.

So, if tempted to pick up a 3D printer for your business, keep your expectations realistic. You won’t be buying a tool that’s going to revolutionise your company or make your life easier.

You’ll basically be buying a toy. 3D printers are indisputably fun to play with and have a curiosity value to them. But they’re not serious business tools. Not yet, at least.

• Tech that could change your business sooner than you think
• Changing expectations: provide the IT your staff expect
• How to cut your printing costs

IT for Donuts: are cheap printer cartridges any good?

IT for Donuts is our regular Friday feature where we explain a tech term or answer a question about business IT.

This week, we look at printer cartridges. There are plenty of 'unofficial' printer cartridges on the market and they can be significantly cheaper than the versions from your printer manufacturer. But do they represent value for money?

Cheap printers, expensive ink

The printer market is weird. You can buy a whole printer for £35 (and it'll print stuff out just fine), but then replacement cartridges can set you back nearly as much.

That's because printer manufacturers follow the 'razor model'. They flog printers cheap, then make the real money from selling consumables like ink and toner cartridges.

That's created an opportunity for other companies to undercut the price of official cartridges with their own versions. Often, these are 'remanufactured' cartridges, which means the supplier has refurbished and refilled a previously-used cartridge before selling it on. So it's a kind of recycling, too.

Not all cartridges are equal

The main advantage to sticking to official cartridges is that you know what you're getting. Printer manufacturers generally use high-quality ink and toner, so you can be sure your printouts will be decent.

On the other hand, the quality of unofficial cartridges can vary. Some are just as reliable as official models, produce prints that are every bit as good and last just as long.

However, others produce smeared text and blurry graphics, run out faster, or are prone to clogging with ink and becoming useless. This means it's wise to be a bit picky about which unofficial cartridges you use.

Finding the best cartridges

Despite the dire warnings from printer manufacturers, unofficial cartridges are unlikely to damage your printer. So there's nothing to stop you trying one out to see what you think.

As it can be hard to tell the good unofficial cartridges from the bad ones, try and buy from reputable retailers, like Staples or StinkyInk.

It's also wise to avoid the very cheapest cartridges. These are less likely to have been manufactured to high standards or may skimp on the volume or quality of ink.

You can also Google for reviews of the brand of cartridge you're buying. However, it's quite hard to find unbiased opinions because information is typically posted either by printer manufacturers or unofficial sellers. Both groups have obvious vested interests, so you're best off trying them for yourself.

If you have more than one printer in your office, a good strategy can be to keep one on official cartridges, guaranteeing you reliable printing for important documents. You can then try alternative cartridges in the others to see if it saves you any money.

• The cost-saving secrets printer manufacturers don't want you to know
• How to find the right printer for the right job
• Why printer cartridges don't last as long as you expect

Will wearable tech be big in 2014?

I met a bloke wearing Google Glass a couple of weeks ago. The opportunity for conversation was brief, as I was on the down escalator in a tube station, but I managed to ask how he was finding it.

“It’s switched off at the moment,” was his initial response, “but it’s really useful when it’s turned on.” He then veered off towards his platform, so I didn’t get the chance to ask him to expand on this insightful evaluation of Google’s headline-grabbing smart glasses.

It’s becoming normal

The encounter got me thinking though: a year ago, if I’d seen someone wearing glasses that can understand speech, give directions and record video, I would have been astounded. But 12 months later my reaction was simply mild surprise.

It just goes to show how quickly things change. It made me wonder what wearable technology holds for us in 2014 — and what opportunities this emerging sector will bring for business.

Wearable tech is on the way

Wearable technology is about much more than Google Glass. While these smart glasses have caused controversy and excitement, other wearable tech already available includes:

• Fitbit, a wireless tracking device that measures how active you are and encourages you to do more exercise.
• Jawbone UP, a similar device that tracks how you sleep, exercise and eat.
• Samsung’s Galaxy Gear, a ‘smart watch’ that lets you make phone calls and send texts.

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Gadgets proposed or under development include clothing that connects to your Facebook account, a ring that acts as your bus pass and a nappy that monitors the health of your baby.

Wearable tech and your business

Quite simply, we’re going to see a wave of wearable devices hit the market in 2014. Some will succeed. Many won’t.

But it seems obvious that wearable technology will bring advantages and opportunities for businesses. For instance, it’s not hard to see how something like Google Glass could be useful in a warehouse or factory environment.

Some firms will be keen to develop wearable tech themselves. Others will rush to release apps that work with gadgets produced by other companies.

It’s early days, but if you’re interested in learning more about wearable technology then you could do worse than head to the Olympia Conference Centre in London next March. That’s when the UK’s first wearable technology show will take place — and a great chance for you to see what’s coming in this new sector.

• ‘Ok Glass, let’s revitalised the High Street’
• Are we using technology, or is it using us?
• What’s next after tablet computers?

Image of Google Glass via Flickr user Ted Eytan, under Creative Commons.

What Glastonbury can teach us about smart phones

Glastonbury, earlier this year.

A couple of weeks ago I went to Glastonbury Festival. In recent years, one of the most notable changes there has been the explosion in people you see tapping away at their smart phones, posting photos to Facebook or filming video clips rather than actually watching the band on stage.

Of course, not everyone takes their smart phone to festivals. Many people switch to a basic handset, like this super-cheap Nokia.

Shorn of everything except call and text functions, these 'dumb phones' have batteries that last for days and days, yet still let you stay in touch in a festival environment.

Duplicate computing power

And this all got me thinking: how many of us really need a smart phone in our professional lives?

I'm not saying for a moment that smart phones aren't useful. I refer to mine frequently - checking Twitter, firing off emails, finding the best public transport options and even occasionally making a call.

The thing is, many of us cart unneccesary computing power around with us. The £500 smart phone in your pocket is more powerful than the computer you were using for work a few years back.

If you work on the go, you almost certainly have a laptop in your bag too. That's another £500 - probably more, if you've chosen a super-portable model. And do you have an iPad? That's a smart phone, just bigger. Chalk up another £500.

That's a lot of money to have spent on different gadgets that can all be used for very similar things. Multiplied up across your business, you could be blowing serious cash on what almost amounts to duplicate hardware.

Why not get a dumb phone?

It's not just the money. If your 'dumb phone' gets lost or stolen, you don't have to worry that it might contain your entire customer database, or grant hackers access to your company servers.

And - as I mentioned before - if you're on a business trip, you don't have to find a power point every day to boost your juice.

Does it feel like you're paying twice for devices that do the same things? Would you consider switching to a 'dumb phone'?

• O2's mobile meltdown is a warning for your business
• Mobile working: tasks I save for the train
• Keeping your mobile devices secure

TOTW: what to do if your mobile phone gets dropped in water

Smart phone, meet glass of water / pint of Guinness / insert damp environment as applicable. Being dropped in water or another liquid is a common way for a mobile phone to meet its end.

Someone should probably tell that to the 75% of owners who use their expensive smart phone while on the toilet.

For this tip of the week (TOTW), we explain what to do if your mobile phone gets dropped in water.

Recovery is by no means guaranteed, but swift action can often save a smart phone from a watery grave.

1. Move fast and pop the battery out

Are your reactions good? Let's hope so, because the first crucial step to saving your mobile phone when it's been dropped in water is to fish it out and pop the battery off the back.

If the phone appears to still be functioning, don't try and turn it off first. Pressing buttons could let more water inside or fry the circuits.

Once it's powered down the chance of damage is lower, so the quicker you can do this the better. If your handset is an iPhone, or another model without a removable battery, you'll have to switch it off instead and hope for the best.

Whatever you do, don't be tempted to try and turn it on after a few minutes just to 'check if it's ok'. You could do irreversible damage.

2. Dry the water from your phone

Assuming you've already removed the battery, take out the SIM card and remove any other accessories, like memory cards or headphones.

Then grab some kitchen towel (or whatever you have to hand) and dry the outside of your mobile phone as thoroughly as possible. Your aim is to stop water leeching in through gaps in the case.

It can take real effort to remove all traces of water from handset keypads, headphone connections and so on.

You may be tempted to use a hairdryer, but don't. The air can actually push water further into your device. Instead, try using a vacuum cleaner to suck water from nooks and crannies.

3. Leave it to recover

Even if your mobile phone looks bone dry, there's likely to still be water where you can't see it. Before you take the risk of switching it back on, give it a decent chance to dry out.

A good option is to leave your handset in a bowl of rice for a few days. This may draw the moisture out for you. Alternatively, you can buy special bags to draw out any damp lurking in your smart phone. Try this Bheestie bag (£14.99) or this kit (£14.20).

The key here is to be patient. Don't leave your phone in an overly-warm place or be tempted to heat it up, as this may do more harm than good.

After a few days, check your handset and give it a good shake to see if any water droplets emerge. If there are no signs of damp, you can put it back together and risk turning it on. If you're lucky, it'll spring back to life. If not, you'll need to take a trip to a repair shop.

• How to remove comments from a Word document
• Shortcuts to use PowerPoint effectively
• Three ways to avoid online scams

When does a big smart phone become a phablet?

Smart phones are getting bigger. Clearly unhappy with the already-really-rather-large size of its new Galaxy S4 (whch has a 5" screen), Samsung recently announced a new even-more-ginormous phone.

Yes, the forthcoming Samsung Galaxy Mega (check out the name) has a massive 6.3" screen. It's a phone that is, frankly, ginormous.

To illustrate just how big it is, we've knocked up this diagram comparing it to an iPhone 5 and the Samsung Galaxy S4. The image isn't actual size, but it is to scale:

The trend towards larger displays on smart phones isn't a new one. It seems to reflect our desire to do much more with these devices than just make phone calls.

Larger screens are better-suited to watching video and playing games, as well as less-exciting functions like viewing and editing documents or making video calls.

But how big is too big? And at what point does a smart phone stop being a phone, and start being a tablet?

Introducing the phablet

Well, some tech firms have pre-empted that question by creating an entirely new product category. I give you: the phablet. 

Yes, really. Online seller Expansys even has a whole phablet category on its website. Phablets are a bit bigger than a typical smart phone but a bit smaller than your average tablet.

Tell friends or colleagues that you have a new phablet and they'll have no idea what you're on about, of course. But at least you'll know your new gadget has a name.

Phones, phablets, tablets ... who cares?

At the end of the day, as long as your phone / phablet / tablet does what you need it to, it doesn't matter what you call it.

But if you are shopping for a new smart phone, the diversity of screens available means it's important to check yours is right for the job. For instance:

• Is it big enough to easily read text on the screen?
• Is it small enough to fit in your pocket or bag?
• Can you use the phone comfortably with one hand?

If 6.3" isn't enough for you, there's no word yet on whether Samsung has any larger handsets planned. But it does seem unlikely, as there's already a wide range of 7" tablets on the market. These include the firm's own Galaxy Tab, the Amazon Kindle Fire and the cheap-as-chips BlackBerry PlayBook.

• Protecting your smart phone from theft
• Pre-order the Samsung Galaxy S4
• The new BlackBerry aims to bring balance to your business

Dell XPS 10 review: a great business tablet with one Achilles' heel

Light and slender, Dell's XPS 10 tablet computer looks like a small laptop, except the optional keyboard (not pictured) can be removed, transforming it into a pure 10.1" touch screen tablet.

We spent a couple of days using the XPS 10. Here are our first impressions.

Solid and weighty

The XPS 10 is an attractive, understated piece of kit. It feels solid and - when you choose to use it - the keyboard is pleasant and quiet, if a little undersized.

It would be nice if the keyboard had a backlight, but the large trackpad works nicely without feeling at all cramped.

Because the keyboard contains extra batteries, when you use the XPS 10 in its 'laptop' configuration, the battery life is fantastic. It'll keep going for 16+ hours, which is great if you're on a long flight or simply don't want to recharge so often.

However, the flipside of this staying power is the significant weight of the keyboard. In pure tablet mode, the Dell XPS 10 weighs in at 635g, which is slightly less than an iPad. But adding the keyboard more than doubles this to 1.3kg.

A well-connected tablet

The XPS 10 impresses with its connectivity too. The screen includes a micro-USB port and micro-SD memory card slot, as well as the dock connector for the keyboard. When the keyboard isn't attached, this doubles as an HDMI output via an adaptor, allowing you to connect an external screen when in tablet mode.

There are extra ports on the keyboard, including two USB connections and a mini-HDMI port, for hooking up screens and projectors.

The touch screen is clear and bright - even in sunlight - and allows multi-touch gestures just like a decent tablet should. It responds well when you tap and swipe, comparing favourably with other tablets in this bracket.

Adequate storage, good performance

The XPS 10 includes either 32GB or 64GB (gigabytes) of storage space. That's not a huge amount, particularly when you realise the pre-loaded software can leave as little as 16GB of usable space on the smaller-capacity model.

It is still room for lots of text documents or thousands of images. However, it would be wise to avoid downloading large video or music files, as these could eat up that space quickly.

Overall, the XPS 10's performance certainly feels snappy. Chuck in the enormous battery life and this Dell tablet starts to look like a real winner.

Is Windows RT enough?

The XPS 10's Achilles' heel is that it comes with Microsoft Windows RT, a special version of Windows designed for tablets.

The problem with Windows RT is that it can't run most standard Windows software. That means some of the programs you use in your business are unlikely to work on the XPS 10.

The tablet does come with a web browser, email software and other tools which mean it's fine for browsing the internet and using many cloud services. There's also an app store where you can download apps that will work on the tablet, although it's sparsely populated compared with competing app stores from Apple and Android.

Most usefully, the XPS 10 includes a special version of Microsoft Office, meaning you can work on Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents.

However, when you buy the tablet you'll get the Home & Student Edition of Office, which is not licensed by Microsoft for commercial use. As ZDNet has revealed, you'll need to buy an additional commercial license to legally use this version of Office in your business.

It's worth noting this isn't really Dell's fault. Microsoft hasn't made other versions of Office available with Windows RT. But it still seems bizarre that a tablet specifically marketed as being 'great for work and play' comes with key software that you can't legally use for work.

• Should you buy a Microsoft Surface?
• Does your business need Windows 8?
• Microsoft wants every computer to have a touch screen

Accepting cards is going to get easier this year

The PayPal Here card reader and app

If 2012 was the year contactless payments finally crawled vaguely into the mainstream, 2013 is shaping up to be the year when it gets much easier for small companies to accept card payments.

There are a whole slew of competing products emerging, all of which enable you to take card payments with your smart phone. They include:

• iZettle, which we covered previously but has since been updated to allow chip and PIN payments.  
• PayPal Here, coming soon from the payments giant PayPal. This will also allow chip and PIN payments.
• Intuit Pay, a similar service which is currently being piloted with a chip and PIN card reader.
• mPowa, which currently uses a signature-based system but is in the process of switching to chip and PIN.
• SumUp, another signature-based system which is available now with a free card reader.

With so many companies entering the market, the next few months are likely to see aggressive competition. If you are looking to start taking card payments, you should be in a good position to get a decent deal.

Mobile payments with a smart phone

Most of these new mobile payment services function in the same basic way. When you sign up you get a card reader which connects to your smart phone. You also get an app which you must install onto your mobile.

Together your phone, the app and the card reader do the same job as the traditional card terminals currently used by retailers.

When someone wants to pay you, you open the app, enter the payment amount and process their card through the card reader. Some services use chip and PIN. but others only offer verification via signature, which is less secure. Over time, it seems likely that chip and PIN will become the standard method of taking payment. 

The cost of a merchant account

What all these mobile payment services have in common is that they promise to simplify the business of accepting credit and debit cards.

At present, most companies need a merchant account to accept cards. Getting one can be time-consuming and expensive.

Typically, you pay a one-off set up fee, plus a commission of 1 - 3% on each payment. There's also often a monthly fee for the account itself, plus a charge for the hire of a card terminal - all wrapped up in a contract of 12 months or more.

In comparison, most of these new services charge up to 3% commission, plus a one-off fee (£50 - £100) for the card reader. With no minimum contract, they'll be attractive to companies who want to test the water or need to take card payments less often.

How will the banks respond?

The unanswered question - so far - is how the banks and other companies that traditionally provide card processing services will respond to the increased competition. Will it rouse them to slash their costs and increase the flexibility of their own services?

We'll be keeping a close eye on this market over the next few months to see exactly how things shape up. Once a few more services are publicly available, we'll take a closer look at the differences between them.

In the meantime, if you've had any experience using your smart phone to take card payments then leave a comment to let us know how things have gone.

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