Read the Frickin’ Manual! Too many people rant about how their gadget has failed them, when the solution was available in the manual! If you’re too lazy to pull out the box and flip through the manual, many companies make their products’ manuals available online. You have no excuse!

Learn Keyboard Shortcuts. Real gadget veterans know how to do things on their desktops and laptops really quickly; tapping commands with the keyboard will always be quicker than selecting them with a mouse. Check out Developer’s Alarm: 200+ Hotkeys To Boost Your Productivity and Mac Shortcuts That Boost Your Productivity.

Use Bluetooth. We discovered the wonders of Bluetooth a long time ago. Aside from allowing easy file and data transfers, and syncing, there are programs out there that allow you to lock a PC and control it, via Bluetooth.

Take care of your batteries. The instructions vary for each gadget type. Here are some resources to get you started: ipodbatteryfaq.com, How To Maximize Laptop Battery Life, and Maximizing Your Cell Phone Battery Life.

Don’t Save Anything Compromising. Let’s see, if Vanessa Hudgens didn’t snap herself nude with a camera phone, there would’ve been no chance for her privates becoming public. A simple rule: Need something to be absolutely secret? Make sure it isn’t on any gadget, or at least keep it very very secure!

Visit (and Participate in) Forums. Look for forums relevant purportedly to your gadgets, see if members post useful info, and participate. Forums are a great way to learn new stuff, especially when it comes to fully utilizing your tech toys.

Join User Groups. Related to the previous item, active gadget user groups are a great way to meet literally like-minded people. Nothing beats first-hand advice from a fellow user who’s experienced the same problem. And for certain gadgets, like gaming consoles, there’s nothing like a little friendly competition!

Save Your Money. No one said it better than Joel Johnson: “Stop buying this crap. Just stop it. You don’t need it. Wait a year until the reviews come out and the other suckers too addicted to having the very latest and greatest buy it, put up a review, and have moved on to something else.” In other words, maximizing your gadget starts with making sure you’re spending for something genuinely useful, and pay only for the features you need.

Got any more ways to maximize your gadgets? Do let us know, dear readers!

Post from: The Gadget Blog