If your like most you start off the year doing some simple little changes like changing your batteries in your smoke detectors (I hope your doing that). Well you should also make it a habit of also cleaning your gadgets around the house. Not only will it make them look better but they will work better.
Suplies to clean your electronic gadgets:
Canned Air. You can find this about any store now days and it is fairly cheap
Microfiber Electronics Cleaning Cloth (soft lint free cloth) these are pretty cheap and found everywhere.
Anti Static cleaner. Most office supplie stores along with Walmart carry this.
Anti Static wipes. These are great for on the go geeks. I generally have a few of these in my lap top bag. The cheapest place I have found to get them is Walmart in the eyeglass area - you can also find them in the photo department
Rubbing Alcohol - 70% or higher
Computers:
to make sure your computer is running it top performance it needs to be cleaned from time to time. We have a thread here that basically explains how to do this. You can read it here: How To Dust And Clean A Computer On The Inside Basically you just need to arm yourself with a bottle of can air. Now you can clean it with a microfiber cloth and some alcohol (above 70%) but really all you need is can air.
Monitors, LCD and Plasmas, Camera lenses:
Use the Anti Static cleaner or wipes. Now DO NOT stray it straight on the screens spray it into the microfiber cloth and then wipe it clean. What ever you do DO NOT use Windex or any window cleaning fluid, you could damage it. Now do yourself a favor before your clean it hit it once with the canned air. The reason for this is that if there should be any dirt on it you will blow it off and not run the risk of a piece of sand or something scratching the surface when you wipe it.
Keyboards:
Tilt the keyboard on a angle and spray it good with the can air. This will blow out any crumbs or such stuck in between the keys. You will be amazed at the amount of junk that comes out. Now if you need to clean the keys also then use some alcohol on the microfiber cloth. Get the cloth damp first them wipe clean.
Computer mice, outside of laptops and Game Controllers:
wipe away any smudges, fingerprints or grime with the alcohol damp microfiber cloth.
No you can open the side of your computer with no issue. Now don't go unscrewing the back of you laptop off (the main part) - first it could screw it up and second it will void your warrantee. Basically if a sticker covers the opening then don't open it
Doesn't it void your warrantee if you open your computer?