Anyone here used fasttech.

[trouble1000]

To be honest Terry, Based on your specs it might be worth holding back on one or two new mods and take the plunge into a new lappy like this.

Dell Inspiron 15 3531 500GB 4GB DDR3 Dual Core 15.6" HD Screen | eBay

If you can pick up this for £200, with a Dual core 2.4 processor, 4gb ram, Windows 8.1 and Hdmi out to connect to your tv and you know you are set for a good few years and you wont have to go through the trouble of upgrading your laptop now which could cost a little and end up upgrading your laptop in a year or so.

Just something to consider.

I was gonna suggest the same, but there'd be no juice or mod buying for a long time

When I got my new lappy, just went for something functional that would do what I wanted it to do. the Wife bought a new one, not long after with a touch screen and all the bells and whistles - paid 3 times what I did for mine. She's constantly complaining about the touch screen, so looks like I made the right choice

 

[trouble1000]

Right I'm gonna retire now. Hope you get sorted Terry.

 

[terry w]

To be honest Terry, Based on your specs it might be worth holding back on one or two new mods and take the plunge into a new lappy like this.
Cheers mate, i was actually looking at new ones yesterday, so i may just go down that route.
Dell Inspiron 15 3531 500GB 4GB DDR3 Dual Core 15.6" HD Screen | eBay

If you can pick up this for £200, with a Dual core 2.4 processor, 4gb ram, Windows 8.1 and Hdmi out to connect to your tv and you know you are set for a good few years and you wont have to go through the trouble of upgrading your laptop now which could cost a little and end up upgrading your laptop in a year or so.

Just something to consider.

Cheers mate, i was pondering that idea yesterday, and it probably is the way to go. After all, this one is as old as ian now.

Right I'm gonna retire now. Hope you get sorted Terry.

Thanks ian, i WILL get it sorted one way or another. I reckon up to now BG has got the right idea. Night mate.

 

[Burnie]

After all, this one is as old as ian now.

I reckon up to now BG has got the right idea.

With only 1gb RAM and 1.8ghz processor, Win7 would run DIRT SLOW, Yep, New Computer Time.

Vape On
Burnie

 

[Pictor]

Sounds like my heaven Trisha, I'd have moved there in a heartbeat if I had the chance. I'm the sort of person that doesn't worry about sickness etc, so the hospital issue wouldn't have even crossed my mind. I'd still need good internet access though

When you've been used to having family near by ..and very capable family at that, putting yourself a few hundred miles away, and then 3 hours from a large hospital, can make that think twice thing quite essential.

We'd have probably not given it a second thought before my husband retired, but once you get older, you do start to feel a bit more vulnerable and try to think ahead a bit more.
When my licensing agent semi-retired, they moved up to Inverness ..wonderful, but his wife did weekend nightshift relief at a care home ..she was so appalled at the elderly care system up there, they moved back down into England!

I did try to get my husband him to move before, but he always put it off! He wishes we hadn't now. I'm not 100% sure though.
I don't drive much now either - 25 years of working at home have changed my attitude to driving.
..and yes, internet access is another consideration. I need to have good internet access for my work. I have a friend in Hawick who hasn't enjoyed the best of service historically, but that's a fair distance from Oban, so I'm not sure.
Apart from all that, Oban will always have a place in my heart ..it's good for the soul up there!

Cheers mate, i was pondering that idea yesterday, and it probably is the way to go. After all, this one is as old as ian now.

Thanks ian, i WILL get it sorted one way or another. I reckon up to now BG has got the right idea. Night mate.

If you can, a new one would be the best idea. (I personally wouldn't want W8.1 - prefer W7, but that's just me).
Before I had my current computer, I had a Dell desktop - ordered it online, spoke direct to them regarding the final spec/details and negotiated on site service as a freebie. That was around 7-8 years ago, so not sure how they are now, but I had no complaints. I got my new one when the Dell was 4 and needing upgrades. Son refurbished it and sold it. ...and that's another reason to stay close to our sons: one can re-build computers and fix/upgrade them a lot of the time! The other one is good with TV/audio set-ups.

You've had enough brain mangling for one day ..computers are a pain when there's a problem. Sleep on it and see how you feel tomorrow.

 

[terry w]

To be honest Terry, Based on your specs it might be worth holding back on one or two new mods and take the plunge into a new lappy like this.

Dell Inspiron 15 3531 500GB 4GB DDR3 Dual Core 15.6" HD Screen | eBay

If you can pick up this for £200, with a Dual core 2.4 processor, 4gb ram, Windows 8.1 and Hdmi out to connect to your tv and you know you are set for a good few years and you wont have to go through the trouble of upgrading your laptop now which could cost a little and end up upgrading your laptop in a year or so.

Just something to consider.

It`s a shame that it isn`t windows 7, or i would have taken the plunge on that.

 

[terry w]

With only 1gb RAM and 1.8ghz processor, Win7 would run DIRT SLOW, Yep, New Computer Time.

Vape On
Burnie

I reckon you are right there burn. I am just shopping round now trying to find a good un with win 7.

 

[terry w]

You've had enough brain mangling for one day

You are not wrong there trish I tried the win 8 once and didn`t like it at all ( another mangler ) . But i have now decided to get a new one, It`s just which one to go for. The dells do look good, like in the link what BG posted, but alas that is win 8.1.

Oh, and dentist for terence tomorrow, really looking forward to that. NOT.

 

[Pictor]

You are not wrong there trish I tried the win 8 once and didn`t like it at all ( another mangler ) . But i have now decided to get a new one, It`s just which one to go for. The dells do look good, like in the link what BG posted, but alas that is win 8.1.
Oh, and dentist for terence tomorrow, really looking forward to that. NOT.

I didn't like the look of W8 right from the start ...the ensuing torrent of complaints and people not liking it confirmed that for me!
It's generally accepted that if you want a no nonsense business-like o/s, W7 is the way to go ..want something more like a games machine with leisure time & social facilities added, then W8 is it!
Already there's a new W9 type version on the horizon. If it involved tiles or whatever the pesky little square bits are, they can keep it!

My new phone is a W8 type o/s and although I like it far better than the android one, wouldn't want it on my computer.
If you speak to Dell direct, they may still be willing to install a W7 one for you - worth asking!

Get the dentist appointment over with first ..then get your brain in gear for a computer

 

[terry w]

I didn't like the look of W8 right from the start ...the ensuing torrent of complaints and people not liking it confirmed that for me!
It's generally accepted that if you want a no nonsense business-like o/s, W7 is the way to go ..want something more like a games machine with leisure time & social facilities added, then W8 is it!
Already there's a new W9 type version on the horizon. If it involved tiles or whatever the pesky little square bits are, they can keep it!

My new phone is a W8 type o/s and although I like it far better than the android one, wouldn't want it on my computer.
If you speak to Dell direct, they may still be willing to install a W7 one for you - worth asking!

Get the dentist appointment over with first ..then get your brain in gear for a computer

Yes it`s them tile thingies what i don`t like, more mangling if you ask me. As for buying directly from dell, if i am totally honest, i dont really care what make i buy as long as it has good reputation/name.

Now, on to the dentist. The one i am visiting tomorrow is private ( Aren`t they all ) And i say visit loosely, as i may be out Quicker that a rat up a drainpipe when i get a quote.

 

[Pictor]

Yes it`s them tile thingies what i don`t like, more mangling if you ask me. As for buying directly from dell, if i am totally honest, i dont really care what make i buy as long as it has good reputation/name.

You may have to ask a company like Dell for one with W7 installed.

On the other hand, there are ways to make a W8 computer appear and operate like W7. You may find it cheaper to do it that way. Burnie may know how good that option may be.
I haven't seen one done but when I was buying my last computer my son assured me it could be made to look just like W7 if I got a W8 one.
I do have virtual machine on this though so that I can use XP specific programmes on it if necessary ...never have though.

Plenty to consider, so as long as yours is limping along, take your time and get one as future proof as you can, or one that can be upgraded to keep it useful longer.

Now, on to the dentist. The one i am visiting tomorrow is private ( Aren`t they all ) And i say visit loosely, as i may be out Quicker that a rat up a drainpipe when i get a quote.

Just last week, I was checking the various price differences for NHS and private treatment, and a lot of basic things weren't horrendously more expensive.
From what I saw,I think it's in the south that private dental treatment tends to be far more expensive than elsewhere. Hopefully, you won't find it too terrible! May be better prices at independent dentists rather than the bigger 'chain' practices.
The dentist my husband and younger son use has opted to only do private work. I'm afraid I only go when I have to, and I pay to get sedation too ..I'd never be able to keep still otherwise ..I'd be off!

 

[terry w]

You may have to ask a company like Dell for one with W7 installed.

On the other hand, there are ways to make a W8 computer appear and operate like W7. You may find it cheaper to do it that way. Burnie may know how good that option may be.
I haven't seen one done but when I was buying my last computer my son assured me it could be made to look just like W7 if I got a W8 one.
I do have virtual machine on this though so that I can use XP specific programmes on it if necessary ...never have though.

Plenty to consider, so as long as yours is limping along, take your time and get one as future proof as you can, or one that can be upgraded to keep it useful longer.


Just last week, I was checking the various price differences for NHS and private treatment, and a lot of basic things weren't horrendously more expensive.
From what I saw,I think it's in the south that private dental treatment tends to be far more expensive than elsewhere. Hopefully, you won't find it too terrible! May be better prices at independent dentists rather than the bigger 'chain' practices.
The dentist my husband and younger son use has opted to only do private work. I'm afraid I only go when I have to, and I pay to get sedation too ..I'd never be able to keep still otherwise ..I'd be off!

Like everything else trish, the south is indeed a total outrage when it comes to private treatment. It will be my first time using this practice, and although i have done a bit of homework, it seems to be a very good one ( and reasonable ) So we will see what the visit brings. Anyhoo, bedtime for bonzo now so na night trish.

 

[Bobw1951]

I knew nothing about computers then, but yes, MSDOS it was!
Who knew we'd come this far so relatively fast with computers!
First one I got at home, I wondered what on earth I would do with it!

I started with the ZX Spectrum, then the 3+ (the one with a mini disk drive), the first real PC I bought was the Amstrad 1512 with 5-1/4" floppy drive and 10M HDD and 512k memory - wouldn't even run the OS these days

 

[Bobw1951]

Terry, sorry wasn't about last night, was trying to catch up on recorded programs on Sky and ended up falling asleep, think the heat got to me, but looks like Burnie covered all bases.

 

[turnippits]

plus windows 7 is coming to the end of support soon as well so we will all be pushed onto win 8 like it or not I installed win 8 onto my pc and hated it but when I updated it to win 8.1 found it to be my fav by far love it now its all I use at home

however our coaches radio can be connected to a computer that has I tunes on and computer controls the radio so I have a old laptop a Pentium 75 256mb ram 2gb hard drive windows 95 I have it filled with music and use it everyday

but I am going to look for a cheap xp laptop for work now they have removed support for xp as long as the hard drive is 10gb or more it will do for the coach and they wont cost much as the technology is to old to use at home but is what us coach drivers need the only socket we use on the laptop is headphone socket so time for a look around I think

 

[Pictor]

plus windows 7 is coming to the end of support soon as well so we will all be pushed onto win 8 like it or not I installed win 8 onto my pc and hated it but when I updated it to win 8.1 found it to be my fav by far love it now its all I use at home

W7 updates etc. should be around for quite some time once it ceases to be sold as an O/S.
I reckon there'll be a different O/S out before any support for W7 ceases or diminishes. Too many professional and business users have shunned W8.

 

[dw117]

Windows 8 and 8.1 aren't that bad.

I have a dell laptop that has used both and took a few simple steps to try and restore the UI to something like W7. I set it to not load the W8 style start screen (with the 'app' shortcuts and other things designed for touch screen use) on startup and installed a 3rd party application to make the start menu like the old W7 one (although maybe W8.1 can do that anyway, I installed this when it was running W8) called 'Classic Shell'.

This all took me less than an hour and now my W8.1 laptop works pretty much the same as a W7. Occasionally if you open a file it will load it by default in a new W8 style application (full screen etc) but you can easily then close that and set it to open files by default in a simpler program. e.g. i think by default it opens .jpgs and other picture files in a full screen slideshow style display but I just set it to open them in windows photo editor or whatever its called just like in W7.

If you can get a better deal on the laptop coming with W8 or 8.1 then I would definitely do it and just google making W8 look like W7. I found loads of articles about how to do it.

 

[Pictor]

I got notice of a refund from FastTech this morning for 2 Authentic Unitank mini - they say ''discontinued temporarily due to production problems'.
They had been part of an order placed on 13th, supposedly in stock, but the rest of the order only shipped 5 days later ..and now I find that the other 'in stock' items (the Unitanks) weren't in stock at all.

Second time in a month I've had something cancelled or an order split.

I see the red ones still listed as in stock ..wonder if it's Ok to order a couple of those. I've sent a reply asking about that.

 

[turnippits]

I seen something on the net a couple of days ago and cant find it now saying Microsoft were withdrawing sale of windows 7 in September 2014 and stopping updates in march 2015

 

[Pictor]

I seen something on the net a couple of days ago and cant find it now saying Microsoft were withdrawing sale of windows 7 in September 2014 and stopping updates in march 2015

No need to worry until 2020. Who knows, we may have something better by then or Microsoft will extend that deadline.
Windows 7: you can keep it until 2020 | Enterprise | News | PC Pro

I was reading about making W8 look like W7 earlier, and it's not an official fix, so unless you want to start tinkering with a brand new computer and possibly the registry, best find one that does have W7.
I don't think I'd want to do it, but I don't like messing around with a nicely optimised new computer.