Learning Windows 10

With the release of Microsoft's latest operating system Windows 10, I've been very busy advising and helping people upgrade their existing systems and ordering new ones.

Even though I have had three systems in the workshop running the technical preview version for the last nine months, I'm still learning the problems of installing, running and using this new version.  Also helping people with the new apps and procedures.  I've only had to un-install it twice as most people are happy with it after the initial learning curve and UI differences.  A couple of old printers are no longer supported any more with drivers.

There are times now that when I use Windows 7 and try to do something that is only available in Windows 10.  Cortana seems a little reluctant to appear automatically here in the UK.

Anyway, I've certainly had more business in what is usually a quiet holiday month.

Back to Wolfenstein

For the last couple of months, I haven't been playing a regular game.  I've gone back to a few of the old ones but it is not the same excitement of discovering and achieving something new.  There was an offer recently for less than £4 so I thought that I'd give it a try.  Great fun!  Just like going back in time killing lots of weird Nazis with a variety of different weapons.


The graphics are good even though you travel a scripted path along corridors, halls and tunnels.  The gore is impressive and the tension is just as it was.  Well worth it.

Great new Windows 10 video

 

I just found this great Windows 10 video on the Microsoft website. Windows 10 is for people who do unexpected things.

Living with a cheap laptop

Almost one year ago I bought a brand new DELL Inspiron 15 laptop for just £166. You can see my original review here. So it was time to give an update especially after my recent disappointing review of the DELL Latitude E3550 laptop. What can you expect for just a quarter of the price?

Quite a lot actually. If you just want a basic, laptop for email, web-surfing, photo editing and 2D gaming it does really well. Boots up quickly, connects to the Internet and provided you don't expect it to do more than one thing at time it remains responsive. Battery life is excellent too. It did come with Windows 8.1 but with the prospect of Windows 10 coming out next month and a free upgrade that will help a lot. As the warranty will be out, I'll upgrade it with a cheap 128Gb SSD as well.

I love this laptop and it does brilliantly for the price. DELL must have sold containers of them over the last Christmas holiday period! However shortly after that Microsoft withdrew its free Windows offer in Europe for this class of system and then they quickly disappeared. However if you look for the equivalent Lenovo which includes a DVD writer as well you can still find them for £169.

DELL Latitude E3550 laptop disappointing

I've just purchased a new DELL Latitude E3550 laptop for a customer and I'm disappointed with it compared to it's predecessor the E3540. The first obvious difference on inspection was the DVD writer is missing and as there is no space for it, it is not even an option. You will require an external DVD to load programs, rip music CDs or watch DVD films. I can understand that in a cheaper consumer laptop that this is standard or even for a small business laptop or ultrabook this is a necessity but in a large-screen, business laptop costing well over £650 this is just not acceptable.

Also compared to the previous model the hard disk drive is no longer the hybrid version with and integrated small SSD cache. Performance does seem to suffer and the slight increase that the latest Intel i5-5200U 'Broadwell' processor is also not spectacular. The hard disk activity light is missing and the power button has a small stripe power mark but no light making it difficult to see if the laptop is asleep or hibernating. The 15.6" display standard resolution is OK but not great. Again evidence of cost-cutting in the design and although the overall build quality is good, the touch pad rattles. On the plus side; keyboard lighting appears to be standard.

DELL have seen to be dropping the ball recently and this laptop if evidence that all is not well in the design and product marketing departments. I have switched my recent purchases to Lenovo for both desktops and laptops and will continue to do so until DELL get their act together again.

Thank you Virgin Media

I enjoy 100Mbps super-fast cable broadband from Virgin Media! I live right on the edge of the cabled area. All the hundreds of houses further out suffer with slow ADSL (1 to 3Mbps) unreliable broadband. For just £42 per month I have great broadband with unlimited downloads, HD television and a TiVo box to record and catch-up on hundreds of channels, plus a telephone including line rental. Also brilliant customer service.

I've been a cable customer since we bought this new house and subscribed to cable from the very beginning about 15 years ago. Unfortunately it didn't get off to a great start as the house builders had installed the cable in the street incorrectly, but when that was fixed it has been full speed ahead since then including three company takeovers (Comtel -> NTL -> Virgin Media -> Liberty). Occasionally the cable does drop out typically at 10am and is restored by 4pm. I assume that they are doing maintenance. I do however have a 3 mobile broadband dongle for these times plus for when I travel.

A very satisfied Virgin Media customer.

Finally bought my first DSLR

After many years of consideration, I've finally been tempted by the low price of £279 for a Nikon D3200 DSLR with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 VR II telephoto zoom lens. I've owned a couple of 35mm SLRs in the past and understand the basics of photography.

My goal is to get out of the point-and-shoot rut of the last few years. I can't imagine that I will be using Manual mode initially, though I remember using a hand held light meter in the old days! Also I've got to get into the idea of variable ISO and post processing RAW images in order to get the best from the photos that I take. I must admit though the first few photos that I've taken in Auto mode and fine JPEG format have come out remarkably well.