PC Tech Thread

http://www.ebuyer.com/363772-acer-aspire-s3-ultrabook-nx-m1fek-001?utm_source=google&utm_medium=products&gclid=CLasmqmNzLQCFUbKtAodOwUALw

Much more convenient for me to be able to simply take one machine around with me Emyr.

Plus I do nothing that requires a heavyweight CPU, apart from the odd monstrous Excel document.

I spend a lot of time on trains going to and from meetings, where the 3G is sparse and I'm too tight to spring for the on-board WiFi.

Fair enough. What's your app usage profile when you're on such unreliable connectivity?

Look at that acer above.

Generally Word (the proposal), PowerPoint (the presentation) and Excel (the pricing).

Then it all gets stuffed into a PDF (the document).

And I have to refer to Outlook frequently for data/requirements/etc.

We have one of these in the office at the moment.. they are very nice: http://h20386.www2.hp.com/UKStore/Merch/Product.aspx?id=C1X26EA&opt=ABU&sel=PCNB

They also do a "pro" version which comes with all the necessary support things to make IT people happy. It's call the Spectre XT Pro.

Sounds like a RAM-stuffed netbook would keep you working on the go.

Soul- looks nice, but too heavy.

Emyr- that's why I was originally looking at the 11" MBA.

Soul- looks nice, but too heavy.

True.. the XT Pro doesnt have the touch screen and comes in at around 1.42kg

Can't find it on the website but the consumer version (same but without onsite support) is here: http://h20386.www2.hp.com/UKStore/Merch/Product.aspx?id=C1P10EA&opt=ABU&sel=PCNB

Comes with the 128Gb SSD as well so nice and zippy.

^ found it: http://h20386.www2.hp.com/UKStore/Merch/Product.aspx?id=B8W13AA&opt=ABU&sel=PBNB

Dammit why not a netbook with ssd and lots of RAM?

MBA = moneybags' pimped-up steroidal netbook.
Halve the budget.

^ Or grab one of the Samsung equivalents for ±£200 less, which is a sort-of compramise

Surface. Small, runs Windows 8 (RT, 8ish), supports office, allows multiple user profiles and will sync with your desktop machine if it's running Windows 8. Get it with the soft keyboard/screen cover thing for <£500.

I'm thinking of getting one myself.

Or wait for the Surface Pro? That'll run a full version of Windows.

Any point if only using Office apps?

£479 for the Surface RT+keyboard.

I'm thinking about options for TV in our new house. I'm not really that fussed but would like good internet speeds (most probably fibre)

We used to have Sky before but I don't really want all that again - but as Mrs. Spenceey tends to watch it more I was thinking about alternatives that would allow us to watch programs on line.

What options do I have?

• Build a media centre (could be a good idea but may end up costing more than a Sky subscription)

• Raspberry Pi - can that be made in to a device to watch internet TV?

• Some other Android box?

It's also worth noting I've got my current PC but don't really want to drag that downstairs every time I fancy watching something on line.

Surely just plugging your Xbox into the main TV is the best option at the moment?

You can access Sky, BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Lovefilm & Netflix on it along with Xbox's own movie service.

Wii supports iPlayer, Netflix and Lovefilm if you prefer that platform and don't need HD.

^ I think he already has an Xbox...

I won an iPad Mini in a competition at work before Christmas, hadn't seen one until I popped into the Apple store yesterday- bigger than I expected.

They sell an iPad to VGA and DVI connector for them, are these any cop at driving a large screen?

They can run at 1080p but bear in mind that the mini is running on iPad 2 internals so will be a bit sluggish compared to the bigger iPad 3 or 4.

I bought one of those mini Asus PCs a while ago and just left Windows on it. Windows is great because there are many sites which still use either Silverlight or Flash, such as the Eurosport Player (for the TdF).

You can still install something like XBMC for local media and videos.

And I just have shortcuts on the desktop to open Internet Explorer for things like LoveFilm, iPlayer, etc.

I also adjusted the desktop icon size to be freaking enormous... making them more like large tiles which suit the TV better than small icons would.

The only addition to a dirt cheap PC with a HDMI output was the need for some kind of remote with a keyboard so that I could use the search fields on LoveFilm easily . For this I bought one of these:
http://www.logitech.com/en-gb/product/dinovo-mini?crid=26

The only issue I had was with streaming video within the house from blu-ray rips. WiFi was not good for this and it was occasionally choppy, so I did feel the need to lay some ethernet cable... but only for the lossless Blu-Ray rips that I was attempting to stream. Everything else worked perfectly fine over WiFi.

I could use the Xbox but I like to watch sports sites that kind of thing as well. Which is why I thought of using the raspberry Pi as it works with flash - then doing as velocio mentioned.

I could then have shortcuts on the desktop to 4od/ iPlayer etc.