PC Tech Thread

Not sure just yet, just considering options. The necessity to drill holes big enough for a DP plug would probably rule out the direct connection of the display.

Thinking about it I'm not even sure I would need anything larger than a mini PC for this position as it's probably unlikely I'll be doing any real 'work' in my lounge for hours on end, not if I even manage to get a home office built in my garden anyway.

Anyone run their PC from a cupboard or similar in another room.

@Fox

Is it just your consoles? Or is there a computer in your basement too?

Console is a distant memory :)

I have a PC/hackintosh in my cellar with a USB cable and a Displayport cable running upstairs to the living room. USB-C monitor plugs into the USB cable via an adapter and acts as a USB hub for keyboard, mouse, webcam, microphone and charging stuff.

I used to have a HDMI cable which would be more standard, but the Dell monitor I have now defaults to secondary monitor unless it's connected via Displayport.

Will definitely use this setup in our new place if it makes sense, it's much cleaner.

If you could connect a PC to a monitor with USB-C that would be the ideal way to do it, one narrow cable which doesn't need big holes. I haven't seen long USB-C cables though...

In my flat I ran massive hdmi and USB cables through the floor to my PC out in the utility room. Here I'm always going to have a degree of gadgetry in the lounge, but trying to minimize/child proof my setup. Just remembered there's a little hollow within the alcove where I want the monitor to sit. Could be the perfect little nook for an NUC and all the power gubbins to sit.

I'm trying to put together a media centre pc including a TV card.

I made two of these about 16 years ago and was still using one of them as our living room TV and music system. But the power supply on the pc has just gone, and it's ancient tech - Win XP, etc - so hardly worth fixing.

Everything I knew is out of date and I don't have as much time to research everything now as I did then. Anyone built a media centre pc recently? Or any recommendations what to use? Especially TV card and software.

Doesn't have to be high end as doesn't get used that much, but good to have it work when needed! Don't do gaming.

potentially relevent Frank :)

https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/359710/#comment15803860

I'd probably use Plex for the software. The live TV seems pretty decent now and it's easy. Otherwise I'd use Kodi with TVHeadend or similar. MythTV is the other main one but I've always found it to be a bit of a ballache.

TV card depends on how many tuners you want. Are you just watching stuff or recording multiple channels too?

I have a HD Homerun network TV tuner which is goodbut probably overkill. At the other end of the scale I also have an Xbox USB TV tuner which you can pick up for about a fiver and works fine.

Cheap option would be Raspberry Pi and Librelec with an Xbox USB TV tuner. Otherwise one of the NUCs with a pricier multi-tuner (probably a Hauppage)

Looks good. May come back to you on that!

Thanks.

Two channels max for TV card. One would probably do as never record stuff nowadays.

I'll have a look at those options

Is there anything that’s not on catch up or an app now? Can’t remember the last time I watched something ‘live’
Smart TV with Plex app does for me now

something ‘live’

TBH I find the choice bewildering and so much on Netflix/similar a bit meh.

If I want to just watch something without having to think terrestrial TV is refreshingly easy. Otherwise I just end up watching Modern Family now we've finished Community.

One requirement is to have the constraints of live TV for my 3yo daughter. So I can say 'Xxxxxx isn't on now' or 'it's finished' without lying.

without lying

Dude you're 3 years in. Give in.

Lying to children is one of the parental cornerstones.

I have made an error.

I had an office 365 account attached to the hotmail account I made in about 2002. I use the account for personal shopping / banking etc. I wanted to log in to office from my work account so went into options and changed the email address. I may have deleted my hotmail account. I haven't had any emails since Thurs (just noticed now) and microsoft help is an ineffective bot that seemingly doesn't work. Eventually offers 'email us' which when clicked opens up an outlook tab with the help drop-down open (and no means of contacting anyone there either).

Any thoughts? I've tried adding the hotmail address back as an alias but it says "This email is part of a reserved domain. Please enter a different email address."

Newish, (oct 2020) Asus laptop.
Bluetooth no longer functioning.
Asus sent me a couple of drivers to try, but still no Bluetooth adaptor
shown in Device Manager.

Asus are ready to RMA the laptop.
But, it's a 4-day turn around,
and,
I would have to make an additional full back up of the 200+ Gb of data on the ssd.

Any reason why not just to buy this:
https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing-accessories/networking/network-routers-and-switches/wireless-adapters/tp-link-ub400-usb-bluetooth-adapter-10190338-pdt.html

Looks like I can click'n'collect this pm.

Or does anyone know of 'the' USB bluetooth adaptor?

My 2010 MacBook Pro needs a new drive. Had an SSD put in a couple of years ago and it is now failing.
The shop says I have 3 options for repairs.
1 - replace drive
2 - in addition, OS install
3 - in addition, data recovery
I have a recent complete backup available, would I need 2 or 3?

Just to continue the forum run-around: probably best to ask on the Apple thread
https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/156865/?offset=17400#comment15816133

Ha, oookay then.

Anyone want an EVGA Supernova B2 750w, 80+ bronze rated semi-modular PSU for £40?

May seem counter intuitive to ask here, but I am tentatively looking at laptops and the Apple M1 Air seems very price competitive. To the point that the refurbed ThinkPads I was looking at actual seem poor vfm in comparison.

This basic silver one is £874.

Although I've almost always used Windows, my personal laptop is Ubuntu (not that it's used much any more) and since then I've concluded all OS' are fine. However, I am tied to Office for work. And in the medium term it would mainly see work used.

Am I missing anything obvious?

Am I missing anything obvious?

No. For the spec, the new Macs are very well priced (or, for the price, they’re very quick)

If you get on with Mac OS then there’s no reason not to get a Mac.

The XPS13 is the obvious competition at that price point
https://www.dell.com/en-uk/shop/laptops/xps-13-laptop/spd/xps-13-7390-laptop/cnx73929sc

I know that Teams isn't yet compatible with the new processor but the rest of Office is. There is surprisingly little in the way of benchmarks though so no idea how fast it is.

In my experience, in the very rare instances that I go to a company that uses Macs, there are just enough issues with Office to be annoying.

I was watching linus tips and TBH it seemed like the only thing that competed was a gaming laptop. The xps13 didn't really get a look in.

Thanks