a blog by Ben Fallaize
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iMac – 5 months on

Posted by admin in Apple | Rants and Rambles - (Comments Off)

I’ve been using my iMac for 5 months now and I can honestly say, I am completely converted to the simpler way of computing.

Never have I had any trouble doing whatever I need to do, and it’s been perfectly reliable.  So much so, that i recently swapped my Windows mobile HTC mobile phone, to an Apple iPhone, which is the most impressive little device I’ve ever seen.

Now, my first ‘real’ pc was a lowly AMD powered Windows 95 machine.  I have owned at least one computer with every major version of Windows since then.  Each one was a big step forward in terms of what you could do, and how easy you could do it.  XP is by far and away the leader in terms of amount of users with around 70% of computers on the internet using this OS.  Next in line is Windows Vista, presumably, because it comes pre-installed on almost all laptops now.

Now, I haven’t heard of a single place of work upgrading their office machines to Vista.  Being the sole person in charge of this at my place of work, I will never put Vista on any of our machines, and I know most others in my position feel the same way.

So where does this leave Microsoft for the future?  They have again extended the time they will keep providing OEMs with Windows XP.  They are never going to infiltrate the average office with Vista, their flagship OS, so what is their next move?  Windows 7 is in public beta, I’ve not installed it since I don’t own a PC anymore, but early tests indicate it is a vast improvement over Vista, with quotes like ‘substance over style’ appearing everywhere.  It appears Microsoft is trying to remove all the annoying parts of Vista and start again.  Surely then, starting from XP would be a better bet than starting with Vista?

I’m also keen to see how they deal with keeping 3 versions of their operating system supported.  They can’t leave reluctant sysadmins with vulnerable XP systems, and they have to keep supporting Vista…

Apple’s market share is getting larger by the month, and with more accessible versions of Linux around, as well as the infamous Firefox, Microsoft is losing its grip on the PC world.  I am now a Mac user, but I wouldn’t like to see Windows die a painful death.  The fact remains however, if they shoot themselves in the other foot with Windows 7, they are going to find it very difficult to get back up.

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HP confirms their products are rubbish…

Posted by admin in Rants and Rambles - (Comments Off)

Actually, that’s not true, but it got your attention didn’t it?

After much searching on the internet for the below issues, there is actually a known issue with quite a few laptops made by HP in which they eventually roast themselves to death.  A BIOS patch to combat this was released not so long ago, but for most this may have already been too late.

Anyway, in their defense, they are replacing the motherboard in all defective laptops for free, or at least that’s what I’m led to believe.  We’ll see what happens when I phone them…

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Your HP laptop has only weeks to live…

Posted by admin in Rants and Rambles - (Comments Off)

Yes, I’m sorry, but that could be true.

“Why do you say that?”  I hear you say.  Well, because I’ve determined that HP laptops are actually programmed to self destruct after 14 months.

Now.  I’ve always been a fan of HP laptops.  I had 2 of the older generation, which lasted me for over 3 years, and as far as I know, are still going now.  So where does the problem begin?

A member of my family bought one of the newer HP DV models, one of the last models to be sold with Windows XP installed.  It worked perfectly for 14 months, and then, just failed to work.  I determined that it was a graphics card problem within minutes of looking at it.  Unfortunately for him, the computer shop in question that looked at it for him, are (I have learnt) incredibly stupid, completely ignorant, and entirely un-interested in everything they sell, unless it’s an iPod.

To keep them anonymous, lets call them WNES.

Anyway, the computer was sent away repeatedly, only to discover that it was indeed the GPU at fault, and he was charged an obscene amount of money, as the computer was 2 months out of warranty.

This was about 3 months after we purchased 2 HP DV6000′s on the same day.  Both identical, pre-installed with Vista Home Premium.  Fast forward some months, to guess what, month 14.  Laptop number 1, which was absolutely immaculate, lost it’s screen.  Again, a fault that had to be paid for by the new owner as it was out of warranty.  Only 1 week later, laptop number 2 has lost its wireless network card.  Completely.  It doesn’t physically exist on the computer anymore.  The switch on the front shows an orange light, whatever position it’s in.

So there we go.  3 HP laptops, all pronounced dead at 14 months.  My theory is based on conclusive proof, and I’d like to hear from you if you’ve had the same thing happen to you!

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