The Official Computer Tech Support Thread

[Trollheart]

My PC has slowed to such a speed now that I don't just go make a cup of tea while it moves to the next page, I sail to China. Well, to the Chinese anyway. That's obviously a lie: I've never eaten Chinese food in my life. But it's slow, damn slow.

The laptop has not worked out. I feared it might not. Probably going to try sell it. There's nothing wrong with it, but I've been a desktop jockey for so long now (all my adult life) that I just cannot get to grips with a smaller keyboard and trackball etc. My keyboard is large and that's just how I likes it.

Anyway, long rambling intro to ask a question: I am now in the market for a new desktop, most likely gonna be a refurb. What I want to know is this: the ones I've been looking at - Dell Optiplexes mostly - have no HDMI slots, only VGA and DP (Display Port). My current PC is hooked up to my telly via HDMI (as well as my monitor via DVI) so if I get a Display Port to HDMI adaptor, will this likely work on my TV? I've read conflicting opinions about it, so just wonder if anyone has done this, and if so, if you can recommend one that works.

Ta muchly.
TH

[Trollheart]

I know this isn't computer-related as such, but it's a one-off and I didn't want to start a whole new thread for it.

So, any advice on getting a new ... da da da daaaah!
Microwave?

Ours died on Sunday night. I HAVE to be able to heat up Karen's meals as they are all frozen and pureed, so having a m/w is vital. I therefore rushed out and bought the best I could get at short notice, but it's already driving me spare. It has no digital readout, just uses a knob with the times printed around it, and when you turn it to, say, ten minutes there is no start button: it starts right away. This presents two problems: one, if you have not got it turned to the right time you're ****ed because it's already running and two, the further you have to turn the knob, ie the longer the cooking time, the harder it is to get it right. It's hard to explain, but your eyes kind of don't work in concert with your fingers, and you can turn it to the wrong time. There's no stop key either, so the only way, I guess, to stop it is to pop the door open.

As well as this, it is only marked up to ten minutes, then after that you get like 15 is the next (so you have to judge where, say, 12 is) and god help you if you're looking for seconds!

The depth of it is ****ty. It's like about 29 cms deep inside. This means the frozen packs her food comes in do fit, but there's barely room for them to turn. And forget putting a dinner plate in! As well as that, the door is one of those "push-in-pop-out" deals, and the microwave itself is quite light, so pushing the button in usually moves the damn thing on the surface, unless you hold the oven with one hand to steady it.

Having no clock on it is a pain. Not only have I been used to glancing at it to check the time, it also serves to remind me I haven't switched it off at the wall at night. Now there's nothing; no lights, no standby power lamp, nothing. You couldn't tell if it was on or off.

Upshot is, it won't do.

Now, I've been researching flatbed ovens and they seem to be great, so that might be the way to go. Trouble is, as soon as I settle on one someone comes up with a "did you know" problem, such as plates crack over time or the door is so loud when it closes and hard to open, etc etc.

So can anyone recommend me a good one? Flatbed if possible but it's not a deal-breaker. Ideally it needs to have internal dims of maybe 34/35 cms and external length of no more than say 50 cms to fit where the current one is. It needs to have a digital LED readout - can have a knob to adjust the time as long as it is in conjunction with the readout. Price range is about 200 Euro max, though less expensive is always good.

Ones tried and rejected are Hotpoint MWH 262 and Russell Hobbs RHFM2363.
Obviously, something that's available in Ireland would be preferable. I need this soon, so appreciate if anyone can help.

Thanks
TH

[Plankton]

Just get a Banana Jr 6000.

[Trollheart]

They're only skin-deep though. Besides, if I were to get a Banana I'd have to learn a whole new way of computing, and I'm too old and crotchety to do that at my time of life. My Windows gives me regular updates whether I wants 'em or not, and that's jest how I likes it!

[Plankton]

My Windows updates me when the sun goes down, and then up again, every single day.

[The Batlord]

I had a Dell laptop before spilling beer on it and nuking it and had no complaints. It was a budget gaming laptop so had some issues with heating but there's generally gonna be some heating issues with gaming laptops especially budget ones (as in making my bedroom hot), but one thing that was kind of annoying was the darkness of the screen. It was... fine, but if a laptop is reviewed as having a dark screen maybe believe them cause people don't generally complain about a dark screen for no reason and it can be an annoying quality of life issue.

[Trollheart]

The good thing about this is that, though it's a refurbished one, it's to MIL-SPEC, which I'm told is the quality the military demands, so it's unlikely to break if it falls off my lap - unless I happen to be on top of Mount Everest at the time, and I have no plans to be.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B081FZ1TK1...v_ov_lig_dp_it

[Plankton]

[Plankton]

It's 2 years old. I think I cleaned it out once last year, but yeah it's in really good shape. Hopefully getting dual/bridged 3080ti's soon. I'm just waiting for the Zotac to give me a reason. lol

[Plankton]

It's pretty zippy.

Dude... you got a Dell. Niiice.

lol couldn't resist