PC fettling and repairs thread

[ColinJ]

Any recommended solutions.

Google Photos gives 15 GB free. If you want more there are fees.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

I’ve just had to buy a new cartridge for our printer, as wife has a few pages to print

£53.99, at Curry’s!!

That’s over £3,000/litre
(18ml)
It makes the present cost of diesel seem cheap!

 

[alicat]

I’ve just had to buy a new cartridge for our printer, as wife has a few pages to print

£53.99, at Curry’s!!

I really like my HP Instant Ink printer. I can increase or decrease my monthly subscription depending on usage. Ink cartridges arrive when needed and the used cartridges can be returned at no cost for recycling.

 

[StuAff]

Ink tank printers beat everything else on price per page. A full set of original bottles for my Epson (not that I will need it for years) is £37 from them, or as little as £23 from others. Third party options at half that price. Given the BS all the printer manufacturers are pushing trying to lock out refilled and third-party supplies, and the price of original cartridges, I'm very happy with my choice (though if it had not broken, I would be still using my 2002 vintage HP Deskjet 959- no problems getting cheap cartridges for that). It's not just inkjets either. A couple of members of my Apple user group bought Xerox colour lasers (rebadged Lexmarks). Cheapest replacement toner option is to buy a new printer.....

 

[november4]

Google Photos gives 15 GB free. If you want more there are fees.

Microsoft 365 gives 1TB, each if family membership, up to 6, the prices have gone up but can decline the copilot ai feature and around 65quid a year, used to be 40ish for family

Proton do sales and have similar, if you need vpn, email too

Google I have but they train their ai on all our personal stuff, just to be aware of all of that

 

[ColinJ]

Google I have but they train their ai on all our personal stuff, just to be aware of all of that

I think that I probably confused it with this photo...

 

[BrumJim]

My son's graphics card appears to be dying on his desktop computer. The screen works for a few seconds, and then the picture disappears. Only happens when the computer has been on for an hour or two, pointing to a heat and dodgy connection. Will try the screen on another computer (hopefully) tonight just to check that the problem isn't there.

But the desktop is rather old, being second hand many years ago.

My son is in yr 9 at school, so 5 more years before he may leave for uni.

So our thoughts are that it might be time to buy a new one for him. Use is Zwift, Minecraft, Lego Star Wars and Fortnite. So probably needs some decent graphics capability (hence the graphics card in the desktop).

Laptop or desktop? And any more advice?

 

[MontyVeda]

does it have a dedicated graphics card or is it using on-board graphics?

 

[BrumJim]

A dedicated graphics card. Donated desktop didn't have the inbuilt capability to run Minecraft.

 

[Cycling Badger]

When my boys were school age (now at Uni) I built them basic desktops. Sourced a non-sexy mid-range (i5 at the time) utilitarian desktop at the best price I could find on-line - these are just commodity resources. Main focus was on processor specification. I'd then max out memory and add a mid-range graphics card. I found this more cost effective than a laptop.

While at school computers never needed to leave the house or travel with us. Therefore spec / cost compromise didn't make sense. Plus, laptops are easier to break than desktops! Now they're at Uni and need to have mobile compute they have good spec Mac books - but they were bloody expensive.

My general guidance would be towards desktops, unless there is specific use-case that justifies a laptop - i.e. No dedicated workspace in the home, need access to computer from other locations (e.g. grandparents house), access to tablet for occasional remote use.

One last thought - I've always found cheap laptops rather crap and good ones rather expensive.

Hope this helps

 

[Seevio]

My son's graphics card appears to be dying on his desktop computer. The screen works for a few seconds, and then the picture disappears. Only happens when the computer has been on for an hour or two, pointing to a heat and dodgy connection. Will try the screen on another computer (hopefully) tonight just to check that the problem isn't there.

But the desktop is rather old, being second hand many years ago.

My son is in yr 9 at school, so 5 more years before he may leave for uni.

So our thoughts are that it might be time to buy a new one for him. Use is Zwift, Minecraft, Lego Star Wars and Fortnite. So probably needs some decent graphics capability (hence the graphics card in the desktop).

Laptop or desktop? And any more advice?

If the graphics card is old and overheating, it probably wants a fresh application of thermal paste. If you are otherwise going to get a new one it might be worth giving it a go. Plenty of how to videos on youtube.