Nerdy help needed please

UFOs, new tech, it all goes in here. Have you tried switching it off and back on ?

Re: Nerdy help needed please

Postby Dimples » Sun May 27, 2018 8:57 pm

Trapper John wrote:If money isn't an object, not that they need to be any more expensive than branded lines, get one made to your own specs by https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk.

You can pick everything yourself or they'd be happy to advise you on everything, just tell them what you want it for and they'll do the rest. If I had the time and inclination I build my own, it's not that hard but I prefer to have them do it because they test it before release and I've got comeback if anything goes wrong.

I've had a gaming PC made by them in the past, a desk top and a laptop and they've all been brilliant. Don't be put off by their nerdy looking website, they deal with everyone from novices to top spec gamers and graphic designers.

One bit of advice I will give you if you go the high street way is don't be swayed by huge capacity hard drives, some offer terabytes of storage and you don't need it. No-one should be storing huge amounts of data on their daily use computer hard drive it's unsafe both in terms of data protection and hard drive crashes.

250 gigabytes maximum is more than you'll ever need to run a machine at opitimum, store everything you want to keep on a seperate drive. Also when you want to scrub your machine thoroughly, which everyone should do at least once a month, it takes far less time.


I think I would just choose something from the High St, TJ. That's why I was looking at John Lewis.
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Re: Nerdy help needed please

Postby McAz » Sun May 27, 2018 9:01 pm

Dimples wrote:
McAz wrote:
Dimples wrote:Is the one you have, shown here on this page I was looking at earlier?

https://www.johnlewis.com/browse/electr ... bdZ1z13ua0


Mine is the first one but with the specs of the second one - in other word, a 9360 (the latest is 9370) but with Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD - I paid around £1400 3 or 4 months ago.


Aha! Mine is going to be paid for by someone else - as it's going to be used for work - but I am to choose what I want. I don't want to go too mad! :ooer:

Thing is, they won't set me a budget... and I don't want to ask for something which is too expensive. :oops:

I'm just a bit out of touch about prices, as my current laptop is about 5 years old, I think.


Well, at least you have a better idea of what is available now. You should tailor the machine to your needs - unless you're gaming or producing graphic and processor intensive media you don't need all the bells and whistles. You can get perfectly decent laptops for £500 - £750.

Most people would be more than happy with something like this:

https://www.johnlewis.com/dell-inspiron-13-7000-laptop-intel-core-i7-8gb-ram-256gb-ssd-13-3-inch-full-hd-silver/p3364130
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Re: Nerdy help needed please

Postby Dimples » Sun May 27, 2018 9:06 pm

McAz wrote:
Dimples wrote:
McAz wrote:
Dimples wrote:Is the one you have, shown here on this page I was looking at earlier?

https://www.johnlewis.com/browse/electr ... bdZ1z13ua0


Mine is the first one but with the specs of the second one - in other word, a 9360 (the latest is 9370) but with Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD - I paid around £1400 3 or 4 months ago.


Aha! Mine is going to be paid for by someone else - as it's going to be used for work - but I am to choose what I want. I don't want to go too mad! :ooer:

Thing is, they won't set me a budget... and I don't want to ask for something which is too expensive. :oops:

I'm just a bit out of touch about prices, as my current laptop is about 5 years old, I think.


Well, at least you have a better idea of what is available now. You should tailor the machine to your needs - unless you're gaming or producing graphic and processor intensive media you don't need all the bells and whistles. You can get perfectly decent laptops for £500 - £750.


No, I certainly don't need anything as fancy as that, I don't think. That's a good ballpark figure - so thanks.

The next question I have is about security... Currently I am on Win 7 and using good old Malwarebytes and Microsoft Security Essentials.... but I don't think those would be available now for use on a modern machine.

What would you recommend for good all-round security these days?
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Re: Nerdy help needed please

Postby Trapper John » Sun May 27, 2018 9:13 pm

The latest intel processors have their own built in operating system that you have no access to.

Intel and those in the know will tell you it is just to help the performance of the computer and has been a feature of their chip sets since 2008. If you have a 'feature' that is 'good' you shout about it don't you? - they don't and have never mentioned it.

At best it can leave your machine insecure by allowing a backdoor which hackers can use, at worst it can allow intel to access everything on your machine without you ever knowing, if they so wish.

AMD processors don't have this 'feature' and they work just fine and dandy on all of the machines I've had, they've never needed a 'secret' inaccessible, separate OS to make them work better. :dunno:
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Re: Nerdy help needed please

Postby Dimples » Sun May 27, 2018 9:16 pm

Trapper John wrote:The latest intel processors have their own built in operating system that you have no access to.

Intel and those in the know will tell you it is just to help the performance of the computer and has been a feature of their chip sets since 2008. If you have a 'feature' that is 'good' you shout about it don't you? - they don't and have never mentioned it.

At best it can leave your machine insecure by allowing a backdoor which hackers can use, at worst it can allow intel to access everything on your machine without you ever knowing, if they so wish.

AMD processors don't have this 'feature' and they work just fine and dandy on all of the machines I've had, they've never needed a 'secret' inaccessible, separate OS to make them work better. :dunno:


What's an AMD Processor?

I did say, please don't blind me with jargon! :bawlin:
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Re: Nerdy help needed please

Postby Trapper John » Sun May 27, 2018 9:23 pm

Dimples wrote:
McAz wrote:
Dimples wrote:
McAz wrote:
Dimples wrote:Is the one you have, shown here on this page I was looking at earlier?

https://www.johnlewis.com/browse/electr ... bdZ1z13ua0


Mine is the first one but with the specs of the second one - in other word, a 9360 (the latest is 9370) but with Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD - I paid around £1400 3 or 4 months ago.


Aha! Mine is going to be paid for by someone else - as it's going to be used for work - but I am to choose what I want. I don't want to go too mad! :ooer:

Thing is, they won't set me a budget... and I don't want to ask for something which is too expensive. :oops:

I'm just a bit out of touch about prices, as my current laptop is about 5 years old, I think.


Well, at least you have a better idea of what is available now. You should tailor the machine to your needs - unless you're gaming or producing graphic and processor intensive media you don't need all the bells and whistles. You can get perfectly decent laptops for £500 - £750.


No, I certainly don't need anything as fancy as that, I don't think. That's a good ballpark figure - so thanks.

The next question I have is about security... Currently I am on Win 7 and using good old Malwarebytes and Microsoft Security Essentials.... but I don't think those would be available now for use on a modern machine.

What would you recommend for good all-round security these days?


I ues Avast 'free version' virus protection coupled with your systems own firewall and thats been perfectly adequate and secure for me for years. I also run ccleaner 'free version' again for all my cleaning needs from cookie and tracking removal to wiping free space on the drive.

You can upgrade to paid versions of both but they don't offer much more in my opinion.
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Re: Nerdy help needed please

Postby Trapper John » Sun May 27, 2018 9:25 pm

Dimples wrote:
Trapper John wrote:The latest intel processors have their own built in operating system that you have no access to.

Intel and those in the know will tell you it is just to help the performance of the computer and has been a feature of their chip sets since 2008. If you have a 'feature' that is 'good' you shout about it don't you? - they don't and have never mentioned it.

At best it can leave your machine insecure by allowing a backdoor which hackers can use, at worst it can allow intel to access everything on your machine without you ever knowing, if they so wish.

AMD processors don't have this 'feature' and they work just fine and dandy on all of the machines I've had, they've never needed a 'secret' inaccessible, separate OS to make them work better. :dunno:


What's an AMD Processor?

I did say, please don't blind me with jargon! :bawlin:


That post was for Az, he was saying his new machine had intel processors. AMD are just another chip manufacturer like Intel.
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Re: Nerdy help needed please

Postby Dimples » Sun May 27, 2018 9:26 pm

Trapper John wrote:
Dimples wrote:
Trapper John wrote:The latest intel processors have their own built in operating system that you have no access to.

Intel and those in the know will tell you it is just to help the performance of the computer and has been a feature of their chip sets since 2008. If you have a 'feature' that is 'good' you shout about it don't you? - they don't and have never mentioned it.

At best it can leave your machine insecure by allowing a backdoor which hackers can use, at worst it can allow intel to access everything on your machine without you ever knowing, if they so wish.

AMD processors don't have this 'feature' and they work just fine and dandy on all of the machines I've had, they've never needed a 'secret' inaccessible, separate OS to make them work better. :dunno:


What's an AMD Processor?

I did say, please don't blind me with jargon! :bawlin:


That post was for Az, he was saying his new machine had intel processors. AMD are just another chip manufacturer like Intel.


OK, ta! :wubbers:
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Re: Nerdy help needed please

Postby McAz » Sun May 27, 2018 9:42 pm

I use Bitdefender for my security needs, Dimples, but only because I got a good offer on it - well, and it's the least naggy that I've come across. But so long as you go for the top 5 certified AVs just look for the best deal - including as TJ says, free ones if they suit your needs. Win 10 does not really need 3rd party maintenance tools, beside the manufacturers of most branded laptops provide their own tools, so you may not need anything else.

@TJ Interesting stuff. I have no preference re CPUs tbh, performancewise at least - in fact the phone and the tablet use Chinese chips and they're as fast as any iBollox I've used in the past.
Last edited by McAz on Sun May 27, 2018 9:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Nerdy help needed please

Postby Dimples » Sun May 27, 2018 9:48 pm

McAz wrote:I use Bitdefender for my security needs, Dimples, but only because I got a good offer on it - well, and it's the least naggy that I've come across. But so long as you go for the top 5 certified AVs just look for the best deal - including as TJ says, free ones if they suit your needs. Win 10 does not really need 3rd party maintenance tools, beside the manufacturers of most branded laptops provide their own tools.

@TJ Interesting stuff. I have no preference re CPUs tbh, performancewise at least - in fact the phone and the tablet use Chinese chips and they're as fast as any iBollox I've used in the past.


I hate naggy ones. :grrrrr:

Thank you both for your input and advice. It's much appreciated. :wubbers:
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Re: Nerdy help needed please

Postby Trapper John » Sun May 27, 2018 9:52 pm

McAz wrote:I use Bitdefender for my security needs, Dimples, but only because I got a good offer on it - well, and it's the least naggy that I've come across. But so long as you go for the top 5 certified AVs just look for the best deal - including as TJ says, free ones if they suit your needs.

@TJ Interesting stuff. I have no preference re CPUs tbh, performancewise at least - in fact the phone and the tablet use Chinese chips and they're as fast as any iBollox I've used in the past.


Yeah, these days I don't think there is much difference in chips like there used to be, odds on some Chinese or Korean outfit has copied all there is to copy now - I think companies like Intel and AMD trade solely on name just like branded washing powders or big pet food maufacturers, hence their price - everything is very much a muchness now.
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Re: Nerdy help needed please

Postby Guest » Sun May 27, 2018 11:29 pm

McAz wrote:I had a Macbook - now I have this and I've never looked back.

http://www.trustedreviews.com/reviews/dell-xps-13







Dell customer service is the worst, Do not buy Dell.
Check out cnet or consumer guide for top 10 laptops,
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Re: Nerdy help needed please

Postby jra » Thu Jun 28, 2018 6:26 am

Trapper John wrote:If money isn't an object, not that they need to be any more expensive than branded lines, get one made to your own specs by https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk.

You can pick everything yourself or they'd be happy to advise you on everything, just tell them what you want it for and they'll do the rest. If I had the time and inclination I build my own, it's not that hard but I prefer to have them do it because they test it before release and I've got comeback if anything goes wrong.

I've had a gaming PC made by them in the past, a desk top and a laptop and they've all been brilliant. Don't be put off by their nerdy looking website, they deal with everyone from novices to top spec gamers and graphic designers.

One bit of advice I will give you if you go the high street way is don't be swayed by huge capacity hard drives, some offer terabytes of storage and you don't need it. No-one should be storing huge amounts of data on their daily use computer hard drive it's unsafe both in terms of data protection and hard drive crashes.

250 gigabytes maximum is more than you'll ever need to run a machine at opitimum, store everything you want to keep on a seperate drive. Also when you want to scrub your machine thoroughly, which everyone should do at least once a month, it takes far less time.


BIB1. Unless you're really into gaming.

BIB2. You'd realistically only scrub your machine that often if you have something to hide.

McAz wrote:
Dimples wrote:Is the one you have, shown here on this page I was looking at earlier?

https://www.johnlewis.com/browse/electr ... bdZ1z13ua0


Mine is the first one on that page but with the specs of the second one - in other word, a 9360 (the latest is 9370) but with Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD - I paid around £1400 3 or 4 months ago.


Most people don't need a laptop anywhere near that high a spec.

McAz wrote:
Dimples wrote:
McAz wrote:
Dimples wrote:
McAz wrote:I had a Macbook - now I have this and I've never looked back.

http://www.trustedreviews.com/reviews/dell-xps-13


No USB ports? :ooer:

It has Type C (Thunderbolt) ports - even better. If you have some old USB devices small adopters are as cheap as chips.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ailun-Adapter-MacBook-ChromeBook-Devices/dp/B01MYPX7Y8/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1527453035&sr=8-3&keywords=type+c+to+usb


Never heard of them. :gigglesnshit:

It seems like a bit of an unnecessary step to remove USB ports.

Why would you recommend this particular laptop then?


USB ports are old and very much slower - and are now unnecessary.

I bought my XPS because I wanted something powerful (mine is an i7), very light and small. I produce music and graphics and I wanted to do that without changing machines. Plus it blows away a Macbook but at much less cost component for component.


But still being included on many laptops, including Microsoft Surface Pro. Dimples wants it simple, not too complicated and USB is going to be around for a while yet.

Unless you're really into video games, intensive graphics programs and need to copy huge amounts of data between devices, a bog standard £300-400 laptop will be OK.

Intel i3 dual/quad core processor.
1 tb+ hard drive.
4gb+ RAM.
DVD/CD writer.
15.6" screen.
At least one USB 3+ port.

Unless you are keeping up with the Jones's, the above will IMO do for most people. Less sought after by thieves/muggers if you're out and about with it.

SSD drives are still early technology, so hold back on those for a couple of years, as storage amount per £ is still pretty high.

http://www.argos.co.uk/product/7432279

As for Apple, anything you buy new will be way overpriced for what you get. Buy their stuff if you want to have a status symbol. My bog standard bridge camera for example is going to piss over any laptop/tablet/mobile phone camera for images, let alone using a DSLR. In other words, buy the right equipment for the job.
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Re: Nerdy help needed please

Postby Guest » Fri Nov 30, 2018 6:05 pm

Trapper John wrote:If money isn't an object, not that they need to be any more expensive than branded lines, get one made to your own specs by https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk.

You can pick everything yourself or they'd be happy to advise you on everything, just tell them what you want it for and they'll do the rest. If I had the time and inclination I build my own, it's not that hard but I prefer to have them do it because they test it before release and I've got comeback if anything goes wrong.

I've had a gaming PC made by them in the past, a desk top and a laptop and they've all been brilliant. Don't be put off by their nerdy looking website, they deal with everyone from novices to top spec gamers and graphic designers.

One bit of advice I will give you if you go the high street way is don't be swayed by huge capacity hard drives, some offer terabytes of storage and you don't need it. No-one should be storing huge amounts of data on their daily use computer hard drive it's unsafe both in terms of data protection and hard drive crashes.

250 gigabytes maximum is more than you'll ever need to run a machine at opitimum, store everything you want to keep on a seperate drive. Also when you want to scrub your machine thoroughly, which everyone should do at least once a month, it takes far less time.


Really late contributing but only just found this thread and wanted to say the above advice is spot on so it may come in handy for others looking for a new PC in the future.

I wanted a new desktop and after a lot of research online approached PCSpecialist, told them what I mainly used a PC for (graphics/design) and they put together a package with plenty of advice. It was delivered and packaged impressively and the after care has been fantastic.

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them and will definitely go to them when and if I need a new PC.

Like I said a bit late to help the OP but hopefully might help someone else.
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Re: Nerdy help needed please

Postby Guest » Fri Nov 30, 2018 6:34 pm

Forgot to add.

I disagree with the previous advice regarding not getting an SSD, you can feel the difference from booting up alone. Technology changes so quickly, progs are becoming more demanding. http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/store-ssd-benefits

The most sensible way is to go for a 250 (or even 500) SSD main hard drive (for speed/performance and reliability) and get yourself an external drive or two for storage, far safer!
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