I hope you are fit and well and had a real long hot hot summer, its cooling down now but still very pleasant. Only 18 weeks until Christmas!!!!

Here’s the latest tech news roundup.

Macbook Pro for sale.

My son is selling his Macbook Pro, which has been completely reset back to its original factory condition, so it’s just like a brand new computer. It was bought early 2015 brand new, and it has hardly been used at all. It has some minor wear and tear scuffs but runs as good as new. It has a Retina 13” screen 3.1Ghz Intel i7 processor with 8Gb of RAM.

He has just been given a new one from his work, so that’s why he’s selling this one.

To buy the equivalent model today would be around £1,500. He is asking £995 which I believe is a really good price for it.

Call or email me if you would like any more information. Only one available so first come, first served.

Tune up and service.

Is your computer running slower than it used to or just not performing as well as you would like it to? Most people will say YES to that question. The cause could be a number of factors, including loads of clutter and unwanted programmes draining the memory, malware or years’ worth of old Windows System Restore files that aren’t needed. Whatever the reason, in the vast majority of cases, a full tune up and service will restore your PC or laptop to its former glory, recover disk space, and generally inject it with a new lease of life.

For a fixed fee of just £70, I will come and give your computer a full service, check it’s security to make sure you're properly protected from viruses and malware, and ensure that your valuable documents, pictures contacts, etc, are properly backed up and safe.

Just call or email me to fix a convenient time.

New Computer

There’s nothing like getting a lovely, shiny brand new computer. It’s like buying a new car, everything is fresh and fast and ready for work for you.

If you are thinking about buying a new computer, there’s something you need to consider. Computer for the last 30+ years have been built using a spinning hard disk drive which spins very quickly. When a computer dies, it’s usually because the hard drive as come to the end of its life.

However, technology has moved on, so the new generation of computers are now being built with something called SSD (Solid State Drive), which is a digital disk (like a camera memory card) with no moving parts. This means that the Windows (or Apple) operating system is much much quicker to launch at start-up, so that from the time you first switch it on, until the time you have Google or your email on the screen, is usually around 30 seconds or less. Amazing!!

I’m looking to upgrade my own computer shortly and I’ll be buying this one, or something similar.

Dell All in One PC

They cost a little more than conventional PCs but it’s really worth paying the extra to get the much faster speed.

Of course I would be happy to advise about upgrading your computer and also set it all up for you.

What’s the best Smartphone to buy?

I’m often asked for advice as to what Smartphone I recommend. So let me give you my honest and unbiased opinion on what’s the best option currently available. Let me start by saying that I’m a Samsung boy at heart. I still use a Galaxy S7 Edge, which I bought outright a couple of years ago for about £550, and I have a good SIM ONLY deal with Vodafone, so I only pay about £17 per month in total for everything. I’m very happy with my phone and package and have no need to change it for now. But if I were to change it, the 3 best phones currently are:

Samsung S9 or S9 Plus. This has been recently voted the best smartphone on the market for a few reasons. It has best camera of any phone in particular the ability to take photos in low light and slow motion video. It has an expandable memory so you can simply add more memory cards. The Plus model has a larger screen, so ideal for those who want to watch TV and movies or Netflix etc. Costs start from around £730 on Amazon.

Iphone X.  Without a doubt the best Iphone Apple have ever produced. New design with eliminates the round Home button on the front, so takes a bit of getting used to. Great camera. It’s an Apple, therefore prefect in design and performance. Face recognition means that it recognises you, so no need for passwords. Hard to find fault with this except the price starts from £900 going up to £1150 for the top model.

Huawei P20 Pro.  I haven’t played with this but I know 2 people who have just bought this who say it’s the best phone they have used. It has all the main features of the Samsung, with some extra benefits, and costs less than the competition. It has a tri-camera for better photos & videos, long battery life (up to 48 hours on a single charge) and quick charge from flat to 100% in an hour. Costs around £599.

And finally….

A little puzzle for you.

3 flatmates, Tom, Dick and Harry go down to the local shop to buy a radio. They see one they like and pay £30 for it. So they each put in £10 and buy it. However, the shopkeeper who is a very honest chap realises once they’ve left the shop, that he has overcharged them for it. It should only have been £25, not £30. He sees their friend George walking passed his shop and calls him in and explains what’s happened. He gives George £5 back and asks him to give it back to Tom, Dick and Harry. But George is a bit greedy, and decides to only give the boys back £3 (£1 to each of them), and he keeps the other £2 for himself.

So the boys have actually paid £9 each. 3 x £9 =£27 plus the £2 George kept himself, which makes £29 in total. WHERE HAS THE OTHER £1 GONE?????????

That's it for now

Call or email me if you need any help or advice.