Bought any computing stuff today?

[fuaran]

TP-Link TD-W9980 VDSL modem/router. Due to get FTTC installed next week.

Plus a few Cat6 cables, so I can start upgrading the home network to gigabit.

[Dibdib]

Big computery purchase today!

I've just got home with a 2010 21.5" iMac, bought from someone I know on Twitter who has recently replaced it with a very shiny-looking new model. I've been hankering after something OSX-y for a while, and this was too good a price to pass up.

It's rather pretty, and with the dinky little keyboard and mouse my desk feels very sparse which is nice. It's currently downloading Yosemite, after which the fun and games of moving everything over from my PC, installing software, finding alternatives for my Windows apps, and everything else... 

[epa611]

Canon Pixma MX925 MFP.   Slower than the Epson it replaces, but much smaller and has duplex printing, copying and scanning 

[tiermat]

Not bought today, but delivered.

2*Garmin Vivofit.  Bargain price from Halford's ebay shop (refurbed units but with a year warranty)

Hopefully should be more reliable than my Jawbone Up, that lasted 10 weeks before breaking.

The fact the Vivofit doesn't need a cludgy way of syncing with your phone means they are already streets ahead of the UP.

[Pickled Onion]

A mechanical keyboard.

I have moved desks at work and the new keyboard I was given probably cost less than 50p and was spongier than Spongebob Squarepants.

It probably cost as much as some people spend on a cheap laptop, but typing is what I do all day and it will probably last until retirement. It is an absolute joy to type on.

[Feanor]

Hmm, I'm now the owner of a Samsung Galaxy Tab S.

It was bought by my family for my burfday, a few days ago.
They decided I could use a fondleslab, but knew better than get me an Apple product.

So I've managed to get it working as I want, with webby stuff and connecting to my IMAP mail.
I've used Handbrake to re-encode some LOTR blu-rays to MP4 and those seem to work well.
The screen is totally lovely.

I've put MS RDP viewer on to remote admin my win servers, and that's ok-ish.

[Feanor]

And over the weekend, a new lapdog for Junior to take to Uni.

It's a Lenovo thing, quite powerful.
But the screen resolution is senselessly high 4k ( 3840x2160 ) for a 15" display, which means each pixel is about the size of an atom.
This means all the windows things have to have their magnification set to 250% by default, which in itself causes some windows to become fuzzy!
Some windows seem to be aware of scaling, and render themselves much more pretty on the hi-res screen, but many don't, and the dumb magnification is ugly.
Some programs are unaware of the silly resolution, and remain un-magnified, and continue to have icons 16 x 16 atoms big.

[Morat]

A grand's worth of batteries from UPS-Trader on Ebay.
That guy delivers FAST!

[Biggsy]

A Swiftech H240-X AIO CPU water cooler, to finally let my old unlocked i7 fly.  3.45GHz has been the practical max with a big air cooler, so I'm expecting 4 gig and beyond now.

[Biggsy]

Also a TP-LINK TL-PA8030P AV1200 Homeplug Kit for network over mains, with convenient "passthrough" power sockets.

[Afasoas]

Another mobo/CPU for frankenserver, for the sum of just £17 (including postage).
Nuttin fancy. Fingers crossed it works.

[Vince]

I just started my first foray into the world of the Raspberry Pi. A 2B with SD card, housing and power supply.
I'm intending to use it for a smart TV using Kodi. It was only E20 more than a VGA to HDMI adapter that I was going to buy to connect the lap top to the TV.

[Afasoas]

Good move.

[Biggsy]

Also a TP-LINK TL-PA8030P AV1200 Homeplug Kit for network over mains, with convenient "passthrough" power sockets.

These bloody things are letting me down already.  Conking out in the evenings.  Spells of a few seconds to a couple of minutes with no apparent signal.

[Feanor]

Also a TP-LINK TL-PA8030P AV1200 Homeplug Kit for network over mains, with convenient "passthrough" power sockets.

These bloody things are letting me down already.  Conking out in the evenings.  Spells of a few seconds to a couple of minutes with no apparent signal.

Ah, Biggers.
Give up with them, and put in cat5e or cat 6 like the Flying Spaghetti Monster intended.
You *know* it's the right thing.

There's a website where dodgy spivs will sell you some 'offcuts wot fell off the back of a lorry, guv', but I can't quite remember it's name ;-)

[Biggsy]

I do know indeed, but I also know I can't face drilling through the walls, etc. 

[Vince]

I just started my first foray into the world of the Raspberry Pi. A 2B with SD card, housing and power supply.
I'm intending to use it for a smart TV using Kodi. It was only E20 more than a VGA to HDMI adapter that I was going to buy to connect the lap top to the TV.

It arrived this morning. It is soo _small!

[DaveJ]

These bloody things are letting me down already.  Conking out in the evenings.  Spells of a few seconds to a couple of minutes with no apparent signal.

They are sensitive to noise on the mains, so if they are dropping out at a particular time of day, what electrical appliances are on then that aren't on at other times?

The wife of one of my customers had a laptop power supply that broke the powerline connection.  She used Wifi so she didn't realise.  It took ages to find the that it was her laptop that was doing it.

[Biggsy]

They are sensitive to noise on the mains, so if they are dropping out at a particular time of day, what electrical appliances are on then that aren't on at other times?

Maybe a couple more room lights, that's all.  It's early days anyway.  We'll see.

[Afasoas]

Just ordered a few bits and pieces to start a proof of concept Raspberry Pi-based central heating controller. 

[Biggsy]

My TP-Link pieces of shit are conking out again.  I wonder if fluorescent tubes are interfering?

I could try them in different sockets, though probably not ones on different rings.  Already got them directly in wall sockets rather than extensions/adapters.

[Ham]

I appear to have had a Keyboard-Nexus5X purchasing interface, it will be very interesting to see how the Marshmallow Oy!-App!-you-aren't-on-screen-so-REALLY-fuck-off-and-go-to-sleep feature works. Allegedly can lead to >30% increase in battery life.

[Mr Larrington]

There is a Big Cardboard Box at the foot of the Grand Escalier of Larrington Towers but the turbo nutter bastard desktop machine it contains can't be installed until the old desktop machine finishes installing about for weeks worth of updates.  Which, on current evidence will take about four weeks.  By which time I will have  tripped over the Big Cardboard Box at least three further times and broken either its contents or myself.

[ian]

The angel of temptation has whispered sylphy promises in my ear, so after a couple of days playing with a brand new 5K iMac, I'm wavering on the entire preserve my early-2009 Mac Mini front. Computers don't run on coal now days, I'm told.

But seriously, what's the fucking difference between a m280 and a m290 graphics card other than a number and an amount of cash? Do I need that extra ten? I'll probably follow my usual mentally anaemic logic and buy the middle one. Oh wait, I can choose a M395 for – wait, how much? – that's an extra five. FIVE.

Five not enough for you? Let's notch it up. It's time for the big guns. When numbers aren't enough, you know it's time for...

3-9-5-X.

An X is always cool. It'd be better if it was XXX. That was certainly the case during my teenage years. But not XXXX, which is Castlemaine, probably one of the fouler substances on the planet. Not wait, the foulest. There's probably a good reason why I don't work in marketing, but I know when one X is too much.

I probably shouldn't make expensive purchasing decisions with a beer in hand.

[ian]

And oops I pressed the button. Two shiny new iMacs are being manufactured by sleep-deprived Chinese children right now.

Now what to do with a vintage 2009 Mac Mini and two behemoth 24 inch monitors.

edit: and some wireless keyboards if any forumites get carried away with the sauvignon blanc again.