Is there a cheap way at the moment? I was checking out upgrading my PC from the i7 920 to a i7 2600 now that the new processors coming out and was still surprised to see costs high. As an example, I was watching a bundle of cpu, motherboard and memory go on ebay for over 320GBP.
I then saw some Advent (Curry’s own brand I believe) complete systems going for around 450GBP which were i7 2600, 8GB memory, 2GB WD hard drive, ATI 6770 and all the other general stuff. So for just over 100 more you get an actual PC. Buck for buck the entire PC works out cheaper. OK, the motherboard is one of cheaper ones; but with i7 2600 still costing 224GBP in shops…
One idea you may want to follow (and something I am testing having got one of these PC’s) and my idea (that is if I don’t like the configuration of the system; i.e. the case look) is to strip out the processor, motherboard and memory and replace with parts I want to upgrade from; in my case the i7 920. Then resell the system with a smaller loss. So my aim for example is to make 320-340 back meaning I will have upgraded for around 110GBP.
Now; at a later date I may want to upgrade the motherboard – but this still will mean I paid 110 for processor and memory.. Make sense? Certainly considering that with motherboard it would still be below 200 and not over 320. Could even swap out 2Gb hard drive for a 500Gb got spare – even more financial sense.
Now; I may get back later and think “I like the design of this system” and so swap out the 6770 and put in my 6950 and sell on other system. But; either way to me this seems like the cheapest way to upgrade.
I’ll let you guys know in a few weeks if this plan works out.. Anyone want to buy a i7 920 gaming system with 12Gb of ram and 6770 ;-)
Tags: cheap cpu upgrade, cheap pc upgrade, cheap upgrade, how to, i7 2600, i7 920, netroman28
So, this has been something I have thought about for a long time; and especially more so now with rising energy costs.
A few years ago or so I remember watching an episode of The Dragons Den ( I won’t explain program to those that know, best to go and look up but consists of people trying to get money) on which a guy/company came to the den trying to get funding for his brand of green PC computers.
These days doing a search for green pc will bring you back many pages in your search and there are indeed many solutions out there – many seeming to run things like Intel Atom processors.
Now, the second reason I was thinking green was because of my purchase of the Mac Mini as on the Apple website it has the following; and I quote;
“Mac mini is the world’s most energy-efficient desktop computer. It’s also highly recyclable and has a tiny package for efficient shipping. All in all, that’s no small thing.”
This seems like a bit of a statement from what my investigation has seen but could be true? But what I can say is this; that the Mac Mini is certainly far superior in computing power compared to the other green computers I have seen.
If this statement is trye it means that green computing doesn’t have to mean lower computing power as I have first hand experience in the speed and power of the new Mac Mini (I’m very impressed with me 2.5Ghz i5 Mac Mini) but have to say that I have no experience of one of these others.
Infact, I am still waiting on my chance to be able to buy a Raspberry Pi. This I believe would certainly be very low in power consumption; although this I would need to validate when I had one. But again I don’t believe this would have the same level of computing power.
So; moral is. If looking for green computing then check out Apple Mini’s. If looking for sheer power; well green would not be a thought…
Anyone have any experience in a green PC? Leave a comment.
Tags: apple green, green computing, green pc, Intel Atom, Mac Mini
So now for something a bit more techie based – Ya you all say. (Just to note; I will be cutting a video using iMovie – reason why later – an posting on YouTube and blog later, so be warned :-) )
So, not sure if I said but I sold my old Mac Pro I had as it took up a bit of space I needed and I found that software I was running such as Final Cut Pro 7 was only multi-core aware so wasn’t using to capability. I opted to use the cash to buy a new Mac Mini – went for the new 2011 model i5 2.5Ghz one with the ATI graphics. Specs are standard so go check out on Apple site if curious. Though as a side note I will be getting 8Gb of crucial memory and changing next month – vastly cheaper than getting with machine.
Anyhow, so.. A single i5 at 2.5Ghz should be faster than a Xeon 3Ghz from 2006 in my believe (and I presume in facts too) so I will be looking to get quicker renders in FCP7… That is, when I get it installed. Which brings me to the title of this blog update.
So, following the instructions from Apple I downloaded the share utility and ran on my Windows7 PC.. Ok, removed the ask permission button to make easier. So I go back to my Mac and see drive in the virtual drive list – perfect so far.
Next step, I put in my FCP7 (first DVD of FCS3) and can see update on disk list with name. Double click icon to open it, wait..wait..wait.. and then I get error basically saying can’t read. Typical. Anyhow; prompted me to go onto ebay and buy a USB External drive (not an Apple one) and I managed to get a USB combo bluray and dvd writer for like 30GBP which was excellent. So just waiting for that now.
Anyhow, this doesn’t excuse the issue that I have had with this virtual drive. I haven’t checked my other software like MS Office and AE CS3 but has anyone experienced the last of being able to use their PC as a virtual drive?
Anyhow, look out for video that will be done in iMovie hehe..
As a P.S. note – I have to say that I am impressed so far with this little powerhorse of a machine. OK, most of last night was spent with update but its quite and seemed to be performing well in the things I was doing. One of which is in the P.S.S next..
P.S.S. Not going to keep secret here. So those of you that have seen my video reviews saw that some time ago I did a review on Flux3. Flux4 has now come out and I have now as a first item install on my Mac Mini a review copy of this. so look out for this coming in the next few weeks.
Tags: fcp7, fcs3, flux, flux 4, flux4, i5 mac, i5 mac mini, imovie, lion, Mac Mini, netorman28, netroman28, website software
Many years ago now I said “I want my own business”. Infact; when I was about 21 I applied to the Princes Trust here in the UK and went along for an interview. What came out of that meeting was that I needed to put together a business model, plan, etc and that they helped with that – giving the info an knowledge.
As it was the idea I had, although was good at the time, would have not worked long term – especially with the Internet; but was my first delve into this idea.
What did come out of that through thinking about the idea was my realization that you need to have more than one business. Why so you may ask… Well, not all but many businesses are seasonal – lets take holiday lets for example.. During the winter there would be a considerable reduction in the bookings (although many hotels in UK fine). This can be seen in places such as Ayia Napa in Cyprus where most of the town shuts down (certainly the hotels I tried to book) from around November to February.
So, getting back to at hand.. Many businesses are seasonal. So if we take this as a fact we know that at certain times of the year we would not be making any money… bad bad bad. However, if we had, say, a second seasonal business THAT had its peak season during the slump in the other business season then we have money flow.
Now this could be expanded to do 4 or 5 (I always imagined 5 businesses myself) businesses depending on the seasonality of your ideas but you can get the idea.
Now; when your business is large and having a great cashflow then having multiple businesses is not manageable so we’re talking starting out or small businesses in this mail. However, if you have a large business that is self contained and being managed by say .. a manager then you as an individual may want that challenge of starting a second.
I am following my own advice to this end. Having recently started up TechnologistPR I have now also started up Technologist-Consultancy (although website is currently pending as only just registered – so currently going there won’t display anything).
So, as currently waiting for backlinks I have put in for TechnologistPR to become active I get to work on my second idea (and something I can honestly say I have a great experience in). Is this the end? Nope, there are more I have in my head but 2 at a time…
So, I refer you back to the title. If you want to start a business then do so; but at the same time think if there is any seasonality to it and if so start two.
Tags: netroman28, starting out, starting your own business, startup, technology, technology consultancy, technology consultant
UK, 13th April 2012
The first batch of the Raspberry Pi’s computers are to be issued to buyers. The cheap bare bones tiny computer is finally; after production issues; to be sent out to early buyers of the system.
Those eager fans that were first to order; it has been reported that they should receive their Raspberry Pi by 20th April. This first production batch has been delayed twice now; firstly due to a wrong component being soldered to the circuits and second time over confusion about electromagnetic testing.
With these first batch of Raspberry Pi’s about to go out; hopefully they will be able to start selling to the public again soon.
Tags: cheap computer, linux, pi, press release, problems, production, raspberry, Raspberry Pi, technologistpr
So, above you can see a QR code (or Quick Response code) which basically is our new website encoded into the image.So, not sure if I need to explain in detail about QR codes but to be honest if have any questions its better to go to the wiki here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QR_code as that has the details.
So we can see they have been around for a while and are now being more widely used; pepsi have had them on their cans for a while for example. But do we really need one? I mean, people are still going to see you text, webpage, etc without but to be honest they look kewl AND the inquisitive like myself will scan everyone they come across which may get more of your content viewed -although doesn’t mean that your going to sell any service(s) or goods.
But to my title a little; am I late (are you late). Simple answer is no; this is I believe in the early flow as more and more people take up QR Codes. However, do you need one? Well yes is a short answer as it doesn’t hurt generating one (and on the web takes just a few seconds). However, your lively hood is not going to take a hit without one..
If wanting to generate just go type QR Code generate in that google search bar… Enjoy
Tags: hidden text, images, netorman28, netroman28, new technology, plasmation, public relations, qr code, quick response code, software, technologistpr, technology, url
Hands up how many of you use Open Source (I’ve got my hand up high just for visual reference). OK, how many of you who don’t use it… hands up if you don’t use it because you think its buggy or not fully featured? Now; I’m betting that 50% of those of you who don’t use open source have your hands up.
Now; the thing is that yes there will be bugs in open source software; but I can bet percentage wise is only as many as in commercial software and maybe possibly less. Reason I say that is I have worked as a Software Engineer for some BIG companies and know the number of bugs caught by customers – and these are million pound systems.
So, what I mean to say is that in actual fact you will probably only find as many bugs in a open source software item as in a commercial released.
It is true though that some open source software may not be as feature rich as commercial because they don’t have a full time dedicated team working on them.That said though, in most cases those extra’s may not be worth the price you pay for them. I mean; take for consideration something like KDENLive as a prime example. This is an excellent open source video editor program that has many more and better features than some of the lower, cheaper end commercial editors. Only the Pro editors really have much better features.
There are also many open source programs out there that do things there are now commercial equivalents for. You want office, you can get it, you want password crackers…
Games.. office suites, video editors.. there is an endless list, far many to keep going on about. Go check a few out – go do a search on sourceforge.net and save yourself some money in this expensive time we live in..
Tags: economy busters, free software, games, linux, office, open, open source, source, technology
