I couldn’t be without my USB key these days if I’m honest, I bought a 2GB one about 12 months before our wedding and it has been my absolute life saver on a number of occasions (and I’ve only left in the office just the once!!!). Up until today I thought the best thing on it was my WOS server (Webserver on a Stick), but looking at Tiny USB Office it might just have some competition on its hands – does anyone use this software? If not, what do you have on your stick? photo credit: bbaunach

Glenn threw a real spanner in the works just before I went off to buy this damned USB Hard Drive as a backup device! We both bought external hard disks around the same time, and would probably both do it differently if we were to do it again! Original photo by Topato So where do we start? Glenn’s advice was to get a cheap desktop (circa £200) and stick 4 HDD’s in it and RAID-5 them, this got me thinking – I have my old desktop and I’ve promised Emma I’ll buy a new desktop (that doesn’t have wires hanging out and is in a terrible half working condition) when we move. Here’s the problem – I’ve not built a… Continue reading »

You would think just a second hard drive would be enough to suffice for something like this wouldn’t you? This isn’t so, neither for the server or home use! Home Backups I bought a Netgear SC101 a year or so ago, put a 400GB HDD inside it and it runs like a dream, I’m only using one slot of the two available, so it’s not RAIDed or anything. On recent duplicate file scan I discovered that I’m not actually using it as backup device, it’s simply become add-on storage (and lots of it!). I clearly need to backup the data on that as well! You ought to do a scan yourself, you might find you have exactly the same problem!… Continue reading »

I had the power problem on my laptop fixed (sorted of), I offered the work to several companies. Philips X53 CORE DUO T2050 80GB PC Two companies never replied to my email. One company declared they needed the laptop for at least 7-10 days. The final company reckoned I could have it back next day if I dropped it after 4pm (it would therefore be first in the queue the following morning!). Reluctantly I popped out the Hard Drive (I’ve not had time to back it up and it contains a lot of customer data), and took it down to them. The guy who would actually be working on it had a look at it and said he thought I’d… Continue reading »

The power keeps flickering on my Philips X53, in the past I’ve gone for the time honoured tradition with older laptops of the “Cable Wiggle”, but on this occasion that doesn’t seem to be the problem! The DC pin inside appears to be loose – to the point where I can wiggle it up and down with a pen. Clearly this is on the otherside of the motherboard so probably a heft job to replace, anyone who has done this on a Philips X53 / Freevents, please get in touch below!

Well, I pulled my finger out after my earlier posts today and headed off to PCWorld to buy my Philips X53. I did have to think twice when I saw that the Toshiba with fingerprint scanner AND PCMCIA had been reduced. But the 512MB of RAM compared to the 1024 on the Philips X53 sold it to me! I had to wait what seemed like an age before I could attract the attention of a member of staff to unlock the demo for me. He tried to (and failed dismally!) before we agreed a reboot was required. He left me playing with it for a while. I hasten to add I wasn’t hassled once (which totally surprised me, and aggravated… Continue reading »

Right, I’ve been debating this laptop for weeks now.. Most people know my deliberations on it… I want something small (that’s the first time I’ve ever said that in almost any context!), but functional. I’ve got to be able to run the business from it. But still be able to throw it into a small bag and walk out the door. My current Laptop (an Aspire 3610) is fantastic and used as my main machine day in, day out. But after the recent security scares I found it pushed the very limits of hand luggage!! So, I like the Sony Vaio (doesn’t everybody!?!?), I don’t like the price tag. The iQon from Tesco is nice, but never heard of the… Continue reading »