What's made you not grumpy but not smile either today?

[varesecrazy]

To be fair..
The house has an ancient sky dish..
and a borrowed old digibox did get a few useful free channels

But it was a chore to drive

So I may have to get a modern freesat decoder-recorder

Back to the search..

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

I may have mentioned this before but many years ago, when Sky was analogue, we bought a freezer from John Lewis and part of the deal was a Sky Box and year's subscription for free. I was delighted as I'd always wanted Sky TV! The years rolled by, Sky went digital so we had to get a digibox and we added a few things like full HD and the F1 channel. Then, must be at least a couple of years ago now, Sky hiked their prices by quite a big amount all in one go and Mrs J said to me "do you realize we spend more on our Sky subscription than we do on our energy bill"?

Talking about it we thought that most of what we were watching was available on Freeview so we decided to use the inbuilt and clunky Freeview receiver in our TV for a month, turn off the Sky box and see if we could get along without Sky - and it turns out we could! I thought I might miss my F1 and I have to say they do a much better job of presenting it than the terrestrial channel does, but F1 is ruined for me now with all this hybrid nonsense and cars which go round on rails and can't overtake because of all the aero stuff. V8 Supercars and Moto GP is much more exciting! Also, if you look for it, there's a surprising amount of motorsport on freeview. I'm not "knocking" Sky though, I think their service is probably the gold standard if you don't mind parting with lots of dosh.

So we decided to dump Sky TV. That was an interesting phone call, they REALLY didn't want us to go. All sorts of enticements were "dangled" but I stuck to my guns and we left. What was quite interesting was that I managed to hang on to some of the "specials" offered to get us to retain our landline, phone package and internet with them. I had no objection to staying as we've been pleased with their service and still are.

We very quickly found that the inbuilt EPG in the somewhat older TV we have was horrible to use and, of course, we had lost the ability to record anything. I decided to buy a Freesat receiver as we already had the dish and, being an SF nut I just like the idea that the signal is being bounced off a satellite. We bought a Humax HDR 1100s. https://uk.humaxdigital.com/product-category/freesat/ I only have one criticism to make of it and that is that it's much slower than the Sky Box to wake up from standby - you really need to get your head round this but once you do it's all fine. The Program Guide is "different" and you have to get used to that. All the catchup stuff and more is there once linked to your internet router - We want for nothing. We bought the 1TB version and haven't managed to fill it up yet despite Mrs J recording endless series of Peppa Pig, Wonder Pets, Paw Patrol, etc for the grand kids.

 

[StevenRB45]

We have the BT branded terrestrial/Internet TV Youview box which I believe is a Humax.

Two ways around the slow wake up, either turn off eco mode, or you can set a time specific eco mode. So it goes into eco mode over night then drops back into normal about breakfast time.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Thanks Steven. Having now become used to it we really don't mind and are happy enough with it the way it is.

 

[mowermender70]

over here in west wales . no mobile signal 1/2 mile up the hill bingo signal. no freeview. have 2 sat receivers (not sky) one openbox the other one televes can pick from 6 sat stations ie telstar, hotbird, astra and can choose from over 2000 stations bbc stations all round the country plus all itv never miss a program

 

[DaveMcT]

My Humax box lost its ability to "rewind" live TV a long time ago. They use a partition on the hard disc to record everything so they fail eventually. Soon enough, the disc drive packed up. They can be replaced, but I never got around to it.

 

[chr1s]

Noticed at lunchtime that our fridge has packed in. Not worth diagnosing the fault because we've had it many years and it has no door handle, broken trays and wees on the floor.
Walked over to local Euronics store - they can't let anyone into the store, but staff are on hand to wheel display items to the doorway to be viewed !
Rang and ordered the chosen fridge (price-matched to Currys): delivery won't be until Friday (not much good for the food warming up in my old fridge), but collection anytime.
Collected new fridge and have it in place, food transferred over; freezer blocks inside to try to cool it a little, whilst giving the condenser oil a few hours to settle before plugging it in.
3 hours from noticing the old fridge has packed up to having a new fridge ready to go. Will be powered up and running about 6 or 7 hours after noticing the problem.

 

[StevenRB45]

Dad's Focus is on the downslope.

Tbf it's 16 this year and the garage have been telling him the underside isn't great for about 4 years.

However currently has a hell of knock from the back somewhere, probably a broken spring or a drop link. But corroded rear subframes have been mentioned every year for a while. Also unrelated fault the rear of the car is full of water and...and the sills look like something you find on the bottom of the sea.

Given the mot is up shortly...it'll be touch and go if it's worth fixing. If it was in daily use, it's not because it's just very tired body wise and you can't rely on the rest of it. He kept it because he drives so little there's no point in getting a newer car to depreciate.

Oh well we shall see given I've offered him the Mazda to use if they come back with "excuse me but we don't have enough string and tape for this" cos well I don't need it.

 

[DaveMcT]

eBay is has endless adverts for Ford Focus rear axles and low costs, but it's all pointless if the sills and underworks are rotten.

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

Managed to kill another work laptop. This one is only a 4.5 month old £1250 Dell, clearly well built. I was busy working yesterday afternoon and it decided to freeze and then rebooted itself and now can't find it's hard drive according to the warning message on it.

A smile and a grump which counter each other as a few days off until the replacement gets delivered, but will then have a few days of work to catch up on :bang:

I now know why I went for a Mac for my personal computer

 

[portland_bill]

Managed to kill another work laptop. This one is only a 4.5 month old £1250 Dell, clearly well built. I was busy working yesterday afternoon and it decided to freeze and then rebooted itself and now can't find it's hard drive according to the warning message on it.

A smile and a grump which counter each other as a few days off until the replacement gets delivered, but will then have a few days of work to catch up on :bang:

I now know why I went for a Mac for my personal computer

That made me smile.
I had a work Dell laptop for several years, used to plug it into a deskstation when in the office. The day I left, it closed down normally, no fuss. Remembering one more thing, I tried to boot it again, nothing, just got past the BIOS, and shut down again. It died in sympathy of me leaving I think.

 

[SB1500]

Managed to kill another work laptop. This one is only a 4.5 month old £1250 Dell, clearly well built. I was busy working yesterday afternoon and it decided to freeze and then rebooted itself and now can't find it's hard drive according to the warning message on it.

A smile and a grump which counter each other as a few days off until the replacement gets delivered, but will then have a few days of work to catch up on :bang:

I now know why I went for a Mac for my personal computer

I use a Mac at home too, Windows never fails to remind me how grateful I am for it. Especially with the M1 chip in the latest one.


Still, Dell.. yikes. If you want truly bulletproof business-grade PCs then go for Fujitsu. Even the ThinkPads now have sealed in batteries, less ports than before etc...


But if Apple keeps pulling it's censorship nonsense, I think I'll be learning to deal with Windows and buying a Surface line product.

 

[PuntoHowTo]

I now know why I went for a Mac for my personal computer

We have a mixture in my house of Mac and PC, that said I prefer PC and my Wife prefers Mac, If I were to Spec up a MacBook to match my PC i'd be looking a probably in the region of £3k which is madness.

Especially with the M1 chip in the latest one.

Isn't that the one that recently got hacked by a mystery Malware and they still don't really know what the Malware does.

 

[StevenRB45]

eBay is has endless adverts for Ford Focus rear axles and low costs, but it's all pointless if the sills and underworks are rotten.

Apparently cracked springs so lives for now...

We shall see now if the MOT man is happy with the sills in April, realistically it's end of life but for a car that basically 1000 miles a year he's just rinsing what life out of it he can get.

As long as it passes the Mot it'll spend 99% of it's time standing on my dads drive. Just goes down the hill to the doctors or to the shop 5 miles away.

Any distances these days I end up driving him...mainly cos he doesn't leave the house unless I turn up and say "get in the damn car, we're going out with your grandson" (pre-covid obviously).

This may be a minor bone of contention given he frequently complained to my mother in law he never sees his grandson..only man that can make a day that is literally built around his demands and convenience seem like a massive inconvenience..

 

[ChrisUK]

Managed to kill another work laptop. This one is only a 4.5 month old £1250 Dell, clearly well built. I was busy working yesterday afternoon and it decided to freeze and then rebooted itself and now can't find it's hard drive according to the warning message on it.

A smile and a grump which counter each other as a few days off until the replacement gets delivered, but will then have a few days of work to catch up on :bang:

I now know why I went for a Mac for my personal computer

Quite common for the "big box" brands like Dell to use cheap, off brand SSD's. Had loads fail from Dell and Lenovo. Some as early as 24 hours after assigning it to a user :bang:.

 

[SB1500]

We have a mixture in my house of Mac and PC, that said I prefer PC and my Wife prefers Mac, If I were to Spec up a MacBook to match my PC i'd be looking a probably in the region of £3k which is madness.


Isn't that the one that recently got hacked by a mystery Malware and they still don't really know what the Malware does.

That's the one! Being targeted with the malware problem is to be expected with anything popular (hence Windows usually being the more virus prone OS). I'm sure Apple will figure it out. Anytime my Mac acts a little strange I'm thinking is that why lol

I have to admit, all of my Macs since 2015 have been much faster to start and do practical things than my friends custom-built gaming PC of the day. His current build is around £3k (he's got one of those higher end graphics card nobody could get a hold of at the end of last year). Of course, there are many many things, not least gaming where no Mac ever made will touch it, but I can see why they sell so well. And with PC building still being an enthusiast kind of thing I think

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

Quite common for the "big box" brands like Dell to use cheap, off brand SSD's. Had loads fail from Dell and Lenovo. Some as early as 24 hours after assigning it to a user :bang:.

Oh wow. That’s quite amazing to hear in some respects.

Clearly a known issue as the IT bod who called me back didn’t even get me to try anything with it

Was like yep I’ll get another sent out, send me your home address.

 

[PuntoHowTo]

That's the one! Being targeted with the malware problem is to be expected with anything popular (hence Windows usually being the more virus prone OS).

That’s the thing, back in the late 1990s viruses used to be on every website you visited, and everyone needed to have Norton anti virus which used so much resources the computer would grind to a halt, and you’d have to turn the anti virus off to play a game, no one bothered with viruses for Macs as back then no one used macs. But PCs had a reputation of being virus prone, mainly due to the users rather than the system its self.

In the last 20 years I can honestly say I’ve not had a virus on any of my Microsoft computers, maybe because they’re used properly and I don’t visit dodgy websites.

Oh and I should point out while I prefer Microsoft, I have been using macs for over 20 years as well. I still have an iconic clamshell iBook from the early 2000s and used to use a G3 indigo iMac. (I had a couple of G3 iMac)

Both macs and PCs have there place, these days I can seamlessly blend the use of my iPad, with my PC and iPhone, as well as swapping stuff between PC and Mac if needed. Ironically it’s Microsoft one drive that allows me to do that.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

As I've mentioned we are in a "bubble" with my youngest boy's family for the purpose of childcare. Today my daughter in law had an emergency dental appointment and the dentist is just up the road from our house so she asked us to keep the wee one whilst she attended the dentist.

Her appointment was for 10.30am and she turned up just before 10 to allow time for settling the wee lad with us and walking up the road to the dental surgery - no parking available.

Handing the youngster to me on the front doorstep she mentioned she thought there was an "electrical burning smell" in the car and handed me the keys too. Glancing over at the car I could see a wee wisp of smoke curling up from the O/S/F wheel arch. Ten minutes later with one of my wee jacks under the O/S sill I knew the caliper wasn't freeing off - new caliper needed!

Darn it, Mrs J has a bad back and can't really cope with a youngster who needs a lot of lifting and carrying and anyway, it's damned cold out today, so I rang Steven down at Bonnington Mill Garage: https://www.bonningtonmillgarage.com/ who have helped me before and described the problem and the fact she needed to be home, about 20 miles away to the south of the city, by 3pm to pick up the wee lad's sister from school. Could they help out? Shouldn't be a problem Jock, bring it round right now.

When I got to the garage they were about to depart on a home breakdown call out but they checked the Jazz out and confirmed my diagnosis ordering the new caliper from the factor. "It'll be here by the time we get back" said he. I had a chilly 20 minute walk home and a lovely few hours rolling around on the floor with the wee lad.

1.30pm the phone rang "Car's ready, come and get it" Legged it to the garage to be told "just take it away, haven't had time to price the job yet, give me a ring tomorrow and I'll let you know what you owe". This is now the second time these two guys have helped out at extremely short notice and I'm incredibly impressed by them which is why I've posted the link for you above.

By the way, although specializing in Honda stuff (they are both ex main dealer techs) they will take on most other makes too which is worth knowing if you are local to the Leith area of Edinburgh

 

[SB1500]

That’s the thing, back in the late 1990s viruses used to be on every website you visited, and everyone needed to have Norton anti virus which used so much resources the computer would grind to a halt, and you’d have to turn the anti virus off to play a game, no one bothered with viruses for Macs as back then no one used macs. But PCs had a reputation of being virus prone, mainly due to the users rather than the system its self.

In the last 20 years I can honestly say I’ve not had a virus on any of my Microsoft computers, maybe because they’re used properly and I don’t visit dodgy websites.

Oh and I should point out while I prefer Microsoft, I have been using macs for over 20 years as well. I still have an iconic clamshell iBook from the early 2000s and used to use a G3 indigo iMac. (I had a couple of G3 iMac)

Both macs and PCs have there place, these days I can seamlessly blend the use of my iPad, with my PC and iPhone, as well as swapping stuff between PC and Mac if needed. Ironically it’s Microsoft one drive that allows me to do that.

I like Windows, and it has caught up to the Mac in many ways we'd always laugh and say it couldn't compete now. And the Surface line gives quality hardware that used to be non existent on the Windows side of the spectrum. Never had any viruses either thankfully (but I'd reboot it so many times back in the XP / Vista days).


What keeps me with Apple is its integration with the iPhone. It's far too handy having everything everywhere without fail, all of the time. I know it's technically possible through third parties on Windows / Android but I've given it a go and I personally didn't find it as seamless. I would describe Apple's model as your Mercedes where everything is cut and fits and works to perfection, and the Windows / Android model as a decked out Dacia Duster which can surely do anything on paper, and has had every feature under the sun and modification made that pushes it well beyond the Mercedes on paper, from luxuries to power output, but in person it's not the same experience. Sure, it's going to suit some people but there's a reason why the 'ready made from factory' package sells, even at its silly price. (hope that's a logical way of trying to describe it).


I'm building my own freelance web design business at the minute and the Mac and iPhone seems to stay out of my way - but that's solely down to how I personally am more used to it. I know Windows can do all of this equally as well, but the learning curve of remapping my fingers to know the shortcut keys, finding alternative software where some was Mac only, would only stress me out when there's tasks at hand to do.


To conclude, I suppose it's a bit of preference and the preferred tool for the job for the person doing it


Ps, those old Macs will already be worth quite a bit. But they'll continue to go up in value as the decades go on so hold on to them!!! Your great-great-grandchildren could make a small fortune out of them on one of those daytime TV shows, probably hosted in a space-age country manor on Mars if Elon gets his way by then!!! Lol