Hi all OK, I know this might be off topic, slightly. I'll take the risk of being chastised by my fellow list owners. :)
I'm now back in the land of the living, after almost 7 months of virtual isolation. I'm really looking forward to getting to grips with things agin, and finally being able to bring on our plans for server migration. Technology has undoubtedly moved on in leaps and bounds since my enforced isolation, and I'm still playing catch-up. I do however now have a new mobile and am enjoying using it very much for all kinds of things. I won't talk too much about that now because it's an Apple device and it would be an effective cross-topic post. I am, however, looking forward to playing properly for the first time with my Asus NetBook and with my Samsung notebook both of which were bought during my absence. I've already managed to resolve what was a major issue with the Asus Notebook. It was running ever so slowly, and taking about 3 seconds to display entered text at the keyboard. That problem was being caused by an inappropriate driver which Microsoft's driver index installed when Lynne attempted to use an external keyboard which just happened to be an Apple keyboard. I removed the driver and then reinstalled the keyboard with a different result. So now the machine is usable again, and I plan to use it as part of our server backup system. For this particular application, the Asus has power enough. If it goes pop as a result of being left on 24/7, well, tough cookie! The Samsung looks very nice, although I can't for the life of me understand why they've adopted the Japanese style keyboard unilaterally. The arrow keys, enter key and other keys are in strange places and I am still finding it a bit of a culture shock getting used to it. However, we will get that sorted I'm sure. Overall the machine looks to be excellent and I must say that I don't ever recall seeing Windows run as solidly as Windows 7 Ultimate seems to be doing on this machine. It's almost bomb-proof, it would seem and with the additional protection that Rollback has given us, along with Vipre Internet 2012 and, when I get it installed, Image For Windows, I'm sure we'll have a nice system on which I can do my planned transcription and DAISY publication. One of the things I'm going to be looking at over the next few days is a new DAB radio. Unfortunately, the Yamaha TSX-140 we had went wrong, and Lynne opted to get a refund rather than have it replaced. Although that machine had a good sound, it's construction with the exception of the acoustic chambers for the speakers left a very great deal to be desired. The outer case, for instance, was constructed using light chipboard which, given the price of the unit, shocked me. The display was only LCD, rather than LED which would have been far more energy efficient. The supplied antenna, whilst usable, was really poor quality. It was a tri-band dipole, made from a thin wire assembly in a T-piece formation. The mounting assembly was a joke, two tiny rubber hooks which you are evidently supposed to mount using small nails or panel pins. I've seen better antennas than that on radios costing a fraction of the price and I can't deny I was pretty disappointed. To be honest, I ca n only hope that Yamaha gets its act together for a future model. We still have my old Akai radio/CD here somewhere and, although it's not in good working order now and it doesn't have my required DAB tuner, its construction put the Yamaha TSX-140 to absolute shame. It has a solid teak case with acoustically separated speaker tweeters and woofers. It's not worth fixing even if I could get it fixed, more's the pity. But not to worry, I'll have to see what Pure is doing. The good bigs of the Yamaha were the iPod dock and USB connectivity. I must admit that they did appeal to me and, if the rest of the unit is improved in a future model, I would certainly consider going that road again. OK, enough waffle. Gordon Anyway it's really great to be back, and I'm looking forward to getting to know our new members over the course of time as well. ======================================= The Techno-Chat E-Mail forum is guaranteed malware, spyware, Trojan, virus and worm-free To modify your subscription options, please visit for forum's dedicated web pages located at http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/techno-chat You can find an archive of all messages posted to the Techno-Chat group at either of the following websites: http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/pipermail/techno-chat/index.html Or: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]> you may also subscribe to this list via RSS. The feed is at: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.xml> ---------------------------------------
