Pete 75C Posted February 3, 2014 Share Posted February 3, 2014 personally I'd go for one of these: http://raspberrypi.rsdelivers.com/default.aspx?cl=1 I have absolutely no idea what that is, something to do with jam-making perhaps? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted February 3, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 3, 2014 I have absolutely no idea what that is, something to do with jam-making perhaps? Exactly. The geek habit of silly names for pieces of kit ensures that some of us will never touch them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete 75C Posted February 3, 2014 Share Posted February 3, 2014 Exactly. The geek habit of silly names for pieces of kit ensures that some of us will never touch them. I agree, although iPhone, YouTube etc have made it into my subconscious, Raspberry Pi has so far eluded me... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete 75C Posted February 3, 2014 Share Posted February 3, 2014 Nobody's geek-bashing. It's just that Linux, Raspberry Pi etc don't mean a thing to me (just an average Joe that wanders into PC World when he needs something computer-like). I'd hazard a guess that it's outside the scope of the OP as well. If I'm wrong, it certainly won't be the first time! I'm afraid I'm just one of those dinosaurs that wants a PC to work, do what I expect of it and no more than that. I really have no clue about different OS, fruit pies etc, raspberry or otherwise... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted February 3, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 3, 2014 Nobody's geek-bashing. It's just that Linux, Raspberry Pi etc don't mean a thing to me Quite. If those products were called Bloggs Series 3(B), i.e. the name actually "meant" something in a series of developments, they would be easier to take seriously. Mint and raspberry have no place in technology. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold ian Posted February 3, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 3, 2014 Mint and raspberry have no place in technology. Or Apple? Sorry, couldn't resist. The problem with straying away from WIndows is that when you need a new printer, upgrade of your layout sketching software, etc.. - which you will sooner or later, it won't run on XP any more so you will be forced to upgrade then (or do without). Upgrading WIndows always requires a biger and beefier computer or, if your existing machine will run it, a drop in performance. After many years in IT before I escaped I avoid new releases of Windows (the bleeding edge of technology) until they have had a couple of years to settle down! I'm currently looking at moving from XP to 7. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted February 3, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 3, 2014 Or Apple? Sorry, couldn't resist. Point well made! But also true. PCs are a lot cheaper than Apple products, so I've never been tempted to change. But an Apple versus PC debate is not what the OP was seeking! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium MPR Posted February 3, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 3, 2014 Quite. If those products were called Bloggs Series 3( B), i.e. the name actually "meant" something in a series of developments, they would be easier to take seriously. Mint and raspberry have no place in technology. In the case of LINUX, the name does have exactly this meaning. The L stands for Linus Torwalds who developed it, based on UNIX. UNIX is a very old name, now going back 40 years. It is generally held to stand for Uniplexed Information and Computing System, being itself based on an older OS called MULTICS. Raspberry PI follows in the tradition of naming computers after fruit (Apple, Tangerine, Apricot and, if you are a squirrel, Acorn). The PI is a play on the irrational number (remember this is a device designed to teach coding) and "pie" Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeOxon Posted February 3, 2014 Share Posted February 3, 2014 If your computer is slow, it's not necessarily down to the processor. I have a netbook with just an Atom processor. I replaced the hard drive with a solid state drive (Samsung 840 Pro) and it is now very quick - XP start up takes a few seconds, programs and photos load almost instantly, etc. I'd recommend this upgrade to anyone with a 'slow' computer. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted February 3, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 3, 2014 In the case of LINUX, the name does have exactly this meaning. The L stands for Linus Torwalds who developed it, based on UNIX. UNIX is a very old name, now going back 40 years. It is generally held to stand for Uniplexed Information and Computing System, being itself based on an older OS called MULTICS. Raspberry PI follows in the tradition of naming computers after fruit (Apple, Tangerine, Apricot and, if you are a squirrel, Acorn). The PI is a play on the irrational number (remember this is a device designed to teach coding) and "pie" Perhaps I never got over seeing a computer magazine on W H Smuggs's bookstall called "Dragon User"! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete 75C Posted February 3, 2014 Share Posted February 3, 2014 Perhaps I never got over seeing a computer magazine on W H Smuggs's bookstall called "Dragon User"! I wish I'd spotted that. Would have made a nice gift for the mother-in-law instead of "Computing for Dummies"... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_long Posted February 3, 2014 Share Posted February 3, 2014 I've had no day 2 day issues with Win 8.1, yes I have a touchscreen laptop, and find using the keyboard, my screen and the touch pad has become second nature. No software I've loaded has failed. I'm an android tablet user too so the apps side of Win 8 is also no issue. If you can get your head around andorid/Apple apps then the Win 8 app suite is just the same. My printer drivers have been updated and works without issue. So with 8.1 is just a few people prejudiced against original 8.0. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jongudmund Posted February 3, 2014 Share Posted February 3, 2014 I can vouch for Windows 7. It's very easy to work with. I was surprised they brought Windows 8 so soon after, but I think MS have been spooked by the development of touchscreen and they needed something to work on their Surface tablets. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewartingram Posted February 3, 2014 Share Posted February 3, 2014 If your computer is slow, it's not necessarily down to the processor. I have a netbook with just an Atom processor. I replaced the hard drive with a solid state drive (Samsung 840 Pro) and it is now very quick - XP start up takes a few seconds, programs and photos load almost instantly, etc. I'd recommend this upgrade to anyone with a 'slow' computer. And also regular cleaning up of the software. Empty recycle bin, clear desktop, defrag, clear history, etc etc. Stewart Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
antrobuscp Posted February 3, 2014 Share Posted February 3, 2014 I can sympathise with a number of the views expressed here. I still use XP on my main work computer since it bridges between, and works well with, very old and new software. I do have to be concerned about security, and I will almost certainly carry on using the XP machines but not for higher risk internet operations. One of my software suppliers will not be supporting their software on XP after the start of their next product cycle. I've made sure I can deal with the situation by testing my old programs in a virual machine XP mode on both Win 7 and Win 8. The method is not perfect, but it works. I've used Win 7 for a few years now, and I bought a Win 8 tablet last autumn. I have had a hardware problem with it, but I did not really have too much difficulty getting to grips with the OS. I did what I've done in the past - make the new OS look like the last version so I can find my way around(Win 8 can be made to look quite similar to XP), then tailor the system to run my software so I'm up and running, and then gradually learn about the new/changed features. This took me the equivalent of about 10.5 hours, but done gradually, from turning on the machine and without any real prior knowledge of the OS. I honestly didn't see what all the fuss was about with Win 8. Likewise, despite the Win 8 tablet being touch enabled, the keyboard and mouse can still be used as before - the touch screen is just another option, you don't have to use it. Because it is a tablet, I do use the touch facility for some things but it just gets in the way and is slower with others. I will almost certainly set up my desk from April with two machines, one XP, the other Win7 or 8, Colin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZiderHead Posted February 3, 2014 Share Posted February 3, 2014 On the flip side, I was recently told by our main business software provider that "we don't fully support Windows 7 yet" (If you listen hard you can hear the sound of me banging my head on my desk) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Jackson Posted February 3, 2014 Share Posted February 3, 2014 probably posted elsewhere but to get this back onto a model railways theme: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-609-LL&groupid=2362&catid=187 or un motored version also available for a lot less Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HLT 0109 Posted February 3, 2014 Share Posted February 3, 2014 Now, I see the point you're trying to make and if the only OS in the world would be the ever increasingly bloating Win-OS then yes, you'd be right. But it isn't! Given your remark I deduct you have no (recent) experience with Linux, so in your case I'd also advise you to give it a go and try for yourself. But be fair and do so with an open mind please! The only cost would be a CD or DVD, but if you choose a rewritable version of that you could "recycle" it if you decide it's not for you. Both my sons use Linux and love it. Therefore I did try it and hated it. Similarly Open Office (when my XP computer gave trouble a year ago) I couldn't wait to get back to familiar Windows. So, who's not being fair?! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium MJI Posted February 3, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 3, 2014 Hi Doug, A screen shot, showing Linux Mint 15 running in the background, with virtual-box running Windows XP. You can see on the XP desktop Anyrail and Hornby RailMaster, both work fine. I was actually surprised that the Hornby Software would work OK but it actually does. Not only that but I needed to test it to see if it would also control the layout like this and that works too! Screenshot from 2014-02-02 18:45:40.png Just thought it might prove useful. Yes there is a learning curve but I confess I'm no computer geek but reading some of the forums it wasn't too bad. Cheers Ian How do you do that? We have a dual boot PC with XP on C and Mint on D Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium MJI Posted February 3, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 3, 2014 Hate 8 hate Vista & is pretty good, but XP was the best OS MS has done. Looking at things at home not necessary PCs but including PCs Linux of any form 5 - TV PVR PC Phones Windows of any form 4 PC PC PVR Games console BSD of any form 5 - games consoles Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold traction Posted February 3, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 3, 2014 How do you do that? We have a dual boot PC with XP on C and Mint on D My PC is also Dual boot with Vista and Mint, but I have partitioned the Hard-drive and can choose which OS boots when I start the PC. I start my PC and it gets to a certain stage and then a page is displayed where I can choose which OS boots up, Windows Vista or Linux Mint, it's defaulted to Mint. I booted into Linux Mint then installed Virtual-box from the software manager. Run Virtual Box and just follow the default suggestions for XP. Once you've created your " Virtual Machine" you click start and in the window it's just like switching on a blank PC with no OS installed, so you need a bootable disc with the OS you want to install. Just insert your disc into the drive and follow the instructions to install the OS, in my case XP, from that point on it's just the same as getting a PC with no OS on it and installing it yourself. It's quite clever really and if you go full screen with the Virtual-Box window it looks just like your using XP, so you can click on start and it will have the start menu, you can even go to control panel and set up com ports etc. It's just like having a PC running Windows XP. Cheers Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny Emily Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 If your computer is running slow, nine times out of ten I've found that this is more down to bloat within the OS and other programs and Miscrosoft's products' failure to dump temp or unused files properly, and all the carp that ends up getting added to the system registry. A full reinstall of the software from scratch fixes most of this. I've never bought a new computer in my life. Instead I assemble them from bits that I occasionally buy and more usually salvage from other people and skips. The computer I am typing this on was once a server ten years ago. It still runs Win XP Pro nicely with no sign of slowdown. At least one of the hardrives within it is an old 10Gb drive that must be ten or more years old. The computer in my shed is even older, and uses six 9.1Gb SCSI drives that came out of a skip at a clooege in Hartlepool around ten years ago. Runs XP Pro just fine. Extra memory can be a good performance boost for old computers. DIMMs can be bought pretty cheap off ebay (I picked up several 512Mb 144pin DIMMs off ebay for a fiver on Ebay and they are doing the shed computer just fine) or even from places such as CEX (this computer runs on 5Gb of DIMMs largely obtained from the CEX in Bolton). I only changed from Win98SE when it became apparent that that OSs lack of support for USB2 was a grind. I still haven't found any normal hardware that I need that doesn't get on with XP. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HLT 0109 Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 A full reinstall of the software from scratch fixes most of this. This certainly fixed a problem I had with my old machine a year or so ago but didn't speed up its general operation. For example, I joined RMWeb in January 2009 but the site never worked properly until I got my new computer this year! Using the website without signing in speeded up things considerably so I only signed in when I wanted to contribute. I can't explain why it was but it is a problem I no longer have. I apologise if this comment is rather off topic. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Oxlade Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 Windows definitely gets slower over time, and it is not usually obvious why. Even removing temp files, and having a good clean up etc. often doesn't make much difference. I have been in IT support for donkey's years, and I believe (can't prove it), that it is all the updates and drivers being enhanced over time that does it. The only way to really solve the problem is to do a reinstall, but that's pretty painful if you don't do that sort of thing very often and it'll eventually start to slow down again over time anyway. My Windows7 laptop is now about 4 years old and is noticeably slower now than when I bought it, but I am not doing anything significantly different. Untruths about PCs: Having too many applications installed slows it down. NOPE. Having too many RUNNING AT THE SAME TIME does. Having too many files, photos, etc. on the hard drive slows it down. NOPE, provided you have a few Gb of free space to play with it doesn't matter. You must have 30% free disk space on your hard drive. NOPE. Windows will flag your drive as being nearly full at 30% but on a 500Gb drive that means its telling you to keep 150Gb free! RUBBISH. Surfing the Internet needs a power PC. NOPE. You need a good Internet connection, but just about any PC built in the last 10 years is more than capable of surfing the web. Oh, and don't confuse physical RAM/memory with disk drive capacity - TOTALLY different. Things you do need: Enough memory. I wouldn't even think of using an XP PC with less than 2Gb RAM. Running low on available RAM will most definitely impact performance as Windows will try and use space on the hard-drive to allow you to run more, and disk performance is INCREDIBLY slow compared to RAM. Start TASK MANAGER inside Windows, click on the Performance tab. You can see CPU (processor) and Memory (RAM) usage. It is fine for the CPU to be running at over 90% ALL THE TIME - that still means it has 10% more capacity before it throws a fit. My PC is running at around 30% usage as I type this What will make the most difference is the amount of available PHYSICAL RAM. Looking at my Windows7 PC as I type this, I have 2972Mb RAM and am using 2.09Gb. Rather confusing that the total is in Mb but the used in Gb. Anyway, that's 2.97Gb PHYSICAL and 2.09Gb used - which is fine. (My PC is a laptop so the 4Gb of installed RAM is shared with the video display - and I have dual screens running - so that's why I only have 2.9Gb usable.) My next PC will have more usable RAM and a faster CPU. The bottleneck at the moment is the CPU is just slower than newer ones, though mine is still not at its limit, it is just doing what it can do slower, and if I had more memory I could load up more if I wanted to. Also, being a laptop, the disk drive is slow. Desktop PCs tend to have faster hard drives, but new, solid-state drives will blow your socks off - albeit they are currently limited in their capacity. So start TASK MANAGER in Windows and have a look at what is actually going on. Hope (some of) this helps someone. John a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (retired) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Oxlade Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 PS. To edit videos you need a grunty PC and LOADS of RAM and disk space; that WILL tax any self-respecting PC.. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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