The "My latest purchase" thread

[RandyL]

That's my dresser. Funny thing is that only my wife has her things in it.

[KenB]

I like the idea of internal blinds :)

 

Looks like you live in a nice spot Randy.

[DSTM]

That's my dresser. Funny thing is that only my wife has her things in it.

 

Isn't that always the way. Anything good you lose to the Wife.

We have a full wall mirrored built in Robe.

My share is about 1/8th of hanging space and 3 draws out of 8.

I jokingly complained and her comeback was "Get used to it"

[Plastic Nev]

Recently, as in last week, bought a new fridge freexer, made by IceKing, model IK5040AP, one of these:-

 

http://www.ice-king.co.uk/ProductList.aspx?p=11

 

The old one had got to the point where the motor was running continually, not freezing down low enough, and of course costing a fortune to run it.

 

Put a clip on ammeter on the mains and it draws less than an amp when the compressor is running, the old one I don't know what it was taking, but must have been a lot more.

[KenB]

"Frost Free" ..... does that mean it doesn't get very cold :)

[RandyL]

That will save you money. Especially with the energy rating.

[Plastic Nev]

"Frost Free" ..... does that mean it doesn't get very cold :)

 

It gets cold enough Ken, it shows how bad my old one had got as things are now very solid when frozen unlike previously.

How it works and what prevents ice build up I have as yet no idea, it just does so, though early days as yet.

 

It is certainly a lot more efficient Randy than the older models used to be and indeed hope it cuts the electricity bills.

My last bill was £110.00 for a three month or quarter period, considering there is only lighting, the computer and that old wreck of a fridge freezer, with short duration use of my microwave, that was way too much.

 

Nev.

[Plastic Nev]

I have bought a second hand Acer Aspire laptop and so far quite pleased with it.

 

You can of course stop reading now if no interest in how I got it and what I needed to do to get it to my liking.

 

OK, if you got this far I will carry on.

I have had it mind that a reasonable Windows 7 laptop to replace the old Toshiba XP machine I sold recently might be a nice idea.

 

I certainly didn't want brand new as the choice now is W8 only with not many dealers having any W7 machines left in stock, so a refurbed second hand was the target.

So bearing that in mind I had been looking round locally in the usual computer dealers who may have what I was looking for, but with little success as far as a reasonable spec one.

 

Then on Monday afternoon I was passing one of those big chain second hand places, plenty of them about but the main ones are "Cash Converters" and also "Cash Generators", it was the latter that got my attention with this Acer in the window, with a price tag of £129.99.

 

So I went in and asked to have a look at it. The saleswoman and as I found she was also the shop manager, got it out of the display window and set it up on the main counter, unfortunately couldn't get it to work, no charge in it's battery and the power supply, though lit up on its power indicator, was obviously not powering the thing.

 

Next is a wiggle of the power jack to see a sudden flash of life, then nothing again, so some more wagging about to get a bit more power on for a brief second.

 

I was ready to not bother at that point and said things on the lines of it being a common problem with power jacks working loose, and would need attention and repair.

 

She offered it to me then at twenty pound off the price, and a bit more haggling that if it was going to cost more than it is worth then I would want my money back. That was accepted so I paid and brought it home.

 

After a good inspection I noticed the cable from the power supply to the jack plug looked damaged at around a half inch from the plug, so stripped the insulation off to find one conductor broken. Soldering iron, then insulation tape fixed that and the laptop came to life.

 

I then found that the entire Windows7 operating system had been taken back to factory settings by whoever, and suspect perhaps the store technician maybe, as the date was only three days previous, yet the date of first creation of said operating system was some time in 2009, giving the clue the laptop was around four years old.

 

So the next thing is first to install Revo from a USB flash drive to junk all the pre loaded rubbish that Acer had put on with the original factory settings, including the usual Norton 90 day trial, that went as the first bit of junk to be removed.

Next in line was turn on Windows firewall, then install MSSE as at least a means to safely connect to the internet.

 

Once safe to go on line, I had the daunting task of downloading and installing all the catch up Windows updates, including W7 SP1, don't forget that the original factory install was four years old so a lot of updates were needed.

 

The outcome though is a nice little laptop with quite a few useful things, a card reader, a finger print reader, (which won't be used or configured) the usual USB ports, a HDMI port, plus a few other odds and sods including the old firewire port.

 

A nice little bargain for £110.00

 

Nev.

[Ray1000]

Well Done Nev,

 

Could you expand on this ...

 

"So the next thing is first to install Revo from a USB flash drive to junk all the pre loaded rubbish that Acer had put on with the original factory settings, including the usual Norton 90 day trial, that went as the first bit of junk to be removed"

 

My desktop was built from scratch so it's never had any rubbish on it, I'd assumed the people who had bought branded machines had to put up with all the pre loads ... short of restarting with a new operating system.

 

Ray

[Plastic Nev]

Hi Ray, yes I went the way of installing Revo (Revo uninstaller) as that way I could pick and choose. I do believe there is actually some software available to do the clearing of unwanted manufacturer installs, though they might not give you the chance of keeping the odd thing that may be useful, and possibly wipe it right back to just the OS and drivers. I don't know for sure, just didn't fancy risking it.

 

I now always use Revo on any machine to get rid of an unwanted program, it does a much better job of tidying up the loose ends that the Windows uninstaller leaves behind.

 

http://www.revouninstaller.com/start_freeware_download.html (This link starts the download)

 

It was quite obvious that either the previous owner or some technician in the shop had used the original factory reinstall disks, as it came with everything dated back to what was obviously the time of manufacture.

That also meant a big length of time playing catch up with all the Microsofts Windows updates, it took a good few hours did that as it also included the install of Windows 7 service pack 1 as well.

 

Just waiting now for that special moment to catch a friend on skype and scare the hell out of him by turning the webcam in the lid on, I will of course be dressed in a suitable scary outfit. :cool:

 

Nev.

[Vr5fx]

I will of course be dressed in a suitable scary outfit. :cool:

 

No outfit is required for that, Nev. Just thought you should know.

 

I've been purchasing spares for my RC cars. As they are too expensive to get a range of spares handy, now I just buy them when needed.

 

Woop.

[KenB]

I will of course be dressed in a suitable scary outfit.

As Steve says ...... no need for the outfit !! Just one look at the beard with a pint of something bitter sloshing around it would scare anybody

http://www.sherv.net/cm/emo/laughing/ugly-man-laugh-smiley-emoticon.gif

[Ray1000]

Thanks for that Nev.

 

Ray

[Armageddon]

My big TV been on the blink and having returned it back to the shop to be sorted or replaced , I decided to pop in to my local " Cash Gen " to have a look at monitors , and lo and behold I found 2 acer 22inch ones at 13 quid each so I bought them both , had them show me they both was working then they told me they wanted 6 quid each for the VGA cables 6 quid I tell ya , obviously I politely refused and grabbed 2 cables from work that night, all in all though am well pleased with both monitors.

[Plastic Nev]

That is a bit much for a cable Armageddon, Amazon have male to male for £1.44 if you did have to buy them. Have a look here :-

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Monitor-Replacement-SVGA-Cable-Black/dp/B001MQGOLU/ref=sr_1_1/275-7807869-6491358?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1377878498&sr=1-1

 

Also I would check the monitors for dead pixels once you get them up and running, someone must have had a reason for selling off at that cheap a price!

If you haven't got DeadPixelBuddy, download it from here to check those monitors with.

 

http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Benchmarks/Dead-Pixel-Buddy.shtml

 

or use the web based one here:-

 

http://deadpixelbuddy.com/

 

Nev.

[Armageddon]

Cheers Nev I ran the dead pixel thing theres a slight shadow in corner of one of one of them I can live with , and cables at that price I rekon I'll order half a dozen

[RandyL]

Wood floors

 

Carpet ripped out, red oak floors repaired and refinished with a clear semi-gloss polyurethane, no stain.

 

Painted the rooms first. Need to buy a new couch and love seat but the other furniture including my waterbed is back in.

 

It took 3 weeks to get everything out of the house, paint the rooms and get the floors done. I had to leave the house for a week. Week 4 I was sick. It's been a long month.

 

[Starbuck]

Very nice.

 

It's been a long month.

But worth it, i bet.

[KenB]

love seat ........... waterbed

Pete - you missed an opportunity here ....... all I have to say is "no comment" :)

 

Randy - it was well worth the wait :)

[Starbuck]

Pete - you missed an opportunity here

You know what it's like when you read something after a hard days work..... your brain is half asleep. :sleep:

Oops sorry you will have forgotten what that's like. :confused: :o

[Plastic Nev]

Back to the new fridge freezer, that has certainly started to pay its way, a £110.00 bill for last quarter or three months, is only £75.00 this time round and bearing in mind I am at home all day now since the previous bill, so lights are on and computer all day now. I am pretty happy with that.

 

Now installing the latest money saving gadget, a new central heating condensing combi boiler, and up to my neck in copper pipe and plumbing bits and pieces at the moment. Doing it myself with no help means it is taking its time to get done as I am also rescuing as much plumbing fittings and pipe as I can, I hate wasting stuff when it can be reused.

 

Nev.

[KenB]

That's an impressive saving Nev.

 

Very impressed that you are able fit your own combi boiler ........... I know where to come when I want my plumbing altered.

I don't mind doing small jobs ....... I moved the cold water tank from a cupboard in the bedroom to the loft and fitted a shower ..... but I don't think I would attempt a combi boiler.

[Plastic Nev]

That in itself is no small job Ken, extra pipe involved and planning where it has to go to get where you want it, is the main part of the job. I say well done for what you achieved.

 

Nev.

[RandyL]

love seat ........... waterbed

Pete - you missed an opportunity here

Ken get your mind out of the gutter. It's already really crowded down here. :smile:

[KenB]

Ken get your mind out of the gutter.

Me ?? ............ little me ???? :)