Newsletter

Friday 1st January 2021

First up is this super-fast little Asus computer. It has an Intel core i3 processor, 2 core 4 threads, running at 3.60GHz. It has 8GB of memory, 128GB SSD loaded with fully licenced Windows 10 Pro plus a 1TB hard disk to store all you stuff on. It's got a CD/DVD writer, 5 x USB 2.0 ports, 3 x USB 3.0 ports, SD & microSD card reader, VGA / DVI / HDMI outputs and gigabit ethernet. You can add wi-fi by plugging in a USB wi-fi adapter if you need it. There is also a wireless keyboard and mouse (Spanish).

The computer comes with a brand new Benq GW2475 24" full HD monitor. It has VGA plus two HDMI inputs, which is really useful. The computer is plugged into one HDMI and you can plug another device into the other HDMI port. I've got an Amazon Fire TV stick plugged in, but you can plug anything else with an HDMI output into it. To finish it off is a soundbar with remote control for great sound. This little bargain is just €300.

Next up is an HP Officejet Pro 7740 inkjet printer. It prints, copies, scans and faxes, it does virtually everything. You can see from the pictures that is not one of those cheap little printers, it's a bit of a beast. That's because it can print and scan documents up to A3 size. It has two adjustable paper trays so you can load it up with various different media types at the same time. It has a 35 page auto sheet feed scanner, which of course will scan in duplex if you want. You can scan up to A3 directly on the glass. It prints fast and quiet and of course handles duplex printing when you want. The print quality is honestly amazing. I have used it for printing photos and pictures on A3 glossy photo paper and have framed the pictures and put them on the wall, it's that good. Connectivity is by USB, ethernet or wi-fi, so very versatile. I have recently replaced the XL ink cartridges so it will be good for around 1500 colour prints and 2000 black and white prints, depending on what you are printing of course. Seriously this is the best printer I have ever used. You can read the full specifications here and watch a video review of this incredible printer here.

You can get this amazing printer for just €125, which is around half the price of a new one, plus it's got a full set of XL cartridges rather than starter cartridges.

If you would like the computer and the printer, they can be yours for just €400. Perfect home office sorted! Obviously there's only one of each, so first come first served.

Well, that will just about do it for this newsletter. I hope you have a great month.

Hello and welcome to this month's newsletter.

I hope you had a Merry Christmas and I would like to wish you a Happy New Year! Let's hope that 2021 brings us good health and happiness. Well, at least let it be better than 2020, right? I have a feeling that things are on the up now, what with the convid vaccines and brexit is finally done, so fingers crossed.

Did you get, or do you have a 5G smartphone? In the case that you have, you might have noticed that these phones might not have great battery life, particularly if you have spotty or non-existent 5G signal coverage. I would seem that this technology uses around 20% more power than 4G LTE phones. So, if you have a rubbish 5G signal, or more likely no 5G signal at all, you can boost your battery life by simply going into you phone's settings and select your preferred network to 4G, rather than 5G. Instantly 20% better battery life.

This year we are going to see loads of 5G phones released. Infact, this month sees Xiaomi launching their flagship Mi 11 range and Samsung is releasing their flagship Galaxy S21 range. All these phones will be 5G naturally. So, if you get one and can't get a 5G signal, remember to set your preferred network to 4G and extend the battery life!

Talking about phones, if you are using a very old android or iPhone, you might find that whatsapp stops working from today. iPhone users may be able to upgrade the software on their phone to get whatsapp working again but android users will need to get a new phone. Further details here.

Continuing with phones, a word on roaming charges after brexit. The four main UK mobile operators have all said that they have no plans to start charging roaming fees when using your phones in Europe after brexit. I'm not sure about using your Spanish phone when roaming in the UK. I suspect there will be no change but we will have to wait and see.

A quick word about the HP instant ink program. You might remember that they were offering a free plan which allowed you to print 15 pages a month and your ink was completely free. Well, the free plan is turning into the "light printing" plan, and it will now cost you 99p / 99 cents a month for those 15 pages. It does however allow you to roll-over up to 45 unused pages for those months when you do hardly any printing, which you couldn't do on the free plan.

So I have busy been tidying up and clearing out Santa's workshop (it's that time of year) and I have a couple of things you may be interested in.

Neal Walker Computer Services     

663713811