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Thread: Is your office equipment letting you down?

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    Diamond Member tec0's Avatar
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    Is your office equipment letting you down?

    Now is the chance to write about it!

    Being in the technology “contracting business” I had a look at some new and old products and found that nothing is changing it is just getting smaller. Fact is your data is probably backed up on a DVD or CD that can last only a few years to about a maximum of 40 years. Then its material will breakdown and the DVD or CD may lose its valuable data.

    Then there are the computers you are using every day. I want your opinion on hardware. Do you feel it is expensive or inexpensive? So basically I am asking you; What is the thing you are not seeing in technology right now?

    I want to see faster more secure wireless networking and reliable storage devices among other things. Above all I want to see simplicity when it comes to security on your networks.

    Please anything that is bothering you about your systems just type it out and let us identify it and see how far technology really evolved from the 1990s till now.

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    Site Caretaker Dave A's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by tec0 View Post
    I want your opinion on hardware. Do you feel it is expensive or inexpensive?
    Considering a pretty good PC costs the same nowadays as I paid for a PC in 1986, and the difference between the two is so vast it defies description, I don't think hardware is expensive.

    I do have an issue with the cost of laser printer toner, though. I can't help think design direction is more aimed at milking our pockets rather than trying to improve cost efficiency.

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    Email problem daveob's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dave A View Post
    I do have an issue with the cost of laser printer toner, though.
    Hi Dave_A

    We have passed your details on to Haltrex Systems - we believe they have some great products you may be interested in.

    Watching the ships passing by.

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    Site Caretaker Dave A's Avatar
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    Platinum Member Marq's Avatar
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    I too, would like to see better faster wireless and networks stuff on all fronts.

    I dislike wires/cables and all those spaghetti things that clog up the back (and sometimes front) of a machine, create limits to where you want to put stuff and just generally get in the way - So if they can be removed it would be good in my life.

    Laptop design - why are the jacks for speakers and headphones always in front of the machine? Well.. they have been on all the machines I have had - and I forget every time when buying a new one to look at this. Its a laptop - so when its on your lap you get a jack shoved into your stomach and being the fickle things that they are, (the jacks not my stomach parts) (jacks = another hardware failure) they bomb out.

    Desktops - Why are the usb ports and other input things that have holes and cables attached to them always at the back of the box? I seem to always be groveling on the floor, in a dark hole behind a desk or usually impossible place trying to plug in a drive or cable for a cellphone or ipod. Surly a nice section on the front of the box would be a better idea.

    Wiring - If it is here to stay - maybe different coloured cables would help to identify them when you are trying to sort out nests.

    Toners and inks, while not specifically computer hardware has a price problem. When its cheaper to buy a new printer with a smaller ink pot than buy the ink only then there has to be a problem in this area.

    I need a computer that I can pick up and throw at the wall and kick it till I feel better and then put it back in its place and carry on with life as if nothing happened.....now thats what I'm talking about
    Last edited by Marq; 10-Sep-09 at 09:36 AM.
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    Gold Member twinscythe12332's Avatar
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    I'm afraid that's with the lappys you buy... perhaps you stick to a particular name?
    depending on who is supplying your desktops, the majority of suppliers have 2 or 4 USB ports on the front. both the dell machine sitting next to me and my PC at home have USB ports on the front and back.
    The reason why they're on the back is so they're out of the way, as you have said. if you're struggling with wires everywhere now, imagine what it would be like connecting keyboards and mice to the front 0_0

    as for wireless, may I suggest going with this =P netgear rangemax. with the Wireless-N protocol, it goes to about 500mbit/s wan to lan (350 mbit/s more realistic).

    Logitech also has a nice wireless peripherals range(I'm using a wireless mouse that is using the 2.4GHz band rather than infrared, so there isn't the typical "wireless" mouse lag).

    wireless power is being used to charge small appliances. hopefully it'll get a greater application soon.

    as for the kickable PC... maybe give the DoD a call
    Last edited by twinscythe12332; 10-Sep-09 at 02:21 PM.

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    Diamond Member tec0's Avatar
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    Yes I agree with the notebooks. I know for a fact that HP loves to do that but you do get a USB sound card that you can plug into your USB port thus your sound jacks is on the side. Not the best solution but it is a possibility.

    Secondly I cannot agree more with your standard desktop computer more USBs in the front please! As you say it is accessible then. However if everything sits in the front there is space in the back for the important stuff like cooling! Still, I will recommend that power cable stays where it is, yanking it out every time you get angry can be too much of a temptation!

    Printers and stuff is expensive, I think it is because of cartridge design itself. When you look at manufacturing you will find that most of the printer cartridges have everything it needs built into it thus the heavy costs. It doesn’t really matter if its inkjet or toner both has similar functions and you have to look at the technology inside the cartridges. It is actually amazing stuff. However yes it is still too expensive!

    Networking cables is really a mess... Yes I hate network installations because you need to drill holes in everything! Still I have to say wireless is not that slow with day to day operations. It is when you work with big files of 100MB and up it starts to show its limitations. I have to say Linksys products are really not bad!

    My biggest wireless network at the moment has over 50 computers and it doing ok... I will not lie to you it is slow from time to time but that’s because there was only 1 network printer a second printer really helped a lot. Also the internet can be SLOW! But again when I started to limit internet access that problem was a thing of the past.

    In all honesty PLAN your wireless networks! The hardware is limited but for normal office use I don’t see a problem with it “IF IT IS PLANNED” I never had a comeback on this network after the internet limitations and an extra printer I just want to mention it. It is a stable network...

    If you don’t mind me asking what do you use for backup?

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  10. #8
    Platinum Member Marq's Avatar
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    For my backup, I have set up a separate machine running windows server 2003 linked through a linksys wireless g ap. To that I have attached a few external hard drives of various sizes and makes. Then at the moment I am trying Avanquest Autosave software to run the backup in the background. Seems to be ok except its slow and with the drives gets fiddly in terms of what is going where and the software is not very user friendly. I am thinking of one big drive to make sure I have all my stuff in one place and saving once a month say and then storing that drive somewhere else.

    For laptops I have tried hp, compac, toshiba and now on a second acer. I think I enjoyed the toshiba the most.

    That wireless n rangemax looks sharp 15X speed and 5X range compared to G (according to the netgear site) - methinks its a present coming up.
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    Diamond Member tec0's Avatar
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    Marq -> I find you backup to be scary! Having everything one place, yes I can see why you would want it that way but I recommend you keep a second copy of your big drive on another big drive in nice safe place like under you bed next to your slipper “not a professional suggestion!”

    I find it strange that you have such difficulties. Have you thought about “Active Directory” and setup an external SATA drive to help with the speed thing “a bit” also do your backup at night when the network is not populated? Also make sure that your externals are running COOL. They seem to be more stable then.

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    Site Caretaker Dave A's Avatar
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    I'm going to stick to my toner cost bleat for now.
    Quote Originally Posted by tec0 View Post
    Printers and stuff is expensive, I think it is because of cartridge design itself. When you look at manufacturing you will find that most of the printer cartridges have everything it needs built into it thus the heavy costs. It doesn’t really matter if its inkjet or toner both has similar functions and you have to look at the technology inside the cartridges.
    You're right about the problem being design, but not for the reasons you suggest. What we are seeing is printers coming out with cartridges that do fewer copies. If you look at the "top end of cheap desktop" printers, HP has gone from printers that did 7500 copies per cartridge, to printers that did 4000 copies per cartridge, to printers that do 2500 copies per cartridge. And if we take inflation into account, those different cartridges are all about the same price each!

    For a while it looked like Canon wasn't following HP's lead, but now it seems they are too.

    We're being gouged - plain and simple. My supplier calls printer toner the "new heroine."

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