Archive for the 'Computers/Technology' Category:

Today we upgraded our L 10MB Virgin Media Cable Broadband to their XL package, with speeds up to 20MB! We also opted for the XL phone and also XL TV packages, all for £56!

Thinking we’d be waiting a few days until the upgrade, I continued surfing the ‘net as normal. However, after another trip to Speedtest.net, I found that the speed hike had already taken place:

Bearing in mind before it hit around the 8MB[500kb/s] mark (10MB package), the extra throughput is instantly recognisable. Everything is instant, no lag, no delays. So, slickhouse.com (and other sites hosted here) will reach you even quicker.

Virgin Media have come on leaps and bounds since the NTL days; whereas the latter’s customer services left a lot to be desired, Virgin Media are fantastic and very helpful. Also, the fact that Samuel L. Jackson regularly fronts their TV ads also helps. Fibre Optic broadband is super fly.

I’ll no doubt be posting again in the coming weeks, regarding Virgin Media - as our V+ box is to be installed soon. It’ll allow us to record 2 channels, whilst watching the third, all in HD-goodness. About time too - as we regularly miss our favourites.

I knew it was coming, but didn’t know exactly when…

Virgin Media are in the process of transferring the account to myself, part of which involves temporarily switching off the broadband connection, whilst they then setup a new connection in the new account holder’s name.

Fortunately their Customer Services are very helpful and knowledgeable - who during the first call confirmed that the broadband had been disconnected. The second call involved them updating the information for the cable modem, which required the MAC address.

So, everything is up and running again and the back-log of my emails are slowly creeping in. We’re going to upgrade the account soon to the triple XL, which includes 20MB broadband amongst others. I’ll let you know if doubling the speed makes any noticable difference.

As mentioned previously, my Foxconn nForce 590 SLi motherboard appeared to be dying. The 2 gigabit network sockets stopped functioning towards the end of last year and more recently the keyboard has been playing up. Thinking it may have been the keyboard itself, I switched to a spare PS/2 keyboard to prove the theory. This too didn’t work correctly, by typing random characters every few seconds. To top it all off, the AM2 cpu bracket on the motherboard itself gave way to the Arctic Cooling Freezer 64’s weight.

So, I purchased a replacement motherboard the other week - a Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H, in other words, a motherboard utilising AMD’s 780G chipset, with HDMI output amongst other things. I’m proud to say that it was bit-tech’s recent preview that swayed my decision from the previously mentioned ASUS enthusiast board. The motherboard has all the features I currently need, along with future proof options, such as the AM2+ support, 16GB maximum memory and the HTPC features.

To top it all off, I purchased an additional 4GB of memory, from Corsair - the TWIN2X4096-6400C5, which coupled with my current 2GB kit (TWIN2X2048-6400C4) brings the total to 6GB - very handy for running multiple VMs simultaneously!

Once the parts arrived, I removed the ‘broken’ Foxconn motherboard and fitted the Gigabyte board with the additional RAM. I then proceeded to install a fresh copy of Vista Ultimate x64.

Unfortunately, within an hour of use, the keyboard started playing up again! This time, I popped to Maplin and purchased a Saitek Multimedia Keyboard to replace my current Saitek Eclipse. So far, so good as I’m typing this with no issues.

Looking back, I don’t regret purchasing the new motherboard, as the current Foxconn did have some issues (Gigabit ports) that were a pain to live with. And, in a year or two I’ll probably upgrade to a Quad Core AM2+ chip, perhaps converting the desktop PC to a HTPC affair. Finally, although I’ve maxed out the RAM sockets with 2 x 1GB and 2 x 2GB - there’s potential in future to fit 4 x 4GB, totalling 16GB - ideal for a home server upgrade.

The moral of the story? Triple check your components and try several different configurations prior to binning them and purchasing replacements…

Nearly 2 years after purchasing the relevant parts to make Red19, the Foxconn C51XEM2AA-8EKRS2H motherboard is slowly dying. A while back, both of the onboard Gigabit network adapters stopped working, which forced me to purchase a PCI adapter to continue using the machine.

Recently the keyboard has stopped responding after a period of time. Firstly it would spew out a string of random characters, after merely pressing A. But now it has evolved to no output at all. Initially thinking it was Vista (with a format on the horizon), I then noticed that it wouldn’t work during POST (let alone the BIOS). So that ruled out the software setup. Then thinking it was the Saitek keyboard itself, I opted for an old PS2 affair - but today this has proved to be useless too. So, putting it altogether I’m concluding that the motherboard is at fault.

The AM2 CPU HSF bracket on the Foxconn had snapped a few weeks ago, which I didn’t notice until I pulled the side off for a spring clean. This meant that the CPU had been overheating for weeks (perhaps months). But after fitting a new bracket and a new blob of thermal paste, the problems have continued.

So, now for options. Budget is tight here, as Lily is on the way. And it’s not an emergency, as I’m typing this on my VAIO without any problems. But my new HDD video camera is filling up with video that needs editing soon (and putting on the web!), so I’ll need Red19 up and running again in the near future.

1. New AM2+ motherboard (with support for Quad core)
2. New Intel 775 motherboard + Core 2 Quad Q6600

Both options are viable at this stage. 1 would set me back £50+ depending on choice. 2 would set me back £200+ again, depending on choice. Of course, I’d also want to chuck in another 4GB RAM (totalling 6GB) as the prices have plummeted recently and to make good use of the 64bit technology.

However, after reading many news articles about Intel’s (and AMD’s) new motherboards just around the corner, I think 1 is more practical. Afterall, I made the choice to go AMD 2 years ago, a few months prior to Core 2’s release, thinking that it would be nothing special…

Let me know if you have any AM2+ motherboard recommendations. No special requirements, apart from the option of continuing with the overclock for the 4000 X2 processor (2.0GHz > 2.6GHz) with no fuss. The Foxconn was good, but has shortlived all expectations I had for it - especially as it was around the £150 mark. RMA may be an option, so I’ll let you know if I go down that road.

Tonight we met my grandparents in a pub for a catch-up meal, as they were staying in the area. This meant that we missed our usual Wednesday evening ritual - The Apprentice, Tuesdays @ 9pm on BBC1.

Luckily, BBC’s iPlayer makes the unmissable, unmissable. So, a few minutes after it had finished on BBC1 (just as we returned from the pub), I turned on the wireless laptop and we were able to watch the full episode in full-screen glory. No installations or 3rd party programs, no active-x controls or scripts, just the usual Flash 9, as per YouTube.

I have to admit that it’s the first time I’ve used the iPlayer - though Anneka and Emily have used it countless times recently, to watch programmes they’d missed. The quality is good and consistant, though there was visible tearing and stuttering from time-to-time. I think this is due to the limitations of streaming Flash media, rather than bottlenecks in the 10MB cable broadband, or the wireless connection.

So, if you’re going to miss, or have already missed a BBC TV programme - then catch up with the unmissable via the highly recommended BBC iPlayer. We’re going to use it again next Wednesday for The Apprentice, as we’ve already booked tickets to go and see Sex and the City.

Oh, as for tonight’s episode of The Apprentice - we were shocked that Alpha won, as their advert and packaging looked horrid, but Rennaissance missed one minor point - their ad contained no mention of the product that they were trying to sell. School boy error #1.