HTCPCP

Yeah, that's a gonner on that one - Seen it a few times for NEC projectors (including 1 during a warranty period) - it's something quite a big issue, as NEC didn't repair the projector, but swapped it out completely. Another one here who when using projectors, use Epson EB-X27s (and previously X11s), why all companies don't include something along the lines of Quick corner, I do not know!

There is now a full RM Update for this - http://support.rm.com/GeneralDownload.asp?cref=DWN5724936&nav=0

I have never had a problem buying a Xeon processor from a refurbisher. Xeon and Opteron processors are normally pretty robust.

I haven't had any issues with the Lapsafe Trolleys as long as the cables don't get stuck in the doors (staff more than students cause this!), and remember lightening leads don't have an indefinate life span. Other solutions I have come across/have been forced into and their effectiveness 1 - Using Comms cabinets and USB charging hubs - Not very attractive, but does work. It's a bit of a pain to set up, and so far more cables have been caught and damaged than anything else. 2 - Proper trolleys - I have used Lapsafe, Zioxi and Lapcabby. I wouldn't recomend the latter 2, as I have found the trolleys to be poorly built and not very well designed, but was a big improvement from the comms cabinets! The Nursery children are relatively good at putting them back in the trolley, but obviously need to be plugged in by staff, but the older students (year 3+ have been brilliant with these) 3 - suitcase style trolleys - Avoid these like the plague, I can't trust teachers to use these, let alone the kids to put them on charge. Cables become a mess, leads go missing regularly, and the ones that haven't gone missing tend to be the ones that someone has closed the lid on... 4 - Wireless charging - this looks great, and was really hoping to get it put into one of my schools, until I found out that the Business manager had spent the money that was meant to go for charging infrastructure on something else... Suitable for all kids, and from what i've seen works well, but does cost a fair bit of money. However, no cables to worry about, secure and children will be able to put them away. (ClassCharge was the option we looked at) From experience, if you cut corners when it comes to the charging kit, you pay for it later down the road, so I would suggest if at all possible spend more on something that will not break. I go on at least 2 cycles of devices per trolley minimum if it's good quality, 1 if its cheaper, and based on the wear of the Zioxi trolley so far, probably 2 trolleys per 5 year cycle of devices.

We used to purchased Zoostorm machines, now its mostly HP or Lenovo (with the occasional Hell thrown in simply because they come in cheapest). We tend to use UKZones, moved to them a few years ago, having tracked down our old misco account manager, after having 3 account managers in 3 months! LinkedIn is a wonderful thing!

We tend to only buy i5s now for all machines, unless we require something for a specific purpose (e.g. we are upgrading the machines used heavily for Adobe CC to i7 and 16GB RAM, with a 240GB SSD in them). The only machines to buck the trend, are our machines, which have been i7s for the last few years, simply because we got a really good deal when buying them. i3s would be fine, however how we see it, is we expect an i5 to be useable at a reasonable speed for a year or 2 longer than the i3 machine, and for the extra outlay, it makes sense.

I have the Nationwide one - if you travel, then it can be really useful. Limit is 1k I think (although I never go anywhere near that!), but has the advantage it builds up commission free foreign exchange credit. This means, when I go to another country, I can use my card without getting stung with foreign exchange commission. It's always worth while going into your bank and speaking to one of their advisers, mine was brilliant, and went through it all with me, and even went through some of the other cards I was looking at too (capital one, Tesco etc). Yes, they will be biassed towards promoting their own card, but a good adviser will also point out risks and benefits of cards, and go through all questions.

I've got a credit card - with a direct debit to pay off each month. Just make sure you have the money in your account, and don't use it to withdraw cash and you are fine. I just use mine to buy train tickets - small amount each month, but enough to show you are trust worthy!

I would, simply because it's still widely used on all but the latest devices, but also VGA is far less 'nickable' than HDMI leads.

One of my schools are looking at replacing their old Lego Mindstorms kit, for predominantly year 5/6 ages. The school have ruled out the lego WeDo, as a bit too simplistic for the more able kids. What are you guys using? I have seen (although only in demo mode, and not in the classroom environment) Vex IQ and the K'Nex kits, although not come across any schools that are successfully using them.

We have a HIKvision DVR (which has been fine) and some cheap unbranded cameras from a local store. The cameras, once we got them working are fine for the job, but were a to get working, requiring some having to be sent back, firmware updates on all of them.

VeryPC Thinkbook 14's are quite nice - not got the latest ones, but one of our schools has them on a lease for staff, and they really like them Lenovo X260/270 - probably over budget, but great pieces of kit, and has a dual battery option so if they travel a lot, then it would be ideal. Lenovo ThinkPad - Not sure if they make lower end small ones still or not, but if they do, well worth considering.

We have had this a few years ago, and it was found to be either an out of date or missing installation of Bonjour - try installing https://support.apple.com/kb/DL999?viewlocale=en_GB&locale=en_GB as a local admin, and see if that solves the issue.

Are you running an Office Master/Slave system? Most of my sites have now gone with a seperate SIMS server, with the office machines being on the domain, however 2 of my sites haven't yet. Both have the older Office master and up to 4 slaves. It's not a great solution or pretty, but it serves a purpose. If you have capacity, I would suggest migrating your SIMS server to a new server. If they want the status quo, then here are the specs of the machine I was using in 2016 - bought through Dell Intel Core i7 (4790 iirc) 500GB SSHD x2 in Raid 1 8GB RAM 5 Year NBD warranty Never going to break any records, but fast enough for the office to be able to get on and do their work without being hampered too much by it not working!

I tend to buy Belkin for things like S-Video etc, and Cambridge Audio for RCA Leads (tend to buy them through Richer sounds)

I've got one too, and it's not bad, but nothing to write home about. It does it's job, and seems to not be affected by the hot water tank between my home office and the router, unlike previous routers. Its hard for me to compare speeds though, as it was after we had some serious stability issues which were not router linked. Downside is the large power adapter which is a shame really, as it's quite a good looking piece of kit.

Looked at a house on Cockbush avenue a few years ago, but having seen the property, decided against it. The estate agents seem to love that house - seems to go up for sale every year!

Like when you click on anything google or Microsoft related you mean?

Once again, Apple have taken another companies idea and selling it as something new and innovative. It's the equivalent of the lap dock for the HP elite X3

Anyone going to the HICS meeting today regarding the new provision? From my understanding (well what i've been told by the BM who is dealing with it, is that the first year is the same price, but then might drop in years 2 and 3, and speeds are mostly the same, but with an option for a 200mb connection, but he's not exactly the best at giving us any information.

I've used it in the hall in one school, and it worked relatively well, just be a bit careful around the edges if it's not a particularly good drop down screen. If you are using it just one area though, I've used projection paint before now onto some hard board screwed to the wall which worked really well!

I'm always cautious about companies like HyperTek, simply because their devices are built to a price. RAM wise, I tend to buy Crucial, Corsair or Kingston for work, depending on price, and Toshiba only for SSDs

I've heard rumours that it's RM with Lightspeed filtering too

CC4 can be brilliant, and can be really bad. it all depends on what you want to do really! Yes it does have its faults - especially with overloading older machines to make them unusable, when without the RM bloat they are fine. It's especially helpful in the way that I have managed to train some of the more technical teachers in schools to be able to reset passwords of students etc if I'm not on site etc. As Norphy has said, it's not suitable for everyone - It tries to be, but as we all know, it does some things well, and some things not so well.

You can always look at devices such as Samsung Galaxy XCover 3 Dark Silver Value Edition 2016 4.5" 8GB 4G Unlocked & SIM Free - Laptops Direct We just have a cheap Nokia from Virgin, and it works just fine for them to receive calls.