flyinghaggis

Realistically the Oculus Rift S is probably the best all round PC headset for the money IMO. I'm personally not a fan of the Vive as I think it's overly expensive and the room scale tracking sensor setup is a faff. I much prefer inside-out tracking usng cameras on a headset. Plus the Oculus controllers are much more comfortable IMO. I've heard the Valve Index is the best headset on the market currenly but the pricing is hard to justify unless money is no object! One warning I would say is don't be tempted if you see any cheap Windows Mixed Reality headsets. Microsoft has basically stopped suppporting the platform and SteamVR support for the headset is pretty patchy and unreliable in my experience. I have an Oculus Quest and a Playstation VR headset. Personally I really like the Oculus Quest as it's self contained and doesn't require a PC to run. You can also connect it to a PC wirelessly or using an USB cable to run PC games (that feature is still in beta but I'm told it works well). I also like the fact that it runs Android so is good fun to tinker with plus this allows you to sideload third party apps. Playstation VR has the strongest game library as Sony's exclusive titles are the best out there for VR in terms of content and quality with titles such as Wipeout, Firewall: Zero Hour and Astrobot. The hand/head tracking isn't great on it though. Given you have a decent spec PC the Oculus Rift S or the Oculus Quest are what I suggest you look into though. Otherwise I'd probably be recommending the PlaystationVR solution as the best value gaming setup. https://www.oculus.com/quest/ https://www.oculus.com/rift-s/ I promise I'm not on Oculus' payroll but with Facebook's (eurrrrgh!) backing they're by far and away the best option for VR right now IMO Your best strategy is probably to decide what you want then hold fire until Black Friday to see if you can find any deals and/or discount codes!

Thanks for the info. It's helpful to know what others are doing! What Cloud Repository are you using by the way as we've been comparing Veeam Cloud Connect to other generic cloud storage space?

I was considering one of the Halfords folding ebikes mainly for the practicality and convenience as it comes with mud guards and a rack. Plus my primary concern about a electric bike is leaving it outside given the cost of them! It'd be reassuring to know I could fold it down and pop it in a locked storeroom or under a desk rather than leaving it outside on a bike rack somewhere. Carrera Crosscity Folding Electric Bike Does anyone have an experience of commuting to work on folding bikes. I've never ridden one so wondered if it would feel much different with the smaller wheels/etc.

I was having a play with the 13" surface laptop 3 at the weekend and it's a lovely piece of kit. Screen is great, keyboard and trackpad are also spot on. Was kind of tempted as I could do with a new laptop. The only real criticism I had of it (other than Microsoft gouging on price for SSD upgrades) was the lack of thunderbolt 3 support. It's an odd omission as most other 13" ultraportables in the same segment have it. There's also rumors of black Friday deals on most MS product lines so if you're interested in any of the Surface hardware is probably worth waiting until then.

They've made some impressive developments in the latest model 😲

Some pretty interesting comments from Zuckerberg regarding Libra today “While we debate these issues, the rest of the world isn’t waiting,” he said. “China is moving quickly to launch similar ideas in the coming months. Libra will be backed mostly by dollars and I believe it will extend America’s financial leadership as well as our democratic values and oversight around the world. If America doesn’t innovate, our financial leadership is not guaranteed.” https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/oct/22/libra-facebook-zuckerberg-delay-congress

I noticed the review embargo lifted yesterday on the 15" Ryzen model. Initial impressions are kind of mixed though. Most reviews seem to reckon that unless you want a 15" model the 13.5" Intel Surface Laptop 3 is looking like it'll be the better choice. The review embargo hasn't been lifted yet on the 13.5" model yet though for some reason? I think Microsoft raised expectations too high by talking up the special sauce custom Ryzen chips!

Windows RT's back! The ARM surface pro x sounds intriguing but I'm skeptical after the last ARM Windows effort. At least this time it has x86 emulation built into it which will allow for better compatability. I'd still wager the performance will be terrible and the emulation full of bugs though! The dual screen stuff looks pretty gimmicky honestly. Seems pretty pointless on first impression. The devices look really fragile with that hinge as well. I like the sound of the 15" surface laptop 3 with the Ryzen chipset though. That looks far more promising.

If you set a custom taskbar layout does this prevent users from customising the taskbar?

That's handy to know! We'll maybe give them a call. Do you know what they modified in the XML file that fixed it?

Oddly, we're having similar issues today with the sync failing? We've upgraded several servers and has the sync disabled until today so I'd assumed it was an issue at our end? If you're also experiencing the problem I'm wondering if the fault might be at Google's side though and it's just bad timing that we've re-enabled it today and found it's failing?

Thanks for the suggestion. May have to investigate that as it sounds significantly cheaper than Spanning. We obviously need to add in our storage costs on top of the licensing though so it won't be as good as it appeared just looking at the per use price unfortunately! That's pretty much my thoughts regarding File Stream. I can appreciate it would be useful but I'd like to make a clean break from the dependency on local storage if I can and push users to a cloud only solution. Similarly I'm rather nervous about the implications and risks of giving staff access to File Stream from their own personal devices in particular. I'd rather the school's cloud data remain in the cloud and not be downloaded or sync'd to/from local devices.

Curse you! I didn't plan on getting one but for that price I can't resist

Those were pretty much my thoughts as well. I've always felt the regular switch was too large to work well as a portable device but I'm not really sure if I like the design of this lite version. I'd have much preferred a clamshell case like the DS range. I'm feeling kind of underwhelmed by it on first impressions? Also, and I understand why they did it, but removing the HDMI output really limits the functionality of the device. Given its only $80/£80 less than the regular switch it strikes me the lite will only appeal to those who already own a switch. At the same time though $200/£200 is a lot of money to spend for a slightly more portable version of a console you already have. I certainly wouldn't. It makes me wonder who Nintendo are aiming this system at? Maybe when I chance to try one it'll win me over though so I'll reserve judgement until then! Actually the more I think about it maybe Nintendo's ultimate plan is to drop the regular switch model and offer a switch lite for portable use or a switch Pro (without a screen for home use with a 4k TV)? This lite version really doesn't seem to make sense alongside the existing model 🤔

Yeah, it's an epic device. I didn't find it particularly comfortable but other than that it's pretty much perfect in terms of the features, optics, tracking and controllers. I'd say the following titles are all pretty much "Must buys" if you're looking for recommendations :- Superhot Beat Saber UltraWings Robo Recall Space Pirate Trainer If you haven't yet definitely give Rec Room Paintball a try as it's free and fantastic. I really hope they add the Rec Royale mode to the Quest as that's my favourite though. I've also been recommended Moss, Sairento VR and Accounting+ by various friends as well. Also, not unlike Steam, bear in mind that Oculus have a 2 hours playtime / 14 day refund policy on their store apps so if you buy a game and don't like it it's easy to refund. Have you had a chance to try connecting it to a PC using ALVR/Virtual Desktop for streaming PC VR titles yet?

I bought one a couple of weeks ago though I actually ended up returning it as one of the controllers had a dodgy trigger. It's an amazing headset and I'm astounded what they've managed to pull off with a mobile snapdragon chipset! The controllers (same as the rift S) are perfect and tracking work pretty much flawlessly as well. Being able to put on the headset and enter VR anywhere you can find an open space is also fantastic. The "guardian" system is pretty cool and a good way of stopping you bumping into things. Basically it shows grid lines when you're close to a wall/etc and if you pop your head past them it switches to the camera view so you can see the "real" world. It's a real revolution being able to play in VR without a cable as it means you can freely turn around without getting tangled and walk wherever you have space without fear of snagging the cable. One negative I would add, which actually has me contemplating whether I should buy another, is that the comfort of the headset is incredibly poor. The strap they've used is nowhere near substantial enough to take the weight of the headset which it pretty front heavy given it contains the display, Chipset, battery,etc. Honestly, it's bad to the point of actually being painful to wear for any length of time. I've seen a few people attach counterweights to the back of the headset which apparently helps balance it slightly. Some have even gone so far as fitting an HTC Vive Audio Strap to create the "Franken-Quest"! I'll probably order another when they're back in stock in July though and try my hand at modding the device either with a counterweight or HTC strap as it really is pretty amazing and, comfort aside, by far the best VR headset I've tried to date. Also, unless your really want the space don't bother with the 128Gb model. 64Gb is fine as most of the games are only a couple of gig.

I had a previous generation one but I haven't really used it much as I found the performance kind of poor. The upgraded CPU and 4Gb RAM should make this a far more usable device when running browsers/apps/etc though.

Like you say I think most schools would place value above elegance when it comes to IT solutions at the moment! We did look at this but the internet link to our backup server location is only 100 Meg so I'm not sure how practical it would be to copy the files on a frequent basis. Does Cloudberry have any features which speed up the file transfer?

How are you backing up to Azure? Are copying the Veeam backups into the Azure storage or using Cloudberry (I haven't really used Cloudberry so not sure what it offers) as another backup product which links to Azure? We have Veeam and are investigating the options for cloud/offsite backup. We looked at Veeam Cloud Connect as an integrated solution but it's likely more than the school's budget will allow at this stage so wondered if there were other more cost-effective options?

Those Intel NUCs seem like pretty nifty little devices The issue I've found isn't so much matching the performance of the Mac as that's easy. It's generally that when someone says they "want a Mac" specifically they mean they want to use MacOS or a specific program like Final Cut which is only available on MacOS. In my experience you'll often find they're not prepared to switch to a Windows device and/or another equivalent application.

Thing is with WeChat presumably you're just transferring China's existing Renminbi currency between people. It sounds like Facebook is actually proposing their own currency which would have to be converted back and forth into local currencies? My first thought would be that most governments and countries are likely to be strongly against the idea of a conglomerate of (mostly American) companies issuing a currency which provides a means of exchange for their citizens to use? It'll be interesting to see how this plays out! Facebook Token Runs Into Instant Political Opposition in Europe “It is out of question’’ that Libra “become a sovereign currency,’’ Le Maire said in an interview on Europe 1 radio. “It can’t and it must not happen.”

It's an interesting concept! Link to run it below :- http://www.infernoplus.com/royale/#main

Pretty much this really. Tiered pricing levels will be the thing. You'll probably get what we currently have for free but new features will be chargeable (at least initially).

I'd also be interested in something like this if it's possible. We seem to have an issue with the Word foreign language pack that often halts user logoff. Worse still folk tend to click the log off button and walk away from the machine which means I often wander into a lab and find the odd computer sitting logged on. I'd ideally want the computer to force the logoff after a minute if they don't respond to the prompt.

Yeah, I think we need to be aware it's unlikely that Google Apps and Office365 will remain at their current pricing levels once all the onsite systems have been migrated into the cloud. I'd fully expect the current pricing levels (or even lack of in Google's case) is very much a "New Customers Only Introductory Offer" to encourage schools to migrate to their platforms!