garethEds

Apple are buggered then. Don't they film and photo in front of white backgrounds? GJE

Hi - the more RAm the better as far as I'm concerned as I do dabble with video editing. i6? Never heard of that. I thought i3,5 and 7 were the only ones. I've not looked at PC based stuff for years. Not gaming, but do I need a powerful gfx card for Premiere? Monitors - I agree. After using my 27 at home, using a 19" in work is a nightmare. Who said size doesn't matter? Gareth

Hi, Okay - what do I use it for? Well being Head of ICT and Comp Sci and use it for anything and everything. I could not tell you what I use it for. WHat I use it for today might not be powerful enough for tomorrow (I know it will be). Games - I don't play games but have been working on looking at Project Spark for xBox One dev and lessons in school. Budget - I don't have one. 27" Mac - I didn't say I had the funds but what I did say is that I would only be happy with a 27". I had a 24" iMac from 2008. I loved it but I sold it as the plan was to get a 27" when I could afford it. Then my department funds stretched to a MBA so that is my machine. At the moment I have a HP7900 at home from work with a nice 27" monitor. It's a nice machine but too businessy. I'm using it from now to September until I decide what to do. So I am open. Oh - based on my previous pre-mac PC life - everything has to be upgradable over time.

Oi oi, I don't know if you will get this over the weekend but I'm looking at buying a new computer. Of course I have the Mac v PC debate. If I have an iMac then only the 27" would do and it would need to big enough to run Parallels or Bootcamp for my son who is now using Windows 7 in school. Or I could ditch the Mac idea - knowing I have a Macbook Air sat here (I'm on it now). I like Windows 7. What is the deal with PCs these days? Are they expensive? Head of ICT and Comp Sci needs a proper computer with a nice monitor and gfx card. What is the spec these days that people buy? I assume 8Gb RAM is standard. Windows 8.1, Above 19" monitor. What about chip? Gfx card and DVD/CD writer - or do people go for blueray drives? SSD for OS with secondary storage for MyDocuments? It seems my favourite magazine PCPlus has gone out of print now. So I am a bit clueless having been Macced up for 3/4 years. Any companies out there fancy doing me an Edugeek style deal? Gareth

Just spoke to the company and am getting a demo on Monday. Guy coming from Manchester. Are they any good?

£300 yearly? I was sure I read £600 - checking again. All of a sudden it seems ok. Gareth

Right - there was an issue with the Security settings when we updated to MDT2012 and then MDt2013 - I'd take a look at the deployment forum Look here: http://www.edugeek.net/forums/o-s-deployment/103042-warning-mdt-2012-issues-ntlm-if-you-allow-apply-local-gpo-package.html I'll check tomorrow but we had to disable the Local GPO Package and then add some tags to the top of our .ini file. Send me a PM tomorrow to remind me. GJE

Just read about Ninite in another post and whilst there is a free version I wonder if there are any other similar deployment tools out there. I come from the school of thought that if there is no deployable msi that can go out via gpo then it doesn't get installed - but I'm researching other methods. (I know about PDQDeploy). Cheers Gareth

This happens a lot with Google Earth. Load your MSI into Orca - check the properties and delete every language code except 1033. Always worked for Google Earth and Quicktime (which always give me hassle). Hope this helps, Gareth

30-40 seconds isn't bad. Ours ranges from that to over 2 minutes. It seems to stall at the mapped drives setting Gareth

This article is for Server 2003 - does it work for 2008R2? Also is there any need for this if we use mandatory profiles? Gareth

This is interesting - but how long does your logon take? We use mandatory profiles and redirected desktop, mydocs etc etc. We do not use delprof2 yet (looking at it) - however our logon times can be anywhere between 42 and 120 seconds. How long is yours? Gareth

Anyone got any pdf 2008R2 Server ebooks? Gareth

Are they any good? Do you have some at your school?

I've just had prices for these from our local supplier and realise I cannot afford to replace my whiteboard (which has died). Sigh. 65" I wanted. What are people paying for these things? Gareth

Voted for you pal.

Just to bring this one to an end I've had a full refund from Novatech. I simply argued that the product was not fit for purpose and the fact that both tablets only lasted 7 months each was proof of this - both with the same fault. So - I'm happy, my Dad is happy and Tesco will be happy when he purchases a Huddle. Thanks everyone. Gareth

Thanks everyone. Gareth

Hi, Maybe someone on here can advise... I bought my father a tablet PC from a well known IT Company. It was one of their own brands. It lasted 7 months before it failed - it would not charge. The company asked me to send it back under warranty. I did, they confirmed it had broken and sent out another one (slightly improved model). My father had the second one for the same amount of time (7 months) and that too has now failed. I sent it back and they have confirmed it has broken. Same issue - not charging. So I've asked for my money back as I've lost all confidence in their tablets. They say they will only refund what the tablet is worth and have offered me £39.xx (cannot remember exact number). They say it is out of the 12 month warranty. This is annoying me - as we've had two tablets in 14 months and both have failed with the same issue. They say a new warranty would not be started on the second tablet as it was a replacement and would fall under the original purchase warranty. Two tablets - 7 months usage each? Do I have any leg to stand on or should I just take what they offer me? - which I think is a sham! Gareth

You are welcome. Hope you had a nice night. It's always nice to congratulate - not enough of that goes on in our school. 'He' - meaning me. Yes I do help out. I am the resident MDT Guru :-) If Richard even looks at my MDT server in the wrong way then I will chop his hands off. :-) To be fair Richard has taken a lot off my hands over the past few years. Funnily enough - I've had more time this week and have knocked up new Quicktime and Google Earth MSI packages to be sent out and also prepared Chrome for the network. I enjoy doing this sort of thing - always have but maybe know too much for a teacher :-) I'm just a teacher - you can all take the piss out of me now. We are growing as a school, which isn't a bad thing. The network isn't quite where I want it to be. We are still tidying up a lot of mess left by the previous technician - bad wiring, bad cabinets etc. But we will get there. Due to personal matters, now was the right time to pass this stuff on. I'll always help - we are still a team providing a service at the end of the day. Gareth - - - Updated - - - Common sense? Yes maybe so. It was hard making the decision but I have no doubt it was the right one. MY problem is that I am still a fiddler and an eager to help in anyway I can - luckily I know what I am doing. GJE

Hiya - um yes and no. Ultimately all decisions still come down to me as part of the ICT Coordinator role - but changes on the network are Richards. However if it could affect teaching and learning then it has to be run past me first. The budget also comes under me as well. Otherwise Richard can do what he likes. We've always worked well together and run decisions past each other. We are a good team and realise we provide a service for others to benefit from. Gje

I'm not sure it will be as easy for me. Having looked after the whole lot for such a long time it was a tough decision to step back. Luckily we work well together (unlike the last bloke!!!) - I also know Rich_Tech is on the same page (hope...lololol). Gareth

Evening all, Just a public congratulations to Rich_Tech for becoming our school Network Manager. After some major life changes on my side of things I've recently resigned from the job and the school have rightly decided not to advertise but to give the job directly to Richard. So my involvement in the network side of things will be scaled back. It's tough to do as I am a strong believer that there is a massive overlap between netman and ict coordinator. But - Richard now can make network changes that benefit the network. I simply tell him off if they mess with the teaching and learning :-)))) It's how it should be. So I thank everyone here for their support whilst I was network Manager and wish Rict_Tech the very best of luck putting up with me being a normal teacher and hassling him for work to be done ))) Good luck Richard Gareth

Evening awl, I have sorted the Chrome Enterprise deployment and have the admx in place. Everything is working but I'm having problems blocking one of the chrome:// urls I've done all of them except chrome://settings/ - this one simply refuses to block and instead shows up. So it seems impossible to hide the settings from the user be they pupil or staff. Has anyone managed to do this? Cheers Gareth

Well the time has come - 16 weeks has past since you guys all voted for me. Maybe some of you have been keeping up with progress on my blog: www.indigo-cube.co.uk or on the Runners World forum. Sunday 8:45 I start my run. I leave tomorrow for London and Friday for Paris. I'm very nervous but am happy at how far I have come since I started running just over 2 years ago. I'm fit at the moment - despite suffering a stress fracture style injury during the training and having to take three weeks out. So thank you everyone for the votes that got me to here. I have refrained from asking for sponsorship but as it's so close I thought I would. Info here: Gareth Edmondson is fundraising for Cancer Information And Support Services (C I S S) There is no pressure or need. I've had a lot of support from Edugeek over the years with the running and sponsorship. Thanks again, Gareth