Scrumpy

We paid extra for the 3 year warranty, but I wouldn't get Vostros again even for staff use (which they were for). We've got a few Latitude's since then and they seem a lot better, costwise though we'd struggle to get them for every member of staff.

Hi, We have approx 25 Vostro 3510's, about half of which have had the left hinge fail in the same way. I logged every problem with Dell support, who required photos for evidence, but all hinges have been repaired free of charge. If the screen had been affected as well (ie. cracked) this would have been chargeable though. No admittance that there's a design/component fault, but at least all faults have been rectified. The warranties for our Vostros run out at the end of the month (approx 3 years old), so hopefully we won't have any more failures. I usually buy Dell PC's & laptops where budget allows, so a bit disappointing, but doesn't put me off Dell as I've supported their products for years and generally have few problems.

What a job, guitar tech to a unique and inspirational guitarist. Loved them since I first saw them on the Tube in 1983, never heard or saw anything like it before. Gutted that he's gone. RIP

Hi, If you're with LCC then you can use an Authentication Portal, setup info available on the LCC Schools Portal. This is something I've been tasked with but no time as yet to look into it.

We have a school mobile that gets taken on trips/residentials for voice & data use, using a Giff Gaff PAYG SIM. Usually gets topped up with £25 when needed, but as long as you make a call every 6 months the credit doesn't expire. PAYG may not be as cheap as it was but this is the most cost effective solution for us

Probably just set it up on my desk at home and look at it in awe without ever turning it on. Either that or showing off to my kids how great for gaming it is then get beasted on Fortnite by them

Hi, 2012 R2 host running a few VM's here with the VM's failing to start this morning after last nights update - "hypervisor not running". Stumped at first what the problem was but a bit of searching led me to this - https://www.jordanmalcolm.com/virtual-machine-could-not-be-started-because-the-hypervisor-is-not-running/ The host had kb:5009624 installed (which I removed) but not kb:5009595. Once the update was removed and the server rebooted, all was fine. Hope this helps someone.

UPDATE - The laptop trolley has now gone (thanks John for the AP's in exchange), but as there's been no takers for the Loxit display trolley this is now being offered free to a good home, or in exchange for a packet of chocolate Hobnobs

Royal Mail finally decided to turn up so have now received my Goodie Box. No golden ticket here, but not complaining considering what I did receive, so many thanks to Very PC and the contributors. Items will be shared with other staff but with discretion, ie. socks stay with me!

For Sale: Loxit 8515 Hi-Lo trolley with electric tilt – very good condition, the height adjustment & tilt features have been little used, includes VESA mount arms. Offers around £200 please. Free: LapSafe Mentor (SmartLine) laptop charging trolley – suitable for 30 x 15” laptops/Chromebooks, previously used with Toshiba Satellite Pros, door key included. Good condition, some wear and tear/marks as it’s about 12 years old. PAT tested in Dec 2020. To get LapSafe to reconfigure this trolley for another type of laptop would cost approx. £600 (based on our last quote), but you may be able to do it cheaper yourself with the right parts. Both items are collection only from Morecambe. Photos available on request, any questions please ask. Thanks.

Thanks for raising this GrumbleDook, this was news to me. For anyone concerned about their place of work, you can check here if you’re registered - https://ico.org.uk/ESDWebPages/Search

BT Lancs have recently updated or migrated their firewall (something like that, can't remember the exact details). For remote access our CCTV IP has changed from 212.x.x.x to 5.x.x.x, so expect that is your issue. You might need to call BTLS to get the new IP. I did get an email from them about this but via the Head, so possible this hasn't been passed on to you

Just voted for "On Premises VOIP" as we're moving to this very shortly. Currently on an Avaya IP Office system over PSTN, which is ok, but the support from our BT Local business (who are nothing to do with BT, just giving BT a bad name if that's possible) has been xxxx, and we're desperate to get away from them and their rip off costs. If you're looking for a new phone system, don't go with a BT Local Business. We'll be nearly doubling the number of phones, getting one or two extras, and still make a reasonable saving over the current lease.

Didn't see this thread till this morning. Looks like the poll is still open as I've just voted, so if you feel like DalekSec get those votes in quick! Congrats to the winners anyway, and thanks to Dave & ICT Direct

We've got this problem as well, although for a JL user with limited permissions we set up, so not for the default admin or librarian users. Circulate now unblocked via the admin login, and the user can now Circulate, but we'll see what happens tomorrow

Might as well throw my hat into the ring - my work PC is a Fujitsu Primergy. Well past 4 years old & OOW, i3, upgraded the RAM to the maximum 8GB & installed a 250GB SSD. This is the oldest workstation in the school, all other admin & curriculum PC's have been replaced with new Dell's over the last 4 years. OK for running a Hyper-V VM and 2 screens, but more Robin Reliant than Usain Bolt (does that comparison work?). Do I need a HP monster workstation? Of course not. Do I want one? Why the hell not! It's not often that school's get freebies (especially from respected suppliers & Edugeek sponsors) but if it's up for grabs for a well deserving school, then we're in! Disclaimer - we're definitely not as deserving as others, but then we aren't as flush as some. We're just a bog standard middleish size primary doing our best on ever diminishing budgets like every one else. Seeing as humour's a bit lacking in this post, here's my favourite Christmas cracker joke: Q - What did the Mexican fireman call his 2 sons? A - Jose, and ... A- Hose B! I'll get me coat.

Update – the suggestion of hiring mics when required didn’t appeal to our Head, so I spoke to Audioworks who gave me some advice and recommended the following - https://www.andertons.co.uk/live-pa/wireless-systems/handheld-mic-wireless/shure-blx24-with-pg58-analogue-wireless-vocal-system (not shown on the Audioworks site so just here for info & Audioworks were a touch cheaper). Digital mics weren’t recommended due to reports of interference with wifi, etc, which was a surprise as the Audio Technica System 10 series looked promising. The Shures though are apparently robust enough for our staff & pupils, and performance wise are meant to beat similarly priced mics from other manufacturers. We’re going for mics that we can use on ch38, so a licence is required, but I’d rather purchase equipment that (hopefully) works without too much IT assistance required (which keeps the Head happy). Using ch38 means we can also use more than 4 at a time if need be. Possibly overkill for our needs but they should last a while, and as they’re not coming out of the IT budget I don’t have to look at the cheapest equipment for a change. Cheers.

Agree with others about the sensitive approach required for this, but if you still feel the need for an external audit, try BT Lancashire. They came in at my request (I'm the IT Tech) as when I started at my school there was no network/infrastructure documentation, some switches still had the old IP scheme configured (but still worked) and generally the network side of things was a bit of a mess. Although it mostly worked, nearly all equipment was long out of warranty, more suitable for home/small business use, and in need of upgrading. The audit basically made recommendations, which pretty much fell in line with what I thought, but was a worthwhile exercise for me being fairly new to the school and a touch behind on current network best practice/hardware recommendations. Bt Lancs didn't charge for the audit (not sure if they meant to) but cost might be approx £180 if they do.

As Audioworks (thanks john) are the closest to me I'll pop in when I get the chance and see what they recommend. Not sure how often mics are used but if we hired them when required I doubt I'd be given much notice, and I don't want to have to drop everything just to source mics when I've got better things to do. I'll probably give the Head a couple of options (cheap and mid-price) and see what he prefers. Now off for 2 weeks so I'll report back at a later date what we go for. Thanks to all for your replies, have a good Easter.

The Audio Technica 3000b are nice but unfortunately way over budget. The System 10's are a possibility but maybe not as robust as our current Audio Technica's, which have taken a bit of a battering. Looks like the Chord's 4 & 6 mic versions are all out of stock or Discontinued at present. Other suggestions still to research. The local options mentioned above are my next option, so I'll have a chat to them and continue my research, but agreed, certainly worth speaking to someone who knows what they're on about! I only hope our Head isn't expecting me to buy some before Thursday when we have a production, he only asked me to look for some new mics yesterday

Based near Lancaster (but a migrant from the SW hence the name). Will look for local companies that could help. I think ch70 is probably a non-starter. Appreciate the need for a licence with ch38. Using the 700MHz band at present but problems with that, although our current equipment is old and probably doesn't help. I understand we'll need to move off that in the future anyway. Sennheiser would be nice, but possibly a bit over what the Head wants to pay. Shure likewise. Will have a look at the Audio Technica digital units & Trantec to see if they are suitable/affordable. Thanks for all the suggestions.

Hi. I’m looking for new wireless mics for use in the hall in a primary school, and could do with some recommendations or advice if possible from any experts out there. We’re after 4 mics, and they could do with being able to put up with a bit of abuse as we know what teachers are like . Not sure of the budget available at present, but approx. £750 would probably be the limit. I’ve had a look at previous threads but I’ve still got a few questions: · How bad can interference/dropouts be on channel 70? We are near an industrial estate and supermarket, plus our comms radios pick up chat from lorry drivers that isn’t really suitable for a primary school, so is it worth going for channel 38 or digital mics for better performance? · How bad can digital mics be affected by wifi? · Is it worth going for a dual or quad setup, or just stick to individual mics? · · Any suppliers you can recommend for further advice or purchasing? A lot of what I’ve read is quite technical and I’ve ended up with brain overload, so please go easy! Thanks

I had this problem this morning when using Firefox as I couldn't find any apps when doing a search, but never thought to use Chrome. I did find a thread on here that said to paste in the URL of the app on the iTunes site into the VPP search box when logged in, and that then worked when using Firefox. Bizarre indeed.

Hi, Resurrecting this old thread as I’ve found the same experience at my school (not swgfl). When testing IP scanning I can see devices on other networks, and without intending to do any harm, have been able to connect to certain devices (even appeared to have found a network printer with no password). My understanding of networking is limited, and I don’t see why this is happening, but it's obviously a concern. Is this something the LA broadband provider should address, or do I need to do something to protect my school, and if so what do you recommend?

Thanks Very-PC for the sweets, I wasn't expecting them. And as I'm vege I appreciate that I could have enjoyed them if my kids hadn't eaten them first! My son's also nicked my Very-PC socks from last year . They loved the Big Zappers by the way