Month: November 2013

Which MacBook should I lease?

With three different models of MacBook, with 10 different standard variants available, it can often be hard to decide which MacBook to lease.

Here we look here at the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and MacBook Pro with Retina Display and try to help you determine which is best for you.

Which MacBook should I lease for portability?

At just 11in MacBook Air is the lightest and thinnest MacBook available. With a height of 1.7cm and a weight of 1.08 kg it makes it ideal for business trips. At just £7.45 + Vat per week it won’t break the bank either. 

The downside of this portability is that the actual screen size is just 11.6 inches, which is only 1.9 inches bigger (diagonally) than the iPad Air. So it may be worth considering the 13” Air and starting at £8.45 + Vat you will be rewarded with a bigger screen, plus the highest battery life of any MacBook available. It lasts up to 12 hours and a massive 30 days standby time.

If you decide that a 13in MacBook is definitely the size for you, then there’s actually little difference in weight and thickness between the Air and the Pro. The 13in MacBook Air is 1.7cm thick and weighs 1.35kg, while the 13in Retina MacBook Pro is just slightly heavier, at 1.57 kg, and a tiny bit thicker at 1.8cm.

Which MacBook should I lease for running applications like Adobe CC?

If you want to use your MacBook for more powerful tasks like running Adobe CC, then undoubtedly you will benefit from a bigger display.  Apple now has two 15in MacBook Pro with Retina display models available.

The first comes with an i7 2.0GHz quad-core, 8GB RAM and 256GB flash storage and starts at £14.80 + VAT per week. Priced at £18.95 + Vat per week, the higher spec model comes with a 2.3GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB RAM and 512GB of flash storage. The entry level 15” comes with Intel iris Pro graphics whilst the second model has NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M with 2GB memory and automatic GPU switching.

Options exist to boost the processor and storage with upto 1TB of flash storage available from as little as £3.60 + Vat per week.

Which MacBook should I buy if I’m on a budget?

If money is the deciding factor when it comes to buying a MacBook, then the cheapest model available is the 128GB 11in MacBook Air, which costs £7.45 + VAT per week. For just £1 + Vat per week extra you can get the 13in MacBook Air, or add another £0.50 + VAT per week and you can get the 13” MacBook Pro. This is the only MacBook that still has an optical drive. However, it is worth noting that this model missed out on being upgraded this year where as all the other MacBooks have received significant improvements.

If you need a new MacBook and you cannot decide which one is best for you please call us on 0121 285 0098 or email info@localhost

CryptoLocker Virus is a significant risk to the UK’s small businesses according to the National Crime Agency.  Last week alone 12000 businesses were infected by this particular virus which indicates a worrying move by fraudsters towards ransom ware.

So what is CryptoLocker? CryptoLocker is a Trojan horse form of mailware and is typically distributed via emails which carry an attachment that appears to be correspondence linked to the email message, for example, a voicemail, fax, details of a suspicious transaction or invoices for payment.

Once the user has clicked on the attachment the process of infection starts but you are only alerted when it is too late. Cryptolocker works by encrypting the user’s files on the infected machine and the local network it is attached to. “Once encrypted, the computer will display a splash screen with a countdown timer and a demand for the payment of 2 Bitcoins in ransom for the decryption key.”

Once you have paid the fee you will be sent a private key that allows you to decrypt your files. Obviously the NCA do not recommend paying the ransom and state that there is no guarantee that once you have paid you will be okay.

So what can you do? Hopefully, your business takes regular backups and you could restore your system through them. We have clients who have been targeted by this virus and using their backups we have had them up and working within a matter of hours. Also, having up-to-date anti-virus is also essential. Most of the major providers are coming up with solutions and updates that will stop this virus appearing in your inbox.

We can’t emphasise enough the need for businesses to have a regular backup and antivirus plan in place. The CryptoLocker example shows just how sophisticated and ruthless the fraudsters are becoming. If you have concerns about your security measures please feel free to call us on 0121 285 0098 or email info@localhost

Over here at GEEX we are huge fans of Apple’s iMac and whilst companies such as HP, Sony and Lenovo are making great strides in the All in One market nothing has quite captured us as much as the iMac. However, ASUS is due to launch an exciting new product later this month.

The ET2321 (ok the name needs some work!) may just be the best looking All in One PC. Featuring a 23-inch 1920 x 1080 LED IPS display, with a 178-degree viewing angle and optional 10-point multi-touch this machine certainly looks the part. Beneath the metallic stand lies a fourth generation Intel Haswell processor and Iris graphics that provide all-round performance. It also gets SonicMaster audio technology with built-in speakers. 

For those needing a little bit more in the graphics department it can be fitted with a dedicated Nvidia GeForce GT 740M GPU and can be specified with up to 16GB RAM. Storage options include a 2TB HDD, 128GB SSD, or a hybrid 1TB HDD and 128GB SSD configuration. As you would expect the machine has great connectivity with three USB 3.0 ports, three USB 2.0 ports, HDMI-in, HDMI-out, 802.11n or 802.11ac WIFI and Bluetooth 4.0.

The ET2321 will be available in the UK later on this month but as of yet there is no word on pricing. If you want to take a closer look at this exciting new machine check out the video below or call us on 0121 285 0098 or email info@localhost

The new Mac Pro proves that Apple is serious about taking manufacturing to the States. The next step, is chips. In a new report it states Apple is bringing chip fabrication of it’s a-series chips stateside at a new $6 billion facility in upstate New York, with Samsung to be involved.

Apple is looking to build a fabrication in upstate New York in a deal between Cupertino and California-based Global Foundries. This new location is set to be in Malta, New York. Ideally Apple wants to wean themselves off of dependency on Samsung, when it comes to building their A-series processors. Ironically Samsung is believed to be involved in the Apple-global foundries deal, helping the two ramp-up production. This makes sense as Samsung knows quite a bit about ARM chip fabrication.

Nevertheless we bring all Apple products to you right here in Birmingham. For more information take a look at our Apple products here or give us a call on 0121 285 0098

William C Lowe, the man who oversaw IBM’s first personal computer, died last week aged 72. A true driving force behind IBM’s Personal Computer, which was known as the 5150, Lowe ensured its successful launch in August 1981.

Apple had launched their first computer a few years before but the 5150 saw IBM leave its traditional mainframe routes and dip into the PC market for the first time.

The IBM machine used an operating system called MS-DOS 1.0 that was provided by a little-known technology company called Microsoft. Its microprocessor came from Intel.

At the time the machine cost $1,565 – about $4,000 in today’s money and it didn’t even come with a monitor. Amazingly it sold 250,000 units in its first year and three years later Lowe came up with the brain child of getting IBM selling its own brand computers targeted at small businesses and consumers.

A key success of the IBM PC project was the collaboration with Microsoft and in 1985 the two companies agreed to develop software together that could also run on other machines.

This approach ultimately allowed other manufactures to build IBM compatible machines more cheaply but undoubtedly it was the catalyst to creating the PC market that we know today.

Mr Lowe died on 19 October 2013 from a heart attack.