Month: April 2014

Sony is currently letting the 26,000 owners of the Vaio Fit 11A know that they have to stop using their laptops immediately. Apparently, some models contain a Panasonic-made battery, that  is at risk of catching fire due to overheating.

Sony has already stopped selling the laptop after reports of three overheating batteries causing burns in Asia.

If your laptop is affected, you should be hearing from Sony very soon about a program to repair or replace your computer. Sony will also post details on its website in the near future. Around 7,000 were sold in Europe.

The news comes as Sony is withdrawing from the PC market to concentrate on its mobile operations. Read more… 

Historically Microsoft has launched a new OS every 3 years. However, with both iOS and Android increasingly updating and evolving Microsoft has been required to up its game. Just a few months after we got Windows 8.1 it appears that in August of September of this year we could see the return of the Start menu.

Many desktop users have been requesting this feature for a while now and when it returns it will be a hybrid between the Windows 7 Start menu and the tile based Windows 8 Start screen.  Whilst for us end users this may be good, and for Microsoft it allows them to compete with Apple and Google, it may cause them a headache with businesses in general.

A rapid release cycle may not be appreciated by large scale businesses that have a significant number of users. For example, earlier this year when we got Windows 8.1 Microsoft initially said that it would come with a 30 day support cycle. However, due to a blacklash from businesses this was extended to 120 days. It would seem whilst we want changes from Microsoft we are slow to adopt them and adjust.

So it seems as if Microsoft is faced with quite a challenge. On the one hand it has to compete with the more flexible and adaptable iOS and Android, and yet because its customers are large scale businesses and institutions, that aren’t known for adopting change quickly and readily, it has to appease them as that’s where its revenue comes from. We wish them luck.

If you are a fan of auction websites and would love a 1:1 with Apple CEO Tim Cook at Apple’s headquarter in California, here is your chance.

Charity auction site ChairtyBuzz is auctioning the lunch meeting with all profits going to the RFK Center for Justice and Human Rights. Last year the opportunity to have coffee with Cook raised $610,000. At the time of writing the bid was at $77,000.

If you are the successful bidder you can meet Cook for lunch, for approximately one hour. The cost of the meal is included and you can bring a friend. However, you willh have to get yourself to Apple’s headquarters .

If you have the spare cash and want to bid you have until 13^th May. Just click here to view the auction https://www.charitybuzz.com/TimCook

Your impressions of the new Mac Pro

Since its launch at WWDC last year the Mac Pro has taken a time to actually hit the studios of West Midland’s businesses. However, as we know see order times dramatically reducing we are delivering these amazing new machines at an incredible rate.

When we deliver the Mac Pro we are always pleased to see our customer’s reaction. Many of them have been stalwarts of the old cheese grater Mac Pro and often send an army of personnel down to reception to collect their new machines. When they are presented with a lightweight, small black cylinder their looks are a mixture of bewilderment and amazement.

At first glance it can be misleading to think that something so powerful is packaged so small. With the new Intel Xeon X5 processors boasting either 4,6,8 or 12 cores, 40GBs of PCI Express Gen 3 bandwidth and 2566 bit wide floating point instructions the new Mac Pro is up to two times faster than its bulky processor.

It also has PCIe based flash storage that launches apps and opening huge files with ease. It also supports up to 64GB of memory and therefore it is of no surprise that our customers all state just how fast the new machine is.

However, it’s not just the speed that is impressing people. Over ¾ of our customers also commented on how remarkably quiet the machine was. This can be attributed to the fan system that Apple has used in the cylinder. A single large fan now pulls up through a bottom intake, allowing the air to pass vertically through the device centre. Heat is absorbed and carried out of the top of the cylinder.

The Mac Pro also comes with the ability to connect to the next generation of high performance peripherals. You can add a PCI expansion chasses, connect 4K displays and Thunderbolt 2 allows you to daisy chain up to six peripherals so you can plug in up to 36 external devices.

Our customers have loved the Mac Pro. They also have loved the fact that we have been delivering their new machines up to 4 weeks quicker than Apple are quoting on their website.

If you believe the time is right for you business to have a new Mac Pro click here for more details or call 0121 285 0098.

When looking at computer specification the general assumption is more is best. However, it might not always be the case. If we take Apple’s new Mac Pro its standard off the shelf offerings are for a Quad Core or Six Core machine. Both processors are capable of hyper threading which means the Quad Core deals with 8 threads of data at once and the Hexacore 12.

Common sense suggests that this means the 6 Core is the better machine. However, it really depends on what type of software you are using. Many applications are Single Core programmes and have a limit to the number of threads of data that they are capable of spreading their workload across. Therefore, in this case the clock speed becomes more important and here the Quad Core 3.7GHz beats the 3.5GHz six core.

However, step up into the realms of 3D CAD and video editing software will undoubtedly benefit from the software being capable of spreading its workload across all of those six cores at once.  Also for those people who are extreme multi taskers running numerous programmes at once the six core will be the model to go for.

Another dilemma that faces many customers is whether to opt for the high end 27” i7 iMac or the entry level Mac Pro. In most tests the i7 iMac performs better in terms of processing but those Dual graphics cards shatter the iMacs single Nvidia Geforce option.

The new Mac Pro is available to lease from just £21.60 + VAT per week for the Quad Core and £28.60 + VAT per week for the Six Core.  If the new Mac Pro is of interest to you call us on 0121 285 0098 or email info@localhost

On the 8^th April 2014, Microsoft released its final security updates for Windows XP and Office 2003.  As security experts warned users that they could soon be prime targets for hackers if they do not abandon the products, the need to upgrade to more modern equipment has never been greater.

On the second Tuesday of each month Microsoft automatically rolls out new security updates, a date that has become known as “Patch Tuesday.”  This is also a day when they publish technical details on the security bugs they are fixing. The next Patch Tuesday is 13 May.

Security experts say they believe hackers will study that data and “reverse engineer” the May Patch Tuesday software updates to identify ways to attack computers running Windows XP, along with Office 2003, which will no longer receive patches from Microsoft.

This however leaves Microsoft will a real dilemma. Paying corporate customers, including the British Government are paying millions to get Microsoft to support Windows XP way beyond the deadline. The dilemma then is what they do with the vast number of consumer PCs that are vulnerable? To leave these to die whilst continuing to patch the PCs of paying corporate customers could be seen to be unfair.

Microsoft first warned that it was planning to end support for Windows XP in 2007, but security firms estimate that 15% to 25% of the world’s PCs still run on the version of the operating system that was first released in October 2001.

Undoubtedly, the best thing for any business to do is to upgrade to new machines that come pre-installed with either Windows 7/8 Professional. The thought of relying on Microsoft’s generosity to provide free security patches long after they have publicly stated that they will no longer be supporting XP would be risky at least.

If you are still running Windows XP and want to upgrade your system call us on 0121 285 0098 or email info@localhost

Here at GEEX one of our core products over the years has been our PC Network packages. For SME’s these represent great value. Not only can you choose between 5 or 10 user networks but we will provide you with telephone and remote support and on site hardware maintenance as part of the package.

When you consider how this stacks up against employing your own IT team or finding the thousands to purchase a new network our PC networks starting at just £43 + Vat per week represent amazing value.

For smaller businesses our 5 user network has a dedicated HP Proliant ML310e Server, 5 Business Desktop PCs, off site and onsite backup and full network infrastructure. You can also choose the level of installation and support that you require by choosing between our bronze, silver and gold options.  Prices for a fully installed and supported network package start at just £49 + Vat per week for the Silver package and only £53 + VAT per week for the Gold service.

If your business is a little larger then our 10 user network is ideal. With prices starting at just £69 + Vat per week and with the same options for installation and support this package has been a best seller for many years.

With a full 3 years parts and labour hardware warranty you get real peace of mind and cost certainty.  If your business is in need of a new network or your have grown and need a more professional solution call us on 0121 285 0098 or email info@localhost

Does more memory mean better performance? Yes, but not as much as you might think.

Most budget PCs come with at least 4GB of RAM. More powerful models will come with 8GB whilst modern gaming machines will go as high as 16GB RAM. When you consider that Windows 8 Pro can support up to 512GB it begs the question do you have enough RAM and how much do you need?

We all assume that adding memory makes a PC significantly faster, and in some cases it does. Sticking an extra pair of RAM chips into a motherboard won’t change the speed at which the processor works, but it can help, since adding RAM reduces the need for Windows to rely on “virtual memory”.

Virtual memory is a file on your hard disk that serves as temporary storage when your PC’s “real” memory is full. Virtual memory makes it possible to have several heavyweight applications running at once, even if they won’t fit simultaneously in RAM. When you switch from one to another, Windows quickly swaps the relevant data from the disk into real memory, which explains why the virtual memory file is sometimes called a “swap file”.

However, with modern machines coming with multiple GBs of RAM, the need for Windows to swap between real and virtual memory is reduced. In fact tests have shown that when a modern PC runs several major applications at once the total RAM usage never topped 4GB. This means Windows didn’t need to fall back on virtual memory at any point, and indicates that installing more RAM would give only a modest speed boost.

So should avoid paying for more than 4GB?  If you make heavier demands on your system, you may well benefit from more memory than this. For example if you edit video files, or work on large databases, or simply have 20 tabs open in your web browser you would benefit from having more RAM.

For current tasks, however, adding memory beyond 4GB yields diminishing returns. Outside of extremely specialist data-processing tasks, it is unlikely that you will need the benefits from 16GB. Therefore, before you spend your money consider that 4 or even 8GB of RAM will do everything you need with ease and save you money in the long term.