A Nearly New Gaming Beast

We are passionate gamers and computer engineers which is a very dangerous combination.

Pushing the technical envelope is one of our favourite past times and we have been working on overclocking BUT getting it stable and usable.

At the same time our Boss, gave us a challenge of building a best value gaming monster rig using 'normal' or readily available parts.

So after a quick hunt around our shop, warehouse and workshop we built this Gaming Beast:

Nice Red Fans Give it a Cool Look!

Nice Antec Gaming Case

Note the water cooling, its got 8 GB DDR 3RAM, 1 TB storage and an overclocked quad core Intel processor!!

Just to give it a nice touch, we added a BlueRay optical drive.

The operating system is Windows Home Premium 64 and it goes like a rocket!!

We had great fun testing this gaming rig but alas is now up for sale in our web store

Laptop Range

Our computer repairs side has been really busy for the last two weeks or so but by pulling out all of the stops, we have managed to get our stock back up despite selling good numbers over the last couple of week:

Laptops from just £129.99

Windows 8 Consumer Preview

We have been running the Windows 8 Developer Preview build on a couple of desktops and more recently on a laptop with some good experiences.

Although our computer repairs workshop is busy, we have created time to upgrade the test Windows 8 laptop to the Windows 8 Consumer Preview.

It's a new installation procedure in that you download a small .exe and run it on the intended host. The Windows 8 app check for compatibility with the hardware and the currently installed OS which in this case is the Windows 8 Developer Preview.

Said Windows 8 installer cheerfully reported that the hardware should works and that 8 of the current Apps would work with the new version of Windows 8.

The only slight concern is that the only Apps on the laptop are Windows 8!!

The installation is working as a download :( which means our broadband connection is being thrashed and despite it being a 10 meg connection, the installation is citing 1hr 25 to complete!!

We'll update this post as things hopefully progress but in the meantime we are going to get back to repairing all these sick computers and laptops.

Well the new installation finally completed some 4 hrs later and the test laptop seems to be stable enough.

If you are interested or even mildly curious, pop into our computer repair shop in Perth and give Windows 8 Consumer Preview a go!

Needle In A Hay Stack in The Computer Repair Center Perth

The computer engineer's equivalent of a needle in the proverbial haystack!

Over the course of a week, when we are repairing so many computers and laptops, we build up loads of spares including screws, nut and bolts.

We keep all of these items because you never know when we might need them in the course of computer repairs in Perth

WIndows 8 Running on a laptop

Our computer engineers have been experimenting with Windows 8 on a desktop for a couple of weeks and now have a Pre Beta version running on a laptop:

First impressions and thoughts in this short video:

Strange Place for a Desktop Graphics Card

A customer brought in an older desktop computer and asked us to replace the graphics card as they were not getting a signal on the monitor.

We tested the on-board graphics and confirmed that it was not putting out any signal. The customer was asked what sort of replacement graphics card they wanted, the reply was:

"Don't worry, there is a spare one in the bottom of the machine. Just use that one"

How Not to Store A Graphics Card

We see all shapes and sizes of computer in Perth computer and laptop repair facility

Windows 8 Beta Running in Computer Repairs Center, Perth, Scotland

Installed on a test system for first look.

Boot time is very impressive:

There are updates already!!!

Have to stress that this is a BETA copy of Windows 8

Metro Interface

Windows 8 feels fastish based on the hardware that we are using for the Beta version. However you must remember that the system does not have any extra software or drivers installed.

The system has very clearly been designed for touch screen and tablets.

We were very surprised but the fact that there is no option to shutdown or reboot from the interface. The only way we found was the physical power button.

Windows 8 did offer to reboot in 2 days time once it had installed the updates !!

Here is just a quick video of Alex playing with the interface, be kind, this is his first try at it and he gets a little lost sometimes (Apologies for the background noise, this was shot in the workshop):

Funky looking weather app:

Underneath the eye candy, the core is very very Windows 7 like as can been seen from these screen shots:

No real comment at this stage as we need to spend some time with it but at this time, it has not really rung our bell BUT we'll see how we get on once we have a decent play with it.

We have now updated onto the Windows 8 Consumer Preview Edition. We have a system running the latest version of Windows 8 in our computer and laptop repair workshop

A laptop running Windows 8 Consumer Preview is available in our laptop sales area for anybody who wishes to have a look at the new Windows 8 interface

Laptop Keyboard Destroyed by 20 Month Baby

This is why very young children and laptops DO NOT mix well:

Laptop Keyboard Destroyed by Baby

Luckily the lad did not swallow any of the parts!

The client brought this laptop into our computer and laptop repair center in Perth on a Monday and collected the laptop after the repair on the Thursday of the same week

Weekend Computer Virus Infections

The computer workshop in Perth, is busy this morning dealing with laptops that have picked up viruses over the weekend.

From what we can see, there seems to be link between an infection picked up from FaceBook and it targeting Norton users.

In one case, I have removed 18 primary infections, and 34 secondary infections and that is just in the first pass!!

No anti virus will nor will it ever be able to give you or promise 100% security. It is vital that you keep your Windows up to date as well as your anti virus software.

If you do suffer a virus infection then we do offer a virus removal service in our computer repair center in Perth.

Please contact us if you have any questions about computer viruses or malware

The PC Solutions Football Team

Did you know that we are the proud sponsors and supporters of the PC Solutions Perth Fire Brigade Football Team??

Managed by Bruce Robertson, all of the players are Firemen (including Bruce) who serve at Perth Fire Station. As a result of commitments to the Fire Service and shift work, it can be difficult to field a regular team but Bruce and the lads are very committed and go to great lengths to turn out each Sunday night for the matches.

We publish a Match Report each week as to the team's progress and we are so very proud of their 8 victories in a row!!

If you Like this, please give the lads a boost by Liking it via FaceBook and Plus 1 on Google!

How To Tell If Your Laptop Optical Drive Needs To Be Replaced

Clue: Left One Not So Healthy, Right One Normal

Missing Computer Shop Banner Update

Was on the roof of our computer shop in Perth checking for storm damage from last week and found some of the bits of our missing 15 foot banner.

More Hours Means More Free Coffee

With the computer repair workshop being open until 6.30pm on Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday evenings, it means that we'll be able to get more of the longer more complex repairs done in one working day rather than having to split them over 2 working days.

It also means that The Boss will have to supply more free coffee!!!

http://www.pcsolutions.co.uk/news/laptop-and-computer-repair-facilities-perth-extended.html