New shack PC

I have just fired up a new shack PC (Asus X205ta) which has an 11.6 inch screen and runs Windows 10. After a few set-up issues (nothing major) it runs WSJT-X V1.6 very well. I have the feeling this little PC will serve my needs well.

It has a SSD and runs very fast and without a fan. For additional local storage I bought a 64GB micro-SD card although I have very little need for storage on this PC.  It comes with 2 years of free 500GB cloud storage and a year of MS Office 365. It was a bargain from Tesco Direct. Currently it is running WSPR on 630m using WSJT-X V1.6.

Laptop/Netbook Reliability

Investing in a new laptop or netbook can be a tricky decision: getting the right price, spec, performance and reliability. My Dell laptop failed a year or so ago (keyboard) but I was able to repair it by buying a new keyboard via eBay and following some good fitting instructions found on YouTube.  My wife's school laptop LCD screen just failed suddenly when it was in use on her lap with black "cracks" appearing as if the whole thing had been dropped. This was repaired under warranty thankfully. Then you hear of hard-drives failing.

Today I came across an interesting page giving some reliability statistics for laptops and netbooks. Apparently Asus and Toshiba make the most reliable ones. The paper is by a company selling extended warranties, so they will be keen to show that it is worth buying one. Nonetheless I think the stats are fair.

One Laptop Per Child (OLPC)

Good to see that Uruguay has become the first country to provide a laptop for every child attending state primary school according to a report on the BBC News website today as part of the OLPC Initiative.  Over the last 2 years 362,000 pupils and 18,000 teachers have been involved in the scheme, which aims to provide low cost, but high specification, laptops to school children across the world.