GRcade

Sucks man, sorry to hear

Would integrated graphics be able to output at 4k? I don't know myself, but it seems like an enthusiast feature which you ended up with because you got a GPU in your previous model. To be honest I'd look in store at 14 inch 1080p screens and see if you'd really miss the extra pixels - if you're regularly connecting to a large external screen you might, but if you're just using the integral screen you might find it's okay.

I can't help with the tech but sorry to hear you've been robbed, mate.

Arseholes, especially at this time of year.

Thanks guys. Turns out it might be covered in the household insurance afterall, so going to pursue that and see what happens.

How secure are PC's / Windows hello in general? I'm a bit worried about some docs I've got on it, but figure the easiest thing for them to do is just so a clean install and try to sell it? I hope so.

That's not a growth wrote:How secure are PC's / Windows hello in general? I'm a bit worried about some docs I've got on it, but figure the easiest thing for them to do is just so a clean install and try to sell it? I hope so.

Unless a hard-disk is encrypted or you wipe the drive & literally over-write every bit of data (so the wiping takes several hours instead of the usual few seconds), it's usually possible to retrieve all the files given a bit of effort. If you connect to a hard-disk as just a storage device & bypass the Operating System, the usual OS permissions structure is moot.

You're probably right though, unlikely someone will care about your files.

I had it encrypted using the option it gives you when you're setting up Windows 10 if that's what you mean?

Also, I removed it from the list of 'my devices' from my Microsoft account, without realising there was a 'find and wipe my device option' - I haven't strawberry floated up have I? I was hoping this would mean my user account wouldn't work on it but now worried I should have tried to lock it.

I really should have tested all this so I knew what to do in this situation.

So I might only get a certain amount of money for my lost items (with the laptop being one of them) so I'm back to looking at options, as I will want to stretch the money as far as possible to replace as many of my possessions as possible.

I've found this which is appealing

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing ... 9-pdt.html

It's not a touch screen, but I didn't really use that functionality and if I want a high-res screen it's one is the cheapest.

I keep flip flopping so much, I'm now thinking of a Dell as I'm able to get a discount on them. I'm thinking the New Inspiron 16 plus. Less than £900, high res screen, 16GB, 500GB, GPU, 16" screen.
But I guess it makes sense to wait to see how my claim goes before I pull the trigger, couldn't get through to the bastards yesterday and I called repeatedly for hours

What's the consensus on upgrading to Windows 11? My gaming laptop is offering to upgrade, but I'm not sure if I should be holding off for a while.

Yoshimi wrote:What's the consensus on upgrading to Windows 11? My gaming laptop is offering to upgrade, but I'm not sure if I should be holding off for a while.

I like it, if you use start menu tiles (i did) it is annoying not having them but I've not really had any issues and it is much prettier and swishy.

That's not a growth wrote:I keep flip flopping so much, I'm now thinking of a Dell as I'm able to get a discount on them. I'm thinking the New Inspiron 16 plus. Less than £900, high res screen, 16GB, 500GB, GPU, 16" screen.
But I guess it makes sense to wait to see how my claim goes before I pull the trigger, couldn't get through to the bastards yesterday and I called repeatedly for hours

I went for the Inspiron, but the 1TB + 3060 RTX version (i7, 16GB, 3k screen)

Only got it fine yesterday and not had time to turn it on yet, hoping to do so tonight.

Still not 100% on the insurance, but seems the company I was with its sorting it so that's one less thing to think about (it happened while I was away for work, got taken from a client's car). Dell have 30 day returns so at least if it turns out their insurance does replacements rather than cash I should have time to send it back. I'll need to look into my switch and headphones soon now

Need an HDMI splitter to take my laptop and extend it across 2 external monitors.

Any recommendations?

Drumstick wrote:Need an HDMI splitter to take my laptop and extend it across 2 external monitors.

Any recommendations?

I might be mistaken here, but won't an HDMI splitter just output the same image to the two monitors?

You could still extend the desktop, but both screens would just show the same thing.

Chocolate-Milk wrote:

Drumstick wrote:Need an HDMI splitter to take my laptop and extend it across 2 external monitors.

Any recommendations?

I might be mistaken here, but won't an HDMI splitter just output the same image to the two monitors?

You could still extend the desktop, but both screens would just show the same thing.

I don't know tbh. Been into work and that's the setup they're working with, I connect with my laptop and presto, three screens.

That's not a growth wrote:

That's not a growth wrote:I keep flip flopping so much, I'm now thinking of a Dell as I'm able to get a discount on them. I'm thinking the New Inspiron 16 plus. Less than £900, high res screen, 16GB, 500GB, GPU, 16" screen.
But I guess it makes sense to wait to see how my claim goes before I pull the trigger, couldn't get through to the bastards yesterday and I called repeatedly for hours

I went for the Inspiron, but the 1TB + 3060 RTX version (i7, 16GB, 3k screen)

Only got it fine yesterday and not had time to turn it on yet, hoping to do so tonight.

Still not 100% on the insurance, but seems the company I was with its sorting it so that's one less thing to think about (it happened while I was away for work, got taken from a client's car). Dell have 30 day returns so at least if it turns out their insurance does replacements rather than cash I should have time to send it back. I'll need to look into my switch and headphones soon now

So the other company ended up replacing most of my electronics that were taken (iPad was out of stock so they said they'd do that in the new year - I wasn't even going to replace that myself as the value I would get from my own insurance wouldn't cover it so I'm more than happy to wait) - meaning I got the current version of my stolen laptop. It really is very nice, it has a 15" 4K OLED touch screen. I've returned the Dell and just waiting for that to go through, but so far it's been easier to the return it then get it in the first place.

Really the Inspiron was a very nice machine, especially for the price - but I'm very glad to have something inline with what I had before. Really feels like I'm almost back to where I was before this all happened, which is what they said they wanted for me which was really nice. It's such a weight off.

@drum when you connect your laptop to the screens at work is it just HDMI? Or is it through Display Port or something like the Surface Dock? My understanding is HDMI can't do what you're describing, but DP can.

I tested my solution in the office yesterday and I've ordered the kit I need, but thanks anyway.

Ah good, glad you figured it out. What you get?

I bought a small USB adapter hub and a USB-C to USB-A adapter.

The former plugs into the latter, which will be plugged into my laptop. Monitor 1 is then plugged into the first adapter via HDMI. The second monitor is then plugged into the HDMI port on my laptop. I can then choose to work from three monitors or, my preferred solution, mirror the laptop onto the first monitor with upscaled resolution and plug in a separate mouse/keyboard to the first adapter, therefore enabling me to move the laptop out of the way and extend the display onto the second monitor.

Sounds complicated?

I have a work laptop I display separate apps on 2x 24" monitors. Sometimes I'll have the laptop screen open for Zoom calls so my camera is active but I always have a different image on each/all 2/3 screens and purely use a USB-C male to 2x HDMI female splitter to do the job.

The USB-C plugs into the laptop and 2 HDMI cables plug from the other end of the adapter/splitter to the external monitors