Big Jay and (relativly) expensive couple of days.

BigJay

BigJay

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Firstly, I'll appologise for the length is this story, but once I start, there is no stopping me!

As some may know, my HD crashed over last weekend, so I thought I'd nip into Maplin to buy a new one.

£100 or so, I can live with that.

After discussing my problem with 'Justin', "our computer guru", I'm leaving Maplin with a new MB, memory and processor, a new graphics card on order, to be delivered (last) Tuesday, oh and the new HD of course.

Cost now up to £420.

Excitedly, I rushed home to fit new MB bundle into my case. Everything going swimmingly , right up to the point where I need to cable my DVD in.
The MB does not 'do' IDE....great.
No problem, I have an external dvd that I can 'USB up' and install my OS from that...simples.
Nope. Boot menu could see my DVD drive, but refused to boot from it.

OK, so I now need to buy a sata DVD.
Maplin now closed, well it was 20.45 on a Sunday night. I'll go Monday while my daughter is in school.
No, I can't, my daughter has chicken pox, that's me house bound until 17.30.

17.31 Monday, I dash out the door to find my new "Maplin computer guru, Chris", it was Justin's day off., Went through my sordid tale with Chris, he seemed enthralled by it.
A Samsung sata DVD was bought @£40, but then the discussion went on to my PSU.
"Is it singe rail or multi rail?" Chris asked. The blank look and 30 seconds of silence seemed to indicate to Chris that I was out of comfort zone. So home to check my PSU.

Cost so far £460.00

It's multi rail. I do some searching online, and Chris's words of advice about really needing single rail, were backed up by several geek's* online. Back to see Chris.

Ker...ching went the cash register. Another £60 out of the account.

Cost so far £520.00.

But, come Monday evening, I'm back in the land of desktops and internet and games...oh the joy............almost putting the figure of £520 out of my head.

Tuesday @ approx 13.00, Hagar(an old friend of mine) who works for Fedex, arrived with my new Graphics card, oh the excitement!. But still looking after my sickly daughter, so no time to fit card. Will have to wait till this evening.

After work, I get home about 21.30.....lets get the GC in.....I'll stick my old broken HD back in, to see if I can get any stuff off it.

Card in, all wired up, turn it on........lights on monitor, case sounds like it's running....no picture on monitor?. Double/triple check wiring, all seems ok?????, what's going on? Faulty new card? Power issues? Faulty monitor?

Tried plugging the monitor onto the mb's onboard graphics, no joy, so thinking monitor failure.

But why would this happen now?, I mean, what a time to fail, immediately after fitting a new GC!...are the incidents linked?.

Need to confirm that the new card is ok, so I need another monitor.
I'll nip back to work, and borrow a tv/dvd/monitor thing.

Need ndmi cable....haven't got one.
Nip back to work to borrow one. Fit cable. Turn on screen.

No Signal. No problem, get up the menu, turn it to ndmi settings, easy. Nope, need the remote.
So I nipped back to work, again, spent half an hour finding the remote, and then came back home.

Changed settings to hdmi and I have the Windows 7 screen beaming back at me...hurrah!.....damn....I need a new monitor.

It should arrive Thursday.

Total bill £680.00.


PS my 'old broken HD', which started all this off, is now being recognised by my pc and appears to be working fine :confused:

* I don't include anybody on here with this label, unless you are comfortable with it!
 
Why is single rail PSU better?

Multi rail gives the current at same rate too each individual rail

Making the running of high end GFX cards and extra hardware more reliable

Of course all down to cost aswell..

£40 for a SATA dvd? WHAAAAAAAAT?!!!!
 
LOL! Sorry shouldn't laugh but that is one tale of woe right there...

Maplins eh? Well they sound awesome.....! :lol:

What actually happened to the drive in the first place?
 
Ouch!!

And there was me wondering about the money I had just spent on my new smartphone, good job I didn't get it from Maplins innit..:D:lol:
 
TriplexDread said:
Why is single rail PSU better?

Multi rail gives the current at same rate too each individual rail

Making the running of high end GFX cards and extra hardware more reliable
Click to expand...
Really depends. In most cases, multiple +12V rails are actually just a single +12V source just split up into multiple +12V outputs each with a limited output capability.

I'll skip to the chase, for 99% of the folks out there single vs. multiple +12V rails is a NON ISSUE. It's something that has been hyped up by marketing folks on BOTH SIDES of the fence, it should be a non-issue assuming and providing that the PSU has all of the connectors your machine requires and there are no need for "splitters".

I'm using a no-name 600 PSU, it has done the job for a few years, however, I now need an 8-pin connector which my PSU does not have, I'll get it replaced.

YMMV :)

oh, BJ, enjoy your new system. :D
 
muckshifter said:
Really depends. In most cases, multiple +12V rails are actually just a single +12V source just split up into multiple +12V outputs each with a limited output capability.

I'll skip to the chase, for 99% of the folks out there single vs. multiple +12V rails is a NON ISSUE. It's something that has been hyped up by marketing folks on BOTH SIDES of the fence, it should be a non-issue assuming and providing that the PSU has all of the connectors your machine requires and there are no need for "splitters".

I'm using a no-name 600 PSU, it has done the job for a few years, however, I now need an 8-pin connector which my PSU does not have, I'll get it replaced.

YMMV :)

oh, BJ, enjoy your new system. :D
Click to expand...

Yeah Mine is only single rail. I guess if you have a decent current output it doesn't matter tbh.

I'm dumbfound that it was all bought at Maplins of all places :'(
 
Maplins simply because it's 2 mins away and in stock for immediate supply.
Yes I could have got cheaper, but all is now sorted, apart from the monitor(bought on line and cheap I hope), and any issues, my supplier is close.
And to be fair, the two computer experts very very helpful with a lot of free advice and guidance, over and above their duty. One even offered to pop round after work, if I was having problems.
 
£100 or so, I can live with that.
Click to expand...

Total bill £680.00.
Click to expand...


Escalating costs. I know exactly what you mean, BJ.

A few weeks back my missus suggested I rip off the wallpaper in the bedroom and paint the walls. Good ideaI thought and went to get some emulsion for the walls. Hadn't bought any for a while and was surprised how expensive it is now.

As I'm painting she suggests that all the gloss needs doing too and, while I'm at it I might as well do the bathroom. Good idea I think. Then it seems that the curtains won't match so they will need changing and we might as well have a new curtain rail.

Then I'm told that the carpet is looking a bit tatty so we should change that as well. And while we're doing that we might as well change the flooring in the bathroom. Headboard also needs updating and when that is chosen the bedroom furniture is "all wrong." So, all that has to go and be replaced with something more modern. New lampshade too.

Well, it's all done now and "painting the wall" has now cost over £1000. :eek:
 
bootneck02 said:
:thumb: Thumbs up for Maplins:DI have also found some of their staff are very helpfull:bow:
Click to expand...
Some of them can be but then some of them think they know it all, I went in for a connector for a radio aerial once and knew exactly what it was I wanted as had replaced loads of these things on a regular basis as it was my hobby at one point..
One numpty in there decided I needed other adaptors and connectors to get the job done and would not stop even though I told him I knew what I was doing and had the correct fittings already but just needed one connector.
I had to literally lay down to him the finer points of radio masts and aerials before he shut up!
As I say some are great in there but you do get the odd numpty who thinks everyone that walks into the shop is an average bod with little or no knowledge of anything electronic or otherwise..
I stopped going in there years ago for this very reason! :mad:
 
Maplins started as an electronics dealer to almost rival RS and Farnell but is now a toyshop.

Was once good but is now a joke. I've sen them price parts at £5 I can can get for £1.50 from RS. And RS ain't exactly cheap.

BigJay: I'm glad all turned out well and enjoy your new machine but for ****'s sake, next time (if there is a next time) it happens, please ask here before making purchases.
 
bootneck02 said:
:thumb: Thumbs up for Maplins:DI have also found some of their staff are very helpfull:bow:
Click to expand...


Yeah they have to be the cost of their goods.

I used to shop there a lot for electronic components until they started stocking crap and the prices went sky high
 
Maplins was once a good place. But I have to agree with FBS, it's become like a toy shop now :(
 
floppybootstomp said:
Maplins started as an electronics dealer to almost rival RS and Farnell but is now a toyshop.

Was once good but is now a joke. I've sen them price parts at £5 I can can get for £1.50 from RS. And RS ain't exactly cheap.

BigJay: I'm glad all turned out well and enjoy your new machine but for ****'s sake, next time (if there is a next time) it happens, please ask here before making purchases.
Click to expand...

The desire to get my pc back as quickly as possible, was the overriding issue, being self employed, I need my pc working.
I know I can search and ask questions and get most things next day, but sometimes, I just go and buy....get it done....get back working.

The extra days, if I was waiting for deliveries, would have left me without my pc for a week, as opposed to a couple of days. The potential loss of work out ways the extra cost in getting the parts quickly.

As for advise, I can think of nowhere better than here.:cheers:
 
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