Tech Help

WARNING!

We have seen a wide number of clients lately who have taken phone calls supposedly from various internet providers or banks. Please, if they tell you your PC, tablet or mobile phone has a problem DO NOT let them on to the device. This is a scam. I cannot stress this enough… several people have had thousands of pounds removed from their bank account because they have literally handed the thieves all the information they need. No antivirus will block this. Your computer will not block this if you give someone ‘genuine’ access to your PC. Additionally, if you receive a text message from a courier saying you need to pay money, customs charges etc, do not click the link.

Repair economy

We have seen a spike in device repairs as decent devices still cost a lot of money and often it is cheaper to repair your current device. However, devices that are past a certain age will not be worth repairing. Pop in to see us or your current local IT shop to work out whether it’s worth repairing your device. Buying gadgets & gizmos this winter When buying a gadget (whether laptop, desktop, phone etc) consider all aspects of current and future use. Yes, it can do this work now, but are you likely to do other work in the future? It is worth planning this into your purchase, as a device may cost you more now but if it saves you buying another device in the future, it will ultimately save you money. When buying a laptop or desktop, we highly recommend going for Windows 11, 8GB RAM, 256GB Storage (SSD) and an Intel i3 processor as a minimum. The Pentium Gold is not as good as it may sound and will be a bottleneck for your device.

When it comes to mobile devices, we recommend a minimum internal storage of 64GB. It does not matter if you can expand the storage, if you purchase anything with 32GB or less your storage will mainly be filled by the device’s operating system and could pose serious update problems in the future or limit the apps or games you have on the device.

Buying a branded item is highly recommended. This makes it easier to get parts in the future especially for laptops and generally means that a lot of connections are standard including for SSD upgrades. There are a few online laptop building companies who make their own branded laptop items. Please be aware that these are incredibly difficult to get parts for and if you use an online company to build your laptop, make sure you take out extended warranties (and check the terms and conditions first!). If you are getting a custom build tower this is generally fine but check exactly what is going in it. However, if you are looking for a custom build PC, drop us a line as we will give you a full list of parts and prices, and can guarantee build quality and upgradeability.

Accreditations

We support thousands of clients and take security very seriously which is why we are Cyber Essentials Certified and Trading Standards Approved.

Archie’s Corner

Archie has definitely been more active lately now it is coming into the winter months. Trust me he loves wintertime and is hoping it will snow! All of the Archie the Husky range in the window is produced onsite in Tavistock. Archie the Husky postcards are coming soon for those visiting the area.