November 2018 – A cheap netbook that still feels like a laptop

Those looking for a basic, low-cost, and no-frills laptop will want to check out the ASUS VivoBook X541NA-QP2ST-CB. If you have ever tried to use an inexpensive netbook, but did not enjoy peeking into an 11″ screen, you would appreciate this machine – It boasts a 15.6″ screen.

Asus VivoBook Max X541NA-QP2ST-CB 15.6
Asus VivoBook Max X541NA-QP2ST-CB 15.6″ Touchscreen LCD Notebook – Intel Pentium N4200 Quad-core (4 Core) 1.10 GHz – 4 GB DDR3L SDRAM – 256 GB SSD – Windows 10 64-bit – 1366 x 768 – Tru2Life – Silver Gradient
Intel HD Graphics 505 DDR3 SDRAM – Bluetooth – English, French Keyboard – Front Camera/Webcam – IEEE 802.11b/g/n – Fast Ethernet – Network (RJ-45) – HDMI – 1 x USB 3.0 Ports – 1 x USB 3.1 Ports
    Perks:

  • Comes with a Solid-State Drive: A 256GB SSD is required if you want your cheap laptop to run optimally. Usually it’s the storage speed that will bottleneck your system – This is a great perk.
  • Power-saving CPU: The low clock rate of the CPU should result in real-life battery improvement. Since the battery is only 3-cells, the lower clock rate should help the load on the battery.
  • 15.6″ screen on netbook hardware make the machine worth purchasing. – For those who get eye-strain on 11″ screens
  • A cheap and quick replacement computer for those who need something to use immediately who do not purchase second-hand goods
    Tradeoffs:

  • CPU has a very low clock rate and less features than regular Core i3, i5 and i7 series chips (Still not a bad thing if you are doing basic office and media tasks)
  • Ethernet is 10/100mbps ONLY – (Low bandwidth by today’s standards, but will get your remote desktop sessions connected. Most applications will work very well except during long file transfers)
  • WiFi is standard a/g/n. ( Standard WiFi, but best internet performance will be achieved here within close signal range. Data transfers will need to be performed through here if you are in close range to your WiFi router.)

If you are from southern Ontario or west of the GTA looking for computer prices, such as the equipment posted here or all other IT products, send your product requests our way.

Deal of the Week – Lenovo X1 Carbon 7th generation – 20HR0057US

There are substantial savings happening on this laptop right now, prices have significantly dropped for this model and many online retailers have not updated their pricing for this machine. Take advantage of this moment right now as there’s roughly only about half-a-dozen available.


Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon 5th Gen 20HR0057US 14″ LCD Ultrabook – Intel Core i7 (7th Gen) i7-7500U Dual-core (2 Core) 2.70 GHz – 8 GB LPDDR3 – 256 GB SSD – Windows 10 Pro 64-bit (English) – 1920 x 1080 – In-plane Switching (IPS) Technology – Black

Our price – $2199.00 Valid for a limited time only.

Deal of the Week – 1GG07UT#ABA – HP ProDesk 400 G4 Small Form Factor PC

HP Business Desktop ProDesk 400 G4 Desktop Computer

 

HP, ProDesk 400, Small Form Factor PC
We have access to lots of computer hardware, especially this HP ProDesk 400 G4 PC

 

We are selling this PC this week for $849.00 and will extend the offer until Friday, May 25, 2018.

Hard to say when these prices will go down for 7th generation Intel Core i5 PCs, but this is an excellent deal for last year’s tech. This will run most applications very well for general business administrative productivity, and will make your desktop or underneath your desk more spacious. Perfect for those who are looking to cut their electric utility costs.

Manufacturer #:  1GG07UT#ABA

Designed to fit the modern workspace now and in the future, the small, reliable, and secure HP ProDesk 400 SFF is a powerful PC with performance that’s scalable to grow with the business.

Processor & Chipset

Processor Manufacturer: Intel
Processor Type: Core i5
Processor Generation: 7th Gen
Processor Model: i5-7500
Processor Speed: 3.40 GHz

Memory

Standard Memory: 8 GB
Memory Technology: DDR4 SDRAM
Storage
Total Solid State Drive Capacity: 256 GB
Optical Drive Type: DVD-Writer

Display & Graphics

Graphics Controller Manufacturer: Intel
Graphics Controller Model: HD Graphics 630
Graphics Memory Technology: DDR4 SDRAM
Graphics Memory Accessibility: Shared

Interfaces/Ports

Total Number of USB Ports: 8
Number of USB 2.0 Ports: 4
Number of USB 3.1 Ports: 4
VGA: Yes
Number of DisplayPort Outputs: 1
DisplayPort: Yes

Software

Operating System Platform: Windows
Operating System: Windows 10 Pro (English)
Operating System Architecture: 64-bit

Physical Characteristics

Form Factor: Small Form Factor
Height: 11.70″ (297.18 mm)
Width: 10.60″ (269.24 mm)
Depth: 3.70″ (93.98 mm)
Weight (Approximate): 4.60 kg

Miscellaneous

Package Contents:
ProDesk 400 G4 Small Form Factor PC
Keyboard
Mouse

Environmentally Friendly: Yes
Environmental Certification: ISO 14001
Environmental Certification: IT Eco Declaration
Environmental Certification: REACH
Environmental Certification: RoHS
Environmental Certification: WEEE
Environmental Certification: EU WEEE

Warranty

Limited Warranty: 3 Year

Windows 10 – Helpful Tips for fixing or repairing Microsoft Windows Store apps

Corrupted or Glitchy Windows Tiles in new Start Menu???

 Start Menu and Windows App Beheaviour – Not Appearing

I was having a lot of issues on my Windows 10 PC. Most of the standard apps, like Weather, Xbox, and Microsoft Store would abruptly exit. There are lots of resources on the net which aim to repair this problem simply by copying/typing the following into powershell. I am writing this for other techs so they can read this and try this out on their own systems. Please do not hold me accountable if you run into issues….Here’s what I did…:

Get-AppXPackage -Users | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml"}

Basically, what’s happening here is that all registered Windows app configuration data is read and then the data found is used to reregister a fresh app instance for each app found in the “Users\AppData” folder based on the system’s default user account & other system folders.

This fix repairs the issue in the when clicking the Start button and no Start menu appears.

Check “Users” Folder Junctions

A machine I was using was also having a permissions issue in the ‘Application Data’ shortcut or junction of the user’s “AppData\Local” folder. The lack of junction points was causing the above command or similar commands to iterate through ‘Application Data’, resulting in duplicates AppData\Local\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\.

The solution to this is to navigate to all your Application Data shortcuts with ‘hidden file’ viewing enabled, right-clicking, hitting properties and the security tab, then disabling inheritance and removing all access to these and hitting ok. This might cause issues with legacy applications….but all worked for me…

If you simply try running the Add-AppXPackage command from within a powershell loop alone and hope that it works, it might unless if have permission issues on the machine. If you are reading this and can take on the challenge, I recommend giving this a shot before you obliterate your whole machine by formatting and reinstalling Windows.

If permissions are the issue…

Generally, a system with file permission problems is caused by users or IT technicians in error. You should use the following two commands to help repair Windows App issues if you believe file permissions are playing some sort of role with your Store Apps.

icacls "C:\Windows\SystemApps" /reset /T /C /Q

icacls "C:\Program Files\WindowsApps" /reset /T /C /Q