Yes, it’s that time again! Time to source a replacement for my now-ancient ‘Lenovo Ideapad 305‘ Laptop. It’s served me well for well over four years, accompanying me around the world helping me to keep in touch with the mother ship! It’s going to a good home – a TA friend of mine becomes its new keeper!

As you might expect, me being me, choosing the Lenovo’s replacement wasn’t a quick decision! After a few intensive weeks narrowing down the options (more of that later!) I chose an HP device – which wasn’t how I thought things would play out.

So, say hello to my (deep breath!)…

“HP Spectre x360 15-eb0001na 4K OLED
Convertible Laptop with Pen (2020 Edition)”

Phew! Quite a mouthful! And quite a wallet-buster too, at £1949.99!! (best price).

The Shortlist

Well, there nearly wasn’t a shortlist at all – I thought I knew what I wanted – the rather clever and just launched Samsung Galaxy Book 360 Pro. was the front-runner. But, as they say, ‘the devil is in the detail’. I’ve already got a Samsung mobile phone, so what could possibly go wrong?

On closer inspection of the laptop specs, the storage was a bit small for me at (just) 512Gb and more crucially, the display was ‘only’ HD. For the money I planned on spending, I was really looking for a 4K display.

Further reading online by those ahead of me in the buying queue for the Samsung flagship, revealed a disappointing webcam and a distinct lack of sockets (not even a USB3 port!). In fact, the more I read, the more disappointed I became. OK, it had the latest 11th gen Intel chip, the device was super-light to carry and it had a gorgeous AMOLED screen, but there seemed to be some confusion in the marketing materials about its storage expansion capability.

I posted a question to Samsung Support who confirmed that I couldn’t add an additional SSD (even though the online marketing blurb suggested this was possible). When I challenged Support’s reply, I got a vague response – that just added to my confusion!

Enough already! Time to go looking elsewhere. There were only two others that came close to the spec I was after…

The ASUS Zenbook Flip S (but it only came with a 13-inch screen and I wanted a 15-incher at least!! !and the aforementioned HP.

In the end, the screen size was the deal-breaker for me and I plumped for the HP.

The Winner

What’s so special about the Spectre? If you want a detailed specification, take a look here, but for now, here are the headlines…

A gorgeous 4k screen
OLED screen technology
Touch screen technology
A stylus
1Tb of M2 SSD storage
plus
16Gb of RAM
Gorilla glass screen
(Almost) the latest Intel chip

It’s also a ‘2-in-1’, which means it can function as a Tablet too (albeit a very large tablet!). Best of all though is that it sports a special hinge mechanism which allows it to be set up in a tent fashion (as in the photo above) which combined with the touch screen and stylus, makes it easy to use creatively.

Now, all I needed to do was to transfer over all my data! That’s always the boring bit – but it’s necessary!

Steve Palmer

I got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of writing seemed to be the perfect combination to contribute a few words to the online community. But I’m no Samuel Pepys! If you’re looking for deep and meaningful comments on a variety of subjects, then you’ve arrived at the wrong site! I only pen for pleasure! On average, my posts appear about twice per month, covering family & friends, cinema visits, eating out, holiday experiences and techy stuff. Oh, and as this is my hobby, there are no sponsored links nor adverts here – it’s all done with love!

I hope you find it enjoyable, interesting and occasionally, even helpful!

StevePalmerTheBlogger.com

The post HP Source appeared first on Steve's Blog.

For the umpteenth time, I’ve tidied-up my DVD collection. It should have been one of those jobs that was completed during the early days of ‘lockdown’, but you know what they say about that Round Tuit???

We now have ‘classics’ on the left (far too many to fit in the cabinet!) and Blu-rays, front and centre, with my growing 4k collection on the top-shelf.

PS Apart from me, does anyone watch DVDs anymore?

Steve Palmer

I got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of writing seemed to be the perfect combination to contribute a few words to the online community. But I’m no Samuel Pepys! If you’re looking for deep and meaningful comments on a variety of subjects, then you’ve arrived at the wrong site! I only pen for pleasure! On average, my posts appear about twice per month, covering family & friends, cinema visits, eating out, holiday experiences and techy stuff. Oh, and as this is my hobby, there are no sponsored links nor adverts here – it’s all done with love!

I hope you find it enjoyable, interesting and occasionally, even helpful!

StevePalmerTheBlogger.com

The post DVDs sorted appeared first on Steve's Blog.

Jo and Janet joined us for a night of munchies and a movie… Oh, and some G & Ts! Whilst I prepared the DVD player, the lemons and the limes, Ann got busy in the kitchen.

Our movie of choice tonight – Avengers:Endgame. There isn’t much that hasn’t already been written about the final film (for now) in this franchise – especially on a certain blog – so instead, I’ll concentrate on the food and drink!

On the menu tonight was homemade Lasagne and that was followed by homemade Fruit Strudel. I think we all enjoyed it so much, none of us took any photos!

The movie turned out to be as excellent as we remember it (and with its fairly complex narrative, probably benefited from a second opportunity to watch it again!)

At just over 3 hours long, the movie was a test of stamina, if nothing else! And as a result, we didn’t say our goodbyes until just after 11pm – very late for us two!

A great night – and good to see Janet and Jo again!

Steve Palmer

I got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of writing seemed to be the perfect combination to contribute a few words to the online community. But I’m no Samuel Pepys! If you’re looking for deep and meaningful comments on a variety of subjects, then you’ve arrived at the wrong site! I only pen for pleasure! On average, my posts appear about twice per month, covering family & friends, cinema visits, eating out, holiday experiences and techy stuff. Oh, and as this is my hobby, there are no sponsored links nor adverts here – it’s all done with love!

I hope you find it enjoyable, interesting and occasionally, even helpful!

StevePalmerTheBlogger.com

The post Avengers: Assemble Lasagne! appeared first on Steve's Blog.

Roger, Jane and Oliver joined us for the weekend!

Saturday

The main event for today was a picnic at Belton House and then a walk around the historic Mansion and Gardens. I think it’s our most oft-visited stately home having been there recently (ish) with with Dennis and Sandra back in May, 2018 and Chris and Gill in July, 2017.

On arrival, the weather was disappointing to say the least (Summer’s not quite over surely???) Oliver was sporting shorts and I was in a short-sleeved shirt. Consequently, both of us were woefully ill-dressed for the conditions – a plummeting temperature followed by rain!

1.00pm: However, It didn’t stop us enjoying our picnic though, as we sandwiched ourselves between ‘Robert‘ and the car next door to act as a wind-break! Brrrrr!

1.55pm: I think the c*** weather made us eat more quickly, and we soon made a significant dent in Ann’s extensive picnic.

As soon as we’d cleared up our bits, we headed straight for the House. Word to the wise: Since our previous visit, there’s been one major change here! ALL VISITS ARE NOW TIMED, so it’s not just a case of turning-up and hoping to get in straight away. But, as it happened, it was perfect timing on our part, as there were five slots on the very next admission – the 2.15!

2.10pm: We’re in!

Given our previous visits, from a photo point-of-view, I decided to concentrate on the less well-known/seen pieces on show inside, together with less obvious views of the property and surroundings.

3.05pm: Time for a cuppa, especially as the damp weather from earlier had returned, but this time it was torrential!

A quick, but determined sprint to the nearby tea-shop got us more-or-less to the front of the queue (followed by the rest of mankind) and we were soon seated in the Stables enjoying our cuppa and cake!

3.35pm: Next stop was the Gardens where the weather, perfectly on cue turned from rain to warm sunshine! At last!

4.00pm: Our final stop was St Peter & St Paul Church aka Belton Church.

4.20pm: A great visit! (again!). Even the weather didn’t really spoil our visit (even though it looked like it would!). We wandered back to the car and headed south.

All of today’s photos at Belton House (with none of my chat) are HERE

6.15pm: It was a good journey home and we were indoors by 5.45. By 6.15, Ann had laid the table for a yummy table-buffet. All that was left to do was to choose a movie for the evening…

Bohemian Rhapsody (courtesy of Sky Store): Even better than I remember it the first time around in the cinema

11.05pm: That’s it! Nighty-night!

Sunday

A lie-in for me until the unearthly late hour of 7.15 whilst the others slept-on.

9.10am: A little bit of Queen, courtesy of Spotify to get the day started!

9.45am: Breakfast is served – Porridge with Strawberries followed by a Bacon Butty!

10.30am: Jane, Oliver and I watched the rest of Thor: Raganarok, Roger caught up with the Daily Telegraph, whilst Ann put the finishing touches to lunch – this was a real family-foodie weekend, and just how we like it!

12.15pm: Pre-lunch drinkies!

1.00pm: Lunch is served. Roast Chicken with all the bits!

2.30pm: Lunch over! A bit of clearing up followed by a long natter.

whilst listening to something a little more relaxing!

3.45pm: Well, where did that weekend go? It passed really quickly – a great sign of a great time!

Bye all, it’s been great to catch-up!

Steve Palmer

I got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of writing seemed to be the perfect combination to contribute a few words to the online community. But I’m no Samuel Pepys! If you’re looking for deep and meaningful comments on a variety of subjects, then you’ve arrived at the wrong site! I only pen for pleasure! On average, my posts appear about twice per month, covering family & friends, cinema visits, eating out, holiday experiences and techy stuff. Oh, and as this is my hobby, there are no sponsored links nor adverts here – it’s all done with love!

I hope you find it enjoyable, interesting and occasionally, even helpful!

StevePalmerTheBlogger.com

The post Family Weekend appeared first on Steve's Blog.

With almost all our preparation done for our forthcoming holiday, I took a breather and watched Skyscraper (one of the 4K DVDs that Ann bought me for Christmas). Starring Dwayne ‘The Rock‘ Johnson it turned out to be a cross between Die Hard (1988) and Towering Inferno (1974).

In my book, that’s a good pedigree!

How was it? Well, it certainly wasn’t Shakespeare and the critics hadn’t been too kind to it when it was first released in 2018 (awarding it a lacklustre three-out-of-five).

Still, for a Saturday night, and with my brain set to ‘low’, it was an enjoyable romp, with some very convincing special-effects that probably out-shone the storyline (and maybe the actors too!)

Perfect Saturday-night-in fodder then!

Steve Palmer

I got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of writing seemed to be the perfect combination to contribute a few words to the online community. But I’m no Samuel Pepys! If you’re looking for deep and meaningful comments on a variety of subjects, then you’ve arrived at the wrong site! I only pen for pleasure! On average, my posts appear about twice per month, covering family & friends, cinema visits, eating out, holiday experiences and techy stuff. Oh, and as this is my hobby, there are no sponsored links nor adverts here – it’s all done with love!

I hope you find it enjoyable, interesting and occasionally, even helpful!

StevePalmerTheBlogger.com

The post DVD: Skyscraper appeared first on Steve's Blog.