ScuzzBlog: Diaries November 2025
Entry 28th November 2025: Post 1: New Computer - 42 years and back to Currys.
New Computer - 42 years and back to Currys.
A little over 42 years ago I ventured into Currys in Brownhills
and shelled out fifty quid for a brand new ZX81 computer. Man was
I excited. That journey up to today has been a most rewarding and
enjoyable time. So when it came to buying my latest Win11 machine
who better to purchase from than Currys.
Sadly times are such that my excitement these days for new kit is
always a little less rewarding given that I have lived the dream
and been intoxicated by wave upon wave of truly innovative and
creative tools over the years, but this enthusiasm has all but
fizzled out and died as I struggle with the truly mundane and quite
poorly designed modern offerings. You would think that after some
forty years we would have progressed beyond the fake wood veneer
to a tin box that hasn't changed form factor for some thirty of
those years at least. I mean I was never minded to buy electronic
kit in the seventies that had the fake veneer.
Anyhoo why did I buy this computer ? Truth is cus I had to. I live
in a village in the New Forest and never venture out. Therefore all
that I need has to be delivered. I cannot risk money transactions
on an outdated operating system and MS deemed my Win10 machine
unsuitable. So I reflected on what I needed and decided this time
to get a computer just for ordering my food and paying the bills.
The thing was still over a thousand quid and doesn't even sport a
video card.
First impressions: cheap looking and cheap build quality. I would
have preferred more options in terms of graphic connections. The
machine was advertised with a DVD but it came with none. It also
does not have a second hard drive. No worries as I plan to connect
DVD and hard drive externally. I was tempted to include a NVDIA
card but of late I have become disenchanted with Steam and Blizzard
and intend using the PS5 for all my gaming. The one item that fails
here seems to be video cards.
First Usage: There is no power light to the socket on the back of
the machine and the crappy wireless keyboard doesn't blink on boot.
I found just those two issues troubling. Powering the machine up
I sense it went into some pre-usage spasm cus nothing happened. I
Googled the problem and it said simply reboot. This time I got a
HP logo but no circling activity on screen. Back to Google and it
said hold down the button for 15 seconds. This I did and the screen
displayed a crude and quite blurred pale blue box saying it was
resetting the CMOS. Back to the HP screen log and nothing. I then
went to switch off and on touching the button I got the early
splash screen advising we were in set up mode. All went fine from
that point and I was able to use the machine.
Next up the usual disabling of nonsense and installing Firefox. I
then got bored and left the thing for a couple of days.
Powered up yesterday and nothing. Just the light to the on switch.
The monitor advised I had no connection, check cables. Which I did.
I then decided to switch off and again at touching the button the
login screen appeared. When in the system the machine was again in
internet update spasm mode and an app by HP for gaming was locked
on the screen. I managed to locate all the HP stuff and disabled all
of it. That cleared the problem. Since then its been generally OK
when I've logged in, but on the whole it has all the signs of a
system that goes into meltdown trying to update and bring crappy
apps online. This was the same with the DeLL machine for the first
month or so. Trouble is the software wants me to customise stuff
and I just keep telling it to go away.
The things working. It really is as dull as soup. I have no desire
to use it and can't recall the last time I was so uninspired by a
computer. Probably last time was one of the Apple towers I got.
The things bad but not that bad.
Anyhoo I have an up to date computer so I survive for the time being.
My next problem is the fact that Tesco are switching off 3G and my
large button mobile phone will no longer work. I have been looking
into smart phones but sadly it all makes me want to stick my head
into a blender. Not a today problem.
How you dooin ? Getting much colder. I'm loving it. I'm in the
workshop at the moment trying to simplify the Ethernet network for
the old PCs to reduce the annoying trails of cabling. More on that
tomorrow.
I deliberately decided to avoid discussing Win11 cus in truth it
speaks for itself and doesn't need any more badmouthing from me.
I guess Win11 is the wood veneer of the computer world. Tacky.
When I think of modern contraptions I always reflect on the basic
laws of cognitive map building, cus that's how the brain structures
the world. The principal being that you start with the main dominant
identifiable components that form nodes to which you slowly infill
with the more complex detail. If the brain is swamped with too much
data it fails to recognise the major markers. Sadly there doesn't
seem to be a desire to create simple solutions that become ever more
complex. There are so few basic tools you need to simply run a file
manager you could have them on a right click tooltip that shows no
more than half a dozen commands. But then Windows has always suffered
from being bloated. Enough.
PS: Twas around 1983 I was playing River Raid on the Atari
Woody. That had a wood fascia... tacky.
New Computer - 42 years and back to Currys.
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