r/techadvice

• Hi I've recently been learning how to build batteries as I have been restoring my grandpa's old nicd makitas so I can have a decent set of tools. Anyways I purchased one of those 12v spot welders ​Same design as this I was on a budget and the one I ordered had fairly good reviews for only being $10, I was wondering if there was anything I could do to make it better, and if yes is it even worth it. if there is anything I'd really prefer it to be cheaper than those 70 stations they have for spot welding, thank you in advance!

Looking for a device with a nice oled screen that is good for viewing movies as well as completing work for school. I wanted the OLED screen as I heard it is much nicer and can display the same range of colors with a lot less blue light. I’ve had trouble sleeping with some led screens when compared with my oled iphone. This device can be a laptop or a tablet with a keyboard, etc.

I want something that runs quietly, region free, no AI or "link your account" nonsense. Obvs something fast is better. Any recommendations from owners would be highly appreciated, thanks everyone 😄

I want to buy an Asus Rog flow X13(GV301R) off the marketplace, but there is a problem, the seller said it was plugged in 24/7. It doesn't hold off battery alone anymore. Still, it is fully functional when plugged in, I messaged the seller about the battery and he said, “Off the charger, the computer will restart somewhere between like 5 and 45 minutes. The battery report is like 65% efficiency or something like that. I'm not sure if it's the battery that is the problem.” I was thinking about replacing the battery if I buy it, and I was wondering if I had bought and replaced the battery would it work?

I just bought a Xbox ally, and I'm loving it so far, I like to play older story games. So it runs great. I just wish it felt a bit more heavy or bougie. The body feels very light, wich is a really good thing for something to hold onto for a long period of time. But when comparing the weight of the switch 2, it's heavier, comparing it's size and thickness. I understand the components are what adds the weight, or could it be from the aluminum body.

My question is, is it possible to make a aluminum body for the Xbox ally (not including triggers and buttons, just the body). Still wanting the exact size all around. Enough to still fit a case and/or accessories. (Just realized how the screen might be attached to the front half of the body. I dont want to modify a whole bunch into this, for i am not that techy or crafty when it comes to stuff like this. If anything I'm more concerned on the back portion of the body.) What are some things I have to consider if I want to do something like this on this device?

I started working here in the company around 3 and a half years ago. They gave me an old lap top and said something like this is temporarily, we are planning to change the equipment. Few months ago, they bought some new lap tops, but since then they are hesitant to my complaints that the lap top is slow. The Windows is installed 5 years ago and it was used before.

The thing is, we work remotely and the IT technician is always giving me the same crap about it. Clear the cache and the cookies, clean temporary files, etc.. I am not allowed to format it because I don't have the Windows key to register it afterwards. I am connected to the company's VPN and I am not sure to what extent they have access to what's happening.

The main question now is: how can I "screw up" the lap top so it won't work but it doesn't leave any trail or damage the hardware?

Thank you 😄

My SSD suddenly stopped working last week and I honestly thought all my files were gone forever. Most stressful tech problem I’ve dealt with in a long time.

Tried a few free recovery tools first but didn’t want to risk making things worse. Started reading more about professional recovery and found WeRecoverData while searching online.

Whole situation made me realize how important backups really are. Now I’m keeping copies of everything on both cloud and external storage.

Anyone else here had a drive fail without warning?

im honestly tired of honor's software its genuinely ass and i want something new but im too broke to buy a good iphone, but i know old iphones are good and reliable.

I apologize if this isn't the correct place for this question. During a council meeting the cities IT Director said, “On the 2 fire walls he watches every day, which is City Hall firewall and Police firewall. Every 15-20 seconds he is getting an attack from China.”

I live in Eunice, New Mexico population 3k. How realistic is this claim?

The coil whine is audible when the TV is muted. It's annoying. So I bought a pack of 24 acoustic foam panels on Amazon designed to absorb sound. They're 12 by 12 inches. I stuck five panels on the back of the TV where there are no vents. The coil whine is gone now.

The ventilation isn't affected from what I can tell. None of the vents are covered. The panels aren't touching any wires. Is it safe to leave the panels there long term?

Hello all, recently my e key has stopped working on my laptop.

I took the key off, cleaned it, and reattached with no issue, but it still didn't work so I figured it to be a problem with the silicon dome. I have a 2015 macbook pro, so back when they had scissor switch keyboards. I took it to the apple genius bar today and they were pretty unhelpful--the guy confirmed that the silicon part would need replacement, but said they don't carry them anymore.

I expected this, given that my laptop is so old, so I asked if they could harvest it from a key i don't really use that much. The guy declined, said he wasn't allowed to do that. Okay, that's fine. I asked if he could tell me how to do it, and he said "no no no, you need a special tool." I said "oh, what tool would I need to get?" and he kind of smirked and said "nothing you would have." (??)

I said "oh, what's it called?" and he didn't answer me, he just ignored the question and said that theres a place nearby that could do it and then gave me the name of the repair place. I went to the repair place and alas! the tool they used was a pair of tweezers.

Replacing the silicon cost about 30 bucks; they had extras and didn't have to harvest it from one of my keys. BUT after the service the guy charged me 60, saying that he gave me a new key and switch mechanism. To clarify, I did not want this nor did he ask, he just charged. I asked what was wrong with the old key and he just said it was "worn down." Bruh. All my keys are worn down, its an 10 year old laptop.

Anyway, I got home and have been doing my work and the key pops off and I haven't been able to click it back on. Also, the silicon dome is moving freely, so I put all the parts on my desk where I wouldn't lose them. Can I use glue to make the silicon not move when I try to reattach the key, or so I can use it without the key cap? If so, what kind of glue is safe? At this point, should I just get a bluetooth keyboard, or try to go back to the repair place with the receipt? The metal parts aren't damaged or bent, I'm just having a lot of trouble reattaching it for some reason. Any advice?

All in all, today I felt like I was talked down to by these guys and overcharged for services I didn't want or request. First dude definitely lied to my face about the "special tool," and the second dude doubled the quote after the service. They both seemed friendly overall, but the results kinda suck. Stuff like this keeps happening whenever I try to get tech help, and it feels kinda gendered (sometimes I've gotten my dad to come with me for various tech issues and they are infinitely more attentive and accommodating in general) so also anyone know how I should aim to present myself to get taken a bit more seriously in the future in these tech situations?

My (40sF) oldest brother (40sM) is one of the most intimidating men I know. He owns a company that contracts with the DOD and trains foreign militaries in weapons and war tech. He's also a multi millionaire. He's incredibly entitled and absolutely hates me and my sister. I haven't spoken to him directly in over 15 years.

What led to the discovery:

There is an ongoing probate issue between all 4 of the siblings atm, regarding our grandma's estate. It's nothing lavish, but is a decent amount of money. It's been contentious to say the least, but suddenly the siblings group emails became personal. My oldest brother accused me of "treating dad like trash" amongst about 15 other cheap shot insults.

I called my dad today to make sure to clear this up. My dad lives near my brother and they are close. I asked my dad if he felt like I treated him like trash, because I was genuinely curious. I explained that is was (oldest brother) who made the claim and **my dad says, "well sometimes I think (oldest brother) is able to read my text conversations, so he probably was referring to something you said there".** Context: my dad and I had a conflict about housing and I got upset, but nothing egregious was said.

What I need advice with:

My brother would 10000% be able to hack or install something in my dad's phone due to his line of work. My dad lives half way across America so the phone is our only connection. Is there anything I can do to ensure MY phone hasn't been similarly hacked? Or something I can do to block myself from his view? I'm not a tech person, so I don't know how alarming this is or not.

Hi all, I'm a field service technician and I'm looking for a solution to my PITA problem.

I have to connect to my machines with ethernet to log onto the PLC, sometimes I can't be standing at the part of the machine I'm working on and click "start" to test what I need to see and often I don't have a second person to operate the PC for me.

Is there a second monitor option that is touchscreen and wireless? I'm not looking to mirror the main screen, I'm looking to essentially add a second (well...third) monitor I can carry away from my PC in order to troubleshoot my customers machines. It looks like the best bet is to get a wireless USB C "cable" and make the connection that way, but I'm not sure about how to power it.. would some kind of battery box work?

I'm on windows 11 pro. I'm not opposed to a tablet or ipad (my personal stuff is mac), nor am I opposed to using a second computer to "remote in" to my PC, but there is not always available wifi to do this.

Also, can I be on the buildings Wifi and have a different wifi connection to a remote device? My gut tells me that I cannot, but I am not very good with networking stuff outside of what I need to know to work on my customers machines.

Thank you!!

Let me preface by saying that I'm basically computer illiterate. I'm in the process of scaling up my handyman business into a full fledged general contracting business. I currently do everything with a pen and paper, but need to get with the times and start using a computer. I will be using it for quickbooks or something similar, emailing subcontractors and clients, basic design programs, researching building codes and other web browsing, and generating forms like invoices. With that in mind, can someone please tell me what to look for in a laptop? I know nothing about ram or anything else. Also, is there a better place to buy one besides Best Buy? I was looking at their refurbished ones because I'm on a really tight budget. Thanks!

hi! i plan on getting some sort of laptop to play the sims 4 on, but i don’t really know where to start.

are there any decent laptops that can run the sims 4 (with mods and cc, probably/eventually) that aren’t over 1000 dollars? thats probably pretty low but im pretty broke, lol

(also, just incase i need to say this, obviously i’m going to use the laptop for other stuff! i just want it to be able to run properly, lol!)

also very sorry if this question is stupid or in the wrong place, im new to reddit and shit with technology !!

thank you :)

Hey everyone 👋 I’m planning to buy a new tablet and I’m stuck between the iPad Air M4 Cellular and the Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 Cellular.

Here are my main needs:

• Taking notes (with a stylus)
• Attending online classes
• Designing (especially on Canva and Picsart)
• Video editing (beginner level)
• Typing stories
• Streaming movies/lectures

I also need this tablet to last me at least 4–5 years, so durability and long‑term software support are important.

From what I’ve seen:

• iPad Air M4 has better app optimization and longer software updates.
• Samsung Tab S11 has AMOLED display, expandable storage, and water resistance.

Which one do you think fits better for my mix of studying, creative work, and entertainment? Any experiences with either device would be super helpful. Thanks in advance!