Tech Past & Present
Phones & Computers

Personal - 07951 787 ASK - Smarty (3) - £6/4wks - 12GB Data (boosted from 5GB)
Business - 07392 444 ASK - 1p Mobile (EE) - £4/mth - calls/texts only - data boosts as required
Phone

Samsung Galaxy S23+
2023 Nov - £899

Laptop

Lenovo Yoga 7i 16" - Two-in-One Laptop
2022 Oct - £1,049 + Upgrades £98 + £35

Desktop PC

PCSPECIALIST Icon 211 Gaming PC
2024 Nov - £699

Current & Recent Phones
phone
TCL 50 5G
4 Nov 2024 - £150 (Currys)

IP54 dust/splashes
5G - Storage 128GB
Bluetooth 5.3, A2DP, LE
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band
USB Type-C 2.0
Fingerprint (side mounted)
Charging 18W
Android 14
(used as spare phone)

phone
Samsung Galaxy S23+
19 Nov 2023 - £899 (Currys)

IP68 dust/water resistant
5G - Storage 256GB
Bluetooth 5.3, A2DP, LE
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6e, tri-band
USB Type-C 3.2, USB On-The-Go
Fingerprint (under display, ultrasonic)
Fast charging 45W PD3.0 (~45 mins)
15W Wireless, 4.5W reverse wireless
Android 13 - One UI 5.1
Improved features in bold, from Oppo Find X3 Neo

phone
Oppo Find X3 Neo
4 Nov 2021 - £599 (EE contract) Sold Oct 24 £60

IP54 dust/splashes (unofficial)
5G - Storage 256GB
Bluetooth 5.2, A2DP, LE, aptX HD
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6
USB Type-C 3.1, USB On-The-Go
Fingerprint (under display, optical)
Fast charging 65W (30 mins)
No wireless charging. Reverse wired charging
Android 13 - Color OS 13.0
Improved features in bold, from Oppo Reno2

Lenovo Yoga 7i 16" - Two-in-One Laptop

(Arctic Grey) 2022 Oct 29 - Win11 (£1,049) - Upgrades £98 (2022 Nov)
DISPLAY: 16" 2560x1600 touch
CPU: Intel® i7-1260P (12th Gen) - 3.4 GHz 12- core (4.70 GHz turbo)
RAM: 16GB (2 x 8GB 4800 LPDDR5)
STORAGE: M.2 SSD 1 TB  NVMe Gen4 (£98) was M.2 SSD 512 GB (replaced 2022 Nov)
GRAPHICS: Intel® Iris® Xᵉ Graphics
Battery replaced (2025 £35.32)

Novabench Score: CPU 1890 , RAM 257 , GPU 355, DISK 270 - with SSD upgrade
CrystalDiskMark: Read 6032 / Write 5038
pre-upgrade: Read 1074 / Write 1036

laptop
Lenovo Yoga 7i 16" - Two-in-One Laptop
Lenovo Yoga 7i 16" - Two-in-One Laptop
Lenovo Yoga 7i 16" - Two-in-One Laptop
Lenovo Yoga 7i 16" - Two-in-One Laptop
PCSPECIALIST Icon 211 Gaming PC

2024 Nov 23 - Win11 (£699) 
DISPLAY: iiyama G-Master Black Hawk 24.5" Full HD Monitor 1920x1080 (£102.66 CCL Oct 2020)
CPU: AMD® Ryzen5-5500 (5th Gen) - 3.6 GHz hexa core (overclocked 4.25 GHz) 19 MB cache
MOTHERBOARD: ASUS PRIME A520M-A II/CSM - MicroATX (smaller than 2020 build)
RAM: 32 GB DDR4 Corsair Vengeance (3600 MHz) (inc 16 GB RAM from 2020 build)
STORAGE: 1 TB SSD
External (2020) Seagate FireCuda 510 500GB M.2-2280 SSD (£83.99 CCL Oct 2020)
External (2020) Pioneer 500GB NVMe PCIe M.2 2280 Gen 3x4 Internal SSD (£60.99 Amazon Oct 2020)
External (2019) Silicon Power SSD 512GB 3D NAND A55 SLC Cache Perf Boost 2.5 inch SATA III (£42.99 Amazon Jun 2019)
GRAPHICS: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 - 8 GB GDDR6 (large improvement on 2020 build)
Bluetooth 5.3 - WiFi 6E 

Novabench Score: CPU 1393, RAM 363, GPU 482, DISK 322
CrystalDiskMark: Read 3668 / Write 2801 MB/s

desktop gaming pc 2024

My End of Life Computers

Not Suitable for Windows 11

PCSPECIALIST Icon 211 Gaming PC - AMD Ryzen 5, RTX 3050, 1 TB SSD
PCSPECIALIST Icon 211 Gaming PC - AMD Ryzen 5, RTX 3050, 1 TB SSD
PCSPECIALIST Icon 211 Gaming PC - AMD Ryzen 5, RTX 3050, 1 TB SSD
PCSPECIALIST Icon 211 Gaming PC - AMD Ryzen 5, RTX 3050, 1 TB SSD
2014 Jan - Zoostorm PC (Mum's PC)
2022 Nov - Upgraded RAM & HD

2014 Jan - Win7 (£250) upgraded to Win10 - Upgrades £23 (2022 Nov)
CPU: Intel® Celeron G1620 (3rd Gen) - 2.69 GHz dual core
RAM: 8GB - 2 x 4GB DDR3-1600 (max 16GB) (upgraded from DDR3-1333 2022 Nov)
STORAGE: 480GB SSD (from another PC) was HDD 500GB 5400rpm (replaced 2022 Nov)
GRAPHICS: Intel® HD

Novabench Score: CPU 251 , RAM 190 , GPU 107, DISK 48 - after upgrades
CrystalDiskMark: Read 283 / Write 261

pc
2018 - All-in-One PC - HP 22-b031na
2021 - Upgraded RAM. Replaced hard drive

(teal) 2018 Apr - Win10 (£600) & Linux in 2025
DISPLAY: 21.5" 1920x1080
CPU: Intel® i3-6100U (6th Gen) - 2.3 GHz dual core
RAM: 16GB - 8GB DDR4-2133 (max 16GB) + 8GB (from HP laptop - added 2021 Mar)
STORAGE: various SATA hard drives - being used for testing
originally HDD 1 TB 7200rpm (replaced 2021 Mar)
GRAPHICS: Intel® HD 520

Novabench Score: CPU 380 , RAM 246 , GPU 179, DISK 81 - after upgrades
CrystalDiskMark: Read 550 / Write 468
Novabench Score: CPU 393 , RAM 176 , GPU 163 , DISK 39 - original spec
CrystalDiskMark: Read 125 / Write 90

pc
2016 - Lenovo Z51-70 80K6
2025 - Upgraded RAM & HD

(white) 2016 Apr - Win10 (£600) - Upgrades £58 (2025 Jul)
Given to a friend - PC ID 0001
DISPLAY: 15.6" 1920x1080
CPU: Intel® i5-5200U (5th Gen) - 2.20 GHz dual core
RAM: 2x4GB DDR3-1600 (Max 2x8GB 1866)
Upgraded Jul 2025 - replaced with 2X8GB DDR3-1600 Mhz
STORAGE: 1 TB 5400rpm (R/W 120/120)
Upgraded July 2025 - replaced with 1TB SSD
GRAPHICS: Intel® HD 5500 & AMD Radeon R7 M360

Novabench Score: CPU 241 , RAM 235 , GPU 16, DISK 89 - after upgrades
CrystalDiskMark: Read 560 / Write 510

pc

My Past Phones

phone
Nokia G11
21 Feb 2023 - £99 - given away 2024

IP - no rating
4G - Storage 32GB
Bluetooth 5.0, A2DP, LE
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct
USB Type-C 2.0, OTG
Fingerprint (side-mounted)
18W wired, PD3.0 (2.5hrs@10W)
Android 11 (Android One)
FM Radio & 3.5mm jack

phone
Apple iPhone 12 mini
22 Apr 2022 - £529 (Currys) Sold Sep 2022 £290

IP68 dust/water resistant
5G - Storage 64 GB
Bluetooth 5.0, A2DP, LE
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6
USB 2.0 Lightening
Fast charging 20W (Wireless 7.5W)
iOS 15.4.1

phone
Oppo Reno2
14 Dec 2019 (EE contract) Sold Feb 2023 £22

IP - no rating
4G - Storage 256GB
Bluetooth 5.0, A2DP, LE
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
USB Type-C 3.1, USB On-The-Go
Fingerprint (under display, optical)
Fast charging 20W
Android 11 - Color OS 11.1
actual weight: 204g

phone
Nokia 8
2018 (O2 work discount) Sold Sep 2022 £34

IP54 dust and splash resistant
4G - Storage 64GB
Bluetooth 5.0, A2DP, LE
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct
USB Type-C 3.1
Fingerprint (front-mounted)
18W wired, QC3
Android 7.1.1

phone
Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
2017 (EE contract) Sold 2019 £20

IP68 dust/water resistant
4G - Storage 32GB
Bluetooth 4.2, A2DP, EDR, LE
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct
USB Type-C 2.0
Fingerprint (front-mounted)
18W wired
Android 6.0.1

phone
Microsoft Lumia 640 LTE
2016 (O2 work discount) - Died 2022

IP - no rating
4G - Storage 8G
Bluetooth 4.0, A2DP
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, DLNA
microUSB 2.0
Windows Phone OS

phone
Samsung Galaxy A5
2015 (EE contract)

4G - Storage 16GB
Bluetooth 4.0, A2DP, EDR, LE
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct
microUSB 2.0
Android 4.4.4

phone
Samsung Galaxy S5 mini
2014 (EE contract)

IP67 dust/water resistant
4G - Storage 16GB
Bluetooth 4.0, A2DP, EDR, LE, aptX
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct
microUSB 2.0
Android 4.4.2

phone
BlackBerry Curve 8900
2009

2G
BlackBerry OS
Bluetooth 2.0, A2DP
Wi-Fi 802.11b/g
microUSB 2.0

phone
Nokia 6500 slide
2009

..

phone
O2 XDA mini S
2008

..

phone
Nokia 6820
2005 - died

..

phone
Nokia 3200
2004

..

phone
Nokia 3510
2003

..

phone
Nokia 6110
1999

..

My Past Computers

2023 April - Tactus GEO Geotab 110 10.1"
OS: Windows 11 (S Mode deactivated)
Still working but rarely used as at 2024 November

(Red) 2023 Apr 12 - Win11 (£149)
DISPLAY: 10.1" 1920x1200 touch
CPU: Intel® Celeron® N2040 - 2.0 GHz
RAM: 4GB (LPDDR4-SDRAM)
STORAGE: 128GB eMMC
GRAPHICS: Intel UHD Graphics 600

Novabench Score: CPU 75 , RAM 104, GPU no score, DISK 72
CrystalDiskMark: Read 469 / Write 391

Purchased as a carry about. Yes it's very slow.

laptop
2022-2022 - HP x2 11da0504na 11" 2 in 1 Chromebook
Sold as not required

(silver) 2022 Feb - ChromeOS (£499) - Sold Nov 2022 £110
Sold due to very limited functionality
DISPLAY: 11" - Quad HD 2160 x 1440p - IPS LCD
CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c Processor - Octa-core
RAM: 8 GB LPDDR4X
STORAGE: 128 GB eMMC

pc
2020 - Self Build 2 (plus Monitor)
OS: Windows 11, upgraded from Windows 10
Scrapped November 2024

2020 Oct-Nov - Win10 (£1,125) - Win10 OS from previous SSD HD
DISPLAY: iiyama G-Master Black Hawk 24.5" Full HD Monitor 1920x1080
CPU: AMD® Ryzen5-3600 (3rd Gen) - 3.60 GHz six core (overclocked 4.16 GHz)
MOTHERBOARD: MSI MAG X570 Tomahawk
RAM: 16 GB (2 x 8GB DDR4-3600) (max 32GB - 4x8GB 4600+)
STORAGE: 2 x M.2 SSD 500GB + 1 x SATA3 SSD 512GB
GRAPHICS: MSI Radeon RX 570 ARMOR 8GB GPU - Higher spec not currently required

Novabench Score: CPU 1720, RAM 312, GPU 889, DISK 265 
CrystalDiskMark: Read 3464 / Write 2540 MB/s - Primary SSD
CrystalDiskMark: Read 2005 / Write 959 MB/s - Secondary SSD
CrystalDiskMark: Read 454 / Write 487 - SATA SSD

pc
  • MONITOR - iiyama G-Master Black Hawk 24.5" Full HD Monitor (£102.66 CCL)
  • TOWER CASE - CiT Blaze PC Gaming Case (ATX)  (£50.47 Amazon)
  • PSU - Antec NeoECO Gold ZEN 600W 80+ Gold (£69.98 CCL)
  • MOTHERBOARD - MSI MAG X570 TOMAHAWK WIFI AMD Motherboard
    CPU - AMD Ryzen 5 3600XT 3.8GHz 6 Core (Socket AM4)~
    RAM - Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x 8GB) 3600MHz DDR4
    Tested Bundle £487.55 CCL Computers
  • GRAPHICS - MSI Radeon RX 570 ARMOR 8GB GPU (£149.99 CCL)
  • STORAGE:
    (Primary) Seagate FireCuda 510 500GB M.2-2280 SSD (£83.99 CCL)
    (Secondary) Pioneer 500GB NVMe PCIe M.2 2280 Gen 3x4 Internal Solid State Drive (£60.99 Amazon)
    (Backup OS) Silicon Power SSD 512GB 3D NAND A55 SLC Cache Perf Boost 2.5 inch SATA III 7mm (0.28")
    £46.99 Amazon - from Lenovo Laptop
  • SPEAKERS - ELEGIANT Sound Bar, 20W Computer Soundbar (£23.98 Amazon)
2019 Mar - Two-in-One Laptop - HP Pavilion x360-14
2021 Jan - Upgraded RAM & HD
OS: Windows 11
Scrapped Apr 2023

(silver) 2019 Mar - Win10 (£630) - Upgrades £125 (2020 Dec-2021 Jan)
Upgraded to Windows 11
DISPLAY: 14.0" 1920x1080 touch - Display failed Nov 2022
CPU: Intel® i5-8250U (8th Gen) - 1.60 GHz quad core (3.40 GHz turbo)
RAM: 16GB (2 x 8GB 2400 max) (£60) was 8 GB DDR4-2400 (replaced 2020 Dec)
STORAGE: M.2 SSD 512 GB (£65) was M.2 SSD 256 GB (replaced 2021 Jan)
GRAPHICS: Intel® HD 620

Novabench Score: CPU 817 , RAM 255 , GPU 163, DISK 183 - after upgrades
CrystalDiskMark: Read 3402 / Write 2449
Novabench Score: CPU 799 , RAM 183, GPU 115, DISK 127 - original spec
CrystalDiskMark: Read 1744 / Write 613

pc
2015 to 2020 - HP Pavilion x360-11
Scrapped

(red) 2015 Apr -Win7 (£330) - scrapped Oct 2020
DISPLAY: 11.6" 1366x768 touch
CPU: Intel® Pentium N3540 (3rd Gen) - 2.15 GHz quad core
RAM: 4GB DDR3-1066
STORAGE: 750 GB 5400rpm
GRAPHICS: Intel® HD

pc
2014 to 2017 -Sony Vaio F15
Scrapped

(black) 2014 Win7 - Scrapped 2017
DISPLAY: 15.5" 1366x768
CPU: Intel® i5-3337U (3rd Gen) - 1.80 GHz dual core
RAM: 4GB DDR3-1333
STORAGE: 500 GB 5400rpm
GRAPHICS: Intel® HD 4000

pc
2013 to 2020 - My first PC Self Build Project
Scrapped

2013/2014 - Win7 (£400+)

In 2013, I gave my Tower PC a drink of coffee, which unsurprisingly it didn't like (I guess it probably preferred tea) and very few parts survived. Instead of buying a ready built PC I decided to try my hand at building my own PC, albeit on a very limited budget.
(1) In 2013, I reused the old case and Windows XP hard drive, spending approx £200.
(2) More major updates in 2014 pushed my total build cost to approx £400. New Tower case, wi-fi adapter upgrade and a few other small parts for approx £50.
Scrapped October/November 2020 when building new computer.

DISPLAY: 21.5" 1920x1080
CPU: AMD FX-6100 6 Core - 3.30GHz
MOTHERBOARD: Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 HDMI
RAM: 8GB 1600MHz Dual Channel DDR3
STORAGE: 1TB Internal Hard Drive 3.5" SATA 6GB/s 32MB 7200RPM
GRAPHICS: Radeon HD 3000 (integrated) + GeForce GT 610

pc
2011 to 2014 - HP G56-130SA
Scrapped

(black) 2011 Win7 - Scrapped 2014
DISPLAY: 15.6" 1366x768
CPU: Intel® Pentium - 2.3 GHz dual core
RAM: 2 x 2GB DDR2
STORAGE: 500 GB 5400rpm
GRAPHICS: Mobile Intel® 4 Series

pc
2008 to 2013 - Acer Veriton M410
Scrapped - Accidental Damage

2008 WinXP - Destroyed 2013 - It drank coffee
CPU: AMD Athlon 4000+ 2.1 GHz
RAM: 1 GB DDR2-SDRAM
STORAGE: 160 GB 7200rpm
GRAPHICS: AMD 690V

pc

My Retro Machines

Commodore Amiga 1500 (UK Spec of the Amiga 2000)

Bought circa 1991
CPU: Motorola 68000 7.14 MHz
RAM:1MB
STORAGE: 2 x 3.5" Compact Floppy Disks 1.44MB


I think I had the Amiga 500 before this

pc
Acorn Electron

Bought circa 1985
CPU: Synertek SY6502A 2MHz
RAM: 32 KB RAM, 32 KB ROM
STORAGE: Cassette Tapes & 5.25" Floppy Disk 1.2MB

pc

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Liverpool, England. UK - benico.biz - Version 1.30ge 2025.12.03.0915
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