Question I am a ‘non-techie’ 62-year-old woman who is self-employed and I have worked from home for 20 years. Fifteen months ago, I bought a Lenovo Ideapad S340 from a major retailer in Ireland for work and recreational use. I’ve had problems. When Zoom calls began, my friends and colleagues all complained that they couldn’t hear me. I remedied this by buying headphones. Last month, the camera started giving me problems — flickering, then not working, then appearing to be OK, then covering only half a screen. Now it has completely failed with an error code that, I’ve discovered, other customers have also complained about. Is it possible to fix this, or do I have to now buy a camera to sit on the top of the laptop screen, which would have to be removed every time I close the laptop? — Bairbre O’Hogan
Answer
Given that it’s over a year since you bought it, it’s very unlikely that the retailer you bought it from will help you out in terms of a replacement or repair. The manufacturer is another matter — Lenovo’s standard warranty on laptops is just one year. I’m assuming that applies to your Ideapad, unless you took out an extended warranty.
I took the liberty of asking Lenovo about this on your behalf. The company said that while the one-year warranty is its general rule, “many cases are individual and would be looked into on a case-by-case basis”. So it’s still worth checking with them. (See lenovo.com/ie/en/contact/)
Question
I enjoy art creation (traditional and digital). I am considering investing in the new iPad Pro 12.9 model. I am currently using ProCreate and also the Affinity suite and they are fantastic tools that offer great features. I have been using ProCreate on my iPad Pro 2017 model with an Apple (1st Generation) Pencil and I love it. The new iPad Pro features the M1 chip and also the Liquid Retina XDR display, which is meant to be close to Oled displays for performance. However, from carrying out research into when Apple plans to roll out Oled for iPad Pros with 12.9-inch displays, it appears it will be 2023. So in your expert opinion, would it be a good idea to wait for the Oled screen, or consider purchasing the current model?
— Trevor Walsh
Answer
I have the current 12.9-inch model and the display is a highlight; it’s noticeably better than that of the last model (which I also have). As for Oled, the new M1 iPad has what’s called a ‘mini LED’ display. It’s just about as good as an Oled display in any functional sense; it also significantly boosts the brightness of the screen. Whether or not you’re better off buying one now or waiting until 2023 is entirely up to the factors around the importance you attach to using it. But all things being equal, it wouldn’t be worth a two-year wait (to me) to bridge the gap between mini-LED and Oled.
Question
You recommended a Dell Inspiron 15 3000 laptop in a previous column. I need a personal laptop for studying over Zoom and for writing projects. It basically needs to be good for typing and social media. I went into the Dell website and couldn’t figure out which model in the range was best. Can you help? I’m also looking for a recommendation for a budget-friendly Samsung Galaxy 5G-ready mobile for personal use. I’d like a good camera on it, but don’t care about things like gaming.
— Noreen Lucey
Answer
On the laptop, I’d look at Asus’s 15-inch Notebook F515 (€549 from Harvey Norman).
On the smartphone, you’re going to be looking at something like Samsung’s Galaxy A42 5G (€420 from Curry’s). If that’s not budget-friendly enough, I’d go for Nokia’s new X20 5G smartphone (€299 at launch), which has a nice big Android screen and a good camera.
Email your questions to aweckler@independent.ie
Tech two reviews
Samsung Book Pro 360
€1,349 from Harvey Norman
Samsung is back in the laptop game. This 13-inch model, which we are currently testing, has a few nice features. The best of these is its vivid Amoled display, which really shows colours nicely. Its super-portability (it’s very slim and very light) is also a feature — you can fit it in most bags easily. And it also comes with an ‘S Pen’ stylus to use on its 360-degree touchscreen.
Bleeper eCity 1
€35 per week
Electric bikes are a tantalising idea — who doesn’t like the idea of a bit of help up a hill or against the wind? The problem is that full-sized road models tend to cost upwards of €1,500. Bleeper’s new subscription service for a €1,500 Bimas E-City 3.0 model, rebadged as Bleeper’s eCity 1 model, costs €35 a week for a 250km range allowance. The ebike itself performs well and you have no maintenance costs.