Stop Suffering With Slow Tech — Why Your Laptop Feels Broken (and how to fix it)

Most people assume a slow laptop means it’s time to buy a new one. That belief keeps retailers happy and customers poor.

Here’s the brutal truth: Your laptop isn’t slow… it’s neglected.

The biggest culprit? Mechanical hard drives — the digital equivalent of storing your files on a spinning vinyl record. Swap it for an SSD and the difference is night and day. Throw in a clean, fan service, and proper setup, and suddenly that “dead” laptop has years of life left. So before you drop £500–£1,000 on a new machine, ask one question:

“Has this device ever been serviced?” If the answer is no, start there.

Final thought: Most people don’t need new tech — they need someone who actually cares enough to fix what they already own.

Confessions of a Lifelong Tech Geek

I’ve been a tech geek for so long it’s practically a family heirloom. Some kids grew up with football stickers or Pokémon cards… I grew up with floppy disks, CRT monitors, and strategy manuals that looked like they belonged in a university library. If you dropped me into a room in 1989 with nothing but an Amstrad, a pile of fantasy RPG guides, and a pack of Digestives, I would’ve been sorted for the weekend. And honestly? Not much has changed. I still collect old game manuals. I still get emotionally invested in imaginary worlds. I still lose hours tinkering with laptops, apps, and whatever gadget has crossed my path that day.

Here’s the funny part:

All that obsessive geek energy ended up becoming the best training program for what I do now. Most people pick up a laptop and pray it works. I pick one up and immediately want to know:

What’s under the hood? How’s the airflow? Why does this Wi-Fi chip behave like a moody teenager? What’s the quickest route to squeeze an extra 20% performance out of it? This stuff isn’t just my job — it’s a lifelong hobby that accidentally became a career.

That’s why Gadget Club exists. Because when you genuinely love technology — not in a corporate, soulless way, but in a “look at this ridiculous old manual I found” way — you naturally want to help people get the best out of it. I don’t do generic fixes. I don’t do one-size-fits-all. I dig in. I optimise. I troubleshoot like a man trying to save a Baldur’s Gate character from permadeath. And I do it because tech still excites me now just as much as it did when I was a kid. So if you want help from someone who actually lives this stuff, not someone who clock-watches… you know where I am. Whether it’s your laptop setup, your home Wi-Fi, your gaming rig, or just figuring out why your smart TV acts like it needs therapy — Gadget Club’s here for it. Because once a geek, always a geek.

And honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way. If loving RPG manuals is wrong, I don’t want to be right.

Yoga.

Why the Lenovo Yoga keeps beating everything else — and why I keep telling people to buy it

Some laptops try to impress you with marketing fluff. The Lenovo Yoga doesn’t bother — it just turns up, performs, and quietly embarrasses half the machines on the shelf. Every single time I recommend one, the reaction is the same: “Why didn’t I get this sooner?” Here’s the truth — the Yoga line nails the three things most laptops get wrong:

1 — Real-world speed, not brochure speed

Plenty of laptops look fast on paper but crawl the moment you open 12 Chrome tabs, Teams, Spotify and a spreadsheet from 2018 that refuses to die. The Yoga handles all of that without coughing up a hairball. It’s the difference between “my laptop is fine” and “my laptop doesn’t annoy me anymore.”

2 — Build quality that feels intentional

Most laptops feel like they were built by people who’ve never actually used one. The Yoga feels like it was designed by someone who went:“People open and close this thing 300 times a week. Let’s not make it creak like a cheap garden chair.” The hinge alone puts some £899 plastics-in-a-trenchcoat machines to shame.

3 — Battery life that doesn’t gaslight you

You know the drill:

Advertised — “Up to 12 hours!” Reality — “You get 4 hours if you squint and turn the brightness down to candle mode.” The Yoga actually holds its charge. You can work the day without hunting for a plug like a Victorian chimney sweep looking for scraps.

A week of wrestling tech, tools, and a cold that tried to finish me

Some weeks are smooth. This one felt like running customer operations and digital marketing and manual labour… while someone stuffed my head with damp cotton wool. If you’ve ever tried to type a CSV formula while sneezing so hard you nearly headbutted the keyboard — you get it.

The Tradify Saga (or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love SVC-)

If there was an Olympic sport for arguing with software, I’d be on the podium.

This week I:

• fought Tradify’s new UI

• fought CSV imports

• fought product codes

• fought logic that made less sense than the plot of Fast & Furious 9

• and finally figured out why everything kept defaulting to £0

I swear I aged three years. At one point, I stared at the screen thinking:

“Am I the problem?” Then I realised—no. The button literally said ‘Enter Price’ like it was mocking me personally. It was like assembling IKEA furniture with instructions written by a drunk squirrel.

Trying to do marketing while melting

Nothing says “professional content creator” like filming an Instagram reel while sounding like a broken Dyson.

This week I produced:

• an empty-room BNI hype post

• an eero install post

• a Shed Seven / Sonos setup post

• and about 20 drafts that will never see daylight because I coughed halfway through all of them

Every time I hit record:

sniff

“Hey everyone—”

ACHOO

“Right. Delete.”

The brain fog

Running all the usual stuff — customer jobs, UW switches, Facebook posts, price lists, Nextdoor updates — while your head feels like it’s full of warm gravy is a unique experience. Some highlights:

• I tried to upload a photo to Instagram and accidentally sent it to a random Dropbox folder from 2019

• I typed a 15-digit alphanumeric product code wrong FIVE times

• I forgot what day it was, twice

• At one point, I genuinely thought:
  “What if the CSV is right and the universe is wrong?”

The cold vs. the workflow

There’s nothing quite like trying to build a full digital pricing system while your sinuses are acting like they’re on strike.

Apparently:

• sneezing doesn’t fix Tradify

• coughing doesn’t fix Facebook Commerce

• blowing your nose doesn’t refresh product images

• and paracetamol doesn’t import a CSV properly

Who knew?

What I learned

Even when you feel like a damp tissue with legs, you can still:

• fix people’s Wi-Fi

• sort their broadband

• build a few decent posts

• restructure a product list

• and argue with software until it submits out of fear.

No One’s Coming. It’s On You.

This is the part nobody likes hearing. There’s no secret mentor, miracle routine, or hidden formula waiting to save you. It’s you. It’s always been you. We spend years waiting for permission — from a boss, a partner, a system, a sign — when the truth is, progress starts the moment you stop asking and start acting. You already know what you need to do. You’ve just been hoping someone else will make it easier. They won’t.

Because no one is coming to push you, motivate you, or drag you to your goals. That’s your job. And that’s the good news — because the second you take ownership, you take control. Stop outsourcing your potential. Stop waiting for a plan. Show up. Do the work. Repeat. You don’t need permission — you need accountability.

Key takeaway: Responsibility is the ultimate freedom. Once you own everything, no one can stop you.

Playing It Safe Is Killing Your Progress

Everyone says they want change — until it’s time to do something uncomfortable. Then the excuses line up like soldiers: “It’s not the right time.” “I just need to plan more.” “What if it doesn’t work?” Here’s the truth: it won’t work perfectly. It’s not supposed to. But nothing changes while you’re hiding behind safety. Comfort feels good. It also quietly robs you of opportunity.

Every risk avoided is a reward delayed. Every “I’ll think about it” is a door that quietly closes while someone braver walks through theirs. You don’t need to be fearless. You just need to move while scared. The fear never disappears — you just get used to walking with it. So stop waiting for certainty. Start trading comfort for progress. Because playing it safe doesn’t protect your future — it strangles it.

Key takeaway: Growth doesn’t live in comfort — it lives in the risk you keep avoiding.

You’re Not Failing. You’re Learning in Public

Failure has had a PR problem for years. We treat it like a scar to hide instead of a stamp that proves we’re actually trying. The truth? You only start losing when you hide your losses. Because while everyone’s polishing their highlight reels, the real growth happens in the messy middle — the experiments, the flops, the “well, that didn’t work” moments. Every win you admire was built on a pile of small screw-ups someone had the guts to keep learning from. It’s not failure — it’s feedback in disguise. So stop waiting to be perfect before you show up. Try things. Miss shots. Adjust. Repeat.

That’s the game. Because the people who look fearless aren’t braver — they’re just more practiced at falling forward.

Key takeaway: Failure isn’t the opposite of success — it’s the training ground for it.

You Don’t Need Motivation. You Need Reps

Everyone wants results. Fewer people want repetition. That’s why so many start strong, burn bright, then disappear the moment it stops being fun. Motivation is the spark. Discipline is the engine. And the truth is — most people never build the engine. You don’t need another pep talk, a vision board, or a playlist to “get you in the zone.” You need reps. Unsexy, consistent, daily reps.

Because progress hides in the boring bits — the early mornings, the quiet evenings, the “no one’s watching” moments where you show up anyway. That’s where momentum is built. It’s not talent. It’s not timing. It’s not luck. It’s repetition, executed with intent, long after the novelty wears off. So next time you catch yourself saying “I’ll start again Monday,” don’t. Start again now. Then do it again tomorrow.

Key takeaway: Motivation fades. Repetition builds results.

Focus Is a Superpower (And Most People Waste It)

Everyone talks about “hustle” like it’s a badge of honour. But real power isn’t in doing more — it’s in doing less with ruthless intent. Most people scatter their energy like confetti: half a plan here, half a project there, five open tabs and a thousand unfinished thoughts. They look busy but achieve nothing. It’s noise masquerading as progress. Here’s the brutal truth: if you can learn to focus — really focus — you’ll leave 90% of people behind.

Because while they’re multitasking themselves into mediocrity, you’re quietly compounding results in one direction. Every time you say yes to something unimportant, you’re saying no to what could change everything. So pick one thing. Burn the rest. Protect your attention like it’s oxygen. Because in a world addicted to distraction, focus isn’t old-fashioned — it’s your competitive edge.

Key takeaway: Discipline isn’t dull — it’s rocket fuel for results.

You’re Not Tired. You’re Unused

Everyone says they’re exhausted — “burnt out,” “done,” “out of gas.” But what if you’re not tired because you’re overworked… you’re tired because you’re under-used? There’s a specific kind of fatigue that comes from not stretching yourself. The kind that creeps in when every day feels safe, repetitive, and numb. You’re not running out of energy — you’re starving for purpose. The truth? Rest doesn’t fix that kind of tired. Action does. Challenge does. Doing something that scares you a bit, moves the needle, or makes you feel alive again — that’s what wakes you up. So before you reach for another coffee or another excuse, ask yourself this: Are you really drained — or are you just stuck in neutral?

Because sometimes the cure for burnout isn’t slowing down… it’s finally doing something that matters.

Key takeaway: You don’t need more rest — you need more meaning.

Stop Waiting for the Perfect Moment (It Doesn’t Exist)

Most people never start because they’re waiting for a “perfect” moment — the mythical day when the stars align, energy levels peak, and motivation hits like a lightning bolt. Spoiler alert: that day never comes. Every meaningful change I’ve ever made — in business, health, or life — started on a completely average morning. Tired, a bit unsure, and with a list of better excuses than reasons to act. But starting badly still beats not starting at all. Momentum doesn’t need perfection; it just needs ignition.

Think of it like pushing a car on a cold morning. The first few steps feel impossible, but once the wheels turn, it gets lighter. That’s progress. That’s movement. That’s how transformation actually happens — not in grand plans, but in scrappy starts. So today, don’t wait for the mood, the motivation, or the mythical “right time.” Take one ugly, imperfect, beautifully human step forward. You’ll adjust the route as you go — but only if you start moving.

Key takeaway: Perfection is procrastination in disguise. Momentum is born from motion — not from waiting for the stars to align.

Death of The Dish

SKY TV (and Virgin Media to a certain extent) have dominated homes for a decade, bringing premium content to homes outside of the standard channels available over Freeview and Freesat. SKY were particularly innovative with new dramas and have been largely responsible for changing the shape of modern football and sport viewing.

There are also new boxes and multi-room equipment being made available that continue to provide a quality viewing experience and user interface for the customer. My view is that there is nothing wrong with the product, the issue has always been that no one has a clue what you’re supposed to pay for it!

There is a constant bombardment of offers and entry deals rewarding new customers, followed by a ridiculous price increase after the first contract has run its course. The existing customer then has to go through a merry dance of ringing cancellations and threatening to leave the service to see who blinks first to make price adjustments. How is this acceptable customer service?

It doesn’t make any sense, mainly because I’ve never met anyone that doesn’t enjoy the SKY product. It is a modern day luxury but one that many are reluctant to lose as it provides escapism from the stress of the day and a great viewing experience. Surely a set flat rate with everybody paying the same is achievable?

I believe there are bigger problems on the horizon for SKY and Virgin. Netflix and Amazon are beginning to dominate movies, box sets and original content, delivered in stunning 4K quality. Netflix were recently awarded an Oscar, which is a groundbreaking achievement for TV streaming.

Therefore SKY (and BT) MUST dominate sport and particularly Premier League and Champions League football to justify bolt on packages to standard viewing. My prediction is it won’t be long until Amazon, Netflix and even Google make there move for these games. Amazon have already shown football and last year the Champions League final was streamed on YouTube for free. Most homes have super fast fibre internet now, so content can easily be delivered this way. Could this render the humble satellite dish redundant?

Until then, one final note is that many customers don’t realise that you can easily separate the TV element from any deals combined with broadband, so you can still enjoy SKY TV using a different provider. This may represent better value for money and a more suitable positioning of your utilities and services.

The Big 5-0

As I near the big 5-0, I discovered recently that someone was planning a surprise 50th birthday party for me. The initial reaction was, admittedly, less than gracious. I found myself grappling with a strange blend of annoyance and grumpiness. It wasn't the thought of celebration that irked me, but rather the stark reminder that half a century was about to be under my belt. This uninvited introspection, triggered by the well-intentioned party plans, seemed to intrude on my personal narrative about aging and milestones. As I sit here, eight months shy of my 50th birthday, I find myself in a reflective state, contemplating the significance of this milestone. For many, turning 50 is more than just a number; it's a poignant reminder of the passage of time and an opportunity to reassess life's journey.

At this age, the meaning of life often takes a central stage in our thoughts. We start to ponder deeper questions: Have I lived a meaningful life? What legacy will I leave behind? This introspection can be both enlightening and daunting, as it forces us to evaluate our past choices and future aspirations. Spirituality often becomes more significant as we approach 50.  Whether it's a renewed interest in religious beliefs, meditation, or simply a deeper connection with nature, there's a growing desire to connect with something greater than ourselves.  This spiritual quest can provide comfort, especially in times of uncertainty or loss.

Health and fitness become increasingly important, yet more challenging.  Our bodies don't recover as quickly as they used to, and we might start to feel the effects of age-related health issues. Adopting a healthier lifestyle, focusing on diet and reducing alcohol consumption, becomes crucial. It's not just about adding years to our life, but life to our years.  Long Covid adds to the difficulties. The passing of loved ones is perhaps one of the most profound challenges.  As we age, we inevitably face the loss of parents, close friends, and peers. These experiences can be deeply transformative, often reshaping our perspectives on life and death.

Retirement, a once distant thought, now seems just around the corner.  It's a period of transition that brings its own set of challenges and opportunities. For some, it's a chance to explore new hobbies or travel, while for others, it's a period of financial uncertainty and the fear of becoming irrelevant. In the professional realm, the approach to 50 can be a double-edged sword.  While we might be at the peak of our career, with a wealth of experience and knowledge, there's also the looming fear of ageism in the workplace.  Balancing work goals and personal aspirations becomes a delicate act.  Self-employment provides some protection against outside influences, but can add uncertainty and stress financially particularly on the cusp of retirement.

Amidst these challenges, there are also moments of profound joy and fulfilment.  The relationships we've nurtured over the years, whether with a spouse, children, or friends, become sources of immense comfort and happiness.  These bonds often deepen, as we become more aware of the fragility and preciousness of time. In conclusion, the year leading up to 50 is a period of introspection and transition.  It brings with it a mix of challenges and opportunities.  Embracing this milestone can be a journey of self-discovery, growth, and an opportunity to redefine our priorities and goals for the years ahead.  As I reflect on my own life, I find a sense of gratitude for the experiences that have shaped me and a curious anticipation for what the future holds. With today’s advancements in knowledge, technology and science - maybe it’s only half-time? What it mustn’t be, is taken for granted.