Geek thread - Discuss IT stuff

The Barracks
#902

So, Apple released the 16" MBP, you know what time it is. :joy:

The top spec model comes with an i9 9980HK, Radeon 5500M 8GB (a new GPU I know nothing about), 64GB RAM and 8TB storage. The screen has been improved in resolution (3072x1920), but still isn’t UHD, it’s still running a WiFi 5 card, but they finally ditched the butterfly keyboard. However, leave it to Apple to fuck up something that was un-fuckup-able. The price for all of this? £5769

This is the part where I compare it to the current XPS 15 (a laptop that isn’t technically in the same niche anymore). The XPS comes with the same CPU, the same RAM, but a better screen and WiFi card and can be had with upto 10TB storage. I’m pretty sure though that the MBP’s new GPU will stomp all over the GTX1650. The cost of the maxed out XPS 15 (including a high-end Corsair mouse) is £4595.37

Again, why would I buy the Mac? I’m really hoping the rumored XPS 17 actually happens.

2 Likes
#903

Right, I’ve finally found the time to sit down and upload all the photos I managed to get of all the blue screens and crashes during the last massacre. Some of them were caused by the bad RAM, but a lot weren’t. I also didn’t manage to catch them all, the pics are maybe 40% of them.

Images
















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#904

History of disaster :joy:

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#905

This is just from the very last battle. I know I said I’ll make a mega post detailing all of my W10 problems since it came out, but I don’t have time and if I did, I can’t be bothered to. Lol

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#906

That sad smiley really takes the cake, it would drive me mad to see it :joy:

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#907

I flip out at the useless QR code they always give. It takes you to a generic page.

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#908

I think Xmas came early. Without doing anything myself, my control over W10 updates is back, no idea why or how. It’s nice, but I can’t help but feel uneasy, like it happened for a reason, as if I’m about to get screwed over again or something.

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#909

Really :crossed_fingers: for it not to happen

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#910

For about a month now, I’ve been struggling with my current laptop (mainly the wiring for the adapter), and I’m in the market for a new one. I currently have an ASUS (I believe K-series? It’s about 6½ years old), but I’m wondering if there were any (dis)advantages to a Surface.

I more than likely won’t start looking until after New Year’s, once the holiday rush dies down.

#911

A surface laptop? Overpriced for what it is and you can’t get inside it because they’ve decided to glue carpet to it. Even if you could, you wouldn’t be able to do anything to it because nothing is replaceable. My general advice to everyone (besides doing your homework obviously) can be summarised in a list.

  • For general use, you’re best off with an i5 processor (in this case, 8th gen or newer) unless you’re doing something intensive.
  • Look for something with an SSD or a small SSD and a large HDD (not an SSHD, stay away from those)
  • A discrete GPU is a nice-to-have, but if you don’t need it, don’t shell out the extra cash.
  • Stick to a minimum of 8GB RAM (not DDR3 RAM either, that stuff is old)
  • Stay away from Apple
  • Make sure most components are replaceable / upgradeable (or at the very least the drive is)
  • Keep an eye out for Intel Optane, they love using it to artificially inflate RAM size in the marketing material.
  • Ideally go with something that can take two drives. If my experience is anything to go by, isolating the OS (W10 in this case) from your files will do you good when it fucks you over.
  • Don’t get hyped about gaming laptops

Obviously I’d be of more help if you specify what sort of specs you’re after or at least what your use-case and budget are. Generally I’d recommend Dell and Lenovo. But, again, do your homework. If you find something, run it by this thread first.

5 Likes
#912

:unamused:

Depends on the utility it’s serving :triumph: lol

Aside from that, amen even to the Apple laptops-I see too many people have a hard time getting stuff to run on them

Lenovo :raised_hands:t3:
Though I do have a dell desktop and it serves its purpose without issues
Different topic but dell’s customer service is probably best out there

2 Likes
#913

They typically have CPUs that are somewhere between mid and high end and have monster GPUs. That’s about it. Any proper workstation typically has a better CPU. GPU selection varies by use, but I never thought I needed a Quadro until I saw my 1050 (which I’m quite happy with) struggling to render the official 2D schematic for a Raspberry Pi 4 in Fusion 360.

If we’re talking desktops, just build one yourself. Simple as. Most pre-builts tend to have propriatary components like motherboards and PSU wiring looms.

A note on Dell’s customer service. They repair and don’t replace, which is kind of annoying sometimes, but they come to your house to do it. Lenovo are good for their Thinkpads, but I’ve always leaned towards the equivalent Dell, because Lenovo have started to mark up their prices too.

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#914

What about the newer ones? I remember that old ThinkPads were made of a solid piece of adamantium :joy::joy::joy:

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#915

Yeah, though Thinkpad fanboys have been saying that they’ve dropped the ball over the last few years.

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#916

It’s hard time for me to show up in this thread.
It’s been ages since I suspected that my initials are not AS (for Anna Something) but TB (for Technologically Backward).
I’d rather stayed a TB but my mother’s 20 years old TV set isn’t working properly. So I decided to give her mine ( almost 10 years old one but still fine) and buy something super-duper (if you could find anything super-duper and up to 32 inches at the same time).
As these super-duper new TV sets are generally SmartTVs and as I’d like to stop watching movies on my laptop, it would be nice to connect a new device to Internet. Here we’ve got 2 options: WiFi or cable. (WiFi is said not to be a good idea to watch movies. True or false? Don’t know. And I’m not sure if I want/need WiFi at all - should I? Cable is what one of 2 local providers (that I take into account) doesn’t give anymore in new contracts).
There’s also an option that I’ll stay with my cable internet within my old contract (they say it’s slow but still fine for my activities, I don’t complain) and will change my contract by my cable TV provider (to be given a modern decoder at price close to I pay now + an access to a kind of movie and series libarary where internet connection is not necessary - the access would monthly cost as much as a single movie ticket). But if so, do I need SmartTV?
Will anybody advise me something, please?

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#917

Hm.
I just pop my laptop with the HDMI cable to the TV and watch that way everything bigger.
And have also connected the music sound system with the TV over audio.
But sure, my TV is big, but not really smart.

#918

Not quite sure what you mean by wifi and cable in this instance. Our TV is hooked up to a Sky box where all the regular channels are that we pay for and it’s also connected to WiFi for stuff like Amazon Prime, Netflix, YouTube and all the other nonsense I don’t bother with.

It depends on what you want specifically from the TV. A smart TV is just a monitor with extra frills and a slow pixel reponse / high image lag (that’s why big TVs lag when you plug them into a laptop over HDMI for example). I don’t know how far smart TVs have advanced in the 3 or so years since we bought ours, but they’re just slow computers with massive screens. If you just want a display improvement, I’d say look into big dedicated PC displays as opposed to TVs and just hook up your laptop to it. Don’t take my word on any of this though, do your homework to make sure it would suit your use case.

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#919

Sorry, guys if my questions are silly or what I think is wrong but I’m really not advanced in this field and what I keep using is really basic.

My question is - so you’ve got a movie in the 2 screens in the same time?

WiFi or cable… I’ll tell you what I’ve got. For internet connection I’ve got a cable that I stick to my laptop (so that I’ve got internet in my laptop only - this provider assigns your internet access to a single device). The other option with this provider would be to stick the cable into a router which means I’ll be able to use internet via Wifi.

I guess Sky box is a kind of decoder. Right? So you use this Skybox to watch Tv channels + Wifi to use internet apps on your TV (if I get it right).

It’s what I’m doing. But it’s hard to catch up if I had been doing nothing for ages.

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#920

Yes.

My laptop is connected via wifi to the router.
If you have a wifi router, you can connect Laptop, phone and this modern TVs all at the same time.

I don’t have sky, or Amazon prime, or HD TV, … just use the Netflix through my stepdad.
But I also never watch regular TV, just at the soccer world and EU championships.

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#921

Yes, unless you change your settings to make the TV and extension of the laptop as opposed to a duplication.

Ah right, go for the WiFi, you should be able to run multiple devices and you can still run a physical cable from a router if you have connection issues. Unless for some reason they impose some kind of retarded device limitation that isn’t based on physical hardware design limitations.

I don’t know, I suppose. The Sky box remains a mystery to me as I’ve never thought to look into one. It takes the satellite signal and then processes it to send to the TV. So I guess, yes, it’s what you refer to a decoder of sorts.

Correct. The Sky box also has internet connectivity too now that I think about it so that you can download stuff you watch to it as well.

A word of caution on that. The more devices you connect the slower they get collectively as you only have limited bandwidth and you mentioned that you have slow internet, @anomalia.

1 Like