Computer stuff

[dualstow]

I was going to say that I don't even have a computer with an optical disk drive anymore.

Then I remembered that ancient e-machines computer on top of that bookshelf from the other thread.

I only have external ones now, but I am interested in archiving data onto DVDs and BDs.
Vulcan @ bogleheads has some good posts on the subject.

[yankees60]

I was going to say that I don't even have a computer with an optical disk drive anymore.

Then I remembered that ancient e-machines computer on top of that bookshelf from the other thread.

I only have external ones now, but I am interested in archiving data onto DVDs and BDs.
Vulcan @ bogleheads has some good posts on the subject.

BDs? Blue Disc?

Wouldn't be more cost efficient to archive on to external hard drives?

Vinny

[Smith1776]

Thanks for creating a separate thread for computer stuff. That was definitely called for.

It might even be a good idea to merge the Linux thread with this one.

I actually miss the days of backing stuff up on optical disks. Now, if there's some data I want to offload it is actually rather prohibitive.

[dualstow]

1. Yes, burnable bluray discs
2. Yes- external hard drives are my daily backup. Just Mac Time Machine, because I have never bothered to get something that clones a whole snapshot of the computer, although i like the idea.

Vulcan mentions this brand of disk (Milennium?) that lasts a thousand years and can withstand all kinds of punishment. I want to put the best of my family photos and journal entries on those.

But, I already own spindles of CDs, DVDs and BD blanks, so I may as well use them.

[dualstow]

It might even be a good idea to merge the Linux thread with this one.

Well, actually, I think Linux deserves its own thread(s). There are old ones, too, but it deserves a refresh (your thread).
I have given up on Linux myself, but I can participate in hardware talk here.

[Smith1776]

Speaking of hardware and how it relates to Linux, I am actually really pumped to be learning Linux and getting more comfortable with it by the day.

Yes, computers are definitely more than about specs, but I am kind of salivating over how much more processing power and memory I can get in the PC space over Mac.

https://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX79133

Like one of these bad boys for just a measly $1500 CAD.

EDIT: Yeah, now that I think about it, keeping that Linux thread separate is definitely for the best.

[yankees60]

Do any of you have a preference of buying a new computer with a brand name, like HP, Lenovo? Or, would you favor someone selling a custom built computer and using probably far better components than the brand names, whose emphasis is generally going to be on the most inexpensive components.

Vinny

[dualstow]

I do miss buying RAM for an old PC and seeing the miraculous improvements, but Mac minis have kept me happy for a long time now. They just do what I want them to, they don’t break, and I’ve never had to download a printer driver or foreign language pack.
Even Neal Stephenson, authoer of “In the beginning there was the command” line switched over, so, that’s good enough for me.
I haven’t written a really good computer program since BASIC in the 80s, though not for lack of trying.

[dualstow]

Do any of you have a preference of buying a new computer with a brand name, like HP, Lenovo? Or, would you favor someone selling a custom built computer and using probably far better components than the brand names, whose emphasis is generally going to be on the most inexpensive components.

These days, it probably makes more sense to just get a Dell all-in-one than to try to save money on parts.
If I built a pc this decade, it would be for the fun of doing it. pcpartpicker dot com is pretty neat.

[dualstow]

@vinny

You mentioned* not downloading Vanguard transactions directly to Quicken any longer.
Can you still download to a plain comma-separated-values (.CSV) file?
Takes too many modifications to make it worthwhile?

*Daily check-in thread

[Kriegsspiel]

Do any of you have a preference of buying a new computer with a brand name, like HP, Lenovo? Or, would you favor someone selling a custom built computer and using probably far better components than the brand names, whose emphasis is generally going to be on the most inexpensive components.

These days, it probably makes more sense to just get a Dell all-in-one than to try to save money on parts.
If I built a pc this decade, it would be for the fun of doing it. pcpartpicker dot com is pretty neat.

Fully agree. I spent a while researching components and pricing them out, and eventually just decided buying a pre-built computer (HP Pavilion) was a better play for me.

[dualstow]

So no-go on the Chromebook, or you already have one of those?

[yankees60]

@vinny

You mentioned* not downloading Vanguard transactions directly to Quicken any longer.
Can you still download to a plain comma-separated-values (.CSV) file?
Takes too many modifications to make it worthwhile?

*Daily check-in thread

It's not that much of an issue to hand input them. It is generally the one monthly transaction per money market fund plus the two short-term bond funds I own. And, once a quarter, dividends for the equity funds.

Vinny

[yankees60]

Do any of you have a preference of buying a new computer with a brand name, like HP, Lenovo? Or, would you favor someone selling a custom built computer and using probably far better components than the brand names, whose emphasis is generally going to be on the most inexpensive components.

These days, it probably makes more sense to just get a Dell all-in-one than to try to save money on parts.
If I built a pc this decade, it would be for the fun of doing it. pcpartpicker dot com is pretty neat.

Fully agree. I spent a while researching components and pricing them out, and eventually just decided buying a pre-built computer (HP Pavilion) was a better play for me.

I did say "new" in my original question. However, for almost everything I am upset if I HAVE to buy new rather than used because of the deep discount I get from used.

And, I got lucky in buying a computer from Craigslist. It was sold by a science professor at a college near me who just LOVES computers. So somehow he acquires used computers, adds high quality used parts to them yet still sells them fairly inexpensively with a Windows 10 Professional operating system. I think I pay less than 50% for what the parts would cost new. I'm sure the name brand computers do not use the same quality parts as what he has in these computers.

I've so far bought three of them for me from him and I believe our organization has bought two.

Another business I work for bought one "new" from him that it was composed of all new parts. The price was $550 and if you bought the equivalent from a name brand the price would have been about double.

It comes with no warranty but that does not bother me because computers are just a bunch of components in them and if they pass his 3 day burn test I have confidence in them. Plus, if you get a lemon computer from the name brands I've heard too many horror stories of if they actually fix the problem, how long you do not have the computer. Therefore, I have the same philosophy as buying a used car. But something in good condition and then rely upon someone local to repair instead of being tied to some dealer.

My original came from myself and a coworker needing a new computer. Our current twin Lenovo's were both purchased in December 2012. So they've both been faithfully going for over 7 years now. However, they are outdated for today's needs.
Only 8GB and n i5 performing about 6,000 on CPU Benchmark. Buying from him we are looking to spend about $700 for Windows 10 Professional, 32GB of RAM (well prepared for the future!), 1TB SSD, i5 or AND Ryzen that would give CPU Benchmark performance between 14,000 to 20,000. We were all set to order the parts with him charging $50 each to put it all together and do the three day burn. However, my coworker who has hired a firm to do monthly protection work on our server and all other computers brought up the warranty issue. I told her buying commercial would probably be double and they'd try to talk us out of all the RAM and such a powerful CPU, telling us we really did not need all of that. Maybe we don't today but at the rate of how long we use our computers we'd be well positioned for any future needs.

Vinny

Vinny

[Kriegsspiel]

I've always been creeped out by buying used computers. I always suspect there's some kind of virus or shit on them.

[dualstow]

I did say "new" in my original question. However, for almost everything I am upset if I HAVE to buy new rather than used because of the deep discount I get from used.

And, I got lucky in buying a computer from Craigslist. It was sold by a science professor at a college near me who just LOVES computers. So somehow he acquires used computers, adds high quality used parts to them yet still sells them fairly inexpensively with a Windows 10 Professional operating system. I think I pay less than 50% for what the parts would cost new. I'm sure the name brand computers do not use the same quality parts as what he has in these computers.

That does indeed sound like a sweet deal.
Just use your own keyboard or wipe it down.

[yankees60]

I did say "new" in my original question. However, for almost everything I am upset if I HAVE to buy new rather than used because of the deep discount I get from used.

And, I got lucky in buying a computer from Craigslist. It was sold by a science professor at a college near me who just LOVES computers. So somehow he acquires used computers, adds high quality used parts to them yet still sells them fairly inexpensively with a Windows 10 Professional operating system. I think I pay less than 50% for what the parts would cost new. I'm sure the name brand computers do not use the same quality parts as what he has in these computers.

That does indeed sound like a sweet deal.
Just use your own keyboard or wipe it down.

Never includes mice or keyboards. Already have tons of each. Though I always favor a trackball.

Vinny

[Libertarian666]

Do any of you have a preference of buying a new computer with a brand name, like HP, Lenovo? Or, would you favor someone selling a custom built computer and using probably far better components than the brand names, whose emphasis is generally going to be on the most inexpensive components.

Vinny

I generally buy custom desktop/tower machines with components I select, and brand name laptops.
My most recent laptop, though, is a custom machine from Eluktronics.
It has 64 GB of RAM and can hold up to four storage devices.

[dualstow]

I generally buy custom desktop/tower machines with components I select, and brand name laptops.
My most recent laptop, though, is a custom machine from Eluktronics.
It has 64 GB of RAM and can hold up to four storage devices.

That’s a lot of RAM. That’s more RAM than you can find on Abraham’s sacrificial altar.
I guess you need it for your projects. I thought I had a lot at 16GB (bought in 2014).

[Libertarian666]

I generally buy custom desktop/tower machines with components I select, and brand name laptops.
My most recent laptop, though, is a custom machine from Eluktronics.
It has 64 GB of RAM and can hold up to four storage devices.

That’s a lot of RAM. That’s more RAM than you can find on Abraham’s sacrificial altar.
I guess you need it for your projects. I thought I had a lot at 16GB (bought in 2014).

My desktop machine has 128 GB of RAM and 504 GB of Optane DC persistent memory.
I'm probably the poorest person ever to have such a behemoth of a computer!

[dualstow]

128GB RAM

[yankees60]

128GB RAM

I did meet someone who did software and he educated me on the super powerful computers that they use -- way outside the realm of anything I've ever used. Multiple super powerful CPUs.


Vinny

[Smith1776]

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[dualstow]

(1) I just saw a Vice episode called Sim Kids. It was about criminals that perpetrate sim swapping. They get access to your phone, then your email and then your $. It happened to my dad, although luckily they didn’t get that much money off of him. They’re still trying, though.

(2) My wife is returning the laptop I picked out for her because it’s “too noisy.” It *was* kind of noisy considering it used an SSD. She does video editing, and I picked a core i5 cpu and 20GB RAM. (I’d set a minimum of 16GB). She got on the phone with the son of one of her dad’s friends in China, and he picked out a laptop for her with 8G RAM but an i7 processor.

[yankees60]

(1) I just saw a Vice episode called Sim Kids. It was about criminals that perpetrate sim swapping. They get access to your phone, then your email and then your $. It happened to my dad, although luckily they didn’t get that much money off of him. They’re still trying, though.

(2) My wife is returning the laptop I picked out for her because it’s “too noisy.” It *was* kind of noisy considering it used an SSD. She does video editing, and I picked a core i5 cpu and 20GB RAM. (I’d set a minimum of 16GB). She got on the phone with the son of one of her dad’s friends in China, and he picked out a laptop for her with 8G RAM but an i7 processor.

I don't know about video editing but I was surprised when someone extremely knowledgeable regarding computer told me that an I5 for Office than an i7 with all its cores.

I always first go here before buying any computer to get a sense of the power of its CPU.

https://www.cpubenchmark.net/

Put in the specific i7 in her computer and see how it benchmarks to all the other CPUs out there.

Vinny