Author Topic: The General Geeky Thread, vol. 2 (Read 273144 times)

Drew · « **Reply #10050 on:** June 10, 2013, 03:20:56 pm »

Quote from: Primal Curve on June 10, 2013, 03:10:47 pm

Once you've used one unibody MacBook, there is nothing in the PC Laptop world that will satisfy. I'm sure some folks could link you to decent machines, but there really is nothing like MacBooks. The build quality is off the scale.

That used to be true, but hasn't been for the past three years, as Apple ceased iterating and everyone else continued to.

Primal Curve · « **Reply #10051 on:** June 10, 2013, 03:28:59 pm »

Zalmoxis · « **Reply #10052 on:** June 10, 2013, 05:42:35 pm »

Examples, Drew? I have not fondled all of the higher end laptops, but those that I have tend to have one detail or another off -- a not-as-sturdy-seeming hinge, a crappy track pad, a plastic feel to part of the case, a keyboard with too much give, etc.

Zalmoxis · « **Reply #10053 on:** June 10, 2013, 05:50:24 pm »

In other news: the home desktop may be dead/dying. Is the graphics cards I added to it -- VGA SAPPHIRE|100295HDMI HD4670 RT (512MB 128-bit GDDR3) -- worth salvaging? Like, if I get a new low-end ($400-500) desktop from Dell or HP, will that card be better than what it comes with?

ETA: I'm very tempted to just build my own (esp. since I have a copy of Windows 7), but may not have the time (and possibly know how) to do so.

Jake · « **Reply #10054 on:** June 10, 2013, 06:29:23 pm »

Dag, any progress? I'm thinking about your problem, but so far haven't come up with anything that seems likely.

Dagonee · « **Reply #10055 on:** June 10, 2013, 07:10:52 pm »

It started working today, on all 3. Can't figure out what it was. I was going to try assigning my desktop a static IP, but when I rebooted (just to clear out any lingering effects of previous attempts to renew), it started working. So I plugged in my cables on the laptop, and they worked.

No clue what was wrong. No clue what's right, either.

Jake · « **Reply #10056 on:** June 10, 2013, 07:13:14 pm »

I hate it when that happens. I'm always glad it's working again, but I can't trust it.

Dagonee · « **Reply #10057 on:** June 10, 2013, 07:13:59 pm »

Exactly.

Primal Curve · « **Reply #10058 on:** June 11, 2013, 06:32:12 am »

Quote from: Zalmoxis on June 10, 2013, 05:50:24 pm

In other news: the home desktop may be dead/dying.

At first I thought this was a general comment on the state of the industry. It sounded like a Wired headline or something.

Quote from: Zalmoxis on June 10, 2013, 05:50:24 pm

Is the graphics cards I added to it -- VGA SAPPHIRE|100295HDMI HD4670 RT (512MB 128-bit GDDR3) -- worth salvaging? Like, if I get a new low-end ($400-500) desktop from Dell or HP, will that card be better than what it comes with?

ETA: I'm very tempted to just build my own (esp. since I have a copy of Windows 7), but may not have the time (and possibly know how) to do so.

If you get a Dell desktop with a Haswell processor, the embedded graphics processor on the APU (Intel HD 4600 or Intel Iris Pro 5200) should be better than that card, have significant power savings, and support DirectX 11.1.

Zalmoxis · « **Reply #10059 on:** June 11, 2013, 07:31:29 am »

Thanks!

It's actually working now -- I think it got stuck in a power save/wake up loop. I also should open it up and clean out the dust this weekend. And the wife and I are chatting about setting aside money every month for a new computer and then crossing our fingers and hoping that this one will last for another 12-18 months.

Primal Curve · « **Reply #10060 on:** June 11, 2013, 07:46:11 am »

I would also like to recommend trying out Windows 8 for a while.

I know. I know. Skepticism.

I really like it, though. I have a really nice machine (Unlocked Ivy Bridge i7, 2600MHz DDR3 [yes, really], GTX 660Ti, SSD, etc), and Windows 7 ran fine on it. It was as smooth and responsive as you'd expect.

Windows 8, though? It's like buttah. I mean, there is an actual difference in the feel of using it. It's like Microsoft went through with a detail sander and smoothed out all the corners.

And man does it look good. After you get over the initial shock of the whole start menu situation, and if you can ignore the full-screen app stuff, then you start to see just how much time was spent on typography, layout, and just general look of the OS. It's really nice.

I attribute at least part of my ready acceptance of Windows 8 to the fact that I'm not really tied to one OS. I'd been using Linux exclusively starting around 2009. I only started using Windows 7 again because I wanted to play games. And I've never stuck to one desktop environment when using Linux. I've used KDE, Gnome 2 & 3 (I like 3 too; sue me), LXDE, and XFCE. For the past year, I've been using OS X exclusively at work (10.7 & 10.8 while supporting back to 10.3). So, walking into something that changes how one interacts with a computer is not a new thing for me. I see the start screen as basically just a full screen start menu, and even then I still tend to use it only for its search functionality.

So anyways, blah blah. I think more people should use Windows 8 because I think it's probably the sexiest OS that Microsoft has ever made.

Zalmoxis · « **Reply #10061 on:** June 11, 2013, 07:55:28 am »

I'm actually in the same boat. OSX at work. Linux at home until about a year ago when I got Windows 7. I find things to like and things to be frustrated by in all of the OSes I have used.

TheTick · « **Reply #10062 on:** June 11, 2013, 08:12:10 am »

PC, do you have a touchscreen? I have a copy of Windows 8 (thanks, Home Use Program!) but I haven't bit the bullet on my laptop yet.

Dagonee · « **Reply #10063 on:** June 11, 2013, 08:13:22 am »

It's possible to use it simply as a desktop, in which case touch is irrelevant.

TheTick · « **Reply #10064 on:** June 11, 2013, 08:23:43 am »

I was just curious as to how the interface worked non-touch - the touchscreen systems I've played with at Best Buy with Win8 were fun.

Primal Curve · « **Reply #10065 on:** June 11, 2013, 08:37:26 am »

I do not have a touch screen (I dislike smudges on Desktop displays).

To engage the start screen, you either hit the Windows key (Ctrl+Esc if you're really old school [I have a Model M keyboard with no meta keys; props]) on your keyboard or put your mouse in the lower-left corner of the screen. After half a tick a picture of your start screen appears. When you click, the full start screen opens. You can then use either your mouse wheel or the keyboard to scroll left/right through the items.

To switch between full-screen applications, you can either use Alt-Tab (like all Windows versions since the stone age) or move the cursor to the upper left where, again after a half tick, a picture of the next application in the loop will appear. If you hover on the left side of the screen for a bit longer, a list of images of all the running apps (and desktop) will appear.

To go to control panel or shut down the computer, you need to bring up the "charms" which come from hovering in the upper right.

After login, the computer automatically opens into the start screen. I usually just launch Chrome to get to the desktop, as that is where I spend most of my time, but there are probably other ways.

I do use Fullscreen apps from time-to-time. I actually like the Netflix App for Windows 8, and there are a few fun games available in the store for free. But otherwise, I'm in the desktop.

8.1 is supposed to address some of the concerns people have raised. There still won't be a Start button, but when you hover in the bottom left, a Windows logo with Start will appear. It will also, apparently, support boot-to-desktop which a lot of people want (personally, I don't really care).

Dagonee · « **Reply #10066 on:** June 11, 2013, 08:39:04 am »

Start8 goes a long way to making the desktop experience more comfortable. ModernMix helps, too, to a lesser extent.

TomDavidson · « **Reply #10067 on:** June 11, 2013, 08:53:22 am »

The only thing I really hate in Windows 8 is how hard it is to log out of a box when you're using RDP to remote into it. Since the login screen is now on the Charms screen, you need to hover -- and since you're working in a remote window, hovering is kind of fiddly. A logout button would be very, very welcome.

Primal Curve · « **Reply #10068 on:** June 11, 2013, 08:59:26 am »

Win+C opens charms. I cannot remember if RDP ignores Meta commands, though.

TomDavidson · « **Reply #10069 on:** June 11, 2013, 09:13:17 am »

It does.

Primal Curve · « **Reply #10070 on:** June 11, 2013, 09:25:00 am »

shutdown -l?

TomDavidson · « **Reply #10071 on:** June 11, 2013, 09:32:32 am »

Yeah, I could go all command-line. That's not a bad idea.

Primal Curve · « **Reply #10072 on:** June 11, 2013, 09:38:28 am »

You could make a shortcut with that command on your desktop. That would then be a "button."

TomDavidson · « **Reply #10073 on:** June 11, 2013, 09:42:56 am »

Sadly, I'm often remoting into other people's desktops, so that's not as great of an option. But I can always macro the command-line.

Primal Curve · « **Reply #10074 on:** June 11, 2013, 09:47:07 am »

You have people running Windows 8 in the field already? We haven't even vetted a Windows 8 image yet.

TomDavidson · « **Reply #10075 on:** June 11, 2013, 10:11:24 am »

Server 2012. Same basic interface, which is a little baffling.

Primal Curve · « **Reply #10076 on:** June 11, 2013, 10:16:33 am »

Yeah, we have a SCCM server running 2012. I'm a little bit more confused now. You have people running Server 2012 on their desktops?

TomDavidson · « **Reply #10077 on:** June 11, 2013, 10:41:31 am »

Workstations. We've got a number of developers.

TheTick · « **Reply #10078 on:** June 11, 2013, 12:09:58 pm »

When you are remoted into the Windows 8, you can use the connection bar at the top of the screen to give commands (including opening 'Charms') on the remote machine. Looks like a little triangle. May be the same for Server 2012.

TomDavidson · « **Reply #10079 on:** June 11, 2013, 12:13:51 pm »

Ooo! You're right! I don't get a connection bar, thanks to windowing issues, but I can right-click on the title bar and get to "Remote Commands." Thanks!

Dro_Trebor · « **Reply #10080 on:** June 13, 2013, 04:22:23 pm »

I have a Dell Inspiron Duo running Windows 7. Should I move to Windows 8? I hear it has much better touch screen implementation than 7.

Primal Curve · « **Reply #10081 on:** June 14, 2013, 06:22:01 am »

There's a review on Dell's site by someone who claims they've upgraded to Windows 8 and that the machine is great with it. I am skeptical. They may have used Dell's Windows 7 drivers for the update, but they don't say. They may have gone vendor-to-vendor to get all the stuff they needed, but again, they don't say.

Certainly, Windows 8 is a far superior touch OS than Windows 7. I'm just wondering how much of a headache imaging your laptop will be.

Dro_Trebor · « **Reply #10082 on:** June 17, 2013, 02:43:14 am »

Precisely. Although, as long as it worked as an Internet device and I gained a better touch screen capability, I might be satisfied. Not using it for much else at the moment.

Corwin · « **Reply #10083 on:** June 17, 2013, 06:55:30 am »

So, with Google Reader almost dead, what did you guys switch to?

TomDavidson · « **Reply #10084 on:** June 17, 2013, 06:56:44 am »

I'm using InoReader.

Raja · « **Reply #10085 on:** June 17, 2013, 06:57:42 am »

I'm using The Old Reader right now, but I have some quibbles with it. I may switch again.

Corwin · « **Reply #10086 on:** June 17, 2013, 07:01:12 am »

And another reading-related question: do you use any tool that allows you to save pages for later reading? I tend to save the pages in my gmail drafts, where of course they stay forgotten most of the time.

Raja · « **Reply #10087 on:** June 17, 2013, 07:02:48 am »

No. I wouldn't mind having something like that for when I want to read a page later but not bookmark it.

TomDavidson · « **Reply #10088 on:** June 17, 2013, 07:07:09 am »

I just leave that item unread.

Corwin · « **Reply #10089 on:** June 17, 2013, 07:10:14 am »

Tom, I'm not talking about RSS feed updates, just plain old web pages that I stumble upon.

I found these at a first search, but I've yet to try any of them: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/4-awesome-tools-to-save-pages-for-reading-later/

Zalmoxis · « **Reply #10090 on:** June 17, 2013, 07:18:18 am »

For things that I think I really, truly will want to re-read, I use Evernote's web clipper.

ETA: and I do actually go back and read some of them. The key to that, though, is tagging items I save.

Anna · « **Reply #10091 on:** June 17, 2013, 07:52:36 am »

I use Netvibes (for the rss aspect).

Corwin · « **Reply #10092 on:** June 17, 2013, 08:12:46 am »

Quote from: Zalmoxis on June 17, 2013, 07:18:18 am

For things that I think I really, truly will want to re-read, I use Evernote's web clipper.

ETA: and I do actually go back and read some of them. The key to that, though, is tagging items I save.

Heh, yeah, I know what you mean. One reason I don't use the Chrome/Google account bookmarks is that I already saved a ton of things there, 99% of which I will likely never read again. From time to time I delete a few links here and there, and nowadays I'd rather not add more...

fugu13 · « **Reply #10093 on:** June 17, 2013, 12:38:31 pm »

Instapaper's my favorite for that

Corwin · « **Reply #10094 on:** June 18, 2013, 12:53:51 am »

Instapaper does seem very simple. I just created an account there.