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| 11/23 |
| 2008/8/17-21 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:50887 Activity:low |
8/16 Will balancing my laptop on my thighs all day make me less fertile?
I sure hope so.
\_ I remember there was a Yahoo news article that said yes.
\_ yes.. i am going to be a father in 3 months and this
was the problem. as well as wearing briefs instead of boxers |
| 2008/8/5-10 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:50787 Activity:nil |
8/5 how is power usage on my laptop if i encrypt everything
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2008/08/laptop_with_tru.html
\_ Steve Gibson's analysis on performance was that Trucrypt on a WinXP
laptop was actually faster, but I don't know about battery.
laptop was actually faster, but I don't know about battery life.
\_faster? How can that be? Also, I don't see that in the article.
Can you provide a specific pointer? |
| 2008/8/5-10 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:50783 Activity:nil |
8/5 Laptop with names of 33K people in the 'Clear' program stolen. Data
was (of course) unencrypted.
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2008/08/laptop_with_tru.html
\_ http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080805/bs_nm/tjx_theft_charges_dc
When are people going to learn to encrypt sensitive data?
\_ When encryption becomes transparent enough that noone has
to learn, it just works. Seriously, people will keep fucking
this kind of thing up until it's the default.
this kind of thing up until encryption is the default.
\_ Laptop found in the same office where it was thought to have been
stolen, and was never turned on during the missing period. (Of
course this doesn't change the necessity of encrypting.) |
| 2008/7/20-23 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/SW/Security] UID:50640 Activity:nil |
7/20 Does my encrypted disk LVM everything partition scheme make my
laptop consume a lot more power than if I weren't using encrypted
LVM? |
| 2008/6/12-13 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:50238 Activity:nil |
6/12 why do after I come back from suspend on my laptop, porn does
not stream properly from http://youporn.com unless I reboot? |
| 2008/4/2-6 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:49641 Activity:nil |
4/2 I want a Thinkpad that is light. I don't need a CD-ROM drive.
I want a display that is higher resolution than 1024x768.
Which model should I get? Thanks you.
\_ x300 |
| 2008/2/16-21 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Academia/GradSchool] UID:49171 Activity:nil |
2/16 Illinois grad student psycho:
- Sent to psych ward by parents after high school -- constantly cut
himself and refused to take meds
- Kicked out of Army after 6 months on psych discharge
- Worked briefly as 21-year-old prison guard
- Wrote paper on prisoners cutting themselves
- Republican
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/02/16/university.shooting/index.html
\_ Yes, I'm sure that's a factor. |
| 2007/10/17-19 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:48352 Activity:nil |
10/17 There is this magical device that lets me connect a 2.5"
laptop drive to my computer's USB port. the IT dude at work
had it. What is it called? I wanna buy one. Thank you.
\_ hard drive enclosure? they have ones that connect with
firewire and SATA also
\_ Did he use fairy dust or just the standard wand? Fairy dust is
much more expensive and prices fluctuate rapidly on the world
market but you get much better data xfer rates. |
| 2007/10/7-9 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:48255 Activity:low |
10/7 I have a laptop with 3 mouse buttons, running linux. left
button is dead. I'd like to remap the middle button->left button.
How do I do that?
\_ Mmm, maybe get your laptop repaired?
\_ xmodmap in X11, whatever linux user for a mouse damon (gpm?) |
| 2007/9/27-10/2 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:48198 Activity:nil |
9/27 What's a better laptop to get, Gateway, Dell, or Toshiba?
\_ thinkpad
\_ Are there still Thinkpads with butterfly keyboards? I had one
11yrs ago, and it was cool because the laptop body can be made
smaller than the keyboard.
\_ i would love to see those butterfly keyboards again. too
bad that there won't be any butterfly keyboards anytime soon. |
| 2007/9/20-22 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Display] UID:48128 Activity:nil |
9/20 For a HDTV >= 36", can someone quickly summarize the pros and cons
of LCD vs Plasma please? Thank you.
\_ how much >= 36"? From my research LCD seems the way to go until
you get bigger than my wallet or apartment can handle.
\_ I was looking at a 42". Browsing through the store, I felt
46" would've been too big for my apartment. -op
\_ plasma: higher heat, less motion blur, less pixelation, quicker
to lose brightness (I belieive) - I went with LCD
\_ *less* motion blur on plasma? I thought it had more, making
it less suitable for games, which was one reason why I asked.
Turns out I misread the specs and the TV I was looking at is
actually LCD. I decided to get it since it is through a
special hookup at a great price, but might as well keep the
thread in case anyone else is interested. -op
\_ Yeah, I think LCDs have much better response time these
days. LCD technology has done some amazing things recently. |
| 2007/9/10 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:47974 Activity:nil |
9/10 Is there a version of squid proxy for really pathetic slow
machines or a laptop? |
| 2007/9/3 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:47875 Activity:low |
9/3 Does your laptop have a built in card reader? If so, what kind of
card does it read? My 2004 laptop has a SD card reader, and I'm
wondering if new laptops use different ones.
\_ Probably combo reader. |
| 2007/8/13-15 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Display] UID:47594 Activity:low |
8/13 I'm thinking of buyng a 23" Apple Cinema LCD Display. Does anyone
have one and what is your opinion?
\_ I have one of these and I love it. I find that it is brighter
and sharper than my brother's 24" Dell LCD.
\_ Huh? Unless your brother was driving his monitor using
analogue signaling, one LCD cannot be sharper than another,
as they're addressed pixel-by-pixel. Either way, isn't 23"
panel in the Apple outdated? You can get better units for
that kind of price. Also, I used to have a Dell 24". Sold
that crap built with cheap components (panel itself is fine)
at a loss and bought an Eizo and have been happy ever since.
\_ I agree there is no reason that things should look sharper
on the Apple v. the Dell b/c both monitors were driven by
DVI.
It is my purely subjective assessment that images look
sharper on the Apple. The only factual basis that I think
of for this is that the slightly smaller size of the 23"
means that the pixels are more densely packed, giving
the appearance of "sharpness" when viewing images at
full resolution.
Re Outdated: I don't know if 23" is outdated. |
| 11/23 |
| 2007/8/1-3 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Politics/Domestic/Crime] UID:47498 Activity:nil |
8/1 Laptops may decrease your sperm count.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/07/11/mens.health.myths
\_ We don't need to use protection, I'm a computer geek! |
| 2007/7/16-19 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:47305 Activity:low |
7/16 Is there a website that lists the most senior friendly laptops?
This would be for someone in their 80's with vision issues and
arthitis. Not to mention some level of tecchie phobia.
Serious replies please. Thanks
\_ One would expect Macs to be more senior friendly, because of
better UI design.
\_ OS X also has a nice universal access feature that can
zoom all or part of the screen for those with vision
problems.
\_ Maybe AARP can recommend one?
\_ Does it have to be a laptop? A 30" LCD would go a long way.
\_ Or a wall projector. |
| 2007/6/25-28 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Drives] UID:47053 Activity:nil |
6/25 Help. Costco's SanDisk II 2G card works on my Canon SD300, but
it is unreadable on my laptop's SD card reader and my external
card reader. What's going on?
\_ Some card readers don't to more than 1GB.
\_ Updating the XP card reader driver helps, surprisingly.
Old drivers read 1G sdcard, new drivers read 2G sdcards -op |
| 2007/5/15 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:46640 Activity:nil |
5/15 My older brother's Fujitsu notebook (S7010D) died last week and the
nearest registered service center says it will be $800 just for a
replacement motherboard (shipped from Japan). Are there any
alternatives? ebay shows nothing. fyi, the notbook was purchased
2yrs 9months ago, he never ponied up the $180 for the extended 3yr
warranty, but treated it well. had been rebooting randomly before
death - hard drive is fine. Thanks.
\_ Laptops are typically more expensive to repair than to replace.
When my screen died (actually, it's the connector to the
screen--probably a $3 part) I couldn't find any way to fix it
without replacing the entire screen for $1000. Meanwhile, you can
get a new laptop for $600
http://www.gotapex.com/deals/one/26.htm
\_ thanks. looks like he will be getting a Thinkpad T60P.
looks like the old one will be relegated to paperweight service.
\_ He might want to consider parting it and selling the parts on
eBay. |
| 2007/4/27-5/1 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:46466 Activity:nil |
4/27 Do you own a light laptop with 12" screen and under 4 lbs? Which
brand and model do you have? I thinking of purchasing one.
PC only, macbook is nice but doesn't have cardbus interface. Thanks.
\_ I have a panasonic toughbook. giant screen , 3.5 lbs.
runs linux and windows great.
\_ ThinkPad X60.
\_ If I had to get a non-Apple laptop again, I'd get a Fujitsu
Lifebook P series. I still have a P2110 that' is at least five
years old(probably few more) that is still as good as the day I
bought it(functionally. The felt at the bottom is peeling.)
Too bad they don't have a Core 2 Duo model of it at the moment. |
| 2007/4/3-6 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/Networking, Computer/HW/Display] UID:46185 Activity:nil |
4/3 Is it possible to openup a linksys notebook adapter card to get at
the mini-pci wireless card insdide? The mini-pci for my laptop is
no longer made. Thanks
\_ They're not expensive--try one and let us know.
\_ Have you tried ebay? |
| 2007/3/29-4/2 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Politics/Domestic, Computer/HW/CPU] UID:46140 Activity:nil |
3/28 A kind reminder that CSUA stands for Computer Science Undergrad
Association. It is not the Political Science [aka I hate Democrats
and I hate Republicans] Undergrad Association.
In other news AMD is releasing a new laptop chip! EXCITING!!!
http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/29/amds-laptop-ready-m690-chipset-unveiled
\_ that's chipset. and CS students like to talk politics.
\_ Piss off.
\_ Well someone is pissy. If this is representative, I think I
know why I chose to hang out with CS types as opposed to
poli-sci types. -dans |
| 2006/12/26-30 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Recreation/Computer/Games, Computer/HW/Display] UID:45494 Activity:nil |
12/26 I just got a Wii and it looks bad on my 10 year old 20" tube.
What is the resolution of RCA connectors? If I get a new plasma
or LCD will it look better?
\_ component cable will make it better |
| 2006/12/18-21 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Display] UID:45461 Activity:low |
12/17 oh mighty motd, where can i get a 20" LCD display
for around $200?
\_ Costco has a 19" for around $200, with 6ms response, 1280x1024,
700:1 contrast ratio. |
| 2006/11/9-11 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Display] UID:45306 Activity:nil |
11/19 I have both pcmia cards for my wi-fi and my usb 2.0 on my DELL I8200.
Even though have 2 slots; the usb2.0 card makes it next to
impossible to plug both in at the same time. Any suggestions? Do
they sell longer cards? Should I consider an internal mini-pci wifi?
Thanks.
\_ is this thin enough?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16833150006
or get a Wi-Fi via USB 2.0 device
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16833124158
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16833135109
\_ Are any of these pcmcia ? I8200's only have 1.0 slots along
with a 1394 slot . It seems a little big to plug into a pcmcia
slot
\_ the first one fits in the I8200 PCMCIA PC Card slot. it is
\_ the first one fits in the I8200 PC Card slot. it is
also a 32-bit CardBus card, and the I8200 has CardBus
interfaces. in other words, it works fine with your I8200.
the only question is whether there is still enough headroom
for your other PC Card. Also, I now realize your other PC
Card may block out a lot of signal, even if they both fit.
the latter two plug into a USB 2.0 port.
For more info on PCMCIA / PC Card / CardBus, see:
http://www.pcmcia.org/faq.htm#pins |
| 2006/10/4-6 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/SW/Security] UID:44664 Activity:nil |
10/4 motd routing nerds, help me out.
let's say i am torrenting stuff on my laptop. I want
of course my SSH connections to be responsive and fast,
but the upstream torrenting gets in the way. Could i
implement QOS somehow on my local machine and improve
SSH? I'm running Linux. Would I have to make a virtual
machine somewhere on my laptop and run QOS in that? Thanks!
\_ or just use your torrent client's builtin bw limit options
\_ no no you don't understand, have you ever used QOS
on a router before? You can make your SSH packets
have a higher priority than your web or torrent packets,
reducing the latency for your ssh sessions. If you limit
the upstream of your torrents... your downstream becomes
slower
\_ sympathy factor crashes like rock. back in my day we got 300
baud and we were glad for it!
\_ if you're bottlenecked on the inbound, no amount of
fiddling with your router's QoS settings is going to help.
Maybe if you could fiddle with your ISP's router, but I
suspect they won't be sympathetic to your torrent leeching
needs.
If you're bottlenecked on the outbound, limit your torrent
clients' upload speeds (or play with QoS). It doesn't take
backing off much to give huge improvements to ssh and/or
other interactive programs.
clients upload speeds (or play with QoS).
\_ get a faster pipe, whiner
\_ So-called "gaming routers" can put preferences on ports. That's
quick solution.
\_ Not only is this a quick solution, but an excellent solution.
I bought a DLINK gaming router and never looked back. I get
the best of all worlds-- filling up the pipe AND get small
latency for ssh and X11 related things.
\_ agree that this is one way to do it. increase priority for
port 22 outgoing (router should also be smart enough to
prioritize incoming packets for the session), and back off your
upstream torrent cap a bit until you're satisfied. |
| 2006/9/28-10/1 [Science/Battery, Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:44592 Activity:nil |
9/28 IBM/Lenovo announces recall of Communist Thinkpad batteries:
http://tinyurl.com/kqa6h (ibm.com)
\_ Sony to announce global replacement program:
http://tinyurl.com/f8zsa (engadget.com) |
| 2006/9/28-10/1 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:44589 Activity:nil |
9/28 What do you guys think the average lifespan of a laptop is these
days? It doesn't matter the reason for a new machine, I'm just
wondering approximately how soon should I'll need to get a new
laptop if I bought one last year. Thanks Comrades.
\_ Figure about 3 years, maybe 4.
\_ Depends on what you are using it for. For something like email
or web browsing I would suggest upgrading in the next 6 months.
\_ What? You can surf and do email on any toy laptop today.
\_ My last laptop lasted me 3 years, I gave it to a friend who uses
it only for email/watching videos/web surfing and while I'm
sure it isn't as fast as she'd like it does everything she needs
no problem.
\_ My original iBook G4 lasted ~ 3 yrs (before I sold it, that buyer
is still using it). My current iBook G4 is going on ~ 1.5 yrs and
probably will last me another year or more (I'm waiting for a much
cooler MB before I upgrade). My G3 Pismo lasted ~ 4 years before
it died. I know some people on the 18 mo upgrade cycle, but that
is to expensive for me, I usually pick every other generation.
\_ I still use my 2001 G3 iBook. However, I am not using it heavely,
sometimes weeks go by without me touching it. The battery died
a couple of years ago and had to be replaced (now again due to a
recall), and the screen got noticeably dimmer.
\_ Is the battery made by Sony?
\_ No, it's an Apple iBook.
\_ Some iBook batteries were made by Sony. Affected
serial numbers are here:
<DEAD>support.apple.com/ibook_powerbook/batteryexchange<DEAD> |
| 2006/9/22-24 [Science/Battery, Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:44499 Activity:nil |
9/22 Alan Cox's ThinkPad battery explodes:
http://www.engadget.com/2006/09/22/another-thinkpad-battery-explodes
\_ What happened to engadget lately? Their site used to look
very professional, now it looks like it was designed by a
20 year old. A lot of pictures just isn't resized
correctly, you see the jagged lines, etc. Did I miss
something? Gizmodo went down a similar path a year or so
ago and I read it was because the guy left. What the hell
happened to Engadget?
\_ I noticed the same thing. I'm not sure what is going on
at either site. I have found that both sites do not
play well w/ adblock plus in firefox (they look better
in safari, but still not great).
\_ It's essential to note that battery was bought off eBay, though
it's an open question whether it was OEM or a knock-off.
\_ Engadget did a site redesign just a few days ago. I suspect
bugs will be squashed over the next few weeks and it will
start to look better.
\_ It's essential to note that battery was bought off eBay, though
it's an open question whether it was OEM or a knock-off. |
| 2006/9/20-22 [Computer/SW/OS/Linux, Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:44473 Activity:kinda low |
9/20 What's the fucking package manager on Slackware Linux? How hard is it to,
say, install Ruby?
\_ i know you don't want to hear this but you really should be using
a different linux distro
\_ i would say he really shouldn't be any linux distro if he's
asking a question like that.
\_ Sheesh. I was actually thinking of using Vector Linux
(which is based on slackware) on a 10 year old laptop for
a specific application. Vector Linux is supposed to work
well on old hardware. I can't test it because I don't
have the laptop with me right now. I don't want to
spend a bunch of time screwing around with it for the 2
have the fucking laptop with me right now. I don't want to
spend a bunch of time screwing around with it for the fucking 2
weeks I'll have it. I just thought it would be nice to
be able to play with Ruby while I was at it.
\_ tar -xzvf upgrade to debian |
| 2006/9/6-10 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:44286 Activity:nil |
9/6 Korean Air bans Macs and Dells:
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/biz/200609/kt2006090517585411880.htm
\_ Reason no. 1,423,918 why you shouldn't buy a Mac. -pc user
\_ or a dell - another pc user
\_ Don't even bother with a laptop. PDAs are the future. |
| 2006/8/31-9/3 [Computer/SW/OS/OsX, Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:44215 Activity:nil |
8/31 its that time of year again. i would like to buy
a reliable mac laptop. i dont need blazing ass speed.
i would like light and reliable. i dont need a gigantic
display. i would like to haul it to cafes and look cool.
what should i get? a new one? a slightly used one?
are they all intel now? do they all have battery problems?
\_ Wait until the problem with the white MacBook palm rests
gets solved, and get one of those. (they are intel)
\_ Since Intel just released the mobile Core2 Duo (Merom), expect an
update to Apple's laptop line soon.
\_ Do you know if there are any plans for a 12" one? I am
loving my 12" PB, and may look at a MacBook next year. -John
\_ All signs point to 13 inches being the new 12 inches.
I miss the smaller size too.
\_ obthatswhatshesaid
\_ obthatswhathesaid |
| 2006/8/23-25 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:44119 Activity:nil |
8/23 It just keeps getting worse for Dell; Quantas says Dell owners must
remove batteries and not use laptops on flights:
http://tinyurl.com/njk8d (http://www.smh.com.au
\_ If the terrorists were really smart, they would blow up the planes
with defective Dell laptops.
\_ What's scarier than Snakes on a Plane? Dells on a Plane!
\_ Osama bin Laden is getting excited imagining
a beowulf cluster of Dell laptops ...
\_ "Quantas never crashes" |
| 2006/8/15-17 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:44012 Activity:nil |
8/15 Republican Party loving Dell is recalling Dell laptop batteries:
See if your battery is affected: link:www.dellbatteryprogram.com
\_ ob testing kchang's auto-classifier
\_ Test passed. My pigeons are working hard:
http://csua.com/?entry=faq1 -kchang
\_ I have IBM, so ha! Buy American! -average American male |
| 2006/8/7-11 [Computer/HW/Drives, Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:43931 Activity:nil |
8/7 I need to flash my MB BIOS and I don't have a floppy drive. Is it
generally possible to boot off a USB thumb drive and flash from that?
\_ Only if your BIOS allows you to boot from USB. More common on
laptops.
\_ Assuming your MB supports booting from USB, you'll probably
also need: http://www.csua.org/u/gmp
\_ Unless you have some really odd hardware you should have a floppy
port and power lead from your power supply. If your BIOS doesn't
support USB boot then temporarily installing a floppy (don't bother
to screw it into the case, etc) is very easy. You'll need to boot
from a DOS image. Try FreeDOS if your BIOS didn't come with a fully
bootable floppy image file.
\_ Of course. -proud AOL user
\_ So you're the one!
\_ Make an eltorito bootable CD with a bootable DOS floppy image
make sure to put the BIOS flash code and program in the image.
Then you can boot from the CD and flash your BIOS. I've done it
before. Works great.. |
| 2006/7/28-8/2 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/CPU] UID:43829 Activity:nil 80%like:43827 |
7/28 Where is a reputable place to pre-order a E6600 processor?
\_ I'm still curious what everyone plans to do with these chips.
Not that I wouldn't buy one if I was in the market for a new
computer right now but I keep computers for a loooong time.
\_ I'm in the market for a new (self-built) computer.
\_ My current machine can't run the latest games, I'm building a
a new one.
\_ Everyone seems to point to http://www.tankguys.com I don't know if they
are reputable.
\_ http://newegg.com|mwave.com|zipzoomfly.com, and now http://tigerdirect.com.
There are none in stock, though, and I believe there is a embargo
date of Aug 7. You could buy an OEM E6300 yesterday from
http://tigerdirect.com but they're all out. See http://hardforum.com, Intel
board for more info.
\_ http://tigerdirect.com had both OEM E6300 and E6600 yesterday and shipped
them out. See http://hardforum.com, Intel board for more info. I don't
know how hard it is to cancel a pre-order. Rumors are that
significantly more stock will be available come Aug 7.
\_ http://tigerdirect.com had OEM E6300 yesterday and shipped them out, so
you could try them for OEM E6600. See http://hardforum.com, Intel board
for more info. I don't know how hard it is to cancel a pre-order.
know how hard it is to cancel a pre-order. Consensus seems to be
that significantly more stock will be available come Aug 7.
\_ I've never used them, but I've read some bad critiques of their
customer service online--no clue if they're for real or not
but you might consider researching before ordering there. -John
\_ I bought several items, returned several items and also got
my mail-in rebate money from tiger with no problems at all.
Every company on the net has complaints posted about them.
You need to examine the nature and consistency of the
issues and ignore the random insane ranter or you'll never
buy anything from anyone.
\_ http://Tigerdirect.com is notorious for ripping people off
when it comes to rebate coupons. They've been involved
in much litigation about this. -proud American |
| 2006/7/17-19 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Drives] UID:43698 Activity:nil |
7/17 My western digital WD800UE 80gb 5400 RPM laptop HD sometimes
gives off a few "clicking" noise. Although this has been going
on for a while and I haven't run into any problems. Is this
the click of death? Should I be concerned? I am using it in an
external enclosure and had it shortly after I got it. (it
started to make that noise when I was trying to "disconnect
usb device" in XP, it started to make that noise and XP said
can't disconnect device because it is in use. Since then, the
clicking noise happens every now and then. And just today the
drive couldn't spin up for about 5 seconds for some reason..
Is WD quality really that bad?
\_ There is a tool on http://sysinternals.com that lists open filehandles
under Windows (kind of like graphical lsof) -- I think it's
called filemon. Check that out. As for the drive, back it up,
like now. -John
\_ Buy a new HD immediately and transfer your files to it. Toss this
one. Consider yourself lucky that you got an advance warning.
The "click of death" means "you will soon lose all your data"
\_ As above said plus: no, WD quality isn't special. DOA or near-DOA
drives have become way too common in recent years as the industry
cuts back on QA and general quality while spending heavily on ever
higher bits/square inch. You've got a 1 year warrantee from WD.
Use it. If you want a quality drive get a scsi or fiber channel.
For home use pay a little more for a SATA with a real warrantee.
If they don't trust they own drives for longer than 1 year, why
should you?
\_ My laptop HD clicks. It's audible but not loud. It's normal
for this drive. --jameslin
\_ My laptop HD clicks. It's audible but not loud. It was like
that from the very beginning, and apparently it's normal for
this drive. --jameslin |
| 2006/7/1-6 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/SW/OS/OsX] UID:43548 Activity:nil |
7/1 So my new MacBook Pro is hot hot hot! And I mean, it is so hot that
it is unbearable to put on my laptop, even when it is idling.
In addition the battery lasts only 2 hours at max, when only
5% of the CPU is used. In contrast, my 1.5GHz Pentium M is
pretty cool, and lasts 2.5 hours with a smaller battery. My G4
is also really really cool and lasts almost 4 hours. What the
hell is going on? I'm very very unhappy with the MacBook Pro.
\_ Hello I'm the op, and I've followed tom's link, disassembled
my MacBook Pro and was dismayed at how much paste was used on
it. Basically the processor, chipset, and something else had so
much paste that they acted like insulators which created extremely
hot spots on the top portion of the laptop. I took out all the
thermal paste (it was incredibly thick) and reapplied a thin
layer. Yesterday my laptop had a few scalding burning hot spots,
but today I'm proud to say that it is simply running as hot as
McDonald's coffee. I'm glad I took the risk to make the laptop run
better.
It is amazing how Apple has chosen to ignore this problem
instead of trying to solve it. I guess as a company gets bigger
and bigger it cares less and less about the quality of products and
instead more about making the shareholders happy.
\_ http://www.tuaw.com/2006/05/04/macbook-pro-heat-problem-heats-up
-tom
\_ Wow, what a brilliant solution to a heat problem - reduce
the heat flow from the chips to the chassis by removing
thermal paste. Absolutely brilliant. They should just
remove the fans while they're at it. Don't know why
Apple never thaught of that.
\_ Ummm.. You know thermal paste isn't some sort of magical
heat eliminator right? You realize that too much can
cause heat problems right? You realize they aren't
suggesting not using any, but cleaning it off and
replacing it with a smaller amount.. right? I don't
know if this is the actual cause of the heat problems,
but it certainly is a possibility.
\_ Being "hot" is the reason you got it right? ;)
\_ I seem to recall something about Apple very quietly releasing a
firmware upgrade that makes it turn on the fan more readily. Result
is much lower operating temperatures, but more tendancy to have fan
noise. |
| 2006/6/21-26 [Computer/HW, Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:43452 Activity:nil |
6/21 Dell notebook explodes at conference meeting in Japan
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=32550
\_ Dude!! Get a Dell!
\_ Get a Dell, lose a ball |
| 2006/5/24-28 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:43179 Activity:nil 66%like:43178 |
5/24 http://csua.org/u/fz0 (engadget.com) Hot hot hot!!!!!!! \_ boring \_ they need a battery life comparison for Turion 64 X2 vs. Core Duo and the weight of the systems \_ Fuck, what would a soda geek like me need to do to land myself a chi, i mean a laptop, like that? \_ Those chicks are not hot \_ Show me one that you consider 'hot'. \_ I'm not that guy, but I googled and this is what I got http://data1.blog.de/blog/u/ultrakoichi/img/kumada01.jpg (PG rated) \_ Fine body but not cute enough face. B- \_ Agreed. Face looks too Korean. C+ \_ Slanty-eyed dog. F. \_ Thanks for the link. I have been looking for a laptop that is 12" and has indepedent video RAM for graphics for past 3-4 years. I used IBM X21, Dell 700m. They are small enough but didn't pack enough horse power to play game :( If this laptop have a long battery life (even with extended battery), I would get it. |
| 2006/5/18-22 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:43095 Activity:nil |
5/18 I want to use version control for some code on my laptop even when
I'm not connected to the network with the SVN repository. Is there
a good way to run a local svn repository on the laptop and synch it
with the main repository from time to time? ok tnx.
\_ http://svk.elixus.org (haven't used it personally)
but you might want to think about a revision control system that's
designed for this from the get go, like "git" On the other hand,
I find git quirky and confusing. YMMV. --dbushong |
| 2006/5/12-17 [Consumer/Camera, Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:43041 Activity:nil |
5/12 What do people use to clean their laptop screens? Mine is full of
finger smudges and dust. Thanks.
\_ Microfiber towels that I get with my sunglasses. Go to a good
optician, they should have some (I think every pair of Ray-Bans
you buy comes with one.) Wipe gently. I don't use those moist
alcohol screen cleaners, because I haven't found any that don't
streak. I use these little towels for my camera lenses too,
by the way. If you find something better, please post. -John
\_ Microfiber towels that I get with my sunglasses. Go to a good
optician, they should have some (I think every pair of Ray-Bans
you buy comes with one.) Wipe gently. I don't use those moist
alcohol screen cleaners, because I haven't found any that don't
streak. I use these little towels for my camera lenses too,
by the way. If you find something better, please post. -John |
| 2006/5/11-15 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:43025 Activity:nil |
5/11 Regarding the earlier post about Thinkpad warranty service:
It was picked up by DHL at 4:30 on Monday and it came back repaired
at noon today. I'm quite impressed. Props to Lenovo and DHL.
\_ Wow--exact opposite of what I experienced (albeit in
Switzerland.) Rude, complicated, and inefficient. -John |
| 2006/5/7-9 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:42965 Activity:nil |
5/7 Anyone have any experience with IBM/Lenovo mail-in Thinkpad warranty
service? How long should I expect it to take to get my machine back?
\_ they will send you a box, you send the box in, repair time, get
the box back -- the box took a few days to arrive, it went back
via standard shipping, repair time was maybe a week, the laptop
came back overnight'd I think. I got the note of a delivery
attempt before I got an email notification that it was on its
way.
\_ I got the box and was wondering how long I will be laptop-less.
Thanks. |
| 2006/4/11-15 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:42728 Activity:low |
4/11 http://tinyurl.com/fszeh (sfgate) Go to the internet cafe, get stabbed and your laptop stolen. \- oh that is interesting. ther stabee is an associate of mine. i think major organs may have been missed because he is close to being an Orbital Death Star. to being an Orbital Death Star. according to his sistern, there was supposedly an offduty cop in the cafe but he didnt do anything ... not sure of details. |
| 2006/3/31-4/3 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:42588 Activity:nil |
3/31 I've seen some laptops with Dual Core AMD chips that are ridiculously
overpowered. I'm looking for a seller. Where can I find one?
\_ We care why? |
| 2006/3/30-4/3 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/SW/OS/Linux] UID:42550 Activity:nil |
3/30 So which current laptop out there works with Linux and
hibernation-to-disk (not suspend to memory) ?
\_ I have a toshiba that seems to work w/ Linux hibernate. I'll
get you the model number tonight.
\_ I thought newer linux kernel supports suspend-to-disk, no? |
| 2006/3/27-29 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/Companies/Apple] UID:42451 Activity:nil |
3/27 Any recommendation for a USB 2.0 PCMCIA card for an older
Powerbook with USB 1.1 builtin? Or should all cards be
about the same? |
| 2006/3/20-22 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:42345 Activity:nil |
3/20 Yay! Thinkpads finally have a Windows key.
Did this happen with the transition to Lenovo?
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=2567
\_ You use the windows key?
\_ Win-M, Win-E
\_ dude, why do you need Windows key for? control-escape is fine, no?
\_ Windows-M is pretty useful. There's other key combos too.
\_ Ctrl+Esc can't be used with chording. Win+R, Win+D, Win+Break,
Win+L, etc. are all useful. (And that's not including various
other keyboard shortcuts you can assign with third-party tools.)
\_ if ppl would stop overwriting the motd, Win-M, Win-E
\_ Windows keys will make great apple keys when running Mac OS X.
\_ And great Meta keys when running *nix
\_ And great Windows keys when running Windows.
\_ And great tur keys when...oh, n/m
\_ BLASPHEMER!!! |
| 2006/3/10 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:42184 Activity:nil 72%like:42188 |
3/10 Isn't posner supposed to be smart?
http://news.com.com/Police+blotter+Ex-employee+faces+suit+over+file+deletion/2100-1030_3-6048449.html?tag=nefd.top
\- What is your point? also since he would have been hearing it
at the appelate level, his comment may be on some narrow legal
point. i imagine he approaches this in interms of his econ
approach about what ruling produces "efficient outcomes". |
| 2006/2/13-15 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Display] UID:41818 Activity:nil |
2/13 Can anyone recommend a local computer maker in the East Bay? I want
to upgrade our (circa 1998) home desktop system box and only the box
and I don't have the time or fu to build one myself.
\_ go to http://pricewatch.com and find an out of state system builder with
the right price/system for you. try monarch or one of the other
larger places that's been around for a while with a decent rep.
\_ General Computing Systems, 3226 Grand Ave., Oakland:
http://local.yahoo.com/details?id=21503093
\_ If you don't mind going across the bridge, check out Central
Computers, 837 Howard St. @ 5th St in San Francisco:
http://www.centralcomputer.com
Central's prices are reasonable, but by no means the cheapest out
there. Turnaround time in my experience is very fast. I don't
always get someone with the best English when I call, but they've
never screwed up an order. I'm told they are reasonable and prompt
when it comes to returns. I think I heard about Central from
jon@csua, you might inquire further with him. -dans
\_ Why does it have to be local? |
| 2006/2/2-4 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:41673 Activity:low |
2/3 I am looking for a laptop with the following constraints. Usage
is word processing and web browsing, light multimedia. Platform
is Windows (translation apps). Want to get good price for best
build quality (reliability, nice screen, weight). Caveat is that
it needs to have a docking station that (somehow) supports 2x
external monitors (NOT lcd screen and a second monitor). I
was thinking Thinkpad T43 with a ThinkPad Advanced Dock (which
supports half height PCI cards). I can spend $2-3k if necessary
(already have displays). Thoughts? - jhs
\_ If I were looking for a desktop-replacement laptop, I wouldn't
consider anything except ThinkPad right now. I hope Lenovo
doesn't tuurn them into crap. -tom
doesn't turn them into crap. -tom |
| 2006/2/1-3 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/IO] UID:41634 Activity:nil |
2/1 http://deepakr.wordpress.com/2005/12/30/next-gen-computers \_ I've said this before, the mere idea of using such a crappy excuse for an input device as a laser keyboard... well... just... UGH. \_ I doubt this will be very popular. No tactile response makes it very easy to make errors. \_ I think if they could come up with an _instant_ response short distinctive tone per key then audio response might go a long ways towards helping with this problem. \_ I'm thinking more of fingers touching keys and not pushing down while the user thinks or considers items. The error rate for mistaken keystrokes would be tremendous. \_ Agreed. This reminds me of the Atari 400 whose keyboard drove me crazy. \_ Hmmmm. Chicklets.. \_ "PENS WITH HIDDEN CAMS ?????" No, I think they're abstract illustration of copulatory positions. |
| 2006/1/30-2/1 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:41597 Activity:nil |
1/30 Any suggestions for cleaning underneath a ThinkPad keyboard? I've got
to stop eating crackers over my laptop.
\_ Flip, shake.
\_ Yeah, only moderately effective.
\_ You could open it but you'd probably be breaking the warrantee
and it might be a problem getting it back together properly.
I've seen some laptops that were easy to close back up and
others that were a mess of *very* short cables between the
2 halves. YMMV. I'd stick to flip/shake unless you're
missing key strokes.
\_ I thought thinkpad keyboards are easy to pop off?
\_ They are. -tom
\_ Ah, the real answer! -op
\_ For Dell Latitude notebooks there are full instructions for
removing/reinstalling the keyboard, and eBay sells a whole bunch
of kb's. I suggest you google for a Thinkpad maintenance manual
(online HTML or downloadable PDF) for your model.
I don't believe doing something like this for Dell notebooks will
invalidate the warranty (within limits), not sure about Thinkpads.
\_ Compressed air keyboard cleaning bottle? -John
\_ For desktop keyboards you can pop individual keys and then vacuum.
Don't know about ThinkPad.
\_ Yes, but they are more delicate and prone to damage. --Jon |
| 2006/1/15-17 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/SW/OS/OsX] UID:41378 Activity:moderate |
1/15 I've got a mac G4 laptop and a dell box that I want to play kernel
hacker with, but I don't want to keep a bulky monitor around. Is
it possible to get a terminal connection from the dell box to the
laptop? The dell has USB, serial, PS/2, and VGA (no firewire).
Any suggestions appreciate, thanks.
\_ VNC over ethernet.
\_ ssh?
\_ I'm talking about getting a console before the networking
stack is initialized.
\_ if you can get a hold of one, <DEAD>realweasel.com<DEAD>
\_ uh, ssh?
\_ thanks, good tip. I'd still need a usb<->serial converter
and probably some sort of OSX terminal app. Any ideas?
\_ a $20 2-port KVM?
\_ The laptop screen doesn't take video in.
\_ The realweasel, while nice is wholly unnecessary. Turn on serial
ttys on the Dell, get a USB to serial adapter from Keyspan for your
Mac, and use zterm or tip for a terminal application. Either of:
http://www.keyspan.com/products/usb/USA19W
http://www.keyspan.com/products/usb/USA28x
Should work. I have a USA28x, and use it all the time with my
PowerBook. -dans |
| 2006/1/4-6 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/Companies/Google] UID:41228 Activity:nil |
1/4 There is speculation Google will offer a $200 non MSFT computer
(at Walmart). What OS do you think they'll use?
\_ Their own Linux distribution.
\_ I was going to build http://www.mini-itx.com/projects/knex over
Christmas, but I had to deal with backyard flooding instead. I
wonder what form facter the allegedly GooglePC will have.
\_ How about the $100 hand-cranked laptop?
http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/ptech/11/30/laptop/index.html
\_ Remember, you must crank for 8 hours before using for the first
time.
\_ If they do (and if it's more than just putting their logo on
a machine built by someone else), it might finally be time to
short GOOG. -tom
\_ Uh, it's already been refuted.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060104-5882.html |
| 2005/12/11-14 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Memory, Computer/HW/IO] UID:40960 Activity:nil |
12/11 NEC: products of the future
http://www.nec-design.co.jp/showcase |
| 2005/12/8-9 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:40920 Activity:kinda low |
12/7 Is there such a thing as a portable LCD monitor? I mean something
like a laptop but just with the display (and interface).
\_ There are the ones that mount in racks with a keyboard that flip up.
They are about the size of a laptop. However, most LCDs are
by their nature about the same/size weight as a laptop.
\_ I've been wondering the same. I'm debating getting a Mac Mini.
I don't need to use it while in transit, but it would be nice
to have a monitor I could set up when I get to my destination.
I've been considering a Head Mounted Display:
http://www.stereo3d.com/hmd.htm
\_ I posted the question for exactly the same reason, but Head
Mounted Display is too exotic for me. Is there something cheap
and ordinary that I can put in a backpack? I don't know why pp
says most lcd monitor is about the same size/weight as laptop.
\_ Because they are? We're not talking about a 20" LCD here,
but a small one. Here's one:
but a small one. Here's some:
http://www.lilliput.cn/619.htm
http://www.logisysus.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=75
\_ Take a look at some of the portable LCD's that are used in cars. |
| 2005/12/6-7 [Recreation/Dating, Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:40874 Activity:nil |
12/6 Why are you people so obsessed with kchang? It's nice outside. -John
\_ Cause he still has a cute little bubble butt that just begs for
a rimming.
\_ And I suppose you're out frolicking naked through some alpine
meadow with a hot chick while you read and post to the motd?
\_ Blackberry. Ours still work :-)
\_ Unless you post a picture from said blackberry with a timestamp\
that proves there is really an alpine meadow and a naked hot
chick, I think we can all assume you're hunched over a laptop
in some nerdy building, just like the rest of us.
\_ Actually I'm hunched over a laptop in my nice living room
with a glass of wine in front of the fireplace watching
soccer, but http://blackberryporn.com ... -John
\_ It's desperation stemming from leading meaningless lives.
\_ I'm trapped in a loveless marriage and a pointless job. It's either
this or I become one with WoW.
\_ I went the latter route. You too can make your home in Azeroth.
\_ Fair enough. |
| 2005/12/5-7 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:40867 Activity:nil |
12/5 My WinXP laptop sometimes doesn't come out of hibernate. It finishes
doing the resume thing, but the login screen never shows up. At this
point, it's pingable, but not much else. I'm guessing maybe if I
waited long enough, it would eventually come up, but I've been too
lazy to wait for hours (I've tried 30-60 minutes). I end up having to
powercycle it. Has anyone else seen this, or have a solution? Thanks.
\_ I've had this problem when a single process was pegging the CPU at
100 on resume. It was the Opera browser. I stopped using Opera for
a while until I got another laptop with HT.
\_ Yeah, I was guessing it might be something like that, since I've
seen it happen less when I don't have firefox running. But there
wouldn't be much point hibernating if I couldn't keep my firefox
state.
\_ Also, it depended on which sites I was viewing.
\_ Yes--in my case it was a Thinkpad X31 and crappy ACPI. I never
found a solution--occasionally it also would never come out of
hibernation at all. -John
\_ I have the same problem on my Toshiba laptop when come out
of resume mode. My solution, always close Firefox before I
suspend. Firefox chews up 100% cpu if I have
http://www.techbargains.com left open in a tab. Before you
suspend, make a habit of closing non-essential applications. |
| 2005/11/24-28 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Display] UID:40730 Activity:high |
11/23 What are the pros and cons of LCD vs. plasma TV?
\_ Both kind of suck, but here's what I learned when I was looking
into this a few months ago (tech changes fast, so grain of salt,
please):
LCD: +about 1.3x the lifespan of plasma before 1/2 luminosity is
reached
LCD: +about 1.5x-2x the lifespan of plasma before 1/2 luminosity is
reached (IIRC 3-4 years of 8-10hrs/day -- so probably
about 2-4x that for normal people).
+slightly less delicate than plasma
+very thin and very light
-typically not available in very large screen sizes (less
true now but if you're looking for a screen > 42", simple
LCD probably isn't the way to go)
-inferior black levels
-narrow (comparatively) viewing angles -- I find this is a
deceptive measure. Even on screens with a supposedly
wide viewing angle, I've found that they lose contrast
very quickly when you move off the normal.
Plasma:
+slightly better viewing angle than lcd (but still pretty
unimpressive for low-medium end sets)
+typically brighter with higher contrast than LCD
+cheaper than LCD
+very thin and very light
-much shorter lifespan before 1/2 luminosity is reached
-much shorter lifespan before 1/2 luminosity is reached (as
above, but 2-3 years@8-10/day)
-very delicate
-inferior black levels
Honestly, I'd avoid either of these technologies if at all
possible. Some the rear projection technologies are actually
very good with superior black levels, brightness and contrast --
without the (potentially) very limited lifespan of either plasma
or lcd. You might want to check out sony's sxrd sets for higher
end tv's, or see if hybrid technologies like 3lcd might work for
you. I was checking out sets this past week, and some of the
rear projections sets looked really nice. Hope this helps.
Feel free to email me if you talk more -- but I think the best
advice I can give is to actually go and look at the sets and
decide which look good to your eye; then decide if you're
willing to buy a new set in less than 5-10 years if you go with
a degrading technology. -mice
rear projection sets from mitsubishi looked really nice. Hope
this helps. Feel free to email me if you want to talk more --
but I think the best advice I can give is to actually go and
look at the sets and decide which look good to your eye; then
decide if you're willing to buy a new set in less than 5-10
years if you go with a degrading technology. -mice
\_ Thank man, you rock. So between now and January, when is the
best time to get a bargain? Now? Before X-mas? Or after
New Year (less inventory? more?)
\_ I'm not that savvy about retail, to be honest, but I'd guess
that just after christmas is the best time to get a good
deal. Check out: http://avsforum.com -- there's alot of
good information to be had there, but be careful taking too
much at face value; I've found that people there can easily be
blinded by the fact that they just spent $3000 on a tv set,
and will become religious about their purchase before
admitting any flaws with it. YMMV. -mice
\_ As with all electronics the best time to buy is as late
as possible. Next year prices will drop 20%, and the
year after that, another 20%. If you can wait till
2009, TVs will be much brighter/crisper/last longer
and cheaper than today.
\_ True, but the other fella was asking about "between now
and January" so I was taking a shot in the dark.
Hopefully, between the avsforum link and the hdtv link
the guy below gave, there should be enough accurate
information to steer the OP well. -mice
\_ Good plasmas have better blacks than LCD; check Panasonic.
Also I didn't notice any plasma viewing angle problem. I thought
plasmas were better here than some rear projections I saw. And
for lifespan, they claim now to last about as long as a normal
CRT would. I'm still on the fence for HDTVs myself though, gonna
wait until probably January.
I would avoid CRT-based rear projection TVs because most cannot
natively display 720p (typically 480p or 1080i), plus they're
usually not that bright. The SXRD stuff is good but it isn't
perfect either.
Check out "HDTV World":
http://www.cnet.com/4520-7874_1-5102926-1.html?tag=eye
\_ Great link! Thanks for the info! The sxrd seemed to offer
the best bang for my dollar -- I've a buddy at sony that
can probably get me a 30% discount on the 60". Were it not
for that fact, I'd probably lean away from sony entirely.
Some of the plasmas I saw when I was looking around had
some pretty irritating viewing angle issues, but that was
most definitely not true of the higher end (ie newer) models.
I'll look at panasonic though; thanks for the tip! -mice
\_ Actually, after looking at the hdtv link, sony seems to
have come out rather well, ratingswise. -mice
\_ Yeah, it actually seems to be their top rated HDTV.
But they describe a couple flaws. It might be the best
thing now though. I am mainly interested in 720p
performance. I'm kind of confused about how 1080p
sets deal with that, like is it worse than just getting
a native 720p set?
\_ What about a screen and a projector? How does that
compare to LCD and plasma?
\_ projectors work better in dark rooms. also remember you
have to replace bulbs on the projector.
\_ There is a great range in bulb prices and how long
they last. |
| 2005/11/21-23 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Drives] UID:40671 Activity:nil |
11/21 Need recommendation for a small form factor network file server
to connect a PC laptop and a MAC laptop at home. About 500 gigs
to 1 T. I'm looking at the Maxtor Shared storage series and also at
the "Buffalo terastation". Can somebody recommend other brand names?
This is for home use, performance is not critical but it has to be
reasonably priced. General purpose PC is out of the question because
I need something that'll fit on a bookshelf. Thanks!
\ I am also interested in this. Was looking at the Adaptec SnapServers
\_ are you the same guy who posted the following?
http://csua.com/?entry=40190
At any rate, you should STFK:
http://csua.com/?entry=37702
\_ I am also interested in this. Was looking at the Adaptec SnapServers
\_ Most reviews of the terastation says that RAID5 speed is really
poor, although one comment suggested that upgrading to the latest
firmware improves it. But I'm also looking for something small.
I require NFS and decent speed, though. Oh, and have you
considered a mac mini with several usb/firewire HDs stacked?
\_ did you ever fix the lame windows problem where one of your
PCs running XP Pro hangs for 2-30 seconds without responding
while your CPU usage is 1-2%?
\_ Do you have a closet or garage you can drop it in and forget about
it? Then size and nouse wouldn't be a big deal and you'd save some
bucks. |
| 2005/11/16-17 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Display] UID:40611 Activity:very high |
11/16 Is it me, or it seems like the new Gen Y kids are much more
tech saavy, independent, self-reliant, outspoken,
and self-absorbed? Many of the Gen Y kids I manage
are really bad team players and actually seem quite
conservative with that "fuck the government, screw the society,
help thyself" attidude. -annoyed Gen X
\_ Jesus fucking christ. At least wait until you're 40 to start
bitching about "these kids today."
\_ Is that you, Paolo?
\_ Yes, except there's nothing independent or self-reliant about them.
They are supported by Mom and Dad. Attitude, conceit, and
self-absorption I've all noticed, though. This describes my
little brother and his friends and it makes me nauseated. I
can't imagine having to work with people like that.
\_ They are also younger and stupider
\_ While I see that some newer employees in my group are
very self-interested, I do not see it as an expression
of conservative values. What I see is more of a sense of
privilege and entitlement rather than the conservative
view that gov should restrain men from injuring one
other, but otherwise allow them to regulate their own
affairs.
very self-interested (I want a flat-screen, I need a
new computer, I want more options, &c.), I do not see
it as an expression of conservative values. What I see
is more of a sense of privilege and entitlement.
\_ I agree with this also. My bro has been on the job 3 months
and already asked for (and got) an LCD monitor and a new
computer. On one hand, good for him. On the other hand,
he's lucky I'm not his boss. Some people have been there
10 years and don't have an LCD. He's not as valuable to the
company as he thinks he is.
\_ You're using your brother as an example of generational
difference between you and 'his' generation? How much
age difference is there? Also, just for the record, I
don't think having an obnoxious sense of entitlement is
Gen Y specific.
\_ It does seem to be Gen Y specific. I notice it in my
nieces and nephews as well. They are the "ME, RIGHT
NOW" generation. He's in his early 20s and I'm in my 30s,
FWIW.
\_ This is a very bad example to use for this thread. Asking
for LCD monitor for text-based work is not a "self-
interested" thing. It is _so_ much better for your eyes.
For such a little investment, companies that don't provide
them are the ones that are "self-interested." I spent
about $1500 of my own money to buy two 17" LCD monitors
back when it was still fairly expensive, and brought them
to work. Now, the company provides them, so I took mine
home, and now, I have three panels. I had to cheat a bit
and use my own system with two videocards, but it is SO
worth it.
\_ You say yourself that you bought these things with
your own money in the past. There's no way any of
these kids would even *think* of doing that. In fact,
my brother wants his work to buy one for home use,
too, since he works from home a lot. Any way you slice
it, that's self-interest. People coded on CRTs for a
long time and somehow survived.
\_ For work? Dang, there isn't a single person around my
work who doesn't have an LCD. I've just got a 19" Dell
LCD, but there's a guy I know who joined about the same
time as me who has 2 gigantic Apple LCD monitors.
\_ How nice for you. At my work most people have LCDs,
but lots of people don't. As their old monitors die
they are replaced with LCDs, though. All new systems
come with LCDs, if you want one. Anyway, you've missed
the point which is the idea that he thinks the company owes
him something and he's only been there a few months.
\_ I sense Leadership Qualities in your new co-worker!
http://csua.org/u/e0w (work-safe)
\_ Yeah, it's the you are SO lucky to have me attitude
that bugs me the most. Its like they are doing the
company a favor by coming to work. Maybe I just
\_ Yeah, it is the you are SO lucky to have me attitude
that bugs me the most. They act like they are doing
the company a favor by coming to work. Maybe I just
grew up in a different world b/c I always viewed it
as a privilege to work for the co.
as a privilege to work.
\_ its the lack of apostrophes and well-placed quotation
\_ Oh, the irony.
marks that bugs _me_ the most.
\_ fixed.
\_ Kids these days have no respect for their elders! -Your elders
\_ The only way to help society is through the government -
interesting idea. -jblack
\_ Who said that? Oh right, you did.
\_ That's what us boomers think about you Gen-Xers too.
\_ That's what us Boomers think about you Gen-Xers too. |
| 2005/10/24-25 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Display] UID:40245 Activity:moderate |
10/24 Can you convince me to get rid of my CRT monitor and buy a
flat-screen LCD monitor?
\_ Why would you need convincing? Text looks sharper, especially with
DVI, there are no more ghosting problems, it uses less power and
therefore generates less heat, it's much easier to move and
maneuver around. The only place were CRTs have the edge is in
color fidelity (or so I've heard) which might matter if you're
a digital editing nut and handling insanely high resolutions.
\_ However, they're still a fair bit more expensive, and the
resolution doesn't go as high unless you get a large LCD,
which you pay even more of a premium for.
\_ A 19" quality LCD costs today what a quality 19" CRT cost
4 years ago. (under $400). Besides, I think a display is
possibly the most important component of a desktop computer
system, so I'd definitely try to get the best I can afford.
A 19" LCD does 1280x1024 and you probably don't want to
have resulution larger than that on 19" display anyways.
\_ I recently bought a 19" 1280x1024 LCD (700:1 contrast) for
$300 with analog and DVI inputs. It's gorgeous. Check out
these deals: http://www.slickdeals.net/#p6628
\_ Notice how I can't get 1600x1200 with a 19".
\_ I didn't want 1600x1200.
\_ I've never needed over 1280x1024 on any monitor,
including 21" CRT monitors.
\_ I noticed that my productivity scales pretty well with
number of lines of code I can fit on a screen. That's
why I run all my desktops on CRTs at 1900x1200. Odd
that my laptop screen is at 1920x1200, but I can't find
why I run all CRTs on my desktops at 1900x1200. Odd
that my laptop screen is at 1920x1200, but I can find
an affordable standalone 19" LCD that will do that.
\_ Your screen is most likely the most expensive part of
your laptop.
\_ Almost certainly. But why they don't make that
screen standalone is beyond me.
\_ If you get an uber LCD which turns out to be lame (too much
resolution for tiny fonts and images), you will regret switching.
\_ More desk real estate. That in itself should be reason enough.
\_ Do you wear glasses? I'm pretty near sighted and I always found
color crts (esp. 19" and larger) strained my eyes and gave me
headaches after prolonged use (6+ hrs). I switched to an LCD
in 1999 and it helped a lot. I've subsequently bought a 20"
Apple Cinema display and I no longer get eye-strain or head-
aches. I'm not sure if this is b/c of the refresh rate or
just b/c the LCD is sharper than an CRT.
\_ I read somewhere that CRT has a thick layer of glass and the
images are "under" the glass so that your eyes are constantly
having to focus and refocus between looking at the images and
the surface of the glass and that causes the eyestrain. LCDs
just have a thin layer so the text and images lie right at the
surface. |
| 2005/9/28-29 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/Companies/Apple] UID:39903 Activity:high |
9/28 Just bought a 12" Powerbook, and it's very poorly manufactured (case
parts not aligned, wobbles, etc.) and the vendor claims that Apple are
hardasses about replacing screwed up hardware if it's otherwise
working, and that they have no support. I really like the laptop,
but it's a bit disappointing that it's got such a badly assembled and
warped case--can someone from Apple confirm that it's this
difficult? -John
\_ That's really too bad. Most of the PowerBooks I've played with
were pretty well built. But like any manufacturing process,
there's always a percentage of fallout where the product isn't
manufactured to the tolerances set for whatever reason. It's
like the theory for car manufacturing. You never want to buy
a car that was built on a Friday or at the end of the work
day because that's when workers are thinking about other things.
\_ the only support problems I've had with apple products where
when I tried to deal with third party types (like
http://macconnection.com) instead of apple itself. -meyers
\_ Can I control that? How do I find out if a car is build on a
Friday?
\_ Mondays are bad too. Workers are just getting over their
break. I'd say Wednesday is optimal.
\_ Dealers have this information. Just ask for it. They
know the exact date on when the car was built.
\_ Friday car quality myth today
http://user.classifiedguys.com/sto/st120504.htm
\_ Not from Apple, but this doesn't match my personal consumer
experience with Apple. Call Apple support for confirmation.
\_ did you buy a decked out version or a middle-of-the-road version?
in my limited experience, companies like to save their nicely built
batch for the expensive ones with three years warranty, and their
batch for the expensive bundles with 3-years warranty, and their
crappy batches (a bad pixel there, things don't fit quite right)
for the budget brands with 1-year warranty. Same model notebook.
for the budget bundle with 1-year warranty. Same model notebook.
i've seen this for fujitsu S series (made in Osaka) and
thinkpad T42.
thinkpad T42 (China).
\_ Did you get AppleCare?
\- your apple is a lemon.
\_ Yeah--3 year support, but I'm being told that they pawn off all
support stuff to some outsourcer who "doesn't replace units."
It's registered with Apple--I'm just wondering whether this is
normal, or whether, if these guys are difficult about it, I can
just somehow go to Apple directly and get it done. I've just
gone through support hell with IBM (never again, fuckers) and
don't have the time or energy to constantly fight with laptop
mfgrs. or their peons. -John
\_ iLemonade
\_ Why not just give it a shot and report back to motd. I think
most of the Apple people on CSUA are engineers and dn't
know what's going on at ops and tech support (replacement
policy, etc.).
\- my powerbook has been back to apple like 5 times and
i think they have done a reasonable job of repairing.
the only think about by tibook i think is ass is the
powercharger and power charger connection ... the other
breakage was due to unusual stresses. oh i guess the latch
isnt that solid either.
\_ I think it's a warped body in this case. -John
\_ I dropped my wife's iPod Mini. We had AppleCare.
They replaced it, no questions asked.
\_ what kind of IBM support hell? I just had the mainboard of
my T41 replaced under warranty in a different country than
where I bought it using drop off service at the counter in
their office downtown. kept the drive for myself, and they
made no noises about the obvious corrosion of screws and
other signs of harsh operation!
\_ Treated like shit by their incompetent call center, not
allowed to park at service center where I went on my own
accord after being ignored by call center, told that it
would cost me ca. $1k to replace a MoBo on an X31 ca. 5
months out of warranty (which fried when I closed the lid),
lied to about the initial date of warranty, told that to
get a _cost estimate_ for the repair would cost me ca. $160,
had some smarmy customer service woman call me in response
to my utterly amazed complaint and have the chutzpah to
me to a 5% rebate deal they were having on their current
suggest a 5% rebate deal they were having on their current
models ("it has an airbag!") Told by the guy who runs IT at
my gf's company (which has a massive global contract with
IBM) that they've been treated worse. -John |
| 2005/9/16-19 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:39717 Activity:nil |
9/16 Stolen UC Laptop recovered:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/09/16/BAGSGEO6CE1.DTL
\_ how did they track the laptop to LA ... saw the MAC address
somewhere? |
| 2005/9/16-17 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:39706 Activity:nil |
9/15 How often should I run my laptop's 'Improve Battery Health' deep
discharge program? It's showing 89% of rated capacity and 135
discharge cycles. |
| 2005/8/31-9/2 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/Networking] UID:39389 Activity:nil |
8/31 Today I declare 802.11x the best thing in the world. Why? Because
it gives me new freedom to do whatever I want. I'm a typical married
guy with a kid. Occasionally I need privacy. I need time and
space to myself, and pretty much the only time where I can be by
myself is when I drive to/from work, and when I'm in the bathroom.
Sometime I have an urge and it's kind of hard to relieve myself down
there without help. However, it is very convenient to take my laptop
to the bathroom and porn surf. It's a lot better than taking
Hustler or something obvious into the bathroom. With the laptop,
it looks like you're working hard, and indeed, you're working hard
to get pleasure that you once had. I love 802.11x. It has given
me freedom and a new life. It has increased my quality of life by
100X. I can't believe I didn't get it earlier. Get 802.11b/g/x!!!
\_ Please please tell us you're not trying to surf porn and spank your
monkey while driving to work.
\_ Nah, he's just using the friendly neighborhood parking lot.
Have you seen "Happiness?" Remember the scene with the dad,
the magazine, and the parking lot?
\_ moan if you want to ......moan around the world
\_ Please please tell us your name so that we won't help debug stuff on
your laptop.
your laptop without gloves.
\_ You don't need 802.11x to play adult CDs on your laptop. |
| 2005/8/18-19 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:39168 Activity:nil |
8/18 To the person looking for a laptop going to Iraq: I was going to
say that you should find something touted as being 810F compliant
but then I figured that would break your wallet and so I stayed silent
but then I saw this on gizmodo: http://csua.org/u/d2y
\_ Thanks, da fools didn't list the exact price on the product page,
though. |
| 2005/8/15-17 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:39127 Activity:moderate |
8/15 On the off chance that someone might know, are there any notebooks
appropriate for infantry (riflemen) about to be sent off to Iraq?
My younger brother is going there in three weeks and says without a
laptop he's bored out of his mind. I told him there were no warranties
that covered accidental and/or battlefield damage outside the U.S.,
as far as I knew. Any suggestions? I recommended this one
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16834115195
with the idea that if it breaks or gets stolen, I can just mail him
a second one, since it's only $600. Thanks!
Yes, I did think about Toughbooks, but the Army-approved ones are $3K+.
Yes, you can have fun when off-duty:
http://csua.org/u/d1e link:tinyurl.com/bwouh
\_ Why not have him take a laptop? Everyone there seems to have
one to watch DVDs on and stuff and the Internet cafes are
popular. It doesn't have to be any sort of special hardware.
Anything is fine.
\_ It doesn't have to be any sort of special hardware. Anything is
fine. Buy for him just as if he was going off to college.
\_ I wonder if the stock $600 laptop will survive desert heat
conditions.
\_ Do the Toughbooks use 54xx parts instead of 74xx?
\_ Are you talking discreet logic? I'd be shocked if they used
any.
\_ Would you prefer their logic was unabashed?
\_ Send a laptop cooling pad as well.
\_ It'd be an interesting experiment if nothing else. The
thermal coefficient between case and pcb is probably dismal.
\_ I'm expecting he'll be leaving his notebook on-base, like in
the photo. It's probably air-conditioned.
\_ The photo has a prominent air conditionar near the light, so
there ya go.
\_ I'd be more worried about sand than heat. Send a really large
ziplock as well.
\_ just make sure to not put batter in with computer or
if chance it turns on your computer will heat up
\_ As others said, he'd leave it at base and it will be fine there.
\_ probably better off waiting. He can see what others over there are
using. He might also get good discounts on these things from the PX.
\_ Or perhaps a 800yd laser rangefinder monoc with NV and plenty of
batteries? Or a nice red dot scope if he doesn't have one already.
\_ Get a red/green dot one. Easier to spot in different lighting
scenarios. |
| 2005/8/9-11 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Memory] UID:39064 Activity:nil |
8/9 I had a motherboard die after like 90% of the capacitors leaked.
Appareantly this is a widespread problem (badcaps.net). I'm
wondering, (a) why I hadn't heard of this earlier, and (b) why
there hasn't been a big recall of defective components.
\_ (a) because you don't read /., http://theinquirer.net, .... Do you
read anything? Try to keep up a little, will ya? This is
over a year old stuff.
\_ I read /. almost everyday. When was it on /.?
\_ Years ago.
(b) Abit sort of recalled. Problem is too widespread to recall.
Trying to do so would probably take out a lot of companies.
\_ Not only that, you apparently don't read the MOTD or archives,
this was mentioned more than once here. The answer is to get
replacement caps (assuming your other components are intact)
and solder them on to the board. Also, MBs are under $100 US,
the cheapies can be found for sometimes less than fifty, so
it's such a cheapie item that a general recall would've killed
some of the MB companies because the margins are razor thin.
And yes, there is a sort-off coverup going on.
\_ I just had my thinkpad t41 crap out under warranty... does anyone
know if they had this problem too? It died slowly, e.g. showing
signs of going out of spec in the video memory first.
\_ Just about EVERY company was affected, including IBM. |
| 2005/8/9-11 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:39063 Activity:nil |
8/9 Is there such a thing as a reliable water-proof laptop case? Who
makes/sells it? I'm looking for something that's as portable as
possible. Thanks.
\_ Waterproof as in "can get rained on" or waterproof as in "can be
dropped in a lake"?
\- there are expedition rafters who take laptops and satellite
comm equipment, so yes. i am not sure if they are special
purpose laptop cases or just a case adapted for laptop that
is nominally "for" camera gear. but you cal look at say pelican
cases. by now i assume there are thigns especially for laptops. |
| 2005/8/3-4 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Display] UID:38976 Activity:kinda low |
8/3 Dell sends me catalogs all the time. I don't care. I like trees.
How do I make them stop sending me catalogs? - danh
\_ Tell them at http://dell.com.
\_ http://www.dell.com -> Privacy Policy -> Mailing List Removal/Change
of Address -> "Click here to opt-out of direct mail ...... Home and
Home Office customers".
\_ wow, thanks! - danh
\_ First, you tell them (Michael Dell and his management) to stop using
Dell corporate money to donate 90% of their total party funds to
the Republicans. When that happens, you'll buy their products. |
| 2005/8/1-4 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Display] UID:38922 Activity:nil |
8/1 Somehow I've been delegated by my boss to buy a big plasma screen
for the department, for about $2000. The size is not specified,
but he says to get it as big as possible with good resolutions.
What is a good deal nowadays?
\_ Are you sure it was plasma and not LCD? $2K may not be possible,
or so cheep it defeats the purpose. Anyway, according to the prices
in the "Best-buy LCD and plasma ..." URL it might be possible:
http://reviews.cnet.com/Televisions/2001-6475_7-0.html?tag=ont.tv
\_ You can probably by a decent 32" LCD TV or a really crappy 40"
plasma from a no-name brand.
\_ With coupon passed out instore for 8/8 to 8/16, Costco is selling
the Maxent 42" plasma for $1699. Link to product, but not at
Costco.
http://www.monitoroutlet.com/M10551.html
\_ That claims to display 1280x1024, but is that stretched to 16:9
or does it remain 5:4? |
| 2005/7/26-29 [Consumer/Camera, Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:38835 Activity:low |
7/26 What are the pros and cons of Compact Flash versus Secure Digital
for a camera?
\_ Please add to the list:
Pro for CF:
1. harder to break physically
2. harder to lose
Pro for SD:
1. smaller form factor
\_ You can get a Firewire CF reader from Lexar and SanDisk but
afaik no one makes a FW SD card reader.
I've tried a FW and a USB2 CF reader and the FW reader is
noticably faster.
\- my understanding is cameras are moving in the direction of SD
but it seems to me there isnt much of a choice today, meaning
you can choose whether to get the same body with CF or SD.
and i wouldnt think not having SD is a reason to rule out
a body or somethign especially important to wait for [as might
be a full size sensor etc. with somethign that small, who cares
about size [assuming it is a decent sized camera].
\_ Really? A friend who knows pro photographers said that SD
isn't taken seriously because it's too fragile. It's thin
isn't taken seriously because it's too fragile. It's small
and the "pins" are exposed. On the other hand, perhaps
amateur photography has moved toward SD; PDAs certainly have.
\_ There are loads of multi-card readers (CF, SD, Memory Stick, etc)
around. I have one, I can look up the maker if you want. -John
\- the author of http://tinyurl.com/8s9ky made the claim
about moving CF -> SD. i find this peculiar ... i'd think
it would be easier to make say a 8gb card in the CF form
factor than SD, and i think people want space and speed
over saving 1oz. anyway, just passing along a claim.
\_ Is one or the other more reliable/longer lasting?
\_ As above mentioned, size is a key factor. I think for consumer
digicams, SD is the way to go. Last I checked, CF was still quite
a bit faster than SD. If that's still the case, CF definitely
belongs in prosumer and upper level cameras. Oh, and another
advantage for CF is that it's just a PCMCIA on a smaller form.
So compatibility with laptops(with pcmcia adapter) will be better.
\_ new laptops and pcs seems to have card readers built in. |
| 2005/7/21-23 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:38760 Activity:low |
7/21 OK I've changed my mind about Thinkpads, after realizing that they're
more expensive than other models, break just as easily, and IBM
support sucks (have heard the same from colleagues at large corporate
customers.) Fuckers wouldn't even let me use a parking space to bring
a laptop by their service center. In the context of driver compati-
bility hassles over the last few months, no more IBM for me for the
foreseeable future. I'm buying a Powerbook. -John
\_ This is precisely the switch I made a couple months ago. Very
happy so far.
\_ If you look on http://newegg.com for T42 reviews, you'll see one recent
post where one guy got 7 dead pixels. Out of 10 reviews, I guess.
My boss's T42 from last year has one stuck red pixel in the corner.
A grad student has one whose fan died. All made in China, like,
what, > 90% of notebooks? The Fujitsu S series is still made in
Osaka, though warranty service isn't as reliable.
\_ It's not even the quality I'm so mad about--computers are fiddly
and shit happens. I just find their attitude absolutely
deplorable, and their incompetent, customer-unfriendly way of
dealing with people who pay a premium on devices expecting good
service from a company that touts itself as so reliable for small
businesses absolutely fucking horrid. -John
\_ good decision. -ibook user |
| 2005/6/30 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:38383 Activity:nil |
6/30 Does anyone have experience with using a 2nd HDD in a laptop as a
replacement for the CD/DVD module? How big is the effect on battery
life? Does power managment work for the 2nd drive? |
| 2005/6/29-30 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:38353 Activity:nil |
6/28 How do I clean a laptop or LCD screen? I read somewhere that
using alcohol can yellow the screen eventually. - danh
\_ lick it up and down, slowly. make sure you don't miss a spot.
\_ oh and since you mentioned it, don't do this if you're an
alcoholic. it might yellow the screen eventually.
\_ do you write for SNL ? - danh
\_ distilled water
\_ I use iKlear for my iBook/Apple LCDs:
http://iklear.klearscreen.com
They have other cleaning kits on their main page:
http://klearscreen.com
\_ CostCo has a $5 lens cleaning kit that works great. It seems to
have outlasted my last laptop. |
| 2005/6/15-17 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:38146 Activity:kinda low |
6/15 A friend of mine who is in a hardware business trying to implement
a relatively common feature in laptop: be able to play DVD, play
mp3 without ever get into Windows. How do people usually do that?
Do they have an embedded Linux somewhere where one will boot up and
perform these functions? If that is teh case, where is the embedded
OS? is it in BIOS? How come these things tend to have almost
instant start-up time compare with desktop Linux which takes 1 minute
to boot up? thx
\_ Many embedded systems put the boot system on flash. I think the
boot speed has less to do with the boot media and more to do with
the limited kernel size/number of drivers embedded systems load.
Google for Soekris. This is the hardware company many of the
community wi-fi projects are using. -dans
\_ pcengines.ch WRAP >>> Soekris. -John
\_ thanks all. It seems that it is Intervideo's InstantOn that
is behind couple of the mainstream OEM's solution. --OP
\_ Check out ROM-DOS by Datalight. |
| 2005/5/24-26 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:37824 Activity:nil |
5/24 Dear Windows XP laptop guy who was having XP hanging problems when
disconnecting the laptop, did you find the fix, and if so, can you
please share your experience? |
| 2005/5/23-26 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:37806 Activity:nil |
5/23 Macs use IBM chips, but IBM laptops use Intel chips? How ironic.
\_ No such thing as an IBM laptop anymore.
\_ No more Thinkpads?
\_ IBM sold their whole PC business (including ThinkPad) to
Lenovo. There are still ThinkPads, but now they're Lenovo
ThinkPads.
\_ Not yet. Under the agreement, IBM will continue
making the ThinkPads for some time.
\_ ArsTechnica is suggesting they probably just want XScale chips for
small devices.
\_ And XBox 360 uses IBM chips, demo'ing on Macs.
\_ Even better, today there are rumors that Apple is looking into
using Intel chips in its Mac computers.
\_ I assume that was just posturing on Apple's part to force IBM
to do Mac-able versions of Power5/6. It probably meant anxious
moments at a certain startup though. |
| 2005/5/20-23 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:37791 Activity:kinda low |
5/20 Help. Sometimes on my XP, Hibernation fails. Worse, when I suspect
for 1-2 hours and it tries to hibernate afterwards, it occasionally
fails and keeps the laptop on. Why is this happening and how do I
fix it? Thanks.
\_ A real answer: The most likely reason for hibernation not working
is due to network activity through one of your network interfaces.
Attempt to disable network interfaces before hibernating and see
if that affects it. If it does, then you need to mess around with
the network driver settings and make sure that it is properbly
power managed by your computer.
Alternative reasons why hibernate fails:
Your display driver (yes
the display driver for your display subsystem also depends on
ACPI) is buggy. Either get an updated version or mess around
with the driver's settings.
Your BIOS needs to be upgraded.
Hibernation feature is unreliable (at times you cannot get it
to come out of hibernate and forces you to restart) but if the
problem persists, most likely it is one of the above problems.
\_ The hibernation feature is not reliable. Turn it off.
\_ You're an idiot.
\_ Actually, you're the idiot. Many laptop bioses are
broken and resuming from hibernation is a tricky art
that doesn't always work. After multiple hibernations,
even hibernation itself may fail.
\_ Yes, some BIOSes aren't up to snuff. Do you know that's
the case for the op? Just telling him that "hibernation is
broken" is useless and a waste of space.
\_ Your brain is not reliable. Turn it off.
\_ Pot, kettle, black. 'nuff said.
\_ Ah, I can see your brain is off now. Good job.
\_ Wow, your singlemindedness if impressive.
I would say keep it up, but it sounds like
nothing is going to get through your thick
skull in any case. Poor guy.
\_ Why not turn this feature off, reclaim some disk space, and
use suspend instead?
\_ I need to hibernate in cases that I need to swap battery
(and I tried swapping with suspend and as expected, no luck).
Also suspend doesn't save as much power as hibernate. ok thx.
\_ Suspend consumes battery, hibernate does not.
\_ What do you mean "fails"? You can set your options so that it
doesn't go from suspend->hibernate in the power options.
\_ Have you checked if there is a BIOS update for your system? |
| 2005/5/19-21 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:37762 Activity:nil |
5/19 Is my 1394 Net Adapter supposed to always be in state: "Connected"?
WinXP Pro Toshiba M100 laptop, in Control Panel->Network Connections,
it says i have a 1394 Net Adapter connection that always says
it is "Connected". Never noticed it before. Never had anything
plugged into the 1394 firewire port. Selecting Right-click and
"Status" shows time connected and 400Mbps but no other fields filled.
\_ WOW, still no answer or ideas? I must have a question that stumps
the MOTD and Google. This must be an unanswerable one? Naw, SOMEONE
must have The One True Answer. |
| 2005/5/12-15 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/Networking] UID:37661 Activity:low |
5/12 Hi, I run windows Xp home edition on my laptop. It's hooked up
to my DSL router via ethernet most of the time. When I want to
just use the laptop without a net connection, the laptop sometimes
locks up and becomes really really slow. To the point where I can't
even right-click on the network icon to disable it temporarily.
I can't even do Ctrl-Alt-Delete to bring up the task manager.
Is there a way to fix this? That is, just make it stop trying to
reconnect to a network so aggressively. Thanks.
\_ Well did you narrow down the causes? Have you tried
"ipconfig /release" and see if something's up? Also, I'd suggest
you "unmount" all network drives as that hangs XP a lot.
Oh, and stop reading alt.binaries.pictures.erotica.orientals
\_ Uhm, no. Doing an ipconfig /release isn't the correct answer
to this problem. I believe the answer lies within your internet
connection settings. As you did not specify how exactly you
connect to the internet, there's no way for anyone to really
help you. If you are connecting through a router that does
the PPOE for you then a disconnection from the net should not
cause a slowdown like this. Perhaps you have a bridge of some
sort in your network config. It may also be hardware related...
Anyway, this is a very peculiar problem.
\_ that is what I have. DSL modem does the PPPoE and my
net connection is just a plain ethernet link that does
DHCP. No fancy stuff. I do have zone alarm running though.
When this happens I can't bring up task manager to see
which process is running, so it's hard to troubleshoot this.
- the op
\_ Then try the following, hit F8 during the bootup
process, then select safe mode with networking.
If safe mode with networking appears to run fine
then there is something wrong with one of the
programs you are running during startup. Try disabling
zone alarm if that's the case and see if that solves
your problem. Also, as below, make sure your machine
is clean. Malware will exhibit this behavior.
\_ Reboot your computer with the Ethernet plugged in. Wait.
Run netstat -ano from a command prompt. Check if you have
lots of outgoing sessions. Then install Ad-Aware and Spybot to
check if you have adware.
\_ [80 columns please.]
Hope this helps. - jthoms |
| 2005/5/12-13 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/SW/Languages/Misc] UID:37652 Activity:kinda low |
5/11 If you noticed that your laptop HD never rests because it's doing
something, and you've already killed all auxilary processes and made
drives not "Fast Indexable", it's the explorer that's funky. Here
is one solution. Kill explorer and then run it again. You can use
a batch file script:
taskkill -im explorer.exe /f
explorer.exe
\_ Make sure you set this to N and reboot if necessary.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Dfrg\BootOptimizeFunction\Enable
This got rid of the strange HD activity on my laptop. -chiry
\_ Is it trying to defragment the disk on its own?
\_ My understanding is it will kick in when your laptop
has been idle for some time (ie, 1 hour), and will
disappear the moment you ran task manager trying to
identify the process using the disk. You will see it
in task manager if you leave task manager running for
an hour. I think it tries to defrag the boot files,
not your whole disk.
\_ what does explorer.exe do when you don't have any IE Explorer
window open?
\_ It's your shell. Taskbar, tray, file broweser, etc. IExplore is
something else.
\_ There are a bunch of useful toys for checking open processes, file
handles, etc. under Windows on http://www.sysinternals.com -John |
| 2005/5/5-6 [Computer/SW/OS/Solaris, Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/CPU] UID:37529 Activity:kinda low |
5/5 I am not familar with Solaris, so, I may be biased... My impression,
from a desktop/laptop user point of view, is that Linux has
better userability than Solaris10, eventhough Solaris 10 also come
with a gnome desktop environment. However, I find myself in a
rare position of not knowing how to articulate this point to
some of the Solaris fanatics. Their argumenet is that since S10
is also equipped with GNOME, userability is the same as Linux.
1. is this arguement flawed?
2. if you think Linux indeed has better usability, any concret example
of userability is more than gnome desktop TIA
\_ From a user point of view, the biggest advantage of Linux is
all the software it ships with. All of that *can* be added to
Solaris, but it isn't there out of the box. Another advantage
of Linux is that for most tasks the actual hardware is faster,
assuming you are running Intel/AMD. Sun has the advantage for
problems that fit within the larger CPU cache, but are larger
then the (smaller) Intel cache.
\_ No Linux desktop user has any basis for say his desktop is superior
in usability to the S10 desktop. This is like the dateless ugly
girl at the dance picking on the other ugly girl for not having a
date.
\_ Thanks for erasing my post and adding bullshit at the same
time.
\_ it's ok, I read it already. -- OP
\_ that is why I post this on motd. If i think i am in a
position of being objective, i probably can make assessment
on my own. having said that, from little things such as
ls, man command, to the way driver installed on S10, I
still think Linux is friendlier.
\_ BWWAAAAHAHAHAHA! Man, it's 'friendlier' until you have to do
low down systems level programming. Then it's 'friendly'
in the same way your 320lb cellmate 'Butch' is friendly.
\_ ^320lb cellmate^neurotic 320lb cellmate
\_ Is that what the server world has really come down to? One
version of 'ls' is "friendlier" (meaning: the way you learned
it on the one system) therefore that system is superior? I'm
curious how many non-Linux systems you've used and for how
many years each.
\_ Your point is correct, but I've just watched (again)
a bunch of presentations tearing gaping new assholes in
Windows security. Maybe he should have mentioned this.
Usability is actually pretty decent. -John
\_ What about drivers? Unless you buy hardware from Sun, you're
going to have some serious problems with hardware support. In
addition, the number of binary-only desktop applications seems to be
dwindling (for example our users would like to be able to use the
latest Matlab and Acrobat reader but those aren't available on
Solaris/x86). In addition, even though Sun includes Gnome, I doubt
Solaris x86 comes with as many popular open source applications as
there are in a typical Linux dist (but then I could be wrong, I
haven't used Sol10 myself yet although Solaris 9 loses hands down in
this area even though it also comes with Gnome).
\_ Easy fix for that: just buy Sun hardware.
\_ I don't understand the desire on the part of some people to attempt
to compare the quality/friendliness/whatever of the desktop
environments of what are really server systems. If you want a nice
GUI, buy a Mac. If you want to play games, work in an office, and
have the largest variety of desktop apps, buy Windows. If you want
a server system and you're the one making the buying deicision, the
question is not "Is this Gnome better than that Gnome?" The
question you're answering and the 'debate' you've involved in is
meaningless.
\_ Someone has to develop the apps for the server system and
that lucky person often gets to use it as a desktop. It is
true, though, that using a PC/Mac as one's desktop and
remotely connecting to the server to code makes sense
depending on the app being developed.
\_ Yep, I've got the kind of luck where I have to use CDE
at work. As far as desktops go, Linux is easier to use
on x86 because there are just a lot more people using it
and improving it. Also, I'd have to say GNU utilities are
generally superior to default solaris ones. |
| 2005/5/4-6 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Memory] UID:37522 Activity:nil |
5/4 Is kingmax memory a reliable brand (for laptop)?
\_ yeah, it works fine
just do a http://newegg.com search for "kingmax memory" and you'll get
pages of 4 or five egg average user ratings.
pages of 4- or 5-egg average user ratings.
\_ tnx for the response (I just didn't know if ratings at a merchant
site should be trusted). Another question: are 2.5v and 2.6v
memory compatible? http://crucial.com give me a 2.5v module for my
notebook, while kingmax has a module that has the same spec
except a 0.1v higher voltage. |
| 2005/5/4 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:37516 Activity:nil |
5/4 Any sodan here who was contacted by UC that their info. was on the
stolen laptop but hasn't requested a credit alert? I am still
hesitating because I have yet to find na authoritative description
about the side effect of a credit alert (or else why won't everybody
just choose it by default?), like whether it might affect renting an
apartment or getting a job because some dumbass does not want to rent
to or hire someone whose id might have been stolen.
\_ I didn't. I figure 100,000 is a lot of people to go through, and
that they wouldn't single me out because just have a dumb ass
bachelors degree from Cal. I figure they'd be more interested at
MS/PhD graduates.
\_ The only people affected were grad students. Someone was doing
some kind of study about graduate admissions and had the
data on their laptop. I know because my fiance was one of
those contacted by the UC. They said only her name and race
were on the laptop. She is not too concerned. |
| 2005/5/3-4 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Drives] UID:37464 Activity:low |
5/3 http://tinyurl.com/6999d Dell 20.1" monitor for only $561. WSXGA+ resolution (1680 x 1050). Good deal? \_ 20" monitor at that low resolution sounds awful to me. \_ That's not low, and the monitor is pretty good. I've got two. What I wonder is why most people care about a widescreen instead of the 2001FP. \_ I used both, I like the wide screen much better for a variety of reasons. In fact, I can hardly think of any reason to ever use 4:3 again. -chiry \_ Actually, a 20" at any higher resolution is probably aweful to use because the pixels are too small to be viewed comfortably. Yes you can increase your font, but at least on Windows not everything sizes up nicely, such as web pages. What size and resolution do you currently use? \_ My laptop is SXGA (1400x1050) and I use it 90 degrees so that I don't have to scroll to the bottom as often. Also it is a natural size to read 2 column technical PDFs, which I do most of the time. \_ On its side? Oh gawd. \_ i bought the monitor a month or so ago for $505+tax. since then i've seen deals selling it for ~$425+tax. i like it because it has composite and s-video hookups. Also, what resolution do you expect on a 20" monitor? Apple's 20" display has the same res. \_ Can I plug this into my Mac Mini? \_ I should've bought it when it was on sale for $380 a few weeks ago! \_ Dont buy it. Wait. I know someone with it, the dimensions suck. Wait for price to come down on a more traditional dimensions 1600x1200 or 1920x Wait for price to come down on a more traditional dimensions 1600x1200 or 1920x \_ I say no at that price. That's not a particularly rare deal. And I got that monitor and returned it... I was not impressed with it. I think it's better to aim for a bit bigger one. I'm pretty picky about LCDs though. \_ No, not a good deal. It has been significantly cheaper. |
| 2005/4/21-23 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:37305 Activity:kinda low |
4/21 Is this making a big news in Berkeley?
Dont steal laptops from Berkeley professors. Ever!
http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000710040887
\_ Funny: http://www.brianpritchett.com/?p=163 -John
\_ Snore. Bullshit theatric stunt by jackass who lost his laptop.
By the standards of Berkeley theatric stunts, this just isn't
that funny, entertaining or clever. I predict his chances of
seeing his laptop again to be equal to the chances my friendly
neigbor in oakland who stole my bike in 1998 decides to bring
it back because he fears my secret ninja death ray powers.
\_ go read this:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/04/19/BAGKJCB2EV1.DTL
(...+80col line deleted...)
the prof who blackballed the assistant professor is the guy who
basically admitted to all his students he is a whore for
product activated corn and lost his laptop. - danh
\_"Campus spokesman George Strait"?
\_ He's in Public Affairs. -tom
\_ From the tone of the professor it sounds like *he's* the one who's
in trouble. He seemed pretty nervous, not surprising since he has
to explain to all those companies he consulted for why he had so
much data *on a laptop* and that it was not encrypted. It's nice
to see bad things happen to bad people.
\_ The laptop has contacted Microsoft, the black hellicopters will be
here any minute! Save yourself while there's still time!!! |
| 2005/4/18-19 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:37236 Activity:low |
4/18 My laptop is really weird. Occasionally, after I suspend it for 30sec
to a minute, it automatically turns back on! I've turned off Wake-up
on LAN and other things but nothing's working. What could be causing
this?
\_ poltergeist
\_ demonic posession
\_ Are you closing the cover? Sometimes on my laptop, the cover
will press a key when it closes, which causes it to wake up. -tom
\_ Totally and utterly possible. Thank you, I will check for that -pp
\_ Which is totally possible, demonic posession or key issue?
\_ demonic posession
|- i heard daemons and eunuchs run the Internet!
|- i heard their are daemons and eunuchs on the Internet!
\_ Is it using ACPI? Some ACPI implementations are just plain odd.
Try using APM only. I've had similar trouble. -John |
| 2005/4/13-15 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Drives] UID:37181 Activity:nil |
4/13 I have 3 250G HDs with lots of videos in my desktop and I'd like to
make them portable and easily mountable for my laptop. Do you guys
recommend a detacheable IDE/USB2 drawer thingie, and if so, what kind
do you guys use? -ok thx
\_ $38 http://csua.org/u/b4x
Easy to slide open and stick in a new drive. Video review:
http://www.3dgameman.com/vr/ams/venus_ds/video_review_03.html
\_ What OS? |
| 2005/4/9-13 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:37132 Activity:low |
4/9 I received a letter from Cal saying my name was stored on that stolen
laptop. Should I really place a "credit alert"? And would doing so
hurt my credit rating?
\_ it can't hurt to place a credit alert. and I don't see how/why
it would affect your credit rating.
\_ Yes. File the report. Not filing if the threat proves real
could devastate your credit for decades. Filing when you don't
need to will hardly matter.
\_ Should I file the 90 day initial alert or the extended alert,
which requires a police report? Should I refile the 90 day
alert every 90 days for the rest of my life? This is a serious
question. If it makes sense to file an alert now, and one can
never predict when the stolen information will (no longer) be
used, it seems to make equal sense to keep the alert on forever.
BTW it seems that an alert will show up on the credit report.
\_ Depends how vulnerable you feel. 90 day alert is simple
to place so you might as well do that asap. Policy report
may or may not be a hassle to get.
\_ Jeesh, it is a bunch of cal students isn't it? Someone
should get the police report and put it up on the web. |
| 2005/4/9-10 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/SW/Virus] UID:37130 Activity:high |
4/8 To save power I set my laptop to shut down HD after 1 min of
inactivity. However, my laptop always does something to the HD
and I know this because it keeps clicking and clicking. I've turned
off Norton Realtime Anti-Virus thing, Firefox/IE, MS Word, and
pretty much everything I can think of, but it just never turns off.
What could be causing this? BTW I have 1.5G of RAM and XP and
apps only about 0.5G.
\_ Modern OSes will premtively copy memory to/from the swap file if
the system is fairly idle. That way if you do need to swap out
those pages you don't have to wait for the data to be written.
\_ Well, you could be running applications that save or backup their
state or config files or whatever every x minutes, and the swap
file is a possibility too. If you have that much RAM, you probably
don't need one. I have 1 GB and I don't even need one.
\_ XP will defrag/index files when idle by default.
\_ What? Is this for real? That is just brain dead. How do you turn
this off?
\_ right-click the disk, General tab, uncheck "Allow indexing
service to index this disk for fast file searching"
\_ This shouldn't be necessary, unless you enabled the
indexing service -- it doesn't run by default.
\_ I concur. For XP, the drive option is on by default,
but the service is off by default. This is unlike
2K, where the service is on by default.
Also, defrag != indexing. Duh.
\_ HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Dfrg\BootOptimizeFunction
set "Enable" to N and reboot. -ray |
| 2005/4/7 [Recreation/Dating, Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:37098 Activity:nil |
4/6 I love my Tablet PC! I love how you can organize notes and brainstorm
easily. I love how it does hand-writing to text conversion effortlessly
and how you can perform proper text search not only on text, but
handwriting as well! It's also quite something when you can simply
make draws and highlights in PowerPoint. I'm never going
back to regular laptops again. |
| 2005/4/1-3 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:37033 Activity:nil |
4/1 At my job I can plug in my own laptop ; but they block the mail
ports for all machines but the mailserver. This is
windows/outlook. I want to be able to use my laptop at work
just as I could at home. Any suggestions on something that is
a minimum of fuss?
\_ ssh port forwarding.
\_ Is this sending or receiving e-mail?
\_ sending only. Everything else works fine. I just want a
combo that I have to do a minimum amount of work to use |
| 2005/4/1-3 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Drives] UID:37032 Activity:low |
4/1 I'd like to play my favorite EA game on the laptop. However, I
don't have a CD player for my laptop and I'm wondering if it
is possible to mount the CD on my desktop and access it via
wireless. I know that EA has really weird CD protection
schemes, that's why I'm wondering if anyone has successfully
done this. -ok thx
\_ Never tried that, and I suspect it won't work. You can install
VirtualCD or Alcohol 120% on the laptop, then make a SafeDisc-aware
rip of the CD, put the image whereever, and then mount it in the
virtual drive.
\_ Does VirtualCD or Alcohol "simulate" bad sectors or weirdness
in CDs that EA games use for protection? Which one is better?
\_ A120% has never failed to deal with any copy protection I've
encountered on CDs. Daemon Tools also has some good
copy protection emulations. -John
\_ Rip with discdump and then mount the ISO with Daemon Tools.
\_ CDAnywhere is a tool to do this too, mounting a disk image as a
virtual CDrom device. |
| 2005/3/31-4/1 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:37008 Activity:low |
3/31 What's the best way to clean your laptop keyboard?
\_ throw your laptop in the dishwasher.
\_ Vacuum cleaner with a nossle.
\_ last time I did that (with my home vaccuum) I sucked 2 keys out
of it. Hahaha. Yeah I'm a moron.
\_ I hear masturbating with a belt sander is fun.
\_ No it isn't, and now I can't start my car.
\_ Compressed air for between the keys. Clean the keys with something
like the "optical care kit" available at CostCo (works great on
laptop displays as well).
\_ the air comes out as liquid sometimes, is that dangerous?
\- only if you are a moron using it as an optical care kit.--psb
\_ I just bought an LCD Cleaning System by Belkin at Best Buy for
$10 and it works pretty well. It comes with a "micro-fine fibers"
brush for the keyboard and screen as well as a cleaning pad that
you spray the included cleaning solution onto (Isopropyl Alcohol).
It also comes with about 5 extra cleaning pads. |
| 2005/3/30-31 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:36970 Activity:moderate |
3/30 Opinion- what do you think the government worker should use for
laptop security, esp. when it contains over 100,000 SSN and names?
\_ Why would you store 100,000 SSN and names on a laptop?
\_ Physical security.
\_ Kind of defeats the point of having a laptop, doesn't it?
\_ Such info should not be on a laptop in the first place.
\_ There are ways to safely store sensitive data on a laptop.
\_ Please explain. This is what this thread is about in
the first place.
\_ (a) nothing foolproof, nothing guaranteed. (b) Really
sensitive data that's not immediately required
should not be on a laptop. (c) Having a database
like this is questionable practice in most cases.
(d) Using SSNs to help identify people is really
dumb. -John
\_ What is wrong with encrypting it all?
\_ Use weak encryption. Work-flow leaves
unencrypted data on disk, either as a matter
of course, sloppiness, or paging. Lazy users
leave their decryption key/password in some
easily-takable place (such as on disk). It
can be done right, but there's lots of ways
to screw it up.
\_ Is this a serious question, or are you trolling to start a "Those
careless SOBs!" rant? |
| 2005/3/30 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:36969 Activity:kinda low |
3/30 Hi, my private information is contained in the stolen laptop and
I've been trying to call the hotline for the past 2 days without any
luck (says operator busy, call back in a few min). Worst of all I
can't even leave a message. Anyone have a better luck? 1-800-372-5110
\_ Try using the auto-redial feature that will ring your phone once
the call goes through. I think it costs less than $1.00
\_ it DOES go through, with a long message that finally ends with
"If you're hearing this message on M-F from 8AM to 6PM then our
operator is busy, please call back in a few minutes or leave a
message and we'll get back to you in 2 days." Then it says
"Enter you mailbox number" or something without giving me an
option to leave a message. I hate Berkeley. First it rejects me
and now it's fucking with me.
\_ How did you get this account then?
\_ There this thing called "graduate school" after undergrad.
\_ It rejected you for undergrad but accepted you for grad? |
| 2005/3/30 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:36962 Activity:high |
3/30 Poll, what do you do to protect your laptop's content?
Homing beacon: .
Nothing: ...
Login PW: ..
BIOS PW:
PGP files: .
File system encrypt:
Physical security: . (i.e., it's in a locked, secured-access
facility almost all the time.)
Left-handed mouse buttons: .
Dvorak key layout: . (however doesn't do much)
pkzipc -pass=foo: .
secret explosives booby trap:. |
| 2005/3/29-30 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:36939 Activity:high |
3/29 uh oh... http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/security/grad \_ Goddammit. This is the SECOND time my ID info was "lost" by a big-ish corporation. Bank of America "lost" the same stuff approx 1 month ago. \_ OH. MY. GOD. I AM PISSED. -somewho who applied to Cal \_ why is that information on a laptop anyway? \_ Many people use their laptop as a primary work machine. A more pointer question wouls be "shouldn't encryption be required for pointed question would be "shouldn't encryption be required for sensitive data on laptops and other highly stealable machines?" \_ Why isn't it just the client sitting on the laptop and the student database sitting on a box in a locked room somewhere? \_ Because the MIS guy at Sproul deserves to be fired. \_ Is that the case? Or did some bureaucrat determine that the data base only required class N security, and client/server is only required for class N+1 security? \_ People who put sensitive data on laptops should be fired. There is no excuse for this kind of irresponsibility. \_ well if there weren't 20 million illegals in the country and we actually enforced immigration laws it would not be as much of a problem. But you know, we need slaves to pick lettuce, slaughter meat, build houses, be aircraft mechanics... P.S. anonymous deleter: why would you delete this, my info is among that which was stolen. You believe there would be a huge market for identity theft is there were no illegals? \_ "pick lettuce, slaughter meat, build houses, _be aircraft mechanics_"? Are you retarded or autistic? Seriously, are you? \_ I think the last item was a clue he was being sarcastic. \_ Hmm, yes. I'm not used to OCDIT showing even a smidgen of intelligence. His posts are making me stupid too.... How sad....How sad.... \_ smarmy ripostes but no common sense. Since it was deleted almost immediately you may have missed it: 3/25 Doing the jobs Americans won't do FAA licensed 5 arrested at TIMCO - airplane mechanics! http://209.157.64.200/focus/f-news/1370361/posts The notion the 20 million illegals don't influence the market for false identification is, well, stupid. \_ Uhm...yes. Are you really a tech person? You seem to have an utter lack of understanding about the basic nature of high- tech crime, which seems odd for someone posting on motd. \_ since you seem to be such a technology expert type these words into google: illegal immigration identity theft \_ Mmm... small brain. \_ Illegals or not, there's a big market for ID information because identity-theft-assisted fraud can make big money. \_ And we wouldn't need all these illegals if it weren't for all the abortions. \_ "The campus has established a toll-free number 1-800-372-5110 where individuals can learn whether their information was among the data stolen." I can see it now. "Hello sir. Please give me your full name, mother's maiden name, and social security number for confirmation. Let me just log that data in... OK, now..." \_ Did it mention that the server logging the phone calls is a laptop? :-) \_ What OS does the laptop run? |
| 2005/3/24-28 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:36852 Activity:nil |
3/24 Can ALL laptops boot up from any arbitrary USB CD drive, or do they
require USB drivers (in another word, no)?
\_ ALL laptops? Of course not. Most modern ones should be able to,
but I'm sure there are funky special BIOSes on some of them. |
| 2005/3/24 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Memory] UID:36844 Activity:high |
3/23 I'm thinking about getting this laptop but the 60GB to 80GB upgrade
adds about $150, and the 256MB->512MB RAM adds another $150. Is there
any reason why I should do this, when I could potentially just buy a
100GB drive for $230, and likewise something similar with RAM?
\_ Tell us which notebook you want and maybe we can give advice.
E.g., the ThinkPad T42 has only one accessible memory slot,
the Fujitsu S7010(D) doesn't have a user-accessible hard drive,
and some ultra-light notebooks accept only very thin hard drives.
\_ In a T42, that one slot is shipped unpopulated, so you could
still slap in an extra gig for ~$200.
\_ how the heck do you repair/change a HD if it's not
user-accessible? I mean, is it like welded or something?
\_ Not user-accessible doesn't mean its not accessible, it just
means you'll have to go through (possibly damaging) grief and
possibly warranty voiding stickers to get at the hard disk.
My Sony VAIO Z505 back in the day was like this. Since I
didn't care about the warranty, I managed to crack the
fucker open and upgrade the HD. I managed to do it with
minimal damaage (i.e. minor scratches on the pretty case).
Similarly, opening up my Powerbook isn't happening, and I'm
not going to risk my extended warranty to do it.
not going to risk my extended warranty to do it. -dans
\_ Fujitsu T4010D (yes it's pricy but I REALLY want it) -pp
\_ If the 60GB is 7200rpm you might not want to 'upgrade' to a
80GB 5400rpm.
\_ Search http://tabletpcbuzz.com for user comments. I found some
on google already just by searching "t4010d upgrade".
\_ Get the RAM, don't get the drive. 20 GB is not worth $150. If
you need space later you can always add a USB drive. You will
always use the RAM, though.
\_ Did you check http://portableone.com? They used to be the #1 seller of
Fujitsu notebooks before http://newegg.com moved in, not sure now.
40GB->80GB is $200, 40GB->60GB 7200rpm is $170. (I have the 7200rpm
drive, and it's great, no problems.) 512MB is standard.
3yr warranty is cheap too. Oh look, you can also customize the
display to something that's indoor/outdoor and 180 deg viewing. |
| 2005/3/23-24 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Display] UID:36834 Activity:kinda low |
3/23 Besides dealcoupon and slickdeals what are the good sites to get a
19" Dell LCD?
\_ Buy Mac, support DNC. Buy Dell, support RNC (1/2 million of it).
\_ That's just about the dumbest thing I've read all day.
\_ why? The pp boycotts Dell the same reason he/she boycotts
Wal-Mart. It's just personal choice based on principle.
Whether the boycott is effective or not is a different issue.
\_ http://gotapex.com
\_ http://techbargains.com, http://fatwallet.com, http://bargainshare.com |
| 2005/3/23-24 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Printer] UID:36824 Activity:kinda low |
3/23 Any recommendations for an Ethernet print server for a
USB printer. Ideally would like it to work with XP and OS X.
\_ Just use your PC as the server and let other PCs print to it.
\_ If OP wanted to do that, they wouldn't be asking about standalone
print servers, would they?
\_ Correct. OP is working with a single laptop setup. -op
\_ Just curious. Why do you need a server?
\_ My friend uses his laptop in his family room
on the ottoman, and his printer/WiFi/Cable modem
is all in his office. He wants to be able to
print from his family room to his USB printer.
A wireless print server is not necessary, but
a ethernet->USB print server would perfect.
\_ Also, a PC running 24x7 as a printer server prolly sucks up
a ton of pcu-cycles and energy.
\_ Good point.
\_ Buy a real network printer. That's the real answer. I recommend
a Brother DCP-8045D with the Brother NC9100H Ethernet interface, not
the overpriced HP stuff. Laser, duplex, flatbed scanning,
photocopy, fax. I have the HL-5170DN (no fax, no photocopy, no
scanning); now I wish I just splurged.
To answer your question, go to http://newegg.com and search for "print
server", and sort by "Best Rating". The problem with generic
USB->Ethernet print server hardware is that you can't do any custom
stuff over Ethernet (e.g., monitor ink levels, most manual duplex).
\_ Yes, that is what I have personally. a LaserJet 4MP/PS with
a built-in JetDirect Ethernet card print server. Got it at
northbaynetworks in emeryville. I think it was $100.
\_ If you want wireless w/ your print server, get an airport
express.
\_ Great idea! Can it share any USB printer?
\_ I think so. I don't know which exact models it
supports but I've seen people hook up all sorts
of cheap ass usb printers and have them work. |
| 2005/3/23-24 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:36819 Activity:nil |
3/22 Say you buy a brand new laptop that says it comes with Windows XP,
Word, Excel, etc. I know that they come preinstalled, but let's say
you want to reformat your drive and reinstall. Are ALL the softwares
included in the package (CDs) so that you can reinstall them?
\_ Usually they are, but sometimes they are packaged in annoying way,
i.e. the laptops comes with a rescue CD that let's you restore it
to the (lame) factory defaults it shipped with (which does include
all that software, but is also the default Toshiba or Dell or
whatever configuration) -dans
\_ You are buying OEM copies of the software (WinXP, Office), which
amounts to hundreds of dollars. The OEM license allows you to
re-install the software on that computer. If you don't have CDs,
you can request them from the manufacturer of your notebook.
No migrating the license to another computer, though -- that's not
covered by the OEM license. |
| 2005/3/20-22 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:36777 Activity:low |
3/20 Has anyone bought a refurb laptop? Any bad experience? I'm asking
because I can potentially save ~$500-$700 and it's a lot of money
-poor guy
\_ You're talking about a refurb from the manufacturer or reputable
online store right, not off some random store/guy on eBay?
\_ http://dealtime.com has a LOT of links to refurb companies. One problem
is that they only give you a 90 day warranty instead of the
normal 1-year manufacturer's warranty (i.e. Toshiba notebooks)
\_ I bought a refurb iBook from the online apple store last year.
No problems so far. It comes w/ the full apple care so, it
was a pretty safe bet.
\_ how long is the refurb warranty and does it cover LCD blackdots?
\_ The refurb warranty is the same as the new warranty, 1 yr.
Most warranties do not cover dead pixels unless you have
more than 5 or so. At least on the 12" iBooks, I have never
see a dead pixel.
\_ Refurb Thinkpad X20 from a random vendor off CNET. Worked great,
no issues whatsoever. -John |
| 2005/3/14-16 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:36684 Activity:moderate |
3/14 I'm thinking about getting a new laptop. I don't want to buy a Dell
because I'm not a Republican supporter and I don't want to buy a Mac
because my work involves Linux development/VMWare. What are other
alternatives I have? Thanks.
\_ If it's for work, why not expense it to your company and get the
most expensive Sony Viao you can get?
\_ Apparently today is "troll the motd" day.
\_ Kinda like "the Troll Olympics" isn't it?
\_ obGetAThinkPad
\_ ob Support the CHICOMS?!? omgwtfbbq
\_ They're still American, better buy quick though.
\_ What is not made in China these days?
\_ I make sweet love to yermom right here in the USA.
\_ My 2-year-old Fujitsu S series is made in Japan.
You'd have to ask a new buyer if you wanted to know
if they were still made there, considering how cheap
one is on http://newegg.com now ($1,250 before tax).
\_ Just not an X31--*nix is a nightmare on it. I'm told X40s are
OK for Linux/BSD though. Be very careful to check the various
Linux-on-laptop sites for compatibility first. -John
\_ Assuming this is not a troll, Dell and IBM are at the top tier
in terms of on-site support. Toshiba's probably right behind.
HP, I dunno, I think they're notebooks look worse than ThinkPads.
HP, I dunno, I think their notebooks look worse than ThinkPads.
My feeling about Sony's is they're more about form than function,
but I could be totally wrong; don't know about their on-site support
\_ I know Gateway Cowbrand can go into Chapter 11 anytime, but anyone
has any experience with their laptops?
\_ I have a Compaq NC6000 for work. Features, speed, ergonomics are
great. Reliability is meh (several of us already have had HDs
replaced for this model).
\_ Have you considered Fujitsu? The lifebook and toughbook series
are pretty nice and very rugged.
\_ I'll second this. The toughbooks are amazing. Look at the W2.
\_ toughbooks are Panasonic
\_ toughbooks are Panasonic. Get the Y2, for ~ .5 pounds more
you get 14" instead of 12" screen.
I see on http://engadget.com on http://cnet.com a couple people complaining
I see on http://engadget.com & http://cnet.com a couple people complaining
the screens suck compared to the Fujitsu S series with
CrystalView.
\_ Apparrently Linus now uses a Mac for his primary work machine so
perhaps Linux support on the Mac will be getting a lot better in
the near future. -dans
\_ Long thread from Aug 2004
http://www.engadget.com/entry/7044941173883695
I like the posts talking about the Fujitsu S7010/S7010D |
| 2005/3/9-10 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:36603 Activity:moderate |
3/9 How long are LCDs expected to last? 3 years? 5 years? 10 years? Thx.
\_ The conventional wisdom is:
(1) As long as the backlight lasts
- It will dim in intensity, as much as 50% or more over x years
- You can get it replaced for x hundreds of dollars
- You can get it replaced for x hundreds of dollars by the
manufacturer
(2) As long as pixels don't start going dead
Hard numbers for both factors may have changed for a 15" LCD from
four years ago to a 19" 16ms display / 20"+ widescreen you just
bought. Chances are you stopped using that 15" LCD a long time ago
and haven't really thought about how much it degraded over time --
just that it sucks compared to your 23" widescreen today.
\_ I've noticed that my powerbook screen has dimed over the 2 or so
years I've owned it.
\_ mine hasn't over 4 years. I use it several hours/day.
\_ Try cleaning it. There's also a brightness control. -John
\_ The 15" Apple Studio Display my mom got me for xmas '99 is still
going strong. It gets daily use for 2+ hrs a day. My 20" Apple
Cinema Display is in great shape as well after 2+ yrs.
Most of my friends who have LCDs have only replaced them b/c they
wanted a bigger screen not b/c they had problems w/ them.
\_ The 15" I displayed to your mom is also still going strong.
\_ Related note: Does powering down the LCD when not in use, even for
just 15 minutes help save the screen? Or is the power surge from
on/off going to degrade the backlight faster?
\_ my experience with lots of thinkpads is that screens wear out
from 1) travel/concussion/temp shock, 2) aggressive power-off
blanking, 3) hours of operating time. I set mine to not blank
in less than 12 hours, and only manually blank it if I am
going to be away for hours or am surviving on battery.
\_ Stupid question, does LCD suffer from burn-in? |
| 2005/3/4-5 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:36534 Activity:kinda low |
3/4 Anyone know a good place to buy a new Thinkpad for below MSRP? I'm
an alumnus so I can't use TSW.
\_ just buy it from http://newegg.com.
\_ I like them but they're all MSRP there. |
| 2005/3/3-5 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:36502 Activity:moderate |
4/2 I'm doing some research on laptops and would appreciate some personal
opinions--any recommendations on a small, robust, fast machine
equivalent to a Thinkpad X31, but which plays nice with FreeBSD or
Linux? Getting any variant of the above to run on the X31 seems to
depend highly on your exact model #, and I'm getting a bit sick of
trying to get it working. -John
\_ Cheap, robust, small, fast laptop that runs FreeBSD and plays
nice with Linux- try an ibook.
\_ Fair enough---will probably do that and run an XP VMWare
session. Fuck x86 laptops, and my X20 was so good... -John
\_ You probably have to get VPC (M$) instead of VMWare.
\_ iBooks are not small or fast. -tom
\_ how are they not small? but John can afford it, so a
12" powerbook is probably a better bet. slightly smaller,
slightly faster, and better overall Industrial Design.
\_ The 12" iBook weighs 4.9 pounds; that's towards the
top of mid-range for all laptops, and it's pretty
heavy for a 12" laptop. The 12" Powerbook at 4.6
pounds isn't much better. -tom
\_ FYI, The 12" PB runs hotter than than the 12" iBook.
\_ John, is it April in Switzerland?
\_ No, we're on the metric system. -John
\_ April Never Ended, http://csua.org/u/b8m
\_ Could someone please explain to us slow folks what the hell
this "joke" is about?
\_ Springtime for Hiter and Germany... Winter for Poland and
France...
\_ google x40 fedora core -someone with not much experience
\_ yeah, the trick is to get the IBM that works w/ linux
and not the other way around. :-) --karlcz
p.s. http://www.linux-laptop.net for lots of user experiences
\_ You're totally right--but I had an x20 which ran a charm
with FreeBSD. I assumed the lack of reports on success with
x31s was just due to it being a pretty new platform when
I bought it. Sigh. -John
\_ Dude, just get a dell.
\_ Buy Dell, Support Republicans.
\_ iBook. $999, Refurbs for <800. |
| 2005/2/25-27 [Science/Battery, Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:36420 Activity:nil |
2/25 Stupid question, how is the 2300mah on my AA battery different
from the 4500mah on my laptop battery? Is it the voltage? If I
take 2 of my AA NiMH battery and add it up, the capacity is
larger than my laptop battery's rated mah....
\_ mAh is basically how much charge is available at a rated voltage.
Total energy stored is maH*Volts. Since your AA batery is 1.5V and
the laptop's is around 15, the laptop's battery has about 20 times
as much energy as an AA battery. You could approximate a laptop
battery with 2 columns of 10 AA batteries in series. (DO NOT attempt
this)
\_ what will happen?
\_ Laptop batteries have 3 or 4 pins to allow them to monitor
and control charging. Leaving these pins free is not in the
laptop design. Also, laptop batteries are not exactly 15V,
some are 13.2 and others are 18.6 or whatever. Getting it
wrong could let out all the smoke in your circuits.
\_ Feed the columns of AA batteries to the inlet for the AC
adaptor.
\_ OK, if you got the voltage and polarity right that
would work. -pp |
| 2005/2/24-25 [Computer/SW/OS/FreeBSD, Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:36394 Activity:low |
2/23 How do I make sound work after a suspend on a Dell laptop
with FreeBSD 5, without rebooting? - danh
\_ What's it doing? Are you running esound or some other multiplexer?
\_ just an idea, but sometimes muting and unmuting fixes some cards.
\_ I figured it out, I unloaded then loaded some kernel modules
and sound works. - danh |
| 2005/2/16-17 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:36196 Activity:nil |
2/16 Dumb linux question: I copied some mp3's onto my laptop, and now
I can't remove them. I get "Permission denied." I don't have
root. The permissions are set to -rwxrwxr-x. How can I delete
these?
\_ Do you have write permissions on the directory itself?
\_ Sigh. duh. Thanks. That fixed it.
\_ You just had to go and make it easy for him, didn't you.
Should've told him he needs to have the RIAA approve his
permissions first.
\_ And the AARP and the NRA. |
| 2005/2/14-15 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:36171 Activity:nil |
2/14 To follow up about my laptop's traffic to http://fatboy.paqnet.com: I had visited http://www.cpqlinux.com/cdrw.html = 208.246.182.10 = http://fatboy.paqnet.com I don't know why opera kept a TCP connection open for 17 hours. Perhaps it was related to putting my laptop into suspend mode 7 minutes after visiting the website. Would y'all consider this to be a browser bug? |
| 2005/2/11-14 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:36144 Activity:kinda low |
2/11 Any idea why my debian laptop would have this traffic. I'm on a
wireless network in my house. connected to the internet via
comcast. My laptop's iptables firewall is blocking all
inbound ports
14:18:55.194060 10.0.0.101.2622 > http://fatboy.paqnet.com.www
\_ spyware, most likely
\_ spyware on my laptop? shit.
\_ crap. okay where do I start looking into this?
\_ Spyware on debian? I doubt it. But I'd start by looking
at full tcpdump output. You can see what http requests
are being sent and that will probably give you a better idea
what is going on.
\_ I use Opera 7.54 and there are a couple security
updates that I missed. Perhaps I visited a malicious
website. I want to figure out what is really going on.
\_ If you are this paranoid and don't know how to see
the contents of the packets and what program has the
socket open, well, you sir, are a moron.
\_ the socket was changing with each run.
Thanks for the insult. That really helps.
\_ Don't mind him. He probably had no idea
himself. Not everyone can deal well with
their shortcomings.
\_ Your computer is trying to connect to paqnet for something, but
it could just as easily be some kind of automatic update feature
as spyware. More likely the former, I think. paqnet is some kind
of distrubution site for various kinds of software. See:
http://www.paqnet.cz
Did you install power quality monitoring software on your
laptop???
\_ No I haven't installed that sort of software. it also looks
like http://paqnet.com is an ISP. they've probably got bad users.
\_ Port 2622 is registered for MetricaDBC. I don't know
what that is, but maybe you do. Did you install anything
like that?
\_ Nope. It looks like the some of the http://paqnet.com users
are off-roaders. I wonder if they are good guys.
Maybe they would send me parts of http logfiles.
\_ Hmm, doesn't look so good to me. I don't know
of any rootkits that use 2622 to communicate,
but you might want to start considering that
could have been hacked.
\_ 2622 is the source port. Has little or nothing to
do with what might be making this connection. You
may want to run netstat -pa to see if you can track
down the process making such connections. They're
probably brief, though, so you won't get much. How
often are these connections happening? --scotsman
\_ I saw about 3 of them in 10 minutes or so,
but stupid me, I shut down my laptop to
make an image of the disk, but when I turned
back on, I don't see any more of the traffic.
\_ Someone may have rootkitted you and run a
proxy daemon, but not put it into startup
files. Look for core files. Look for things
like oddly recent timestamps on ls, netstat,
ps, etc.
\_ Thanks. I've left my laptop on for a couple
days, and now after visiting http://cnn.com this
afternoon, I'm seeing similar traffic
again! Perhaps it is an Opera bug. At
least now I can start figuring it out.
Thanks for all your help. |
| 2005/2/11 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Display] UID:36139 Activity:high |
2/10 Recommendation for a 19" LCD display. Amazon has a good deal
on the Princeton. I'm also looking at Costco's Sharp 19" LCD.
If you own one or use one at work, can you tell us what you have
and how reliable is it? Thanks.
\_ Don't know who makes the ones for Dell, but have had only one
failure out of probably 3 dozen+ at work.
\_ I believe Samsung does.
\_ Make sure to get DVI. digital->analog->digital is bad.
\_ tawei!!! whats up. get NEC MultiSync 19xxX series.
\_ Jesus dumb fuck, this has been posted 100 times. Learn to STFK:
http://csua.com/?entry=35371
http://csua.com/?entry=32519
http://csua.com/?entry=32303
http://csua.com/?entry=10207
\_ Don't blow a head gasket, man -- it's not that big a deal.
Really.
\_ no dude, people have to learn. I'm so sick and tired of
deleting trolls and politics on motd, and things that
repeat over and over again. FUCK YOU.
\_ Then, uhm, don't bother. It's not like anyone cares
about you and your largely self-inflicted pain. And
take a vacation -- your histrionics are annoying.
\_ Hey! I'm your biggest fan! I'd like to give you an
award! Please post your name so we know who deserves
it. -jrleek
\_ Fuck both of you. Just the fact that there are real
live conservative censors out there getting annoyed
about it will make posting political trolls worth it
for at least another decade.
\_ This is getting confusing, who is the other
person in both of you, and are you pp? -jrleek
\_ The "fuck you" is directed at anyone who censors
anything in any context ever or who supports
censorship in any form. Yes, you have every
right to delete whatever politics you dislike
from the motd; it's a world writable file. And
I have the right to think you're an asshole for
it. I realize you're not one of the main censors
here, but you get a "fuck you" anyway for
thinking it's cool.
\_ Heh, you're a moron, but you're the
wrong one. You see, if the censor had
posted his name, we could squish him.
-jrleek |
| 2005/2/6-7 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/SW/Security] UID:36077 Activity:very high |
2/6 Our parent company is considering forbidding us from taking laptops
off the premises due to possible src code loss. Considering that
many of us work from home the majority of the time, this does not
sit well. We need to come up with a proposal for keeping the
src (or entire disk) on an encyrpted drive. I used PGP desktop
a while back but never did any disk intensive activity (eg compilation)
on it. Has anyone been subjected to similar measures and have any
suggestions? Thanks.
\_ Yeah, plenty of companies are hiring. Start looking for another
job now.
\_ I love my job. Not interested in a new one. -op
\_ Do you think this is the last PHB decision they will make?
You love it now, but this is just a harbinger of things
to come. I am sorry I cannot be more positive. There has
got to be some way of encrypting things for you but I
don't know what it is.
\_ Maybe not, CHKP is an agent of the Mossad, so I wouldn't
put anything past them, but, regardless, i need to wait
a few more years for the remainder of my options to vest.
-op
\_ Write up a reasoned explanation of why this won't help. Particularly
in a technical field (development), it's always near trivial to find
ways around this unless they completely isolate your work network
from the internet. (i.e. you can't go to websites, check popmail,
etc) If there are any such "holes" that those evil, evil employees
could just copy the code out through, encrypting it locally won't
help.
\_ The issue is not that they don't want employees stealing the
src, the issue is that laptops are prime targets for theft and
if someone were to get their laptop stolen, release of the
src code would be disasterous. Of course there are plenty
of ways to get around it. -op
\_ Out of curiosity, does anyone know how often data from
stolen laptops ends up getting into the wrong hands?
I would have guessed that most laptops get stolen
by crackheads who sell them to the local pawn shop for a
hundred dollars, who then erases the harddrive and sells
it for two hundred to some random moron. At what point in
this chain does data get sent to some competing software
company? Are there people out there making a living
cruising the silicon valley pawn shops for sellable data on
stolen hard drives?
\_ magnetic tape, flashdrive/CF/SD/etc, laptop HD in a USB/FW case ...
iPod/etc ...
\_ Again I'm not looking for ways to take src code home. I'm
looking for a reasonable solution for securing the data on
the laptop to mollify their concerns and to prevent me
from having to jump through such hoops. I still have VPN
access to CVS from my desktop at home and if it were to come to
it would just ditch the laptop. -op
\_ it was meant as examples to give your company to prove
how fucking stupid they are.
\_ Uhm, if you have VPN access to the company what makes
the company think that someone can't just steal your
computer at home and get the source code there? I'm sure
that you encrypt your data, but that's not a guarentee
that someone else who works under similar conditions will.
Anyway, what's so important about the source code? MS had
its source code for Winblows leaked, it's not like someone
is going to go and develop a competing product anytime soon.
And if your software is that valuable, people can just
reverse it through brute-force decompilation and analysis.
\_ It looks like PGP Corporate deployed using smart cards or tokens
(e.g. RSA SecurID doodads) is probably what you want. I just
glanced at the marketing drivel on the website so you'll need to
read further to be sure, but this looks like a reasonable place to
start:
http://www.pgp.com/products/desktop/disk
-dans
\_ We had very good success with Safeguard Easy (both boot sector
protection and on-the-fly disk crypto.) If you're feeling
adventurous, you can play with MS EFS on top, but your PKI
admins had better know what they're doing. -John
\_ Most responses don't really understand the problem. Working in
an environment where much of our software is classified as a
munition, I do. It is about accountability more than actual
prevention of theft. They *know* you can steal the source and
if they were concerned about that they'd do what the DoD does
and make you leave it at work. They are concerned about the
laptop being stolen. Whether or not it is easy to obtain the
source by hacking into the system over VPN is irrelevant. In
our particular case, it is just disallowed. Period. You can
take the executables, but not the source. I, too, am interested
in a good solution but I think none exists. However, I do not
understand why the desktop is allowed. That is just as much of
a no-no.
\_ I would just take the source code home and be done with it. |
| 2005/2/3 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:36047 Activity:low |
2/3 When should I expect to see 'Sonoma Centrino' laptops become available
from the major vendors?
\_ It already is. They did a trade fair showing it off. Retail should
already be available or within the next month or so. |
| 2005/1/31-2/1 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:36002 Activity:kinda low |
1/31 Which laptop brands are available with those eraser-head mouse
pointer things in the middle like IBM Thinkpads? I know Dell offers
it but I think I don't like the Dells. IBM is so pricy and uncool.
\_ Is a ThinkPad T42 (sub 5 lb., 14" LCD) for $1,430 before tax
on http://newegg.com too expensive? Solid build quality and good return
service. See the Fujitsu S7010 on http://newegg.com too; Fujitsu
has good reliability, but if it does break, expect a wait unless
you buy on-site support. (Buy only with Crystal View.)
The S7010 and the Dell D600 both have a problem with leaving
keyboard impressions on the LCD; the T42 does not I believe.
\_ I prefer a bigger hdd, 512MB RAM, better gfx chip etc.
I briefly saw this Sony at Best Buy and it seemed pretty nice.
http://csua.org/u/axd
Actually it was the higher end version. I would like to be able
to play newer games on it but don't want a heavy one. I may
have to wait a while yet. This Sony can almost fit the bill,
only has max 64MB VRAM though and I want 128. Yep, I want my
laptop to be a toy since that's about 70% of its value to me.
\_ From my experience over the past couple years using and
repairing laptops (my own and other people's):
1. All laptops eventually break/fail. The average life of
a laptop is about 3 years. The fact that they're carried
around a lot and have consumables in the form of rechargable
batteries and they're not upgradable limits their
long term usefulness, so don't plan on getting the most
expensive laptop out in the market. Get what you need.
2. They also get stolen, obviously.
3. In terms of featureset I've found that Sony offers the
most features, followed by Dell, Toshiba, Compaqs,
HPs, and then IBMs.
4. In terms of price the they usually rank IBM, Sony,
Toshiba, Compaq, HP, Dell (depends on which models of
course).
5. In terms of reliability I've found that they're not that
much variation. I suppose the IBM, but it's just that
they have better service than the others, not that their
machines are more reliable. I think over the years it's
the couple of companies in Taiwan/PRC that manufacture
them so the quality has been pretty much the same across
the board, roughly though: IBM, Dell, Compaq, Toshiba,
and HP and Sony bringing up the rear.
6. In terms of service, well, again, it's somewhat across
the board mediocre except that IBM has pretty good service,
although I found Dell to be acceptable.
Also, whatever you do, do not buy a 256 mb machine, and
it's actually somewhat of a good idea to get a machine
with a multi-bay, because cd/dvd players do fail before
the main unit, especially if they're burners.
\_ I once used a laptop with that kind of mouse, and after a few days
my fingerhead started to get irritated. I ended up plugging in a
regular mouse. |
| 2005/1/18 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:35779 Activity:nil |
1/18 When you sit in a coffee shop all day working on your laptop and using
their free wireless, what quantity of tasty snacks do you feel obligated
und keine Eier! _/
to buy?
\_ Strongly depends on how busy they are. If there's free tables
and/or AC outlets, then average $1/hr. with a 1 drink minimum.
If there's a demand for tables, then 1 purchase/hr, unless it's a
meal of some sort, which buys 2 hrs.
Never take up a big table when there's demand, no matter how much
you're buying. |
| 2005/1/17 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:35745 Activity:nil |
1/17 If I want to get a wireless card for my apple (desktop, not
laptop), do I need to get it from apple or can I go get one
from bestbuy? (e.g. a linksys card) |
| 2005/1/13-14 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Display] UID:35704 Activity:moderate |
1/13 The documentation of my Dell LCD is saying that the contrast
button is not functional when the LCD is connecting with a DVI
port. I assume you can still adjust it from the OS? How can I do
it from Linux?
\_ If you want to lower the brightness, you can achieve the same
result by lowering the RGB value at the same time. That's what
I did to achieve a comfortable viewing brightness for my Dell.
Right now I am at 0% brightness, and RGB at 48%, the picture is
really nice. Dell 2005fpw.
\_ I got one of those 2005fpw's and I think I'll return it. The
size wasn't as impressive as I thought so I want to wait for
something better. But another thing was that if I turn out
the lights and look at a black background, I can see uneven
light leaking from the top edge. My LCD at work doesn't have
any trace of that. Then again the 2005 is brighter. But it
also has a weird viewing angle effect... even just sitting
in front of it moving my head a bit I notice a purplish
sheen at some angles. I won't buy another before seeing
it in person. I hope they get OLED working well soon, that
would be the proverbial shit.
\_ purple tint, high viewing angles, good response rate?
Sounds like IPS tech!
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/other/display/lcd-guide_23.html
I like my Samsung 193P from http://jr.com, but the 16ms MVA panel
used on the update of the Viewsonic VP191b at http://newegg.com
looks good too (you need models manufactured Dec 2004 or
later). I have the 25ms VP191s and it ghosts, but nice
otherwise.
\_ Hmmm, I have none of the problems. Maybe sample variation.
I am really pleased with mine, and I am very picky when it
comes to monitor calibration.
\_ I have no problems with brightness since the brightness button
does work. -op
\_ So what do you need to adjust the contrast for? Be more
specific on what the problem is that you are trying to
solve...
\_ I wish there were a button on my monitor to turn up the
intelligence. There's a button called "brightness," but it
doesn't work. |
| 2005/1/7-8 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:35589 Activity:nil |
1/7 So I had the chance to order and set up a ThinkPad T42 for my boss.
It rocks. It's the most well-built standard light-weight notebook
I've played with. They could do better with the styling, but I got a
1.6 GHz model for $1,389 before tax at http://newegg.com. One stuck red
pixel, but it's on the border. (For personal use, I'd still probably
go with a Fujitsu S7010 for the extra USB port, Windows key, and
lower weight - although it's not as better constructed. As for Dell,
the Latitude D600 is light-years better than previous Dell notebooks,
but the T42 really kicks ass.) |
| 2004/12/29-30 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:35472 Activity:nil |
12/29 What do you guys do with your old laptops? I've been thinking
that maybe I can reinstall it with Linux and write a program
that displays home pictures, weather, and traffic data, then
frame the LCD as to give an illusion that it's a picture and
hang it on the wall. The only problem is how I would
hide the keyboard and show only the LCD/frame. Maybe I can
cut the dry wall and shove the unit in. Then there's the problem
of detaching the LCD with the module. Anyone have experiences
or thoughts on this? |
| 2004/12/22-23 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:35409 Activity:high |
12/23 The screen on my 600 series IBM thinkpad no longer seems to work.
Is it worth trying to replace the screen? Ebay seems to have
reasonably priced screens but I have no idea how difficult it is
to replace a screen. Can anyone point me to instructions on
replacing the screen or suggest whether this is a good idea? Thanks.
\_ Chances are it's not the screen unless you cracked it. Chances
are it's the LCD inverter, which costs much less than a whole
screen. Laptop parts are fairly hard to replace, but the Thinkpad
should be a good model to do it on. Do you have regular or
security screws? -williamc
\_ I think I have regular screws. The inverter's on ebay are
much cheaper than the screens so it would be great if that
was the issue. How would I figure this out? Do you know
of any websites with instructions on this sort of thing? Thanks.
\_ 1) If the backlight is out you will still be able to see
your screen function if you look at it close enough
in bright lighting.
2) If the invert is out, well, the inverter is out. You
can't tell if it's an inverter problem or if it's something
inside the screen. If you didn't crack your screen there
is an exceedingly high probability it's the inverter
because LCD screens will last a long time without
damage, in the order of decades.
3) If you damaged one of your cables. Only way to test that
is to pop off the hood of your laptop and examine the
cables. Also make sure you seat the connectors
properly. Maybe you dropped it or somethign and it got
loose.
4) If it's the screen, then, well, get a new laptop. It's
really not worth it since you can get a faster laptop
for not much more money than screen + labor. Obviously
you have the hassle of transferring over files.
If you feel warry about taking apart a laptop, well,
you should be. I've broken the plastic moldings on two
laptops I've repaired in the past. It just goes with the
territory since they're not exactly designed to be taken
apart. Just don't force anything, and sometimes you have
to force a small flathead screwdriver into not-so-obvious
slotholes to uhnook plastic tabs. Just be aware that
screws can hide under rubber caps over holes, so you'l
need to be patient before resorting to more than
light force in taking apart a case. -williamc
\_ If you don't know what's wrong with it, it could be the screen,
backlight, cable or motherboard. Typical sales on eBay are only the
screen, so if your $2 cable bought it, you're screwed. That being
said, I've heard thinkpads are the easiest to work on.
\_ Do you know how I could figure this out? Should I take it
to CompUSA and ask them to fix it or something like that? Thanks.
\_ Take it to whoever would handle the manufacturer's warranty.
If it's out of warranty, you might get them to diagnose it at
least. Typically, they'll simply replace all the screen
components. Doing it yourself will most likely be $1000 or
more.
\_ if you post your login, I will send you a thinkpad 600 maintainence
manual. it will list all the 600 models and give you part numbers. |
| 2004/12/11-12 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:35250 Activity:very high |
12/02 I have only used Mac laptop (powerbook). However, I am not making
lots of money these days and mac laptops are just too expensive.
To those who have used both Mac and PC laptop, are there cheaper,
faster PC laptops that are no less reliable than the powerbooks?
Are there going to be features that I will miss if I switch, like
target disk mode, etc?
\_ Why don't you post your username. Maybe someone at Apple could
get you a discount.
\_ In my experience (have owned several Mac and PC laptops - have a
G4 powerbook and a Dell now) they are both about as reliable,
which is not very. I've had Sony, IBM, Toshiba, and Dell and
four Macs in the last 7-8 years and they all had problems
in a few years. Heck, the 17" PB went back within the first
month I got it (dead motherboard). Apple said they had a lot of
them back for bad screens, too.
\_ I've owned several PC laptops. I most likely won't buy a Sony
due to bad support. IBM is selling their PC line. Dell is
relatively reliable and all repairs are done onsite if under
warranty (yes they come to your house even to replace a faulty
keyboard). If IBM weren't selling off their division I would
recommend them, however who knows what this will do to their
support.
\_ Got a link to the announcement? This is very interesting.
\_ http://tinyurl.com/6rgdw . I like mine, but be careful
as ThinkPad BIOS tend to be a bit weird in some respects--
they're great for Windows, but I've run into tremendous
problems getting a real OS to run on one (primarily things
like ACPI, their non-keyboard buttons, etc. tend to make
your life difficult.) -John
\_ Eh, you just don't know how to recompile the kernel
properly. Anyway, I wouldn't call Linux or FleaBSD
a "real OS". If they were a "real OS" you wouldn't
have to fuck around with them as much.
\_ I'm sorry, did you have anything of substance to
contribute? I take it you've an X series handy on
which you've done this yourself? No? Oh, and NDIS
is great for wireless scanning? What's that I hear?
No? Oh my bad! I suppose you'll be keeping your
cakehole shut then. Go back to troll school. -John
\_ not above poster, but i've installed FC3 on my
wife's x40 and have ACPI suspend to ram and
hibernate working using the hotkeys. wireless
a/b/g works, but there does seem to be some
wonkiness w/ X resuming from hibernate on
occasion.
\_ What's a real os?
\_ Anything w/ DX9, how can it be a real OS if you
can't play HL2 on it?
\_ You can have a base iBook for $999+tax
\_ A decent PC laptop will cost you about $1K (probably
more). Don't go for the $500-$700 ones b/c you will
probably end up with a lemon. Everyone I know who
bought one of the cheap dells or hps has had to send
it in for a repair w/in the first 6 mo.
The best PC laptop was probably a IBM ThinkPad, but
IBM is selling thier PC business, so it might be risky
to by a ThinkPad at this point in time. Also ThinkPads
sometimes had problems running Linux/FreeBSD (not sure
if you care about this).
If you really want to look at a PC laptop, try Fujitsu.
The LifeBook series is pretty good, and the ToughBook
series is super rugged.
Unless you have a specific reason for wanting a PB,
why don't you consider an iBook. It is light, durable,
has good battery life and is pretty cheap. If you are
willing to go refurb you can get a 1ghz model for around
$800, with tax, ae and extra ram you are looking at about
$1K (about the same price as a okay PC laptop). I know
some people complain that there is no PCMCIA slot and
that the screen is only 12" 1024x768, but I switched from
a PB to a 12" iBook last year (for coding and non coding
homework) and I haven't had any problems. In fact I like
my iBook more than my PB b/c it is lighter, has better
wireless reception and has much longer battery life. |
| 2004/12/11-12 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/IO] UID:35249 Activity:moderate |
12/11 Any suggestions for a desktop keyboard with light touch and
action similar to an IBM ThinkPad 600?
\_ IBM used to make a laptop-type PS2 keyboard (also about the
size of a TP600 one.) Try: http://tinyurl.com/2kh9d -John
\_ Great. Thanks :) -op
\_ On a related note, is there any way at all of getting a
Powerbook to use a Stinkpad-style nipple instead of that
fucking touchpad? I really want a Mac, but loathe the
track pad... Does anyone make alternative keyboards for
ibooks/powerbooks?
\_ I don't understand the touchpad bigots here. Have you used
a Synaptics touchpad? I can't believe anyone can use those
RSI-inducing eraser-heads.
\_ I used one quite a bit and I dislike them intensely.
It's personal preference. I use a USB mouse when I
have deskspace, but otherwise I have a lot of trouble
with touchpads. Including Synaptics. Now how about
alternative Mac laptop keyboards? Do they exist? -John
\_ I used to think like you but sucked it up when I
switched to a thinkpad that didn't have both. after
a few weeks I got used to it and eventually grew to
despise touchpads. the problem w/ the eraser stick
for me is that it starts drifiting once in a while.
I got a tiny, very precise, optical USB mouse but
find that I rarely use it. you can type and use the
pointy stick w/ palms on the rest, while the touchpad
or mouse require you to pretzle around on planes etc.
\_ I guess I just don't have tasks that switch between
mouse and keyboard a lot. When I'm mousing for any
length of time, I can't imagine using that
eraser-head. |
| 2004/12/9 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:35225 Activity:nil |
12/9 Use of a laptop might interfere with male fertility (not
that procreation is a big issue for the average motd reader):
http://tinyurl.com/6v84t |
| 2004/12/7-8 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:35199 Activity:high |
12/7 I am thinking of buying my own 20" LCD screen and use it at work
(I currently have a 19" CRT). I spend 8+ hours a day looking
at the computer screen at work and very little at home. The
LCD at work would do me more good than one at home. But are
there any reasons that I shouldn't? I mean political reasons?
Will it give people bad impression? That I am too rich? Paid
too high? (not). I am in a medium sized company with my own
cubicles. Has anyone done anything similar?
\_ I did this before. I bought two 17" ones instead though since
2x 1280x1024 is more pixels than 1x 1600x1200 and costs less,
too. Now the company switched over to LCD, so I threatened them
that if I don't have company provided LCD monitors on my desk
tomorrow, I won't be working tomorrow since I'm taking mine home.
Just asking wasn't working, but above method worked like charm.
Make sure to fill out "personal property" forms. Now I have 3
LCD monitors at home :p
\_ Don't forget to liberally engrave it with "Personal Property of
$OP". Seriously. People will get used to seeing it on your
desk and when you leave the company you want to make damned
sure they don't appropriate it.
\_ I can see the Dilbert cartoons already, where people are ranked
by the size of their LCD screens. "Dogbert got the 25" Apple
Media Display! I'm so mad!"
\_ "My LCD is larger and lasts longer than yours."
\_ Engineers drive BMWs to work. Why do you worry about a false
impression of showing off just because of a 20" LCD?
\_ I drive a beat-up '89 Ranger and I might just beat op up for
bringing in the monitor just for being a gear geek.
\_ gear geek for having a nice screen in a computer job? come on.
maybe op will use his superior eyesight to kick your ass
in 25 years.
\_ Instead of enlarging your LCD screen you should enlarge your penis,
if you have one. I have a whole bunch of email that claims that it
works.
\_ I heard of one company that went bankrupt because some guy decided
to get an LCD screen. When that happened all the other engineers
needed to one-up him and started demanding better and larger
screens. This had a cascading effect which led to things like
ergonomically stylized wireless keyboards, really expensive
wireless optical mice, corinthian leather chairs, venice marbletop
desks, and Le Blanc pens as standard issue. Don't do it, for the sake
of the company!
\_ The OP says he's thinking about buying his own, not asking the
company to buy it.
\_ It's called humor. Might want to look into it. Maybe you're
like Data, need to buy yourself a humor chip and install it.
I heard Best Buy will do the install for a nominal fee.
\_ Yes, but this rather assumes that your comment was funny
to non-retards.
\_ Touche, Mon Crapitan!
\_ no no no. FIRST make sure you have the DRM crack on
hand so you can make jokes about copyrighted material,
THEN get the chip install.
\_ I can totally see that happening. At my last university lab
job, I got one of the first 20" dell LCDs and suddenly
everyone was stopping in the doorway saying, "wow neat". In
a few months, the entire floor had LCDs galore, in both our
research group and the IT group down the hall.
\_ There is nothing wrong with bringing your own stuff like this,
and anyone who has a problem with it should get a life. I brought
in my own UPS because I was sick of the power outages, so now
my Sun has an uptime of > 400 days. The biggest worry I would
have is having it stolen. Things like laptops and nice LCD screens
are prime targets if you have a problem with stolen stuff at work.
\_ Lots of people bring in their own laptops, but I personally
think doing this would be seen as eccentric.
\_ Did you ask work if they would buy you one?
\_ Just bring it, but I think you shouldn't have more important
personal crap at work (unless you're self-employed and it's in
your own office) than you can quickly shove into a cardboard box
and carry out the door. Shit happens. -John
\_ keep an expandable backpack in the office! that's how I used
to borrow a DLP projector for movie night instead of doing
paperwork. ;-)
\_ By now I just don't take any more stuff to work than I can
drop into my laptop bag in 2 minutes. It's never happened
to me, but I've seen people walked out pretty quickly and
ruthlessly for the stupidest of reasons. -John
\_ wouldn't fluff the boss under his desk?
\_ No, violated the company handbook section prohibiting
execution style murders of people asking stupid
questions.
\_ I had a concealed carry permit and everything. Just
because I took my Desert Eagle .50 magnum out and started
stroking it lovingly was no reason for them to call
security and have me thrown out like that!
\_ That wasn't your DE you were stroking.
\_ Well DUUUH, it was a CONCEALED permit. They couldn't
see it. -John
\_ I've done it. Just make sure you'll be able to get it out easily
if you need to. Check with your manager if you need to fill out
any personal equipment forms, etc. Keep your receipt. --jameslin |
| 2004/11/24-26 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:35068 Activity:nil |
11/24 Shopping for a laptop. How are AMD's laptop chips? Are the
Pentium-M's a lot better? Don't suggest Apple unless you found one
with a pointing-stick and 2 buttons.
\_ why do you care what chip it uses?
\_ 2 buttons? not 3?
\_ Dude, get a Dell!
\_ better IBM.
\_ Yeah, IBMs look like shit but they're the best you can buy
in terms of mainstream reliability and service.
\_ Seconded. Thinkpad X series if you don't mind not having
a built-in CD drive or floppy. Only downside is that the
Atheros cards under Linux/*BSD are a bit goofy to set up,
but otherwise I've had nothing but these. -John
\_ Yes, the Pentium M is a lot better than even the new Mobile Athlons.
Faster and lower power at the same time, but, more expensive, but
worth it.
\_ More criteria (weight, size, features, etc.) would help a us
make suggestions. -John
\_ I recommend looking into a Panasonic Toughbook W2.
<3lbs, 12" screen, cdrw/dvd, hd on shocks. Got one for my mom
(who travels extensivley) and she loves it. --darin
\_ Anyone want to buy a used Dell Laptop (7lb hunker) for $400? |
| 2004/11/24-26 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:35058 Activity:nil |
11/24 I have an overheating CPU on a laptop, I know this for a fact because
when I take apart the laptop and let it run it runs fine. With the
top assembled it will auto-shutoff. I removed the heatsink and found
the thermal compound to have a very "plasticky" feel to it, like
it's somewhat dried out. Does thermal compound ever dessicate?
I've never heard of this happening before. The laptop is getting
around 4 years old and this particular toshiba model is known to
start acting up after a while due to overheating. I'm guessing
it's the thermal compound because the fan leading to the heatsink
wasn't particularly dirty with dust.
\_ I don't think thermal compounds are water-based. More likely it
underwent some chemical change as a result of long-term heat
exposure. You could *carefuly* scrape the old stuff off and apply a\
dab of new thermal compound.
exposure. You could *carefuly* scrape the old stuff off and apply
a dab of new thermal compound.
\_ Well, my hunch was right. I scraped off the old stuff and put
on a fresh coat after cleaning the die top with some alcohol.
After putting the machine back together it hasn't crashed for
a while (used to crash after a minute).
Guess Toshiba has a manufacturing problem...
\_ Well more likely a bad supplier. If it takes the compond
a few years to fail, quality-control might not catch it.
\_ I've always wondered about that stock Intel thermal compound.
It just didn't look very ... thermally conductive. -l0s3r
\_ A real simple test would to be get a mug of hot water/coffee/tea
put thermal goop on one finger and touch that finger and the
opposite hand's clean finger to the mug at the same time and see
how much hotter the greased finger feels in the first second or
so before both get warm.
\_ ob yermom joke
\_ Same sit., w/ dell 1100, new. Sent it back to replace CPU fan
It's those damn ODMs! |
| 2004/10/8-9 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Display] UID:33987 Activity:nil |
10/8 Hey motd, I looked over the links about plasma and lcd, and I was
wondering if anyone has any personal experience or advice wrt lcd
rear projection and how it compares to plasma/lcd technologies. TIA. |
| 2004/10/6-7 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Display] UID:33962 Activity:high |
10/6 Hey motd -- is there a significant difference in quality between LCD
and plasma tv's? TIA.
\_ There are big differences.
LCDs: Limited to about 30", so-so contrast ratio, limited viewing
angle, some motion blur, available in fairly high resolution.
Plasmas: Good contrast ratio, can be larger, limited resolution for
non-TV purposes, can burn in if display is static or there's
something liek a stock ticker.
And of course price differences...
Honestly, unless I really had $5,000 burnign a hole in my pocket,
wait for prices to come down and the technology to improve, or just
buy a high-quality CRT-based TV.
\_ I am not sure about the contrast ratio and viewing angle. IIRC,
LCDs are at least as good as Plasmas in these areas. It may
indeed be a good idea to wait. Seems like many of the makers
of these big screens have been aggressively expanding
capacity, and now have too much capacity, possibly leading
to oversupply and a price war next year, especially if the
Christmas season turns out to be a dud (been following these
companies in the stock market).
\_ Here's a link backing up my contention that LCD has better
contrast and viewing angles:
http://www.flattvpeople.com/tutorials/lcd-vs-plasma.asp
\_ Plasmas, unlike LCDs, use tons of power. The biggest ones might have
a cooling fan.
a cooling fan. However, since LCDs are typically smaller I do not know
if they will consume as much power as a plasma if equal in size. |
| 2004/9/22-23 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Display] UID:33703 Activity:nil |
9/22 Anyone notice an annoying "ringing" sound with their Palm
Tungsten E over time? Similar to most LCD devices with the
backlight on but louder, to the point of "piercing".
\_ Sounds like a bad internal cap or transistor, probably in
what is the equivalent of the voltage inverter on the LCD.
Probably will fail over time. The change in sound means the
component has changed over time, always a bad sign in
electronics. |
| 2004/9/19-20 [Science/Battery, Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:33625 Activity:high |
9/18 how do i fix my thinkpad cmos battery? i can't find
the correct part to buy online. is this something i can
buy at radio shack?
\_ watch out! I had a thinkpad where I thought the battery was
busted, I bought a new battery, and it turned out that
it was not the battery, it was something in the laptop's
charging circuits or something. new battery did not help.
\_ he's talking about the CMOS battery, not the main battery.
\_ get the FRU# from 1-800-IBM-SERV. Buy the part on ebay. |
| 2004/9/1 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:33268 Activity:high |
9/1 I'm looking for a good solid, cheap notebook computer. I want to
use it to gather data through a serial port in my car. Any suggestions?
\_ If you're looking for new, there are some IBM base models that
start for under $1,000
\_ I'm thinking used, probably could do fine with 500Mhz CPU or
maybe less. Just has to service serial and occationally do
a little disk I/O. I'm aiming for $500 as a budget.
\_ then a 500MHz used laptop should be well within your budget.
About a year ago, I bought a Thinkpad T20 (800MHz/256MB/20GB)
for $500 on ebay (ok, maybe I got a little lucky..)
\_ Look for a libretto on eBay/CL. They are small, cheap and should
be fast enough for what you want to do.
\_ Consider a used Thinkpad, they're quite sturdily constructed.
\_ Used thinkpads on http://www.overstock.com
\_ Related question. Are there good ways to mount a laptop in-car
for use as a GPS? There are mounts for dedicated or PDA-based
solutions, but their screens are smallish.
\_ What about that law passed this year that prohibits use of
video display device(pretty much any LCD screen) in the front of
the car?
\_ I'd keep an eye on the legal landscape regarding video displays
in the front seats if you are planning to view your data as
you drive. I'd also consider a PDA or handheld PC if all you
need is serial port capture rates. |
| 2004/8/29-31 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:33212 Activity:high |
8/30 To the guy who was looking for a light, robust laptop: IBM X series.
I have had two, compared to small Vaios/Toshibas it's perfect. -John
\_ second that. X-series are much more robust than Sony/Toshibas.
I personally find X-31 has better performance than X-40 series.
But X-31 is about half-inch thicker.
\_ I have an X31 and it rocks. Bluetooh/Wifi/IR work reasonably
well with non-Windows OS (I have run Debian, FreeBSD and XP)
and it will PXEBoot just fine. -John
\_ I've been very happy with my X-21 that I bought off bem
a couple years back when he got Ibook envy.
At Usenix security or other conferences like that where
people are SERIOUS about their notebooks, it is almost
exclusively IBM Thinkpads and Apple Powerbooks. -nweaver
\_ Hate those 12" screens. Fujitsu S7010(D), 14" screen, 4.2 lbs.
\_ I am on my second used X20 bought off EBay. I love em. -ausman
\_ what happened to your first one?
\_ I left it on Caltrain by mistake. -ausman
\_ err... I found pentium3 X20 a bit too slow for my taste
even when I am running Linux. don't you have performance issue
with that?
\_ Nah, I don't expect much of anything out of it except
a wireless web browser. It has 192MB of RAM in it, you
might want even more. For real computing, I use my
desktop. The only thing you might not like about it
is that the keyboard is small, probably 3/4 size. If you
have big hands, you might have a tough time with it. |
| 2004/8/28-29 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:33196 Activity:very high |
8/27 I'm a pc person and I need a laptop. From what I've seen I really
like the apple laptops: nice wide screen, slim form and they don't
weigh a ton. What's the closest I can get to that with a pc laptop?
\_ I _highly_ recommend the IBM X series. The lack of floppy/
CD doesn't bother me (easy to PXEboot/install any OS) and they
are tremendously robust. Battery lasts an age, and the built-
in bluetooth/wifi/IR is pretty well supported under non-Windows
OS. I would not buy another Vaio, as the ones I've had fell apart
very soon due to piss-poor quality. Likewise with my Toshiba
ultralights (although the regular laptops were good quality.)
I currently have a Thinkpad X31, dual-booting XP and Debian, but
I've had FreeBSD running very well on it as well. Oh and the
keyboard is superb to use, if you don't mind the nipple (I like
it.) Mail me for more info. -John
\_ Sony Viao? Fujitsu? I'd go to frys first to browse their
display, and then buy on-line.
\_ My older brother bought a Fujitsu S7010D from http://newegg.com for
$1,430. He likes it a lot.
$1,430. 14" screen, 4.2 lbs. He likes it a lot.
\_ Do you want an optical drive? If not, Sharp has a super-light
(1 lbs) super-thin (~ 1/2 ") Transmeta powered laptop w/
built-in 802.11b. It costs btw $1200-$1400.
Sony has some thin and light laptops but everyone I know who
has one has experienced problems with them b/c of qa issues.
IBM has some light ThinkPads and most people seem to like them
but I don't know where you can check one out though.
BTW, why don't you want an Apple laptop? The 12" iBook is
a great deal (esp. if you buy a refurb) compared to most PC
laptops with similar specs. -iBook owner
\_ He said he uses PC. It probably doesn't make much sense to
have your laptop be a different OS from your main system.
Although that could be interesting for impractical geekitude.
\_ Using PC could mean anything these days. I primarily
use PCs running FreeBSD, Linux and Solaris x86 at
work, but my laptop is an iBook.
I'm not sure why having a laptop with a different
OS than your main system is a problem. My brother
primarily works with Windows and Solaris systems
but he uses a Powerbook. I know many people who
chose Powerbooks/iBooks over PC laptops even though
they are primarily in a Windows environment.
\_ Well it's a new software set to deal with. It may not
matter to some people depending what you use it for.
I think it would matter to me. And besides software there
is a need for learning how to do stuff with a new OS.
Just all the details you know from using an OS for a long
time. So a Mac would have to really kick butt to consider
switching.
\_ The software is sort of different, but things
like Photoshop, Acrobat, Word, Windows Remote
Desktop, FireFox, iTunes are identical to the
Windows versions.
Some of the software included with OS X is
better (X11, emacs, perl, XCode, terminal, ssh,
java, &c.) than what is bundled with Windows
and are on par with what is bundled with SuSE
or RH. Also most *nix programs now build with
no difficulty on OS X.
Arguably some stuff is worse (RealPlayer and
WMP come to mind), but I don't use these so
its not a big deal for me.
I'm not telling you to switch. I'm just saying
its not as bad as you might think, so it could
worth your while to consider the option as it
will probably work out cheaper for you overall.
\_ Well you can't buy one copy of office to use
on both. And Pentium-M is better than G4.
\_ Certainly this is the case if you
have to buy two copies of everything,
but most students (and employees) get
site licenses to software such as word
that allows them to use it on their
home systems, so you might have to buy
the Mac copy yourself.
In what way is the P-M better than the
G4? The battery life on my iBook G4/800
is about 5 hrs. Most people I know who
have a P-M get less than 3 hrs. Perhaps
the P-M is faster, but what do you do
on your laptop that really needs that
extra cpu speed?
\_ I get close to 5 hrs on my Dell, and
Thinkpads can get 8 hrs with 2 batteries.
\_ I agree with the iBook owner. The fact that you're even
looking for something comparable to iBook says a lot
about iBooks. I have 5 PCs at home and one iBook. All
my required X11 programs run on them, so I'm happy with
all of them. iBook is just so... practical.
\_ I think the closest is the IBM T41; similar in weight, can get
15" screen size, and quality construction (unlike most PC laptops).
-tom
\_ how is HP?
\_ For quality LIGHT notebooks, I'd only buy IBM or Toshiba.
Sony "look" nice at first, but if they break down (and they do
esp. those with 90 day or 1 year warranties) it is a big pain
to get fixed. Make sure you try out the keyboards first or
at least look at hi-res online pix to see the keyboard layout
if you buy online.
\_ Second on the ixnay on Sony.
\_ IBM Thinkpad.
\_ How about waiting a little bit for a handtop PC? That'll be
even smaller. Though I decided to go with an iBook and am
quite pleased. http://www.flipstart.com |
| 2004/8/18 [Computer/SW/Security, Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:32983 Activity:moderate |
8/17 I used to use a POP3 client on my laptop to check my soda email
through a secure, encrypted ssh tunnel. This does not seem to
be working anymore... has this been disabled?
\_ no, you broke something on your side. |
| 2004/8/15-16 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Drives] UID:32905 Activity:nil |
8/14 Inside Al-Qaeda's HD:
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/print/200409/cullison |
| 2004/8/12 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/SW/Security] UID:32847 Activity:nil |
8/11 I am not paranoid, but I put sensitive personal information on my
laptop and I go everywhere with it. Is encrypted disk image reliable
and fast? I googled for filevault but it is hard to find article
with clue/analysis. Any other suggestion is nice too. tia.
\_ Using Windows XP Professional? Right-click on folder -> Properties
-> Advanced -> Encrypt contents to secure data
\_ Tnx. Actually I am using OS X, but I appreciate the answer about
window and if there is something for general *nix I'd like to
hear it too. By the way, are such encryption really effective
against id thieves, safe from corruptions, and fast? |
| 2004/8/7-8 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:32756 Activity:nil |
8/7 More fun with bluetooth:
http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,64463,00.html |
| 2004/8/3-4 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:32669 Activity:nil |
8/3 How hard is it to install extra RAM in an ibook laptop- special tools
required, etc? I've never opened a laptop but plenty of desktops.
\_ Yes, you need the right sized screwdriver to unscrew the screw
from the panel that covers the socket to insert the RAM. It takes
years and years and years of training to be able to find the
right Phillips head screwdriver to insert into that particular
screw and apply torque counter-clockwise in order to remove it.
\_ I've heard re: the iBook specifically that you need to remove
the keyboard, the airport card, and then a final cover. True?
Difficult? It's for a friend and I don't want to get blamed.
\_ the first two just pop out.
\_ simple.
\_ 10-20 min job. You need a #10 jewellers screwdrivers iirc. See
here for pdfs with pictures on how to do it:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=26277 |
| 2004/8/2-3 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:32641 Activity:high |
8/2 My Laptop's PCMCIA ethernet card seems to transfer files a lot
slower than my desktop systems. Is there a data transfer limit
on PCMCIA standard? The Laptop is a Toshiba Tecra8100 and the
card is not a no-name brand either. Thanks.
\_ Don't be surprised to see throughput of 8 Mbps when using a 100Mbps
Ethernet PCMCIA card. CardBus is a lot better. PCMCIA is like ISA;
CardBus is like PCI.
\_ Does this refer to the card itself or the slot on the laptop?
\_ Your laptop probably has CardBus interfaces; the card itself
is probably PCMCIA. You can buy a CardBus Ethernet card, which
is anything in the last 0-~5 years?
\_ It refers to both. CardBus and PCMCIA have the same
physical interface, but electronically, they are
very different, CardBus being faster.
\_ Are the 32-bit cards CardBus while the 16bit cards
are the older PCMCIA ones? They seem to make a distinction
about 16/32bit more than PCMCIA/cardbus....
\_ Yes. |
| 2004/7/28 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Display] UID:32519 Activity:high |
7/28 My monitor recently croaked. I was thinking about getting a 19"+
LCD monitor to replace it. Does anyone have any suggestions or bad
experiences that might be helpful? TIA.
\_ Thanks for all the information, people! It's much appreciated! -OP
\_ http://www.apple.com/displays
If you're willing to shell out $$$ for a video card, you can
get a 30" LCD.
get a 30" LCD.n
\_ I also recommend an Apple display. I bought a 20" Apple LCD
last year. It is a great monitor; very bright and it shows the
correct colors for photos/print work. The current (Al) 20"
display is even better than mine since it has a faster refresh
rate, a USB 2.0 hub and a FireWire hub. The only downside to
the 20" display is that the 1680x1050 native resolution isn't
well supported by games.
\_ Very positive experiences with Dell. Bad experiences with HP.
Good experiences with Apple, but expensive. Bad experience with
Sun. I have no idea who makes monitors for these resellers.
If it was my money I'd go with Dell or Sony. I just got
a Sony widescreen that is very nice.
\_ Go to http://hardforum.com, Displays. There was a good discussion on 19"
LCDs several days ago. Basically there are some good 16ms
models out, and there are 12ms 19" LCDs in the pipeline.
For my money I would just get the Viewsonic 16ms 19" LCD at CompUSA
with $100 mail-in rebate.
\_ i'm very happy with my 19" dell lcd. supposedly it's the same as
the samsung 191t on the inside.
\_ I bought a Sony 19". I really like it (although it's a tiny
bit slow on refresh for some games.) -John
\_ The wife's 20" viewsonic lcd (1600x1200) is very nice.
\_ We bought and installed more than a dozen 17 and 19 inch Dell LCD
screens for work during the last two years. None of them had any
problems so far. They look great. We'll never buy CRTs again.
\_ Use DVI!
\_ I've got the Samsung 191t and it's very nice using DVI. |
| 2004/7/26-27 [Science/Battery, Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:32488 Activity:moderate |
7/26 I'm looking at Dell Latitudes, and there's an option for a 65W AC
adapter vs. a 90W adapter which is $19 more. It doesn't give any
explanation for what the higher wattage would be good for. The only
thing I can think of that seems reasonable is if you want your
laptop to power large USB devices or something. Can someone clue me
in? Thanks.
\_ The USB spec only allows something liek 5W of power to be sent over
any single link of the bus. The 90W adapter it probably so you can
charge your battery faster, or run your laptop at full power and
still charge the battery at full speed.
\_ You might replace your HD with a faster/more power consuming one
later, etc.
\_ For thermal reasons you might not want to do that in a laptop.
\_ http://csua.org/u/8by
65W doesn't work with Latitude D800, but the 90W works for all.
\_ I would urge you to look at the size of these things, and choose
the one which is lighter and smaller, ignore the wattage
requirement. |
| 2004/7/17-18 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/Networking, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:32329 Activity:moderate |
7/16 I have to use a PS2 to USB adapter for my computer. I bought an
adapter, but everytime I boot it up, it doesn't work. I have to
plug and unplug to get it recognized by WinXP. Occassionally,
that method doesn't even work (the system says Unknown USB Device).
What is going on and how do you solve this problem?
\_ i had a similar problem with a 32-meg flash drive... turns
out the usb connector wasn't very good... things usually
improved when i wiggled the plug. are you on a laptop? i
usually have more trouble with laptop usb ports.
\_ PS/2 -> USB adapters vary wildly in quality. I just buy a USB
keyboard and mouse and be done with it, even though it takes up
all my USB ports on my notebook.
\_ You can get a little USB hub to expand total slot count. I got
a 4 port hub for $5. |
| 2004/7/15-16 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Display] UID:32303 Activity:high |
7/15 How long are monitors supposed to last? Is it unreasonable that I'm
asking for a new monitor to replace my 5 year old one? It's got a few
more pounds, that's about it. The truth is, I just want one of the
new LCD Monitors we got that are only for "people who need them".
\_ Is your old monitor a CRT or LCD?
\_ "It's got a few more pounds..." probably not a CRT
\_ "It's got a few dead pixels..." probably not a CRT
\_ A monitor *can* last a decade. I have some that have under
regular use. Five years is reasonable. We replace monitors
every 3 years and that's a bit wasteful. Why don't you just ask
for a new monitor and stop being a chickenshit about it?
\_ Best. Edit. Ever!
\_ Restored.
\_ Well what's better about the new LCDs that anyone "needs" them?
\_ I had a 3-year-old Samsung 15" 151S, which was supposed to
be pretty good back then. I tried using it six months ago; the
ghosting, non-uniform lighting, and fuzziness from the analog
input gave me a headache. On the other hand, I'm using an
NEC 16ms 17" LCD and it's great.
\_ Well *I* just got dual 19" Dell LCD's setup! I have one analog
and one digital connector. I can almost sort of barely not
really notice any difference. Both kick the crap out of the
old fuzzy CRT.
\_ Ever tried to get the convergence right on a big CRT? Even the
good ones become impossible after a while, so one corner is
always slightly blurry. Not with an LCD. Also, subpixel
rendering (ClearType on winXP) works sooo much better on an LCD,
that reading text is much easier on the eyes.
\_ I was asking the guy specifically, since he seemed to already
have an LCD. Also, I have yet to see the case for anyone
really *needing* one more than anyone else needs one. Although
yeah, to get mine I had to say I needed it. What BS.
\_ The reason someone would *need* a LCD is RF interference.
This actually came up on the motd recently, when some guy
with a desk near a transformer asked about why his
monitor was getting fucked up. His co-workders with LCD's
did not have the problem. In a lab with sensitive
electronics, you need an LCD for the opposite reason:
CRT's are noisy as hell, and annoying to filter out.
\_ Oh, good point. But at my co. it was made apparent to
me that the "need" being bandied about was of the health
sort. But if the company acknowledges LCD superiority
then it seems to me they're obligated to give one to
everybody who asks or risk some vision-related lawsuits.
\_ You big baby. Most of the computer using world has an old CRT, much
older than your LCD. Most of the real world has never touched a
computer and wouldn't know the power switch from their asshole. You
have an LCD because someone thought you were important. If you're
really important you'll get a new one every year without asking. If
you're still using an old one because they forgot you or worse yet
they deny you a new one upon request, then you shouldn't have had
one in the first place because you're a nobody. So the world turns.
\_ CRT's? actual cathode ray tubes? fuck, man. take the silver
enema out of your ass. I sit around dreaming about replacing
my incandescent lamp binary display with LED's. CRT's. shit.
\_ You big baby. If you can't even get LEDs you're definitely
not CRT quality material. Go back to the basement and
recount the punch cards. |
| 2004/7/8-9 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/Networking, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:31217 Activity:high |
7/8 Anyone have recommendations for a CF or PCMCIA GPS unit for under
$200? I want to be able to connect an external antenna, and WAAS
would be nice (this is for a Linux/XP laptop.) I'm not too informed
about GPS--is there anything particular to watch out for in terms
of reception or standards? Should I bother with a USB or bluetooth
receiver? This is mainly for auto navigation and rooting out rogue
wireless APs. -John
\_ I got a bluetooth/standalone combo in the mail this week:
http://www.semsons.com/itwit2pic.html --darin
\_ Kewl, any good?
\_ Check http://www.gpspassion.com
\_ What is the cold/hot start time on these things? It used to be
MINUTES before it locked on any of the sattelites.
\_ It really depends on which one you get, but generally...
< 1 minute for cold and < 10 seconds for hot. |
| 11/23 |