Need to buy a new cheap computer

[riser4]

If you are talking P70 you need to go for the real thing. pSeries. P770. Rock solid and runs a real OS. But it isn't going to fit in your backpack.

[stfu&gbtw]

If you are talking P70 you need to go for the real thing. pSeries. P770. Rock solid and runs a real OS. But it isn't going to fit in your backpack.

Nothing like buying a discontinued server to replace your laptop. why not buy a trailer and lug a Superdome around with you?

[riser4]

Nothing like buying a discontinued server to replace your laptop. why not buy a trailer and lug a Superdome around with you?

Ha. That's funny. Well played.

[stfu&gbtw]

Ha. That's funny. Well played.

Women often ask me, "Is that an AS400 in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?"

[Tippster]

If all the photo processing you're doing is resizing and cropping do yourself a favor and download Irfanview. Great free program that will do all that and more. Has a small footprint and isn't resource-heavy.

[stfu&gbtw]

If all the photo processing you're doing is resizing and cropping do yourself a favor and download Irfanview. Great free program that will do all that and more. Has a small footprint and isn't resource-heavy.

+1

Download GIMP for heavier lifting... https://www.gimp.org/downloads/

[MagnificentUnicorn]

While you tech dorks are dick waving over who's more tech savvy, spook has gone and bought himself a Toshiba Chromebook 2. He asked for an internet appliance that could handle light word processing and photo editing, not a "pro" level laptop for graphic design and engineering.

[stfu&gbtw]

While you tech dorks are dick waving over who's more tech savvy, spook has gone and bought himself a Toshiba Chromebook 2. He asked for an internet appliance that could handle light word processing and photo editing, not a "pro" level laptop for graphic design and engineering.

Refurbished Lenovo Thinkpad

This is a great machine for the money:

http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-Thinkpa...ished+thinkpad

Chomebook is not a bad second pick... Similar to the car debate going on in the other thread - why buy a perfectly good used BMW when you can have a brand new Hyundai instead? The only difference in this case being that the long term maintenance costs would favor the BMW.

[wyeaster]

thanks for all the input. i went with the chromebook because i need to get some other things (55-250 telephoto for canon eos rebel if anybody has suggestions that don't cost $300 -- taking lots of pics on the boy's first trip to ynp), i still need outerwear for snowboarding, and of course a shitload of other stuff for big looming changes.

i asked about any additional warranty that might be available like the one i had for my hp. i bought the three year extended warranty, dropped the hp sometime in year 3 and they "fixed" it for me. they also loaded all the bloatware back on and the fix lasted about 3 months. anyway, no such warranty for chromebook because they are essentially disposable.

[stfu&gbtw]

no such warranty for chromebook because they are essentially disposable.

And they're essentially unrepairable anyway. They're not designed to be opened, and parts are nonexistent. It used to be that repairing laptops basically required a service contract because the components were so unique (expensive), but there are so many parts available for older thinkpads that you can spend $20-$100 on a replacement part for almost anything and learn to fix it yourself by watching youtube videos. That's presuming anything went wrong in the first place... I have at least five TP 600E's running Win2K that were new in 1998 and still run perfectly today. That T420 isn't as sturdy as the old ones are, but it would have lasted you 10+ years anyway, where you'll likely replace the Chromebook within 3. Over a decade you'll spend more than a grand on net books, or maybe as much as $500 on the T420.

[MontuckyFried]

eMachines. Definitely eMachines. How has that NOT been mentioned yet? That or a Gateway 2000. Nothing but the highest quality stuff for OP.

[stfu&gbtw]

eMachines. Definitely eMachines. How has that NOT been mentioned yet? That or a Gateway 2000. Nothing but the highest quality stuff for OP.

LOL... I had a sick Gateway 2000 back in the day! Nothing said quality like the cow spots on the box. It was a 486DX4 running at 100MHZ!!! Triple digits baby! Hard to believe how they drove that company into the ground...

[MontuckyFried]

LOL... I had a sick Gateway 2000 back in the day! Nothing said quality like the cow spots on the box. It was a 486DX4 running at 100MHZ!!! Triple digits baby! Hard to believe how they drove that company into the ground...

Don't forget the bundled AOL/Prodigy Online/Compuserve progs! Hourly internet rates FTW! I think this was all of us in the 90s:

[stfu&gbtw]

Don't forget the bundled AOL/Prodigy Online/Compuserve progs! Hourly internet rates FTW! I think this was all of us in the 90s:

Lol... Absolutely... TGR is just the new IRC.

[sethschmautz]

I have not read all, but just bought 10 Nextbook Flexx 11" tablet/laptops for $200 ea for work. Actually impressed for a 64GB win 10 tablet computer from WalMart. I can't speak to longevity, but would buy again at this point.

[RShea]

If all the photo processing you're doing is resizing and cropping do yourself a favor and download Irfanview. Great free program that will do all that and more. Has a small footprint and isn't resource-heavy.

For fast and simple resizing and similar only- I have been using Faststone Photo Resizer. A bit simpler to handle batch rename or resizing, cropping or even rotate.

http://www.faststone.org/FSResizerDetail.htm

[RShea]

eMachines. Definitely eMachines. How has that NOT been mentioned yet? That or a Gateway 2000. Nothing but the highest quality stuff for OP.

Those are all owned now by Acer....(Also the old Texas Instruments Travelmates) so you can still get a Gateway computer, but no EMachines that I know of since the Gateway purchase being branded by Acer.

[highangle]

What are you trying to compensate for with a $5k laptop with 64gb of ram? TGR is always going to feel heavy and bloated unless you turn off scripts...

There's a company I do some consulting for and it mirrors their engineering rig. They do a lot of GIS, CAD, 3d, etc.

I see... When did you first notice you weren't formed like other boys?

[stfu&gbtw]

I see... When did you first notice you weren't formed like other boys?

I realized I was far smarter than people like you a long time ago.

[highangle]

I realized I was far smarter than people like you a long time ago.

I'm just a pissant really, but I manage to keep my PE stamps somehow.

One thing I would tend to avoid as a general mode of professional practice is giving someone thousands of my drawings for him to load up in RAM on a laptop. One wonders why someone, even a consultant, would feel a need to do this?

[stfu&gbtw]

I'm just a pissant really, but I manage to keep my PE stamps somehow.

One thing I would tend to avoid as a general mode of professional practice is giving someone thousands of my drawings for him to load up in RAM on a laptop. One wonders why someone, even a consultant, would feel a need to do this?

Wonder all you want.

[highangle]

Well, as long as you're happy with it...


Have a 16-core ZFS server that's probably using 60-62GB of ram about now as ARC and dedup tables, but it's been up a few months.

[stfu&gbtw]

Well, as long as you're happy with it...


Have a 16-core ZFS server that's probably using 60-62GB of ram about now as ARC and dedup tables, but it's been up a few months.

You should try moving to a tiered storage solution that will allow you to store your dedupe tables on SSD and use a block hash table stored in memory for inline dedupe instead. Possibly as much as 1000x more efficient.

Or you could stop pretending that storage and memory cost a meaningful amount of money in real world applications...

[highangle]

You should try moving to a tiered storage solution that will allow you to store your dedupe tables on SSD and use a block hash table stored in memory for inline dedupe instead. Possibly as much as 1000x more efficient.

I could actually put dedup tables on L2ARC, if I wanted to be stupid. But since you don't have a clue what I'm talking about, you should probably let me do my own thinkin' with my money.

Or you could stop pretending that storage and memory cost a meaningful amount of money in real world applications...

So is that the line that closed the deal on a $5000 laptop with 64GB of RAM? Did it feel like winning to write that check? I bet that sucker'll send the fuck out of sum Gmail.

[stfu&gbtw]

I could actually put dedup tables on L2ARC, if I wanted to be stupid. But since you don't have a clue what I'm talking about, you should probably let me do my own thinkin' with my money.







So is that the line that closed the deal on a $5000 laptop with 64GB of RAM? Did it feel like winning to write that check? I bet that sucker'll send the fuck out of sum Gmail.

A. I didn't write the check. I only do this stuff on the side, and they send me the equipment I need... Keeping it is just a little side bonus. Also got a W540 and two W530's out of the arrangement.

B. How much time does one have to save to make back $2500 when the person using the machine is is being paid $200/hr? The machine will probably last 2 years... If that doesn't seem like a solid investment to you, you should hand in your PE and go re-up your basic arithmetic cert. Or you can keep wasting your employer's and client's money, tell them it's cheaper to just keep closing and opening documents and applications. Who really needs a computer to begin with anyway? You could do all your PE shit with a ruler, slide rule, compass, abacus, and a stack of stamped envelopes... That'd save you a ton of money!

C. I'm not a PE. I'm a network systems engineer. I only use the machine to vet the organization's technology, and the PC in this case is their spec. I don't tell my clients to waste their time and money on inadequate technology solutions. They make more money than I do. Grab your Babbage Accumulator and see if you can figure out how much time you need to save to pay off a $2500 purchase price delta when you're billing $2500/day.... Would that be <2 years, or >2 years?

D. Not surprising that the dude who thinks slow computers save money also doesn't see the value in tiered storage. By all means, spend your money how you like. You PE's know everything - who needs IT! Although I wonder if you're as successful as the guys who hire the folks who really know how to make their systems work... Perhaps there's a correlation there...