Apple v. PC...Desktop v. Laptop

[JohnnyH]

Just spent a week on a laptop and I am so happy to be back on desktop... It's a fairly top end laptop but my usual habits were bringing it to a crawl. Multiple monitors, power to spare, big macro keyboard, 4000dpi mouse -now that is home!:)
To all the macbook people: why not get a more powerful ASUS (fewer failures as a manufacturer) for half the cost and hakintosh it?
Here's some experts on the Mac vs PC security. Breaks down fairly even... If you don't do stupid things a virus should never be an issue, on any platform.

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/pc-win ... ,9557.html

[Stahlmann]

in this days...
smartphone vs laptop vs eink reader vs tablet?
ur combination choice?

[2Birds1Stone]

in this days...
smartphone vs laptop vs eink reader vs tablet?
ur combination choice?

Based on recent activity I would stay off of all screens for 30 days.

[ScrewTheAverage]

Concurrently with pursing FI/RE we decided to travel overseas for a year in 2016/2017. However, before we left we were faced with the same question, should we a super powerful laptop for a premium ($3K+) or buy a bare bones ($400) system with the intent of upgrading after ~18 months and rinsing and repeating?

In the end we opted for a Lenovo T460s (newest model at the time we departed) that we could buy in a low end configuration and then buy aftermarket RAM, SSD, WiFI, and a backlit keyboard that we could upgrade to. We ended up saving about ~$1500 dollars with this method.

The key to be able to do this is to pick a model/chassis that doesn't have all the components soldered onto the motherboard. The downside with this approach is that you give up some of the volume and weight reduction of a fully soldered laptop.

Also, the great thing about buying a laptop that's not soldered is that you can upgrade it (within reason of course) for many years to come (at then reasonable prices). For example, three years after buying our laptops we upgraded from a 500GB SATA m.2 drive to 1TB NVMe m.2 drive for $109 (Samsung 970 Evo Plus). A similar drive in 2016 would have been ~$600!

[Alphaville]

Apple prices are ridiculous. IMO Apple products are not ERE-compatible.

apple has always been more expensive, but costs amortize differently than winworld. it’s a higher upfront cost, but cost per use is not necessarily higher, might be lower.

if i’m not mistaken, jacob wrote the ERE book and started his website on a very old powerbook he kept around forever.

repairability has changed since those days though, so the upfont commitment needs to be larger, which raises the stakes.

apple might also be more ERE because longer hardware lifespan produces less actual physical garbage, plus the marginal bonus that the company cares a little more about toxic materials (although unrecyclable airpods are problematic and no computer manufacturer is an eco-saint)

[jacob]

Yes. Eventually I gave it away on the forum too viewtopic.php?f=5&t=7751

[sky]

My destop is a Raspberry Pi 4 with a 128Gb sd card, running Ubuntu. It has a case with a fan, which is a requirement, it will run hot and shut down with no fan.

My goal is to move away from Android devices because of privacy issues, and move toward all linux system devices. I currently have no Windows or Apple devices.

[wolf]

I use a laptop and a desktop, which I both bought used. Then I installed linux. Very happy with that solution.

[Alphaville]

Well, if you weren't aware, Apple throttles iPhone performance after a few years. Ostensibly to preserve battery life, but it sounds suspiciously like planned obsolescence.

https://www.fastcompany.com/40517418/ap ... solescence

One thing I do like about Apple is how much green energy they use.

yeah that was a famous scandal, but im still using my iphone se.

granted, i only bought it for $150 (list: $600) late in its cycle, as it was being discontinued

[slsdly]

I've been using only Linux at home since 2006, and at work since 2012. I built my desktop in 2012 (ish?), I had to replace a hard drive once, but that's it. I scavenged desktops others were tossing to put in a dedicated GPU a while back.

I play games on Linux via Steam. Been playing multiplayer grand strategy games with friends for the first time due to COVID. While obviously not every game will run, there are surely enough to keep one entertained? My computer isn't powerful enough to run at max graphics settings, but I don't really care. From what I've read, people often get more performance out of the same hardware for games on Linux vs Windows. (Edit: At least for games I've been interested in playing. The list is relatively short.)

My phone (which I use as a VoIP client) is a 2014 model abandoned by its previous owner. It runs the latest Android via LineageOS. If I had to spend money, I would only buy something well supported by LineageOS. Similar deal with routers and OpenWRT. I would never spend money on something that cannot get software updates once the manufacturer decides it is done.

[Forskaren]

What do you think about the status today of free software compared to proprietary software?

Tracking and proprietary software seem to totally dominate IOT, mobile, tablets, cashless payments etc. Is it even worth trying to avoid being tracked and using non-free software? Richard Stallman seem to be making sacrifices that can be incompatible with most employment, entertainment and social situations.

[Forskaren]

We can start with the change of status now compared to for 10 years ago. Has it improved or become worse?

+ I got the impression that Linux works better now and some of the free software has improved.
+ Google docs and other webservices make it easy to make most stuff independent of operating system (what is the point of free software on the client if you give away your freedom by using services to do your computing?)
-Smartphones, tablets, IOT etc. seem to be a complete disaster if you want free software

[Gilberto de Piento]

LibreOffice is a good replacement for Microsoft Office for basic tasks. It doesn't have all of the features of the current Word or Excel though. It feels like a version from 10 years ago, which is fine for me. I don't know about the privacy perspective.

Python and R are good replacements for paid software but there is a steep learning curve. I'm not sure about the privacy perspective here either.

Cobian backup software worked well for me at one time but I am using an online service now.

I used to have a Windows 7 desktop that had become very slow (32 bit, 4mb ram, etc.). I set it up to dual boot with Ubuntu and Ubuntu was fast enough for about a year but I found Linux to be a pain for some things. When it became slow again I took advantage of the free update from win 7 to 10. 10 was faster than Ubuntu but I wasn't using the computer anymore so I gave it away after trashing the hd. I should have tried one of the lighter versions of Linux but I just wasn't interested in it anymore.

LineageOS looks interesting. My current phone has been rendered almost useless by a major OS update even though it is less than 2 years old. It isn't supported by lineageOS though and the last thing I want to invest time into is switching the OS on a phone. For comparison, my previous phone lasted 4 years.

[Jean]

I can vouch for used Lenovo.
Also, if you need power on a budget, building a desktops computer is really easy nowadays, and really cheaper. If you don't need power, a New self assembled desktop is competitive with a second hand laptop.

[Forskaren]

LibreOffice is a good replacement for Microsoft Office for basic tasks. It doesn't have all of the features of the current Word or Excel though. It feels like a version from 10 years ago, which is fine for me. I

Yeah, I also get that "old" feeling from most free (libre) software. Microsoft also made their office good on smartphones and iPad with smart cloud integration. At my work we use Microsoft teams and Outlook a lot for the meetings, bookings, communication etc. Many instruments require Microsoft windows and in some cases also an install of Excel. Excel works together with a lot of older technical and scientific software. Excel is probably the program that would be most difficult to replace in Microsoft office. Very easy to make tools/macros/templates in Excel that less qualified personnel can use in routine work. Feels a bit like you are in a hole and keeps digging deeper.

[sky]

The board is $75. But you also need:
Power supply
Heat sink case with fan
SD card
One or two display monitors
HDMI cables
Keyboard
Mouse
Powered USB hub
Maybe a USB wifi (the case.covers the board wifi leading to poor reception)

It adds up. I had most of the accessories already so I only needed a board and case.

https://www.canakit.com/raspberry-pi-4-8gb.html
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VWM4J4L

[sky]

https://youtu.be/P1E5xszQqV8

Raspberry Pi has come out with a new desktop keyboard version of the Pi4. Cost is $100 for a kit, and all you need to add is a monitor. This is a clean set up that doesn't look like a science project. It is quiet and does not need a fan. Very low power requirements, you can leave it always on if you wish.

I have a previous version Pi 4 and am very satisfied with it as a desktop. I use a 60 Gb usb thumb drive to store my documents and files. I have used ubuntu, raspberry pi os, and currently use manjaro operating system. All of them work well. I recommend the raspberry pi as a main desktop solution.

[Alphaville]

wow this is a great price. so it works basically browser-based like a chromebook? or what does it do? how’s the security?

[daylen]

https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/raspbian/

Raspberry Pi OS is just a Linux distro.

[Alphaville]

yes but isn’t it less resource intensive or something?