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Ask HN: What's your computer setup?

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Re: Ask HN: What's your computer setup?

#171

Post by revorad »

jasonkester wrote: post #74
cytzol wrote: post #56

Before I list my setup, I'd like to ask: What's with all the laptops? I worked off a 15-inch laptop for several years, but after using a desktop, I've completely converted. Laptops give you less screen space and less computational power, and in general I've never liked their keyboards. They're also more expensive (I think?) and trickier to self-build. The only advantage I see is portability, which is understandable,…

This: http://photos1.blogger.com/photoInclude/x/blogger/5478/1688/... and this: http://www.expatsoftware.com/articles/2007/04/west-coast-mob... Granted, they sell desktops in France, and you could technically put one in a van, but the experience of taking off for a month-long road trip to get some work done is a definite perk.

It's a nice picture, but how can you see anything on the screen in that much sunlight?

Re: Ask HN: What's your computer setup?

#172

Post by mitchellhislop »

JangoSteve wrote: post #159
mitchellhislop wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you happy with the EVGA adapter? I have been looking for a solution to do exactly what you are doing.

Yes, it works exactly as advertised, and my humble little macbook doesn't seem to have any problems processing with it. The text is a little fuzzy, though, because the UV16 only goes up to 1680x1050 in widescreen format, while my monitor is 1080p. But apparently EVGA recently came out with the UV19 which says it supports 1920x1200, and Buy.com has it cheaper than I paid for the UV16, so I'm strongly considering upgra…

Thanks a ton. Do you find that two externals really help?

Re: Ask HN: What's your computer setup?

#173

Post by javert »

lukeqsee wrote: post #20
javert wrote: post #14

I use awesome wm on archliux, and I HIGHLY recommend it. Definitely go for it. You can pretty much do everything very efficiently from the keyboard, which just "feels right" to me (not to mention being way more convenient). You can also manage way more windows in an efficient way. The previous two sentences could probably be said about a lot of "tiling" window managers, honestly, but I think awesome is a great choice…

Any specific tweaks/hacks/configs I should look at? Otherwise I'll just dive in ... and hope for the best. =)

I'd say, just dive in.

Be sure to read man awesome.

You'll want to customize things a bit, most likely... rc.lua (the config file) is very hackable.

Re: Ask HN: What's your computer setup?

#174

Post by technomancy »

swah wrote: post #121
technomancy wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was really surprised by the weight of this machine. It's also very low-resolution. But the build quality is much-improved over precedessors. If Apple started to compete based on weight and resolution I might consider them, but who knows--maybe they're trying to avoid impinging on the lower-level ipad market.

2kg? Positively or negatively? My sister bought this dell ( http://www1.la.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx... ) and its 1.6kg. Everyone loves the weight.

The 13-inch Macbook Pro is just a lot heavier than it looks. It's much smaller than the 15-inch, but not much lighter.

Re: Ask HN: What's your computer setup?

#175

Post by technomancy »

revorad wrote: post #171
jasonkester wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This: http://photos1.blogger.com/photoInclude/x/blogger/5478/1688/... and this: http://www.expatsoftware.com/articles/2007/04/west-coast-mob... Granted, they sell desktops in France, and you could technically put one in a van, but the experience of taking off for a month-long road trip to get some work done is a definite perk.

It's a nice picture, but how can you see anything on the screen in that much sunlight?

Well it rules out a glossy screen, but as long as you've got one that's LED-powered it's fine. Course it's nicer in the shade, but it still works in the sun.

Re: Ask HN: What's your computer setup?

#177

Post by JangoSteve »

mitchellhislop wrote: post #172
JangoSteve wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, it works exactly as advertised, and my humble little macbook doesn't seem to have any problems processing with it. The text is a little fuzzy, though, because the UV16 only goes up to 1680x1050 in widescreen format, while my monitor is 1080p. But apparently EVGA recently came out with the UV19 which says it supports 1920x1200, and Buy.com has it cheaper than I paid for the UV16, so I'm strongly considering upgra…

Thanks a ton. Do you find that two externals really help?

That seems like a loaded question ;-) It helps tremendously for me, but everyone is different.

Re: Ask HN: What's your computer setup?

#179

Post by there »

there wrote: post #134
technomancy wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> i think it would be neat if _the setup_ ( http://usesthis.com/ ) had a version where anyone could submit their responses The nice thing about the Web is that it's distributed: http://technomancy.us/137 Spoiler: Thinkpad X200s, standing desk, vertical-orientation external display, custom keyboard setup attached to my pants.

i created a setups subreddit to post them to, but for some reason it got banned. i'm trying to get a reddit moderator to help. http://reddit.com/r/setups/

it's been unbanned, post away.

Re: Ask HN: What's your computer setup?

#180

Post by wglb »

Well, the day job has a 13" aluminum macbook pro. Very nice, outfitted with everything ruby, blackbag, clojure, sbcl, external kenisis keyboard.

Home has another white 13" macbook used for time on the train with one of them there usb cellular thingies. Big development system is 8 gigs two core 400gig asus MB driving a samsung 204bw, running ubuntu next-to-latest, intel gig nic. Second montior driven by a 900mhz amd with 200gig drive, running ubuntu latest on another 204bw. The windows box is a 64bit gigabyte MB running 32 bit w2k with bunches of scsi drives and a scsi DAT tape drive.

In the basement are six $300 systems (asus mn2k or such) with dual or single core, 2 gigs (one with 4 gigs), dual intel gig nics, one inboard nic each, ubuntu latest or next to latest. And there is a cluster driven by a caos 2gig 3-nic box, with 7 diskless work nodes with 2 gig ram, 2 nics each. With something like $400, proximity to Tiger Direct, a monitor, keyboard and a mouse, you can build a very respectable development system the next day with one hour of assembly time.

Then there are the recycled bunch, two running openbsd for firewalls. These are two generations ago, castoff from friends who bought their kids new boxes. One bsd box that used to run the church website, a FIT pc running latest ubuntu that I thought might be useful (might be using it for day job if it weren't for VM Fusion--load it up with backtrack 4). Then there are two recycled "media" pcs, 32bits, one of which drives the TV, and the other that, well, i think it is running ntp, and maybe a website for some friends.

With all this, you would think I am a system administrator, but the closest to being an SA was when I wrote the first version of the Mark Williams Coherent Administrator's Guide. If Erin were to check my homework, I would certainly flunk.

What is fun at parties is to fire up the 40 inch TV with the media PC behind it and ask your dinner guests' address, and show them the bird's-eye-view of their house. Oh, and be cautious about pulling it up with zillow. That could get to be a not-so-positive experience at dinner time.

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