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Tell HN: I used the same computer since 2007 (with minor upgrades)

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Re: Tell HN: I used the same computer since 2007 (with minor upgrades)

#161

Post by thefz »

vladvasiliu wrote: post #131
w10-1 wrote: post #119

Give yourself extra life. Buy the best tools you can. Don't let virtues learned by necessity become the vices that suck up your lifetime. You'll never get the time back that you spend working on unimportant projects, sustaining old builds, placating unhappy people, working on slow computers, etc. Unless it's the fastest way for you to deliver whatever good you have to the world, put it aside, especially if you've inv…

While I agree with the general sentiment, I think this can be nuanced. By that I mean that always keeping up with the latest and greatest can be overrated, [0] and actually be quite a huge time sink to keep looking for a new computer and / or new parts, compare them, etc. Sure, if you only buy the latest MBP that's easy, since there's not much to choose from. But it is expensive, and it's not always worth it. I'd bee…

Yes. The post you reply to makes it sound like his author's life is too important not to get the fastest cpu possible. Some people have modest hardware requirements that are satisfied with modest hardware for years. Not everybody compiles or renders.

Re: Tell HN: I used the same computer since 2007 (with minor upgrades)

#162

Post by blep_ »

moistly wrote: post #156
Panzer04 wrote: post #78

While this is an admirable perspective, keep things in context. Make sure you aren’t keeping a computer that takes a couple extra seconds on things you do 100s of times a day (eg opening browser tabs, compiling, etc). If you waste an extra 15 min a day on loading times because you have a 10y old PC, the wasted productive time can add up surprisingly quickly. At the very least, ensure you get those high-value upgrades…

Am I the only one who sees compiling, loading, etc time as an opportunity to think?

The cycle, for me, is code -> compile -> run -> observe results -> think.

Compiling is in the wrong position in that sequence to merge it with thinking.

Re: Tell HN: I used the same computer since 2007 (with minor upgrades)

#163

Post by dusted »

In every other aspect of my life, I take some pride, and go to some effort, in not spending. I wear clothes till they fall of my back, then they are replaced with hand-me-downs from friends, family or as a last resort, the second hand store. I do this not because I cannot afford it, but out of principle, I don't care about clothes, they are necessary, nothing more.

Cars are the same, driven to death.

We have few cups, plates, knives and forks of the same style, they are all from somewhere else.. never bought.

I have a large collection of old computers that I enjoy playing around with for various reasons, and I have just never been able to throw out a computer that works (or that does not, my wife would interject).

But for my whole computing-life, one thing where I will spend whatever money is available, has been computers, if I can get an improvement in speed, capacity or stability, I will take it. I've spent my days waiting for computers, to watch them while they pick up bytes from tape, while they grind at floppies, and clunk away at harddrives and spin plastic discs, and for nostalgic reasons, I don't hate it entirely, but I don't want that in my daily life anymore, I don't want to waste my hours waiting for computers, unless it's pure retro-recreation (has anyone ever sat down to watch an RS/6000 boot? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7bN1hYqD7Y)

Re: Tell HN: I used the same computer since 2007 (with minor upgrades)

#164

Post by DocTomoe »

gregmac wrote: post #154

I realize different context, but I'm curious how many other HNers do the same as me: I haven't had a fully new personal desktop computer since ~2001. Since I originally built it, it's undergone dozens of upgrades: close to a half dozen motherboards, a few more CPUs, several GPUs, lots of RAM, drives, etc. I think 3 cases, and at least that many power supplies. But it was never all at one time. I definitely did a coup…

We're in serious "Ship of Theseus" territory here. Personally, I think the moment you switch mainboards, you have a new computer (even if mostly consisting of 'old' parts).

Re: Tell HN: I used the same computer since 2007 (with minor upgrades)

#165

Post by jamal-kumar »

w10-1 wrote: post #119

Give yourself extra life. Buy the best tools you can. Don't let virtues learned by necessity become the vices that suck up your lifetime. You'll never get the time back that you spend working on unimportant projects, sustaining old builds, placating unhappy people, working on slow computers, etc. Unless it's the fastest way for you to deliver whatever good you have to the world, put it aside, especially if you've inv…

Have you ever lived south of the USA before?

Shit gets EXPENSIVE out this way for electronics. I mean I can get my groceries extremely cheap and rent hasn't ever been more than 200$/mo, but electronics are all manufactured out of Asia and the supply lines and/or taxes on specifically that just add all this extra cost that's hard to justify in certain cases. We're talking like 50%+ of the cost you'll find in the USA.

I learned programming specifically because my shitty computer from 1999 wasn't good enough to waste all my time playing world of warcraft like my peers, who were too busy playing video games in high school and being well-off to get into programming or getting their dicks sucked. Now they ask me how to get girls or what they need to do to learn programming. It's extremely different here.

If you live in more humid areas you're forced to replace your electronics a lot faster just because they rust like that. There's computers in plywood boxes with an incandescent lightbulb in there just to prevent the humidity from wrecking it kind of level.

Re: Tell HN: I used the same computer since 2007 (with minor upgrades)

#166

Post by ivolimmen »

I usually buy a decent machine and I use it for 5 to 7 years and I budget the machine around EUR 1200 max (EU citizen). I never throw away my "old" computer; I can always find someone in my vicinity that lacks a decent machine and I will gift it to them. I do the same with my phones.

Re: Tell HN: I used the same computer since 2007 (with minor upgrades)

#167

Post by hattmall »

dijit wrote: post #8

I would have kept the same hardware forever too, but for some reason my tools seem to take more and more resources every year. Silly example is gmail, which loaded in 1s on my 2011 MacBook Pro when new, if it load it again today (I just tried) it takes 35 seconds before I can click anything. Another might be everyone’s favourite software to hate on: Teams. On my 2011 MacBook Pro: fans squealing, UI of the OS becomes…

That seems strange. I run multiple older computers, Core 2 Duo CPUS, 4GB RAM, cheapest possible SSD. They load gmail fine in about 5-7 seconds. And I have 67,000+ unread messages and multiple gmail addons installed too. 35 Seconds before you can click on anything seems crazy.

Re: Tell HN: I used the same computer since 2007 (with minor upgrades)

#170

Post by forty »

w10-1 wrote: post #119

Give yourself extra life. Buy the best tools you can. Don't let virtues learned by necessity become the vices that suck up your lifetime. You'll never get the time back that you spend working on unimportant projects, sustaining old builds, placating unhappy people, working on slow computers, etc. Unless it's the fastest way for you to deliver whatever good you have to the world, put it aside, especially if you've inv…

It's interesting and very sad how all the comments seem to ignore completely the positive impact of repairing on the environment :(

No wonder why we are in such a bad situation now.

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