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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)

#221

Post by PostOnce »

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…

This is predicated on the idea that new computers are meaningfully better, when they generally aren't for most of us.

I want a new computer, but I go shopping and here's what I see:

They don't have any more RAM than they did... 10 years ago. Maybe it's marginally faster RAM on paper.

They run software that used to run in 0.9ms in 0.72ms and no one cares. It's all instant to me.

The graphics got better, but not hugely so. 2015 GPUs still run... everything, unless you have some particular need for VR or something.

I could buy a new computer tonight, but why? To do the same stuff at the same speed?

I'll buy a new computer when they do something new, or something substantially better. I keep thinking that's a few months away, but it never happens.

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

#222

Post by giantg2 »

I still use a laptop from 2008. I did get a new battery and swapped the HDD for and SSD. It's only real downside is that it's 32 bit and some software (mostly development related) is only releasing 64 but versions.

My desktop is from 2012. I've added more RAM, a video card, and a secondary SSD. Thing still runs great.

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

#223

Post by mod »

wingerlang wrote: post #219
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…

gmail just loaded in 1-2s for me.

About 2s here as well.

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

#224

Post by Jonanin »

southerntofu wrote: post #214
Jonanin wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why are the import taxes so high?

Why are multinational companies who rely on slave labors from the mines to the factories selling for so high prices? (And how is it even legal?) That's a rhetorical question of course. As for the import taxes, i would guess because electronics are a luxury commodity in many places they are taxed as such. When not used as a luxury good for rich kids to play video games, they're used by industry which makes a lot of mo…

Wow, I have to say I strongly disagree with every single thing you said.

Video games are a small niche in the universe of technology products. To use them as a justification for classifying all tech as luxury seems, well, extremely stupid and misguided.

I’m surprised you don’t know, but the vast majority of businesses are small businesses with low profits, to act like they have plenty of extra money to spend on heavily taxed goods is ignorant at best. Tech is a productivity multiplier for many businesses, this is not really an arguable point as it is well studied.

By the way, no one is forced to buy tech enabled products (despite the implication in your “crazy show”). People buy tech enabled products over others because they solve their problems better.

And tech products are very low on the list of environmental issues in the world. If the tax was actually structured to promote eco friendly behavior in these countries it’d look wildly different.

You seem to have an axe to grind here but nothing you claim really holds up to a bit of critical thinking. Not sure why an extreme tech pessimist is on HN anyways :)

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

#225

Post by once_inc »

throw457 wrote: post #30

Used a i7 3930k with 32GB Ram since 2012 with only upgrading to a 2080 TI from a 750. Did everything it needed to do and more (heavy vfx, editing, nibbling into machine learning) and still was usable for most of the things you threw at it. The board finally gave in after 10 years so I upgraded and the CPU is now framed and hanging above my new workstation. My computing devices all have the names of quake weapons but…

The two greatest problems in computing are: naming things, multithreading, and off-by-one errors. It looks like your comment helps me fix one of them. Computers (or more generally 'machines') in my network tend to be named stupidly, or at the very least uninspiredly. I will choose a pre-existing list of things that suit me, and name everything after them.

Thanks!

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

#226

Post by the_biot »

dusted wrote: post #163

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…

> has anyone ever sat down to watch an RS/6000 boot? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7bN1hYqD7Y

The ridiculously glacial boot, which ended in a system artifcially crippled by license restrictions, not to mention the eye-watering prices, is what killed the commercial Unix industry. They were all like that to some degree, really.

I used to have a dumpster-rescued RS/6000. You could telnet into it with a maximum of three simultaneous sessions, after that you just got a banner saying to buy more licenses. It went back into the dumpster.

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

#227

Post by fho »

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…

Some time ago I got the advice to buy twice ... first, get the cheapest option that is available (within reason). This allows you to get familiar with whatever you are getting into (be it new tools, new hobby equipment, cars ... basically everything). Then, once the cheapest option breaks or just is not good enough anymore, spend the money and get the best thing you can afford.

Often times I found that the cheap option is perfectly reasonable (e.g. a 500€ cordless screwdriver is not 5x as good as a 100€ one), saving me money in the long run. Other times I quickly outgrow the cheap option, but the experience on the cheap model makes me appreciate the expensive option more (e.g. going from a 150€ Ender 3 to a 2000€ Voron 2.1).

Buy twice, once cheap, then good ... I'll just repeat this advice here :-)

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

#229

Post by lawgimenez »

hericium wrote: post #109
lawgimenez wrote: post #72

I'm a professional iOS developer and I'm still using MBP Pro 2015 model (bought second hand for cheap because of its defective speakers) that is maxed out. Since its speakers are not working, I have to buy a portable JBL3 bluetooth speaker as a replacement. Big Sur is still working fine for my 2015 model but I believe it won't work anymore on Ventura. I'm going to sunset this laptop next year but for now it is still…

> I'm a professional iOS developer and I'm still using MBP Pro 2015 model Oh how I wish I have saved this model. Instead I bought the MBP 2017 with its garbage keyboard. Apple replaced this keyboard (along with a case which did not need replacement in a new laptop) with the same useless shit. This was the beginning of the end of Macs for me. That was just too much money for such a huge downgrade. Work on the 2017 mod…

Yes I am going to hold onto this 2015 model as long as I can. I don't really care if this gets all the Ventura fancy features.

The keyboards are so durable, no matter how many times my 3 year old toddler slaps, throw or play, this machine just doesn't break.

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

#230

Post by culopatin »

Ha. I have the same setup at my parents home, but a phenom x3 and a 4850, 16gb ram. Random HDDs. It still works great although bad with energy. I left that computer when I left Arg, next door to you.

They still use an Intel Dual Core from the times when dual core was all there was. I can’t even think of the model. 4gb of ram and windows 7. They prefer it over the phenom for some reason. I also brought them a newer laptop but they can’t figure out the non-desktop format for some reason and continue using the dual core.

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