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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)

#251

Post by seba_dos1 »

exikyut wrote: post #132
Nition wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know this isn't your main point, but for GMail there's always "Basic HTML view": https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/h/1pq68r75kzvdr/?v%3Dlui

To be pedantic, the correct URL is technically https://mail.google.com/mail/h/ , which then expands in practice to https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/h/ and then gets the jumble of characters near the end added on which appears to be an everything-compliant cache-busting mechanism. When typing the URL manually the "/" after the "h" is required; "mail.google.com/mail/h" will not work.

You can also use https://mail.google.com/?ui=html

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

#252

Post by mixmastamyk »

Once you start making money it’s cheaper to fly to another Latin American country, and/or Miami if possible and buy there. You can generally travel with a laptop and phone, just need to unpack them first.

If not doable make friends with gringos online or at a youth hostel and try to buy before they leave, or bring next time. I brought a new MBP to a friend once. Need to convert to dollars though and exchange rate is high.

To answer the question, recently a friend was giving away a ten-year-old imac. I put in 8gb ram for ~$40 and installed Ubuntu mate and now it works great.

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

#253

Post by michaelbrave »

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…

I still use my 2011 macbook air, not as a main driver but still quite a bit. I had to put linux using xfce on it for it to actually work in a non painful way, MacOS not being able to update properly was part of it, I did find a way to force the updates since I thought I may use it for iphone dev and still use xcode on it, but it wasn't viable. It's mostly used for web surfing via firefox, and if I run something like gnome or cinnamon it struggles quite a lot more than xfce.

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

#254

Post by jventura »

rpgbr wrote: post #66

I'm a likeminded fellow Brazilian, and I would love to keep my gear forever and never have to deal with choosing and spending on new shit, but software keeps getting worse (slower) and you really feel the difference after a major upgrade. Last week I got a new iPhone SE 3rd gen to replace my almost-five years old iPhone 8 due to its battery gone wild (76% of original capacity, randomly dropping to 1% from 70~80%). Th…

> The old one was fine, but it was only when I got the newer that I realized what I was missing — basically, speed.

Still using an iPhone 5S (from 2013), but mainly for calls, text, mails, maps, gps, and the occasional youtube video and web page. Works fine for my use case. To do real work I use my MBP (also from 2013). I do real work with it, honest!

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

#255

Post by forty »

Termitiono wrote: post #189
forty wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Have you read his hardware specs? I do a lot of things which just wouldn't be possible on his setup at all.

Well there is a difference between "purchase a computer that is good enough for your needs and keep it as long as it's good enough" (which I assume is the case for OP) and (quoting parent comment) "Buy the best tools you can" (which for some people here would mean purchasing a new phone and a new computer every year).

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

#256

Post by dijit »

alophawen wrote: post #190
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…

FYI, I am running Arch on a Macbook Air 2011 and it handles Teams OK ;-)

Find that hard to believe too.

My laptop since 2017 has been a Dell Precision 5510, (Xeon 1505v6, 32G) running Arch and honestly it's not smooth in the slightest.

Granted, last time I used Teams was 2 years ago, maybe it improved a lot, but the UI lags so hard that it almost bugs out, along with pegging and entire CPU core, sometimes when the program has been on a call but is no longer... Teams should be sitting idle.

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

#257

Post by dijit »

Termitiono wrote: post #192
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…

While teams is super inefficient, 10 years ago no one was casually streaming 4k with a webcam feed in a remote team session with 2-10 people.

> no one was casually streaming 4k with a webcam feed

aren't most webcams on laptops firmly in the 720p-1080p territory? I know most people receive 480p streams.

I'll grant you that 10 way calls were much less common then, but even now Teams only shows 4(?) of them depending on UI layout.

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

#258

Post by Termitiono »

dijit wrote: post #257
Termitiono wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While teams is super inefficient, 10 years ago no one was casually streaming 4k with a webcam feed in a remote team session with 2-10 people.

> no one was casually streaming 4k with a webcam feed aren't most webcams on laptops firmly in the 720p-1080p territory? I know most people receive 480p streams. I'll grant you that 10 way calls were much less common then, but even now Teams only shows 4(?) of them depending on UI layout.

720p as webcam is very new.

My teams shows up to 8 I think.

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

#259

Post by Termitiono »

nicoco wrote: post #236
Termitiono wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a weird sentiment. Without the investment of early adopters the hardware would not be as cheap or as good as it is right now. Also no one throws older hardware away.

I literally have 2 laptops, 1 tablet and 1 desktop computer at home that friends/family gave to me because they were about to throw it away. Why? Because they were too slow, ie, for some reason windows was something something. After an OS reinstall, I'll give them away to whomever need them. I wish people didn't throw working hardware in the bin, but in my country (France) and social circles (middle class), people de…

In your example though they gave it away, to you ;)

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

#260

Post by d0mine »

Wowfunhappy wrote: post #81
birdfood wrote: post #77

My personal machine is the first and only new computer I ever bought: a 2012 Mac book air. I wanted to get a pro but couldn't justify the price. I took it in to get the battery replaced a couple of years ago instead of upgrading, again, I couldn't justify the price. I think I'll probably get the battery replaced again soon as it's started to falter. For the stuff I do in my spare time this machine is totally adequate…

> I also have the original iPhone SE as my phone which I will probably get refurbished soon instead of getting a new one - all the new phones are too big. Have you looked at the iPhone Mini? It is a bit bigger than the original SE but not by much!

iPhone 13 Mini has an annoying power (side) button placement: it is almost opposite volume buttons—screenshot is triggered often by accident.
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