Back on Linux (after one year of Apple and OS X) • Hacker News Board

Re: Back on Linux (after one year of Apple and OS X)

#331

Post by berkes » Thu, Feb 16, 2012, 9:43 AM UTC

frooby wrote: post #74

bwarp wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No hyperbole. The design is simply dangerous. One glass of water on the desk (not in the machine!). Capillary action sucked water around the seal on the base. It was turned over to remove the battery and the sucked up water rained on the logic board resulting in all sorts of crackling, smoke etc and one dead MacBook. Being a qualified and experienced EE, I'm qualified to say that it's electronics 101 to be able to is…

Your knowledge may be obscuring the bigger picture here. I suspect the general public wouldn't behave the way you would - the only spill I've ever seen resulted in the user turning the machine over and furiously shaking it. That this is the only spill I've seen in 16 odd years of being around laptops and using laptops suggests to me that for a company like Apple optimising for spills wouldn't be a priority.

A company like apple optimises for good looks. We all knew that and we have proof since Antennagate; don't try to deny that.

After breaking my second laptop with fluids (first was ruined with coffee; second with it standing in water, which was rain accumulated in my not properly closed "watertight" bag) I started buying Thinkpads. They have specially designed "Fluid drains". Because all laptop manufacturors know that spills are one of the highest death-causes for laptops. http://youtu.be/d7cvi00OZDM

Re: Back on Linux (after one year of Apple and OS X)

#332

Post by technomancy » Fri, Feb 17, 2012, 3:58 AM UTC

w0utert wrote: post #322

brdrak wrote: post #287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been using dual monitor setups at home and at work for a few years now through several hardware builds, both desktops and laptops first using Ubuntu, then switching to Debian Testing for a rolling distribution about a year ago (after finally realizing I love the latest software, but don't want to spend time to upgrade/rebuild every 6 months to keep up with Ubuntu's release schedule or deal with the hassle of ins…

Well, I've been using Nvidia cards with the nvidia-driver and dual-monitor support as well, and it has been fantastic, until I upgraded my Ubuntu install, got Unity without asking for it, after which multi-monitor support was completely broken. My colleague who has 2 screens of a slightly different type (all are Lenovo ThinkVision) and is running Arch with Gnome 3, has been experiencing random multi-monitor glitches…

I still haven't figured out how to get my phone to tether over USB on my friend's Mac. Works flawlessly on my Debian machine though. It's not like OS X is seamless.

Re: Back on Linux (after one year of Apple and OS X)

#333

Post by jodrellblank » Sat, Feb 18, 2012, 7:22 PM UTC

jgw wrote: post #228

eropple wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And I used to do Java development in eclipse/netbeans with db, ide and appserv all running on one machine that had 2GB and I never had any issues... memory hogs hello. This matches my own experience pretty well. I have a MBP with 8GB of RAM and a Linux box with 16GB of RAM at work for Java development, but that's because our Java web app at work requires 7GB+ (!) to get off the ground. Most of my own personal devel…

I'm rather off-topic, but your monitor resolution comment made me smile. I'm currently trying to squeeze the last dying days out of my 15.4" Dell Latitude D810 with its expansive 1920x1200 native res. It's a 7 year old machine, but I can't stand the thought of losing it, because the only laptop I know of with that resolution today is the massive MBP 17". 16x10 aspect ratio is pretty much a thing of the past now. It's…

Can I ask why they are the "last dying days"?

A refurbished ThinkPad T61p, Core 2 Duo, can unofficially be upgraded with 8Gb and an SSD, 1920x1200 in a 15" screen is now under £300. It is also many years old, but I suspect that a former top of the line ThinkPad would beat any modern bottom of the line laptop for the same money, and better screen spec too.

I'm uncomfortable about how old it is, though, hence wondering if you mean your laptop is falling apart, or if you mean it is too low spec for modern use.

Re: Back on Linux (after one year of Apple and OS X)

#334

Post by jgw » Tue, Feb 21, 2012, 2:00 PM UTC

jodrellblank wrote: post #333

jgw wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm rather off-topic, but your monitor resolution comment made me smile. I'm currently trying to squeeze the last dying days out of my 15.4" Dell Latitude D810 with its expansive 1920x1200 native res. It's a 7 year old machine, but I can't stand the thought of losing it, because the only laptop I know of with that resolution today is the massive MBP 17". 16x10 aspect ratio is pretty much a thing of the past now. It's…

Can I ask why they are the "last dying days"? A refurbished ThinkPad T61p, Core 2 Duo, can unofficially be upgraded with 8Gb and an SSD, 1920x1200 in a 15" screen is now under £300. It is also many years old, but I suspect that a former top of the line ThinkPad would beat any modern bottom of the line laptop for the same money, and better screen spec too. I'm uncomfortable about how old it is, though, hence wondering…

I meant my laptop is physically about to fall apart - the screen doesn't stand up on its own any more, and needs to be propped up with some hefty tomes from my undergraduate days. I'm not able to upgrade it, really, either. I stuck an extra Gig of RAM in it, but the HD interface is an IDE, and there really aren't many non-SATA SSDs available.

Might look at a refurb as you suggest - thanks for the heads-up!