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Ask HN: What's your computer setup?

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

#62

Post by phunel »

Sorry if this is a bit OT, but does anyone have any experience using panasonic toughbooks? I travel fairly extensively and my MBP is basically in tatters (I have enjoyed it immensely, but the hardware has been subpar - battery exploded, screen went dead, power plug nearly caught on fire, HD failure, etc. I've noticed the new ultralight toughbook is out, and thought this loaded with Linux might be an ideal solution. I have no problem paying premiums for tools that work (my assumption with the MBP) but also obviously don't want to buy something that doesn't return the appropriate value. Anyone with any experience with these tools?

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

#63

Post by cytzol »

dmm wrote: post #23

Asus Eee PC 1000HD * 1.6Ghz Atom * 1 GiB ram * 10" 1024x600 display * OpenBSD (recent snapshot) * StumpWM is the window manager * emacs is the editor I use it as terminal to login to my ps3 running Debian sid for cell processor development. I use profont to let me fit a lot of code on the small screen.

I've heard some people say that only being able to see a small amount of code at a time forces good programming practices, compared to what you'd be able to do with a large monitor. Do you think that having such a small screen helps in this way?

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

#65

Post by epochwolf »

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,…

> What's with all the laptops?

I have a 15" Macbook Pro (version just before the aluminum ones)

I love being mobile. I'm never at a desk. I'm always at a table or couch somewhere. (I love coffee shops. I'm at one drinking an iced tea right now.)

One use case I never envisioned for my laptop was hooking it up to a friend's TV to watch videos. I can store an entire anime series on my laptop. (or loads of rifftrax[1]) When some friends and I want to watch some stuff I just bring my handy case of cables and hook up to their TV and fire up Front Row. (or MPlayer) OSX is pretty good at handling this, my desktop icons stay where I put them when unplug from the TV.

[1]: http://rifftrax.com

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

#67

Post by d0nk »

Primary non-development machine (gaming/entertainment): i7 920 @ 2.8ghz, 6gb ddr3 1600, XFX Radeon HD 5770, Win7 Pro

Laptop (most of my dev and schoolwork is done on this): Thinkpad SL500 (2.0ghz Core2duo, 2gb ram) Dualboot ArchLinux (main/default) w/ Awesome/Xmonad and Win7 (for visual studio and dj software).

Netbook (eeepc 900A): ArchLinux, mostly used for IRC/web when on the run.

Much of my web and non-gui programming is done via ssh to my server in vim, so OS doesnt really matter to me.

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

#68

Post by JangoSteve »

A Macbook (black) with a triple-monitor display (internal display + 2 x 24" Acer 1080p monitors on either side).

I'm using the EVGA UV Plus+16, which is a USB-to-DVI adapter for the second external monitor, which is really nice, but it only allows the one monitor to go up to 1680x1050, so I just use that monitor for email, IM, IRC, etc, where it doesn't really matter.

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