I have a a $250 laptop, 4 gig of RAM and I have the latest version of Windows 10, I run jaws, and vda, and have many browser tabs opened at once, and it runs beautifully. You do not need these specs like 16 gigs of RAM unless you are gaming or doing a lot of video editing, which I do neither. don't let people tell you that you need the highest specs on a computer or phone.
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
Just because you may consider a system adequate for your own needs
doesn't mean it is for is for everyone. A system like that would have
major compremises. For clerification, I am talking about laptop prices,
desktops in that price range may in fact be midrange. What I am saying
is a minimum system for anyone should have a 6 core or so CPU, 8 gb or
16 gb of dual channel ram, an I5processor etc.
On 10/15/2020 7:08 PM, Monte Single wrote:
> Hi list,
> : enes sarıbaş thinks a 500 dollar computer/laptop is less than adequate for the average user.
> He is not the first person on the list to express such thoughts.
> The one time I spent more than that for a computer was for the first one I purchased; that was in the last millennium.
> If I spent 500 u s dollars on a computer today, it would be built with quality parts and be more than adequate for the average computer user's needs.
> : enes sarıbaş  go forth and conquer, spend the big bucks.
> Hopefully it will stimulate the economy.
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: main@TechTalk.groups.io <main@TechTalk.groups.io> On Behalf Of Gene
> Sent: October 15, 2020 5:29 PM
> To: main@TechTalk.groups.io
> Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me
>
> That simply is not true. A lot of people have machines in the five hundred dollar range and they work fine.
>
> And five hundred dollar machines aren't just barely competent machines.
>
> Gene
> -----Original Message-----
> From: enes sarıbaş
> Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2020 4:14 PM
> To: main@TechTalk.groups.io
> Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me
>
> No, I would not buy a 500 dollar machine. In fact, I would exclude machines below a certain build quality as a matter of principle. Is saving every little penny really worth it for a device people use 12 hours a day or more? possibly? Those machines usually have more than one major flaw, and have barebone specs. I think a power user should get a pc above the 1000 dollar range, and a regular user, if they can aford it should go around 700-800. The difference between an entry level, and even midrange computer is very apparent in build quality, as well as components. A midrange system will probably have one or two important flaws, but a budget system will have three or more, iether bad keyboard, cheap material, poor cooling, etc.
>
> On 10/15/2020 7:15 AM, Gene wrote:
>> And I suspect you spent over a thousand dollars to do what a five
>> hundred dollar computer can do, less if on sale ormanufacturer
>> refurbished. I don't know enough technically to discuss some of your
>> technical points, but I'll say the following:
>> The advice I see from computer advisors is that for the majority of
>> people, purchasing a machine somewhere in the five hundred dollar
>> range will meet their needs. And even if memory requirements have
>> gone up for some programs, they haven't gone up nearly enough that
>> more than 8GB of ram is recommended for the majority of users. That
>> is the recommendation and it has been for years.
>>
>> A little money here, a little money there, a more powerful processor,
>> and pretty soon, you are spending five hundred dollars or more than
>> you need to and gambling that your machine will last far longer than
>> the generally agreed on length for reliable service, five years. I
>> think it is a very bad gamble, not because the machine won't last
>> longer, it may well do so, but you are spending a lot more money now
>> for performance parameters that will be much less expensive when you
>> replace the computer. And the typical user, buying a machine around
>> the five hundred dollar range today, unless their uses change
>> radically, won't have problems that will require a new machine probably for the life of the current one.
>>
>> And what about technological changes itself? If you bought a machine
>> in the Windows 7 days that was future proofed, in your opinion at that
>> time, it might not run Windows 10 now. My understanding is, and if
>> I'm wrong, I'm sure I will be corrected, that a lot of Windows 7
>> machines won't run Windows 10 because Microsoft now requires that
>> different processors be used.
>>
>> While I don't think that sort of thing will happen if one buys a
>> machine now for use seven or ten years into the future and are
>> attempting to future proof it, you are again gambling that newer
>> technologies wohn't come along that will render your computer less
>> useable, no matter how you future proof it now.
>>
>> Gene.
>> -----Original Message----- From: enes sarıbaş
>> Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2020 6:27 AM
>> To: main@TechTalk.groups.io
>> Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me
>>
>> This isn't correct. Browsers, and other day to day applications even,
>> dramatically have increased ram usage, as well as CPU power. For
>> example, Zoom will only let you blur the background of video if you
>> have a quad core processor. If you buy a dual core as opposed to a
>> quad core processor for example, it will struggle at even the most
>> basic of tasks, and in 5 years, or even in a few years, programas even
>> screen readers will begin to lag. This happened with my core I5 4200M.
>> I thought a dual core was ok, though this was a system gifted to me.
>> Had I been choosing my own system then, I would've gone for an I7, and
>> now, this dual core is not even good enough for browsing. Large
>> websites will freeze it and even when I had it, intensive apps like
>> finereader will lag significantly independant of ram. This is exactly
>> I future proofed my next laptop, with a 1tb SSD, 32 gb of ram, and an
>> r7 4800H processor from AMD, with a 4.2 GHZ boost across all cores.
>> This should be powerful enough to run anything conceivable in the next
>> 5 or so years, except maybe AI workloads.
>> On 10/15/2020 6:07 AM, Gene wrote:
>>> I've seen others, and I believe you, too, make the future proof
>>> argument for buying a more powerful computer than the person's
>>> anticipated needs because it will be useful longer because you never
>>> know when your needs will change. I've always thought such arguments
>>> were not good ones. For one thing, a lot of people will continue to
>>> use computers in about the same ways as now and if they do use them
>>> in more demanding ways, those will not likely tax the computer if
>>> they buy a computer that isn't just barely powerful enough to do what they want.
>>>
>>> Also, technology continues to become more powerful and cost less. So,
>>> in five years, the projected reliable life of a computer, you will be
>>> able to buy one to meet your needs then for less money than you are
>>> paying now. In addition, though it’s a gamble, many computers last
>>> more than five years, many significantly more. Every dollar you
>>> overspend to be future proofed that you didn't need because your
>>> needs didn't change and all the extra power of your computer remains
>>> unused is increasingly wasted, the longer your computer lasts.
>>>
>>> It makes much more sense to buy a computer that is powerful enough to
>>> meet your current needs well if you don't anticipate major changes in
>>> how you will use your computer and are reasonably confident that you
>>> won't do things in future that will exceed the ability of the computer.
>>>
>>> Spending one-thousand dollars to future proof a machine, just in
>>> case, maybe you use your machine much differently in the future, when
>>> you could spend five hundred dollars today and three hundred dollars
>>> in fived or seven or eight years for another machine that you would
>>> probably use in similar ways as you do now or not much, is a bad idea.
>>>
>>> Gene
>>> -----Original Message----- From: enes sarıbaş
>>> Sent: Wednesday, October 14, 2020 9:27 PM
>>> To: main@TechTalk.groups.io
>>> Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Hi Brian,
>>>
>>> Just for clerification, I have confirmed 5g signals do exist in my
>>> area for my network. Even without the massive bandwidth, the lower
>>> latency itself will probably result in better quality improvements.
>>> Also, all versions of the IPhone by default include 5g.
>>>
>>>
>>> On 10/14/2020 9:18 PM, Brian Vogel wrote:
>>> On Wed, Oct 14, 2020 at 10:11 PM, enes sarıbaş wrote:
>>> One reason, future proofing, I want to get the highest end version of
>>> the IPhone 12, though 5g isn't very wiedespread now, it will be in
>>> three years or so.- I am at a loss as to how doing this, now, squares
>>> with your own earlier assertion, "I think 5g is more significant for
>>> fixed wireless than smartphones."
>>>
>>> Going to a 5G device now, when it is obscenely expensive, and where
>>> the ability to exploit 5G is limited to a very few locations, seems
>>> to me to be a supreme waste.
>>>
>>> And 3 years is an eternity in the world of technology, and
>>> smartphones in particular, and what's Apple's flagship now, will be
>>> mid-range in 3 years, and much cheaper.
>>>
>>> Going to a 5G smartphone now, unless you live in a major metropolitan
>>> area, is locking your money up in a frozen asset you cannot even use
>>> for its intended purpose.
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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I or someone could just board them to you with your current email address you use
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
I’d hope that would work, but I find that whenever you contact your service
provider, it just turns into a war about whose fault it is: the list says it’s
your service provider, and your service provider blames it on the list. I
hope she has better luck. Pam.
Â
Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2020 11:13 AM
Subject: Re: [TechTalk] email question
Â
Ask
the group owner or moderator to send you a bounce probe message, then once you
get it, make sure to activate the link at the end. It's worth a
shot. If that doesn't do it, I'd check with your e-mail service provider
to see if they're blocking whatever the domain name groups.google.com.Â
This would be very odd, but it's not beyond the realm of possibility. --
Brian
-Â Windows
10 Pro, 64-Bit, Version 2004, Build 19041Â Â
Always
remember that computers are just glorified light bulbs - they rarely fail in
continuous use and usually go pop when turned off and on.
       ~
Technician with the username Computer Bloke, on Technibble.com
|
This email has been checked for viruses by AVG antivirus software.
www.avg.com
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Re: NLS cartridges and BARD
You are correct. It is a standard male. What do you mean an OTG
cable? Pam.
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2020 1:02 PM
Subject: [TechTalk] NLS cartridges and BARD
Â
Good day everyone. To connect a blank NLS cartridge to
a PC, what type of USB cable is used? I feel kind of silly for asking
because I feel what appears to be a male standard USB port on the cartridge, but
how in the wide world of sports would you get an OTG cable on to that
thing?
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This email has been checked for viruses by AVG antivirus software.
www.avg.com
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I’d hope that would work, but I find that whenever you contact your service
provider, it just turns into a war about whose fault it is: the list says it’s
your service provider, and your service provider blames it on the list. I
hope she has better luck. Pam.
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2020 11:13 AM
Subject: Re: [TechTalk] email question
Â
Ask
the group owner or moderator to send you a bounce probe message, then once you
get it, make sure to activate the link at the end. It's worth a
shot. If that doesn't do it, I'd check with your e-mail service provider
to see if they're blocking whatever the domain name groups.google.com.Â
This would be very odd, but it's not beyond the realm of possibility. --
Brian
-Â Windows
10 Pro, 64-Bit, Version 2004, Build 19041Â Â
Always
remember that computers are just glorified light bulbs - they rarely fail in
continuous use and usually go pop when turned off and on.
       ~
Technician with the username Computer Bloke, on Technibble.com
|
This email has been checked for viruses by AVG antivirus software.
www.avg.com
|
|
|
When it comes to data storage, I still choose to stick with mechanical drives. I've got twelve of them in the pool. For now anyway. When multi-terabyte SSD's come down in price, I may upgrade. Would certainly make things quieter.
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
----- Original Message ----- From: "Brian Vogel" <britechguy@gmail.com> To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Date: Fri, 16 Oct 2020 11:26:17 -0700 Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me There are plenty of machines at the $500 and under price point that are not just adequate, but way more than just adequate, for a very great many users.
That being said, if I have the option of an SSD versus a HDD for a small upgrade fee, I will go with the SSD every time. I just swapped out the HDD in one of my machines for an SSD and the overall boost in responsiveness - across the board, not just at booting - is as significant as you get when taking a machine with inadequate RAM and upgrading that (and that's after RAM is already upgraded).
The fact of the matter is that the "slowest" SSD is far, far faster than a mechanical spinner with read/write heads that are constantly on the move. It is the need to spin around to catch "the next block" and move the heads for both reading and writing on a constant basis that is just so much slower than direct access with no moving parts.
I'm perfectly willing to use HDDs, still, and I'm in a minority there. But I cannot in good conscience claim that even the very best HDD is better than an SSD when it comes to throughput speed and what that means for system responsiveness as a whole. --
Brian - Windows 10 Pro, 64-Bit, Version 2004, Build 19041
*Always remember that computers are just glorified light bulbs - they rarely fail in continuous use and usually go pop when turned off and on.*
~ Technician with the username Computer Bloke, on Technibble.com
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|
Brian Vogel <britechguy@...>
There are plenty of machines at the $500 and under price point that are not just adequate, but way more than just adequate, for a very great many users. That being said, if I have the option of an SSD versus a HDD for a small upgrade fee, I will go with the SSD every time. I just swapped out the HDD in one of my machines for an SSD and the overall boost in responsiveness - across the board, not just at booting - is as significant as you get when taking a machine with inadequate RAM and upgrading that (and that's after RAM is already upgraded). The fact of the matter is that the "slowest" SSD is far, far faster than a mechanical spinner with read/write heads that are constantly on the move. It is the need to spin around to catch "the next block" and move the heads for both reading and writing on a constant basis that is just so much slower than direct access with no moving parts. I'm perfectly willing to use HDDs, still, and I'm in a minority there. But I cannot in good conscience claim that even the very best HDD is better than an SSD when it comes to throughput speed and what that means for system responsiveness as a whole. --
Brian - Windows 10 Pro, 64-Bit, Version 2004, Build 19041 Â
Always remember that computers are just glorified light bulbs - they rarely fail in continuous use and usually go pop when turned off and on.
       ~ Technician with the username Computer Bloke, on Technibble.com
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I generally get a $15 keyboard, could use indefinitely, but replace periodically, because I wear the print off them. That makes it difficult if my husband needs to enter a password.
I've finally worn this one to the point that it has a wonderful touch, so am not likely to replace indefinitely.
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
-----Original Message----- From: main@TechTalk.groups.io [mailto:main@TechTalk.groups.io] On Behalf Of Gene Sent: Friday, October 16, 2020 6:53 AM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me Few ports won't matter with hubs available and many people may well not need more than the ports offered. Keyboards, I don't know how serious a problem that is. My lapptop, I don't know if it is in the minority, as a very nice keyboard with large keys and a nice feel. While a keyboard that is more difficult or unpleasant to use than it should be would be an annoyance, at least when used at home, and laptops these days often replace desktops, its easy enough to use a USB keyboard. If this is a problem with many laptops, it is hardly a major flaw and hardly rises to the level justifying spending hundreds of dollars more to solve unless you use the laptop portably some or much of the time and you can't find a portable keyboard that satisfies your needs. Cooling? If you are talking about laptops, the person can use a cooling pad. Not a serious problem at all. I don't know what problems you are referring to by material design. I'll look at the page, but the objections you have discussed don't justify spending more on a machine unless you want to use the laptop while away from home and a solution to a flaw makes its use unreasonably inconvenient, something I think won't happen with most of the flaws you have discussed. Then, too, people who live anywhere near a computer store or Walmart or Best Buy or other such stores can inspect computers in person. And there are always user reviews and reviews in computer magazines such as the best laptops for 2020 and other reviews such as the best laptops for 2020 costing under this or that amount of money. And there are lists like this, good places to ask what machines people are using and for evaluations or to ask about a specific machine or machines you are interested in. In short, you can pick the flaw that either won't matter to you or will be easy to work around, given how you use the computer or you can try to find one without such flaws and I would think some computers without them perhaps many, if you look, can be found. While your objection is interesting because it leads to a discussion of the ways to find a good computer, it doesn't justify spending more money for the majority of users. Gene -----Original Message----- From: enes sarıbaş Sent: Friday, October 16, 2020 3:10 AM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me Hi Gene, Systems in that price range today have major flaws, iether few ports, cooling, keyboard, mouse, material design. You can view notebookcheck and similar technology sites, and read reviews for systems in different price brackets, and all of those systems will have their flaws mentioned. Whether these flaws matter though depends on the flaw or person. On 10/15/2020 9:04 PM, Gene wrote: And so are laptops. Your information is wrong. I bought a laptop about nine years ago, and certainly you would get more power for the same price now, for about 480 dollars. It has worked very well. It is not compromised. It doesn't have defects.
And no one said a 500 dollar computer is good for everyone. I'm not talking about gamers or power users. I'm talking about the majority of Internet users who stream, surf, use a word processor, record audio, and do other tasks that are not particularly demanding.
Gene -----Original Message----- From: enes sarıbaş Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2020 8:44 PM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me
Just because you may consider a system adequate for your own needs doesn't mean it is for is for everyone. A system like that would have major compremises. For clerification, I am talking about laptop prices, desktops in that price range may in fact be midrange. What I am saying is a minimum system for anyone should have a 6 core or so CPU, 8 gb or 16 gb of dual channel ram, an I5processor etc.
On 10/15/2020 7:08 PM, Monte Single wrote:
Hi list, : enes sarıbaş thinks a 500 dollar computer/laptop is less than adequate for the average user. He is not the first person on the list to express such thoughts. The one time I spent more than that for a computer was for the first one I purchased; that was in the last millennium. If I spent 500 u s dollars on a computer today, it would be built with quality parts and be more than adequate for the average computer user's needs. : enes sarıbaş go forth and conquer, spend the big bucks. Hopefully it will stimulate the economy.
-----Original Message----- From: main@TechTalk.groups.io <main@TechTalk.groups.io> On Behalf Of Gene Sent: October 15, 2020 5:29 PM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me
That simply is not true. A lot of people have machines in the five hundred dollar range and they work fine.
And five hundred dollar machines aren't just barely competent machines.
Gene -----Original Message----- From: enes sarıbaş Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2020 4:14 PM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me
No, I would not buy a 500 dollar machine. In fact, I would exclude machines below a certain build quality as a matter of principle. Is saving every little penny really worth it for a device people use 12 hours a day or more? possibly? Those machines usually have more than one major flaw, and have barebone specs. I think a power user should get a pc above the 1000 dollar range, and a regular user, if they can aford it should go around 700-800. The difference between an entry level, and even midrange computer is very apparent in build quality, as well as components. A midrange system will probably have one or two important flaws, but a budget system will have three or more, iether bad keyboard, cheap material, poor cooling, etc.
On 10/15/2020 7:15 AM, Gene wrote:
And I suspect you spent over a thousand dollars to do what a five hundred dollar computer can do, less if on sale ormanufacturer refurbished. I don't know enough technically to discuss some of your technical points, but I'll say the following: The advice I see from computer advisors is that for the majority of people, purchasing a machine somewhere in the five hundred dollar range will meet their needs. And even if memory requirements have gone up for some programs, they haven't gone up nearly enough that more than 8GB of ram is recommended for the majority of users. That is the recommendation and it has been for years.
A little money here, a little money there, a more powerful processor, and pretty soon, you are spending five hundred dollars or more than you need to and gambling that your machine will last far longer than the generally agreed on length for reliable service, five years. I think it is a very bad gamble, not because the machine won't last longer, it may well do so, but you are spending a lot more money now for performance parameters that will be much less expensive when you replace the computer. And the typical user, buying a machine around the five hundred dollar range today, unless their uses change radically, won't have problems that will require a new machine probably for the life of the current one.
And what about technological changes itself? If you bought a machine in the Windows 7 days that was future proofed, in your opinion at that time, it might not run Windows 10 now. My understanding is, and if I'm wrong, I'm sure I will be corrected, that a lot of Windows 7 machines won't run Windows 10 because Microsoft now requires that different processors be used.
While I don't think that sort of thing will happen if one buys a machine now for use seven or ten years into the future and are attempting to future proof it, you are again gambling that newer technologies wohn't come along that will render your computer less useable, no matter how you future proof it now.
Gene. -----Original Message----- From: enes sarıbaş Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2020 6:27 AM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me
This isn't correct. Browsers, and other day to day applications even, dramatically have increased ram usage, as well as CPU power. For example, Zoom will only let you blur the background of video if you have a quad core processor. If you buy a dual core as opposed to a quad core processor for example, it will struggle at even the most basic of tasks, and in 5 years, or even in a few years, programas even screen readers will begin to lag. This happened with my core I5 4200M. I thought a dual core was ok, though this was a system gifted to me. Had I been choosing my own system then, I would've gone for an I7, and now, this dual core is not even good enough for browsing. Large websites will freeze it and even when I had it, intensive apps like finereader will lag significantly independant of ram. This is exactly I future proofed my next laptop, with a 1tb SSD, 32 gb of ram, and an r7 4800H processor from AMD, with a 4.2 GHZ boost across all cores. This should be powerful enough to run anything conceivable in the next 5 or so years, except maybe AI workloads. On 10/15/2020 6:07 AM, Gene wrote:
I've seen others, and I believe you, too, make the future proof argument for buying a more powerful computer than the person's anticipated needs because it will be useful longer because you never know when your needs will change. I've always thought such arguments were not good ones. For one thing, a lot of people will continue to use computers in about the same ways as now and if they do use them in more demanding ways, those will not likely tax the computer if they buy a computer that isn't just barely powerful enough to do what they want.
Also, technology continues to become more powerful and cost less. So, in five years, the projected reliable life of a computer, you will be able to buy one to meet your needs then for less money than you are paying now. In addition, though it’s a gamble, many computers last more than five years, many significantly more. Every dollar you overspend to be future proofed that you didn't need because your needs didn't change and all the extra power of your computer remains unused is increasingly wasted, the longer your computer lasts.
It makes much more sense to buy a computer that is powerful enough to meet your current needs well if you don't anticipate major changes in how you will use your computer and are reasonably confident that you won't do things in future that will exceed the ability of the computer.
Spending one-thousand dollars to future proof a machine, just in case, maybe you use your machine much differently in the future, when you could spend five hundred dollars today and three hundred dollars in fived or seven or eight years for another machine that you would probably use in similar ways as you do now or not much, is a bad idea.
Gene -----Original Message----- From: enes sarıbaş Sent: Wednesday, October 14, 2020 9:27 PM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me
Hi Brian,
Just for clerification, I have confirmed 5g signals do exist in my area for my network. Even without the massive bandwidth, the lower latency itself will probably result in better quality improvements. Also, all versions of the IPhone by default include 5g.
On 10/14/2020 9:18 PM, Brian Vogel wrote: On Wed, Oct 14, 2020 at 10:11 PM, enes sarıbaş wrote: One reason, future proofing, I want to get the highest end version of the IPhone 12, though 5g isn't very wiedespread now, it will be in three years or so.- I am at a loss as to how doing this, now, squares with your own earlier assertion, "I think 5g is more significant for fixed wireless than smartphones."
Going to a 5G device now, when it is obscenely expensive, and where the ability to exploit 5G is limited to a very few locations, seems to me to be a supreme waste.
And 3 years is an eternity in the world of technology, and smartphones in particular, and what's Apple's flagship now, will be mid-range in 3 years, and much cheaper.
Going to a 5G smartphone now, unless you live in a major metropolitan area, is locking your money up in a frozen asset you cannot even use for its intended purpose.
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Right. Mine has one TB, so is pretty tough. It is a Lenovo.
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
-----Original Message----- From: main@TechTalk.groups.io [mailto:main@TechTalk.groups.io] On Behalf Of Gene Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2020 7:29 PM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me That simply is not true. A lot of people have machines in the five hundred dollar range and they work fine. And five hundred dollar machines aren't just barely competent machines. Gene -----Original Message----- From: enes sarıbaş Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2020 4:14 PM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me No, I would not buy a 500 dollar machine. In fact, I would exclude machines below a certain build quality as a matter of principle. Is saving every little penny really worth it for a device people use 12 hours a day or more? possibly? Those machines usually have more than one major flaw, and have barebone specs. I think a power user should get a pc above the 1000 dollar range, and a regular user, if they can aford it should go around 700-800. The difference between an entry level, and even midrange computer is very apparent in build quality, as well as components. A midrange system will probably have one or two important flaws, but a budget system will have three or more, iether bad keyboard, cheap material, poor cooling, etc. On 10/15/2020 7:15 AM, Gene wrote: And I suspect you spent over a thousand dollars to do what a five hundred dollar computer can do, less if on sale ormanufacturer refurbished. I don't know enough technically to discuss some of your technical points, but I'll say the following: The advice I see from computer advisors is that for the majority of people, purchasing a machine somewhere in the five hundred dollar range will meet their needs. And even if memory requirements have gone up for some programs, they haven't gone up nearly enough that more than 8GB of ram is recommended for the majority of users. That is the recommendation and it has been for years.
A little money here, a little money there, a more powerful processor, and pretty soon, you are spending five hundred dollars or more than you need to and gambling that your machine will last far longer than the generally agreed on length for reliable service, five years. I think it is a very bad gamble, not because the machine won't last longer, it may well do so, but you are spending a lot more money now for performance parameters that will be much less expensive when you replace the computer. And the typical user, buying a machine around the five hundred dollar range today, unless their uses change radically, won't have problems that will require a new machine probably for the life of the current one.
And what about technological changes itself? If you bought a machine in the Windows 7 days that was future proofed, in your opinion at that time, it might not run Windows 10 now. My understanding is, and if I'm wrong, I'm sure I will be corrected, that a lot of Windows 7 machines won't run Windows 10 because Microsoft now requires that different processors be used.
While I don't think that sort of thing will happen if one buys a machine now for use seven or ten years into the future and are attempting to future proof it, you are again gambling that newer technologies wohn't come along that will render your computer less useable, no matter how you future proof it now.
Gene. -----Original Message----- From: enes sarıbaş Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2020 6:27 AM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me
This isn't correct. Browsers, and other day to day applications even, dramatically have increased ram usage, as well as CPU power. For example, Zoom will only let you blur the background of video if you have a quad core processor. If you buy a dual core as opposed to a quad core processor for example, it will struggle at even the most basic of tasks, and in 5 years, or even in a few years, programas even screen readers will begin to lag. This happened with my core I5 4200M. I thought a dual core was ok, though this was a system gifted to me. Had I been choosing my own system then, I would've gone for an I7, and now, this dual core is not even good enough for browsing. Large websites will freeze it and even when I had it, intensive apps like finereader will lag significantly independant of ram. This is exactly I future proofed my next laptop, with a 1tb SSD, 32 gb of ram, and an r7 4800H processor from AMD, with a 4.2 GHZ boost across all cores. This should be powerful enough to run anything conceivable in the next 5 or so years, except maybe AI workloads. On 10/15/2020 6:07 AM, Gene wrote:
I've seen others, and I believe you, too, make the future proof argument for buying a more powerful computer than the person's anticipated needs because it will be useful longer because you never know when your needs will change. I've always thought such arguments were not good ones. For one thing, a lot of people will continue to use computers in about the same ways as now and if they do use them in more demanding ways, those will not likely tax the computer if they buy a computer that isn't just barely powerful enough to do what they want.
Also, technology continues to become more powerful and cost less. So, in five years, the projected reliable life of a computer, you will be able to buy one to meet your needs then for less money than you are paying now. In addition, though it’s a gamble, many computers last more than five years, many significantly more. Every dollar you overspend to be future proofed that you didn't need because your needs didn't change and all the extra power of your computer remains unused is increasingly wasted, the longer your computer lasts.
It makes much more sense to buy a computer that is powerful enough to meet your current needs well if you don't anticipate major changes in how you will use your computer and are reasonably confident that you won't do things in future that will exceed the ability of the computer.
Spending one-thousand dollars to future proof a machine, just in case, maybe you use your machine much differently in the future, when you could spend five hundred dollars today and three hundred dollars in fived or seven or eight years for another machine that you would probably use in similar ways as you do now or not much, is a bad idea.
Gene -----Original Message----- From: enes sarıbaş Sent: Wednesday, October 14, 2020 9:27 PM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me
Hi Brian,
Just for clerification, I have confirmed 5g signals do exist in my area for my network. Even without the massive bandwidth, the lower latency itself will probably result in better quality improvements. Also, all versions of the IPhone by default include 5g.
On 10/14/2020 9:18 PM, Brian Vogel wrote: On Wed, Oct 14, 2020 at 10:11 PM, enes sarıbaş wrote: One reason, future proofing, I want to get the highest end version of the IPhone 12, though 5g isn't very wiedespread now, it will be in three years or so.- I am at a loss as to how doing this, now, squares with your own earlier assertion, "I think 5g is more significant for fixed wireless than smartphones."
Going to a 5G device now, when it is obscenely expensive, and where the ability to exploit 5G is limited to a very few locations, seems to me to be a supreme waste.
And 3 years is an eternity in the world of technology, and smartphones in particular, and what's Apple's flagship now, will be mid-range in 3 years, and much cheaper.
Going to a 5G smartphone now, unless you live in a major metropolitan area, is locking your money up in a frozen asset you cannot even use for its intended purpose.
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Re: Inquiry: Seeking sites where I can download free graphics for printing
Hi Brian,
Thanks for the heads up on just how to use the site. It works well
once you get the hang of it as does my printer. The wife will love
it.
On 10/15/2020 10:16 AM, Brian Vogel
wrote:
On Thu, Oct 15,
2020 at 01:05 AM, Ron Canazzi wrote:
Have you ever used this site?
-
Yes. It's a search engine, just like Google, but with an emphasis
on privacy. Within the first ten search results are multiple
public domain image libraries with millions of images available.Â
These include, but are not limited to:
Creative Commons Search
https://www.pexels.com/public-domain-images/Â
The Library of Congress
"Free to Use" Image Library
and if you go beyond the first 10 there are many other options as
well.
Â
--
Brian - Windows
10 Pro, 64-Bit, Version 2004, Build 19041Â Â
Always remember that
computers are just glorified light bulbs - they rarely fail
in continuous use and usually go pop when turned off and on.
       ~
Technician with the username Computer Bloke, on Technibble.com
--
They Ask Me If I'm Happy; I say Yes.
They ask: "How Happy are You?"
I Say: "I'm as happy as a stow away chimpanzee on a banana boat!"
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Re: instagram, twitter, and facebook
HI David, Yes, you can have both, as far as I’m aware, accounts on your computer. The web interface for Twitter is pretty accessible. I don’t use Instagram though so I can’t speak to it’s accessibility. HTH, Sarah Â
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From: main@TechTalk.groups.io <main@TechTalk.groups.io> On Behalf Of DAVID GLOBE Sent: Friday, October 16, 2020 7:40 AM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: [TechTalk] instagram, twitter, and facebook  Hello all Is it possible to have an instagram or twitter account on my computer, or is this just a cell phone thing? I'm asking just because I don't know. David
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instagram, twitter, and facebook
Hello all Is it possible to have an instagram or twitter account on my computer, or is this just a cell phone thing? I'm asking just because I don't know. David
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Re: NVDA & vocalizer voices
first the place you bought the vocalizer voices from is called code factory. You can also buy them from ww.atguys.com. next, the windows 10 voices can be found under the synthesizer dialogue in NVDA press the change synthesizer button. Go to the synthesizer combo box, down arrow to one core voices, and press enter.
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But most people don't ever have to unzip enormous files and Windows has all sorts of ways of reducing the boot time problem to insignificance. You can use sleep, I don't know what is available in Windows 10, to be able to shut down the computer, but keep the entire contents of the hard drive in memory, then when you resume operation, you are ready to work again qauickly. I'm talking about something like six secconds, maybe if you have a lot of programs opened, maybe ten or twelve seconds, I don't know if the number of programs opened matters. My point is that the boot pfroblem can very easily be reduced to insignificance with ways Windows provides.
Windows 10 has fast boot. This allows for booting quickly even with a mechanical drive. It isn't a full boot because information is kept in memory. And if you use fast boot, you should still use restart from time to time because, just as when you let your computer run too long without booting, you will have performance problems, so to with fast boot which is not a full boot. You can experiment and see how long it takes for performance problems to begin on your machine and it may depend on how you use your machine. Let's say you have to do a reboot every four or five days. You can do it and go off to brush your teeth or have breakfast or something so boot time doesn't matter.
In short, as I said earlier, if someone ddoes many things that use the hard drive a lot that's one thing. The majority of users don't do things where mechanical drives slow things down to an extent that matters and for many activities, the slow down is insignificant.
Gene
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-----Original Message----- From: Norman Sent: Friday, October 16, 2020 8:07 AM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me I will disagree with your points on a solid state drive. To me it is manditory, and i have the exact opposite reaction to yours. If an extra $50 gets me an ssd i'll do it every time. For word docs like you gave in your example, it's not an issue. Where it really shines is when booting your machine, unzipping files, copying data around, etc. Being able to unzip a 2 GB file in under 5 minutes is really nice if the particular task you're working on requires you wait for the file to unzip. JMT. On 10/16/2020 8:07 AM, Gene wrote: The article proves my point about future proofing. It says here and there that this has been a problem but that things are changing, such as regarding battery life. Also, a battery that lasts six hours for me would be more than enough time, the day long battery capacity that is rare now among less expensive laptops wouldn't matter to me and I don't think to a lot of other people either. Display issues are irrelevant to blind users so that eliminates one source of objection.
Also, the article says something like that a solid state drive should be considered mandatory. By whom and for whom does it matter? This is arbitrary and not well supported. I think it is just plain wrong as a generalization.
Consider the following: When I first open a program in my very reasonably fast nine year old laptop, with of course a mechanical drive, it may take perhaps three to five seconds to open the first time. Then, because of caching, when I open it again during that session, it tends to open in perhaps one or two seconds. Does having a solid state drive and having programs open in perhaps half a second really matter?
If you do a lot of things that you would benefit from, such as some sort of work that requires a lot of hard drive activity, that's one thing. For surfing, working with a word processor, e-mail, Zooming, in short, the things most people will use a computer for, an SSD doesn't matter enough to worry about.
I strongly contend that authors who make such claims suffer from the gee whiz speed compulsion of our age. If someone is going to spend half an hour working on a word processor document, does it matter if it takes five seconds to open the program? If five seconds matters in a twenty minute work session, then the person had better not take any short breaks, yawn, stretch, walk around for a minut or two to relax and loosen his/her joints, in short, the person would be a nervous wreck. So why are a few seconds considered so vital when it comes to computer use for the majority of people. I don't know the differences in cost between getting a machine with a solid state or a mechanical drive. If I can get the same machine that I want or a similar one and save fifty dollars, if that tends to be what I'll save, I'll save the fifty dollars and have a word processor open in five seconds instead of one the first time I open it during a session.
Music doesn't take less time to listen to, the player may open more quickly, an article on the Internet can't be read any faster, I don't know if the page opens faster, though I doubt it does to any meaningful extent, and so forth.
Gene -----Original Message----- From: enes sarıbaş Sent: Friday, October 16, 2020 6:11 AM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me
Hi Gene,
I am not an ordinary user. When I purchase a computer, I will not settle for anything less than the best. This system, while still able to run browsers and regular websites ok, struggles and crashes freezes when running large websites. The difference in processor technology reached a critically dramatic point when I thhought replacing this was a good option. Every component on my new machine should at least provide a 100% improvement or more, even ram speeds, 1600 vs 3200.
Flaws on laptops on that price range are usually intolerable. A cheap case will not cool properly, and will bend or warp easily. For example, my laptop's plastic yields under the DVD drive. Cooling isn't fixable with a cooling pad. Unfortunately with the focus on portability cooling is taking a back seat with laptops. If fans are too small for the thermals, or if vents are too small, that throttles down the processor. For sighted people, the screens of such machines are terrible in quality. And a USB keyboard adds unneeded bulk to laptops. Look at a list of best laptops on any sight, and you won't see any machines in your price range that make those lists. Here is an article which describes why it makes sense to pay for a better laptop.
https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/dont-be-so-cheap-five-reasons-you-should-spend-more-on-your-next-laptop/
On 10/16/2020 5:53 AM, Gene wrote:
Few ports won't matter with hubs available and many people may well not need more than the ports offered. Keyboards, I don't know how serious a problem that is. My lapptop, I don't know if it is in the minority, as a very nice keyboard with large keys and a nice feel. While a keyboard that is more difficult or unpleasant to use than it should be would be an annoyance, at least when used at home, and laptops these days often replace desktops, its easy enough to use a USB keyboard. If this is a problem with many laptops, it is hardly a major flaw and hardly rises to the level justifying spending hundreds of dollars more to solve unless you use the laptop portably some or much of the time and you can't find a portable keyboard that satisfies your needs. Cooling? If you are talking about laptops, the person can use a cooling pad. Not a serious problem at all.
I don't know what problems you are referring to by material design. I'll look at the page, but the objections you have discussed don't justify spending more on a machine unless you want to use the laptop while away from home and a solution to a flaw makes its use unreasonably inconvenient, something I think won't happen with most of the flaws you have discussed. Then, too, people who live anywhere near a computer store or Walmart or Best Buy or other such stores can inspect computers in person. And there are always user reviews and reviews in computer magazines such as the best laptops for 2020 and other reviews such as the best laptops for 2020 costing under this or that amount of money. And there are lists like this, good places to ask what machines people are using and for evaluations or to ask about a specific machine or machines you are interested in.
In short, you can pick the flaw that either won't matter to you or will be easy to work around, given how you use the computer or you can try to find one without such flaws and I would think some computers without them perhaps many, if you look, can be found.
While your objection is interesting because it leads to a discussion of the ways to find a good computer, it doesn't justify spending more money for the majority of users.
Gene -----Original Message----- From: enes sarıbaş Sent: Friday, October 16, 2020 3:10 AM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me
Hi Gene,
Systems in that price range today have major flaws, iether few ports, cooling, keyboard, mouse, material design. You can view notebookcheck and similar technology sites, and read reviews for systems in different price brackets, and all of those systems will have their flaws mentioned. Whether these flaws matter though depends on the flaw or person.
On 10/15/2020 9:04 PM, Gene wrote:
And so are laptops. Your information is wrong. I bought a laptop about nine years ago, and certainly you would get more power for the same price now, for about 480 dollars. It has worked very well. It is not compromised. It doesn't have defects.
And no one said a 500 dollar computer is good for everyone. I'm not talking about gamers or power users. I'm talking about the majority of Internet users who stream, surf, use a word processor, record audio, and do other tasks that are not particularly demanding.
Gene -----Original Message----- From: enes sarıbaş Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2020 8:44 PM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me
Just because you may consider a system adequate for your own needs doesn't mean it is for is for everyone. A system like that would have major compremises. For clerification, I am talking about laptop prices, desktops in that price range may in fact be midrange. What I am saying is a minimum system for anyone should have a 6 core or so CPU, 8 gb or 16 gb of dual channel ram, an I5processor etc.
On 10/15/2020 7:08 PM, Monte Single wrote:
Hi list, : enes sarıbaş thinks a 500 dollar computer/laptop is less than adequate for the average user. He is not the first person on the list to express such thoughts. The one time I spent more than that for a computer was for the first one I purchased; that was in the last millennium. If I spent 500 u s dollars on a computer today, it would be built with quality parts and be more than adequate for the average computer user's needs. : enes sarıbaş go forth and conquer, spend the big bucks. Hopefully it will stimulate the economy.
-----Original Message----- From: main@TechTalk.groups.io <main@TechTalk.groups.io> On Behalf Of Gene Sent: October 15, 2020 5:29 PM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me
That simply is not true. A lot of people have machines in the five hundred dollar range and they work fine.
And five hundred dollar machines aren't just barely competent machines.
Gene -----Original Message----- From: enes sarıbaş Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2020 4:14 PM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me
No, I would not buy a 500 dollar machine. In fact, I would exclude machines below a certain build quality as a matter of principle. Is saving every little penny really worth it for a device people use 12 hours a day or more? possibly? Those machines usually have more than one major flaw, and have barebone specs. I think a power user should get a pc above the 1000 dollar range, and a regular user, if they can aford it should go around 700-800. The difference between an entry level, and even midrange computer is very apparent in build quality, as well as components. A midrange system will probably have one or two important flaws, but a budget system will have three or more, iether bad keyboard, cheap material, poor cooling, etc.
On 10/15/2020 7:15 AM, Gene wrote:
And I suspect you spent over a thousand dollars to do what a five hundred dollar computer can do, less if on sale ormanufacturer refurbished. I don't know enough technically to discuss some of your technical points, but I'll say the following: The advice I see from computer advisors is that for the majority of people, purchasing a machine somewhere in the five hundred dollar range will meet their needs. And even if memory requirements have gone up for some programs, they haven't gone up nearly enough that more than 8GB of ram is recommended for the majority of users. That is the recommendation and it has been for years.
A little money here, a little money there, a more powerful processor, and pretty soon, you are spending five hundred dollars or more than you need to and gambling that your machine will last far longer than the generally agreed on length for reliable service, five years. I think it is a very bad gamble, not because the machine won't last longer, it may well do so, but you are spending a lot more money now for performance parameters that will be much less expensive when you replace the computer. And the typical user, buying a machine around the five hundred dollar range today, unless their uses change radically, won't have problems that will require a new machine probably for the life of the current one.
And what about technological changes itself? If you bought a machine in the Windows 7 days that was future proofed, in your opinion at that time, it might not run Windows 10 now. My understanding is, and if I'm wrong, I'm sure I will be corrected, that a lot of Windows 7 machines won't run Windows 10 because Microsoft now requires that different processors be used.
While I don't think that sort of thing will happen if one buys a machine now for use seven or ten years into the future and are attempting to future proof it, you are again gambling that newer technologies wohn't come along that will render your computer less useable, no matter how you future proof it now.
Gene. -----Original Message----- From: enes sarıbaş Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2020 6:27 AM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me
This isn't correct. Browsers, and other day to day applications even, dramatically have increased ram usage, as well as CPU power. For example, Zoom will only let you blur the background of video if you have a quad core processor. If you buy a dual core as opposed to a quad core processor for example, it will struggle at even the most basic of tasks, and in 5 years, or even in a few years, programas even screen readers will begin to lag. This happened with my core I5 4200M. I thought a dual core was ok, though this was a system gifted to me. Had I been choosing my own system then, I would've gone for an I7, and now, this dual core is not even good enough for browsing. Large websites will freeze it and even when I had it, intensive apps like finereader will lag significantly independant of ram. This is exactly I future proofed my next laptop, with a 1tb SSD, 32 gb of ram, and an r7 4800H processor from AMD, with a 4.2 GHZ boost across all cores. This should be powerful enough to run anything conceivable in the next 5 or so years, except maybe AI workloads. On 10/15/2020 6:07 AM, Gene wrote:
I've seen others, and I believe you, too, make the future proof argument for buying a more powerful computer than the person's anticipated needs because it will be useful longer because you never know when your needs will change. I've always thought such arguments were not good ones. For one thing, a lot of people will continue to use computers in about the same ways as now and if they do use them in more demanding ways, those will not likely tax the computer if they buy a computer that isn't just barely powerful enough to do what they want.
Also, technology continues to become more powerful and cost less. So, in five years, the projected reliable life of a computer, you will be able to buy one to meet your needs then for less money than you are paying now. In addition, though it’s a gamble, many computers last more than five years, many significantly more. Every dollar you overspend to be future proofed that you didn't need because your needs didn't change and all the extra power of your computer remains unused is increasingly wasted, the longer your computer lasts.
It makes much more sense to buy a computer that is powerful enough to meet your current needs well if you don't anticipate major changes in how you will use your computer and are reasonably confident that you won't do things in future that will exceed the ability of the computer.
Spending one-thousand dollars to future proof a machine, just in case, maybe you use your machine much differently in the future, when you could spend five hundred dollars today and three hundred dollars in fived or seven or eight years for another machine that you would probably use in similar ways as you do now or not much, is a bad idea.
Gene -----Original Message----- From: enes sarıbaş Sent: Wednesday, October 14, 2020 9:27 PM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me
Hi Brian,
Just for clerification, I have confirmed 5g signals do exist in my area for my network. Even without the massive bandwidth, the lower latency itself will probably result in better quality improvements. Also, all versions of the IPhone by default include 5g.
On 10/14/2020 9:18 PM, Brian Vogel wrote: On Wed, Oct 14, 2020 at 10:11 PM, enes sarıbaş wrote: One reason, future proofing, I want to get the highest end version of the IPhone 12, though 5g isn't very wiedespread now, it will be in three years or so.- I am at a loss as to how doing this, now, squares with your own earlier assertion, "I think 5g is more significant for fixed wireless than smartphones."
Going to a 5G device now, when it is obscenely expensive, and where the ability to exploit 5G is limited to a very few locations, seems to me to be a supreme waste.
And 3 years is an eternity in the world of technology, and smartphones in particular, and what's Apple's flagship now, will be mid-range in 3 years, and much cheaper.
Going to a 5G smartphone now, unless you live in a major metropolitan area, is locking your money up in a frozen asset you cannot even use for its intended purpose.
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I will disagree with your points on a solid state drive. To me it is manditory, and i have the exact opposite reaction to yours. If an extra $50 gets me an ssd i'll do it every time.
For word docs like you gave in your example, it's not an issue. Where it really shines is when booting your machine, unzipping files, copying data around, etc.
Being able to unzip a 2 GB file in under 5 minutes is really nice if the particular task you're working on requires you wait for the file to unzip.
JMT.
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
On 10/16/2020 8:07 AM, Gene wrote: The article proves my point about future proofing. It says here and there that this has been a problem but that things are changing, such as regarding battery life. Also, a battery that lasts six hours for me would be more than enough time, the day long battery capacity that is rare now among less expensive laptops wouldn't matter to me and I don't think to a lot of other people either. Display issues are irrelevant to blind users so that eliminates one source of objection.
Also, the article says something like that a solid state drive should be considered mandatory. By whom and for whom does it matter? This is arbitrary and not well supported. I think it is just plain wrong as a generalization.
Consider the following: When I first open a program in my very reasonably fast nine year old laptop, with of course a mechanical drive, it may take perhaps three to five seconds to open the first time. Then, because of caching, when I open it again during that session, it tends to open in perhaps one or two seconds. Does having a solid state drive and having programs open in perhaps half a second really matter?
If you do a lot of things that you would benefit from, such as some sort of work that requires a lot of hard drive activity, that's one thing. For surfing, working with a word processor, e-mail, Zooming, in short, the things most people will use a computer for, an SSD doesn't matter enough to worry about.
I strongly contend that authors who make such claims suffer from the gee whiz speed compulsion of our age. If someone is going to spend half an hour working on a word processor document, does it matter if it takes five seconds to open the program? If five seconds matters in a twenty minute work session, then the person had better not take any short breaks, yawn, stretch, walk around for a minut or two to relax and loosen his/her joints, in short, the person would be a nervous wreck. So why are a few seconds considered so vital when it comes to computer use for the majority of people. I don't know the differences in cost between getting a machine with a solid state or a mechanical drive. If I can get the same machine that I want or a similar one and save fifty dollars, if that tends to be what I'll save, I'll save the fifty dollars and have a word processor open in five seconds instead of one the first time I open it during a session.
Music doesn't take less time to listen to, the player may open more quickly, an article on the Internet can't be read any faster, I don't know if the page opens faster, though I doubt it does to any meaningful extent, and so forth.
Gene -----Original Message----- From: enes sarıbaş Sent: Friday, October 16, 2020 6:11 AM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me
Hi Gene,
I am not an ordinary user. When I purchase a computer, I will not settle for anything less than the best. This system, while still able to run browsers and regular websites ok, struggles and crashes freezes when running large websites. The difference in processor technology reached a critically dramatic point when I thhought replacing this was a good option. Every component on my new machine should at least provide a 100% improvement or more, even ram speeds, 1600 vs 3200.
Flaws on laptops on that price range are usually intolerable. A cheap case will not cool properly, and will bend or warp easily. For example, my laptop's plastic yields under the DVD drive. Cooling isn't fixable with a cooling pad. Unfortunately with the focus on portability cooling is taking a back seat with laptops. If fans are too small for the thermals, or if vents are too small, that throttles down the processor. For sighted people, the screens of such machines are terrible in quality. And a USB keyboard adds unneeded bulk to laptops. Look at a list of best laptops on any sight, and you won't see any machines in your price range that make those lists. Here is an article which describes why it makes sense to pay for a better laptop.
https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/dont-be-so-cheap-five-reasons-you-should-spend-more-on-your-next-laptop/
On 10/16/2020 5:53 AM, Gene wrote:
Few ports won't matter with hubs available and many people may well not need more than the ports offered. Keyboards, I don't know how serious a problem that is. My lapptop, I don't know if it is in the minority, as a very nice keyboard with large keys and a nice feel. While a keyboard that is more difficult or unpleasant to use than it should be would be an annoyance, at least when used at home, and laptops these days often replace desktops, its easy enough to use a USB keyboard. If this is a problem with many laptops, it is hardly a major flaw and hardly rises to the level justifying spending hundreds of dollars more to solve unless you use the laptop portably some or much of the time and you can't find a portable keyboard that satisfies your needs. Cooling? If you are talking about laptops, the person can use a cooling pad. Not a serious problem at all.
I don't know what problems you are referring to by material design. I'll look at the page, but the objections you have discussed don't justify spending more on a machine unless you want to use the laptop while away from home and a solution to a flaw makes its use unreasonably inconvenient, something I think won't happen with most of the flaws you have discussed. Then, too, people who live anywhere near a computer store or Walmart or Best Buy or other such stores can inspect computers in person. And there are always user reviews and reviews in computer magazines such as the best laptops for 2020 and other reviews such as the best laptops for 2020 costing under this or that amount of money. And there are lists like this, good places to ask what machines people are using and for evaluations or to ask about a specific machine or machines you are interested in.
In short, you can pick the flaw that either won't matter to you or will be easy to work around, given how you use the computer or you can try to find one without such flaws and I would think some computers without them perhaps many, if you look, can be found.
While your objection is interesting because it leads to a discussion of the ways to find a good computer, it doesn't justify spending more money for the majority of users.
Gene -----Original Message----- From: enes sarıbaş Sent: Friday, October 16, 2020 3:10 AM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me
Hi Gene,
Systems in that price range today have major flaws, iether few ports, cooling, keyboard, mouse, material design. You can view notebookcheck and similar technology sites, and read reviews for systems in different price brackets, and all of those systems will have their flaws mentioned. Whether these flaws matter though depends on the flaw or person.
On 10/15/2020 9:04 PM, Gene wrote:
And so are laptops. Your information is wrong. I bought a laptop about nine years ago, and certainly you would get more power for the same price now, for about 480 dollars. It has worked very well. It is not compromised. It doesn't have defects.
And no one said a 500 dollar computer is good for everyone. I'm not talking about gamers or power users. I'm talking about the majority of Internet users who stream, surf, use a word processor, record audio, and do other tasks that are not particularly demanding.
Gene -----Original Message----- From: enes sarıbaş Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2020 8:44 PM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me
Just because you may consider a system adequate for your own needs doesn't mean it is for is for everyone. A system like that would have major compremises. For clerification, I am talking about laptop prices, desktops in that price range may in fact be midrange. What I am saying is a minimum system for anyone should have a 6 core or so CPU, 8 gb or 16 gb of dual channel ram, an I5processor etc.
On 10/15/2020 7:08 PM, Monte Single wrote:
Hi list, : enes sarıbaş thinks a 500 dollar computer/laptop is less than adequate for the average user. He is not the first person on the list to express such thoughts. The one time I spent more than that for a computer was for the first one I purchased; that was in the last millennium. If I spent 500 u s dollars on a computer today, it would be built with quality parts and be more than adequate for the average computer user's needs. : enes sarıbaş  go forth and conquer, spend the big bucks. Hopefully it will stimulate the economy.
-----Original Message----- From: main@TechTalk.groups.io <main@TechTalk.groups.io> On Behalf Of Gene Sent: October 15, 2020 5:29 PM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me
That simply is not true. A lot of people have machines in the five hundred dollar range and they work fine.
And five hundred dollar machines aren't just barely competent machines.
Gene -----Original Message----- From: enes sarıbaş Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2020 4:14 PM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me
No, I would not buy a 500 dollar machine. In fact, I would exclude machines below a certain build quality as a matter of principle. Is saving every little penny really worth it for a device people use 12 hours a day or more? possibly? Those machines usually have more than one major flaw, and have barebone specs. I think a power user should get a pc above the 1000 dollar range, and a regular user, if they can aford it should go around 700-800. The difference between an entry level, and even midrange computer is very apparent in build quality, as well as components. A midrange system will probably have one or two important flaws, but a budget system will have three or more, iether bad keyboard, cheap material, poor cooling, etc.
On 10/15/2020 7:15 AM, Gene wrote:
And I suspect you spent over a thousand dollars to do what a five hundred dollar computer can do, less if on sale ormanufacturer refurbished. I don't know enough technically to discuss some of your technical points, but I'll say the following: The advice I see from computer advisors is that for the majority of people, purchasing a machine somewhere in the five hundred dollar range will meet their needs. And even if memory requirements have gone up for some programs, they haven't gone up nearly enough that more than 8GB of ram is recommended for the majority of users. That is the recommendation and it has been for years.
A little money here, a little money there, a more powerful processor, and pretty soon, you are spending five hundred dollars or more than you need to and gambling that your machine will last far longer than the generally agreed on length for reliable service, five years. I think it is a very bad gamble, not because the machine won't last longer, it may well do so, but you are spending a lot more money now for performance parameters that will be much less expensive when you replace the computer. And the typical user, buying a machine around the five hundred dollar range today, unless their uses change radically, won't have problems that will require a new machine probably for the life of the current one.
And what about technological changes itself? If you bought a machine in the Windows 7 days that was future proofed, in your opinion at that time, it might not run Windows 10 now. My understanding is, and if I'm wrong, I'm sure I will be corrected, that a lot of Windows 7 machines won't run Windows 10 because Microsoft now requires that different processors be used.
While I don't think that sort of thing will happen if one buys a machine now for use seven or ten years into the future and are attempting to future proof it, you are again gambling that newer technologies wohn't come along that will render your computer less useable, no matter how you future proof it now.
Gene. -----Original Message----- From: enes sarıbaş Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2020 6:27 AM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me
This isn't correct. Browsers, and other day to day applications even, dramatically have increased ram usage, as well as CPU power. For example, Zoom will only let you blur the background of video if you have a quad core processor. If you buy a dual core as opposed to a quad core processor for example, it will struggle at even the most basic of tasks, and in 5 years, or even in a few years, programas even screen readers will begin to lag. This happened with my core I5 4200M. I thought a dual core was ok, though this was a system gifted to me. Had I been choosing my own system then, I would've gone for an I7, and now, this dual core is not even good enough for browsing. Large websites will freeze it and even when I had it, intensive apps like finereader will lag significantly independant of ram. This is exactly I future proofed my next laptop, with a 1tb SSD, 32 gb of ram, and an r7 4800H processor from AMD, with a 4.2 GHZ boost across all cores. This should be powerful enough to run anything conceivable in the next 5 or so years, except maybe AI workloads. On 10/15/2020 6:07 AM, Gene wrote:
I've seen others, and I believe you, too, make the future proof argument for buying a more powerful computer than the person's anticipated needs because it will be useful longer because you never know when your needs will change. I've always thought such arguments were not good ones. For one thing, a lot of people will continue to use computers in about the same ways as now and if they do use them in more demanding ways, those will not likely tax the computer if they buy a computer that isn't just barely powerful enough to do what they want.
Also, technology continues to become more powerful and cost less. So, in five years, the projected reliable life of a computer, you will be able to buy one to meet your needs then for less money than you are paying now. In addition, though it’s a gamble, many computers last more than five years, many significantly more. Every dollar you overspend to be future proofed that you didn't need because your needs didn't change and all the extra power of your computer remains unused is increasingly wasted, the longer your computer lasts.
It makes much more sense to buy a computer that is powerful enough to meet your current needs well if you don't anticipate major changes in how you will use your computer and are reasonably confident that you won't do things in future that will exceed the ability of the computer.
Spending one-thousand dollars to future proof a machine, just in case, maybe you use your machine much differently in the future, when you could spend five hundred dollars today and three hundred dollars in fived or seven or eight years for another machine that you would probably use in similar ways as you do now or not much, is a bad idea.
Gene -----Original Message----- From: enes sarıbaş Sent: Wednesday, October 14, 2020 9:27 PM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me
Hi Brian,
Just for clerification, I have confirmed 5g signals do exist in my area for my network. Even without the massive bandwidth, the lower latency itself will probably result in better quality improvements. Also, all versions of the IPhone by default include 5g.
On 10/14/2020 9:18 PM, Brian Vogel wrote: On Wed, Oct 14, 2020 at 10:11 PM, enes sarıbaş wrote: One reason, future proofing, I want to get the highest end version of the IPhone 12, though 5g isn't very wiedespread now, it will be in three years or so.- I am at a loss as to how doing this, now, squares with your own earlier assertion, "I think 5g is more significant for fixed wireless than smartphones."
Going to a 5G device now, when it is obscenely expensive, and where the ability to exploit 5G is limited to a very few locations, seems to me to be a supreme waste.
And 3 years is an eternity in the world of technology, and smartphones in particular, and what's Apple's flagship now, will be mid-range in 3 years, and much cheaper.
Going to a 5G smartphone now, unless you live in a major metropolitan area, is locking your money up in a frozen asset you cannot even use for its intended purpose.
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The article proves my point about future proofing. It says here and there that this has been a problem but that things are changing, such as regarding battery life. Also, a battery that lasts six hours for me would be more than enough time, the day long battery capacity that is rare now among less expensive laptops wouldn't matter to me and I don't think to a lot of other people either. Display issues are irrelevant to blind users so that eliminates one source of objection.
Also, the article says something like that a solid state drive should be considered mandatory. By whom and for whom does it matter? This is arbitrary and not well supported. I think it is just plain wrong as a generalization.
Consider the following: When I first open a program in my very reasonably fast nine year old laptop, with of course a mechanical drive, it may take perhaps three to five seconds to open the first time. Then, because of caching, when I open it again during that session, it tends to open in perhaps one or two seconds. Does having a solid state drive and having programs open in perhaps half a second really matter?
If you do a lot of things that you would benefit from, such as some sort of work that requires a lot of hard drive activity, that's one thing. For surfing, working with a word processor, e-mail, Zooming, in short, the things most people will use a computer for, an SSD doesn't matter enough to worry about.
I strongly contend that authors who make such claims suffer from the gee whiz speed compulsion of our age. If someone is going to spend half an hour working on a word processor document, does it matter if it takes five seconds to open the program? If five seconds matters in a twenty minute work session, then the person had better not take any short breaks, yawn, stretch, walk around for a minut or two to relax and loosen his/her joints, in short, the person would be a nervous wreck. So why are a few seconds considered so vital when it comes to computer use for the majority of people. I don't know the differences in cost between getting a machine with a solid state or a mechanical drive. If I can get the same machine that I want or a similar one and save fifty dollars, if that tends to be what I'll save, I'll save the fifty dollars and have a word processor open in five seconds instead of one the first time I open it during a session.
Music doesn't take less time to listen to, the player may open more quickly, an article on the Internet can't be read any faster, I don't know if the page opens faster, though I doubt it does to any meaningful extent, and so forth.
Gene
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-----Original Message----- From: enes sarıbaş Sent: Friday, October 16, 2020 6:11 AM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me Hi Gene, I am not an ordinary user. When I purchase a computer, I will not settle for anything less than the best. This system, while still able to run browsers and regular websites ok, struggles and crashes freezes when running large websites. The difference in processor technology reached a critically dramatic point when I thhought replacing this was a good option. Every component on my new machine should at least provide a 100% improvement or more, even ram speeds, 1600 vs 3200. Flaws on laptops on that price range are usually intolerable. A cheap case will not cool properly, and will bend or warp easily. For example, my laptop's plastic yields under the DVD drive. Cooling isn't fixable with a cooling pad. Unfortunately with the focus on portability cooling is taking a back seat with laptops. If fans are too small for the thermals, or if vents are too small, that throttles down the processor. For sighted people, the screens of such machines are terrible in quality. And a USB keyboard adds unneeded bulk to laptops. Look at a list of best laptops on any sight, and you won't see any machines in your price range that make those lists. Here is an article which describes why it makes sense to pay for a better laptop. https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/dont-be-so-cheap-five-reasons-you-should-spend-more-on-your-next-laptop/On 10/16/2020 5:53 AM, Gene wrote: Few ports won't matter with hubs available and many people may well not need more than the ports offered. Keyboards, I don't know how serious a problem that is. My lapptop, I don't know if it is in the minority, as a very nice keyboard with large keys and a nice feel. While a keyboard that is more difficult or unpleasant to use than it should be would be an annoyance, at least when used at home, and laptops these days often replace desktops, its easy enough to use a USB keyboard. If this is a problem with many laptops, it is hardly a major flaw and hardly rises to the level justifying spending hundreds of dollars more to solve unless you use the laptop portably some or much of the time and you can't find a portable keyboard that satisfies your needs. Cooling? If you are talking about laptops, the person can use a cooling pad. Not a serious problem at all.
I don't know what problems you are referring to by material design. I'll look at the page, but the objections you have discussed don't justify spending more on a machine unless you want to use the laptop while away from home and a solution to a flaw makes its use unreasonably inconvenient, something I think won't happen with most of the flaws you have discussed. Then, too, people who live anywhere near a computer store or Walmart or Best Buy or other such stores can inspect computers in person. And there are always user reviews and reviews in computer magazines such as the best laptops for 2020 and other reviews such as the best laptops for 2020 costing under this or that amount of money. And there are lists like this, good places to ask what machines people are using and for evaluations or to ask about a specific machine or machines you are interested in.
In short, you can pick the flaw that either won't matter to you or will be easy to work around, given how you use the computer or you can try to find one without such flaws and I would think some computers without them perhaps many, if you look, can be found.
While your objection is interesting because it leads to a discussion of the ways to find a good computer, it doesn't justify spending more money for the majority of users.
Gene -----Original Message----- From: enes sarıbaş Sent: Friday, October 16, 2020 3:10 AM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me
Hi Gene,
Systems in that price range today have major flaws, iether few ports, cooling, keyboard, mouse, material design. You can view notebookcheck and similar technology sites, and read reviews for systems in different price brackets, and all of those systems will have their flaws mentioned. Whether these flaws matter though depends on the flaw or person.
On 10/15/2020 9:04 PM, Gene wrote:
And so are laptops. Your information is wrong. I bought a laptop about nine years ago, and certainly you would get more power for the same price now, for about 480 dollars. It has worked very well. It is not compromised. It doesn't have defects.
And no one said a 500 dollar computer is good for everyone. I'm not talking about gamers or power users. I'm talking about the majority of Internet users who stream, surf, use a word processor, record audio, and do other tasks that are not particularly demanding.
Gene -----Original Message----- From: enes sarıbaş Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2020 8:44 PM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me
Just because you may consider a system adequate for your own needs doesn't mean it is for is for everyone. A system like that would have major compremises. For clerification, I am talking about laptop prices, desktops in that price range may in fact be midrange. What I am saying is a minimum system for anyone should have a 6 core or so CPU, 8 gb or 16 gb of dual channel ram, an I5processor etc.
On 10/15/2020 7:08 PM, Monte Single wrote:
Hi list, : enes sarıbaş thinks a 500 dollar computer/laptop is less than adequate for the average user. He is not the first person on the list to express such thoughts. The one time I spent more than that for a computer was for the first one I purchased; that was in the last millennium. If I spent 500 u s dollars on a computer today, it would be built with quality parts and be more than adequate for the average computer user's needs. : enes sarıbaş go forth and conquer, spend the big bucks. Hopefully it will stimulate the economy.
-----Original Message----- From: main@TechTalk.groups.io <main@TechTalk.groups.io> On Behalf Of Gene Sent: October 15, 2020 5:29 PM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me
That simply is not true. A lot of people have machines in the five hundred dollar range and they work fine.
And five hundred dollar machines aren't just barely competent machines.
Gene -----Original Message----- From: enes sarıbaş Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2020 4:14 PM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me
No, I would not buy a 500 dollar machine. In fact, I would exclude machines below a certain build quality as a matter of principle. Is saving every little penny really worth it for a device people use 12 hours a day or more? possibly? Those machines usually have more than one major flaw, and have barebone specs. I think a power user should get a pc above the 1000 dollar range, and a regular user, if they can aford it should go around 700-800. The difference between an entry level, and even midrange computer is very apparent in build quality, as well as components. A midrange system will probably have one or two important flaws, but a budget system will have three or more, iether bad keyboard, cheap material, poor cooling, etc.
On 10/15/2020 7:15 AM, Gene wrote:
And I suspect you spent over a thousand dollars to do what a five hundred dollar computer can do, less if on sale ormanufacturer refurbished. I don't know enough technically to discuss some of your technical points, but I'll say the following: The advice I see from computer advisors is that for the majority of people, purchasing a machine somewhere in the five hundred dollar range will meet their needs. And even if memory requirements have gone up for some programs, they haven't gone up nearly enough that more than 8GB of ram is recommended for the majority of users. That is the recommendation and it has been for years.
A little money here, a little money there, a more powerful processor, and pretty soon, you are spending five hundred dollars or more than you need to and gambling that your machine will last far longer than the generally agreed on length for reliable service, five years. I think it is a very bad gamble, not because the machine won't last longer, it may well do so, but you are spending a lot more money now for performance parameters that will be much less expensive when you replace the computer. And the typical user, buying a machine around the five hundred dollar range today, unless their uses change radically, won't have problems that will require a new machine probably for the life of the current one.
And what about technological changes itself? If you bought a machine in the Windows 7 days that was future proofed, in your opinion at that time, it might not run Windows 10 now. My understanding is, and if I'm wrong, I'm sure I will be corrected, that a lot of Windows 7 machines won't run Windows 10 because Microsoft now requires that different processors be used.
While I don't think that sort of thing will happen if one buys a machine now for use seven or ten years into the future and are attempting to future proof it, you are again gambling that newer technologies wohn't come along that will render your computer less useable, no matter how you future proof it now.
Gene. -----Original Message----- From: enes sarıbaş Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2020 6:27 AM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me
This isn't correct. Browsers, and other day to day applications even, dramatically have increased ram usage, as well as CPU power. For example, Zoom will only let you blur the background of video if you have a quad core processor. If you buy a dual core as opposed to a quad core processor for example, it will struggle at even the most basic of tasks, and in 5 years, or even in a few years, programas even screen readers will begin to lag. This happened with my core I5 4200M. I thought a dual core was ok, though this was a system gifted to me. Had I been choosing my own system then, I would've gone for an I7, and now, this dual core is not even good enough for browsing. Large websites will freeze it and even when I had it, intensive apps like finereader will lag significantly independant of ram. This is exactly I future proofed my next laptop, with a 1tb SSD, 32 gb of ram, and an r7 4800H processor from AMD, with a 4.2 GHZ boost across all cores. This should be powerful enough to run anything conceivable in the next 5 or so years, except maybe AI workloads. On 10/15/2020 6:07 AM, Gene wrote:
I've seen others, and I believe you, too, make the future proof argument for buying a more powerful computer than the person's anticipated needs because it will be useful longer because you never know when your needs will change. I've always thought such arguments were not good ones. For one thing, a lot of people will continue to use computers in about the same ways as now and if they do use them in more demanding ways, those will not likely tax the computer if they buy a computer that isn't just barely powerful enough to do what they want.
Also, technology continues to become more powerful and cost less. So, in five years, the projected reliable life of a computer, you will be able to buy one to meet your needs then for less money than you are paying now. In addition, though it’s a gamble, many computers last more than five years, many significantly more. Every dollar you overspend to be future proofed that you didn't need because your needs didn't change and all the extra power of your computer remains unused is increasingly wasted, the longer your computer lasts.
It makes much more sense to buy a computer that is powerful enough to meet your current needs well if you don't anticipate major changes in how you will use your computer and are reasonably confident that you won't do things in future that will exceed the ability of the computer.
Spending one-thousand dollars to future proof a machine, just in case, maybe you use your machine much differently in the future, when you could spend five hundred dollars today and three hundred dollars in fived or seven or eight years for another machine that you would probably use in similar ways as you do now or not much, is a bad idea.
Gene -----Original Message----- From: enes sarıbaş Sent: Wednesday, October 14, 2020 9:27 PM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me
Hi Brian,
Just for clerification, I have confirmed 5g signals do exist in my area for my network. Even without the massive bandwidth, the lower latency itself will probably result in better quality improvements. Also, all versions of the IPhone by default include 5g.
On 10/14/2020 9:18 PM, Brian Vogel wrote: On Wed, Oct 14, 2020 at 10:11 PM, enes sarıbaş wrote: One reason, future proofing, I want to get the highest end version of the IPhone 12, though 5g isn't very wiedespread now, it will be in three years or so.- I am at a loss as to how doing this, now, squares with your own earlier assertion, "I think 5g is more significant for fixed wireless than smartphones."
Going to a 5G device now, when it is obscenely expensive, and where the ability to exploit 5G is limited to a very few locations, seems to me to be a supreme waste.
And 3 years is an eternity in the world of technology, and smartphones in particular, and what's Apple's flagship now, will be mid-range in 3 years, and much cheaper.
Going to a 5G smartphone now, unless you live in a major metropolitan area, is locking your money up in a frozen asset you cannot even use for its intended purpose.
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Re: Odd changes from m.facebook
Can someone repost the link mentioned in this email?
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-----Original Message----- From: main@TechTalk.groups.io <main@TechTalk.groups.io> On Behalf Of Ann Parsons Sent: Friday, October 16, 2020 5:59 AM To: main@techtalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] Odd changes from m.facebook Hi all, David, this link for FaceBook works just great! Ann P. -- Ann K. Parsons Portal Tutoring EMAIL: akp@sero.email Author of The Demmies: http://www.dldbooks.com/annparsons/Portal Tutoring web site: http://www.portaltutoring.infoSkype: Putertutor "All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost." -- This email has been checked for viruses by AVG. https://www.avg.com
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This has been an interesting thread to watch. I think you're both right.
For the average american a $500 laptop is most likely good enough. however, then there is the tech crowd. Where you get laughed at for bringing a $500 laptop along. I'll just give my experience in this space for anyone who cares, you are allowed to disagree if you want.
Back in 2014 i would have been on Jene's side in this argument, there is no good reason to spend the $1000 on a laptop. At the time i had never done it and was fairly happy with what i had which were all machines under $600. I was even running virtual machines on laptops like this although the experience was admittedly not the best and i knew it. At the time i was doing tech support and starting out in systems admin work so i was on the computer for 50 hours or so a week. Then in early 2015 i needed to teach myself mac for work related reasons so after much grumping and growling i shelled out $1300 on a macbook pro 13 inch. This machine was in the middle of the macbook line on power at the time, it had a 256 GB ssd and 8 GB of memory. It didn't take me very long to come to 2 realizations after i had the machine.
1, the mac operating system and voice over are not for me. I can do what i need to with it but i despised and still do the voiceover navigation setup.
2, i love this hardware. It could run rings around my $500 desktop i was using at the time and my laptop wasn't even close.
My solution to this was bootcamp. I promptly installed windows on the thing and never looked back. Honestly the thing that impressed me the most was the battery life. Being able to go to business meetings and not having to plug in a charger for 8 hours was great!
This also completely changed my outlook on cheap laptops. While i might still buy a cheap machine for home use like reading books and emails and light web browsing i will not skimp on a work machine. It's simply not worth it.
So while jene is right about being able to buy decent to good $500 machines there is a fairly sizable group of people where machines like that just simply aren't good enough.
JMT.
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On 10/16/2020 7:37 AM, Gene wrote: Also, I didn't mean to imply that other reviewed products aren't worth considering or are inferior. I mean that as an example of getting a satisfactory machine, the first review is one. The other reviews are interesting and give many options for different machines.
Gene -----Original Message----- From: Gene Sent: Friday, October 16, 2020 6:35 AM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me
Even though I said I would leave the under seven hundred dollar search to the reader, I was curious so I did it. See this article. The first laptop reviewed is about six hundred dollars and is well reviewed. And the article states limitations in the introduction, such limitations as you would expect. These aren't gaming or power computers, but you can find many computers in this price range that the article says will be satisfactory for a lot of people. https://www.wired.com/gallery/best-cheap-laptops/
Gene -----Original Message----- From: Gene Sent: Friday, October 16, 2020 6:24 AM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me
I'll add that my guess of five hundred dollars for a laptop was a guess. I haven't priced computers for a long time. I have just done a little looking around and it may be that better or much better laptops can be had for something like six or seven hundred dollars. But you appear to be able to get a machine that would meet a lot of users' needs for around six hundred dollars, and then, such a machine would be on sale off and on, here and there. This review is an example. How representative is it in the six hundred dollar price range? I haven't looked at other machines in that price range but I suspect that between six and seven hundred dollars, there are many machines that will do.
See the review of this laptop on this page: Microsoft Surface Go 2 https://www.tomsguide.com/best-picks/best-laptops-under-500
I specified five hundred dollars in my Google search that showed this page in the results. I haven't done a search for something ;like best laptops for six hundred dollars or best laptops under seven hundred dollars. As the text books may say at times, that is left as an exercise for the reader.
Gene -----Original Message----- From: Gene Sent: Friday, October 16, 2020 5:53 AM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me
Few ports won't matter with hubs available and many people may well not need more than the ports offered. Keyboards, I don't know how serious a problem that is. My lapptop, I don't know if it is in the minority, as a very nice keyboard with large keys and a nice feel. While a keyboard that is more difficult or unpleasant to use than it should be would be an annoyance, at least when used at home, and laptops these days often replace desktops, its easy enough to use a USB keyboard. If this is a problem with many laptops, it is hardly a major flaw and hardly rises to the level justifying spending hundreds of dollars more to solve unless you use the laptop portably some or much of the time and you can't find a portable keyboard that satisfies your needs. Cooling? If you are talking about laptops, the person can use a cooling pad. Not a serious problem at all.
I don't know what problems you are referring to by material design. I'll look at the page, but the objections you have discussed don't justify spending more on a machine unless you want to use the laptop while away from home and a solution to a flaw makes its use unreasonably inconvenient, something I think won't happen with most of the flaws you have discussed. Then, too, people who live anywhere near a computer store or Walmart or Best Buy or other such stores can inspect computers in person. And there are always user reviews and reviews in computer magazines such as the best laptops for 2020 and other reviews such as the best laptops for 2020 costing under this or that amount of money. And there are lists like this, good places to ask what machines people are using and for evaluations or to ask about a specific machine or machines you are interested in.
In short, you can pick the flaw that either won't matter to you or will be easy to work around, given how you use the computer or you can try to find one without such flaws and I would think some computers without them perhaps many, if you look, can be found.
While your objection is interesting because it leads to a discussion of the ways to find a good computer, it doesn't justify spending more money for the majority of users.
Gene -----Original Message----- From: enes sarıbaş Sent: Friday, October 16, 2020 3:10 AM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me
Hi Gene,
Systems in that price range today have major flaws, iether few ports, cooling, keyboard, mouse, material design. You can view notebookcheck and similar technology sites, and read reviews for systems in different price brackets, and all of those systems will have their flaws mentioned. Whether these flaws matter though depends on the flaw or person.
On 10/15/2020 9:04 PM, Gene wrote:
And so are laptops. Your information is wrong. I bought a laptop about nine years ago, and certainly you would get more power for the same price now, for about 480 dollars. It has worked very well. It is not compromised. It doesn't have defects.
And no one said a 500 dollar computer is good for everyone. I'm not talking about gamers or power users. I'm talking about the majority of Internet users who stream, surf, use a word processor, record audio, and do other tasks that are not particularly demanding.
Gene -----Original Message----- From: enes sarıbaş Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2020 8:44 PM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me
Just because you may consider a system adequate for your own needs doesn't mean it is for is for everyone. A system like that would have major compremises. For clerification, I am talking about laptop prices, desktops in that price range may in fact be midrange. What I am saying is a minimum system for anyone should have a 6 core or so CPU, 8 gb or 16 gb of dual channel ram, an I5processor etc.
On 10/15/2020 7:08 PM, Monte Single wrote:
Hi list, : enes sarıbaş thinks a 500 dollar computer/laptop is less than adequate for the average user. He is not the first person on the list to express such thoughts. The one time I spent more than that for a computer was for the first one I purchased; that was in the last millennium. If I spent 500 u s dollars on a computer today, it would be built with quality parts and be more than adequate for the average computer user's needs. : enes sarıbaş  go forth and conquer, spend the big bucks. Hopefully it will stimulate the economy.
-----Original Message----- From: main@TechTalk.groups.io <main@TechTalk.groups.io> On Behalf Of Gene Sent: October 15, 2020 5:29 PM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me
That simply is not true. A lot of people have machines in the five hundred dollar range and they work fine.
And five hundred dollar machines aren't just barely competent machines.
Gene -----Original Message----- From: enes sarıbaş Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2020 4:14 PM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me
No, I would not buy a 500 dollar machine. In fact, I would exclude machines below a certain build quality as a matter of principle. Is saving every little penny really worth it for a device people use 12 hours a day or more? possibly? Those machines usually have more than one major flaw, and have barebone specs. I think a power user should get a pc above the 1000 dollar range, and a regular user, if they can aford it should go around 700-800. The difference between an entry level, and even midrange computer is very apparent in build quality, as well as components. A midrange system will probably have one or two important flaws, but a budget system will have three or more, iether bad keyboard, cheap material, poor cooling, etc.
On 10/15/2020 7:15 AM, Gene wrote:
And I suspect you spent over a thousand dollars to do what a five hundred dollar computer can do, less if on sale ormanufacturer refurbished. I don't know enough technically to discuss some of your technical points, but I'll say the following: The advice I see from computer advisors is that for the majority of people, purchasing a machine somewhere in the five hundred dollar range will meet their needs. And even if memory requirements have gone up for some programs, they haven't gone up nearly enough that more than 8GB of ram is recommended for the majority of users. That is the recommendation and it has been for years.
A little money here, a little money there, a more powerful processor, and pretty soon, you are spending five hundred dollars or more than you need to and gambling that your machine will last far longer than the generally agreed on length for reliable service, five years. I think it is a very bad gamble, not because the machine won't last longer, it may well do so, but you are spending a lot more money now for performance parameters that will be much less expensive when you replace the computer. And the typical user, buying a machine around the five hundred dollar range today, unless their uses change radically, won't have problems that will require a new machine probably for the life of the current one.
And what about technological changes itself? If you bought a machine in the Windows 7 days that was future proofed, in your opinion at that time, it might not run Windows 10 now. My understanding is, and if I'm wrong, I'm sure I will be corrected, that a lot of Windows 7 machines won't run Windows 10 because Microsoft now requires that different processors be used.
While I don't think that sort of thing will happen if one buys a machine now for use seven or ten years into the future and are attempting to future proof it, you are again gambling that newer technologies wohn't come along that will render your computer less useable, no matter how you future proof it now.
Gene. -----Original Message----- From: enes sarıbaş Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2020 6:27 AM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me
This isn't correct. Browsers, and other day to day applications even, dramatically have increased ram usage, as well as CPU power. For example, Zoom will only let you blur the background of video if you have a quad core processor. If you buy a dual core as opposed to a quad core processor for example, it will struggle at even the most basic of tasks, and in 5 years, or even in a few years, programas even screen readers will begin to lag. This happened with my core I5 4200M. I thought a dual core was ok, though this was a system gifted to me. Had I been choosing my own system then, I would've gone for an I7, and now, this dual core is not even good enough for browsing. Large websites will freeze it and even when I had it, intensive apps like finereader will lag significantly independant of ram. This is exactly I future proofed my next laptop, with a 1tb SSD, 32 gb of ram, and an r7 4800H processor from AMD, with a 4.2 GHZ boost across all cores. This should be powerful enough to run anything conceivable in the next 5 or so years, except maybe AI workloads. On 10/15/2020 6:07 AM, Gene wrote:
I've seen others, and I believe you, too, make the future proof argument for buying a more powerful computer than the person's anticipated needs because it will be useful longer because you never know when your needs will change. I've always thought such arguments were not good ones. For one thing, a lot of people will continue to use computers in about the same ways as now and if they do use them in more demanding ways, those will not likely tax the computer if they buy a computer that isn't just barely powerful enough to do what they want.
Also, technology continues to become more powerful and cost less. So, in five years, the projected reliable life of a computer, you will be able to buy one to meet your needs then for less money than you are paying now. In addition, though it’s a gamble, many computers last more than five years, many significantly more. Every dollar you overspend to be future proofed that you didn't need because your needs didn't change and all the extra power of your computer remains unused is increasingly wasted, the longer your computer lasts.
It makes much more sense to buy a computer that is powerful enough to meet your current needs well if you don't anticipate major changes in how you will use your computer and are reasonably confident that you won't do things in future that will exceed the ability of the computer.
Spending one-thousand dollars to future proof a machine, just in case, maybe you use your machine much differently in the future, when you could spend five hundred dollars today and three hundred dollars in fived or seven or eight years for another machine that you would probably use in similar ways as you do now or not much, is a bad idea.
Gene -----Original Message----- From: enes sarıbaş Sent: Wednesday, October 14, 2020 9:27 PM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me
Hi Brian,
Just for clerification, I have confirmed 5g signals do exist in my area for my network. Even without the massive bandwidth, the lower latency itself will probably result in better quality improvements. Also, all versions of the IPhone by default include 5g.
On 10/14/2020 9:18 PM, Brian Vogel wrote: On Wed, Oct 14, 2020 at 10:11 PM, enes sarıbaş wrote: One reason, future proofing, I want to get the highest end version of the IPhone 12, though 5g isn't very wiedespread now, it will be in three years or so.- I am at a loss as to how doing this, now, squares with your own earlier assertion, "I think 5g is more significant for fixed wireless than smartphones."
Going to a 5G device now, when it is obscenely expensive, and where the ability to exploit 5G is limited to a very few locations, seems to me to be a supreme waste.
And 3 years is an eternity in the world of technology, and smartphones in particular, and what's Apple's flagship now, will be mid-range in 3 years, and much cheaper.
Going to a 5G smartphone now, unless you live in a major metropolitan area, is locking your money up in a frozen asset you cannot even use for its intended purpose.
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If you aren't an ordinary user and your comments may not apply to them that should be specified in your comments. Also, if these defects are so terrible, please explain the favorable reviews I found. I simply don't believe that chincy, fall apart, or severely defective products are generally produced. That's an excellent way to alienate a lot of users and get a bad reputation that may taint the whole line, including more expensive computers among users.
I can't comment on your individual experiences but at the same time, logic dicctates, as well as the large number of favorable reviews that can be found for machines in the six to seven hundred dollar range and the occasional chea[per machine, that your generalizations are incorrect.
Three or four hundred dollars is a lot of money for a lot of people and buying a thousand dollar or more machine for a lot of people is like buying a racing car when you will be doing mostly highway driving and neighborhood driving.
We'll see what other people have to say.
Gene
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-----Original Message----- From: enes sarıbaş Sent: Friday, October 16, 2020 6:11 AM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me Hi Gene, I am not an ordinary user. When I purchase a computer, I will not settle for anything less than the best. This system, while still able to run browsers and regular websites ok, struggles and crashes freezes when running large websites. The difference in processor technology reached a critically dramatic point when I thhought replacing this was a good option. Every component on my new machine should at least provide a 100% improvement or more, even ram speeds, 1600 vs 3200. Flaws on laptops on that price range are usually intolerable. A cheap case will not cool properly, and will bend or warp easily. For example, my laptop's plastic yields under the DVD drive. Cooling isn't fixable with a cooling pad. Unfortunately with the focus on portability cooling is taking a back seat with laptops. If fans are too small for the thermals, or if vents are too small, that throttles down the processor. For sighted people, the screens of such machines are terrible in quality. And a USB keyboard adds unneeded bulk to laptops. Look at a list of best laptops on any sight, and you won't see any machines in your price range that make those lists. Here is an article which describes why it makes sense to pay for a better laptop. https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/dont-be-so-cheap-five-reasons-you-should-spend-more-on-your-next-laptop/On 10/16/2020 5:53 AM, Gene wrote: Few ports won't matter with hubs available and many people may well not need more than the ports offered. Keyboards, I don't know how serious a problem that is. My lapptop, I don't know if it is in the minority, as a very nice keyboard with large keys and a nice feel. While a keyboard that is more difficult or unpleasant to use than it should be would be an annoyance, at least when used at home, and laptops these days often replace desktops, its easy enough to use a USB keyboard. If this is a problem with many laptops, it is hardly a major flaw and hardly rises to the level justifying spending hundreds of dollars more to solve unless you use the laptop portably some or much of the time and you can't find a portable keyboard that satisfies your needs. Cooling? If you are talking about laptops, the person can use a cooling pad. Not a serious problem at all.
I don't know what problems you are referring to by material design. I'll look at the page, but the objections you have discussed don't justify spending more on a machine unless you want to use the laptop while away from home and a solution to a flaw makes its use unreasonably inconvenient, something I think won't happen with most of the flaws you have discussed. Then, too, people who live anywhere near a computer store or Walmart or Best Buy or other such stores can inspect computers in person. And there are always user reviews and reviews in computer magazines such as the best laptops for 2020 and other reviews such as the best laptops for 2020 costing under this or that amount of money. And there are lists like this, good places to ask what machines people are using and for evaluations or to ask about a specific machine or machines you are interested in.
In short, you can pick the flaw that either won't matter to you or will be easy to work around, given how you use the computer or you can try to find one without such flaws and I would think some computers without them perhaps many, if you look, can be found.
While your objection is interesting because it leads to a discussion of the ways to find a good computer, it doesn't justify spending more money for the majority of users.
Gene -----Original Message----- From: enes sarıbaş Sent: Friday, October 16, 2020 3:10 AM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me
Hi Gene,
Systems in that price range today have major flaws, iether few ports, cooling, keyboard, mouse, material design. You can view notebookcheck and similar technology sites, and read reviews for systems in different price brackets, and all of those systems will have their flaws mentioned. Whether these flaws matter though depends on the flaw or person.
On 10/15/2020 9:04 PM, Gene wrote:
And so are laptops. Your information is wrong. I bought a laptop about nine years ago, and certainly you would get more power for the same price now, for about 480 dollars. It has worked very well. It is not compromised. It doesn't have defects.
And no one said a 500 dollar computer is good for everyone. I'm not talking about gamers or power users. I'm talking about the majority of Internet users who stream, surf, use a word processor, record audio, and do other tasks that are not particularly demanding.
Gene -----Original Message----- From: enes sarıbaş Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2020 8:44 PM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me
Just because you may consider a system adequate for your own needs doesn't mean it is for is for everyone. A system like that would have major compremises. For clerification, I am talking about laptop prices, desktops in that price range may in fact be midrange. What I am saying is a minimum system for anyone should have a 6 core or so CPU, 8 gb or 16 gb of dual channel ram, an I5processor etc.
On 10/15/2020 7:08 PM, Monte Single wrote:
Hi list, : enes sarıbaş thinks a 500 dollar computer/laptop is less than adequate for the average user. He is not the first person on the list to express such thoughts. The one time I spent more than that for a computer was for the first one I purchased; that was in the last millennium. If I spent 500 u s dollars on a computer today, it would be built with quality parts and be more than adequate for the average computer user's needs. : enes sarıbaş go forth and conquer, spend the big bucks. Hopefully it will stimulate the economy.
-----Original Message----- From: main@TechTalk.groups.io <main@TechTalk.groups.io> On Behalf Of Gene Sent: October 15, 2020 5:29 PM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me
That simply is not true. A lot of people have machines in the five hundred dollar range and they work fine.
And five hundred dollar machines aren't just barely competent machines.
Gene -----Original Message----- From: enes sarıbaş Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2020 4:14 PM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me
No, I would not buy a 500 dollar machine. In fact, I would exclude machines below a certain build quality as a matter of principle. Is saving every little penny really worth it for a device people use 12 hours a day or more? possibly? Those machines usually have more than one major flaw, and have barebone specs. I think a power user should get a pc above the 1000 dollar range, and a regular user, if they can aford it should go around 700-800. The difference between an entry level, and even midrange computer is very apparent in build quality, as well as components. A midrange system will probably have one or two important flaws, but a budget system will have three or more, iether bad keyboard, cheap material, poor cooling, etc.
On 10/15/2020 7:15 AM, Gene wrote:
And I suspect you spent over a thousand dollars to do what a five hundred dollar computer can do, less if on sale ormanufacturer refurbished. I don't know enough technically to discuss some of your technical points, but I'll say the following: The advice I see from computer advisors is that for the majority of people, purchasing a machine somewhere in the five hundred dollar range will meet their needs. And even if memory requirements have gone up for some programs, they haven't gone up nearly enough that more than 8GB of ram is recommended for the majority of users. That is the recommendation and it has been for years.
A little money here, a little money there, a more powerful processor, and pretty soon, you are spending five hundred dollars or more than you need to and gambling that your machine will last far longer than the generally agreed on length for reliable service, five years. I think it is a very bad gamble, not because the machine won't last longer, it may well do so, but you are spending a lot more money now for performance parameters that will be much less expensive when you replace the computer. And the typical user, buying a machine around the five hundred dollar range today, unless their uses change radically, won't have problems that will require a new machine probably for the life of the current one.
And what about technological changes itself? If you bought a machine in the Windows 7 days that was future proofed, in your opinion at that time, it might not run Windows 10 now. My understanding is, and if I'm wrong, I'm sure I will be corrected, that a lot of Windows 7 machines won't run Windows 10 because Microsoft now requires that different processors be used.
While I don't think that sort of thing will happen if one buys a machine now for use seven or ten years into the future and are attempting to future proof it, you are again gambling that newer technologies wohn't come along that will render your computer less useable, no matter how you future proof it now.
Gene. -----Original Message----- From: enes sarıbaş Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2020 6:27 AM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me
This isn't correct. Browsers, and other day to day applications even, dramatically have increased ram usage, as well as CPU power. For example, Zoom will only let you blur the background of video if you have a quad core processor. If you buy a dual core as opposed to a quad core processor for example, it will struggle at even the most basic of tasks, and in 5 years, or even in a few years, programas even screen readers will begin to lag. This happened with my core I5 4200M. I thought a dual core was ok, though this was a system gifted to me. Had I been choosing my own system then, I would've gone for an I7, and now, this dual core is not even good enough for browsing. Large websites will freeze it and even when I had it, intensive apps like finereader will lag significantly independant of ram. This is exactly I future proofed my next laptop, with a 1tb SSD, 32 gb of ram, and an r7 4800H processor from AMD, with a 4.2 GHZ boost across all cores. This should be powerful enough to run anything conceivable in the next 5 or so years, except maybe AI workloads. On 10/15/2020 6:07 AM, Gene wrote:
I've seen others, and I believe you, too, make the future proof argument for buying a more powerful computer than the person's anticipated needs because it will be useful longer because you never know when your needs will change. I've always thought such arguments were not good ones. For one thing, a lot of people will continue to use computers in about the same ways as now and if they do use them in more demanding ways, those will not likely tax the computer if they buy a computer that isn't just barely powerful enough to do what they want.
Also, technology continues to become more powerful and cost less. So, in five years, the projected reliable life of a computer, you will be able to buy one to meet your needs then for less money than you are paying now. In addition, though it’s a gamble, many computers last more than five years, many significantly more. Every dollar you overspend to be future proofed that you didn't need because your needs didn't change and all the extra power of your computer remains unused is increasingly wasted, the longer your computer lasts.
It makes much more sense to buy a computer that is powerful enough to meet your current needs well if you don't anticipate major changes in how you will use your computer and are reasonably confident that you won't do things in future that will exceed the ability of the computer.
Spending one-thousand dollars to future proof a machine, just in case, maybe you use your machine much differently in the future, when you could spend five hundred dollars today and three hundred dollars in fived or seven or eight years for another machine that you would probably use in similar ways as you do now or not much, is a bad idea.
Gene -----Original Message----- From: enes sarıbaş Sent: Wednesday, October 14, 2020 9:27 PM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me
Hi Brian,
Just for clerification, I have confirmed 5g signals do exist in my area for my network. Even without the massive bandwidth, the lower latency itself will probably result in better quality improvements. Also, all versions of the IPhone by default include 5g.
On 10/14/2020 9:18 PM, Brian Vogel wrote: On Wed, Oct 14, 2020 at 10:11 PM, enes sarıbaş wrote: One reason, future proofing, I want to get the highest end version of the IPhone 12, though 5g isn't very wiedespread now, it will be in three years or so.- I am at a loss as to how doing this, now, squares with your own earlier assertion, "I think 5g is more significant for fixed wireless than smartphones."
Going to a 5G device now, when it is obscenely expensive, and where the ability to exploit 5G is limited to a very few locations, seems to me to be a supreme waste.
And 3 years is an eternity in the world of technology, and smartphones in particular, and what's Apple's flagship now, will be mid-range in 3 years, and much cheaper.
Going to a 5G smartphone now, unless you live in a major metropolitan area, is locking your money up in a frozen asset you cannot even use for its intended purpose.
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Also, I didn't mean to imply that other reviewed products aren't worth considering or are inferior. I mean that as an example of getting a satisfactory machine, the first review is one. The other reviews are interesting and give many options for different machines.
Gene
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-----Original Message----- From: Gene Sent: Friday, October 16, 2020 6:35 AM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me Even though I said I would leave the under seven hundred dollar search to the reader, I was curious so I did it. See this article. The first laptop reviewed is about six hundred dollars and is well reviewed. And the article states limitations in the introduction, such limitations as you would expect. These aren't gaming or power computers, but you can find many computers in this price range that the article says will be satisfactory for a lot of people. https://www.wired.com/gallery/best-cheap-laptops/Gene -----Original Message----- From: Gene Sent: Friday, October 16, 2020 6:24 AM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me I'll add that my guess of five hundred dollars for a laptop was a guess. I haven't priced computers for a long time. I have just done a little looking around and it may be that better or much better laptops can be had for something like six or seven hundred dollars. But you appear to be able to get a machine that would meet a lot of users' needs for around six hundred dollars, and then, such a machine would be on sale off and on, here and there. This review is an example. How representative is it in the six hundred dollar price range? I haven't looked at other machines in that price range but I suspect that between six and seven hundred dollars, there are many machines that will do. See the review of this laptop on this page: Microsoft Surface Go 2 https://www.tomsguide.com/best-picks/best-laptops-under-500I specified five hundred dollars in my Google search that showed this page in the results. I haven't done a search for something ;like best laptops for six hundred dollars or best laptops under seven hundred dollars. As the text books may say at times, that is left as an exercise for the reader. Gene -----Original Message----- From: Gene Sent: Friday, October 16, 2020 5:53 AM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me Few ports won't matter with hubs available and many people may well not need more than the ports offered. Keyboards, I don't know how serious a problem that is. My lapptop, I don't know if it is in the minority, as a very nice keyboard with large keys and a nice feel. While a keyboard that is more difficult or unpleasant to use than it should be would be an annoyance, at least when used at home, and laptops these days often replace desktops, its easy enough to use a USB keyboard. If this is a problem with many laptops, it is hardly a major flaw and hardly rises to the level justifying spending hundreds of dollars more to solve unless you use the laptop portably some or much of the time and you can't find a portable keyboard that satisfies your needs. Cooling? If you are talking about laptops, the person can use a cooling pad. Not a serious problem at all. I don't know what problems you are referring to by material design. I'll look at the page, but the objections you have discussed don't justify spending more on a machine unless you want to use the laptop while away from home and a solution to a flaw makes its use unreasonably inconvenient, something I think won't happen with most of the flaws you have discussed. Then, too, people who live anywhere near a computer store or Walmart or Best Buy or other such stores can inspect computers in person. And there are always user reviews and reviews in computer magazines such as the best laptops for 2020 and other reviews such as the best laptops for 2020 costing under this or that amount of money. And there are lists like this, good places to ask what machines people are using and for evaluations or to ask about a specific machine or machines you are interested in. In short, you can pick the flaw that either won't matter to you or will be easy to work around, given how you use the computer or you can try to find one without such flaws and I would think some computers without them perhaps many, if you look, can be found. While your objection is interesting because it leads to a discussion of the ways to find a good computer, it doesn't justify spending more money for the majority of users. Gene -----Original Message----- From: enes sarıbaş Sent: Friday, October 16, 2020 3:10 AM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me Hi Gene, Systems in that price range today have major flaws, iether few ports, cooling, keyboard, mouse, material design. You can view notebookcheck and similar technology sites, and read reviews for systems in different price brackets, and all of those systems will have their flaws mentioned. Whether these flaws matter though depends on the flaw or person. On 10/15/2020 9:04 PM, Gene wrote: And so are laptops. Your information is wrong. I bought a laptop about nine years ago, and certainly you would get more power for the same price now, for about 480 dollars. It has worked very well. It is not compromised. It doesn't have defects.
And no one said a 500 dollar computer is good for everyone. I'm not talking about gamers or power users. I'm talking about the majority of Internet users who stream, surf, use a word processor, record audio, and do other tasks that are not particularly demanding.
Gene -----Original Message----- From: enes sarıbaş Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2020 8:44 PM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me
Just because you may consider a system adequate for your own needs doesn't mean it is for is for everyone. A system like that would have major compremises. For clerification, I am talking about laptop prices, desktops in that price range may in fact be midrange. What I am saying is a minimum system for anyone should have a 6 core or so CPU, 8 gb or 16 gb of dual channel ram, an I5processor etc.
On 10/15/2020 7:08 PM, Monte Single wrote:
Hi list, : enes sarıbaş thinks a 500 dollar computer/laptop is less than adequate for the average user. He is not the first person on the list to express such thoughts. The one time I spent more than that for a computer was for the first one I purchased; that was in the last millennium. If I spent 500 u s dollars on a computer today, it would be built with quality parts and be more than adequate for the average computer user's needs. : enes sarıbaş go forth and conquer, spend the big bucks. Hopefully it will stimulate the economy.
-----Original Message----- From: main@TechTalk.groups.io <main@TechTalk.groups.io> On Behalf Of Gene Sent: October 15, 2020 5:29 PM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me
That simply is not true. A lot of people have machines in the five hundred dollar range and they work fine.
And five hundred dollar machines aren't just barely competent machines.
Gene -----Original Message----- From: enes sarıbaş Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2020 4:14 PM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me
No, I would not buy a 500 dollar machine. In fact, I would exclude machines below a certain build quality as a matter of principle. Is saving every little penny really worth it for a device people use 12 hours a day or more? possibly? Those machines usually have more than one major flaw, and have barebone specs. I think a power user should get a pc above the 1000 dollar range, and a regular user, if they can aford it should go around 700-800. The difference between an entry level, and even midrange computer is very apparent in build quality, as well as components. A midrange system will probably have one or two important flaws, but a budget system will have three or more, iether bad keyboard, cheap material, poor cooling, etc.
On 10/15/2020 7:15 AM, Gene wrote:
And I suspect you spent over a thousand dollars to do what a five hundred dollar computer can do, less if on sale ormanufacturer refurbished. I don't know enough technically to discuss some of your technical points, but I'll say the following: The advice I see from computer advisors is that for the majority of people, purchasing a machine somewhere in the five hundred dollar range will meet their needs. And even if memory requirements have gone up for some programs, they haven't gone up nearly enough that more than 8GB of ram is recommended for the majority of users. That is the recommendation and it has been for years.
A little money here, a little money there, a more powerful processor, and pretty soon, you are spending five hundred dollars or more than you need to and gambling that your machine will last far longer than the generally agreed on length for reliable service, five years. I think it is a very bad gamble, not because the machine won't last longer, it may well do so, but you are spending a lot more money now for performance parameters that will be much less expensive when you replace the computer. And the typical user, buying a machine around the five hundred dollar range today, unless their uses change radically, won't have problems that will require a new machine probably for the life of the current one.
And what about technological changes itself? If you bought a machine in the Windows 7 days that was future proofed, in your opinion at that time, it might not run Windows 10 now. My understanding is, and if I'm wrong, I'm sure I will be corrected, that a lot of Windows 7 machines won't run Windows 10 because Microsoft now requires that different processors be used.
While I don't think that sort of thing will happen if one buys a machine now for use seven or ten years into the future and are attempting to future proof it, you are again gambling that newer technologies wohn't come along that will render your computer less useable, no matter how you future proof it now.
Gene. -----Original Message----- From: enes sarıbaş Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2020 6:27 AM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me
This isn't correct. Browsers, and other day to day applications even, dramatically have increased ram usage, as well as CPU power. For example, Zoom will only let you blur the background of video if you have a quad core processor. If you buy a dual core as opposed to a quad core processor for example, it will struggle at even the most basic of tasks, and in 5 years, or even in a few years, programas even screen readers will begin to lag. This happened with my core I5 4200M. I thought a dual core was ok, though this was a system gifted to me. Had I been choosing my own system then, I would've gone for an I7, and now, this dual core is not even good enough for browsing. Large websites will freeze it and even when I had it, intensive apps like finereader will lag significantly independant of ram. This is exactly I future proofed my next laptop, with a 1tb SSD, 32 gb of ram, and an r7 4800H processor from AMD, with a 4.2 GHZ boost across all cores. This should be powerful enough to run anything conceivable in the next 5 or so years, except maybe AI workloads. On 10/15/2020 6:07 AM, Gene wrote:
I've seen others, and I believe you, too, make the future proof argument for buying a more powerful computer than the person's anticipated needs because it will be useful longer because you never know when your needs will change. I've always thought such arguments were not good ones. For one thing, a lot of people will continue to use computers in about the same ways as now and if they do use them in more demanding ways, those will not likely tax the computer if they buy a computer that isn't just barely powerful enough to do what they want.
Also, technology continues to become more powerful and cost less. So, in five years, the projected reliable life of a computer, you will be able to buy one to meet your needs then for less money than you are paying now. In addition, though it’s a gamble, many computers last more than five years, many significantly more. Every dollar you overspend to be future proofed that you didn't need because your needs didn't change and all the extra power of your computer remains unused is increasingly wasted, the longer your computer lasts.
It makes much more sense to buy a computer that is powerful enough to meet your current needs well if you don't anticipate major changes in how you will use your computer and are reasonably confident that you won't do things in future that will exceed the ability of the computer.
Spending one-thousand dollars to future proof a machine, just in case, maybe you use your machine much differently in the future, when you could spend five hundred dollars today and three hundred dollars in fived or seven or eight years for another machine that you would probably use in similar ways as you do now or not much, is a bad idea.
Gene -----Original Message----- From: enes sarıbaş Sent: Wednesday, October 14, 2020 9:27 PM To: main@TechTalk.groups.io Subject: Re: [TechTalk] 5g and me
Hi Brian,
Just for clerification, I have confirmed 5g signals do exist in my area for my network. Even without the massive bandwidth, the lower latency itself will probably result in better quality improvements. Also, all versions of the IPhone by default include 5g.
On 10/14/2020 9:18 PM, Brian Vogel wrote: On Wed, Oct 14, 2020 at 10:11 PM, enes sarıbaş wrote: One reason, future proofing, I want to get the highest end version of the IPhone 12, though 5g isn't very wiedespread now, it will be in three years or so.- I am at a loss as to how doing this, now, squares with your own earlier assertion, "I think 5g is more significant for fixed wireless than smartphones."
Going to a 5G device now, when it is obscenely expensive, and where the ability to exploit 5G is limited to a very few locations, seems to me to be a supreme waste.
And 3 years is an eternity in the world of technology, and smartphones in particular, and what's Apple's flagship now, will be mid-range in 3 years, and much cheaper.
Going to a 5G smartphone now, unless you live in a major metropolitan area, is locking your money up in a frozen asset you cannot even use for its intended purpose.
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