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shrughes posted:It's a lot easier to get work done out of class than trying to half pay attention to a lecture and half get work done. But you could do that too. Classes held in labs are done so you have lecture then lab if you want to work there, need help, want socialization, or whatever. It's not "try to work while someone talks". shrughes posted:At the school I went to, RPI, you'd see people getting work done between classes all the time. What do you do with a two hour gap between classes, just sit there and mope? Get some food and mope? Diddle around on your phone? Unless you're some broken individual it's perfectly possible to knock out an assignment. In the evening and afternoon you'd see plenty of people doing groupwork in the union or study lounges, with or without laptops, and if with, often merely to access the course website or display the homework assignment or I don't know, the internet. Are there not similar scenes in every college campus in the country? It's really spooky to see people claim that there aren't -- at least there are at the other college campuses I've seen. My impression is that they're from some parallel reality where they and everybody they know are lazy retards. Not that people don't/can't do work in study lounges, but there's still a large segment of college which involves reading actual books, which are PDF even in a paperless campus, and a Kindle paperwhite or any tablet suffices. If all you're doing is writing code and you want to do it in public (and I have no idea why you'd want to do this), and you don't have access to a lab or server you can SSH to from your tablet, that's one argument. But it's not the majority of students unless you're at school with a huge CS program. You went to an exceptionally academic program at a school which is focused on technology. It colors your experiences. I've gone to the University of Minnesota, Georgia Tech, and ASU. Experiences are different at each of those schools. None are what you describe. Georgia Tech is closest, but that's where I spent 2002-2005 as a math major, so I couldn't say at all what it's like now, save that they also require laptops. But it's misleading to compare ranked engineering schools and what students do in their free time to even good state schools (University of Minnesota as an example). The experiences are drastically different. shrughes posted:Now imagine how much worse life is if you don't have a laptop. Well, you can't work on that essay, because you'd need a machine to type it in on. shrughes posted:A computer lab would be a big hassle -- you have to go there, you have to log in, it's some generic computer lab computer and you have to type in your passwords for everything, and you need to wash your hands afterward, and you can't have a group sit in whatever arrangement you want, and now probably some hacker's got your email account. I've used them. A laptop is way better. A barely sufficient laptop only costs $200. (A much better, completely sufficient laptop costs $250, used.) You're welcome to live a crippled existence without one but I don't see why anybody would want to. A C720 is also $250, new. Laptops are affordable. But that still doesn't make them requisite. And there are reams of studies which show people losing efficiency compared to something which doesn't let them "multitask". Most people are not more effective with laptops than paper. shrughes posted:Non-PC tablets didn't exist when I went there, but if the class is actually expecting you to do something computer-specific I don't think it would work. In intro to biology we viewed 3D models of some molecules which probably wouldn't have the right plugin to render on a tablet (or on Linux for that matter), and there was some other usage of the machine in an interactive way that would be very annoying if you didn't have a keyboard. In CS labs you certainly needed a real computer. I don't know about the engineering classes. There is certainly groupwork I've done where it would be very uncomfortable not having a laptop in any kind of class, from philosophy to actual reality-based learning. At RPI it was generally expected that you'd be capable of doing a class presentation, so you'd be stuck if you didn't have a way to do presentations with a VGA port. (Maybe they've got HDMI hookups nowadays.) Also, if you wanted to use the wireless network, you had to use some kind of VPN software, but maybe they've got that set up for tablets too. The argument is basically that a Nexus 7 with or without a keyboard is just as capable as a cheap laptop for the average (probably liberal arts, but maybe SEM) student, since the average student's "need" for a laptop amounts to a lot of screwing around. It wasn't your experience, but that doesn't make it invalid, it doesn't make them "lazy retards", it's not a "crippled existence", and none of the other invective you've used is applicable.
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Nov 26, 2013 17:44
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Would you guys shut the gently caress up about college?
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Nov 26, 2013 17:56
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shrughes posted:
I should have known I'd get busted for that. People always assume it's some backwater devry-esque technical school if I say RPI!
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Nov 26, 2013 18:19
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evol262 posted:Generally, a notepad and a pen is just as efficient with less distractions than a laptop. Can you please be quiet about the laptops in college? Quite frankly, it isn't for you to decide whether it is necessary or efficient to use a laptop. Some people prefer a laptop in class. Sometimes a class requires a laptop. Instead of insisting that this cannot be, just shut up. Why is this conversation even happening?
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Nov 26, 2013 20:13
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evol262 posted:Edit2:
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Nov 26, 2013 20:17
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Yes, let's please not talk about the use of laptops in the laptop thread. evol262: I also always preferred pen(cil) and paper for taking notes.
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Nov 26, 2013 20:20
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If you're in the market for a Y510p this looks like a pretty good price. 950$ for the beefiest version this model. The only thing that's different between this and the one on the B&N lenovo site is this one has dual gt750m's whereas B&N one has gt755m's. I dunno how much better the 755 is. http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/pdp/Lenovo-IdeaPad-Y510p-Laptop/productID.288728300
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Nov 26, 2013 20:22
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shrughes posted:Yes, let's please not talk about the use of laptops in the laptop thread. What could have been a sufficient two sentence answer turned into enginerd dickwaving and dorkier-than-thou bullshit arguments in a thread that's supposed to help US PLEBS figure out what laptop to buy. People with Yoga2Pros, how's the firmware update treating the yellow issue? Any improvements particularly as relates to battery life?
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Nov 26, 2013 20:23
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Stew Man Chew posted:What could have been a sufficient two sentence answer turned into enginerd dickwaving and dorkier-than-thou bullshit arguments in a thread that's supposed to help US PLEBS figure out what laptop to buy. I haven't noticed any difference with battery life after the firmware update, but that may be because the big difference with battery life was the default brightness change and I never ran at max/default anyway.
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Nov 26, 2013 20:38
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Stew Man Chew posted:People with Yoga2Pros, how's the firmware update treating the yellow issue? Any improvements particularly as relates to battery life? No more yellow issues that I notice, but as mentioned a number of pages back, it looks like this required lowering the maximum brightness to recalibrate things. It still gets plenty bright, though. For battery life, I haven't really noticed a difference. With high brightness levels, you can kill it in like 2-4 hours of use, or more like 4-8 with brightness at 50% or lower.
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Nov 26, 2013 20:39
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shrughes posted:Are there not similar scenes in every college campus in the country? It's really spooky to see people claim that there aren't -- at least there are at the other college campuses I've seen. My impression is that they're from some parallel reality where they and everybody they know are lazy retards. Or they're in fields where most of their work can't be done in Powerpoint and Excel, so they use pencil and paper instead. Or they walk 20 feet to the nearest computer lab when they need a computer. Your self-righteous attitude over the necessity of owning a laptop in college is tiresome, it's easy to imagine fields where it would be useful, but it's equally easy to imagine fields where they'd be useless.
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Nov 26, 2013 20:41
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My wife's old laptop with Windows XP was finally starting to expire after 6 years, and she was looking to get something more tablet-ish and stylish for media playing, minor document editing and web browsing. Reading the thread a month ago, there was a lot of positive talk about the Yoga 2 Pro. So I pulled the trigger on a Yoga 2 Pro via the Lenovo web site (Windows 8.1, Intel I5 processor, 8 Gb RAM, 256 Gb SSD, clementine orange cover). While it was being manufactured (Lenovo shipping dates ranged from 12/1 to 1/1/14 before arriving on 11/21) came all of the complaints in the thread about the yellow issue and the wi-fi dropping. We got the laptop last Friday. It had the newest Wi-Fi driver update. So far there's been no Wi-Fi drops, and my wife has used it to stream iTunes radio and NPR broadcasts from the 2nd floor of our house when the wireless router is on the first floor. Our experience is that the Yoga 2 Pro (with updated Wi-Fi driver) is pretty solid on network connection stability. She's not complained about color display issues either. I've not noticed anything out of the ordinary either, although I've not done any thorough testing. For someone who isn't looking for a color issue it's not readily apparent. She's been pretty happy with battery life .. I want to say it lasts for ~6 hours of fairly heavy use. The speakers are pleasingly loud and Netflix streams beautifully. The main gripes have been about Windows 8.1 from someone who previously only used XP, but installing Start8 and a few google searches on "how to do XYZ" have solved that. She's pretty happy with it overall and likes the "stand" mode for tablet-esque browsing. The keyboard is fairly nice, and the track pad is as well after lowering its sensivity. My main gripes are the lack of provided external restore media (like a DVD or flash drive), so if the SSD goes south on you, you would be out of luck .. so I'll have to make one myself out of the existing SSD with Acronis 2014. Overall it's looking like it was a good choice for a new laptop.
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Nov 26, 2013 20:49
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I believe the color issue was fixed, since it was caused by software.
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Nov 26, 2013 20:56
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I'm going to post this again cause it got swallowed up in college chat: Is it possible to swap in a new, Haswell capable motherboard into an Asus G74S from 2011 that has an old 2nd generation i7 mobo? I know upgrading laptops so fundamentally it generally not done but is it possible in this case?
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Nov 26, 2013 22:03
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...maybe? Do you own a dremel tool? Your biggest issue aside from fit will be connecting the display to the main board. Laptops typically get multiple revisions inside of a single model year, it seems unlikely that a 2010 model will accept a drop in replacement 2013 model. Heat pipes fans cooling etc will be drastically different on a modern Haswell board.
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Nov 26, 2013 22:13
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Yeah that's really not going to happen.
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Nov 26, 2013 22:21
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Gozinbulx posted:I'm going to post this again cause it got swallowed up in college chat: The only thing that'll be relatively standard is the antenna. If it's another Asus motherboard, the trackpad, keyboard, and display ribbons may or may not work. The battery may or may not. Basically, laptops are non-standard, and use weird ribbon cables with no guarantees of compatibility, interoperability, or upgradability, though you may be lucky. It's also possible that the new mainboard will be shaped incorrectly for the battery enclosure, SAYA cables won't be long enough, external ports will be in the wrong place, or it'll push the wrong voltage to the battery across the regulator. Why do you want to do this?
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Nov 26, 2013 22:21
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Just how "bad" is the 1600x900 HD+ screen on the T430? Is it upgradable? I can get a good deal on one but noticed that point mentioned on the first page.
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Nov 27, 2013 01:08
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Just got my T440p today, put some extra RAM in it along with a SSD with no problems. However, when I try to install Windows 8 from an USB stick, nothing happens. I followed Quarkjets tutorial to the letter (from this page: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3552651&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=91), but every time I boot it up I just get stuck at the Boot Manager. Is there something I'm missing or doing wrong?
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Nov 27, 2013 02:14
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The Next Web posted:Acer announces touchscreen Chromebook C720P with 32GB SSD and 2GB RAM, coming in early December for $299.99 I gotta admit, I wasn't too high on Chromebooks when they first came out, but ever since the Samsung Chromebook and its praises, and me finally "getting" what Google is trying to do, I'm really considering this option for both myself and my mom. I still need a workhorse computer, but having a Chromebook to carry with me sounds like the perfect solution. You done got me, Google. You done got me.
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Nov 27, 2013 02:41
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Chakron posted:Just how "bad" is the 1600x900 HD+ screen on the T430? Is it upgradable? I can get a good deal on one but noticed that point mentioned on the first page. It's pretty much at the bottom tier of what's on the market right now. I borrowed an old T420s today (which uses the same panel), and it wasn't eye-gratingly bad or anything, just very "last-gen".
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Nov 27, 2013 03:01
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I am looking for a laptop for gaming/movies for when I go to work. I am not in the military and don't work on rigs but I do work on ships so weight is not an issue. I don't need anything too fancy, am hoping to keep it under $2000. I really don't like spending money since I have no plans to work before April .
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Nov 27, 2013 03:26
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Looking to buy a laptop for at most £1000, something I can replace my desktop with. Right now the Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro and Acer Aspire S7 look appealing, are these safe bets in terms of build quality? Any others I should be looking at?
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Nov 27, 2013 04:48
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I know Haswell just dropped over the summer, but are there any big (or even moderate-sized) shakeups coming to the laptop world in the next 6-12 months? My current laptop is about to turn three years old and now that I have a steady job I can actually think about replacing it at my leisure in the next year or so. The question then becomes when to actually replace it, as I have a laptop at work so I don't need a new one for that (and my current plan is to build a gaming desktop once my GF and I move into a bigger place but that's for another thread). If there's something cool coming to laptopdom soon I'll start saving money now, but if there isn't anything concrete coming up then I won't worry about it because this guy still runs just fine.
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Nov 27, 2013 04:53
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C-Euro posted:I know Haswell just dropped over the summer, but are there any big (or even moderate-sized) shakeups coming to the laptop world in the next 6-12 months? My current laptop is about to turn three years old and now that I have a steady job I can actually think about replacing it at my leisure in the next year or so. The question then becomes when to actually replace it, as I have a laptop at work so I don't need a new one for that (and my current plan is to build a gaming desktop once my GF and I move into a bigger place but that's for another thread). If there's something cool coming to laptopdom soon I'll start saving money now, but if there isn't anything concrete coming up then I won't worry about it because this guy still runs just fine. Haswell dropped, but the selection Haswell laptops is still pretty slim. In 6-12 months there will basically be more good laptop configurations to choose from
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Nov 27, 2013 05:16
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I think I'm going to end up buying the new XPS 13. Any suggestions for how to get the best deal (or any deal?). I need the 256 gig ssd, so that means the top of the line model is all that will work.
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Nov 27, 2013 05:17
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C-Euro posted:I know Haswell just dropped over the summer, but are there any big (or even moderate-sized) shakeups coming to the laptop world in the next 6-12 months? Haswell this fall was the first big shakeup since probably Sandy bridge, with improved battery life. Broadwell will come out next fall-ish and mobile GPUs will be more in line with "next gen" console graphics. TL;DR next year technology will be slightly faster than this year. Huge shocker. Apple generally has been releasing a new laptop line in late summer, with PCs following a month or two later. I guess you can continue to see high res screens and touch continue to drop in price somewhat.
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Nov 27, 2013 06:27
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I have a question on behalf of my brother. I gave him an answer but I told him to wait while I ask for a sanity check here because I don't know games very well. He's looking at two options that are going on sale soon: one with an i7-4700MQ, 12 gigs of RAM, and Intel HD 4600 graphics; and the other one with an A10-5750M, 8 GB, and Radeon 8650G. He wants to know if the i7 one is worth the extra $200. He wants to be able to play Skyrim, but the rest of his use pattern is undemanding: internet, word processing, etc. I looked up the minimum requirements for Skyrim and both of them appear like it should be at least playable on them. I told him what I would do is get the AMD because the i7 will still be limited by the integrated graphics for Skyrim, and then if he wants more performance he can upgrade his desktop with a $100-150 card (he's on older integrated graphics there too, with an AMD tri-core I helped him pick out a few years ago when they were still somewhat competitive). That way he can still play it after a fashion on the go, but have better performance at home, all for the same price as the i7 which would still probably not be significantly better for gaming. Am I off base or being reasonable? Winifred Madgers fucked around with this message at 07:07 on Nov 27, 2013 |
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Nov 27, 2013 06:38
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Do not buy any laptop with AMD processors.
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Nov 27, 2013 06:40
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EX-GAIJIN AT LAST posted:I have a question on behalf of my brother. I gave him an answer but I told him to wait while I ask for a sanity check here because I don't know games very well. He's looking at two options that are going on sale soon: one with an i7-4700MQ, 12 gigs of RAM, and Intel HD 4600 graphics; and the other one with an A10-5750M, 8 GB, and Radeon 8650G. Right off the bat I can tell you that you don't need an i7 or 12gb RAM for gaming. I also wouldn't get an AMD laptop. If you're interested in PC gaming you should really put the money toward a good desktop. I guess you could also look at y510p, a GT750m is going to be better than either of the options you put. Honestly though it doesn't take much to beat that with a desktop card (7850 or 7870?)
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Nov 27, 2013 09:11
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EX-GAIJIN AT LAST posted:
The 8650G is onboard too and I don't think its a lot faster than modern Intel
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Nov 27, 2013 09:43
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Very funny, Lenovo.
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Nov 27, 2013 10:44
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Mike From Nowhere posted:Very funny, Lenovo. Welp. What I would really factor in with laptop and gaming(even though its stupid), is lan purposes. So easy to setup shop with some friends if you got a laptop.
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Nov 27, 2013 12:44
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Anyone seen reviews of or have experience with the new Dell XPS 15? Those looks like slick machines AND it's a 15" without a number pad!
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Nov 27, 2013 13:43
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dissss posted:The 8650G is onboard too and I don't think its a lot faster than modern Intel I know that, and I also know an i7 and 12 GB are overkill for gaming, which is why I told him he'd be better off getting an upgrade for his desktop. I'll see if he has any other Intel options, but for the record I have an AMD netbook with just a little A6 and for my use it works just fine. It was free to me though, so that may color my perception. And as I said I am out of touch with PC gaming. Would an A10 really hold him back for Skyrim any more than the integrated graphics already will? Edit: I found a similar one with an i5-3230M comparable in base price to the AMD. As long as it's part of the same sale I told him he'd be far better off with that. Glad I came here because it spurred me to look for myself rather than just take the options he presented me. Winifred Madgers fucked around with this message at 14:34 on Nov 27, 2013 |
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Nov 27, 2013 13:58
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What so great about X1 Carbon, when the x230 gets almost better reviews and are cheaper? And If you would buy a laptop now for work purposes, would you go for touchscreen? And did you really upgrade your thinkpad? I've had thinkpad for 6 years now, and never made any changes on them.
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Nov 27, 2013 15:24
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Serious Sam posted:What so great about X1 Carbon, when the x230 gets almost better reviews and are cheaper? It's way thinner and has a 1600x900 screen vs 1366x768 I have an X230 and while it's a very nice machine, it's a brick compared to an ultrabook. Bob Morales fucked around with this message at 16:50 on Nov 27, 2013 |
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Nov 27, 2013 15:27
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Serious Sam posted:What so great about X1 Carbon, when the x230 gets almost better reviews and are cheaper? The X1 Carbon looks sleeker and it's got a bigger screen (14" vs 12.5") and I believe its touchpad is miles ahead of the X230's. The downside is it's more expensive, and is not easily upgradable the battery isn't detachable. I like mine but I would get an x240 (not x230) if I was getting a new laptop today: paying that premium for an Ivy Bridge laptop isn't worth it with Haswell out.
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Nov 27, 2013 15:52
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Butt Savage posted:I gotta admit, I wasn't too high on Chromebooks when they first came out, but ever since the Samsung Chromebook and its praises, and me finally "getting" what Google is trying to do, I'm really considering this option for both myself and my mom. I still need a workhorse computer, but having a Chromebook to carry with me sounds like the perfect solution. You done got me, Google. You done got me. So my sister wants something small that she can lug around school and the chromebook seems like the best option but it will take some getting used to I have some questions so that I can ease her mind. Since doing documents on it uses google drive how exactly does the online/offline versions of that stuff work? I know it has an offline version but why nut just use that all the time? From what I read they just force that cloud saving at you. She doesn't want to be in a situation where the only place it is saved is in the cloud and then can't access it on the last night before something is due because the internet went out.
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Nov 27, 2013 17:28
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So the mrs needs a new laptop. Mainly for work and web browsing. Work involves a lot of typing and other ms office based stuff. It needs to be easy to sit with and move about so not heavy and also not space heater /part microwave. Not looking to spend too much here is the op still up to date? Spend $600 or go home or was that targeted at the goon market?
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Nov 27, 2013 18:42
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