Random thoughts.... [Tech Edition]

If it turns out that WebOS sucks, Nvidia just released a new Shield TV for €149. The old Shield TV was the fastest, best-supported Android TV device out there, and I see no reason for the new one to be any different.

People seem to like WebOS so I’ll give it a shot. But the Shield does look nice...
 
It was delivered yesterday. Some thoughts:

- Local edge dimming is really noticeable when, for example, an app is loading and showing a logo on an otherwise black screen. There's a beam of backlight shining up from the bottom around the logo. You can't really tell while watching content... at least I can't.

- The wiimote-style remote control (and the mouse pointer that goes with it) has a learning curve but works fine once you get used to it. The combined scroll wheel and OK button sticks every once in a while, which is weird. I guess I could get the remote replaced on warranty.

- Only one HDMI ARC, it seems? That's reserved for the soundbar, which means I can't control my Apple TV from the TV remote anymore. Haven't yet checked if there's a setting or workaround for this, I just noticed it didn't work last night after I got things set up.

- It seems I accidentally bought a TV with Airplay and Homekit support, which is neat. It will get Airplay 2 and Apple TV+ too "later in 2019". I thought this was reserved for higher-end TVs, but apparently not. This means that not being able to control the Apple TV via ARC isn't a big deal at all.

- WebOS is fluid, good looking, snappy and easy to use. Much, much more coherent and less messy than the Philips rendition of Android 8 for sure. The apps I use the most (Youtube, Netflix) look identical to the Android counterparts. There wasn't much preinstalled crap either.

- One thing that WebOS has in common with Android is that app developers seem to be free to design their own interfaces for video playback. This means that you can't ever be sure what an app will do when you press Fast Forward or Rewind. On Apple's tvOS, the behavior and UI design is consistent between apps. This is a prime example of where Apple's tight control over things is a Good Thing™.

- LG designed the interface with the idea that live TV is the main use case, because that's where you end up when you turn it on. I do wonder if that's what people still use their TVs for in 2019? I would very much prefer if it booted straight into a homescreen with apps and widgets (clock, weather etc) instead. Live TV could be one of those apps, so I could hide it in a folder with the other stuff I never use.
 
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I have been given a MacBook at work and it is making me want a Mac as my home computer again. The only problem is that I almost never use my home machine and even if I were to get a Mini (cheapest Mac you can get) it would still be $800 that I don't really need to spend.
 
I have been given a MacBook at work and it is making me want a Mac as my home computer again. The only problem is that I almost never use my home machine and even if I were to get a Mini (cheapest Mac you can get) it would still be $800 that I don't really need to spend.

yeah, the software is quite nice, it’s a real shame about the lack of expandability.
 
For the cost of that Pro, Apple should include one.
To be fair this has been Apple MO for decades now, floppy, opticals, ethernet, VGA, HDMI, miniDP, Firewire, etc...

Also to play a bit of devil's advocate most USB-C capable monitors actually have USB-As on them (and some even ethernet), which is likely something one would get if they really use the machine as staionary. Another thing I just thought of, aside from stuff with built in cables, wouldn't it be possible to replace the "standard" cable with one that has USB-C on the other end?

The thing that annoys me the most is the stupid keyboard, I can barely type on the built in one (luckily its a work machine so it has a real kbd hooked up to it).
 
I have been given a MacBook at work and it is making me want a Mac as my home computer again. The only problem is that I almost never use my home machine and even if I were to get a Mini (cheapest Mac you can get) it would still be $800 that I don't really need to spend.

Just pick up a refurbed Mac Mini. I bought a 2011 Mac Mini because it had the old school 30”ACD for $450 off CL. Microcenter and I'm sure others sell them.
 
Just pick up a refurbed Mac Mini. I bought a 2011 Mac Mini because it had the old school 30”ACD for $450 off CL. Microcenter and I'm sure others sell them.
It needs to drive a 4K screen, also one of the reasons I like the current one is because it has user replaceable RAM
 
I bought a handful of usb c cables for all possible use cases when I got my MacBook Pro last year. The only time I need to dig out an adapter is when someone shows up with a thumbdrive, which is about once a year for me.
 
I frigging hate all these easy to use consumer devices. Got a new Wi-Fi router for the in laws who been bitching about coverage from their admittedly ancient one. Get the box, hook it up and go to change settings to use same network name/pass phrase and other crap. Have to wait for 5 minutes for the idiotic set up genie to figure out that it’s not plugged into internet before it gave me a manual
set up option. I mean seriously ask first...
 
I pulled the trigger and bought a iPad. Base 10.5 inch in Space Gray. Goal is to use it for social media and other appy things, in order to support more mindful cell phone use.

We shall see how it goes.
 
Same here. Went for the iPad Air (3rd/current gen, 10.5") over the base 10.2" because of the CPU - the Air sports the iPhone XS/XR-gen A12, whereas the base runs on the older A10 from the iPhone 7. Which is still more than fast enough for day-to-day use, but since I'm likely to keep this thing for years before eventually upgrading, I sucked up the extra 100€ or so for a little future-proofing.

Also finally pulled the trigger on core upgrades for the desktop PC: a Ryzen 7 3700x, a MSI B450 mainboard, and 32GB DDR4. That's still in shipping though, and since I'll be gone on a business trip most of next week, it'll probably be next weekend until I get to installing it all. Can't wait.
 
I have a 10.5“ Pro, base model. I have been jonesing for a 11” with cellular for a while but I’m holding off until they update it.
 
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What's with my wi-fi?

My 2018 Macbook Pro is in the same room as the cable modem (Arris TG2492s) I bought this week. Download speeds are fine, but copying from the MBP to another, older, Air resulted in transfer speeds measured in tens of megabits per second rather than hundreds. This was a normal Finder file copy.

The Air is currently pulling the same files straight from the NAS, achieving way faster speeds.

The NAS is on gigabit. Both the Air and Pro are on 5GHz.
 
5GHZ is only faster when it is unobstructed between the devices and router. Even from the same room, something in between can disrupt the signal a great deal. Try switching to 2.4GHZ to see if it is any better.
 
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