Random thoughts.... [Tech Edition]

What do you think: red LED case fans and white case lighting strips, or vise-versa? motherboard has red lighting, and graphics card has red and white. Looking at AIO with either RGB 9so I could do red or white) or just red.
 
I know the different companies have ebbs and flows in their quality, seemingly with each passing month...but is there a reason not to pick this up at the moment?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

I did try to do some research, but I only find out-dated articles about bad batches of drives from the various manufacturers.

If you want a fast drive, get an SSD, they're cheaper than ever these days.

If you want a big drive, get/build a NAS: all drives fail eventually, so just get some redundant storage and more or less stop caring about failure rates. Plus, you get to access all your media and stuff without needing your big, power-hungry gaming PC suck up all the power while it sits essentially idle.
 
I already have a 512gb m.2 nvme drive, and a NAS for backup and cloud access. This would be the large capacity in-chassis storage drive.
 
Looking for a way to connect my hard drive to my wifi network in some way so that I don't have to turn my (noisy and Power hungry) Pc in the bedroom, everytime I want to stream something to my tv.

Raspberry Pi? Get a wifi enabled drive? I only need it to hold video files which can be streamed to my tv over wifi....
 
Looking for a way to connect my hard drive to my wifi network in some way so that I don't have to turn my (noisy and Power hungry) Pc in the bedroom, everytime I want to stream something to my tv.

Raspberry Pi? Get a wifi enabled drive? I only need it to hold video files which can be streamed to my tv over wifi....

Raspberry Pi would work. You could also connect the Pi to the TV, and run Kodi on it, it makes a nice media center. And you still get to use that Pi to access the harddrive from other devices if you need to.
 
My TV has an app that can read from my NAS (WD MyCloud), but it's compatibility for file types is a little limited.
 
Raspberry Pi would work. You could also connect the Pi to the TV, and run Kodi on it, it makes a nice media center. And you still get to use that Pi to access the harddrive from other devices if you need to.

This is what I'm doing with a Pi 3. Works really quite well as a media center, and I can access the library from pretty much any device on my network.
 
Good, that seems to be the way to go. Especially having the drive available from any device is important, so I can download stuff on my phone or tablet, send it to the hdd then watch on tv..

I'm a bit scared of the whole programming in Linux thing though, because noob. Will investigate first
 
Honestly, if you go with Kodi, it's really a piece of cake.

All you'll need to know about Linux is what command type to install additionnal packages (typically "sudo apt-get install whatever").

On my Pi2 (running Kodi with a USB drive attached, outputting HDMI to the TV and audio receiver), I added a torrent client (deluge-daemon). That way, when I want to download something, I fire-up Deluge Client on my windows laptop, but all it does is act as a front-end to the actual client running on the Pi. I can do the operations I want, and close the UI on my laptop, and the Pi will keep doing all the work, and save directly where I want on the USB drive anyway.
 
Exactly what I need! Thing is I don't have a laptop, and the whole point of this is not firing up the desktop....so if I can connect wirelessly with the tablet or phone that would be good... I could just connect a keyboard and use the tv screen I guess... Does it support bluetooth keyboards?
 
Exactly what I need! Thing is I don't have a laptop, and the whole point of this is not firing up the desktop....so if I can connect wirelessly with the tablet or phone that would be good... I could just connect a keyboard and use the tv screen I guess... Does it support bluetooth keyboards?

The for network connection, the Pi3 supports Wifi, the previous pi only supported wired ethernet (but supported USB-Wifi dongles).

I don't believe the Pi supports bluetooth natively, but a wireless keyboard and mouse using a USB dongle (like Logitech Unifying receiver) works very well. Once on your network, you will be able to connect to it remotely via command line (SSH or telnet). So it can be done via your phone or tablet, but dealing with a command prompt without a physical keyboard can be a pain.

Edit: Pi3 supports Bluetooth natively, so bluetooth keyboard should not be a problem. Yay!
 
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I'm thinking about picking up an used notebook for watching stuff when I'm not home. I'd love something like a Macbook Air but all those under 400? don't really seem to have enough oomph. So any other under 15 inch notebooks out there I should search for?
 
Anything under 2GHz is a waste of time imo.

I had a Samsung NP300E4C which had a 2nd gen core i3 and intel graphics. Was fine for Netflix and Amazon prime streaming as well as Top Gear in those 720p formats. :ninja:

Then the laptop decided that BSOD's were a fun game.

Really anything with a intel Core processor and above 2GHz would work for your needs. I don't know much about the AMD processors and how to compare so, I can't help there.
 
I'm thinking about picking up an used notebook for watching stuff when I'm not home. I'd love something like a Macbook Air but all those under 400? don't really seem to have enough oomph. So any other under 15 inch notebooks out there I should search for?
ThinkPad X230.

I got mine for a steal on eBay.

IPS screen, wonderful keyboard, dat ThinkPad quality, seller replaced the battery with a new OEM extended one so it has crazy long battery life.

Initially it was just for fixing my car but it's now 90% a school PC. It's almost too nice to subject to grease and grime outdoors. Lol.
 
ThinkPad X230.

I got mine for a steal on eBay.

IPS screen, wonderful keyboard, dat ThinkPad quality, seller replaced the battery with a new OEM extended one so it has crazy long battery life.

Initially it was just for fixing my car but it's now 90% a school PC. It's almost too nice to subject to grease and grime outdoors. Lol.

While the screen is great, it's resolution is just hopeless for general use. Because of that, my X220Tab has been relegated to running mostly OneNote. At some point I will replace it with a Surface Book though when my eyes bleed enough from the lack of pixels.
 
While the screen is great, it's resolution is just hopeless for general use. Because of that, my X220Tab has been relegated to running mostly OneNote. At some point I will replace it with a Surface Book though when my eyes bleed enough from the lack of pixels.
I do school work on it just fine shrugs. For more detailed shit I have a 1080p monitor on my desktop.

I forget what resolution mine is exactly, could be a high resolution option.
 
Case manufacturers, why do you think about everything but the damn case mounted USB ports???? Is it really that time consuming to find a decent spot to put them? I realize they are not as cool as the radiator that will get used, but they are needed in a way that will be useful. I don't want them on top, I set my tower on my desk, that makes them a pain to get to and I have a cable/s hanging. Top front is not much better. Middle front is weird looking and I still have a cable that is hanging with enough length that will allow it to get in the way. Bottom front is the best for me, why can't they be down there? Maybe they could throw in a hub at least?

Next rant will be about DVD drive bays.
 
Case manufacturers, why do you think about everything but the damn case mounted USB ports???? Is it really that time consuming to find a decent spot to put them? I realize they are not as cool as the radiator that will get used, but they are needed in a way that will be useful. I don't want them on top, I set my tower on my desk, that makes them a pain to get to and I have a cable/s hanging. Top front is not much better. Middle front is weird looking and I still have a cable that is hanging with enough length that will allow it to get in the way. Bottom front is the best for me, why can't they be down there? Maybe they could throw in a hub at least?

Next rant will be about DVD drive bays.

Some cases have them on the bottom of the front, and I hate those, because my computer is under my desk. Top of the front is best for me, above the optical drive bays. I just bought a new case, and they are on the top pointing up, which I'm actually not a fan of because it takes away from space on the top. i can't just rest my phone there, I'll have to push it back further behind the plugs.

How about this case: they are on the side...the wrong side. :p

BitFenix-No-Power-Supply-MicroATX-Tower-Case-BFC-PHM-300-WWXKK-RP_2.jpg
 
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I have a hub with extra power-only ports under my monitor. I can connect/charge plenty of things with ease.
 
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