Random thoughts.... [Tech Edition]

From the same company that invents a entirely unique interaction tool (magic mouse), and then puts the charge port here:

Magic-Mouse-2.png

Yes, indeed. Charge port aside it’s the worst mouse I’ve ever used. Desktop mice is one of those things apple never, ever gets right.

I bet the port is where it is because Jony Ive didn’t want to change the design and make a cutout in the front. The first version was AA powered, remember?

Ive is no longer with the company though and as a result the new MacBook Pro is noticeably thicker and has HDMI and an SD slot again.

Wonder if they’re working on a new mouse. It feels like they’re all in on the Magic Trackpad which is just as excellent as their laptop trackpads, if you like that sort of thing.
 
I'm looking at getting an iPad and I specifically want to use the Apple Pencil, I don't really like the cost of the 2nd gen. version but there's no way I'm putting up with the silly charging method of the 1st gen. Who thought that having it sticking out to charge was a sensible idea?

apple-pencil-charging-100776129-large.jpg


Unrelated, anyone have any experience with windsocks/dead cats for phones? I'd like something I can just stick over the end to protect the mic from noise. I tend to convert videos to mono where I've been talking so only having one end of the phone protected by the sock would be fine.

The pencil with the silly charging is for the lowest end ipads these days. Are you sure you don’t want a more modern iPad?

I have a pre-M1 11” Pro because the new Air wasn’t out yet and I wanted the new squared-off version. Totally overkill for my use but it’s a very nice bit of kit. I have the pencil too. I never use it.
 
The old Pencil was just an example of something else Apple with silly charging since that was the topic, while I genuinely don't like how expensive the Pencil 2 is I'll pay it. The Crayon looks interesting but if I'm paying out for an iPad it seems silly to scrimp on that and I'm not the type to actively choose second-best for the sake of 55 quid. ?

Looking at a new 11" Pro, can't decide if I should go for 512GB as my 256GB phone is almost full (not sure how to deal with this at the moment) and if I should get a certified refurbished one to save a couple of hundred. If I get it I'll be trying to learn to draw with it. Might ditch the idea yet.
 
If you are serious about learning to draw, you could just pick a refurb one and spend the difference on the proper pencil. Apple generally does a good job of refurbishing things.
 
I never store anything on my ipads. The lowest storage tier has always been fine for me.

for iPhone I tend to go one storage tier higher than base, but iOS offloads photos to icloud as you go along so i never have issues with my phones filling up either.
 
I have a pre-M1 11” Pro because the new Air wasn’t out yet and I wanted the new squared-off version. Totally overkill for my use but it’s a very nice bit of kit. I have the pencil too. I never use it.
Yeeees... this seems way too familiar somehow :| :D
 
Last fall I bought a used Dell Precision T3610 workstation with a goal to make it my uni and casual gaming PC. Unfortunately, it seems that it has some sort of an issue with the GTX 1080 I threw in it, as sometimes, e.g. in Skype calls using DroidCam and a microphone it disconnects the screen. It's as if the display cable gets cut off. I tried multiple DP ports on the GPU, to no avail.

Doing some research, putting a GTX 1080 in that thing might haven't been the wisest idea. It seems the PSU, despite being rated at 685W, just can't handle the GTX 1080. Considering I was also looking into getting a new CPU and adding more RAM, I think it's time to say goodbye to the Precision.

Now, I do have three options. First, and funnily enough, the most economically feasible, would be to sell both the Precision and the GTX 1080 and get an M1 Mac Mini. The problem with that is that my idea configuration is relatively hard to find (256/16GB). Actually, any version with 16GB of unified memory is gonna be either hard to find or overpriced.

The second option is to sell the Precision, the GTX 1080, and my laptop as well, and get a 'new' (by new I mean used or refurbished) Dell XPS 15, Lenovo ThinkPad P52, or something similar. The benefits of that would be that I'd have a decent budget (about €1,500), and that I could take my workhorse anywhere, as well as that I'd have just one machine for all my tasks, meaning I'd always have all of my projects and files in one place. The negative side is that if something goes wrong or missing, I'd be SOL as I'd have just one machine for my tasks, meaning I'd always have all of my projects and files in one place.

The third option is the financially least reasonable one, but it does have some benefits that aren't negligible, and that's building a new PC from scratch. Well, I'd be reusing the GTX 1080, as well as a 5TB HDD I also happen to have. Perhaps even a 500GB Samsung 860 EVO SSD to save some money in the beginning. But the problem with that is that I have very little knowledge about building a PC from scratch.

In case of the latter, the budget would be somewhere between €800 and €1,000. I'd be looking into something that can be used for video editing, running the Adobe suite, as well as some animation in Cinema 4D. If the machine could be used for professional or hobby work once I'm done with uni, the better, although with my budget, I'm somehow skeptic about that.

As for which of the options would I prefer... The Mac Mini, as enticing as it is, is a fairly basic machine for creative work, and has fairly slow graphics. Also, it isn't without its set of problems, starting with BT issues, to issues such as lack of upgradeability and repairability. A laptop is just that, a laptop. IMHO, there's still no substitute for a desktop when it comes to some tasks, such as gaming. So, unsurprisingly, the most expensive option is the one I'm mostly inclined to.

Oh, and if somebody has an idea of what specs I'd be looking into with the budget and use I set for it, I'd be grateful if you could give me the general idea. Also, I'm open for any laptop ideas. It doesn't have to be used or refurbished, I just thought I'd save some money going that route.
 
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We had a GTX 1080 in a similar machine with a supposed 1300W PSU and it would sometimes reboot when given a heavy rendering job. I would be wary of the DroidCam drivers if the problem happens when you're using it though.

I'm not sure what to suggest for a replacement as you don't really say what you're doing with it. Dell Precision laptops would also be the type you're looking for, maybe better made than XPS. Quadro cards/chips aren't intended for gaming in the same way that GTX cards aren't really intended for 2D/3D modelling, however your mileage will vary.
 
Would a mac from 2011 be of any use as a daily machine?


My company bought this model for the sole purpose of doing brochures and service manuals translated to freedom units. It only every got used as a brochure making machine because we learned .de office wasn't forthcoming with sharing raw documentation files that we could work ourselves. So this machine was used for a couple of years until 2013 and since then it has sat around. It's basically brand new and would need an SSD to make it almost perfect in my opinion.

Thoughts?
 
Would a mac from 2011 be of any use as a daily machine?


My company bought this model for the sole purpose of doing brochures and service manuals translated to freedom units. It only every got used as a brochure making machine because we learned .de office wasn't forthcoming with sharing raw documentation files that we could work ourselves. So this machine was used for a couple of years until 2013 and since then it has sat around. It's basically brand new and would need an SSD to make it almost perfect in my opinion.

Thoughts?

We have/had two of these. One is still in daily use at the trophy shop and the other is used by the kiddo at the track for play Car Mechanic Simulator and such. I found them to be slow compared to the two PCs I use now, but better than the cheap Windows 8 machine we used at the trophy shop.
 
Surely shipping would be prohibitive? Also I hate to say it but 10 years old anything is next to useless in this era, we're throwing away perfectly good machines that are just not supported by anything.
 
We had a GTX 1080 in a similar machine with a supposed 1300W PSU and it would sometimes reboot when given a heavy rendering job. I would be wary of the DroidCam drivers if the problem happens when you're using it though.

I'm not sure what to suggest for a replacement as you don't really say what you're doing with it. Dell Precision laptops would also be the type you're looking for, maybe better made than XPS. Quadro cards/chips aren't intended for gaming in the same way that GTX cards aren't really intended for 2D/3D modelling, however your mileage will vary.
Mostly graphics design, i.e. Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign, with some video editing and 3D animation, and in case of a desktop, occasional gaming.

I know about Precision laptops, however, some of them (mostly the higher end, newer ones) are simply XPS laptops with Quadro graphics instead of GTX ones, sometimes with a Xeon CPU and ECC memory on top of that. I've heard that for basic video editing, GTX chips are good enough, and I don't think I'll be doing any advanced 3D work apart from Cinema 4D animations I'll do at uni.

Still, if Precisions can be found for cheaper than comparable XPS, I'll definitely consider them, but a quick look at eBay says XPS are much easier to find used/refurbished.

I will, however, check DroidCam drivers first, before doing any decisions.

Would a mac from 2011 be of any use as a daily machine?


My company bought this model for the sole purpose of doing brochures and service manuals translated to freedom units. It only every got used as a brochure making machine because we learned .de office wasn't forthcoming with sharing raw documentation files that we could work ourselves. So this machine was used for a couple of years until 2013 and since then it has sat around. It's basically brand new and would need an SSD to make it almost perfect in my opinion.

Thoughts?
I'd say for an average user yes, but with a caveat. It's got SATA III (6 Gbps) interface for the HDD, so you can throw in a decent SSD in it (don't forget to add a temperature sensor as well!) and feel the difference. However, unless you're willing to go further, and really dick around with the system, you're stuck with High Sierra.

You can upgrade the GPU, which would in fact allow for installing up to Big Sur on the machine, but be aware that it's not a plug-and-play process. Also, beware of the exposed PSU once you're inside the machine.

Also, it depends on what your daily use comprises.
 
Mostly graphics design, i.e. Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign, with some video editing and 3D animation, and in case of a desktop, occasional gaming.

I know about Precision laptops, however, some of them (mostly the higher end, newer ones) are simply XPS laptops with Quadro graphics instead of GTX ones, sometimes with a Xeon CPU and ECC memory on top of that. I've heard that for basic video editing, GTX chips are good enough, and I don't think I'll be doing any advanced 3D work apart from Cinema 4D animations I'll do at uni.

Still, if Precisions can be found for cheaper than comparable XPS, I'll definitely consider them, but a quick look at eBay says XPS are much easier to find used/refurbished.

I will, however, check DroidCam drivers first, before doing any decisions.


I'd say for an average user yes, but with a caveat. It's got SATA III (6 Gbps) interface for the HDD, so you can throw in a decent SSD in it (don't forget to add a temperature sensor as well!) and feel the difference. However, unless you're willing to go further, and really dick around with the system, you're stuck with High Sierra.

You can upgrade the GPU, which would in fact allow for installing up to Big Sur on the machine, but be aware that it's not a plug-and-play process. Also, beware of the exposed PSU once you're inside the machine.

Also, it depends on what your daily use comprises.

I've been toying with the idea of getting another mac despite having a pretty good gaming pc. I like the integration between iOS and macOS a lot and I haven't had a proper home for my photo library since leaving the mac world back in 2009-10. I last edited photos on a mac when Aperture was still being developed and I miss that.
 
Just did a speedtest at work for shits n giggles with weird results.

On the local network/wifi : 64 mbps up/ 78 mpbs down which is more than sufficient (I have 50/20 at home which also does the same job). A bit strange you get more up than down speed but whatever (We normally download a ton more than we upload)

Then did the same test through the citrix connection which is hosted by our datacenter :

300 mbps down/ 1268 up.

I get it, the server has a much faster line, but what’s with the massive upload speed? To send text emails with spreadsheets and pdfs around?
 
So apparently, there's a trial going on in the US at the moment where the defense lawyer brought up (and the judge bought) that pinching and zooming on a video on an iPad brings up details that aren't there in real life, because Apple has artificial intelligence that puts things into the video.

The judge also used his own Samsung phone to try and demonstrate that the defense lawyer is correct about his iPad claim, by pinching and zooming and actually failing and proving the opposite, if we ignore for a moment that Apple doesn't make Samsung phones.


 
Sadly, lawyers and judges not having the faintest idea about technology and how it works doesnt surprise me in the least… :| being unwilling to accept expert testimony on the matter is just icing on the arrogance-cake.
 
The judges have watched too much X-Files.

I pulled a laptop out of the recycle pile from work and installed Linux Mint Cinnamon, latest edition i think. So far so good, I like how Mint picked up two finger scrolling right off where Windows 10 did not.
 
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