A multi-mobile-device crossroads and desktops

[BonzaiDuck]

I retired from two professions immersed in computer technology. I don't program anymore, but our household has been wired since 2000 for five or six desktops, integrating some SiliconDust HDPrimes and other gadgets. We have a WHS 2011 server with about 3TB of storage.

While the rest of the house uses Wolfdale C2D's, my flagship desktop is an OC'd Sandy Bridge 2600K @4.6Ghz with the ISRT disk-caching. Most of the machines in the house go into sleep when not used, and remain stable.

I continue to monitor and trim our household electrical consumption.

Now I look at the IB and Haswell options for desktop builds. I'm retired, so every penny has to count. I really can't see a need to build another desktop for a while.

And I'm also looking at articles and news on the "Future of Desktop PC" theme. I'm looking at a possible laptop or tablet purchase. Since I seldom travel very far, the only advantage I can see at this point is web-surfing and wireless HDTV on the patio during breakfast.

But I may soon find myself with some chump-change, wanting to plunge into a mobile world to give me greater mobile options and less worry that I'll end up as a once-tech-savvy Rip Van Winkle.

Ideas? Comments? Thoughts? I'd be interested. If not, this post well get stale and drift to the bottom of the pile. Obviously.

 

[frozentundra123456]

I retired from two professions immersed in computer technology. I don't program anymore, but our household has been wired since 2000 for five or six desktops, integrating some SiliconDust HDPrimes and other gadgets. We have a WHS 2011 server with about 3TB of storage.

While the rest of the house uses Wolfdale C2D's, my flagship desktop is an OC'd Sandy Bridge 2600K @4.6Ghz with the ISRT disk-caching. Most of the machines in the house go into sleep when not used, and remain stable.

I continue to monitor and trim our household electrical consumption.

Now I look at the IB and Haswell options for desktop builds. I'm retired, so every penny has to count. I really can't see a need to build another desktop for a while.

And I'm also looking at articles and news on the "Future of Desktop PC" theme. I'm looking at a possible laptop or tablet purchase. Since I seldom travel very far, the only advantage I can see at this point is web-surfing and wireless HDTV on the patio during breakfast.

But I may soon find myself with some chump-change, wanting to plunge into a mobile world to give me greater mobile options and less worry that I'll end up as a once-tech-savvy Rip Van Winkle.

Ideas? Comments? Thoughts? I'd be interested. If not, this post well get stale and drift to the bottom of the pile. Obviously.

Do you have a smart phone? Personally that is where I would start if I were willing to pay the monthly carrier charges. At least that way you are always connected, whereas with a tablet or laptop, you still have to be in range of Wi-Fi.

I hate to recommend Apple, but for a tablet, I would have to recommend an I.pad. I have an android tablet and have been extremely disappointed with it. Windows tablets seem a year or two away still from being there hardware wise.

Honestly, I a still a desktop fan myself, so unless you have a particular need for a mobile device, I wouldn't rush to get one.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Do you have a smart phone? Personally that is where I would start if I were willing to pay the monthly carrier charges.

Honestly, I a still a desktop fan myself, so unless you have a particular need for a mobile device, I wouldn't rush to get one.

This and this.

Consider that the company behind Ubuntu, is coming out with an Ubuntu-derived smartphone. I think it might be on Kickstarter. Check that out.

 

[Cerb]

Ideas? Comments? Thoughts? I'd be interested. If not, this post well get stale and drift to the bottom of the pile. Obviously.

A used C2D Thinkpad T-series or mobile Precision, maybe? Enough to handle HD decoding, web surfing, etc., and typically available for $150-300, depending on included RAM and accessories (also, just assume it'll need a new battery, and get a 3rd-party one).

If you're not addicted to being connected to everyone, and/or don't have some other real use for a notebook or tablet, they're probably not going to be worth many hundreds to you. A used corporate notebook, or cheap-but-decent Android tablet (such as the Kindle Fire or Nook HD) might be better options than anything else. In fact, a tablet might be the best thing to try, anyway, because it will be truly different, while a notebook is just a small uncomfortable PC.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

A used C2D Thinkpad T-series or mobile Precision, maybe? Enough to handle HD decoding, web surfing, etc., and typically available for $150-300, depending on included RAM and accessories (also, just assume it'll need a new battery, and get a 3rd-party one).

If you're not addicted to being connected to everyone, and/or don't have some other real use for a notebook or tablet, they're probably not going to be worth many hundreds to you. A used corporate notebook, or cheap-but-decent Android tablet (such as the Kindle Fire or Nook HD) might be better options than anything else. In fact, a tablet might be the best thing to try, anyway, because it will be truly different, while a notebook is just a small uncomfortable PC.

Many thanks to Cerb, VirtualLarry and FrozenTundra.

Your replies confirm my less worrisome thoughts. I have some "mainstream" computer-user friends who, though retired, have plunged into the mobile world. They use blackberries, I-phones, maybe a laptop. Haven't heard them mention tablets. Another friend up in Marin County uses a tablet (I-Pad) for traveling, but she travels a lot more than I do.

More than a year ago, a construction contractor who visited our townhome condo as part of a wider renovation project in the association showed me his I-pad, noting that he could download architectural drawings and other information he used in his work, keep up with e-mails and so on. so I asked him about his "personal mobile subscriptions" that include something like a family of six. It was a hefty amount of monthly change.

What you all are telling me, though: I might want to pick up a "surplus" or last-gen laptop -- if I can be assured that the battery-life is reasonable -- and use it to watch movies on the patio or surf the web. Or -- I might want to spring for a tablet with keyboard -- like "Surface." Maybe I'll upgrade my cellphone -- it's about time.

But there's no hurry. I guess . . .

Meanwhile -- I have "tech-project anxiety." I own a property in the mid-Atlantic -- a condominium unit. I "actively participate" (that's tax-language) in managing the rental. I have to stay in contact with the rental manager as well as the association's management rep, and I have friends living in the development.

Well, I could say I made a "mistake" (never volunteer for anything), but I asked the association management rep if there was anything I could do -- noting that they can't get enough people to volunteer for the board of directors. And I had been Treasurer for the development for some five years during the 1990s. But I noted in my e-mail to the rep that I was "3,000 miles away."

They come back to me, saying I've been elected to the board, and they want me to serve as Treasurer! Apparently, two of my friends were all goo-gah about the idea.

Thinking about what I had to do in the 1990s, and after conferring with my friend back East, it looks like we can do this with SKYPE. And even there, what was once monthly meetings are now every other month. I just ordered a Logitech USB web-cam -- a device I might have ordered a decade ago, but for which I never had a serious use.

Well, this is going to be interesting. And again -- any observations about the pitfalls and problems -- would be helpful.

 

[sm625]

A smartphone with a full data package is a huge money sink. If you dont already have one and regularly use it then the chances of you getting your money's worth from it are not very high. Being "restricted" to wifi can save you anywhere from $40 to $80 a month, or up to $1000 a year. It is extremely difficult to justify $1000 for such a simple convenience/inconvenience. Part of that decision depends on whether you can axe your home internet service. If you can then it makes a lot more sense.

 

[frozentundra123456]

A smartphone with a full data package is a huge money sink. If you dont already have one and regularly use it then the chances of you getting your money's worth from it are not very high. Being "restricted" to wifi can save you anywhere from $40 to $80 a month, or up to $1000 a year. It is extremely difficult to justify $1000 for such a simple convenience/inconvenience. Part of that decision depends on whether you can axe your home internet service. If you can then it makes a lot more sense.

I think whether a smartphone is worth it depends partly on how often a person is out of reach of wi-fi.

Personally, I only have a pre-paid cell phone, and when I am around home, that is sufficient. However, if I did a lot of travelling, for pleasure or business, a real smartphone with internet access and gps would be most useful.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Well, I've set up my SKYPE account and waiting for my buddy in Virginia to set up his laptop.

Here are the possibilities.

The board of directors there meets in the clubhouse. The clubhouse has a "basic cable" coax connection. They provide "basic" cable to everybody in the development, and any premium subscriptions are a responsibility of individual residents. I would be surprised if the cable-provided doesn't also provide cable-broadband internet, and I would suspect they have some sort of low-usage vanilla account for something like $30 or less monthly. But that would still cost the association about $360/year.

Another board member (also the "buddy" I mentioned) has DSL broadband to his condo unit. His condo unit is maybe 100 feet from the clubhouse. So we're investigating possibility that he can get a wireless access-point and add it to his household LAN -- maybe even position the access point near a window with direct line-of-sight to the clubhouse.

That would eliminate the need for a subscription if it proves just as reliable.

Comments, observations welcome. We're gonna see if this works, or how we'll make it work.

 

[mfenn]

100ft of open air wouldn't be a problem in and of itself. However, a condo complex is likely to be pretty saturated at the 2.4 GHz band, so any closer access points would likely crowd out your buddy's. 5 GHz is a possibility, but that suffers from greater attenuation by solid objects (e.g. walls).

The application also makes things difficult. Skype needs a reliable, low jitter connection to make for a pleasant experience, which long distance WiFi connections are definitely not.

You should try it out, but I wouldn't be overly optimistic. See the following results from only 60ft.