(no subject)
Mar. 27th, 2020 01:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sorcyressOkay so here's the thing.
Since last _September_ I have been without a computer of my own. Mine broke, and I've just...been getting by with the work computer and my phone. This has been fine, but I'm growing increasingly tired of the limitations on work computer.
Translation: I tried to download steam so I can play some isolation video games, and was not capable of doing so because I am not admin on this machine.
SO I NEED A NEW LAPTOP COMPUTER! This is your thread to give me some advice and thoughts. Have at! If you read the notes below you will get some ideas about what I am looking for more specifically. Also there are swearwords because my boss is not on my Facebook.
Notes:
*Current machine is running Windows 10 pro. Previous machine was running Mac OS 10.9. I am confident in my ability to figure out how to use any mac or windows machine. I am not interested in learning how to linux, but I might be willing to hear your pitch, especially if it starts with "so this particular distro works a lot like the things you've used before".
*I definitely want a computer and not a tablet. I need a keyoard, but more importantly, I need to be able to download and run _programs_. Not apps. I am not an app based individual, I am Too Old for that. That being said, I'm not going to say no to a hybrid just because it's a hybrid, as long as it has a computer-like os and not an app-like os. I am not interested in a chromebook under any circumstances.
*Relatedly, I hate tap-click on trackpads and disable it ASAP every time I get access to a new computer. I use multi-finger gestures sometimes, but in general, assume I want to do just about everything via a) keyoard control and b) trackpad that I will actually click and not weird tapclick.
*Look, the most recent mac laptops come with two USB-c ports, one of which has to be used for charging and I CANNOT EMPHASIZE HOW MUCH BULLSHIT THAT IS. I would like actual ports. Please recommend me a computer that I can plug my USB shit into without a million extra hubs and adapters necessary. Yeah, this seems likely to mean next computer is "not a mac" despite having been running mac for my personal use for the twelve years before that, and I'm bummed but also apple is making shitty decisions about what I need and I don't have to put up with that.
*Relatedly, a headphone jack is non-negotiable, jebus I hope I don't have to say that.
*I _desperately_ miss the "spaces" feature of my mac laptop, which was SO GOOD for letting my ADHD ass-brain sort things out and separate them and have different spots for like work vs dance vs fun vs read later. I miss it _so much_ and you will get ten bonus points for recommending me something that lets me use Something Like That instead of cramming my taskbar with different windows that are a pain in the ass to flip through.
*I also desperately miss the versatility and reprogramability of my mac for changing keyoard shortcuts to be Whatever I Wanted. I think this is something I could do on the work computer if I had admin powers, but I'm not positive.
*Things I want to be able to do: Play video games (especially super dumb old games like a port of Gahan Wilson's Haunted House if I can find one, or Heroes of Might and Magic 3, which *might* be available on Steam), save like a hundred gigs of music, store a few hundred gigs of photos, write like a fiend. Other than the video games, mostly I am not planning to run particularly intensive stuff. I mean, also like the modern trend for zoom and stuff, but whatever. Honestly, I want a device I can store stuff on and play music from.
*The closer that I get to a computer that can survive being used as the ball in a game of calvinball, the happier I will be. Assume that I will drop it off my bed at least once a month, at minimum. (This is way more often than reality, but I'd like to cover my bases).
*I haven't gotten a new computer in about seven years. In an ideal world I would not buy another computer after this for close to seven years. My budget is, say, $1500, but I'm willing to go above that for things that are Very Good And Will Make Me Happy. It is plausible I can get a friends-and-family discount if I go apple which iirc is about 10% off. I have access to a costco membership and I know they do stuff on sale sometimes. I loathe Amaz*n and will not purchase through them until they start offering me *staggeringly* good deals. I have some degree of patience, but also, ADHD assbrain would really like to get this done since I haven't since September.
*Every new version of iTunes since 2005 has been increasingly ass, so like, I would also like a recommendation for a less sucky music storage and organization and playlists service. I am completely and utterly uninterested in cloud options, give me local storage and lots of it or give me death. Ditto for any useful way to manage thousands upon billions of photos and memes saved off the internet and shit like that.
*On a similar note, my iphone 6s is like...almost four years old and it hasn't started dying big time...yet. I should probably also get a new phone. I've only ever used iphones, but I am open to persuasion as to "what's good about smartphones these days". Pokemon go is a must.
As a last note, I hate change and I am going to be very sad in my replies to you. I promise I will do my best to keep my whining to a minimum, but this is a Big Expensive Change that is important for me to do but still ughhhhh. Please ask me questions and engage anyways, I have no idea what the current state of computer buying tech is like these days!
~Sor
MOOP!
Since last _September_ I have been without a computer of my own. Mine broke, and I've just...been getting by with the work computer and my phone. This has been fine, but I'm growing increasingly tired of the limitations on work computer.
Translation: I tried to download steam so I can play some isolation video games, and was not capable of doing so because I am not admin on this machine.
SO I NEED A NEW LAPTOP COMPUTER! This is your thread to give me some advice and thoughts. Have at! If you read the notes below you will get some ideas about what I am looking for more specifically. Also there are swearwords because my boss is not on my Facebook.
Notes:
*Current machine is running Windows 10 pro. Previous machine was running Mac OS 10.9. I am confident in my ability to figure out how to use any mac or windows machine. I am not interested in learning how to linux, but I might be willing to hear your pitch, especially if it starts with "so this particular distro works a lot like the things you've used before".
*I definitely want a computer and not a tablet. I need a keyoard, but more importantly, I need to be able to download and run _programs_. Not apps. I am not an app based individual, I am Too Old for that. That being said, I'm not going to say no to a hybrid just because it's a hybrid, as long as it has a computer-like os and not an app-like os. I am not interested in a chromebook under any circumstances.
*Relatedly, I hate tap-click on trackpads and disable it ASAP every time I get access to a new computer. I use multi-finger gestures sometimes, but in general, assume I want to do just about everything via a) keyoard control and b) trackpad that I will actually click and not weird tapclick.
*Look, the most recent mac laptops come with two USB-c ports, one of which has to be used for charging and I CANNOT EMPHASIZE HOW MUCH BULLSHIT THAT IS. I would like actual ports. Please recommend me a computer that I can plug my USB shit into without a million extra hubs and adapters necessary. Yeah, this seems likely to mean next computer is "not a mac" despite having been running mac for my personal use for the twelve years before that, and I'm bummed but also apple is making shitty decisions about what I need and I don't have to put up with that.
*Relatedly, a headphone jack is non-negotiable, jebus I hope I don't have to say that.
*I _desperately_ miss the "spaces" feature of my mac laptop, which was SO GOOD for letting my ADHD ass-brain sort things out and separate them and have different spots for like work vs dance vs fun vs read later. I miss it _so much_ and you will get ten bonus points for recommending me something that lets me use Something Like That instead of cramming my taskbar with different windows that are a pain in the ass to flip through.
*I also desperately miss the versatility and reprogramability of my mac for changing keyoard shortcuts to be Whatever I Wanted. I think this is something I could do on the work computer if I had admin powers, but I'm not positive.
*Things I want to be able to do: Play video games (especially super dumb old games like a port of Gahan Wilson's Haunted House if I can find one, or Heroes of Might and Magic 3, which *might* be available on Steam), save like a hundred gigs of music, store a few hundred gigs of photos, write like a fiend. Other than the video games, mostly I am not planning to run particularly intensive stuff. I mean, also like the modern trend for zoom and stuff, but whatever. Honestly, I want a device I can store stuff on and play music from.
*The closer that I get to a computer that can survive being used as the ball in a game of calvinball, the happier I will be. Assume that I will drop it off my bed at least once a month, at minimum. (This is way more often than reality, but I'd like to cover my bases).
*I haven't gotten a new computer in about seven years. In an ideal world I would not buy another computer after this for close to seven years. My budget is, say, $1500, but I'm willing to go above that for things that are Very Good And Will Make Me Happy. It is plausible I can get a friends-and-family discount if I go apple which iirc is about 10% off. I have access to a costco membership and I know they do stuff on sale sometimes. I loathe Amaz*n and will not purchase through them until they start offering me *staggeringly* good deals. I have some degree of patience, but also, ADHD assbrain would really like to get this done since I haven't since September.
*Every new version of iTunes since 2005 has been increasingly ass, so like, I would also like a recommendation for a less sucky music storage and organization and playlists service. I am completely and utterly uninterested in cloud options, give me local storage and lots of it or give me death. Ditto for any useful way to manage thousands upon billions of photos and memes saved off the internet and shit like that.
*On a similar note, my iphone 6s is like...almost four years old and it hasn't started dying big time...yet. I should probably also get a new phone. I've only ever used iphones, but I am open to persuasion as to "what's good about smartphones these days". Pokemon go is a must.
As a last note, I hate change and I am going to be very sad in my replies to you. I promise I will do my best to keep my whining to a minimum, but this is a Big Expensive Change that is important for me to do but still ughhhhh. Please ask me questions and engage anyways, I have no idea what the current state of computer buying tech is like these days!
~Sor
MOOP!
no subject
on 2020-03-27 05:47 am (UTC)From my slowly disintegrating 2009 MacBook Pro, I send the deepest sympathies.
no subject
on 2020-03-27 10:51 am (UTC)It is a
pressure washerdelight.no subject
on 2020-03-27 11:05 am (UTC)(Also for some reason the speakers are on the bottom, there's no ethernet jack, and you have to get past 5 screws to remove the battery. Good lord.)
For what it's worth, you can pop an SSD into an old ass-laptop and it will suddenly have new life. I got to keep the Thinkpad T430s from my old job, and it's my favorite computer now—despite being probably 7 years old.
no subject
on 2020-03-27 01:47 pm (UTC)Yeah, I kept my 2009 desktop machine going from 2016-2019 by replacing its hard drives with SSDs when they failed*, and holy crap. Like getting a new computer.
(Won't help with what OS the machine's compatible with, though, and that's sometimes relevant - it's what finally pushed me over the edge into getting a new computer, my old one couldn't upgrade past a certain point.)
* = Plus a RAM upgrade.
no subject
on 2020-03-27 01:43 pm (UTC)(Given the "want a headphone jack" and not-just-USB prefs this probably means any recent Mac is a non-starter. I will say that using USB for charging has been fine for me, but I've got a Macbook Pro which has 4 ports. And lack of headphone jack has been sideways-awesome, because it nudged me over to wireless headphones which mean I can dance around the room while listening to stuff on them and don't accidentally yank the computer when I get up.)
If other things convince you a modern Mac is right, I have a USB hard drive with a MacOS 10.14 (Mojave) installer which I could carefully loan to you. Downgrading is possible so long as the computer model came out before Catalina did, but one of the biggest pains of so doing is making the older-OS install drive.
Also, I agree about iTunes and if you find a good replacement I would love to hear about it!
no subject
on 2020-03-28 01:15 am (UTC)no subject
on 2020-03-30 12:25 am (UTC)~Sor
no subject
on 2020-03-30 04:41 am (UTC)