Random Technology Questions

[Blackburn4]

I've been in the market for a mechanical keyboard for literally years but I've always relented.  Can anyone recommend one that's good for both gaming and office work.  Most games will be RPG based, not really anything like FPS to worry about.  Equally not something that's too noisy or takes an ahe to get used to as I use a standard chiclet style Dell one for now (work supplied) so you get the idea, it's not fancy but it's gotten the job done so far.

 

I'm using a Razer Blade 14 presently with a matching mouse so was wondering if it's worth sticking to the same branding specifically.

 

Thanks in advance,

Blackburn.

[sivispacem]

"Not noisy" = Cherry Red or Brown switches normally; that said all mechanicals are noisy if you bottom them out so you might need to adjust your keystrokes. 

 

I'm a big fan of Filco, but I imagine you don't want to splash £140 on a keyboard that has zero bells or whistles but is built like a freight train. 

 

The Cherry MX 3.0 is a good, reasonably priced mechanical if you don't mind an absence of features like RGB. I think I paid about £50 for one. The new 3.0S and 2.0S are worth a look too if you want fancy things like an aluminium frame, RGB etc. They're about £110. 

[lndex]

You could look into a KB that uses Cherry MX red silent switches if you're doing office work as well. Basically, just Cherry Red switches with dampeners. I've been eyeing up the Ducky One3 Aura TKL for my next KB. It's price is quite steep, i'll be it, but I always tend to opt in for more solid builds these days.

Edited October 6, 2023 by lndex

[Jason]

There's non-Cherry switches that try and be extra quiet and stuff but with mechanicals the click is only a small part of the issue when it comes to noise, like sivis said bottoming out (the key hitting the board when pressed) is the main source of noise. You can get rubber dampeners and stuff to help with that.

[Blackburn4]

Thanks for all the replies that's been interesting.  The thing I keep noticing is there's loads of options in the TKL category which isn't good for me, I do alot of data entry for work so not having the number pad is a deal breaker for me, and I'm not a fan of an auxiliary pad I'd just like it all integrated.

 

Saying that I'm going do some research on the previous suggestions for sure.

 

Thanks again,

Blackburn.

[lndex]

This may honestly seem like a downgrade to most, but I've been wanting to swap to a VA ultrawide recently, as my current IPS monitor (AW3418DW) has god awful contrast levels, almost TN panel levels of contrast. So I reckon I would benefit more from those deeper blacks you get with VA's since I usually play at night.

 

Anywho been eyeing up the Benq Mobiuz EX3410R for 450 quid. It's got HDR (couldn't really give a sh*te about that, tbh), 144 Hz, 1 ms response time, and all the colour tech stuff, which I'm not really nerdy about. And there's hardly any ghost smearing you'd get with VA's, from what I've heard, using it's overdrive modes or w/e.

 

But if there's any other alternative for around that price, let me know. Wouldn't mind an OLED panel, but ya'know those still cost an arm and a leg.

 

Edit: I went with the BenQ, and I must say I prefer it more than my IPS monitor. It has deeper blacks, which I wanted. Hardly any ghosting/smearing at max overdrive. And the colour gamut is like 90% P3 or w/e, but still very vibrant. I do need to tweak some settings a bit, though. I also had a problem with Freesync flickering, but I sort of fixed it using CRU (Custom Resolution Utility).

Edited October 18, 2023 by lndex

[stevehernes]

Looking for a WiFi Site Survey app for iPhone with export features for iPhone 14/15 ProMax

[Margot Robbed Me]

I've got two invite codes left for Bluesky if anyone is looking to sign up. (Posting this simultaneously on another platform and will edit if taken).

 

gone

Edited January 10 by Margot Robbed Me

[LongHairedFreakyGuy]

So this could be the completely wrong place to ask, but I didn't really want to make a new topic for something so simple. 

 

I've recently just inherited some money, and I thought it's about time I treat myself to a new laptop, since the last time i owned one was like 10 years ago, finally deciding it had had enough and refused to turn on after many battery issues. My issue is, I'm completely illiterate when it comes to understanding all the different generations of this, that and the other, and was hoping some of you could recommend me a decent laptop for what I'm wanting. 

 

So essentially, I'd like to be able to multi task the most basic programs, such as listening to music whilst surfing the Web, maybe downloading at the same time. I intend to, at some point, acquire Photoshop, not for anything major but just because I love editing photos and messing around with designing simple stuff. Now comes the part where I'm starting to get fed up of opening multiple tabs on my phone to try figure stuff out - So when I last had a PC/Laptop, I used to play the hell out of a ton of old games. My main issue first of all is the compatability of these games (I've read that many games have workarounds and whatnot). I'm not after anything major as I own all the top consoles anyway, which are my main go to for gaming, but I do miss some of the old PC games that aren't available on consoles, or have extra features and mod support etc. The games off the top of my head that I remember are the likes of - 

- Rollercoaster Tycoon (all 3, plus DLC) 

- The Sims

- Theme Park and Theme Hospital

- Command And Conquer

- GTA (Top Down and the 3D Era) 

 

You kind of get the drift with the style and era of games here, and as I said I'm content with it as my consoles are for gaming and my laptop would primarily be for other purposes. 

 

I wouldn't say battery life is a major worry, as I'd tend to be near a socket anyway. Audio is a key factor, though I suppose headphones could help with this. 

 

I live in England, and the likes of Curry's or Argos would be ideal (or any other major chain, or any smaller shops you can recommend near Bradford /Leeds). 

 

Money isn't an issue, though I don't really want to be spending over £1000, when back in the day I spent like £300 on a machine that ran these fine. 

 

Thank you in advance for any suggestions or help. 

 

 

 

[sivispacem]

I would recommend steering away from gaming laptops which are largely terribly badly made overpriced pieces of plastic junk and picking up a refurbished enterprise grade ultrabook. 

 

I'd personally go for something like a 2020/2021ish 14" Dell Latitude 7420 with an Intel i7 and ideally 32GB RAM and a 1TB M.2 drive. You can probably source one in the £500-600 range in that spec, but might save a bit by buying a lower RAM model and upgrading yourself. 

 

For normal desktop multitasking workloads they're great, they handle older games at 1080p no problem, and are infinitely better built and more reliable than consumer laptops. You might even be able to find one with a 4K screen in that sort of ballpark price. Carbon fibre chassis, great batteries and actually fairly decent keyboards and trackpads. It'll suit your use case pretty perfectly and give you something that'll last too. 

[Failed Again]

here's a 2021 review of the above suggestion.

note: no dedicated gpu..but for your games maybe not needed,

 

Dell Latitude 7420 Review | PCMag

 

* I make no endorsement of the poster above- Just - info on the suggestion. *

Edited February 28 by Failed Again

[LongHairedFreakyGuy]

On 2/28/2024 at 8:44 PM, sivispacem said:

I would recommend steering away from gaming laptops which are largely terribly badly made overpriced pieces of plastic junk and picking up a refurbished enterprise grade ultrabook. 

 

I'd personally go for something like a 2020/2021ish 14" Dell Latitude 7420 with an Intel i7 and ideally 32GB RAM and a 1TB M.2 drive. You can probably source one in the £500-600 range in that spec, but might save a bit by buying a lower RAM model and upgrading yourself. 

 

For normal desktop multitasking workloads they're great, they handle older games at 1080p no problem, and are infinitely better built and more reliable than consumer laptops. You might even be able to find one with a 4K screen in that sort of ballpark price. Carbon fibre chassis, great batteries and actually fairly decent keyboards and trackpads. It'll suit your use case pretty perfectly and give you something that'll last too. 

 

So I decided to ignore all reccomendations I got, and instead went into Currys and purchased the first laptop that caught my attention. I was tempted to go for one of the gaming laptops, but to be honest, I own all the latest consoles and have no desire to play the latest games on a laptop. If I was to have the means to own a PC then I would.

 

Decided on this one. The size of the screen, along with the touchscreen aspect, is what drew me, and so far no complaints. Baring in mind the last time I properly owned a computer was like 10 year ago, for me this is perfect.

 

Only run in to one issue so far though. I went to play Forza Horizon 4 through the Xbox App, and the game just won't get past the initial loading screen. I've checked online and this laptop should be more than capable of running the game. Is this a common issue with an easy fix?

[ṼirulenⱦEqừinox]

Does anybody know how to get rid of this? It's on my desktop just above the taskbar, It's annoying as hell and I have no idea how it was even enabled

 

Edited May 20 by ṼirulenⱦEqừinox

[Mister Pink]

I have a gaming laptop myself and It's been the most expensive yet the sh*ttest laptop I've owned. So, I speak from experience when it comes to what Sivis said about gaming laptops. I bought mine during the chip shortage and didn't have a lot of options. I think soon I'm going to sell it and get a desktop instead. I never use the mobility of it either and I have a work laptop. The HP Envy is a good laptop though and should serve you well. You can probably upgrade the RAM to 32, I'd say. 

 

My problem is the fans. They keep going at max when it could be sitting idle. This might be because of dust. I've never cleaned nor replaced the fans. The fans will calm down if I open Task Manager > Performance. Is that strange or what? 

 

I also used to see my CPU run at 100% when doing basic tasks. 

 

The latest Windows 11 update seemingly fixed the CPU issue maxing out. It now hovers between 25%-33% with web browsing and one or two apps open. But before it was peaking and trofting between 55% and 100%. Nightmare!

 

Anyway, does anyone have any advice about cleaning or replacing fans in a laptop? Or would you recommend I leave it in to get it done professionally? I don't want to do the latter as I'm trying to be more frugal and need my laptop for my freelancing work. 

 

 

[LongHairedFreakyGuy]

4 hours ago, Mister Pink said:

I have a gaming laptop myself and It's been the most expensive yet the sh*ttest laptop I've owned. So, I speak from experience when it comes to what Sivis said about gaming laptops. I bought mine during the chip shortage and didn't have a lot of options. I think soon I'm going to sell it and get a desktop instead. I never use the mobility of it either and I have a work laptop. The HP Envy is a good laptop though and should serve you well. You can probably upgrade the RAM to 32, I'd say. 

 

My problem is the fans. They keep going at max when it could be sitting idle. This might be because of dust. I've never cleaned nor replaced the fans. The fans will calm down if I open Task Manager > Performance. Is that strange or what? 

 

I also used to see my CPU run at 100% when doing basic tasks. 

 

The latest Windows 11 update seemingly fixed the CPU issue maxing out. It now hovers between 25%-33% with web browsing and one or two apps open. But before it was peaking and trofting between 55% and 100%. Nightmare!

 

 

 

 

This was my logic when I was searching around for my new laptop. I've always primarily been a console gamer, and the only venture I've done into 'PC Gaming' is the odd Sim/Management game, such as the games I listed above, and I knew I didn't really want to be going for a laptop that's primary function was 'gaming'. Not going to lie, I was nearly tempted by all the cool lighting effects on the laptops, but then reasoning took over and said I was more after an all-rounder, and as I said, I literally wanted this laptop as soon as I walked up to it, even if it was just for the touchscreen and the huge screen size, and it's safe to say it's done me well. It's exactly what I wanted - I can have multiple apps going and no slowdown whatsoever, I can play all my old games (GTA IV is the 'newest' gaming I've tried on here, but had to have all settings pretty low to get it to run, but I have my ROG Ally now for that stuff), the sound quality is brilliant, even when no headphones are attached. I have noticed that, as you mentioned, the fans can seem overpowered when its sat idle in the corner of the room, but it's not bothersome.

 

I did that CMD prompt, and it turns out I can upgrade my RAM to 64gb, but I genuinely have no idea where I'm even starting to look for the specifics and whatnot. I'm a bit of an idiot when it comes to upgrading, hence I've never really ventured into the PC world, even though it's something I'd love to get into, but as a starter it can get overwhelming at times.

 

The one issue I have with all oif this? Windows 11! It's the worst OS I've ever had to deal with. It's like it's intentionally fighting against everything you want to do to customise it to your own preferences.

[Mister Pink]

1 hour ago, LongHairedFreakyGuy said:

I did that CMD prompt, and it turns out I can upgrade my RAM to 64gb, but I genuinely have no idea where I'm even starting to look for the specifics and whatnot. I'm a bit of an idiot when it comes to upgrading, hence I've never really ventured into the PC world, even though it's something I'd love to get into, but as a starter it can get overwhelming at times.

 

The one issue I have with all oif this? Windows 11! It's the worst OS I've ever had to deal with. It's like it's intentionally fighting against everything you want to do to customise it to your own preferences.

Very nice. 64gb is decent. I've upgraded mine to 40gbs. It's not as complex as you might think. Although certain things like mixing two different types of manufacturer of RAM can have a detrimental effect, IIRC. But other than you can run some software to see what types of RAM are compatible with your laptop. In my case, one RAM slot was soldered in and the the other slot was free. So I think I have 8gbs and 32 to make 40gbs. I'm not sure if that's an issue mixing the numerical capacity for each slot but I don't think so. You most likely have two slots as well and you can upgrade each slot with 32gbs. Some brands make it easy to upgrade. I literally just had to take off the back and slide a RAM card into the slot. That was the physical installation anyway. 

 

I actually don't mind Windows 11. I did customise it to make it classic style but haven't really gone near anything else since. There is the odd issue of getting updates that resets or overrides a setting which is infuriating. 

 

 

[Agent Edward]

I've been looking for a gaming laptop recently, but only for next year or so (as I just bought a console and GTA6 will take all my time once it releases next year).

 

I want a gaming laptop which can run RDR2 with Xbox One X graphics settings, but at 1080P and 60FPS instead, so I just found the Acer Nitro V15, it's similar to the one used in this video, but a newer version and it has a I5-13420H instead of the 5600H, do you people think it's a good option? Considering that it's "cheap" compared to other much more expensive gaming laptops.

 

 

Judging by this dude's video, it can run RDR2 with even better settings than I wanted while keeping the 60FPS, but since the CPU is different I'm not sure how this would affect the graphics capacity/performance.

Edited June 22 by Agent Edward

[LongHairedFreakyGuy]

On 5/29/2024 at 3:33 PM, Mister Pink said:

I don't mind Windows 11. I did customise it to make it classic style but haven't really gone near anything else since. There is the odd issue of getting updates that resets or overrides a setting which is infuriating. 

 

 

 

As I said, I just find that so far it seems to just want to fight against you in any way possible, and plaguing it with ads at every opportunity just feels sour (it's why I hate the Xbox UI). I'm assuming by customisation, you mean all the paid for mods? I'm intrigued as to what you've done and how it looks though. 

[wqx]

Do you guys use password managers? I just organzeid all or atleast most of my passwords in a password manager. Makes things apperantly more secure and definitly more convenient.