Hardware/OS Geek Thread

[The Chief]

When I torrent I can usually get a consistent 1 MB down speed, so it has to be more than 6 now that I think about it.  Unless the way bit torrent works causes the power boost to be in effect the whole time.

Downloading something via Steam is usaully my litmus test.  I have yet to find a connection Steam can't max out.

[PANatsFan]

Again, never had a problem with getting advertised speeds on fios before.  Parents have it.  Have tested many times.

I'm not an expert but I was getting like 12 Mbps until I ran their optimizer.

[The Chief]

Any idea what it changed?

[PANatsFan]

Any idea what it changed?

TCP/IP settings, they said. It ran some active X jibber jab. I'm not an IP expert.

[The Chief]

TCP/IP settings, they said. It ran some active X jibber jab. I'm not an IP expert.

If whatever they're changing is specific to IE then that might explain it...  I don't know that I've ever tested with IE.

[PANatsFan]

If whatever they're changing is specific to IE then that might explain it...  I don't know that I've ever tested with IE.

Well, the ActiveX can change Windows settings, no?

[The Chief]

Well, the ActiveX can change Windows settings, no?

Probably, but IE is inseparable from Windows, so whatever it's changing might only apply to IE.  I'm just thinking of the unofficial patches that made the rounds during the XP days that supposedly raised the maxiumum number of simultaneous TCP/IP connections from 2 to 10 (or whatever arbitrary number) but I think that setting only applied to IE in the first place.  Not sure what any of that would have to do with testing download speed but it's the first thing that came to mind.

[imref]

xmarks is shutting down at the end of the year, i've used this for a few years to keep bookmarks synchronized between safari, google, and firefox on multiple computers.  Sigh....

[Nathan]

I thought there were talks that it might not close down after all.

[Nathan]

Anyone tried the new Ubuntu, 10.10 Maverick Meerkat?  Is it any good?  I might try it, but I'm a little apprehensive since the last time I booted into Ubuntu, Windows 7 gets jealous and takes a few tries before it will boot again.

[The Chief]

I've never had any issues dual booting *nix and Vista/7, but YMMV of course.  I gave up on Ubuntu after 9.whatever once again failed to be less ugly than even Windows XP.  Sorry but when the basic functionality is lacking right out of the gate (games - and no tux racer doesn't count), you need to at least be competitive in the "ooh shiny" department.  The screenshots I've seen of 10.10 look nice, but so did the cherry-picked screenshots for the last 5 releases.  At some point you just get tired of wasting 45 minutes downloading and live-booting these things.

[Nathan]

I've never had any issues dual booting *nix and Vista/7, but YMMV of course.  I gave up on Ubuntu after 9.whatever once again failed to be less ugly than even Windows XP.  Sorry but when the basic functionality is lacking right out of the gate (games - and no tux racer doesn't count), you need to at least be competitive in the "ooh shiny" department.  The screenshots I've seen of 10.10 look nice, but so did the cherry-picked screenshots for the last 5 releases.  At some point you just get tired of wasting 45 minutes downloading and live-booting these things.

My system has been flaky like that from the start.  I mean I can leave 7 running (well sleep at night) for a long time and it's ok.  I've had it up for a long time between reboots and it's fine.  But every once in a while it'll hang on the "Starting Windows" splash with the orbs.  A hard reset and it'll go right back up.

They should make a shiny pretty UI for a UNIX variant one of theses days.  Oh wait...

[The Chief]

Heh.

[Nathan]

Best unix shell?

A new server I log into uses ksh which I've never used.  I don't know how it really compares to what I'm used to, bash, but apparently some people think it's awesome?  Seems just like bash for the most part.  I guess it has some scripting benefits?

[Nathan]

I've been looking at some benchmarks of AMD's new low power "bobcat" chips, which are competitors to Intel's atom architecture, so basically they are for cheap netbooks and nettops.

I'm liking what I'm seeing.  The performance seems to trounce atom on most tasks, even seeming to offer some semblance of being able to do some light gaming.  But the power consumption is what looks real promising.  Much lower than an atom D510, almost 50% of the power draw at idle of the atom, and even under full load, it's lower than the atom.

I'd like to see something like a 12" netbook with one at a decent price.  That's something that could make sense for me a little bit down the road.

[JMW IV]

not sure if this is the right thread for it..

but Amazon just shipped my Roku. 

[Nathan]

not sure if this is the right thread for it..

but Amazon just shipped my Roku. 

They are awesome.  Hulu channel, netflix, MLB.tv, pandora, etc.

[JMW IV]

They are awesome.  Hulu channel, netflix, MLB.tv, pandora, etc.

does mlb.tv blackout games? will i be able to see the Nats on nit?

[Nathan]

does mlb.tv blackout games? will i be able to see the Nats on nit?

Sadly no, not live.  Local games get blacked out.  But you can watch the game once the archive goes up.  I dont know how long it takes, but they are always up for me by midnight, so I'm guessing about an hour after the game ends.

[JMW IV]

Tablets.

How bad are they are being primary computers?

I'm talking iPad, or an Android Tablet, I prefer Android if they ever make one that is the same size as the iPad. if I am not mistaken, the main Android tablet is smaller.

my current computer, as you know, is a Netbook, and it serves my purposes well as a primary computer. I'm thinking about giving the netbook to my wife, and getting a Tablet for school with part of my Stafford Loan.

so beyond fancy "apps" and games, how well does a Tablet function academically? can you type on it? not heavy lifting like papers and such, but more like taking notes in class and the like.

I'd want to use the tablet to web surf(including social networks), watch streaming video, and do some measure of schoolwork. and maybe, maybe small, casual games one day in the future.

thoughts?

[JMW IV]

also, are there tablets that ARE NOT tied to a phone company?

[Nathan]

iPad has a WiFi only version.  I don't know if the Galaxy Tab does or not.

[PANatsFan]

If you want to do work on a tablet I guess you could get a bluetooth keyboard or something, but netbooks are far more practical IMO.

[Nathan]

http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/cellphone/e65a/




But yeah, for $500+ you could get better than a netbook, even.

[PANatsFan]

hawt