[conspire] new computer?

[paulz at ieee.org]

 Ivan,
Thank you for all of the information.
Once there were 2 "major" makers of graphics chips.  ATI and nVidia.  AMD bought ATI in 2006 and has been building on that technology since them.  Other recent emails discussed that AMD tries support Linux.
I have heard of others using laptops with both Intel and nVidia graphics and having to stop and switch between high speed graphics and low power consumption.  I am not a gamer, and don't need that hassle.
Regarding vintage hardware, I found that NewEgg sells IDE drives with the note that the manufacture no long supports it, but NewEgg has a warranty.  That ought to be better than Craigs List.  Now I know my problem is a SATA drive so I don't have to go that route.

 So I am considering if I should replace the drive, or retire the whole machine in favor of a laptop that possibly has new CPU, etc. Probably not a good use of my time and $ to replace motherboard and RAM and drive(s).  So I should consider laptops this weekend.  



Paul

    On Wednesday, November 21, 2018, 2:48:43 AM PST, Ivan Sergio Borgonovo <mail at webthatworks.it> wrote:  
 
 On 11/20/18 12:19 PM, Rick Moen wrote:
> Quoting Ivan Sergio Borgonovo (mail at webthatworks.it):

>> I tend to use computers till some of their parts start to be
>> unreliable.
> 
> Same here, though in many cases I've given them away before that.
> 
> Some of the difference in our perceptions may trace to just the fact
> of Silicon Valley being atypical.  At any given time, there's a great
> deal of slightly used and very good hardware floating around (along with
> a great deal that isn't good, of course).  Machines two years old can,
> if you poke around, be found in peak condition at high discount.

Probably.

Here there are companies that sell used hardware with warranty.
Full boxes or spare parts.
Their target market is probably other companies.
They are still on business (wondering why).
They are not cheap.

There are few "retail" shops selling used hardware with warranty.
They are not cheap. Very limited choice.

I could easily find full PCs for 50-150 Euros on websites "a la 
Craiglist" without warranty.
Considering my average budget for a new full PC excluding monitors is 
around 400 Euros, the savings don't cover the risk (work + something not 
working + reduced lifespan).

If I was looking for something more expensive I'd probably looking for 
something more performing and probably new.

If it is not fun I do value my time very much.

Somehow it is such a pity... it's a lot of avoidable pollution... but 
there is no reasonable market here and somehow I can understand the 
reason. You'd be a fool giving warranty to PCs without testing them and 
testing them once they are out of the factory can be pretty expensive if 
done right and in that segment of prices considering other costs you 
incur in reselling used PC not worth.

And... about pollution... one factor to take into account is difference 
in power consumption between old and new PCs... somehow across 
"generations" there may not be appreciable difference but sometimes 
there is a huge difference and even on a "home workstation" it adds up 
to the TCO (especially in EU where I think electricity is a bit more 
expensive than in US).

>> A really big slice of economy now run on Linux. No one would be so
>> crazy to put on the market "common hardware" that can't run Linux
>> and nowaday chipset are highly coupled with the CPU (so coupled I'm
>> not aware of any chipset made by 3rd parties other than the CPU
>> maker).

> Well, I just mentioned about the very recent Intel chipset that was
> quite terrible for Linux (instability) for the better part of a year
> after it was already the basis for wildly popular PC models.  That's
> really not that uncommon among brand-new motherboard/CP chipsets, sadly.

Probably "consumer" hardware in one of the two categories you mentioned 
in an earlier post: cheapo or exotic (look at how many features I can 
choke on).

>> Notable exceptions are: wifi for notebooks, video boards, ethernets.
> 
> Well, here's what happens quite a bit:  Broadcom (say) introduces yet
> another cheap ethernet chipset that is only a tiny bit different from
> the prior one, and probably works with one of the existing Linux open
> source drivers with little or no modifiction, except for one little
> problem:  It has a new PCI ID identifier, which means that kernel
> autoprobing will not know what driver to modprobe for it.  So, all those
> customers buying it as new hardware for Linux will be mystified at the
> apparently unsupported ethernet hardware.  _Very_ determined users may
> read a technical analysis or figure out the problem and patch the PCI
> IDs database to compensate, but otherwise users will need to await a new
> packaged kernel incorporating the PCI IDs update.

Buy new reasonably balanced mid range, not cheapo not exotic mobo. Add 
20 bucks of Intel network card

vs.

spend an hour diagnosing the problem

wifi can be more tricky since high performance wifi cards cost 
definitively more than 20 bucks.
Furthermore a notebook is a mobile device... it has to be light etc... 
if it is light it generally is hard to open an swap parts etc...


You've to reach compromises and be a bit careful but it's not as bad as 
it used to be.

I think for example Steam contributed a bit in having more reasonable 
"consumer" video drivers in Linux as well... and there is so much stuff 
in the embedded world using wifi and Linux...

I think a good starting point is always realizing what you really want.

-- 
Ivan Sergio Borgonovo
https://www.webthatworks.it https://www.borgonovo.net


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