Phone, Tablet and Gizmo Thread #0x02

anmol · Post by **anmol** » 11 Mar 2013 21:40

Singha wrote:a intel i7 quad core + 4 Gb of dram + a couple of HDD (1 TB conventional + 250 GB SSD) might be what you want.
thinkpads for example the midrange W430 use i5 while the bigger W530 uses i7.

4GB is too little, quadcore i7 is overkill and 1TB HDD and 250GB SSD is going to be out of budget.

My advice: Save money and get Celeron / Pentium / i3s / Amd APUs + LOTS of RAM. Ram is cheap and will give more bang for bucks than better CPU.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 11 Mar 2013 21:42

well windows7 + i7 quad + 4GB + 256GB SSD is the config of laptop W530 that moves the most in my office, so I was just hanging my hat there.

RamaY · Post by **RamaY** » 11 Mar 2013 21:44

I need a desktop so I am not installing all this s/w on my work laptop.

I tried buying some apps on iPadMe but my experience so far is not optimum and slowly but surely I am coming to the conclusion that iPadMe is good for web browsing, movie watching and book reading only.

we cannot run apps that would require long/large data sets etc., on iPadMe.

life is not fair

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 11 Mar 2013 21:56

Singha wrote:well windows7 + i7 quad + 4GB + 256GB SSD is the config of laptop W530 that moves the most in my office, so I was just hanging my hat there.

I have a W530 from KB, the power brick on that is freakin huge and probably weighs as much as the laptop which in turn costs ~3x my car.

YamaR, for the stuff you listed if you really want a desktop, get some cheap eMachines one from Walmart.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 11 Mar 2013 22:06

build one yourself yamar.

btw,
what is so process intensive in your list of apps?
what is the most i/o needing software in your list?
how many software you are planning to execute in parallel at any given peak time?

negi · Post by **negi** » 11 Mar 2013 22:07

I think beyond 8GB there is hardly any noticeable difference in performance or start up time on laptops (at least in case of Windows 7). I have a T420 it used to have usual i7, Nvidia NVS 4200M and 8GB RAM I recently upgraded it to 16GB RAM as asked by KB IT group however I did not see any noticeable difference in performance . Yeah I can now run like 2 VMs simultaneously but then I don't need that in any case looks like Lenovo or whoever is the one who sells this stuff to our KB has applied a big choona on them.

anmol · Post by **anmol** » 11 Mar 2013 23:07

negi wrote:I think beyond 8GB there is hardly any noticeable difference in performance or start up time on laptops (at least in case of Windows 7). I have a T420 it used to have usual i7, Nvidia NVS 4200M and 8GB RAM I recently upgraded it to 16GB RAM as asked by KB IT group however I did not see any noticeable difference in performance . Yeah I can now run like 2 VMs simultaneously but then I don't need that in any case looks like Lenovo or whoever is the one who sells this stuff to our KB has applied a big choona on them.

http://lifehacker.com/5969767/add-a-ram ... erformance

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 11 Mar 2013 23:24

negi wrote:I think beyond 8GB there is hardly any noticeable difference in performance or start up time on laptops (at least in case of Windows 7). I have a T420 it used to have usual i7, Nvidia NVS 4200M and 8GB RAM I recently upgraded it to 16GB RAM as asked by KB IT group however I did not see any noticeable difference in performance . Yeah I can now run like 2 VMs simultaneously but then I don't need that in any case looks like Lenovo or whoever is the one who sells this stuff to our KB has applied a big choona on them.

For most ITvity abduls its an overkill and a chance for chipanda to make money off fat corporate margins.

You will see the difference when doing certain heavy duty math. We had to get 16GB upgrades (+ independent graphics cards) to make our stuff work reasonably well.

negi · Post by **negi** » 11 Mar 2013 23:32

^ Why ? Were you using some in memory DB ? In my case I only need it for product demos for I can then spawn multiple VMs with each VM having a certain type of setup for one of our products. We had to upgrade because like all other KBs ours launched new version of our products which require more RAM (more RAM is the mool mantra of increasing performance as per our product design philosophy).

Vayutuvan · Post by **Vayutuvan** » 11 Mar 2013 23:36

+1 to anmol and RB. Spend money on RAM and SSD. Depends on the apps though. M$ bloats their apps such that same features require more and more RAM.

member_20292 · Post by **member_20292** » 11 Mar 2013 23:48

My dad is 58 and wants to buy a new smartphone. I have a sam galaxy s1, and i am leaning towards buying a iphone for dad.

he wants mainly to talk text web and maps.
i was thinking nokia lumia but its going to be prone to issues.....more so than say, an iphone.

RamaY · Post by **RamaY** » 12 Mar 2013 00:14

^ Thanko!

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 12 Mar 2013 06:29

yamar, check your options at tigerdirect or newegg and know some good deals. if you are willing to bet on refurbs, there are excellent ones that keep coming up or something on sale.

how about this one:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... CatId=4935

RamaY · Post by **RamaY** » 12 Mar 2013 06:43

Wow, those specs Adurs...

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 12 Mar 2013 07:04

mahadevbhu wrote:My dad is 58 and wants to buy a new smartphone. I have a sam galaxy s1, and i am leaning towards buying a iphone for dad.

he wants mainly to talk text web and maps.
i was thinking nokia lumia but its going to be prone to issues.....more so than say, an iphone.

Get a iPhone or a lower end Lumia (you get similar performance as a high end one anyways). In terms of user friendliness/need for configurability/just works, they are better than Android.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 12 Mar 2013 07:05

I am planning to assemble one though:

AMD 8 core
Asus AM3+ MB
16Gb 1866 ghz RAM
120gb SDD (for OS and frequent use softwares)
1TB HDD (storage/large data)
blu-ray burner
27" 1080p monitor
wireless mouse+kb combo
750w power supply
case of my choice
win 7/8 64 pro

current estimate: 800 to 900 bucks

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 12 Mar 2013 07:12

Sammy takes a page out of the Fruit Co rulebook - GSIV looks exactly like a bigger GSIII. Will Fruit Co sue?

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 12 Mar 2013 07:21

looks like darth vader is about to enter the building.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 12 Mar 2013 07:23

Microsoft conspiracy against Chacha's Chashma

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 12 Mar 2013 07:25

>> I have a W530 from KB, the power brick on that is freakin huge

yes that 175W signature power brick is what gets you the street cred as a big dog in the yard. good thing is its hard to lose. smaller chi chi power bricks also tend to get stolen more in the office.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 12 Mar 2013 09:06

Sire that power brick weighs like 0.5 ton. If someone has the motivation and gall to cart it away after stealing it, they deserve to keep it! Speaking of bricks I find the power brick of the Surface PRO to be bigger than I would like, though it does have a USB port in it so I can charge my phone without hunting for a 2nd power socket in the airport.

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 12 Mar 2013 09:40

Raja Bose wrote:Sammy takes a page out of the Fruit Co rulebook - GSIV looks exactly like a bigger GSIII. Will Fruit Co sue?

We'll find out soon enough on Thursday. Sammy does have a history of putting out false leads and this photo from their Twitter page may be just that, but again who knows.

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 12 Mar 2013 09:45

Raja Bose wrote:Sire that power brick weighs like 0.5 ton. If someone has the motivation and gall to cart it away after stealing it, they deserve to keep it! Speaking of bricks I find the power brick of the Surface PRO to be bigger than I would like, though it does have a USB port in it so I can charge my phone without hunting for a 2nd power socket in the airport.

That means it takes a lot of current to charge it relatively quickly and a larger power brick negates its portability compared to the MBA which has a very small charger, but a bigger screen.

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 12 Mar 2013 09:49

Don't know if I should post this in the L&M dhaaga, but maybe the next time SHQ & I visit dhobi ghat, this may be the phone we take.

Sony shows us how to market a water resistant phone – super models showering

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 12 Mar 2013 10:11

SaiK wrote:I am planning to assemble one though:

AMD 8 core
Asus AM3+ MB
16Gb 1866 ghz RAM
120gb SDD (for OS and frequent use softwares)
1TB HDD (storage/large data)
blu-ray burner
27" 1080p monitor
wireless mouse+kb combo
750w power supply
case of my choice
win 7/8 64 pro

current estimate: 800 to 900 bucks

I dunno, this looks more like $1200 to $1300 to me. If you go with S-IPS monitor and better power supply, you would spend at least $1300. Then add another day for assembly, OS installation and burn-in. I went through this phase about 8-10 years back and no more as my time is worth more to me with my family and I could be doing more productive things like ahem-ahem with SHQ. My next computer is going to be an iMac 27" which will have Windows 9 installed on it.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 12 Mar 2013 10:21

Mort Walker wrote:
Raja Bose wrote:Sire that power brick weighs like 0.5 ton. If someone has the motivation and gall to cart it away after stealing it, they deserve to keep it! Speaking of bricks I find the power brick of the Surface PRO to be bigger than I would like, though it does have a USB port in it so I can charge my phone without hunting for a 2nd power socket in the airport.

That means it takes a lot of current to charge it relatively quickly and a larger power brick negates its portability compared to the MBA which has a very small charger, but a bigger screen.

Its bigger than the RT's charger (which is the size I prefer) but probably smaller/lighter than the MBA's charger.

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 12 Mar 2013 10:35

^^^What are the dimensions?

Anujan · Post by **Anujan** » 12 Mar 2013 10:55

Got my grubby paws on HTC One (well not mine, just played around with it a bit). Fantastic build quality, really feels nice in the hand, great screen.

For the first time, someone got the speakers right on the phone (on the tablet side, N10 has the best speakers I have heard so far). Front firing dual speakers make a difference even for a tone deaf abdul like yours truly. Left to me, I would root it and install stock android. The skin makes no sense and the animation is just a time waste.

Hopefully HTC gets it into many people's hands and doesnt die & go belly up. The phone is really worth a strong consideration. They are up against Sammy, and I am sure Sammy is going to entice people with 8 cores or something.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 12 Mar 2013 11:17

HTC One is built nice - no question about it. HTC's Achilles heel is their durability, their design has always been pretty good. They do follow GB's design trends - 1st polycarbonate colour shells, now OIS plus some of the pseudo-PureView stuff.

Sammy is all about specs, numbers and feature lists - if they simply continue this formula they will meet a fate like Dell or someone more like them can replace them.
----
Never measured dimensions of the 2 bricks, the MBA one is square so felt clunkier (in my backpack it can't be put on one side of the laptop, it needs to go on top). In terms of portability the PRO + accessories (brick, type cover etc.) does feel much lighter and portable compared to a MBA + accessories (brick, cord) which is what I used to carry while traveling. Nothing comes close to the W530 behemoth though - thats like carrying a suitcase on your back.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 12 Mar 2013 11:30

W530 does have the firepower and stability to intimidate and scare away most opposition. true believers in my office stick to that family. fashion conscious and deserters have adopted the macbook and macbook air.

that brick could be used to hit muggers and other miscreants with. the power cord is also thick and could be used to make traps to snag bikers.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 12 Mar 2013 11:43

or hog-tie Wilderbeests running amok.

member_20292 · Post by **member_20292** » 12 Mar 2013 14:12

Raja Bose wrote:
mahadevbhu wrote:My dad is 58 and wants to buy a new smartphone. I have a sam galaxy s1, and i am leaning towards buying a iphone for dad.

he wants mainly to talk text web and maps.
i was thinking nokia lumia but its going to be prone to issues.....more so than say, an iphone.
Get a iPhone or a lower end Lumia (you get similar performance as a high end one anyways). In terms of user friendliness/need for configurability/just works, they are better than Android.

Ha.

I work for a company that does Nokia marketing. My colleagues tell me to get an iphone because they get a lot of calls about Nokia Lumia crashing inordinately heavily.

But I agree that the lower end Lumia like 610 or 510 is good...primarily for the GPS and maps apps. My dad likes doing maps a lot. But he struggles like a newbie on the other stuff....

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 12 Mar 2013 18:37

Raja Bose wrote:Never measured dimensions of the 2 bricks, the MBA one is square so felt clunkier (in my backpack it can't be put on one side of the laptop, it needs to go on top). In terms of portability the PRO + accessories (brick, type cover etc.) does feel much lighter and portable compared to a MBA + accessories (brick, cord) which is what I used to carry while traveling. Nothing comes close to the W530 behemoth though - thats like carrying a suitcase on your back.

I'm sure the W530 is, but it is still lighter than top of the line Dell laptops from the mid-late 1990s and certainly better than the Compaq x386 "portables" I've carried through airports in the early 1990s. You are fortunate to be complaining about the power supply for your modern laptop/tablet.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 12 Mar 2013 19:21

my first employer used to have a special laptop with Solaris installed on it , with our entire codebase and compiler toolchain on it so that people doing field tests and homologation could actually compile in snippets of code sent over email or make the changes themselves before uploading the cross compiled binary to the network eqpt - usually a senior dev engg used to it for homologation tests. had a peculiar contractor look to it and came with a padded plastic carry case the kind used to carry rifles and other stuff like oscilloscopes etc. had a thick box stuck below it.

this was in 1997 long before sunw went downhill. here is todays model from the same vendor tadpole systems..the look has not changed
http://www.rugged-systems.com/p/mobiles ... is/109.htm

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 12 Mar 2013 22:16

Mort Walker wrote: I'm sure the W530 is, but it is still lighter than top of the line Dell laptops from the mid-late 1990s and certainly better than the Compaq x386 "portables" I've carried through airports in the early 1990s. You are fortunate to be complaining about the power supply for your modern laptop/tablet.

That's like saying we are lucky we are not hauling around a DynaTAC.

----

Singha saar, one my co-workers (ex-SUN vet) has a specially ruggedized SUN "portable" workstation which actually went to space (& came back). It still boots up and I got it to run space invaders. I have been trying to convince him to donate it to the computer history museum but budhau wont part with it.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 12 Mar 2013 22:27

as a piece of construction the SUNW wkstations were rock solid...the monitors weighted a ton and had heavy shields inside with holes for ventilating the CRT tube. keyboards were long and quite durable. mice were again solid with clear buttons. its just that admins used to complain of the high number of patches that solaris needed. still , in an era where Win95 was cough cough not so stable these solaris, hp_ux types were pretty solid. silicon graphics also made some good kit.

our munna kids generation will never know such engineering. disposable laptops , tablets and other lightweight kevlar crap.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 12 Mar 2013 22:43

Singha wrote:our munna kids generation will never know such engineering. disposable laptops , tablets and other lightweight kevlar crap.

That's what the 'Big Iron' generation said about the sunw generation.

hanumadu · Post by **hanumadu** » 12 Mar 2013 23:48

The speaker grills are the least aesthetically good looking part of HTC One. There's no point in trying to put great speakers in a cell phone, because you cannot. Decent speakers should be enough.

How do you make a cell phone water resistence? There are holes for speakers, 2 or three micro phones, ear peace, head phones, charging...

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 13 Mar 2013 01:25

HTC One Review (Engadget)

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 13 Mar 2013 01:57

A look at Microsoft's Surface prototypes (TheVerge)