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It's the holiday season here in the states, and of course, other than sugar-plumbs dancing in our heads, it's also the time of Christmas lists. Things that we wish to have bestowed upon us by some version of the benevolent St. Nicholas. Of course around here, it's the one that Coca Cola ad people invented in the first part of the Twentieth Century, as opposed to the European oriented depiction.
Regardless of version, I tend to day-dream about what could be vs. of what I'd want. So, let's move on to a Frugal Properllerhead's Christmas List of things that would/could be if we ran the world.
- The ThinkPad X302- A combination of the X301 form-factor, and X1 technology/carbon-fiber case. High-Res 13.3" LED back-lit, IPS paneled at 1440 x 900 resolution. Optical Blu-Ray burner, with 256Gb or 512Gb SSD. 8Gb RAM standard, max 16Gb. No chiclet keys, USB 3.0 and a dock connector. That would be my next laptop replacing the beloved X300.....after the $3000 price comes down.
- A BYOD (bring your own drive) plug and play home server, that will take 5, 2.5" mechanical drives in a mini-chassis. The server OS would be pre-loaded on to either a small SSD, or some other form of flash memory. It would have 2, Gigabit Ethernet ports, and USB 3.0 connectivity for expansion. Tethered, reader/writer to interact with flash memory, 2.5/3.5" SATA/IDE HDDs.
- Router/AP with on board 8-Port Ethernet switch, USB connectivity AND 2 slots to accept 2.5" SATA HDDs for NAS expansion capability.
- Android APP to allow standard networking access AND storage drive mapping.
- Modular software allow integration of a la carte feature purchases such as Adobe Lightroom with the ability to purchase a Photoshop Elements and Premier Elements modules that are fully integrated with the base application.
- Wireless full and compact TrackPoint equipped keyboards.
- Single box turntable to USB converter with switchable RIAA, packaged with capture and edit software.
- High capacity archival 90mm Magneto Optical storage.
- Nikon 28mm/f2.0 true "pancake" lens. I'll take f2.8 if I have to!
- APS-C sensored mirrorless Nikon. NO MORE 1 SERIES! Modernized "S" series would be awesome!
- Updated Nikon D300S......D301? Full HD video, articulated LCD and Wireless connectivity.
- Updated Nikon D50.....D51? CF card instead of SD, legacy lens metering, back-lit info panel, 3" LCD.
- Revival of a/d/s/ speakers and electronics in a modern idiom.
- Android tablet APP from Logitech that does what the Harmony remotes do.
- Media APP that gives graphical (album oriented) playback control. It would automatically pull IMDB and music info from the internet.
- Port Palm Pilot simplicity into Android APPs.
I guess I can't be too greedy. If somebody would get onto these items right away and get them into our stockings, it'd be a great Christmas.
Last night, as I was sitting contemplating the imminent return of my Mushkin 120Gb Chronos, I realized that I have a bit of a problem. Storage problem that is, in the form of more drives than I know what to do with kind of a problem. No, I don't mean that I've got a bunch of 20/40 or even 60 and 80Gb drives sitting around with nowhere to go like everybody else has, but an actual useful-sized drive problem! This occurred to me after I spent about 30 minutes taking apart one of those accursed consumer Dell laptops that a client brought me to extract data. She told me that I could just keep the parts after I copied the data to an external drive for her.
So now, in addition to that one which contained a 500Gb Western Digital Blue drive, I already had a similar situation earlier in the month which yielded a Seagate Momentus XT 500Gb Hybrid drive.
Just those two together adds up to 1Tb of 2.5" drives. On top of that, there are a couple of 160Gb Western Digital Caviar 7200rpm PATA desktop type drives (one of which is a server-class) as well.
I've used a couple of "extra" drives in my HTPC machines as scratch/temp storage, but I don't have any other machines planned or needed. On top of which there are the 3 extra SSDs, two of which are going into the children's laptops as upgrades, thus yielding a spare one of those as well. At this point, I'm truly mystified!?!
I do have a Christmas Holiday project for my wife where I've been tasked to take some old cast-off ThinkPads (T4x & A3x) to make a system for her classroom. Maybe I should build a small file server for that application and create a little internal network. I just get a sense though that this isn't something that the IT folks in her district is going to be very happy with though! Now, if I could find one of those Buffalo Linkstation Mini NASs without drives............ hmmmmm......... That still doesn't create a solution for the 120Gb Chronos SSD though.
Most of you are aware that I have a little "side-business" that's responsible for funding all my Propellerheaded purchases, which needs the cash regardless of how frugal I am. The "bread and butter" of my operation is "flipping" laptops. Over the course of the last couple of years, I've moved my product line from being ThinkPad oriented to more Dell oriented. This is due mostly to a "bang-for-the-buck" commitment to my customers. The fact of the matter is that most of them couldn't care less about the differences of the finer points in design and build quality that comprise the differential in the market price between the two. For myself and a very few of my clients, ThinkPads still rules the roost, but for 8 of 10 laptops that I do; I tend to recommend something from the Dell Latitude (business) line. They are inexpensive, easy to fine, cheap to buy and well built.
However, this rant isn't about the business line. Over the course of the last month or so, I've been brought 3 Dell laptops with problems. One of them was an older (D620) Latitude, but those coming in are a rarity. It's the other two that are the problem. I hate Inspirons, well for that matter, I hate: Gateways (post Acer buyout) in general, all Acers regardless of how good they look....and they look pretty good these days, and HP Pavilions. These are ALL consumer grade computers. Some are cheap originally, and some can push the $1000 envelope, but they have one thing in common.....THEY ARE ALL CONSUMER GRADE!
Here's the issue. Walmart....or more specifically, the Walmart-ization of comptuers. In business speak, it's called commoditization. What that means is that a particular class of product has gotten so ubiquitous that it's no longer considered brand driven, or differentiated. What that implies is that they are all generic and therefore only subject to the market forces of pricing and feature set, which in turn drives prices down into a "death-spiral" till it gets to the lowest possible $$$. What's so bad about that? Well, if it's cereal, that's one thing, but for a complex product like a laptop (and I say that on purpose), it's a very bad thing. When the pricing is in the range of $400 as the floor and $900 as the ceiling, then you take out the transportation costs (none of these products are made locally), profit of the individual entities in the supply chain, what you have is something between $150-250 worth of parts.So, should anyone be the least bit surprised when these things break in less than two to three years? It isn't for no reason that the warranties of these things run one year.
What pushed me over the edge to post this rant is this: $400-600 is still a lot of money. Us old computer cranks can wonder out loud about how little that is compared to the days of $2000 low-end desktops and $4000 laptops.....in $1995 dollars, are few and far between. The fact of the matter is that $500 is still a lot of money. Two days ago, I picked up a Dell Inspiron M5010 from a client. It was giving a "7 beep" error code. It turns out that means the motherboard or CPU didn't past POST. It was a $900 computer two years ago. After reviewing the forums, it's pretty apparent that it's a common issue from some detaching chips which seems to manifest itself at the....you guessed it.....two year mark. The repair or a motherboard replacement would put it in the over-$150 range, and understandably she doesn't want to invest that in this machine. Last year, her daughter brought me her computer. The infamous HP Pavilion DV6000 series with the nVidia graphic chip flaw. That was a $1000 computer. So, in the space of a year, we have about $2000 flushed down the toilet! That's a lot of money for a single parent teacher with a kid in college.
I would say that; it's enough to make you buy an Apple, but not only are they way expensive, but for all the added costs, they aren't immune to across the board issues like the nVidia debacle and the ATI one before that. It's just that they tend to support their buyers better than the majority of PC manufacturers. In fact, my stance is, if you can "pay the freight", AND have a need for what they do best (digital imaging, music, etc., then by all means, go right ahead.
Really, my solution is the old retired corporate computer answer. Here's how it breaks down in terms of dollars involved. Lets say that when buying a new computer the typical buyer spends in the median of around $750. The typical home user seems to keep their computer for around 4 to 5 years. So if you go the long route, that comes out to be $150 or so per year. I routinely sell 3 year old corporate machine for between $250-300. Even if you estimate that they'll last 3 years since they are older to start with, that puts the outlay at about $100 per year on the high side. That's a 50% differential at it's worse for a better-built machine. In real world use, I'd bet that the average user will get the same amount of use out of each machine, largely due to the less likelihood of the better built machine breaking down. At least that's been my admittedly unscientific experience.
Spend less, get a better machine. Sounds like a no-brainer, but people find it difficult to change their perceptions and behaviors until (like my teacher friend) suffer the painful bite of the deadly consumer laptop! Sure they look nice and shiny on the shelf in that store, vs. the plain and boring business look, but "you better watch out", or you're gonna cry.
Of our little fleet of digital cameras, this is one of my favorites. It's the CoolPix 995 of 2001; a 3.3 megapixel digital that sold for a list price of $899! This was the fourth of the "9" series that started with the 1.2 megapixel 900 of 1998, then the 950, followed by the 990, and finally culminating with the 4.1 megapixel 4500 of 2002. One camera each year with evolutionary refinements till Nikon finally dropped the "split-body" concept. These pre-DSLR-Boom cameras where considered to be some of the most advanced of their day barring entry into the (at the time) fully professional early digital SLRs. The 995 was the first of them that used a rechargeable lithium-ion in place of the 4, AA batteries of the earlier designs. It also has a 4x lens instead of the 3x and gives a 35mm equivalent of 38-152mm vs. the 38-115 of the CoolPix 990 that it replaced. It was also the first to have a pop-up flash which combined with the bigger lens to cause Nikon to move away from the fully magnesium body to a half version with fiber-reinforced polycarbonate on the lens/flash half. This was the cause of much nashing of teeth till the 4500 changed back to the all-metal body.
The 4500 also address the various weird bulges and other not so sleek features features of the 995, but that's not why we're here today. So why the CoolPix 995? Well.....it was $15... on Craig's List. I saw it one day, a few years ago, decided that it was ridiculous and had to buy it on principle alone! Of course it didn't have a memory card, or a charger, or a battery for that matter, but that didn't matter. IT WAS $15!!! Beside, I had had a CoolPix 880 for some time and it was the same sensor and lens repackaged into a smaller/cheaper body.
What did I get for my whopping $15 investment? I'm glad you asked! After reading a lot of the digital photography oriented websites, it occurred to me that digital photography gained serious traction when the number of photo-sites on the sensors reached about 3 megapixels which can give you a resolution that is difficult to distinguish from film on a standard 8" x 10" print. I remembered that it was that resolution that caused me to go out and buy my first digital camera; a Kodak DC4800. Plus, it was pretty obvious that discernible improvement in output on a digital camera require about a doubling of photo-sites. Which is why the major progression of MPs have been 3, 6, then 12 mp! Not surprisingly, that's exactly what I have in my fleet; the 3 mp CoolPix 880 & 995, 6 mp D50 (previously D70/D70s) and now the 12 mp D300.
What do one do with a 10-12 year old digital camera? As you can see (and will see); pretty much whatever I dang-well want! The whole series was made without interchangeable lenses, but with the exact same accessory ring size of 28mm and the manufacturer being Nikon, of course it was created as part of a system. You can see the 4500 above with the "slide-copier" and a few of the lens attachments. Just the lens attachments alone included 4 optics; two wides (one fisheye), a 2x and a 3x telephoto. Right now, I have the WC-E63 which is one of the wides, but would love to eventually get a telephoto as well.
Were you thinking that you couldn't get close enough to your subject, even with the 3x accessory lens? There are scientific instrument adapters that'll get you mounted onto a telescope or a microscope. There are also filters, and if illumination is an issue....well, there's a flash bracket with adapter cord so you can connect standard Nikon shoe-flashes as well!
OK; a little much, I must admit, but the flexibility is certainly there. Although I have other great options, I'll routinely grab this camera if I need to shoot something for an ad and flier of some sort. The files are already much smaller than the D300 or even the D50, so I normally don't even have to cut them down in software. One of the great benefits of this little guy is the split body design. It makes it extraordinarily easy to use in awkward positions. When swiveled back to the flat carry position, this is a very easy camera to stow away in a large pocket. Maybe one day, I'll add some of the other models in the series to my collection, but for now, I'm pretty pleased with my $15 camera!
Just like we do after a long hard day, a "bath" (shower, whatever) restores the computer. I routinely do a reload on my computers on a pretty regular basis. The laptop gets it about once a year, and the desktop workstation about every 6 or 8 months. I know that sound's a little excessive and maybe even crazy, but hear me out on this.
First of all, let me start by saying that I get this information straight from the "horse's mouth", or the horse's other end for those of you who are anti-M$. Some years ago, when I was working in IT and was kind of a "one man shop", I got to not only spend lots of time loading computers, but also lots of time on tech support with all manner of companies ranging from Adobe, to.....you guessed it.....Microsoft. Anyway, while spending about 4 hours of one day on the phone straightening out an ODBC call issue with MS Access, I had lots of time to chat with the software engineer on the other end (while the machine was rebooting, loading, what-not). Anyway, it turns out that he started his MS career as a Windows support guy and of course we swapped "stupid user" stories, and eventually conversation turned to keeping Windows machines running well. After listening his tips and cautionary tales, I related to him that I found that I could keep machines running reasonable well by doing a "clean reload" about once a year.....to which he responded that, that was pretty much the only way to do it (for a daily work machine), and that if everybody did that, they'd have a lot less problems.
Around these parts, I have a bit of a reputation as a tech guy. I don't advertise, but word of mouth keeps me in enough "fix-it" business to pay for my hobbies. I'll have to say that at least 75-80% of the time, when a client brings me a machine, it just needs a bath! Both literally and figuratively. These poor things have often been sitting under a desk for 5+ years sucking in dirt and dust-bunnies and silently plugging away. Their owners went out to Best Buy, or got online with Dell and bought these things expecting them to work for ever like an old TV. Unfortunately a more accurate analogy is that they are like a car. If you don't maintain them, they'll just up and die one day! In most cases, they just need an overhaul, which in the computer business is a reload. Sometimes that involves a new hard drive since after 5 years or so, they are old or just too small. But in most cases, that simple reload will set things right again for another 2-3 years at least, when the actual hardware is so old it's not worth it to keep the machine going.
In my case, it's not like I'm an immaculate housekeeper of PCs. In fact, I'm almost the exact opposite. I'm constantly finding new software applications to try out and new locations to get them. Of course that comes with risks, so I'll blow up my load on a regular basis and need to start over. That's why I have a server to back up my critical files and a separate "scratch" drive to keep the files that I'm working on as well. Then when things happen like my Mushkin SSD dying suddenly, all I have to do is unhook the Hitachi mechanical drive, install a replacement boot SSD and give it a bath! Right now, my desktop workstation has just gotten reloaded on the new Samsung 256Gb SSD and the machine feels like it's just gotten a nice hot shower after a long hard day at work!
Oh yeah: when I do a major rebuild on a computer involving replacing drives, etc. I also take the time to actually "clean the case as well. This time, I took out the dust filters and washed those too. It really helps my state of mind.
It's not often that we get to do something momentus in terms of technology, especially for someone like me who tends to buy after things hit the "sweet spot". In the last post, I talked about upgrading my X300 and having an extra drive as a result. In the post before that, I discussed the demise of the Mushkin Chronos SSD, which is in the process of being RMA'd. Well, I did it again! While in the process of looking at MacBook Pros, then trying to find a Dell E6400 for a friend the other day; I came across a Craigs List ad for an SSD.......new Samsung 256Gb for $100.
Yeah, I know what you're thinking; I was thinking the same thing. SCAM, not really "new", really a refurb, another one of those "penny auction", "I just sold it, but I can tell you where to get one just like it" things. Turns out, it wasn't any of those things. it was being sold be the same guy who was selling the Dell Latitude E6400 that I was buying for my friend. Apparently, he works for/or with Dell and has access to lots of their "sell-off" type stuff. He picked up a bunch of them to use and sell when Dell decided to move on to the new faster SATA-3 standard. I don't know what he paid for them (it must have been great), but I don't really care since $100 for a new 256Gb SSD is a great price in an of itself. Especially because it's a Samsung which is generally considered to be right up there with Intel on reliability. Given that my machine is older and wouldn't see the benefits of SATA-3 anyway, this is pretty awesome. In fact, it turns out that this particular drive is the sell-to-OEM repackaged Samsung 470 that I used in the Viking mini-HTPC build last month.
So, along with this situation and the RMA'd Chronos returns, I'll have 3 spare SSDs. This puts me in the unique position of being able to move all of my front-line computers to either a single SSD or an SSD boot drive/mechanical storage drive combo with the exception of the file server. That's 5 laptops: 240Gb Sandisk in my wife's T61, 128Gb Samsung in both my X300 and Z61m mobile workstation, 50Gb in my son's Z60t, and 64Gb in the daughter's X61. That's along with a 256Gb + 1Tb in my desktop workstation, 64Gb + 500Gb in the living room HTPC, and 64Gb + 500Gb in the bedroom HTPC. The amazing this is that it wasn't intentional or extravagant, just an almost imperceptible shift in storage medium that's completely changed everything.
So anyway......as it turned out, I didn't really work yesterday. The daughter was sick the night before, but as teacher parents, we took her to school anyway just to see if she was over it. Turns out that she wasn't quite ready for a day of school yet (she's the dramatic child), and needed a day home with dad to finish getting over her stomach bug that's been bothering mom and I as well. So, about 9am, I got the call to come and get "it". After frantically scrambling to get things ready for a sub, taking the school bus that I drive in the morning back to the bus lot, I go and get her. Although, most of you are now probably imagining the above, it's really more like the below.....except I don't look that good!
What really ends up happening with these things is that I give her some medicine, feed her lunch and get the TV to the correct channel for her......oh yeah, lay there and listen to her read a book till she falls asleep. Therefore the reality is that I got to spend most of the day stuck in the house, BUT doing what I want! .......which in this case turned out to be the looong put-off SSD upgrade from my trusty laptop.
WAIT! When did the Mac thing happen?!? Never fear, the earth did not stop spinning and I haven't decided to "end it all" due to Mayan doom and gloom. I also spent the day negotiating a deal for one of my long time client-families for a MacBook Christmas present for their son. Did pretty well too! Less than 3 year old MacBook Pro 13" for$525 (good for a Mac that is). Anyway, back to the X300. A few months ago, I came across some Samsung SSDs in the weird 1.8" Micro-SATA spec that's used in the X300/301 (as well as a few other) notebooks. These were the 128Gb versions originally contracted for the X301, and not the 64Gb that was in mine. The price was good (sub-$100) so I bought two. One for my Z61m Ark of the Covenant project and one to upgrade the long-suffering X300. But other projects got in the way and the suffering went on, largely because the X300 kept working without complaint. Well, yesterday, that came to an end! While the daughter napped, I did the long neglected deed!
The pay-out? Weeeellll; I can't say that there is any. The machine runs exactly as it did before the upgrade. I haven't even looked at the drive "properties" to admire my handiwork. It has simply soldiered on as before. However, what I ended up with was another thought; as I sat holding the old 64Gb SSD in my hand, and thinking......."what do I do with this"? Especially after I realized that I'd also have the Dell 50Gb temporary SSD in hand as well after Mushkin RMA's my Chronos 120Gb back to me. Two spare, "small" SSDs.....hmmmmm
At that point, it hit me! I could upgrade both the kid's computers, which still run XPP by the way. They don't store anything anyway, so all the main computers in the house would be on SSD boot drives and Windows 7. Fast Booting for everybody!!! Not bad for a day off baby-sitting a sick child.
