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I am still on a quest for an ultimate laptop. And with the new generation of Ivy Bridge based computers about to hit the market in April-May, I figured it's time to start a new thread, similar to the one from last year.
Although some of this discussion may also apply to Macs, I do ask Mac fans not to derail this thread, as it is intended to be about Windows laptops. And as last year, I suggest we focus mostly on features, rather than specific brand recommendations.
Ok, let me start by sharing my thoughts and recommendations and you all are welcome to share yours!
RAM
Memory is cheap these days! Although 4GB might be enough for most people, I do recommend 8GB, especially if you run RAM-intensive programs or multiple virtual machines, as I often do. Ideally, I would like to have a possibility to expand to 16 GB down the road. (Remember, you need 64-bit Windows to take advantage of RAM above 4GB!)
USB 3.0
This is a must have in 2012! USB 3.0, which is 10 times faster than USB 2.0, has a lot of hardware already available: hard drives, flash drives and adapter cards, etc. Most importantly, USB 3.0 is backward compatible with all older USB devices. Intel is finally supporting USB 3.0 in the upcoming chipset, so this should become standard in the next wave of laptops.
CPU
The talk of the day is the new "Ivy Bridge" line of CPUs from Intel launching in April-May. Similar to last year's "Sandy Bridge", but smaller (22nm production process), faster, more power efficient and with a much better integrated graphics.
Video
Although a good video card might still be required for gaming enthusiasts and graphics designers, the newly redesigned integrated graphics in the Intel Ivy Bridge architecture might be quite sufficient for most of us.
Display
I find 15" adequate for most professional applications, without requiring an external monitor. I would be looking for nothing less than full HD resolution. If you require accurate colors, look for IPS displays. IPS (stands for In-Plane Switching) is an LCD technology which aligns the liquid crystal cells in a horizontal direction. IPS technology provides more accurate colors with no color distortion from any angle.
Update: It might be a good idea to look for touch-screen capability in preparation for Windows 8.
Form factor
The latest buzz is "Ultrabook", a term trademarked by Intel. Light, less than 0.8-inches thick, with good battery life, but mighty and with bigger 13 or 14" screen (think 13" MacBook Air). Some ultrabooks are already available, much more will show up later this year with Ivy Bridge. Although ultrabooks are excellent for travel and make much more sense than underpowered netbooks, I suspect they will still be too limited in features and upgradability. We'll see!
Hard drive
As far as I am concerned, the bigger, the better! 750 GB 7200 RPM would be my starting point. But I am also intrigued by the SSD technology - just wish it was more affordable. One great option offered by some computer manufacturers is a dual drive configuration: a small system SSD drive and a bigger hard drive.
SATA III (6.0 Gb/s)
Perhaps not so important for HDD, but for the latest SSD drives this faster SATA interface can make a big difference.
SDXC card reader
It is very convenient to have a built-in card reader to transfer photos and videos and also as an external storage. SDHC is limited to 32 GB. The new SDXC spec breaks that limit and supports cards up to 2 TB.
Other common features
These features are pretty standard these days: HDMI output, built-in webcam, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth (preferably 3.0), ideally a backlit keyboard.
Although some of this discussion may also apply to Macs, I do ask Mac fans not to derail this thread, as it is intended to be about Windows laptops. And as last year, I suggest we focus mostly on features, rather than specific brand recommendations.
Ok, let me start by sharing my thoughts and recommendations and you all are welcome to share yours!
RAM
Memory is cheap these days! Although 4GB might be enough for most people, I do recommend 8GB, especially if you run RAM-intensive programs or multiple virtual machines, as I often do. Ideally, I would like to have a possibility to expand to 16 GB down the road. (Remember, you need 64-bit Windows to take advantage of RAM above 4GB!)
USB 3.0
This is a must have in 2012! USB 3.0, which is 10 times faster than USB 2.0, has a lot of hardware already available: hard drives, flash drives and adapter cards, etc. Most importantly, USB 3.0 is backward compatible with all older USB devices. Intel is finally supporting USB 3.0 in the upcoming chipset, so this should become standard in the next wave of laptops.
CPU
The talk of the day is the new "Ivy Bridge" line of CPUs from Intel launching in April-May. Similar to last year's "Sandy Bridge", but smaller (22nm production process), faster, more power efficient and with a much better integrated graphics.
Video
Although a good video card might still be required for gaming enthusiasts and graphics designers, the newly redesigned integrated graphics in the Intel Ivy Bridge architecture might be quite sufficient for most of us.
Display
I find 15" adequate for most professional applications, without requiring an external monitor. I would be looking for nothing less than full HD resolution. If you require accurate colors, look for IPS displays. IPS (stands for In-Plane Switching) is an LCD technology which aligns the liquid crystal cells in a horizontal direction. IPS technology provides more accurate colors with no color distortion from any angle.
Update: It might be a good idea to look for touch-screen capability in preparation for Windows 8.
Form factor
The latest buzz is "Ultrabook", a term trademarked by Intel. Light, less than 0.8-inches thick, with good battery life, but mighty and with bigger 13 or 14" screen (think 13" MacBook Air). Some ultrabooks are already available, much more will show up later this year with Ivy Bridge. Although ultrabooks are excellent for travel and make much more sense than underpowered netbooks, I suspect they will still be too limited in features and upgradability. We'll see!
Hard drive
As far as I am concerned, the bigger, the better! 750 GB 7200 RPM would be my starting point. But I am also intrigued by the SSD technology - just wish it was more affordable. One great option offered by some computer manufacturers is a dual drive configuration: a small system SSD drive and a bigger hard drive.
SATA III (6.0 Gb/s)
Perhaps not so important for HDD, but for the latest SSD drives this faster SATA interface can make a big difference.
SDXC card reader
It is very convenient to have a built-in card reader to transfer photos and videos and also as an external storage. SDHC is limited to 32 GB. The new SDXC spec breaks that limit and supports cards up to 2 TB.
Other common features
These features are pretty standard these days: HDMI output, built-in webcam, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth (preferably 3.0), ideally a backlit keyboard.
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4739 views
Staff member
HERE TO HELP YOU!
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3328 views
Lifetime Supporter
Schedule drops tomorrow. Mandatory mini camps in June. Hall of Fame game August 6th.
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1589 views
Y
Browns lose a close one with... The Jets. That is a classic Browns loss (granted, any loss is a classic one it seems). 49'ers, Vikings, and Chiefs remain undefeated. The AFC north have a three way tie at 3-2 for second place.
A big win for the Patriots, and they are now 3-2.
Browns lose a close one with... The Jets. That is a classic Browns loss (granted, any loss is a classic one it seems). 49'ers, Vikings, and Chiefs remain undefeated. The AFC north have a three way tie at 3-2 for second place.
Troy Aikman seems to confirm he'll be leaving ESPN
Aikman says he looks forward to "where my next landing spot will be."
www.nbcsports.com
M
Hopefully nowhere near a microphone.Troy Aikman seems to confirm he'll be leaving ESPN
Aikman says he looks forward to "where my next landing spot will be."
Booredatwork.com
Time for another AWESOME video from BoredAtWork!
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6OwilvE-Po
Direct YouTube Link - ASUS ProArt P16 RTX Spark: Creator Beast or Secret Gaming Laptop?
Booredatwork.com Website
Booredatwork on Facebook
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6OwilvE-Po
Direct YouTube Link - ASUS ProArt P16 RTX Spark: Creator Beast or Secret Gaming Laptop?
Booredatwork.com Website
Booredatwork on Facebook
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2 views
Staff member
HERE TO HELP YOU!
Cutting Edge
Sometimes a thread gets so many posts in it that is can cause issues for the server so that why today we introduce The Song Name Game Part 3!
So let the game continue!
The last song was added by Bobby who posted...
One Meat Ball - Andrews Sisters
CONTINUE ON AND HAVE FUN! WELCOME HOME TO SATELLITEGUYS.US!
Here are the original rules for the game as posted by WebbyDude back in 2006. http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/68645-Song-Name-Game
Just name a song title and the band who performed it. The next person does the same thing, but needs to list a song title or band name which includes a word from the previous entry. Pick songs from any genre.
Example:
Long Live Rock and Roll -- Rainbow
Rainbow in the Dark -- Dio
Another example:
Ride the Lightning -- Metallica
Lightning Strikes -- Ozzy Osbourne
Get it?
An additional note: we all know that song titles, sometimes, use profane words. Because this is a family friendly website it is advised that you clean up that title up a bit. This is accomplished by using something like sh!t instead of the real word. Thanks....
So let the game continue!
The last song was added by Bobby who posted...
One Meat Ball - Andrews Sisters
CONTINUE ON AND HAVE FUN! WELCOME HOME TO SATELLITEGUYS.US!
Here are the original rules for the game as posted by WebbyDude back in 2006. http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/68645-Song-Name-Game
Just name a song title and the band who performed it. The next person does the same thing, but needs to list a song title or band name which includes a word from the previous entry. Pick songs from any genre.
Example:
Long Live Rock and Roll -- Rainbow
Rainbow in the Dark -- Dio
Another example:
Ride the Lightning -- Metallica
Lightning Strikes -- Ozzy Osbourne
Get it?
An additional note: we all know that song titles, sometimes, use profane words. Because this is a family friendly website it is advised that you clean up that title up a bit. This is accomplished by using something like sh!t instead of the real word. Thanks....
68497 Replies
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2670746 views
TWiT Tech Podcast Network
Time for another AWESOME video from the TWIT Network!
View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/vdi0y_S8a_0
Direct YouTube Link - AI Agents: Can We Trust Today's LLM Technology? #shorts
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed
View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/vdi0y_S8a_0
Direct YouTube Link - AI Agents: Can We Trust Today's LLM Technology? #shorts
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed
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5 views
Supporting Founder
Really excited for this season with Kentucky having a new coach and some really exciting recruits. Probably won't last long, but here's hoping this season is great.
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1393 views
Pub Member / Supporter
Lifetime Supporter
Wasn't exactly sure where to post this. Just had a customer come in inquiring about internet. He has HughesNet and had heard good things about mine. He asked if we provided email addresses and it kinda caught me off guard. I said he should be able to keep whatever email he had been using....my sister in law is still using a BellSouth email addy and they haven't been around here for many years. He said he had gotten a letter from HughesNet stating that they had until Nov 16th to save, move, forward, whatever, their Hughesnet emails because they would lose them after that date.
I have never heard of a company simply mass-deleting email accounts (the customer still has his HughesNet service). From what I understand, in the past, the company who was ditching their email service simply sold the customer base to a company like Google.
Anyone else getting this letter. He said he would show it to me tomorrow when I go out there and set up his internet.
I have never heard of a company simply mass-deleting email accounts (the customer still has his HughesNet service). From what I understand, in the past, the company who was ditching their email service simply sold the customer base to a company like Google.
Anyone else getting this letter. He said he would show it to me tomorrow when I go out there and set up his internet.
9 Replies
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179 views
Staff member
Pub Member / Supporter
Cutting Edge
The TPN Map Excel Presents all DIRECTV Channels:
Understanding the TPN Map
Making Sense of the TPN Map Display Conventions
National (50-States or wide/NAT+PR beams)
Local (Local-Into-Local or narrow/Spot beams)
Local (Local-Into-Local or narrow/Spot beams)
Additional tabs provide:
OTA the (Over-The-Air) Database
VOD (Video On_Demand) Records
Offline Records
Engr Records
Net Decoder a graphic presentation of all satellites and transponders
VOD (Video On_Demand) Records
Offline Records
Engr Records
Net Decoder a graphic presentation of all satellites and transponders
Domestic Satellites
@99W...... D11, D14
@101W.... D16
@103W.... D12, D15
@110W.... D5
@119W.... D8
@99W...... D11, D14
@101W.... D16
@103W.... D12, D15
@110W.... D5
@119W.... D8
Understanding the TPN Map
Making Sense of the TPN Map Display Conventions
2140 Replies
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927992 views
Supporting Founder
Lifetime Supporter
For the naysayers who did not think this service would make it, just added another 4.9M subscribers and that was after the removal of 1.2M Russia subscribers.
This is even better, Paramount+ revenue grew 120% and Subscription revenue grew 74% year-over-year ( 2nd quarter 2021/ 2nd quarter 2022) to $830M, principally reflecting paid subscriber growth on Paramount+.
Now compare that to Peacock with only 13 million paid, 13 million free.
This is even better, Paramount+ revenue grew 120% and Subscription revenue grew 74% year-over-year ( 2nd quarter 2021/ 2nd quarter 2022) to $830M, principally reflecting paid subscriber growth on Paramount+.
Now compare that to Peacock with only 13 million paid, 13 million free.
665 Replies
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61590 views
So, this means that those of us with Commercial Free subs, won't be Commercial Free, unless we wait till after the show is over ?
Which would make same day, not that big of a deal.
Paramount+ has always had the CBS shows on the CBS local channel and yes with commercials. What they are doing now is releasing the OnDemand versions of the show which I believe they don't release until after the shows air on the west coast. And they will be commercial free if you subscribe to the ad free version of Paramount+.So, this means that those of us with Commercial Free subs, won't be Commercial Free, unless we wait till after the show is over ?
Which would make same day, not that big of a deal.
I wasn't up at 3:00 am to check but they are there at 8:00 am today.
The new curated multiview is now live.
While on many of the sports channels and non sports channels there is a multi view option button. It will pull up a side bar with many different multi view options.
While on many of the sports channels and non sports channels there is a multi view option button. It will pull up a side bar with many different multi view options.
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198 views
