Who's treated themselves to some new hardware recently..?

[backi]

@bigpup wrote:

This topic not really for discussion of issues.
That question is time for a new topic.

So I started one.
viewtopic.php?t=4894

That`s correct.....good Idea

[Grey]

There is money for only one device. What to buy, Blu-ray drive or another 2-3 terabyte hard drive? I'm trying to figure out what is more necessary, large disks for temporary storage or the ability to save information in parts for long-term storage. Especially considering the quality of today's hard drives.

[p310don]

Blu-ray drive or another 2-3 terabyte hard drive

Can you even buy black BluRay disks? I'd go the hard drive

[mikewalsh]

Oh. My. God. Ohh, I love this thing...!!

I'm "splurging" quite a bit at the moment. First the SSD (Crucial MX500, because I found one at the right price).....and now another Logitech device. Yes, another mouse.....but not just any mouse. Oh, no.

I've always liked Logitech products - especially their top-of-the-line stuff - but the prices can sometimes be a little bit hard to swallow. Witness the c920 webcam; usually on sale here in the UK for around GBP £100, which I grabbed for £45 in the Black Friday sale 3 years ago.

The mouse? It's an original 'MX Master' series. Not the Master 2S, or the new Master 3.....the original. Shape hasn't changed, though, nor the size.....and it's these that attracted me to it. My hands aren't particularly large, but I find a physically large mouse a lot more comfortable to use all day long than a smaller one that necessitates what's called the 'claw' grip!

The MX Master has a broad 'thumb pad', or 'rest', along with a perfectly shaped deep groove along the side to accommodate the thumb:-

[Click to enlarge:-]

Yeah, I know; how can anyone get so excited over a mouse, of all things? Well, it's not until you find yourself using one for hours on end that you begin to understand where "ergonomics" comes into the equation. Oh, sure; Logitech have these MX Masters loaded down with all sorts of fancy software applications that can be accessed via any of about 8 buttons, AND re-mapped to any button you like under Windows. None of which work in Linux, unless you mess about manually installing/setting-up the 'solaar' package to control everything.

I don't care about the fancy functions. From the moment I tried a demo model in a store nearly 5 years ago, I knew I'd end up getting one of these, sooner or later. It works as a standard, 5-button mouse for me, which is good enough. And - most important of all - it 'fits' my hand as though it had been custom-made for it. It's like those German car seats; initially, they don't feel anything special - if anything, they seem TOO firm - but hour after hour, mile after mile, you still get out of the car feeling as fresh as a daisy. It's the same with the MX Master.....

I've tried some cheaper alternatives, of a similar kind of shape, over the last 5 years, but none seemed quite right. The silver Sandstrom I found at our local PC World, I've been through two of; very comfortable, but the build quality just isn't there, and the second one is now worn out.....and it's been withdrawn from their new range.

A black VicTsing had the right kind of shape, but the grip was terrible, and the sensor tracking was very erratic; trying to 'draw' a circle produced an elongated ellipse, canted-off at 45-degrees to one side. And the side buttons were set so low, you constantly kept clicking them, simply through trying to hold the the thing.....

Urrgh.

But the best thing has to be the scroll wheel. The Sandstrom had a manual button for 'retracting' the wheel ratchet, to allow free-spinning for long web-pages. The MX Master has this, too, but you don't have to press buttons. If it detects the wheel-speed increasing, the ratchet automatically retracts, electromagnetically.....and re-engages again after it starts to slow down. Neatest thing ever.....and SO effective. Works a treat on BleepingComputer's looooong 'front-page'..!

https://www.expertreviews.co.uk/accesso ... ter-review

--------------------------------------

The "current" version, the MX Master 3, has - in my opinion - taken a retrograde step backwards with the redesign of the side buttons/thumb-scroller. To my way of thinking, they're in a worse layout now. It also retails for around £130!

I was browsing through Amazon the other night, and found this brand-new MX Master for around £35. So I grabbed one, while the going was good.....

Mike.

[Grey]

Click to enlarge

And what is there on the left side - wheels? Or are they buttons?

[mikewalsh]

Click to enlarge

And what is there on the left side - wheels? Or are they buttons?

You've got a pair of backward/forward buttons, except they're kinda 'wedge-shaped', and actually set one above the other. And there's a thumb-wheel.....for horizontal scrolling. Which doesn't work in Puppy, unless you manually install the 'solaar' software package.....and even then, it's maybe/maybe not, AND dependent on whether the application you're using supports it or not anyway.

Better detail here:-

[Click to enlarge:-]

Those 3 green dots are the LED battery meter, which shows for 5 seconds at power-on.

Mike.

[Grey]

for horizontal scrolling.

Yeah. I see now. Thanks!
I have never used horizontal scrolling... I'm thinking of switching to canned food and bread for a month or two, saving up money and buying some kind of "special" mouse to use in Blender

[gychang]

Got this Edimax EW-7811UAC 11AC Dualband USB Adapter, a working AC adapter in puppy, at least in FP64.
need to compile and install the driver.

Load kernel_sources and devx sfs
git clone https://github.com/gnab/rtl8812au.git
cd ~/rtl8812au
make
make install
modprobe 8812au

works very well in FP64, but in bionicpup32 in my laptop, forgets the setting after a boot. Am glad to finally have a working wifi with ac protocol!.

[mikewalsh]

Just discovered yet another benefit to an SSD this afternoon.

I keep backups in two locations. One set - what I call my "quick-access" backups - are on a separate partition of the same primary drive where the 'kennels' are located. The second, "emergency" set (these get backed-up less often, yet always when any major changes get made) are on an external HDD.

Backing up the "quick-access" set earlier on, I was struck by just how fast the process now is. I copy each Pup's entire sub-directory, as opposed to just the save-file/directory.....and the entire "kennels"; 6 Pups (anywhere from just over 5.5 GB total to nearly 9 GB total) were fully backed-up in just over 13 minutes. With simple copy/paste commands.

(Try doing that with MyCrudSoft's sorry excuse for an OS..!!)

That 500 MB+/s read-speed obviously loses none of its punch when copying purely internally. It's insanely fast.....though all to the good, 'cos it leaves me more time for what I want to do.

It's all good stuff..!!

Mike.

[Wiz57]

I finally gave in and have purchased a much newer laptop for my uses...a Dell Latitude 3190, 11.6 in laptop (not the 2 in 1)
Nothing fancy, came with Windows 10 Pro Education 64bit, which so far has pleasantly surprised me. Though to be honest,
I've had very few problems with any Windows version I've used or worked with. Though this small laptop is slightly larger
than my old Acer Aspire One AO150, it is still small enough to pack around very easily. The performance has been pleasant
as well...even without an ad blocker web sites are quite responsive. The one I purchased is new, but guess you could call
it "old stock", and the price was pretty good as well...$340 US delivered, tax included. At the moment, I haven't attempted
to boot my ScPup USB stick on it...may try ScPup64 bit...haven't decided. 4 gigs of RAM are 4x what the old Acer has, and
the 128 gig storage SSD are about the same as the 120 gig HDD in the Acer...neither of them have an optical drive.
Overall, I'm happy with my new gadget! Yeah, I know...I could have gotten more RAM, better graphics, etc., but for my
use, the Dell Latitude 3190 is performing better than I expected.

ps...edit to add...note to anyone setting up a new Windows 10 (or 11) pc...if you do not have or desire to use a Microsoft
account (such as a Hotmail address, Outlook, etc.) DISCONNECT FROM ALL INTERNET CONNECTION PRIOR TO SETTING UP!
This way, you are given the option to setup on a "local" account! You can setup your account THEN connect to internet
via ethernet or WiFi, whatever you use, and apply any updates not included in your installer. This is the method I used
to setup my new Dell, and the entire process seemed much quicker than what I had read on various forums, I was up and
running in less than 30 minutes, much to my surprise!

[LarryP]

Define "new," new new, or new to me new?

Just getting into Linux, I bought a (mis)used HP mini 210-2070 to run model train software on it, and when it arrived I discovered it had no hard drive.

So, I put a 512GB SSD in it and loaded Bionic Pup on it.

I also bought a gently used HP mini 110-1030 that has WinXP on it. It's so old it won't connect to half of the internet sites. I'm exploring Linux distros for it, I like Puppy so far, but if something else will work better I'll go that route. 1MB of RAM and 160GB HDD doesn't provide a lot of computing power.

FWIW, I intend to do a full wipe and install of whatever flavor of Linux I settle on for the 110.

[JASpup]

I'm exploring Linux distros for it, I like Puppy so far, but if something else will work better I'll go that route. 1MB of RAM and 160GB HDD doesn't provide a lot of computing power.

FWIW, I intend to do a full wipe and install of whatever flavor of Linux I settle on for the 110.

On a modern 64 pc with at least 4gb there are a smorgasbord of distributions you can choose.

With 1gb on an XP machine, if my goal were to load Internet sites, it would be running Tahrpup or X-Tahr.

I would NOT wipe XP and multiboot it. It doesn't take up much room and you don't have to give anything up.

Check out this thread: viewtopic.php?p=41469

[Grey]

I decided to do it anyway and ordered a blu-ray drive. BD-RE ASUS BW-16D1HT. It seems to be a universal fighter (BD, DVD, CD). The device will be brought from the regional center in three days.
I plan to burn discs (disc=bolvanka (blank) in Russian slang) either using Pburn or K3b.

I don't know how it is in other countries, but in my latitudes the choice is extremely small. ASUS and LG. I chose the first option because I have been using ASUS and Pioneer DVD drives for a long time and they are still alive.

With DVD drives a little better. On sale there are Hitachi-LG, LiteOn, just LG, Pioneer and ASUS.

[mikewalsh]

@Grey :-

I rescued the LiteOn tray-loader DVD/CD re-writer from the old Compaq rig when it shuffled off its mortal coil a couple of years ago. It had only been in there a few months anyway, so......almost brand-new still.

I now run it as an 'external' drive via a SATA-to-USB 3.0 adapter. Went through a couple of those, 'cos the first one didn't support booting. I set it up as the preferred optical drive in the UEFI/BIOS, and now use it for any disc-related work in preference to the HP's internal one, which is a horrible cheap laptop-style drive, and makes a hell of a whine when it runs.....

My 'TrayControl' utility lets me be REAL lazy, and open/close it without even touching it!

Mike.

[proebler]

I rescued the LiteOn tray-loader DVD/CD re-writer from the old Compaq rig when it shuffled off its mortal coil a couple of years ago. It had only been in there a few months anyway, so......almost brand-new still.

I now run it as an 'external' drive via a SATA-to-USB 3.0 adapter.

How about a picture ?
thanks
proebler

[Grey]

With disks, too, not everything is simple. BDSM BD discs on sale I found only Verbatim and VS. These are discs for recording 25 gigabytes, 10 pieces in a box. Everything that is larger in volume is more difficult to get.

[mikewalsh]

@proebler :-

Here ya go:-

(Sorry for the crap picture quality. I only have an old Nokia Asha 'dumb-phone', and the camera is all of 640 x480, and a mighty 2 MP.... )

You can just see the USB 3.0-to-SATA adapter lead at the back. You can also see the awful laptop-style internal drive mounted vertically to the left; horrible, cheapo thing which whines like a demented hornet when it's running! The LiteOn is of far better build-quality, and runs nice'n'quiet.....I DID splash out nearly £40 on this thing when I bought it.

The lead you can see in one of the two front USB 3.0 ports is a second USB 3.0-to-SATA adapter; this one is hooked up to the 64GB IDE SSD out of the old Dell laptop (now 'retired'), via an IDE-to-SATA adapter card which cost me all of around GBP £3.00! This is in its own small case I built for it, and is mounted on the side of the desk footwell with BluTak; it's where I run KLV "Airedale" from, and from where I'm posting ATM.....using my Chrome-portable.

Mike.

[proebler]

Thank you Mike.
It is a simple enough solution to adopt when you have one of these drives as a spare.
Cheers
proebler

[mikewalsh]

@proebler :-

Thank you Mike.
It is a simple enough solution to adopt when you have one of these drives as a spare.
Cheers
proebler

Hmm..... I've just noticed your location. If it means what I think it does, would that by any chance make you a "devil"?

Mike.

[proebler]

Hmm..... I've just noticed your location. If it means what I think it does, would that by any chance make you a "devil"?

Yes, it means what you think, sort of like this

Sarcophilus_harrisii.jpg (12.38 KiB) Viewed 1759 times

[mikewalsh]

@proebler :-

Hmm..... I've just noticed your location. If it means what I think it does, would that by any chance make you a "devil"?

Yes, it means what you think, sort of like this

Heh. Umm.....you don't wear Prada, by any chance..?

The only reason I ask is because a good friend's relatives emigrated to Tasmania, back in the early 90s. I'm still not certain exactly where they live, but I know it's only a stone's throw from Hobart.

I was looking on Wikipedia earlier; apparently, although Tasmania doesn't have an official animal mascot, it seems the Tasmanian devil is, 'unofficially', regarded as the country's emblem. Seems a lot of your firms in Tasmania quite freely use it in their advertising.

Just curious!!

Mike.

[proebler]

Prada wouldn't fit this Devils' feet

Tasmanian_devil.jpg (6.87 KiB) Viewed 2507 times

[Grey]

And so, hard drives have tripled in price. Sound cards have doubled in price. Don't worry, it won't affect you, only in Russia

Electronics is canceled for now. I sit, stupidly look at the ceiling and think what to buy... Metal shelving for the corridor or a stationary blender for the kitchen.
A difficult choice

Of course, it remains possible to order electronics at the same standard price on Ali. But Mastercard (and Paypal) was turned off, and I was too lazy to try to figure out how to pay now

[Grey]

Electronics is canceled for now. I sit, stupidly look at the ceiling and think what to buy... Metal shelving for the corridor or a stationary blender for the kitchen.
A difficult choice

I forgot to tell you about the result. Last month I bought both a metal shelving for the hallway and a blender for the kitchen. How did I have enough money for everything? Well... it's just that kind people suggested to me that 1000 watts is too much for a blender and it's better to buy a cheaper 350 watts for now
Russian-made shelving. The Chinese blender, from KitFort, seems to be a good manufacturer.

[Grey]

Today, a friend asked me which sound card to buy. Last year I installed Fossapup for him. And he asked what to buy... Creative Audigy RX or ASUS Xonar AE.

At first I made a "smart face" and opened my mouth to answer... and then I thought about it Xonar has two outputs, linear and headphone (built-in amplifier). Audigy also has an amplifier, but it's all through one connector.

Besides, I use Audigy RX myself and it works. But whether it will be possible to switch Xonar outputs programmatically in Linux, I'm not at all sure.

Buy Audigy RX, I answered after 2 minutes and finally closed my mouth, which had been open all this time

By the way, the crafty sellers at the local electronics store are doing a very tricky, but simple trick They change the prices (on the website) for audio cards 2-3 times a DAY. The price is "real", then inflated by 2 times. They hope someone gets caught.

[mikewalsh]

@Grey :-

I keep meaning to ask you this, 'cos you're the only Puppian - that I know of! - who runs a separate audio card.

I've been thinking about getting one for a while now. Let me ask you; do the Creative cards need any kind of special "trickery" to get them working under Puppy? Any specific kernel modules that need loading, or are they auto-detected? Do you need a custom alsa.conf somewhere?

Do bear in mind that if I get one, I intend to run it across a whole range of Pups, not JUST Fossapup. If it's likely to "not work" with older kernels and/or Puppies, then there won't be much point in my getting one...

Mike.

[Grey]

do the Creative cards need any kind of special "trickery" to get them working under Puppy?

The only thing that needs to be done: viewtopic.php?p=40212#p40212
There are no problems with the modules, all sorts of snd_emu10k1 are there without problems.

[Grey]

I want to buy a "super-mega-hyper" ZX Spectrum But prices have increased by 1.5 times. There is a choice. You can buy a ready-made computer, or you can buy a set of parts (plus a printed circuit board and keyboard stickers) for self-assembly. The second option is naturally cheaper... but it requires overcoming obstacles such as laziness, hands trembling with excitement and others.

This one. This is a modern Russian clone of ZX in which all the characteristics of the original are improved (while maintaining compatibility). It has an ATMEGA and Altera fpga, but at the same time there is a real Z80 CPU, AY sound chip and a WDC1793 disk drive controller.
I have the first revision of the computer, with a green mask. But it is larger in size and partly built on other components. I want a new revision :

ZX Evolution.jpg (212.74 KiB) Viewed 2194 times

In addition, there is even a network card with Ethernet and USB. ZXNetUSB. The card costs half the price of a computer :

ZXNetUSB.jpg (38.13 KiB) Viewed 2194 times

There are also three sound cards. There are different chips and, accordingly, sound capabilities. But buying all the options is very expensive.
ZXM-SoundCard (chips: YM2149 or AY8910/12 + SAA1099) & ZXM-MoonSound (analog of Wozblaster from MSX computer). This is what two of them look like:

ZXMs_SoundCard_and_MoonSound.jpg (88.6 KiB) Viewed 2194 times

[Grey]

Well, in the last 2 months I have spent all my money on electrics and lighting. Wires, sockets, switches, splitters, adapters, night lights and LED lamps, etc.

I bought a bunch of round and flat as a pancake ceiling lamps. Different diameters and capacities, depending on the size of the rooms. It was a discovery for me that they are made in Rostov-on-Don (the nearest major regional center to me), and not in China. Well how... I studied it inside and there are LED modules from the Taiwanese company Epistar. But the assembly is local

The small ones look a little more solid, since they don't have a side frame. Here at 60 watts (it consumes), with frame:

ledlamp.gif (111.98 KiB) Viewed 1599 times

[Grey]

In addition to the previous post.
Some @%$#*&~ bad electrician once made it so that in one room a Line is connected to the lamp, and the switch breaks Null. But it should be the opposite As a result, the capacitor in the lamp is discharged and the lamp flashes slightly in the dark when it is turned off. I'll have to redo the wiring with interference in the design of the wall.

I can install a capacitor... But it's better to do everything right.