# Computer Poll



## nova (Apr 30, 2006)

I'm curious as to what everyone is doing for a computer these days.
I used to be very big on building and overclocking PC's, then one day I bought a MacBook Pro...


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## kevin360 (Oct 4, 2012)

I recently upgraded to the following:

ASUS Z170 / Intel Core i5-6500 / Crucial Ballistix 16GB DDR4-2400 / Crucial MX200 250GB SSD 
Silverstone LC13B case with a Silverstone Gold PFC ATX1000 P/S / Noctua NH-L12 CPU cooler

It's very quiet and looks nice on the equipment rack - blends in with the audio components. I'm using an optical output to the old Parasound AVC2500u that's just used for the PC and cable box.


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## lcaillo (May 2, 2006)

I built my main machine that is my media server but I also just decided on a new Surface Book to replace my Sony notebook.

I would probably still build a desktop but the notebooks are so powerful and with NAS I might not need one. I could easily dedicate the Sony notebook to stationary duties.


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## NBPk402 (Feb 21, 2012)

I guess mine would be pre-built as I use i3NUCs now.


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## kevin360 (Oct 4, 2012)

ellisr63 said:


> I guess mine would be pre-built as I use i3NUCs now.


I had to google that. Those are some *nifty* little boxes!


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## NBPk402 (Feb 21, 2012)

kevin360 said:


> I had to google that. Those are some *nifty* little boxes!


 Yup, no more big PCs for me anymore...other than my NAS.


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## Kal Rubinson (Aug 3, 2006)

All of the above and more.


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## DqMcClain (Sep 16, 2015)

I LOVE server chassis. Massive amounts of space, good airflow, and rack-mountable. I can keep all my gear in the same xU form factor, and it all looks nice. 

But that requires me to build them. Oh well... I still contend that I can build one better than I can buy for the same money, and I don't mind doing the work. Keeps me in shape.


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## Blacklightning (Nov 22, 2011)

I went with a brand name and then upgraded some of the internals.
For me a build would be around the same price. Computer tech has really slowed down, nothing really new in the last 2 or so years, just 5% fast, 10% cooler and 15% less power.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

I voted laptop because that is what I use the most. However I use all the above and spend a lot of time searching the net using my iPad when I'm home.
I have a good Dell laptop with touchscreen and I installed a 1TB SSD in it so I do everything even video editing. Mac's are nice but too exspencive and you can't do nearly as much with them as far as upgrades and such. 
I also still ovation ally use an old Commadore Amiga to play classic games and even do video work.


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## kevin360 (Oct 4, 2012)

I haven't been fortunate on the laptop front. I had one Toshiba that outlasted its usefulness, but the rest of them have developed issues, such as my current Dell which has a defective keyboard controller. Sure, I can use an external keyboard, but that defeats the purpose of using a laptop. A friend of mine has a MacBook, and it's been very reliable, although I did have to repair his external P/S. Overall, I'm impressed with its design and build quality.

Server chassis are great, and it would be cool to have the PC in a rack, hidden away. My stuff is in view. It's not a server case, but this is the case I bought for my daughter's PC. The system board mounts with what's normally the back rotated to the top. It's very ergonomic. The top cover is currently off while I await the arrival of the rest of the longer cables - DVI & MIDI. The longer cables will also allow me to push the PC back out of the way. The fans turn fairly slowly and are essentially silent. It's a SilverStone Raven case and it's quite well built.

http://www.silverstonetek.com/raven/products/index.php?model=RV03&area=en&top=C


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## Peter Loeser (Aug 11, 2012)

All of the above, but I've been in the "bought a Mac..." stage for a while now. I enjoy the PC building process but it's just not something I have time for these days. I don't spend a lot of time on the computer at home anymore and generally don't have a need for a high performance machine. Our Mac Mini and Macbook get the job done nicely, and can run Windows or Linux if I ever have a need for a different OS.


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## prerich (Mar 26, 2008)

I've always built my own.....and I still do!  

I like having that level of control and customization, although the industry is trying to make that difficult for builders in general (identifying computers by parts - You can't even change a video card anymore without some sort of software prep - like un-registering programs and the like).


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## RTS100x5 (Sep 12, 2009)

I still have my big custom CORSAIR 900 rig ,which used to be my movie server - but now I have a SYNOLOGY NAS so I just access all the movies on my Synology with JRIVER.....


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## EricZimmerman (Oct 9, 2015)

I just built an i3nuc type computer using a BTX format and the Gigabyte H97N-WIFI with 16 gigs ram. A perfect combination with KODI.


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## Todd Anderson (Jul 24, 2009)

Sorry to disappoint you, Jim Wilson...but Mac all the way (with the exception of a PC laptop for chroma pure).


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## arkiedan (Oct 20, 2013)

I've always built my own computers. That way I know exactly what components I'm getting, like motherboard, power supply, memory, and graphics card. Most important, I can select the processor that fits my needs, not the needs of a wide variety of users.

Then, when its assembled I install a Linux operating system (Mint Cinnamon for the past five years.) I realized several years ago, when I had to buy three copies of Windows XP for the three computers in my home, that Microsoft was out, as far as I was concerned. Now I can install the same system on a thousand computers if I want, and it costs nothing (unless I donate a few buciks.)

old arkiedan lddude:lddude:


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## luisv (Feb 27, 2014)

Been a Mac fan for the last 5 years or so. Prior to that, I used to build my own Windows based systems for PC Gaming.


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## nova (Apr 30, 2006)

I do love my MacBook Pro for reliable day to day performance. I think the build quality far exceeds the flimsy plastic notebooks but the price is a hard pill to swallow. I do miss (a little bit) building a big powerful tower then tweaking, overclocking and all that.


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## kevin360 (Oct 4, 2012)

nova said:


> I do love my MacBook Pro for reliable day to day performance. I think the build quality far exceeds the flimsy plastic notebooks but the price is a hard pill to swallow. I do miss (a little bit) building a big powerful tower then tweaking, overclocking and all that.


The MacBook Pro is a very nice piece of hardware. I'll never forget when my current employer (semi-retirement job - 3 days a week) purchased one - I almost flipped when I saw the way the power supply docks with the laptop (that's positively brilliant in so many ways). Then I opened the laptop - everything about it felt _different_ (even better than the Fujitsu laptop I had several years ago, which had been my favorite). After a few years of heavy use, that machine has been flawless - opened and shut numerous times a day.

I'm being a bit redundant here, but I had to respond because of your screen name in a thread about computers. For a former employee of Data General, Nova refers to their 16bit line of minicomputers (in the days before micros). For those too young to remember, it was fun back then. It's amazing to recall the 96MB disk drives, which were massive devices, with screw-in disk packs composed of ten platters (19 data surfaces and one for servo), and it ran on 208VAC, 3-phase power. Of course, those were small in comparison to what preceded them.

I purchased a pair of featherweight 250GB SSDs for the two new systems - fast as lightening, while using precious little energy. Perhaps, as amazing as the miniaturization coupled with the tremendous increase in storage capacity and speed, is the remarkable decrease in cost - from tens of thousands to less than a hundred dollars. Even that doesn't take into account the increase in reliability. Progress lddude:


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## lcaillo (May 2, 2006)

I got my Surface Book and have been getting to know it. Generally I am quite impressed and pleased. I had not realized how having a big bright tablet could make things so much easier. And having the touch screen when in notebook mode is really nice. There are only two things that I would suggest Microsoft change. One is that there needs to be a solid way to store the pen, and (this is a complaint for many systems these days, including my android phone) the virtual keypad should have numbers always present, or at least a mode to do so. With stronger passwords, having to switch back and forth between alpha and numeric is a time waster. Aside from those minor things, I am very impressed. You really could replace a desktop with this thing and everything seems to work flawlessly.


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## kevin360 (Oct 4, 2012)

lcaillo said:


> There are only two things that I would suggest Microsoft change. One is that there needs to be a solid way to store the pen, and the virtual keypad should have numbers always present, or at least a mode to do so.


Thanks, I didn't think I was interested in this device, but your comments nudged me enough to have a look at it. The first thing that grabbed my attention was the hinge (I've only _just_ looked at the product page, haven't read it yet) - brilliant, but then one of the benefits I see doesn't really apply here (since the monitor is the whole computer). With nothing but keyboard data to move, I wouldn't be surprised to find a non-mechanical interface, optical, perhaps. Sorry, I'm rambling.

Regarding your complaints, what punctuation is available without switching to another keyboard panel? Does the pen just dock magnetically at a specific location?

I have a couple of tablets that I never use. WiFi has been a problem in my room until some recent changes (I heartily recommend the Netgear Nighthawk products). My phone has been working flawlessly up here since improving the network hardware. Hmm... 

(Thanks, but I probably shouldn't buy one of these. Still...I'm having no trouble justifying it to myself.):spend:


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

A mixture... all PC... no Apple. I even got rid of my Apple phone after giving Apple a go for a couple of years. My Android is far superior as far as I am concerned. 

Really diggin' my Dell Latitude 15.6" laptop for use while in my recliner (which is a nightly thing for several hours)... super light, VERY QUIET, awesome screen, back-lit keyboard that won't blind you, and will literally last 7-8 hours on battery. 250GB Samsung SSD, 16GB RAM... lightning fast and never any issues. Plus it didn't break the bank. I haven't found a program that I need that won't work with it. I did get the 3 year pro support warranty just in case, but it wasn't but 100 bucks more. I put my own hard drive in, so it cost me about 1250 bucks. Upgraded to the free Windows 10 a few months ago and seem to like it well enough... it's more like W7 than W8... not crazy about W8 without running classic shell. 7 Pro 64-bit is the best business route.

At work... we are running 5 of the small form factor Dell T1700 Dimensions with dual Samsung SSD's in RAID 1 configuration. Huge monitors... and of course our business relies very heavily on constant computer use all day long... solid. We are processing sales, printing receipts and labels, scanning ID's, and taking pictures... things just have to work for us or we are crippled. Finance/Lending program, pawn system, point of sale, Peachtree and Quickbooks accounting... loads of Internet access, including anywhere from 10-50 background checks per day. Most of our system wouldn't work with Apple anything... they just don't design everything to work with it like they do PC.

Of course we have a home built server here at the house too... in a very small form factor that I built a few years ago... still running strong and flawlessly.

PC's have become super robust and reliable these days, at least in our experience over the last several years. And the last few we purchased, we couldn't build for the same money and be fully covered on warranty for 3 years where someone else takes care of it by the next day in person.


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## lcaillo (May 2, 2006)

My experience is similar. It really comes down to what you are doing and how you want to do it, then matching the configuration to the need. The performance and reliability differences are not as significant as in the past. Storage has become so cheap and hardware is usually fast enough to be limited by network or storage speeds. 

I think for using a computer the most useful improvement is touch screen monitors. Even when not in tablet mode being able to scroll or select with a touch is very useful to me.


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