by "cbell04" (cbell04)
Published 03/31/2017 at 19:57
by "cbell04" (cbell04)
Published 03/31/2017 at 19:57
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STARS: 2
A couple weeks ago I closed my beater (don’t read to much into that now that I think about it that a bad thing to call it) laptop not realizing that a couple usb sticks were on the keyboard. The result a broken lcd.
Since I had zero dollars invested (its an older latitude e6410 with an I5 processor) and could use an external monitor I decided who cares as I really rarely use it. Fast forward to now and I’ve dumped a couple bucks into it. New lcd new trackpad and a fresh battery. Don’t know why but I like this thing because I worry to much about our good pc’s/laptops so I like having it to travel with. Tearing it apart was nice it got a proper cleaning while I was in there. Anyway it is whole again all is well.
"RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars" (rallydarkstrike)
03/31/2017 at 20:15, STARS: 0
Keep Oppo Craptops! Similar story for me - I was given a Toshiba Satellite C650D laptop that worked great with a broken screen, but it displayed fine on an external monitor. I wanted to use it to replace my aging MSI Wind U100 netbook. The netbook is fine, really, for the basics like web surfing and the occasional Youtube video, which is all I used it for (it runs Linux, so runs better than Windows ever did on it), but I wanted something with a screen larger than 10".
In a stroke of luck, I was given a dead C650D by one of those co-workers you can’t stand who is lazy and useless and calls in sick all the time as she had spilled beer on it and wrecked it....screen worked fine though! Swap screen from dead laptop into working laptop with broken screen, format working laptop to own tastes (I put Linux Mint 18.1 MATE on it as I had no more copies of Windows) and BAM, free laptop! Typing from it as we speak and it’s my go-to for when I am not on my Win10 desktop. :)
126 wallpaper is best wallpaper! :P
"Eric @ opposite-lock.com" (theyrerolling)
03/31/2017 at 20:18, STARS: 0
I wish my company would buy more Latitudes... Your beater is a couple generations newer than the one I’m about to issue to a new field service tech because the damned things are survivors. Instead, my company keeps buying cheap/flimsy consumer-grade stuff that lasts no more than about a year (then it’s a huge fire when the field guys break them, which they invariably do)...
My “beater” is an old Dell ... I don’t recall the model ... that is 13-14" or so, with a wide screen, i7 processor, and SSD from the factory. I decided it was my best choice based on the junk in general that ends up in our bone pile. It kept getting rejected because it was small, then I noticed the specs were pretty decent for running Linux on it and using it as a travel laptop (small and relatively light).
"cbell04" (cbell04)
03/31/2017 at 20:33, STARS: 0
I agree they are pretty tough. About 5 years ago someone broke into my work van and stole and older latitude probably about the vintage your assigning to your peeps. Anyway I saw it happening so I chased the guy through my back yard (winter with a foot plus of snow) he jumps my neighbors fence and falls right into a half drained pool. Long story short he got arrested and the old dell still worked when I got it back from the cops! I still use windows but I just keep it super clean so it runs great. Other than things that cant be avoided I’m the only person I know that doesn’t consonantly battle some pc related issue. I do also work in the IT field so that probably helps.
"cbell04" (cbell04)
03/31/2017 at 20:34, STARS: 0
That is amazing luck! also she sounds like fun. :)
"jmgadget" (jmgadget)
03/31/2017 at 22:08, STARS: 1
I only buy Latitudes for my company. I have a latitude chugging along that is from 2007 with a Core2Duo and 8GB of ram, discrete graphics (top of the line developer machine at the time). It works perfectly for my mom who only browses amazon and email.
We have a few printer techs come into work for the lease printers and they all use the consumer crap that they buy at bestbuy. I don’t think i have seen the same laptop twice, and they constantly complain about them. I never understand that thinking of buying cheap crap more than one good one.
"Eric @ opposite-lock.com" (theyrerolling)
03/31/2017 at 22:40, STARS: 1
I am one of few people in my circles that can keep an unprotected windows box running well, but I prefer Linux for a lot of my work, so I run it where practical.
I’m in tech in general, so I do a lot of random stuff for my company. The IT stuff is sort of a small corner of it and for some reason they refuse to give me a budget for it, so I’m constantly trying to reissue stuff to field people and those that need computers. I have a big stack of cheap recent Dells, but they are all broken in some way and I didn’t order them, so I don’t know where to start on getting them fixed. They’re probably all at least a year old.
I hate the crappy inbetween situation I’ve been in there since I started, but they can’t hire, retain, or even find decent candidates to take over some of the work. I’d give up any portion of it that was easy to hire out, but each time they try I get overridden or someone decides to make some power play to try to regain control of IT... So frustrating.
"Eric @ opposite-lock.com" (theyrerolling)
03/31/2017 at 22:51, STARS: 1
I don’t understand it, either, but the short-sighted cheapness of some companies and people cost them more in the long run than buying decent stuff to begin with...
Thus far the random laptops in the boneyard that seem to work well after getting there (usually ending up there because someone complained that it was slow or they quit) have almost all been Dell Latitudes, T-series Thinkpads, and some random Asus models that I had them order. I also find that the Latitudes and T-series laptops are, by far, the easiest to upgrade/maintain. The consumer grade ones are just a nightmare on this front.