As a matter of fact, I don't buy name brand products - not when it comes to my day-to-day needs at least. Most of my grocery shopping is done at places like Lidl and Aldi (known as "discountes" here in Germany), and they only rarely have name-brand stuff...
However, you do raise an interesting point with fast food places: Often when I'm at Burger King (don't laugh, we don't actually have any decent burger joints around here), I'll get the special that was printed up on the big banner right outside the Burger King. So I guess advertising does work on me, but my attention span's so short that I need to be able to buy the product within about 30 seconds of seeing the ad;)
Exactly. If the device is, for instance, a laptop that you actually use to work, $200 buys you three years of assurance that if that thing breaks, the manufacturer will send a technician to take a look at it within a day or two of your call.
If you just leave it at the regular warranty, you're stuck packing the device up in a box and hoping UPS/DHL/* don't make the problem even worse playing Dodgeball (dodgebox?) with the package... I sure as hell know I'm going for extended on-site warranty for my next laptop.
That's actually an interesting question - I don't think I've bought anything that was advertised on TV since the toys I used to drool over when I was a kid. Maybe I'm just not in the target audience (hell, if there were ads for semi-decent guitars and used Thinkpads on TV, I'd probably be buying a lot of stuff that was advertised for:D), but all in all, if you're standing in the supermarket aisle and you're comparing two products, don't you think, "Hmmm, the commercial for that one always makes me spill my drink when it comes on... Fuck that, I'm getting the competing brand even if it costs me twice as much."
Am I the only one who does things like this just out of spite? Buy stuff that doesn't annoy you, et voila...
Hmmm, I dunno about Smart Sound, but I don't think I've ever seen a guitarist with a limiter on his pedal board... or a "gate limiter", for that matter.
Noise gates, sure... Compressors, sure... OK, even limiters sometimes (not as a stompbox, but there's one in the GT-8...) but the fabled "gate limiter"? Maybe in 80s style refrigerator-racks?
Except Aero. I just tried encoding a video for the first time since switching to Win7 Pro x64, and it turns out that Aero causes temps of 77 CPU (on a 25W TDP P7370!!!) and 86 GPU - on XP (or without Aero), these are 65 and 63, respectively.
And yes, I do categorize software that makes my laptop melt as malware...
Same here... the bog-standard Fritz!Box router I got from my ISP years ago has a VPN server built right into the server. I VPN in from whereever I'm surfing from (including shady public networks) before doing anything requiring the transfer of sensitive information...
Obviously you need to take into account the fact that most reviewers will have just received the product, which usually leads to a very positive, even euphoric take;-)... The customer reviews are, however, a goldmine when it comes to finding out hard facts about the products that aren't available in product descriptions or official reviews - usually at least half of the things I want to know aren't even mentioned in official reviews, but I find that a lot of customer reviews are written from perspectives not all too dissimilar to mine.
WHY would you do something like this? Wouldn't it be much easier to just get a display with a lower resolution?
The whole point of getting a high resolution display is to have more room - increasing the size of everything to make it readable, which kills the whole space advantage, is just stupid when you could've saved money and bought a cheaper display... Sure, Full HD is just geekier than 1366x768, but if you're having trouble reading the screen at that resolution, what's the point?
If you can't read standard sized fonts at a certain resolution because they're too small, do you REALLY think you're going to see a difference in movies/games/porn?
"Probably because when you bought the machine, you selected it with Windows in mind."
Actually, I buy my machines based on their performance and features. The thing is (with a few exceptions, obviously - Mac-only hardware, other proprietary crap, etc.), no matter what crap I buy, it'll work on Windows. Not so much with Ubuntu;)...
I don't think I've ever bought any PC hardware thinking, "Geee, I sure hope this runs Windows!":P
Obviously there are a lot of cases in which the user has no problems at all, and all the drivers are installed automatically without a hitch, leading to a fully functional system with no setup at all - but what about the cases where it doesn't work? All I've gotten for answers so far are, "Well, it worked on my setups," or things along the lines of, "You're a shill!" (see the first AC reply:D)...
There just doesn't seem to be a one-size-fits-all recipe for solving this problem, other than buying only hardware that's known to be Linux-compatible. Obviously that's also the only solution for Windows, but the thing is that almost all the consumer hardware available already IS Windows-compatible...
That may be, but do the people you recommend Linux to (Grandma, father in law, the old lady from next door) know that? I'm just saying that you can't buy the next best printer and expect it to work (at all)...
Hmmm, I can't remember the last time I had to edit the registry to get hardware working properly in Windows... I also refuse to use OEM "recovery discs", because they install so much crapware.
It's just a matter of finding the correct drivers - you don't need to config or tweak very much, because in Windows there's hardly anything you CAN tweak in this regard... if the driver doesn't work, install a different one. Not exactly ideal, either, but drivers not working at all on Windows isn't exactly common these days, as longs as you buy decent hardware. Sure, there's annoyances and bugs, but the core functionality is usually always there as soon as the correct driver has been installed.
I'm not saying that having drivers for common hardware included with the system isn't the way to go, but there needs to be something to fall back on... on Windows, if the drivers from the OS's driver database don't work or just aren't there, you just run an executable downloaded from the hardware manufacturer's site (something Grandma can do) - on Linux, you're SOL unless you can fix it yourself. And even if it's just a matter of changing a line in a config file, well... probably too hard for Grandma.
If you know what you're doing and all your hardware has decent driver support in recent Linux distros, then obviously setting up a machine with one of those distros is going to be a lot faster than setting up the same machine with Windows and a CD full of drivers...
And while we're on the topic of Linux (you seem to be knowledgeable when it comes to Linux) - is there a known problem with Ubuntu installs inside Virtualbox on an XP host eating themselves when you try to use the update manager to upgrade to the latest Ubuntu version? Mine's stuck in a reboot loop as we speak (after the upgrade)...
Let's see... what hasn't worked on Linux (and by working, I mean being able to use all of the core features): Dual Monitor support on a 7800GTX, pretty much anything other than USB on my Thinkpad (no proper scrolling, horribly malfunctioning power management, flaky WiFi, flaky HDMI support, FireWire not working at all), my USB audio interface, my WinMo phone (OK, might be unfair to count that one:P). Sure, these things can be made to work, with an hour's worth of tweaking config files by hand (because the GUI controls don't work, or the settings don't stick after a reboot), but do you REALLY think Grandma's going to do that? Come on... Linux and free software are great, but if you're not willing to invest gobs of time to make it actually work, it's not worth it...
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As a matter of fact, I don't buy name brand products - not when it comes to my day-to-day needs at least. Most of my grocery shopping is done at places like Lidl and Aldi (known as "discountes" here in Germany), and they only rarely have name-brand stuff...
However, you do raise an interesting point with fast food places: Often when I'm at Burger King (don't laugh, we don't actually have any decent burger joints around here), I'll get the special that was printed up on the big banner right outside the Burger King. So I guess advertising does work on me, but my attention span's so short that I need to be able to buy the product within about 30 seconds of seeing the ad ;)
I dunno if that was sarcasm or just stupidity, but either way: I'm LMFAO.
Don't do that, he and the article will probably go into an infinite feedback loop and spontaneously combust...
Hmmm, but what exactly does a "noise gate limiter" do?
I'm guessing it doesn't limit a noise gate, and why would a limiter need a noise gate?
Exactly. If the device is, for instance, a laptop that you actually use to work, $200 buys you three years of assurance that if that thing breaks, the manufacturer will send a technician to take a look at it within a day or two of your call.
If you just leave it at the regular warranty, you're stuck packing the device up in a box and hoping UPS/DHL/* don't make the problem even worse playing Dodgeball (dodgebox?) with the package... I sure as hell know I'm going for extended on-site warranty for my next laptop.
Which would result in the commerical being three times as loud as the rest... Oh, wait...
Why not just lower the maximum allowed volume if the dynamic range is limited/compressed to a certain amount? That might work...?
That's actually an interesting question - I don't think I've bought anything that was advertised on TV since the toys I used to drool over when I was a kid. Maybe I'm just not in the target audience (hell, if there were ads for semi-decent guitars and used Thinkpads on TV, I'd probably be buying a lot of stuff that was advertised for :D), but all in all, if you're standing in the supermarket aisle and you're comparing two products, don't you think, "Hmmm, the commercial for that one always makes me spill my drink when it comes on... Fuck that, I'm getting the competing brand even if it costs me twice as much."
Am I the only one who does things like this just out of spite? Buy stuff that doesn't annoy you, et voila...
Hmmm, I dunno about Smart Sound, but I don't think I've ever seen a guitarist with a limiter on his pedal board... or a "gate limiter", for that matter.
Noise gates, sure... Compressors, sure... OK, even limiters sometimes (not as a stompbox, but there's one in the GT-8...) but the fabled "gate limiter"? Maybe in 80s style refrigerator-racks?
I notice the same thing every day - however, I'm in Germany... Trust me, it's not limited to the US.
Turning off Aero results in ~10 lower temps... I REALLY doubt that Aero is making my encodes faster by drawing pretty transparent window effects ;)
Except Aero. I just tried encoding a video for the first time since switching to Win7 Pro x64, and it turns out that Aero causes temps of 77 CPU (on a 25W TDP P7370!!!) and 86 GPU - on XP (or without Aero), these are 65 and 63, respectively.
And yes, I do categorize software that makes my laptop melt as malware...
Same here... the bog-standard Fritz!Box router I got from my ISP years ago has a VPN server built right into the server. I VPN in from whereever I'm surfing from (including shady public networks) before doing anything requiring the transfer of sensitive information...
Why not just go with a VPN in the first place? Wouldn't that completely solve the problem?
Awesome. The SECONDARY display on the Thinkpad has more pixels than both of the Kohjinsha's displays combined.
WSVGA (1024x600) is a step back into the last decade...
Obviously you need to take into account the fact that most reviewers will have just received the product, which usually leads to a very positive, even euphoric take ;-)... The customer reviews are, however, a goldmine when it comes to finding out hard facts about the products that aren't available in product descriptions or official reviews - usually at least half of the things I want to know aren't even mentioned in official reviews, but I find that a lot of customer reviews are written from perspectives not all too dissimilar to mine.
"Have you ever held a quality wristwatch. Those bad boys weigh a ton. My phone probably weighs half as much as my friends watch."
Titanium.
Now try some 3-way in-ears ;)... UE Triple.fi blew my mind.
Shure ECL2s... meh.
I have two you can have for free. They're here in Germany though... shipping might be a bit expensive ;)
WHY would you do something like this? Wouldn't it be much easier to just get a display with a lower resolution?
The whole point of getting a high resolution display is to have more room - increasing the size of everything to make it readable, which kills the whole space advantage, is just stupid when you could've saved money and bought a cheaper display... Sure, Full HD is just geekier than 1366x768, but if you're having trouble reading the screen at that resolution, what's the point?
If you can't read standard sized fonts at a certain resolution because they're too small, do you REALLY think you're going to see a difference in movies/games/porn?
Please share. :)
"Probably because when you bought the machine, you selected it with Windows in mind."
Actually, I buy my machines based on their performance and features. The thing is (with a few exceptions, obviously - Mac-only hardware, other proprietary crap, etc.), no matter what crap I buy, it'll work on Windows. Not so much with Ubuntu ;)...
I don't think I've ever bought any PC hardware thinking, "Geee, I sure hope this runs Windows!" :P
Interesting... maybe I really am just unlucky :P
Obviously there are a lot of cases in which the user has no problems at all, and all the drivers are installed automatically without a hitch, leading to a fully functional system with no setup at all - but what about the cases where it doesn't work? All I've gotten for answers so far are, "Well, it worked on my setups," or things along the lines of, "You're a shill!" (see the first AC reply :D)...
There just doesn't seem to be a one-size-fits-all recipe for solving this problem, other than buying only hardware that's known to be Linux-compatible. Obviously that's also the only solution for Windows, but the thing is that almost all the consumer hardware available already IS Windows-compatible...
That may be, but do the people you recommend Linux to (Grandma, father in law, the old lady from next door) know that? I'm just saying that you can't buy the next best printer and expect it to work (at all)...
Hmmm, I can't remember the last time I had to edit the registry to get hardware working properly in Windows... I also refuse to use OEM "recovery discs", because they install so much crapware.
It's just a matter of finding the correct drivers - you don't need to config or tweak very much, because in Windows there's hardly anything you CAN tweak in this regard... if the driver doesn't work, install a different one. Not exactly ideal, either, but drivers not working at all on Windows isn't exactly common these days, as longs as you buy decent hardware. Sure, there's annoyances and bugs, but the core functionality is usually always there as soon as the correct driver has been installed.
I'm not saying that having drivers for common hardware included with the system isn't the way to go, but there needs to be something to fall back on... on Windows, if the drivers from the OS's driver database don't work or just aren't there, you just run an executable downloaded from the hardware manufacturer's site (something Grandma can do) - on Linux, you're SOL unless you can fix it yourself. And even if it's just a matter of changing a line in a config file, well... probably too hard for Grandma.
If you know what you're doing and all your hardware has decent driver support in recent Linux distros, then obviously setting up a machine with one of those distros is going to be a lot faster than setting up the same machine with Windows and a CD full of drivers...
And while we're on the topic of Linux (you seem to be knowledgeable when it comes to Linux) - is there a known problem with Ubuntu installs inside Virtualbox on an XP host eating themselves when you try to use the update manager to upgrade to the latest Ubuntu version? Mine's stuck in a reboot loop as we speak (after the upgrade)...
Are you serious? Or just jerking my chain?
Let's see... what hasn't worked on Linux (and by working, I mean being able to use all of the core features): Dual Monitor support on a 7800GTX, pretty much anything other than USB on my Thinkpad (no proper scrolling, horribly malfunctioning power management, flaky WiFi, flaky HDMI support, FireWire not working at all), my USB audio interface, my WinMo phone (OK, might be unfair to count that one :P). Sure, these things can be made to work, with an hour's worth of tweaking config files by hand (because the GUI controls don't work, or the settings don't stick after a reboot), but do you REALLY think Grandma's going to do that? Come on... Linux and free software are great, but if you're not willing to invest gobs of time to make it actually work, it's not worth it...