He was very disappointed when I explained to him there was no way a full movie would fit on a 256mb flash card in a form even remotely entertaining.
I've seen 700MB Xvid encodes that were acceptable on a regular computer monitor. Surely for something as low res as a the PSP, an encode 1/3 the size would be fine.
You still have social engineering to deal with. The same people who click "Yes" to everything in IE/Windows will just type in their Admin password whenever some box pops up and asks for it in OS X. MacOS is more secure against worms and drive by installs, but the real problem is with the user.
The only real reason I can see to keep an old computer like that going with Windows 2000 (other than just playing around) is embedded computers or a speciality system that likely isn't even on the internet. Heck, just last Friday I saw a computer on a factory floor that was part of some piece of machinery that was running Windows 3.1!
Compatible with 95% of things.. so 1 in every 20 applications won't work.
Sounds like rather a lot to me.
What I find more interesting is that a good portion of new applications still run on Windows 95, which is a 10 year old operating system (though you often need to have IE5 installed as a lot of stuff breaks when it can't find IE).
I'm guessing that since you said you have a dual CPU system, that you also have a SCSI drive. That's the only way a system like yours could be responsive at all with all the swapping it has to be doing.
Would you mind informing this video-loving user where you acquired these? I've been trying unsuccessfully for a while to saturate my hard drive with music videos...
I don't know about the original poster, but after lurking in Usenet for a few years I have saturated a 160GB drive, and they are spilling over to my 120GB (I really need to buy a big 400GB disk, but no money for it). It's a bit of an obsession.
Either you haven't used a Mac recently or you have a very strange idea of what "usability" means.
Or maybe it has more to do with ignorant counter-culture elitism, which is pretty funny, if you think about it.
Or maybe he just prefers Windows? Windows XP is not all that bad as people make it out to be. And as you Mac people like to point out - Windows has not changed much from 1998 either.
IMO, MacTel could be a Linux killer, or at least help keep it a niche OS instead of a major mainstream competitor.
The problem with MacOS is that it only runs on expensive Apple computers. I seriously doubt that the switch to Intel is really going to change things. If anything, that's going to insure that MacOS will remain as a niche OS.
I've never had any problems with thumbdrives - new or old. I've seen thumbdrives now in packs, something like 3 32MB drives for $20. If you are worried your drive might fail just make multiple copies.
I think the option is essentially the same as opening up your favorite CD burning program and burning a bunch of MP3 files to a data disk. It won't let you burn DRM'd iTMS files to a MP3 disk. You can only burn those to an audio CD (without cracking the DRM, of course).
I'm sorry, Dell's "low end" that are below $500 quickly become over $500 with basic upgrades...
Yeah, what about the Mac Mini? It only comes with 256MB of Ram. So you'll be upgrading that right away. You want a bigger/faster HDD or integrated wireless? Oh, that'll cost you too. And don't forget you still need a monitor, keyboard, and mouse.
Sure, the Mac Mini is cheap as Apple hardware goes, and it is cheap in the world of SFF computers. But compared to generic x86 hardware it's not all that cheap.
My HP Vectra tower has a nice little handle on the side. Lift it up, and the side pops right off. From there, you can pop off a holder for the PCI/AGP cards, and from there you can access any of the slots (5 PCI slots!). The harddrive tray (sorry, only 2 HDDs) pops right out. There is a little door thingy you can open, and pop out any of the 5.25" drives easily (they come on rails). HP even has some custom length ribbon cables so that the case isn't crammed full of wires. There are other nice additions too, like a grill over the one case fan so you can't stick your finger in it.
So the point is, it's not like Apple's cases are really unique when it comes to taking them apart. It's just that a lot of slashdotter's like to build their PCs in some $25 generic case (I'm guilty of this too) - and of course a cheap case will suck in comparison.
So it's a shitty laptop from Circuit City... imagine that. IBM (well, actually Lenovo) makes Thinkpads that cost around a grand. And they look nicer too.
I don't know about you, but I hear all kinds of interesting things when hiding in the clothes rack while stalki^H^H^H^H^H^Hgoing shopping with my girlfriend.
Slashdot Mirror
He was very disappointed when I explained to him there was no way a full movie would fit on a 256mb flash card in a form even remotely entertaining.
I've seen 700MB Xvid encodes that were acceptable on a regular computer monitor. Surely for something as low res as a the PSP, an encode 1/3 the size would be fine.
Time to install Windows ME You install Windows ME, and you call yourself a computer repairmen?! [spits] Away with you!
That's how you get repeat customers, duh.
You still have social engineering to deal with. The same people who click "Yes" to everything in IE/Windows will just type in their Admin password whenever some box pops up and asks for it in OS X. MacOS is more secure against worms and drive by installs, but the real problem is with the user.
Alternatively, you could just install Linux on the spyware ridden old computer much to the same effect. Or boot Knoppix on it.
The only real reason I can see to keep an old computer like that going with Windows 2000 (other than just playing around) is embedded computers or a speciality system that likely isn't even on the internet. Heck, just last Friday I saw a computer on a factory floor that was part of some piece of machinery that was running Windows 3.1!
Compatible with 95% of things.. so 1 in every 20 applications won't work.
Sounds like rather a lot to me.
What I find more interesting is that a good portion of new applications still run on Windows 95, which is a 10 year old operating system (though you often need to have IE5 installed as a lot of stuff breaks when it can't find IE).
Gateways are OK, but I have found every Dell system I have ever used to be noticably slower than it should be by looking at the specs. Dell sucks.
I'm guessing that since you said you have a dual CPU system, that you also have a SCSI drive. That's the only way a system like yours could be responsive at all with all the swapping it has to be doing.
Would you mind informing this video-loving user where you acquired these? I've been trying unsuccessfully for a while to saturate my hard drive with music videos...
I don't know about the original poster, but after lurking in Usenet for a few years I have saturated a 160GB drive, and they are spilling over to my 120GB (I really need to buy a big 400GB disk, but no money for it). It's a bit of an obsession.
Cool! Whose backyard will it go in?
It can go in mine. Nuclear power plants are fine neighbors. They are clean, and they tend to keep the annoying NIMBY types away.
Either you haven't used a Mac recently or you have a very strange idea of what "usability" means.
Or maybe it has more to do with ignorant counter-culture elitism, which is pretty funny, if you think about it.
Or maybe he just prefers Windows? Windows XP is not all that bad as people make it out to be. And as you Mac people like to point out - Windows has not changed much from 1998 either.
1. PCs that finally boot from USB and FireWire.
Last time I checked, Macs can't boot from USB, just firewire.
IMO, MacTel could be a Linux killer, or at least help keep it a niche OS instead of a major mainstream competitor.
The problem with MacOS is that it only runs on expensive Apple computers. I seriously doubt that the switch to Intel is really going to change things. If anything, that's going to insure that MacOS will remain as a niche OS.
200.198.184.135
http://200.198.184.135:80
Looks like you're getting hacked my an online dating site! (lets slashdot the bastards!)
I've never had any problems with thumbdrives - new or old. I've seen thumbdrives now in packs, something like 3 32MB drives for $20. If you are worried your drive might fail just make multiple copies.
$400 PC + $100 for decent graphics card* means a computer that will be decent at gaming for the same cost of a Mac Mini.
*Be sure the cheap PC you buy has an open AGP/PCI Express slot!
I think the option is essentially the same as opening up your favorite CD burning program and burning a bunch of MP3 files to a data disk. It won't let you burn DRM'd iTMS files to a MP3 disk. You can only burn those to an audio CD (without cracking the DRM, of course).
Then how do they always end up with the top spot for reliability for their machines?
Just a guess, but because they do tend to run pretty reliably if they aren't DOA? Though a lot of PC hardware tends to be that way.
I'm sorry, Dell's "low end" that are below $500 quickly become over $500 with basic upgrades...
Yeah, what about the Mac Mini? It only comes with 256MB of Ram. So you'll be upgrading that right away. You want a bigger/faster HDD or integrated wireless? Oh, that'll cost you too. And don't forget you still need a monitor, keyboard, and mouse.
Sure, the Mac Mini is cheap as Apple hardware goes, and it is cheap in the world of SFF computers. But compared to generic x86 hardware it's not all that cheap.
My HP Vectra tower has a nice little handle on the side. Lift it up, and the side pops right off. From there, you can pop off a holder for the PCI/AGP cards, and from there you can access any of the slots (5 PCI slots!). The harddrive tray (sorry, only 2 HDDs) pops right out. There is a little door thingy you can open, and pop out any of the 5.25" drives easily (they come on rails). HP even has some custom length ribbon cables so that the case isn't crammed full of wires. There are other nice additions too, like a grill over the one case fan so you can't stick your finger in it.
So the point is, it's not like Apple's cases are really unique when it comes to taking them apart. It's just that a lot of slashdotter's like to build their PCs in some $25 generic case (I'm guilty of this too) - and of course a cheap case will suck in comparison.
So it's a shitty laptop from Circuit City... imagine that. IBM (well, actually Lenovo) makes Thinkpads that cost around a grand. And they look nicer too.
Windows doesn't support your NIC, and that's a bad thing.
Mac OSX doesn't support your NIC, and that's a good thing.
Let me guess... you're an Apple fanboy?
Click.
I don't know about you, but I hear all kinds of interesting things when hiding in the clothes rack while stalki^H^H^H^H^H^Hgoing shopping with my girlfriend.
Really? I wouldn't have guessed they were much fun.
The fun part is wondering where you're going to get stranded next.