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On 31/03/2013 00:20, Walter Dnes wrote: |
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> On Sat, Mar 30, 2013 at 05:39:15PM +0000, Stroller wrote |
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>> |
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>> Decide whether or not you need a new PC and make a new post - |
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>> UEFI/secureboot is irrelevant to poor YouTube performance. |
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> |
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> I may not have been as clear as I wanted to be. With the increase in |
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> my download speed, the bottleneck to Youtube/etc performance is now my |
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> PC. I *HAVE* decided to replace it. The only question is with what. |
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> |
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> As per the subject line, I'm asking if current Dells have any |
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> showstoppers for Gentoo. If not, I'll probably go with a Dell. My |
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> usage patterns may be different from yours, but Dells have lasted more |
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> years for me than other brands or custom-built machines. |
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> |
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I don't know what your budget is, but if you can afford a Precision, buy |
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a Precision. I'll give you some numbers. |
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We are 1600 staff in the company, more than half are entitled to |
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laptops. Low level staff are "encouraged" to get HPs and mid-level |
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Dell's. More senior staff can basically get any model they want up to a |
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maximum price (which is very generous). Two models are popular: |
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Precision M4700 - over 50 bought so far |
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Whatever Apple thingie Apple sells today |
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The procurement guy won't tell me failure numbers for Apple (he's |
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embarrassed). For the Dells, zero maintenance callouts for failure. To |
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break them, you have to drop them or hit them or stand on them to break |
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them. |
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This one of mine is an M4600, the previous model. It's 15 months old and |
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has given me zero issues just like the 5 Dells before it in a row :-) |
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Same for the wife's (she got one too) |
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The few fellows that got the 17" M6700 range reckon it is actually too |
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big and heavy, stick with the 15" models. Gentoo installs on this one |
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just fine, I use it in BIOS mode, but UEFI works great. I switched back |
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simply because I don't fully grok UEFI and BIOS is familiar ground. |
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All the other Linux users report the same results, including those who |
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bought the XPS range. |
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Two tips though: |
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Don't upsize a Precision to an optical slot drive, stick with the |
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standard tray (dodgy discs stick inside and cause woes). |
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Get the larger 9 cell battery, the 6 cell sucks on battery life |
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-- |
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Alan McKinnon |
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alan.mckinnon@×××××.com |
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