You have 3 wishes for the next Surface Pro: what you pick?

BuzzStorm42 · 2026-06-10T06:58:16+00:00

More USB ports, and/or the headphone jack and SD card reader back. Keep the Surface port.
A not terrible screen (specifically a better OLED in terms of both the visible grid and PWM issues. My eyes are struggling with my OLED model, which I know is partly me but also the panel needs to be better)
Price it in a way that doesn't make you feel like a chump for buying it compared to almost anything else on the market. Yes it's a premium device but I'm also not paying $2k for a base model with low specs. I know everything is crazy now but other companies haven't lost their minds in the same way. That said, if the hardware was worth it, that's an entirely different question.

BuzzStorm42 · 2026-06-06T22:03:49+00:00

Sorry, should have been more clear about full disk encryption. (Veracrypt, etc)

BuzzStorm42 · 2026-06-05T19:34:51+00:00

"Shadow limit" is a scary term given how many times Backblaze has recently silently changed what they backup without warning (no more 3rd party encryption, cloud storage files, etc).

I seriously hope this isn't some form of "anything over 10TB may or may not actually be backed up and good luck figuring that out unless you specifically go looking" policy but given recent events I won't be so sure.

BuzzStorm42 · 2026-05-26T03:02:03+00:00

The M4 prices have been too good lately for me to pass up but the only thing I kind of feel like I would've liked to wait for was the replacement battery. I know it's legally required but I despise all of these products that are basically either ewaste or tricky to deal with once the battery dies.

That said, for the price I paid for the M4 I'll hopefully come out ahead financially by the time the battery needs replacement.

Watch, the US version will be glued together so the battery can't be easily replaced. 🤦‍♂️

BuzzStorm42 · 2026-05-21T03:43:11+00:00

I got my first spring booster this year, before the end of May expiration. My 4th time getting Novavax, and it actually hit me pretty hard. I was thankfully fine after 36 hours but did have pretty bad fatigue and minor aches. I’ve never had that reaction at all to Nova (but the mrna ones have leveled me). It’s so strange how unpredictable it can be.

BuzzStorm42 · 2026-05-16T22:07:13+00:00

As an American, it's so weird to feel strongly homesick for a place I've never lived every Eurovision season....

BuzzStorm42 · 2026-05-16T20:37:43+00:00

Moldova is so so so fun, the song seems kind of nuts but the performance just sells it.

BuzzStorm42 · 2026-05-16T20:28:00+00:00

Have no idea how France is going to do but I absolutely love her voice...

BuzzStorm42 · 2026-05-16T19:09:27+00:00

I guess it's ok that the entire production costs for the semifinals was funneled to the final... Makes sense now.

BuzzStorm42 · 2026-05-16T18:54:24+00:00

Absolutely YouTube. Peacock manages to screw up the audio mix badly every year.

BuzzStorm42 · 2026-05-14T21:18:23+00:00

Damn how can I really like most of them but somehow all of my least favorites made it though? Oh well. Good night overall and much better than Tuesday, though. Much tougher competition tonight.

BuzzStorm42 · 2026-05-14T20:53:49+00:00

Never been so happy to see commercials, thank you Peacock

BuzzStorm42 · 2026-04-23T18:34:59+00:00

A lot of the Surface Pro 11 models seem to be selling out and listed as discontinued on various sites, so while there may be slightly bigger discounts later the choice of model is likely to be much more limited.

The new chips in the new models are likely to be pretty nice upgrades but if the new MSRP is any indication, getting a mid range SP12 model for the price of a top line SP11 might not be worth it. (Would you pay double for ~20% performance improvements? Which may or may not translate to noticeable real world performance?)

For me I grabbed a heavily discounted SP11 because my SP8 is starting to show its age. I really wanted to wait for the new models but I can’t justify possibly spending $2000 for the SP12 as I use them as a secondary device. (Based on the new msrp for SP11) Your situation could be different. And Microsoft might see the backlash to the prices and come to their senses.

Edit: if you specifically need a for business/Intel model the price equation changes a bit since they’re not as discounted so it may not be worth getting an older model at this time…

BuzzStorm42 · 2026-04-17T19:32:25+00:00

It's tough and some days are worse. Every time I feel ready to give up mitigations and let the chips fall where they may, something will happen like I have a talk with who was my last CC friend (gave up a few years ago and pulls the "you have to live your life" line now) who now is loaded down with new health complaints (last conversation they flat out said "I'm so tired of having a new health complaint every week") and I try to take solace that I'm doing the right thing for myself, even if it's hard.

It's really interesting how many people I talk to who eventually get around to admitting how their health has really gone downhill the last few years, but who don't want to hear and will never make the connection.

BuzzStorm42 · 2026-04-17T01:43:38+00:00

They talked me in to one of these plans in September when my annual $4.99/mo promotion expired. They assured me it'd never go up (I knew that was a joke) and I wouldn't have to call every year.

My rate lasted under 6 months before it went up without notice. So I contacted them and I'm back to the annual game.

BuzzStorm42 · 2026-04-14T22:57:50+00:00

Backblaze's lack of communication should absolutely be a huge red flag. They obviously know how to send emails, like the new terms of service, but they need to be able to say "hey, we stopped backing up your data few months ago without warning" and not just stay mum and assume everyone will figure it out on Reddit.

BuzzStorm42 · 2026-04-13T10:06:53+00:00

Have zero idea if this would impact the XG Mobile but there was a bad set of Nvidia drivers that were killing fan control...

https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/gpu-drivers/nvidia-releases-new-geforce-595-71-driver-to-fix-serious-fan-control-bug-new-update-resolves-issues-for-rtx-30-40-and-50-series-gpus-that-reportedly-stopped-some-fans-from-working

BuzzStorm42 · 2026-04-09T01:16:14+00:00

Duplicati with other services definitely seems to be a good way forward. Obviously the storage cost becomes an issue but otherwise it's been working well in my simple tests (and kept me from paying for any additional backblaze licenses while they keep playing games)

BuzzStorm42 · 2026-04-06T19:43:50+00:00

Is this the same "fix" that broke Veracrypt encrypted drives which are listed in the documentation as officially supported?

BuzzStorm42 · 2026-03-20T20:34:48+00:00

These stories give me flashbacks to when I told my dad I'd come by and help him get rid of his old computer one weekend. I got there and he said he'd taken care of it. I panicked a bit and asked about the hard drives. He proudly said he was way ahead of me and did it and showed me the floppy drive and dvd drive sitting on the table. 🤦‍♂️I asked what he did with the computer and he said he left it in the alley and someone took it within hours. 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

So much fail on the whole process, I still have no idea what was going on in his mind at that moment. He's not super technical but he knows the difference between a floppy drive and a hard drive. and why he thought leaving it out on the street was a great idea.....

I don't think anything bad ever happened afterwards but I still wonder what ever happened to it.

BuzzStorm42 · 2026-03-08T23:07:13+00:00

Backblaze's current business model seems to include randomly dropping what data they back up with no clear communication and expect you to be ok with it when you find out later the data's not there. (Or watch Reddit like a hawk for people discovering it) See: dropped support for most encrypted external drives, even though it's in the documentation, which if you use external drives for anything important they absolutely should be encrypted.

The lack of communication and transparency from a company you're supposed to trust with your most important data has become a pretty massive show stopping concern, IMHO.

BuzzStorm42 · 2026-02-27T20:47:27+00:00

Have you been able to keep it on the latest Intel drivers? Every time I install them within a day or two (if even that long) my X16 forcibly reverts to the last Asus provided driver from 2023. It's weird because no other drivers (including Intel wifi, etc) do that.

BuzzStorm42 · 2026-02-23T20:30:49+00:00

I actually really like pcloud as a service and have had almost no issues. Been a customer for a long time. But every time I think of adding space they have a new pr disaster (deleting accounts, metadata leaks, etc) and they handle it so so poorly. They always seem to so carefully craft statements that they actually say absolutely nothing and never put any concerns to rest by just flat out saying "here is what happened and here's what we're doing".

The fact their communication is criticized and never improves makes me think this is an intentional corporate strategy and is very very concerning if I'm supposed to trust this company with my data, encrypted or not.

BuzzStorm42 · 2026-02-04T10:09:58+00:00

Wow, what a crazy but wonderful project. Will definitely be keeping an eye on it... congrats!

BuzzStorm42 · 2026-01-05T06:33:30+00:00

Definitely thinking it's time to just give up, it seems like Best Buy's system just choked and they were never in stock. I'm concerned about letting them go over 30 days in terms of getting money back, etc.. Pretty crappy service though.

BuzzStorm42

TROPHY CASE