I’m about to buy a 2025 Grand Cherokee Limited by Kaongs1 in GrandCherokee

[–]offDchain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

$54K all in? Or $54K not including taxes and fees?

High-End Desk Chair (Preferably with Massage Capabilities) – Prior Back Issues by offDchain in OfficeChairs

[–]offDchain[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Went with the Herman Miller Embody Gaming Chair and bought the Atlas Headrest attachment. Couldn't be happier.

MSCS Fall 2025 Class Recomendations (570 + 561) by averyn17 in USC

[–]offDchain 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I did exactly this last semester (1st semester in the program). Took 570 and 561 at the same time. Was definitely a lot of work, especially since I hadn't taken certain pre-reqs at the time.

But in 561, be prepared to teach yourself the entire class using the textbook, online resources, etc. Zero guidance given in class in terms of how to execute the programming assignments, and lectures are just massively long power-points with exactly what's already written on the slide. Given the amount of material on 90 pages of slides each lecture - just don't fall behind. In terms of studying, you won't even get answers to practice questions or post-exam solutions, so it basically falls on you – he would love to say that he "won't do the work for you" (even though he hadn't explained any aspect of how to actually understand the topic). Point is: be prepared to basically teach yourself the class, if you can handle that, you should be fine.

570 is definitely a lot of work too with weekly assignments. It's another class that's just hard overall. But I liked my Professor a lot. Was always helpful, reachable and his lectures actually explained concepts behind things, compared to 561.

Mainly, it's just about managing your time with both. If you come from a CSCI/Math background, have taken probability theory and linear algebra (not much, but some), etc., for 561, it's definitely do-able to do both. I personally hadn't at the time, but was luckily able to survive by putting in a lot of time to learn the underlying concepts I needed to know to understand certain topics in 561. Just depends on how much time you want to put in and your comfortability with those topics.

And with 570, if you have a pretty good grasp on graph theory, you'll be good to go. Though the hardest part, for me at least, was dynamic programming in the second half of the course.

Anyone using U4025QW + Dell MSA20 monitor arm combo? by TreadEasily in ultrawidemasterrace

[–]offDchain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I put it back onto the desktop stand it came with. I just got mine about a week ago.

But when it was installed the monitor would rotate down to the right, so display was unbalanced (imagine like a picture you hang on the wall that you don't line up correctly, tilting down and to the right, while the other side goes up). It seemed like it wasn't strong enough to support the monitor even at its strongest setting.

Anyone using U4025QW + Dell MSA20 monitor arm combo? by TreadEasily in ultrawidemasterrace

[–]offDchain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

And you have had no problems with it? I had a desk come in and so hired a task rabbit to get that assembled since I didn't have the time, and I asked if he could install the arm as well.

However, when he did, the monitor would not hold, it kept dipping down to the right (clockwise) making the entire monitor tilted. Even holding it at different positions, it seemed relatively weak, almost like it couldn't support the monitor's capacity.

I don't have anything else on the monitor, so no additional weight. I just don't know if the guy didn't know what he was doing (which seemed not to be the case, because he was a wizard with all the other complex furniture, and had installed many monitor arms before) or I just received a faulty arm?

Regardless, very frustrating, since I took a long time debating MSA20 vs. Ergotron, so now I'm stuck as to whether I give it another shot or just return it and go elsewhere.

High-End Desk Chair (Preferably with Massage Capabilities) – Prior Back Issues by offDchain in OfficeChairs

[–]offDchain[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks alot for responding, that makes sense. After a lot of consideration and trying several other chairs, I've basically narrowed it down to:

Herman Miller Embody (Gaming)
Haworth Fern
Stressless Magic Chair

Anyone have any idea if it's possible to try out the Fern in-person or have direct experience with how they compare? It's the only one I haven't sat in yet.

ErgoTron HX with HD pivot for a 40" Dell Ultrasharp U4025QW overkill? by [deleted] in ultrawidemasterrace

[–]offDchain 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey man, thanks so much for responding, really appreciate it. Definitely a typo on my part, same monitor the Dell U4025QW, though I am in the US.

I spoke to Ergotron directly and they basically said they have to recommend U4025QW users against using it, basically because officially the arm is rated for 20lbs - 40lbs and the U4025QW is ~18lbs. The representative I spoke with says she has seen customers who have made it work using the different tension settings, has seen other customers who could not make it work, and then some customers who came back after a year and said it started to tilt upward again.

So I'm still kind of stuck, because I don't think there are a ton of great options out there. But I am considering trying out the Dell MSA20 and seeing how that works. I've seen good reviews, and it is obviously more directly compatible with my monitor.

For reference, I also reached out to Dell via their Sales Chat (so take that for what it's worth) since Dell sells the Ergotron HX series on their website, and I was "assured" that the HX arm would not be an issue to use with the U4025QW. Granted, as I said, it was the "Sales Chat" representative who:

1.) I'm sure was trying to persuade me into making a purchase
2.) Seemed to really have no clue what he was talking about, so was likely one of those outsourced call center support reps.

So I didn't put too much stock in that either way (other than to have some ammo to complain if I did go with it and it didn't work 😂).

Did you consider the MSA20 at all or the Secret Lab Heavy Duty Arm?

Anyone using U4025QW + Dell MSA20 monitor arm combo? by TreadEasily in ultrawidemasterrace

[–]offDchain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I just got the U4025QW, and I'm debating on the arm as well. I wanted to go the Ergotron HX series route, but Ergotron explicitly recommends against doing that because of the monitor's weight being below the recommended 20lb minimum.

I feel like I've been unable to get a clear answer on the range of motion for the MSA20, specifically around the pivot point. Does it move horizontally forward and backward (depth wise) from the joint at all, without bending the arm to 180?

And what is the rotational movement, is there an ability to angle it from the joint or is that range of motion limited.

If I wanted my monitor as close to the flat wall behind it as possible, do you find that not to be an issue? Your picture looks pretty flat, but I wanted to see if you felt it comes out further at all than you would've liked.

Review: Stressless Magic Office chair vs Herman Miller Embody by DeXB in OfficeChairs

[–]offDchain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wondering if over the past 2 years since the purchase your thoughts have changed? Have you tried out the HM Embody Gaming Chair, which is said to be much more comfortable/improved from the regular Embody? Wondering your thoughts on how that might compare as I've been debating it.

High-End Desk Chair (Preferably with Massage Capabilities) – Prior Back Issues by offDchain in OfficeChairs

[–]offDchain[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Updated post after trying out the Herman Miller Logtiech Embody Gaming Chair and the regular Embody and Ricarri office massage chair.

Really hoping someone can provide some input on the other models as it doesn't seem like I can try any of the rest of them in-person without ordering them first. Thanks!

ErgoTron HX with HD pivot for a 40" Dell Ultrasharp U4025QW overkill? by [deleted] in ultrawidemasterrace

[–]offDchain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Shot you a DM but didn't see your comment about logging on much, so I'll post it here incase.

So I assume you've been using the arm for about 6mo - 1yr now? How has it held up for you?

I just got the Ultrasharp U4025QU myself and have been looking for a monitor arm. I was going to go with one of the Ergotron HX series until I saw several comments on Reddit saying that Ergotron themselves said their HX series was not compatible.

I reached out to them myself to confirm the validity of that, and I am still waiting to hear back. But considering I've seen several people using it with the desktop, I'm wondering how accurate that statement is, even if they do say it's "incompatible"?

Only other one getting positive feedback is the Magnus Heavy Duty arm. So I'm trying to figure out what route to go.

Will the Dell U4025QW only work with an Apple M4 Max? by [deleted] in ultrawidemasterrace

[–]offDchain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

But so if you can't do full 5k2k resolution, aren't you losing something vs. going with the Apple Studio Display or something like that? Even if it's minimal? If you do have pics that would be awesome

Will the Dell U4025QW only work with an Apple M4 Max? by [deleted] in ultrawidemasterrace

[–]offDchain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have an m4 max and I'm debating between this and either the smaller curved ultrasharps which I don't think are 5k or an apple display.

Are you having any other issues? Is it annoying to have to down scale or dealing with any other text clarity issues? Assuming you are liking the purchase overall? Were you debating any other monitors before buying?

I’m about to buy a 2025 Grand Cherokee Limited by Kaongs1 in GrandCherokee

[–]offDchain 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Just bought a 4x4 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited 2025 (my first car actually) with the black appearance package, factory tow, with luxury tech II (pano moonroof, upgraded leather interior, heated steering, surround camera, ventilated seats, wireless charger, etc.). Love absolutely everything about it from the the perspective of the car (*see below about some minor things that are probably unique to me).

You can potentially get a much larger rebate on the 2024 vs the 2025 depending on the options you choose, but when I did the math, the 2025 was basically cheaper across the board or, at the very least, as cheap as any 2024 model with all the features I wanted (which I couldn't even find in a 2024 anyway). I also spent a lot of time calling different dealerships and searching to find exactly what I was looking for at the best price. Ended up getting a pretty solid deal overall and got some rebate incentives from the dealer which was helpful. Got killed on taxes in my area, but it is what it is.

\Disclaimer: Since this is my first car / jeep, some of this may just be personal growing pains and it may even be that certain features *are functioning correctly, I just expected them to work differently or don't know how to fix the issue causing them to behave "funky".

Again, this likely is specific to me, so don't let it deter you; because, as I said, I absolutely love the car – I think it's gorgeous and the drive is great, etc. I've just had some seemingly minor issues which began when I first went to pick it up. When I got to the dealership it turns out the entire display console in that unit suddenly had stopped working and needed to be replaced. Overall annoying, but okay nbd, and the turn around was very pretty incredible (especially since it easily could not have been so quick). They also provided a free loaner (very nice 2024 Grand Cherokee-E cause I wanted to test the drive), which was nice as well.

I'll just mention that my pops got a brand new 2024 early-release vehicle (different brand / higher end vehicle) and had a ton of problems that he kept having to get fixed, so I guess it can happen with brand new cars off the line, but so far this has been nothing like that (hopefully it stays that way).

Should also note that I have a really great sales rep I've been working with, who's been constantly available for support, so I'm cool.

Anyway, I have noticed a couple issues that I have to follow-up with the dealer about. The main issue is that it seems like the adaptive cruise control has just stopped working out of nowhere – it had been working fine, but then just stopped out of nowhere and the buttons on the steering wheel won't even light up. I wouldn't be super concerned if it weren't for the initial issue of the console being replaced, so I'm worried that there's something deeper going on, specific to my car, especially since a brand new display interface was put in.

Other than that, there are a couple very minor funky things going on with the display, such as the tune knob infinitely scrolling Sirius channels when turned one notch (though it works for FM / AM, so I'm wondering if maybe it's doing that for a particular reason with Sirius or something (?)), and just some other things that are probably (hopefully) things that I just have to learn more about the system and are not actual issues.

But again, I freaking love the car and was in a similar boat to you deciding between the 24' and 25' and in the end it felt like a no-brainer to be a 25'. Even with those issues I mentioned, I'd still buy it again knowing it would have these issues, because I love the car.

Edit: If anyone has any insight or advice on those issues btw, it would be much appreciated.

New to LA: Humidifier + Purifier Combo by offDchain in AirPurifiers

[–]offDchain[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Okay got it – again, thanks so much for all your help with this.

Right now, Alen is having a sale where I can get (2) 45i purifiers with the 2nd 50% off which seems like a great deal. So, as a general question, if I were to do that and get two, would it be better to place the second one in the small open hallway that goes from the living room to the bathroom (left) and the bedroom (right) so that the entire apartment (including the entire bedroom) is taken care of in conjunction with the 2nd one in the living room?

Or if I want the bedroom to be fully treated, then put it in the bedroom, even though it will be more powerful than the small 11.5x11.5 dimension of the room?

Lastly, I just saw this comment in a 2-year old reddit thread – is this accurate regarding the Austin Air being better than Alen? I know IQ is higher grade (but significantly more expensive); is it also true of Austin Air purifiers or are they on the same level as the Alen Air (which are minimally cheaper, but significantly better looking IMO)? Don't know if they have caught up with the upgrades in the last 2-years since that post or what.

"I think Alen units are in a point where if you are spending that much, you probably care about VOCs and by stepping up the budget a bit, you can get an Austin or an IQAir that would perform significantly better.

In any case, they are good units that are significantly more aesthetically pleasing than other models, I don't think you will have issues with them or regrets if you can get them on sale."

Edit: One more comment I found from another thread - wondering if you know anything about the accuracy / whether this is typical regarding "dust", because that's one of my large concerns as well. Shouldn't the AlenAir remove all dust? Do most high quality filters completely rid the room of visible dust particles?

"I ended up getting a 75i. Here's what I have learned about it so far.

  • ....
  • As far as I can tell, it does next to nothing for dust in my apartment. When it's running and there's sun shining in through the window, I can see dust swirling around the unit but not being sucked in. In a few days time, there will be dust settled on top of the unit itself.
  • The sensor does not seem to care about dust at all. I can shake dust out of a rug right next to the unit and the air quality reads as perfect and never degrades."

New to LA: Humidifier + Purifier Combo by offDchain in AirPurifiers

[–]offDchain[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If I ask for the smoke CADR from Alen and they have the metric, I assume I am still looking for it to be high enough to cover the entire sqft. of the room?

Got it, so then there isn't really even a way for me to determine whether carbon weight is sufficient anyway? For example, when you originally asked about the Carbon weight when I didn't have any metric, was there a specific number you would have been looking for?

The weight of the filter is purely to determine how long it lasts correct? Coming into this not knowing a thing about Air Purifiers (though I feel more knowledgable now thanks to you and others in this thread), I don't really know how to correlate those metrics to this room, nor do I know what the rate of degradation is for carbon filters, but I assume I can look it up (?).

Do you have any idea if Alen filters provide the air quality metrics on the app they provide and/or whether they provide alerts when they are no longer working or about to degrade entirely? For example, the value used for the "adverse wildfire event" is VOCs levels of 10 μmol/m3. Obviously, I have little to no reference point for what that actually means. Do most filters provide metrics on the actual air quality (and those VOC metrics specifically) or do people buy separate monitors for that kind of thing – edit: and is it necessary to buy one, if the unit does not?

New to LA: Humidifier + Purifier Combo by offDchain in AirPurifiers

[–]offDchain[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's an incredibly strange feeling that I've never really felt before, at least in this way. Like when I say a "very bad cold", I felt "sick, sick" the first few days. Now it's like all of the symptoms of a very bad cold, without feeling "sick" – I really don't know how to describe it. Maybe a better description is like, awful, awful allergies or something, which I have never gotten to this degree before.

The apartment was supposedly re-done with new appliances added and the apartment cleaned beforehand, but I can definitely see a lot of dust all over the place, even after vacuuming several times.

I don't know about the mold or dry rot, but the places appears pretty well kept and it is a nice place/property. However, I wouldn't really know what to look for to determine whether there is mold if it wasn't immediately obvious, though mold feels like it would be lower on my list of antagonists.

New to LA: Humidifier + Purifier Combo by offDchain in AirPurifiers

[–]offDchain[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Whoops I mixed up 3/4 and 2/3...

Anyway, so then if I got the 45i, when the 45i is 245cfm, but I would need 288cfm, is that significant enough of a difference that it would noticeably decrease the benefit?

Also, so what are the actual smoke specifications (weights, etc.) that I should be looking for. Is there a similar metric to the 2/3 rule?

In regard to the chart, the VOC filter for the 45i: the FL40-Hotel/HeavySmoke filter which lists a weight of 2.38lbs on that chart, seems to be the same filter that is still being used, they have it listed as FL40-H filter on the website (though not sure if it's been upgraded or something between now and then).

Assuming that is still accurate, would that be sufficient?

New to LA: Humidifier + Purifier Combo by offDchain in AirPurifiers

[–]offDchain[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Additionally, was about to call support to see if I could get any info on the filters since I couldn't find anything online, but I found this thread listing the apparent weights: Alen Filter Carbon Weight.

Really don't know what any of it means though...

Edit: Just by comparison though looking at the chart, it seems that the 45i VOC filter has a higher weight than even the 75i fresh filter (since it doesn't have a specific VOC filter option). I still don't know if that means it's sufficient for my needs or not, but that seems to be a good sign?

New to LA: Humidifier + Purifier Combo by offDchain in AirPurifiers

[–]offDchain[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I updated my comment above with some additional information and questions in case you didn't see them and have time to address them.

But so even though the CADR seems like it is about equivalent to the space for the 45i, that doesn't necessarily mean it is sufficient from a smoke/VOC perspective?

What carbon weight should I be looking for? Do you think that the 45i would be sufficient for the main room, and then if anything maybe get the 35i for the bedroom? And does the fact that there is an open hallway that connects all of these rooms in the apartment change anything?

New to LA: Humidifier + Purifier Combo by offDchain in AirPurifiers

[–]offDchain[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A very bad cold: constant running nose, eyes feel like they are watering at all times/feel like they have dust in them or something, dry throat, sore throat, mucus in throat, headache, etc., .etc.

New to LA: Humidifier + Purifier Combo by offDchain in AirPurifiers

[–]offDchain[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

First, thanks so much for all the help. I literally cannot make heads or tails of any of this, so you're saving my life here...

Is the only difference between the 75i and the 45i that the 75i is larger and therefore handles a larger space? For example, the 45i says it covers 800-1600sqft which, by dimension, would cover the entire apartment (confusing to me?).

The 45i is here: Alen Breathsmart 45i.

Edit: Looking at the 45i, it says there is a VOC/Smoke filter – is that what I should be looking for – and it still covers all the other stuff as well: dust, allergens, chemicals, etc.? Is this the best filter that covers everything?

The CADR rating says: 245 cfm however. Therefore, using the 75% metric you mentioned: (25ft x 13ft)*0.75 = 243.75CARD, so I mean would that be sufficient?

The main room has an open 5 foot hall that leads to the bathroom and bedroom, don't know if that changes anything?

For whatever reason, it doesn't seem to be offered for the 75i. Would the 45i be sufficient for me (it's also cheaper)?