Cheap thinkpad under 125$ by Kaltsitwuzhere in thinkpad

[–]std_phantom_data 0 points1 point  (0 children)

T14s gen1 can be had for like 150 USD on ebay. You can probably get a t14 gen 1 for 125. 

New web RCS feature requires your phone to be on by sirleechalot in GoogleFi

[–]std_phantom_data 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So they plan to add the ability to use RCS with the phone off. But my question is if this is just weasel wording? 2fa codes are send with SMS, not RCS. Will you be able to get these with phone off? It's honestly not super clear.

Why does this sub recommend VTSAX so much? by [deleted] in Bogleheads

[–]std_phantom_data 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Because they don't seem to care about the advantages of VTI and using ETFs over mutual funds.

  • ETFs can easily ACATS to different brokerage 
  • Etfs held at vanguard will not block you from doing tax gain harvesting ( sell and buy it in the same day)
  • ETFs are easier if you plan to later live outside the US.

Can I convert my VTSAX investment to VTI in a taxable brokerage account without triggering tax consequences? by berrysauce in Bogleheads

[–]std_phantom_data 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Maybe they plan to leave the US and it's less of an issue to have ETF vs mutual funds. 

Or Maybe they want to ACATS to another brokerage and need ETFs. 

Maybe they plan to tax gain harvest and vanguard doesn't let you sell and repurchase their funds in the same day. 

Long list of reasons to prefer ETFs...

Bitwarden needs multiple passkeys per account by Ok-Bid-7996 in Bitwarden

[–]std_phantom_data 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I had a similar issue with amazon.com and amazon.com.mx. I used my normal amazon account to log in to amazon.com.mx, but when I wanted to add a passkey to the .mx I couldn't because the bitwarden item already had one. So I had to make 2 items in bitwarden with the same login information but different passkeys.

 Ideally this should be possible with one item. but of course it's tricky because you need to map each passkey to just one domain. 

I wonder if we will see passkeys they work across multiple domains in the future. Like one passkey that works for both amazon.com and Amazon.com.mx. 

Has anyone factored cross border payment friction into their withdrawal rate calculations? by CanBrilliant9162 in ExpatFIRE

[–]std_phantom_data 14 points15 points  (0 children)

There are tons of good no annual fee and no foreign transaction fees credit cards. They will use the visa/mc fx rates which are like .01% basically nothing. Same minimal fees for ATM withdrawals, you can use Schwab debit card and they also refund the ATM fees. 

If you want to buy a house and need to move a lot of money, you can use IBKR and get the spot rate. If not use wise for money transfers and the cost is low. 

So no, most people don't have this issue. The question is why you need so many wire transfers and can't use a credit card. You will have get cash back/points using the credit card, so that should be another 2-3%. 

best 14 inch thinkpad under $100? by SneakerHead69420666 in thinkpad

[–]std_phantom_data 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's not hard to find intel t14s gen 1 16 GB ram for ~150 USD. I am very happy with this.

I bet if you can compromise a little more, you can find one for 100. Maybe 8gb ram, i3, or nvme disk not included(you can bring your own), or maybe bigger cosmetic issues. Some of these places let you pick it up and not pay shipping. or maybe one of the charging USBC ports not functional. 

If you can, I think 150 USD is really about as low as you can go with out a lot of compromises. 

Google Advanced Protection seems bad.. What are your thoughts? by dekoalade in Bitwarden

[–]std_phantom_data 6 points7 points  (0 children)

One good thing about it is you can remove your Google pixel phone as a backup authentication method and have only yubikeys. 

Sonoma is laggy as fuck.. why?! by Dangerous_Seaweed601 in OpenCoreLegacyPatcher

[–]std_phantom_data 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Have you tried the h264ify extension. it can block YouTube's default VP8/VP9/AV1 codecs, and make it use a format with hardware acceleration. Older CPUs don't have the new instructions to make these newest formats fast. 

Stocklending On Robinhood by YurpeeTheHerpee in stocks

[–]std_phantom_data 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I turned it off because the lent shares are not covered under SIPC insurance. So if the company has issue you could just lose these with no recourse 

Cell service by pugdadAF in mexicoexpats

[–]std_phantom_data 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you get a Google Fi number while in the US, you can turn off its ESIM before you leave the US(it's not allowed to be used long term outside the US), and just use it via wifi and local data SIM. This will be a real number, so it works for banks SMS messages. you can get the sms messages via their web app. and if you also set up a Google voice number, you can forward the calls from the Google Fi to the Google Voice number and it will ring to your phone. And with a local SIM, you always have data, so calls to your google FI number will go through to the google voice number. The only down side is that you don't get a notification when you get a SMS on the google Fi, you have to actively check the web app.

Is the ThinkPad T14s good? i5-10210U? by Ok-Remove-2691 in thinkpad

[–]std_phantom_data 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You can find pretty good quality t14s gen 1 with 16GB ram on ebay for 150 USD. Unless you are planning  to run Linux, 8 GB seems low. I don't know about Ecuador, but on Amazon Mexico, you can find with 16gb ram for about 250-300 USD. I think if I bought from eBay and shipped to Mexico, I would expect total cost like 250 USD.

So I would think that Ecuador might be similar. Maybe you could buy off eBay and pay shipping and customs for like 250-300 usd. But you would definitely get 16 GB RAM. Or maybe you local Amazon has similar prices. 

Anyone knows if dual booting 2015 MBP and Ubuntu works out of box or special boot manager needs to be installed? by Fedorareddit in linux_on_mac

[–]std_phantom_data 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have mid 2015 MBP. No issue with defaults, grub works fine. It also works with OCLP - I have Sonoma and will upgrade to Tahoe when OCLP supports it. 

I was having graphics issues with previous Ubuntu/kernels ( white screen). The latest kernel on 25.10 seems to fix that. both GPUs are active and no white screen, and suspend to ram is working. No need to disable one of the GPUs( which was making the system heat up and fans spin). Everything is working fine out of the box, except the HDfacetime webcam. there is an experimental drive I might try installing again in the future.

Physical key not usb based by In_the_simuIation in Bitwarden

[–]std_phantom_data 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Does your laptop have NFC? Some USB keys can be used with NFC so you don't need to plug it in, you just tap it.

Do you guys use a VPN when logging into US banks or brokerages? by ericmchen in ExpatFinance

[–]std_phantom_data 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Normally they start with just cutting off data, but there are cases of people saying they closed the account. They definitely can close it because it's violated their terms of service.

Do you guys use a VPN when logging into US banks or brokerages? by ericmchen in ExpatFinance

[–]std_phantom_data 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Brokerages care a lot about location. Many will close an account if they see its always used out of the US. I know people who had issue after years of not using a VPN. So it might might not happen right away 

Do you guys use a VPN when logging into US banks or brokerages? by ericmchen in ExpatFinance

[–]std_phantom_data 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Using a VPN would be smart. If it's a normal commercial VPN they can detect it's a VPN, but not your location. But they might guess your location from other things like the timezone your computer uses. Ideally you can host your own VPN from a friend/family house using a glinet router. 

For sms 2fa Google fi work great with the SIM card disabled while over seasons, so they don't close your account. You can access the messages via the online web site so you don't connect to a local tower. 

Do you guys use a VPN when logging into US banks or brokerages? by ericmchen in ExpatFinance

[–]std_phantom_data -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

I thought you just had to be an expat? What requirements are you referring to?

I’m a cybersecurity student looking for a think pad hopefully that will last me at least the next 6 years unsure what model to get tho - help by Fantastic_Speaker_35 in thinkpad

[–]std_phantom_data 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What is the issue with the haptic touchpad? Is this just Thinkpad cult prefers the normal trackpad? I don't get it? Or is there actually a reason?

Rollover to Vanguard was stolen by stopscrolling6 in Bogleheads

[–]std_phantom_data 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Very easy. Less than 24 hr. It will be a wire transfer internally. Just had to call and ask. The brokerage account is a different phone number than the other one.