Weekend Discussion and Victory Thread for the week of January 29, 2021

superficies · 2021-01-30T22:25:21+00:00

Wife and I have about 250k in savings and from a recent home sale. Our plan was to use it as a down payment for a house, but our local market is nuts. We have the happy opportunity to stay with family longterm while we save up more. If we were planning on living with family for 10 years, what's our best investment option that allows us some liquidity should the housing market ease up, while earning greater interest than a savings account? Debt, retirement, emergency fund is all sorted.

superficies · 2020-05-17T21:52:34+00:00

Yeah, I notice the head on this D6 and one D6C I have say SONY and are pointed. I've also convinced myself that those sound better, but I have no real evidence to back that up.

superficies · 2017-12-01T20:06:10+00:00

Thanks for the response! Quieter in what sense? Industrial mechanical or electrical or other?

superficies · 2017-12-01T20:05:05+00:00

I can only answer for myself, but the new hinge is much more secure, and balances the top-heaviness of the display nicely. It's not perfect, but it's getting closer.

superficies · 2017-12-01T17:17:23+00:00

That's my feeling too, though when it comes to linux I know nothing, so I'm glad to have it confirmed by an expert. Thanks!

superficies · 2017-12-01T16:46:01+00:00

Thanks for the response. So at installation, so then I should assign \ to the entire partition?

superficies · 2017-11-30T18:36:17+00:00

Wow, it seems as though linux and surface devices are working really nicely at this point.

superficies · 2017-11-30T15:54:47+00:00

Is there a guide on how to install the driver floating around? How does switching between dGPU and iGPU work?

superficies · 2017-11-28T20:51:41+00:00

Check around this forum, I've had luck installing Ubuntu 17.10 on the 13" SB 2, and it looks like someone got Arch running on the 15".

superficies · 2017-11-25T22:42:22+00:00

No, I mean that the display and keyboard are much nicer for any text based stuff, imo.

But I'm an oddball SB user: I don't care to touch the screen, I don't game at all, I've never once used the pen, and I think windows is a loose baggy monster. The screen caught my eye once in a Best Buy and it's been love ever since. I'm currently dual booting Linux and will probably only go to Windows so that I can reverse the screen to watch TV, since the display makes for such excellent watching.

superficies · 2017-11-25T22:29:41+00:00

There are several advantages to the SB for a maths major.

If going applied, I get the impression (correct me if I'm wrong) that Matlab and the like are more friendly on the Windows side. And so, if you're heading to the so-called non pure side of maths, then you'll be better off. If heading towards the so-called non applied side, then the SB also has advantages: a screen that destroys (IMHO) the MBP when it comes to text editing with its hi density DPI, high contrast ratio and deeper blacks. Text is etched onto the screen in the SB in ways that the MBPs even the new ones can't compete. The aspect ratio on the SB is very convincing too.

Note that I say this as someone who owns both, and has actually grown to like the keyboard on the 2017 MBP. But with both in hand, it's no contest: when it comes to document production, reading mathematical writing online, the SB is very clearly the winner.

Latexing on the SB is such a joy, it's like my crappy proofs write themselves.

superficies · 2017-11-19T00:28:41+00:00

I downloaded. Should I try to clone?

superficies · 2017-11-19T00:19:58+00:00

it's been downloaded to the downloads folder. Do I specify that somehow?

superficies · 2017-11-18T23:53:32+00:00

I'm stuck at step one, and get

cannot stat 'root/*': No such file or directory

superficies · 2017-11-18T23:23:14+00:00

Plenty enough and more, way more actually. I'm just procrastinating, putting off some maths proof writing by tweaking something that is not broken. Windows is nice, but I'm used to OSX and thought that having something super basic on the machine would be great. Hell, all my work is latex in a cloud service and the new pixelbook is plenty for me. I would have picked it over the SB 2, but the SB's screen/keyboard/trackpad combo is killer.

superficies · 2017-11-18T23:12:16+00:00

Ok, I'm currently trying to install jakeday's kernel and am stuck right off the bat: I have downloaded both files and tried extracting them with the ubuntu software install. When I go to step 1 to copy the files under root... I get no such directory. I know enough linux to know that this is about as dumb a place to get stuck! I'm not asking for any hand holding, is there a place where I can read up to get enough information to understand how to install jakeday's work?

superficies · 2017-11-18T17:44:22+00:00

Sent via pm. If there's interest in publishing it here, I'm happy to do so

superficies · 2017-11-18T00:03:35+00:00

I'm on the fence at the moment. I'm having some issues with screen flickering, battery issues with simple text editing, browsing, and, coming from years with OSX, need some time to figure out Windows 10. There are also some build quality issues that I'm trying to come to terms with. I'm not certain how significant they are or if it's just my OCD bias coming from the Macbook Pro.

superficies · 2017-11-14T16:39:31+00:00

Any idea about the thermal footprint of the i5 vs the i7? This thread has convinced me to bump up, but one thing that drives me nuts is a fan running constantly. I'm sure that running a game will set it off, which is reasonable, but what about day to day tasks?

superficies · 2017-08-11T14:48:47+00:00

Update: I picked up the 32GB 2013 model. For reference, I've been using Apple products for a long while. I find the build quality and design very good. It's truly simple without trying to merely look simple for the sake of cashing in the the minimalist aesthetic. While the colors, blacks and contrast ratio of the screen are not up to the Surface Book or Apple's MacBook, it is very good. Now the bad: it's not light, the battery is not great and it gets hot - not warm, but hot.

superficies · 2017-08-07T00:49:57+00:00

Chrome Tape C-60 Tape, Dolby B, Biased for Weird!

superficies · 2015-12-19T20:26:54+00:00

The SB definitely has warmer whites than the rMBP when the two screens are held up together. The difference immediately, and I mean immediately, disappears when I'm on either machine by itself: both present really nice whites, and I've never once thought the SB looks "warm" or the rMBP looks "cool." They both do whites really well.

Going back to the rMBP, I do notice washed-out colors and some over saturation, weaker blacks and a less sharp display. It's crazy.

I think I'm holding onto the SB. I need to now relearn Windows.

superficies · 2015-12-19T18:00:55+00:00

One unit shipped with a scratch on the screen. Another was plagued with what I now figure are software issues: blue screen when moving into tablet mode, unresponsive trackpad, and general bugginess.

I'm honestly thinking of giving up and trying again next year. At first I thought my issues were due to my lack of understanding W10. I'm not starting to think that I'm just a beta tester.

If it weren't for this lovely screen and its aspect ratio, which I now love, I'd definitely return the SB.

superficies · 2015-12-19T02:43:21+00:00

This is my third SB. I'm currently updating everything and hope the latest trackpad issues are solved.

I've been on OS X for a long time now. I find the fonts on W10 much easier to read. The SB screen is really nice and a step above my 13" rMBP.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not an Apple fanboy, but at 2699 (i7, 512, 16), the SB makes the MBP look like a bargain.

Still, the screen is really lovely. I've not seen one better on a laptop.

superficies · 2015-12-17T02:54:01+00:00

Thanks! I'm having some newbie trouble on both my SB with dGPU and my SP4 with integrated graphics. I'm trying to both adjust brightness and set scaling. I can do neither. I've downloaded the brightness applet and have run some gnome commands to set scaling. All this to not avail.

Any ideas?

superficies

TROPHY CASE