#acer nice laptop

[kitchenvelly]

Acer Aspire 3 A314-23P-R3QA Slim Laptop.

Acer Aspire 3 A314-23P-R3QA Slim Laptop.14.0" Full HD IPS Display. AMD Ryzen 5 7520U Quad-Core Processor. AMD Radeon Graphics | 8GB LPDDR5. 512GB NVMe SSD. Wi-Fi 6 | Windows 11 Home,Silver : Electronics.

[jhalya]

Nine people I'd like to get to know better!

Tagged by @coraleethroughthelookingglass and @myfavouritelunatic

🎵 LAST SONG: Next to me by Imagine Dragons

🎨 FAVOURITE COLOUR: teal and pink and you-can't-make-me-choose

📺 CURRENTLY WATCHING: Life on our planet

🖥 LAST MOVIE/SHOW: Escaping Twin Flames

🍪 SWEET / SAVOURY / SPICY: sweet (gimme all the cookies) and spicy :3

⌨️ LAST THING YOU GOOGLED: best laptops for video editing (I just wanted an excuse to get myself a Surface)

No pressure tag @somebirdortheother @theriverwild @scriberated @pursuitseternal @thrillofhope @demonscantgothere @myrsinemezzo @eowyn7023 @ruleofexception

[teruthecreator]

new laptop works good :-)

[anothermonikan]

absolutely fucking devastating: my siblings chromebook is kinda cute /p

[mothpdf]

linux is like a star crossed lover to me

[racfoam]

Okay, poll time regarding an important purchase in my day-to-day life.

In short, I am ready to upgrade from my (glances to the Acer laptop that's been dead for a year) laptop...

I now have a very big budget (it's considered big in my country) that I got over the summer to finally spend it on an upgrade.

I need a poll because now I got an idea to buy a PC, which is dangerous territory for me for numerous reasons. Some background: I haven't had a PC since I was 14, I got my laptop (which is dead now) right as I entered high school, and it was a cheap one, it couldn't even run Minecraft without lagging which at the time pissed off my gamer childhood self.

But, as a functioning, employed adult, I finally did it. I finally saved up enough money to buy a new device.

The accesibility & portability of laptops is def what I need overall for my professional life. They're not a MUST at my work place at all, but it would be NICE to be able to access my documents on laptop & edit them there or during the way home rather than go to the office again for the PC.

Here’s the thing. The laptop I can afford is not better by performance against the gaming PC I can afford.

Why a gaming PC?

Because I am a whimsical little shit. I see a program and I want to master it for hobby's sake, or just cus I'm that curious. What if I one day want to pick up Blender or 3D sculpting or some shit just to try it?! It's happened before, and it continues happening. I jump from hyperfixation to hyperfixation like a ping pong ball. A laptop at the price range I want to buy won't be able to run complex games or Blender.

The childhood me, in my soul, wants that freaking PC. But my basic normal thought process is also aware if I get a gaming PC it may distract me from my work bcs... Well the PC will be able to do EVERYTHING. At least I'm self-aware enough of that.

Another thing is...

Durability & longer-life & upgradability

I can always upgrade the PC, I know my way around PC hardware. The PC will last me longer than the laptop probably will, and I can't upgrade the laptop.

But then I have no portability & always-accessibility the laptop offers, and if I get the laptop it will be for work, Photoshop & fic writing if I get used to it (I won't, I hate writing on laptops). Which is perfect, I'll be able to do my work even on the go, I can carry it with me, etc etc and I WON'T BE DISTRACTED.

So! I guess, vote bcs at this point I'll toss a goddamn coin! And before anyone asks, no I won't put the Macbook on the list, I like having my liver, thank you.

My biggest fear is that I've grown so used to the laptop interface if I buy a PC I'll just take time re-configuring my brain to use it, so what if I hate it? I have so many fears, and I don't want to waste my money and then go like "ugh, I'm disappointed". I'm used to reading on the laptop, typing on the laptop, working on the laptop, etc. I have all PC peripherals except a monitor but the IT stores are having huge discounts & sales now I can grab one from anywhere at this point so that doesn't concern me a lot.

This is a purchase I'll treat myself with for my birthday. I've spoken to friends, some say laptop, some say PC. Anyway, here is the poll. I'll put it for today.

I just love both but I have to pick, but I can't. Laptop is more familiar to me now than a PC 🤣 a PC would be dangerous cus I will def get the urge to play games instead of WORKING, but on the off hours it'd be a party 🤣

For info, the

PC would be

Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 5600

GPU: RX 6600

RAM: 16GB

That is the overall idea and I even found a custom pc builder in my country, too, if the prebuilt ones are too expensive, haha.

Laptop Models:

Lenovo Ideapad 3 with Ryzen 5, 16Gb RAM, Integrated Intel GPU

Lenovo V15 G5, also Ryzen 5, 16gb ram, integrated Intel GPU

[tap-tap-tap-im-in]

A friend of mine asked me recently to detail my Linux setup, and after thinking about it for a bit, I realized that this is essentially a personality quiz for the Linux users I thought I would detail it here as well.

I no longer have a desktop computer at all. I have two older generation "gaming" laptops and three Raspberry Pis. I'm going to go through in the order I got them:

Laptop #1:

[Purchased New in 2016] Acer ROG 7th Gen i7, 16GB Ram, nVidia 1050Ti Mobile, Internal 1TB HDD, external 2TB HDD

This was originally a windows laptop when I got it back in 2016, but in 2021 I was tired of the long windows boot times on the the HDD and was much more familiar with Linux due to several years experience doing webserver admin work.

I use Ubuntu LTS as my base. It's easy, it's well supported, it's well documented, and the official repos have just about everything I could need. The only thing I've really had to add myself is the repo for i3, but we'll get to that in a bit. I also chose Ubuntu because I already had my first two Raspberry pis, and both were running Raspbian, so using a debian based kernal meant that it wouldn't be much of a change when ssh'ing into them.

That said, I've never really liked the default Ubuntu desktop. Gnome3 is slow and full of too many effects that don't look especially nice but are still heavy to execute. Instead I loaded up KDE plasma. You can download Kubuntu and have them to the setup for you, but I did it the hard way because I found out about Plasma after installing Ubuntu and didn't want to start from scratch.

My plasma desktop looks like this:

Of my two laptops, this one is in the best shape. It's the one that I usually take with me on trips. With the dedicated GPU it can do some light gaming (it did heavier gaming on windows, but due to emulation layers the performance is just a little worse these days, Linux gaming isn't perfect), the screen hinge has never been an issue, and it's on the lighter side of gaming laptops (which is not to say that it's light). For that reason, I often find myself actually using it on my lap, in airports, at people's houses, on my own couch typing this up.

For this reason, I started looking into ways to better keep my hands on the keyboard, rather than having to drift down to the track pad, which is my least favorite part of this laptop. During that research I discovered i3. If you're not familiar i3 is a Linux Desktop Environment that is entirely keyboard driven. https://i3wm.org/

To be fair, it's less of a desktop environment and more of a keyboard driven window manager, as it doesn't have a "desktop" per se. Instead when you log into it, you simply get a black status bar at the bottom of the screen. It doesn't even black out the login screen, so if you don't know what to look for, you might think the whole thing has hung. But, the big benefit of this is that the whole thing is lighting fast for a DE. It doesn't waste any resources on effects or really anything that you don't need. But it's really nice for window tiling and task switching without having to get the mouse involved. This is great for productivity (if you're into that), but it's also just convenient for working on a gaming laptop, which might be balanced such that if you take your hands off of it, it might topple off your lap.

This laptop is my primary project computer. It has all my git repos and scripts for doing things like renewing my website's ssl certs. I also run game servers on it for Minecraft. I'm probably going to spin up a Valheim server on it in the near future too. Especially now that the process has improved somewhat.

Raspberry Pi #1:

[Gifted New in 2016] Raspberry Pi 3b, 4GB RAM, 32GB SD card

This one is my oldest RPi. It's had a lot of roles through the years, including an early version of the vogon media server during initial development in 2020. It's run headless Raspbian for a good three or four years now. Currently it's configured as a web server/php scripted web crawler and a pi-hole DNS server. My router currently refuses to use it as a DNS server without bringing the whole network down, but I will on occasion manually switch devices to it when I'm running especially ad-ridden applications.

There's not too much to say about this one. It's stable, I almost never have problems with it. I frequently use it for things that I want running in the background because they'll take too long and I don't want them blocking up one of my other computers.

Laptop #2

[Gifted Used in 2020] Asus Predator 7th Gen i7, 16GB Ram, nVidia 1080 Mobile, 2 internal 256GB SSDs, External 2TB HDD

This one runs windows 10 still. I use this primarily for gaming. The screen hinge is an absolute joke, and replacing it involves replacing the entire screen bezel assembly, which I can absolutely do, but is such a pain that I haven't gotten around to it in the 3 years I've owned this laptop.

There's nothing really special about this one, other than that when both laptops are at my desk, I use a KVM switch to swap my external monitor, keyboard, and trackball between the two computers.

Raspberry Pi #2:

[Gifted New in 2020/21] Raspberry Pi 4b, 4GB Ram, 16GB SD card, 2 120GB USB Sticks, External 2TB HDD

This is my media server. I got it for Christmas 2020 (or 2021, I don't actually remember which because 2020 was a hard hard year). It runs Rasbian, the full OS, with the desktop environment disabled from booting via the command line. It runs PHP 8.2, MariaDB, Apache2, and MiniDLNA to serve the content via my Vogon Media Server.

If you can't tell from the above storage, I'm running the USB ports well past the power delivery they are rated for. The webserver and OS are on the internal storage, so functionally this just means that sometimes the media disappears. I need to build a migration script to put the contents of the two USB sticks on the external storage, as there is more than enough room, and if I can put the HDD in an enclosure with dedicated power, that will solve the issue. But that's at least a hundred dollars of expense, and since the server only has 1, maybe two users at a time, we've been limping along like this for a few years now.

Raspberry Pi #3:

[Purchased New in 2023] Raspberry Pi 4b, 8GB Ram, 16GB SD card

This is the newest Pi. Work gave me a gift card as a bonus for a project recently, so after weighing the pros and cons of getting a VR headset, I settled on setting up a retro gaming tv box. Currently it's running Batocero Linux and loaded up with classic game roms up through the PSX. Though, I would really like to use it as a tv client for the media server. I've upgraded the devices in the living room recently, and there's no longer a dedicated web browser we can use without hooking up one of our laptops. I've got a spare 128GB SD card in the office, so I'm strongly considering getting a wireless mouse and keyboard and setting it up to dual boot between Batocero (which is convenient because it can be navigated with just a controller), and Raspbian. I think I'd set Batocero as the default in Grub, and then if I want to use Raspbian I'd need to have the keyboard handy anyway.

Maybe I'll get one of those half-sized keyboards with the trackpad built in.

Speaking of controllers. I use an 8BitDo Pro 2 controller, and I've been super happy with it since purchase: https://www.8bitdo.com/pro2/

So that's the setup. I have entirely too many computers for any one person, but I included the dates when I got them to show that a number of these have been around for a long time, and that part of the reason I have so many now is that I've put a lot of time into ongoing maintenance and repurposing.

If you've read this far, I'd love to hear about your setups. You don't have to reblog this, but please tag me if you detail yours.

[goat-mint]

just got a new laptop :P hmm yes it's coming together nicely

model: Acer Predator Triton 300 SE (14") (2TB SSD, 16GB RAM, i7-12700H, RTX 3060 Max-Q)

[hisui-cotton]

Hello Hello! Today I’d like to talk about my experience in going to digital art as my primary workflow over the past 5 or 6 years and what I’ve kinda wanted to do for my art in the past and now in the future. Overall I wanted to share my thoughts on the two primary programs I use, how I critique myself and what I’ve learned about art on a personal level.

To preface, as this is a newer format, you expect a level of self-reflection in this that may seem odd! This is both a report to my own brain cave (in lore it's Ithod my "home planet") and a personal exploration of aspects of my life that have taken my interest. This is one of my big steps into finding what I enjoy creating as a VTuber. So please look forward to it as the future has more of this type of blogging but on a variety of topics I find interest in in addition to my Art posts!

Alright let’s start from the…beginning? One of the first times I got a genuine chance to use digital art was in 2013 on a Acer laptop and a tablet I can’t remember the brand of. I didn’t learn too much, I kind of just went for it. It’s hard to explain that I was not really looking at digital art as something I needed to relearn compared to traditional art, not to mention that I was still not improving my art in a….genuine way? I think I was just trying things out to explore how it works. The main problem was that I just didn’t know what I wanted to be using it for at the time. Like yes I wanted to draw but what did I want to be using digital art for that I could use traditional art to do? Overall I didn’t do a whole lot with that tablet other than play around with it but that was a good entry nonetheless.

Sometime after that in 2016/2018-ish I began to draw on my phone and I got a Windows Surface Pro. These were the two steps that really gave me perspective on some of the stuff I can do in digital Art compared to traditional, especially since I had also by that point learned way more about concepts in art and planning my work. This is really where I leaned into taking stuff I learned concept wise and played around with the ability of digital programs like layers, clipping, and being able too revert to old phases of the process without having to totally restart. I played around a lot with making sure I was atleast TRYING to get fullbody work in my compositions as I noticeably struggled with getting body gestures down. Everything felt stiff and I couldn’t figure out how to get rid of that while getting line art in. A lot of that went on to mean that I just did a lot of sketching, studies and generally drew things I felt I had a vague idea for. I typically didn’t go beyond the testing/planning either there because that wasn’t what I was really aiming to do. If I wasn’t thinking of an image beyond it’s initial idea then I had no need to try things beyond that. This wasn’t like a bad time for my art though. In the one year of drawing on a Surface Pro I went from basic fanart doodles to a fairly well developed digital style. I hadn’t even really looked back at the progress of that first year of drawing on the surface pro till now. In the year before I had been drawing fairy consistently on my phone but it was doing basic little portraits and stuff like that. If I had to say I learned one specific thing in the time I used the surface pro (which was for about 3 years) it’s likely that the screen/tablet type you use has a greater effect on how you draw that you may realize.

The ability to draw in my phone was great for at work during lunches or for jotting down sketch ideas which I could use/develop later if I wanted to. I very much loved this convivence because I didn’t want to risk taking my Surface Pro to work or something like that and then it breaking or getting stolen. So the phone usage was very nice especially in our modern era where a good mini-stylus or just the right free app is enough. Specifically I worked in Pixiv Sketch, and still do when I draw on my phone. It’s got a great basic variety of brushes and then a layer function with a decent amount of layer limits.

The Surface Pro’s ability to make the process feel smooth and clean even at various pen pressures was really interesting to realize after switching to an XP-Pen Tablet. It was also really nice to have something to just pull up a full drawing program but also be able to lay in my bed lmao. It may not have done much for my quality but it made me feel like drawing wasn’t something that I had to be up and ready to do if I just wanted to doodle. It also ran really well with decent memory space. This bring me to Paint Tool Sai, the program that I’ve been using for most of my digital art.

I bought Paint Tool Sai back on my Acer laptop. It was $75 at the time which was a lot for me but now looking back…I’ve had like a lifetime art program that can be used at a professional level. I remember recently watching one of the BTS of Genshin Impact and seeing Paint Tool Sai open in on one of their PCs was really refreshing lmao. It was the same hat meme. It was great. But also the fact that it’s made by one guy in Japan, who has been developing the 2.0 for the past few years is crazy because it’s honestly such a great program. I got the 2.0 upgrade for free as well which was even nicer in regards to the fact I only paid for it once also 10 years ago.

Because of it’s program nature with various brush folders and texture folders, it’d similar to Clip Studio in it’s customization for brush textures and settings. You can create your own textures, brushes and such and import them into the program. I find it’s overall feeling when drawing is really smooth even in a lot it’s brush settings. It’s got great reaction time and feels a lot like traditional art for that reason. Even with a really high Stabilization it’s reaction and accuracy to the line is really nice. The digital coloring on the other hand doesn’t really feel as good. I like to use the marker tool because I personally enjoy the look of washed colors so it isn’t too bad for me but when I need flat colors or blended rendering I tend to personally struggle with getting it done at a decent speed. But all the conveniences of the placement for in-program functions like new-layer, merge layer, copy/paste and blank layer are in the same place which I prefer over Clip Studio’s spread out options. It’s possible I can move them around more but the built in thought of the placement for a lot of things in Paint Tool Sai is a nice start for someone looking to just get started within digital art and needs a program with just enough stuff beyond the essentials to let you do really good quality work.

Now I’ve upgraded to a full PC, which I got in 2020. I use an Omen as I expected that if I wanted to use other art programs or draw on even bigger canvases that I should need a more robust system than what I used on the Surface Pro, but I didn’t need anything too crazy that would require a custom system. I also took this as a time to get a slightly larger tablet. Currently I use a XP-Pen tablet which is noticeably different to use than a surface pro. Since a surface Pro is also a laptop/tablet it had a smoother screen, untextured and such, where as the XP-Pen has a slight Matte to it. The XP-Pen also has a layered screen, where theres a slight slight space between where your pen is and the actual place it’s drawing at.

My use of Sai has gone down in the last month however as I finally began using Clip Studio. I admit that theres still something about the feel of the program I don’t like in comparison to Sai but it’s a better overall experience for making higher quality, more complete work at this time. Partially because I still haven’t figured out my art process. Clip Studio has made the convenience of coloring much more accessible to me on a variety of levels. It let’s me feel like I’m not overly perfectionist on my sketch process or lineart in comparison to just laying down a few colors because I don’t have confidence with them. Now even without confidence in my color choices or usage I at least feel like I’ve been able to fake it. In sai it was very dependent on you knowing what colors you wanted to use and what tool you’d use to lay them down. So far it doesn’t feel that way in Clip Studio. I can choose a basic brush and paint bucket and get color laid down in about 20 minutes if I wanted or take more time with a slightly varied brush and get that washed style I like while also being able to properly fill the spaces of the work.

Overall in my art process itself it’s been a lot faster as well than in Sai, perhaps because I’m still taking it slower with the express reason of really learning to use it for efficiency. My progression through the years has sort of allowed me to take that previous knowledge I’d gained and use it in what I do next which is generally what one does when making a change to their professional processes. A lot of doing things new successfully depends on how much you can make it work with what you already know.

Finally let’s talk about my art process itself, what my sort of mentality is behind it. A lot of what I do is based on “Oh I really want to see something like this!” or “That would be a fun/cool image” if I’m drawing for myself. I start with a thumbnail sketch, enlarge that and then do another more detailed sketch on top of that. Typically I haven’t done lineart in the past because it adds a lot of time to the process and I never feel like it looks good compared to sketch. Now that I have clip studio though and the coloring process can go a lot faster with better lineart, I’ve been trying to do a bit cleaner sketches or full lineart. Coloring usually is flat colors first, washed shading next and then multiple layer styles on top of that of highlights and shading. I usually do washed shading as a sort of “sketch” for the shades. Usually a rough colored drawing takes about 2 hours? Sometimes a bit more depending on how much I clean up the lines, sometimes less if I just slap on the colors and lines.

The things that I feel I need to work on the most are usually in regards to colors and composition. I tend to focus up my character compositions to fill the whole page either by intentionally drawing them large or by enlarging the sketches to fill the page size. But if it’s a composition that isn’t character focused or has some more environmental aspects then I tend to struggle. My color choices also are hard to do because I don’t usually consider them in my sketching phase. Since I usually go into pieces with an idea of what person, character or outfits I’m drawing then colors tend not to be something I think too much about. This is something I notice a lot in environmental drawings though because the colors get so clashed when actual lighting and such needs to be planned out against a certain layout. Which sucks because I absolutely LOVE vibrant coloring and such but I don’t know how to make that work with environment stuff yet.

A lot of what I want to draw, in both style and “substance”, is character driven. I like action that shows a lot of atmosphere or feels very in character. When a still image can feel like it captures the feeling of a moment or feels like it was made with a real idea in mind that means a lot to me, so that’s what I try to go in with when I’m drawing. For characters and such that can be a variety of things from just lounging around or hanging out to getting dressed-up or a variety of actions. It’s really fun to see so much more in the things that I like and to be able to share those things through art is wonderful.

To send you off I want to say that…I like being an artist. It’s so nice to know and learn a skill like art since it can be a sort of perspective into a person’s views. People’s ability to connect over concepts and such is so cool and I feel like even today when we have fine art, fanart and everything in-between that it really sets up the fun of creativity and community. Right now there’s an ongoing official art series of Miku and Pokemon drawn by various artists. Some people have begun taking that concept and drawing it themselves, putting their own spins on it in their version of the pokemon style and outfits. It’s so cool that looking through it all I can barely tell which ones are official and which are fan made. Like it’s a clear cut conversation where everyone can give it a shot with their own ideas and can still be talking about the same thing. I think that’s lovely.

For my art in the future, I want to be able to design and draw a buncha stuff. I really like stationary and want to make some stuff in the future for it. These report logs are one place I’ll be playing around with that to test it a bit so I’m excited to continue these. I also want to better my Background drawing because I really love the idea of being able to put characters in a location, somewhere I can imagine them being. I’ve gotten better at character interactions but I want to think about how much further that can go if I add an environment. For the future of my style…I don’t know! I like to have a very dreamy or washed style but also bold colors and expressive lines. But I’ll definitely be thinking about it even more in the future as I start developing a finished my process (getting fully rendered colors, lineart, etc.).

[lifewithchronicpain]

It is done, graduation laptop for my sibling has been purchased. I had a friend who recommended an Acer Aspire Vero, with some really nice specs. Unfortunately for the price he found it was only online and I just don't purchase laptops online unless it's to pick up. I fear shipping damage and theft.

So I did some searching and I found an Acer Aspire Vero for a decent price at Best Buy. The specs are a little less than what my friend suggested, but I felt it was good enough. I bought it for my mom to pick up. I wish the RAM was better but I know sibling can upgrade it on their own. She's done it before and has a techie friend to help.

Besides, she wants to save for a state of the art gaming computer and right now she's borrowing, so this computer will fill the gap until she finally afford her dream computer.

[angelhelvin]

How to Choose the Right Laptop for you?

Buying a laptop takes some research. Before you know it, you will be inundated with all kinds of laptops, and making a choice is difficult. Buying a laptop is an investment that should be worth it. A good laptop will give you years of pleasure! Do you want to buy your first Laptop, or are you ready for a new one? We are happy to help you choose a nice laptop.

How do you choose the right new Laptop?

Buying a new laptop seems like it takes a lot of work. Still, the choice is pretty good when you know what you will use the Laptop for. For example, a passionate gamer has very different requirements for a laptop than a diligent student. See below which Laptop is best for your work.

What is a good laptop for home or business use?

You can use a new laptop in your spare time or tick off to-dos. A private or business laptop should be manageable but not too small. It is best to choose a 15 to 17-inch computer from Acer or HP for a good basic laptop.

Small school laptops for students

The portability of a laptop is important when it is used for studying. Carrying a laptop from lecture hall to lecture hall is no fun, so it must be as light as a feather. The Laptop must also be able to take a beating because it can sometimes be busy in the stairwell or the canteen. Therefore, opting for a sturdy yet lightweight Lenovo best laptop 2023.

Play games with a gaming laptop

When playing games, you should opt for the powerhouses of laptops. Gaming uses very heavy programs. You can play endless games with an Asus laptop. Then choose the models ASUS TUF or the Pro series. MSI laptops are also a very good choice. This popular game brand is best rated by gamers worldwide.

Want to compare more computers?

You may still need help to make a choice. Would you like to compare laptops even more extensively before taking the plunge? Then use our buying guide and discover which model suits you.

What are good laptops for a reasonable price?

Cheap laptops are less expensive for a reason. The price difference is often reflected in a quality difference. For an entry-level model suitable for basic use, such as emailing and surfing the internet, you can opt for a cheap laptop under $600. However, do you want a more powerful model with which you can watch razor-sharp movies, play games, or edit photos? Then the price will be higher.

What does a used laptop cost?

You can also opt for an almost new laptop. These laptops have been returned or exchanged by customers and then carefully checked by us. These laptops are in excellent condition, but you pay less than the new price. All these laptops also come with a 2-year warranty.

[myconetted]

macbooks last for like 5-10 years tho lol. i'm not even an apple fanboy, they just objectively give their hardware a long lifetime with software/OS support that goes surprisingly far compared to everyone else. when i look at a pile of old thinkpads, macbooks, HPs, dells, acers, etc, i'm gonna pick the thinkpads and macbooks.

you may genuinely prefer having a hulking beast of a computer, but most people don't! i'm most people in this regard. i once thought i wanted a hulking beast until i got one. 17" of laptop, it was a damn nightmare to fit in my bag, and made me not want to haul it around—kind of defeated the purpose of a laptop. let all that chonk stay with your desktop.

and yeah sorry moores law says you're never gonna have something built to last 50 years. sure, design the parts themselves to last, but that's gonna cost you extra, and for what? the standards for how computers fit together will have changed; it'll be a pain in the ass to even keep the chassis. the bottom line here is that shit changes and you have to get used to it.

for repairs and upgrades: these are already options!! helloooo thinkpad. hello framework. they both release extremely detailed repair and maintenance guides! thinkpads have ports out the yin yang and the framework lets you mix n' match with little usb thingies that slide into the laptop. it even goes ker-chunk! don't know why the fuck you would want a lever to turn it on though. that sounds like a part just waiting to fail and allow junk to accumulate in the crevices it'd require.

for software, use linux! it doesn't do the stupid UI overhaul thing every three months. i've used the same desktop environment for over eight years, babey! don't like it? too hard to use? too bad! figure it out! that's what it looks like when you don't have a fancy product team polishing everything (and then deciding to redesign). you may not like it, but this is what peak performance looks like.

i'm just sayin', the nice things are already out there. you already have a choice to escape the clutches of le silly valley's evils. but if you don't like the options you've got, then i dunno what to tell ya except that it's nice over here and i hope you'll join us eventually :)

You know what, fuck it, I don't *want* some frivolous, artisanal, lighter-than-air computer with no customizability, no upgradeability, no reparability, no ports, and a lifetime of *maybe* 3 years if you're lucky. I want a fucking great BEAST of a computer that's designed to last a minimum of 50 years, with ports up the wazoo and optional drives for every kind of media! I want modular components that you can drop in a bog for a year, dry them off, and have them still work fine! I want them to make a noise like "ker-chunk!" when you slide them into place! I want a switch that you pull to turn it on! And I don't want software that constantly forces you to get a pointless, cosmetic "upgrade" every few months either! I want durability! I want longevity! I want satisfying haptics! I want Silicon Valley to go fuck itself!

[izder456]

My Experience Installing OpenBSD/arm64 7.6 on a 4GB Raspberry Pi 400

As any good OpenBSD user should, I read my platform's INSTALL notes; in the case of this machine, that is here: INSTALL.arm64.

I also read the arm64 page to see what would work and what wouldn't.

As per INSTALL.arm64 and the arm64 page, I needed the UEFI firmware from pftf on GitHub: Github page.

Following the README there, I put the correct files on an SD card.

Then, I downloaded the install76.img file for arm64 to my main machine.

Since OpenBSD's dd doesn't show progress, and using dd is unnecessary here, I opted to use pv to burn the img file to a USB drive. pv also gives a nice progress meter and estimated time:

# pv install76.img > /dev/rsdXc (where X is the drive I burned to)

Please read this "Cult of dd" post for more info on why the dd command is largely unnecessary in most cases.

After burning the drive, I put it in my Raspberry Pi, as well as another drive to install to. I used a SATA to USB 3.0 enclosure with a 250GB HDD inside.

I also put the SD card containing the pftf UEFI firmware in the SD card slot.

Additionally, I added a Chinaware USB Wi-Fi card with the urtwn(4) chipset, as I lack Ethernet connectivity at the moment so I could download the firmware if needed. In this case, all it downloaded was the bwfm(4) firmware.

I booted from the install USB with the UEFI firmware and went through the install process, which also downloaded the firmware for the bwfm(4) card for me.

I have a mini HDMI to VGA adapter since I don't have any HDMI monitors at the moment. Annoying Druaga1-esque hack, lol.

The install went fine, although the framebuffer & X11 resolution seemed to be incorrect after installing, which made everything sort of fuzzy- not optimal for my bitmap-doused setup.

For some reason, my monitor (ACER AL1916) doesn't properly set the resolution, even with more "standard" VGA devices like my laptop or a tower running OpenBSD. My initial reaction was to check the info in the monitor's OSD menu. It reported 1400x1050. Strange resolution; okay.

So, I went into the UEFI firmware SD card's config.txt and added:

framebuffer_width=1400 framebuffer_height=1050

Aaaaaaaand, everything was cut off.

FUCK.

It turned out the display is actually rated for 1440x900, and the info menu in the OSD was just showing what it received from VGA. Why? Idk, but it was incredibly annoying.

I eventually landed on some old forum that led me to these config options, which did work:

hdmi_group=2 hdmi_mode=47 hdmi_force_mode=1

So if any of you are trying to boot this UEFI firmware on this weird monitor with a Raspberry Pi 400, this is what you're looking for.

Then, I went through my dotfiles setup process, and nearly everything worked.

Dotfiles

Funnily, the bwfm(4) chip failed to load the firmware. I'm unsure if -current fixed this, and I don't plan to upgrade to -current on this machine. I'll report this to bugs@openbsd.org when I get more info on the situation.

Also, the sndio service doesn't see the sound card, as the only sound card on this hardware is HDMI out. Unfortunately, OpenBSD does not support HDMI audio yet, so this machine is mute for now unless I get a USB audio card.

I noticed that Xenocara is using llvmpipe graphics, which is expected as the arm64 page doesn't mention supporting the MALI chipset that this machine has. Despite this, picom and my usual StumpWM setup perform pretty well. Its on par for a netbook from the 2010s. It's not exactly zippy, but its fine enough for super lightweight tasks such as light programming via emacs, or reading/writing eMails using claws-mail. Firefox is a slog unfortunately, idk if there are any performance tweaks I could do besides what I've already done in my dotfiles, though.

Conclusion

So there you have it- my deep dive into getting OpenBSD up and running on the Raspberry Pi 400. It was a bit of a wild ride with its fair share of fuckery, but nothing too catastrophic. The framebuffer and resolution setup was a bit of a hassle, and I had some fucky moments- like the sound situation- but overall, the machine is functioning well and performing decently.

If you plan to venture down this path, just remember to be persistent and stubborn. I’ve heard that OpenBSD users perform best when matching stereotypes! :)

There’s a screenie of my RPi 400 system at the end of this post for the hell of it:

Happy hacking!

[littlewalken]

aug 19

And just so y'all know, Joey McIntyre of NKOTB is younger than Kevin Richardson of BSB and Chris Kirkpatrick of NSYNC.

It's kind of working its way out of my system. I put some boy band videos on my phone. Let us take a moment to thank past Little Walken who when having the gift of a way to download yew chube videos made some pretty wise choices thinking that if way in the past Little Walken liked these things that future Little Walken might like them again.

Now we just get to sort thru no less than 3 NKOTB PPV concerts to figure out which was the particular one that was the only one we were lucky to get an umpteen generation VHS copy of. The one where Joey sees birds.

And to get more obscure the only way he got away with his 'get on that stage boys' impression is because Kay McIntyre would have killed anyone who even tried to do anything to Joseph and would have done that holding up the bleeding head thing.

Dear celebrities, want to know how to conduct yourself if you were in a national tragedy? Look at how Joey handled himself with the marathon.

***

The typing is going very well and I feel very proud of myself. Got other notes for other things and there's still odds and ends of switching computer tasks to get to but all's well.

Discovered the itty bitty netbook had a full sized hard drive in it. That was my last Windows, it was a pink and white Acer, and it fit in my purse and opened up the idea of travel typing. I kept it really nice looking and not five minutes after passing it on the screen was scratched and keys were missing.

As with the other family computer I pried it open and took the hard drive out. It really does feel good to literally tear apart the old computer that has pissed you off. Well, somewhere in it's travels it got hooked up to a scanner because there are a fuckton of photos on that hard drive. Altho the power cord is gone I suspect the real reason the netbook was "broken" was because it was full.

Point being invest in a PATA and SATA hard drive reader adaptor thinggie because even if a computer bit the dust the hard drive could still be good. Of all the ones in the house the only one I couldn't get anything off of was the Windows my first laptop literally fried but it made noise so it was trying.

And put your important shit on an external storage device too.

[eclecticblazekryptonite]

Acer Nitro 5 Honest Review: Is It the Right Gaming Laptop for You?

If you're on the hunt for a gaming laptop that balances performance and affordability, the Acer Nitro 5 might have caught your eye. This review aims to give you an honest look at what this machine has to offer, highlighting its strengths and weaknesses to help you decide if it's the right choice for you. Acer Nitro 5 Honest Review.

Design and Build Quality

The Acer Nitro 5 sports a design that caters to gamers, with its bold red accents and aggressive lines. While it might not win any awards for elegance, its robust build is designed to handle the rigors of gaming on the go. The laptop’s plastic chassis feels sturdy, though it’s not as premium as some higher-end models. The keyboard is backlit, which is a nice touch for late-night gaming sessions, and the overall layout is ergonomic, making for a comfortable typing experience.

Display

The Nitro 5 comes with a 15.6-inch Full HD (1920x1080) display, which is a standard for gaming laptops in this price range. The screen delivers decent color accuracy and brightness, though it may fall short for those used to higher resolution or more vibrant displays. The 144Hz refresh rate is a significant plus, offering smoother visuals in fast-paced games. However, the display does have noticeable bezels, which can detract from the overall aesthetic.

Performance

Under the hood, the Acer Nitro 5 is powered by a range of configurations, typically featuring Intel Core i5 or i7 processors and NVIDIA GTX 1650 or GTX 1660 Ti graphics cards. This setup ensures that the laptop can handle most modern games at medium to high settings. For everyday tasks, it performs admirably, with fast boot times and smooth multitasking. The performance is impressive for its price point, but it may struggle with more demanding games or tasks.

Cooling and Noise

One of the standout features of the Nitro 5 is its cooling system. The laptop comes equipped with Acer’s CoolBoost technology, which helps keep temperatures in check during intense gaming sessions. While the fans can get noisy under load, they do an effective job of preventing thermal throttling and maintaining performance. The cooling system is a welcome feature, especially if you plan to push the laptop to its limits.

Battery Life

Battery life is often a weak point for gaming laptops, and the Acer Nitro 5 is no exception. With a battery life of around 4 to 6 hours under typical use, it’s best suited for gaming at your desk rather than on the go. The laptop does offer fast charging, which can be a lifesaver if you need to top up quickly between sessions.

Connectivity and Ports

The Nitro 5 offers a decent selection of ports, including HDMI, USB 3.0, USB-C, and an Ethernet port. This range provides flexibility for connecting external displays, peripherals, and wired internet. However, it lacks Thunderbolt 3 support, which could be a drawback for those who need the latest in connectivity.

Verdict

Overall, the Acer Nitro 5 delivers solid performance and features at a competitive price. It’s a great option for budget-conscious gamers who don’t want to compromise too much on performance. While it has its drawbacks—such as a less impressive display and average battery life—the Nitro 5’s strengths make it a compelling choice in its category. If you’re looking for an affordable gaming laptop that can handle most games with ease, the Acer Nitro 5 is worth considering.

[thenameismylo]

Its ALIVE!!!

Yeah, I know I don't write or interact much here anymore. Sorry. I'm busy with my journey and stuff.

I've been doing a lot of writing as of late. I put the screenwriting down, and decided to dust off my old novel and give it another go. I've been using a typewriter for the first draft, because it helps out with my A.D.D. Its very sensory, there's not much to distract me, so I really love the experience.

As I'm cruising along my first draft, I'm keeping an eye to the future. Eventually I'm going to have to move it to a computer so I can edit it. I can use my regular computer, but there's too much on it to distract me.

I was thinking about the old electric word processors. They were a thing in the 80s/90s. They were too computery to be a typewriter, not functional enough to be a computer. But they are a distraction free writing device that has most of the advantages of a modern computer. You can edit, save your file, and move the file elsewhere.

I've felt in the past few years that there's a modern market for such a device now. Slap on a wifi card, update the software so it can save on the cloud, put in a nice screen that could fit an entire page, add in a couple USB and SD card slots. If its priced right it would go like gang busters.

I know there's been a couple of attempt along that front, like Astrohaus has the Freewrite.

It's cool. But the screen is too small for my tastes, you can't edit, its overpriced, and there seems to be quite a bit of quality and software issues. Plus, I'd really want some sort of removable offline storage on it.

There's other devices out there, like the Pomera 250, and there's a community of people that make "writerdecks." And God bless those crazy bastards, but I'd rather not get too nuts with it, and just get working.

Thinking about making this computer, or writerdeck, or writing computer, or whatever this is -- I could cobble something together from a Raspberry PI and scraps. But how reliable would it be? I work with solid steel typewriters, so I'm used to something rock solid. Plus if it falls apart, I want my work to be safe.

So I realized the best way to tackle this, is to get a cheap laptop rather than build the hardware. Then set up a an OS to fulfill my needs.

That's when I got a $100 Acer laptop. The specs were minimal, but that's fine it just needed to run a word processor.

But it was a Windows Machine. A very janky installation with every possible spammy app and widget installed. I tried removing all the extra stuff, and then I created two accounts. The Admin and the writer account.

To kill off distractions I blocked out as much as I could from the hosts file. The result of this monster was just a gross barely functional laptop that was sloooooooooooooooow.

I shelved it, and kept an eye out to see if anything would ever meet my needs.

Yesterday however, as I was lurking in the Writerdeck reddit I had a brain storm. The problem, as it always is, is with Windows. Windows 11, is just a really shitty OS that was too bloated for that tiny machine.

I half remembered that ChromeOS is now installable on computers. I did a little research, and I figured out how to install ChromeOS Flex on my cheapo $100 machine. It wasn't one of the approved machines, but I had nothing to lose if it didn't work.

It took me about an hour, and ChromeOS was working fine on my machine. It was quicker, more responsive, and already it met my requirements of being able to save in the cloud.

Now the Medium article I linked to, talks about how you can use an app called Whitelisting to lock out the internet on a Chrome machine.

Yeah it works, but I was able to unlock the internet too easily. I needed something that I could keep locked, or it would be next to impossible to unlock unless I absolutely had to.

I started looking into Google Parental Controls. Sure enough there was a setting to lock the entire internet out, and only allow approved sites.

I set up the user on the cheap-o laptop as the "child" and my main google account as the "adult."

I then started approving a few sites, ones that I can use for writing.

And a couple of sites that I can listen to music at the same time.

But...

There was an unintended consequence, which I'm considering a feature, and not a bug.

Have you ever logged into private wifi?

You know how a lot of those times there's a login screen where you have to agree to the terms, and maybe submit an email address?

Because I locked everything out, except for the sites in the screenshot, I won't be able to access most public wifi systems. So even if I wanted to unlock a new site, I can't until I'm home.

When it was all said and done, I created a pretty good writing device. The $100 laptop is still a $100 laptop, and the keyboard and mouse isn't great. But... when its time to replace it with something better, all I have to do is log into the "child" account on a new Chromebook or a better laptop that I installed ChromeOS on, and bingo bango I'm off to the races.

I know this entry is particularly long, but in the hopes that another ADHD writer out there will find this, or someone looking for a more featured version of the Freewrite, or just someone that wants to work on their novel without Facebook beckoning them -- I hope this helps.