New Computer

[TechSY730]

Finally, after long last, my new computer is here!
You can expect me to start playing AI War seriously again in not too much longer.

[Diazo]

Congrats! 

New toys are always so much fun!

Can I come over and play? 

Anyways, have fun stressing the new CPU, it is the best introduction to AI War for it after all.

D.

[Mánagarmr]

You can't post that without feeding the technobabble! Post specs, STAT!

[TechSY730]

You can't post that without feeding the technobabble! Post specs, STAT!

Well, OK then (copied from the order email)

ZaReason Verix 2.5
Options:    
Linux Version:    Ubuntu 12.04 LTS
Sandy Bridge Processor:    i7-2670qm 2.2ghz, 4 core, 8 thread
Memory:    8 GB DDR3-1333
Video Card:    Nvidia GTX 580M 2GB
Laptop HD:    500GB, 7200 RPM
Laptop HD 2:    ---
WiFi:    B/G/N (included) (It was an Intel Centrino wireless-n card, I can get the exact model later)
Optical Drive:    CD-RW / DVD-RW (included) (Don't know the make or model, I can get that later)
1st Battery:    9-cell (included)
2nd Battery:    ---
Card Reader:    MMC/SD/MS (included) (Don't know the make or model, I can get that later)
Bluetooth:    (included) (Don't know the make or model, I can get that later)
Webcam:    3 megapixels (included) (Don't know the make or model, I can get that later)


EDIT:
Oh, and screen size: 15.6",
4 USB ports: 2 USB 3.0 and 2 USB 2.0
And a Gigabit Ethernet port
Dedicated number pad


It is also
Dimensions: 15.6" (w) x 10.5" (d) x 2.2" (h)
Weight: 6.0 lbs
...
So it is big.
But I wanted computation ability more than I wanted portability. I only want enough portability so I can like pack it up for trips or bring it downstairs every now and then or something.

[Mánagarmr]

Initial reactions: "Ooh, preinstalled linux, neat. Ubuntu :/. EWWW LAPTOP!"

My brain is wierd sometimes xD

EDIT: Err, I should probably say "Nice swag regardless!"
I've just been disappointed time and time again by laptops supposed "performance". So I'm very sceptical these days.

[zebramatt]

I'm not sure anyone cares but I recently came into a spangly new work laptop and, well, I'm quite excited to finally have a computer which passes every game (and then some) on Can You Run It - so here it is...

[keith.lamothe]

I have a pretty buff desktop (cost me about $1100 total), and a craptop (cost me $400 total).  I use the latter far more than the former.  Convenience!

[TechSY730]

Initial reactions: "Ooh, preinstalled linux, neat. Ubuntu :/. EWWW LAPTOP!"

My brain is wierd sometimes xD

EDIT: Err, I should probably say "Nice swag regardless!"
I've just been disappointed time and time again by laptops supposed "performance". So I'm very sceptical these days.

Well, I am running Linux, and that has pretty decent performance even running on a Toaster... Ok that is a bit of a stretch, but you can get it to run on an old 386 (sons GUI of course) and still get good performance and reliability. Linux tends to be really good about scaling to the amount of computation power you throw at it.
So far, it's running pretty dang well. Also, AI war on a huge screen is AWESOME!

Plus, the money I saved on a Windows license I was able to put towards a better CPU.

[Mánagarmr]

I seem to have failed horribly in my humor. My brain was most enjoyed to see linux come preinstalled, not so amused when it was Ubuntu (personally I think it's far too bloated, but that's the thing with Linux: To each their own).

Running Arch myself on my server, but have still not managed to wrest Windows from my gaming rig :/

[Mánagarmr]

I find I'm too much of a performance addict to ever get a laptop. If I wanted the performance my desktop has, I'd have to ask aliens for a laptop, and it would likely have a battery time of about 19.3 seconds.


Antec P280 chassis (very silent, thank god)
Core i7-3820, 3.6 GHz (overclocked to 4,5 GHz)
Noctua NH-D14 CPU cooler (also silent)
ASUS GeForce 580 GTX DirectCU II. (slightly overclocked, nothing massive)
16 GB Crucial DDR3 RAM (yeah, I meant to buy 8, but somehow double clicked >_>)
Most of my stuff runs off two 120 GB Corsair SSDs, with a normal HDD for storage (2 TB).

That covers pretty much anything I throw at it, which is where I want my primary hobby to be. It's nothing extreme by any stretch. It's pretty much just your high end gaming rig.

[RCIX]

Given that I mainly play League, AI War, and some other random low power games a laptop works fine for me. Never was really big on shooters and most of the more modern (read: more expensive) games haven't appealed. I use windows as well but that's more of an issue of Linux not running everything I want to than anything else.

(also, I really should play more AI war :<)

[Aklyon]

As long as you're not using Unity, I'm ok with it having Ubuntu. ( the UI, not the game engine)

[TechSY730]

As long as you're not using Unity, I'm ok with it having Ubuntu. ( the UI, not the game engine)

Hecks no!
Both Unity and Gnome (the new layout) have drunk the "space age UI" kool-aid a bit too much, or at least more than I can stomach.
What's worse is the Unity has little customability to make it a decent desktop/laptop user interface as well as a touch interface, and while with some tweaking Gnome's new interface can be nice for both desktop/laptop and touch screen users (far nicer than Unity), the defaults in the new interface are even more WTF inducing than Unity (as in, changes that hamper usability of the system with a keyboard and mouse, with little benefit to touch screen interface styles, so why bother?!).

I switched to gnome-classic as soon as I could. And then to gnome-classic (No effects) after I noticed that the new panel stuff they are using with effects breaks most of the nice panel applets thingies, but the no effects version uses the classic panel.
I know I am supposed to be managing my applet thingies with Gnome shell extensions or whatever in the newer, whatever it is they are using for a replacement for Gnome panel, but right now Gnome shell extensions and Ubuntu are a little hard to get to work nice with each other in certain setups.

EDIT: To be fair though, the "space age UI"s have brought some nice features for mouse+keyboard users, like an easy to access unified search feature and an actually pretty spiffy "task bar" and "start menu" interfaces. I'd love to get some sort of easy to access unified search feature in gnome-classic and gnome-classic (no effects).

[Mánagarmr]

I've always been a fan of the functionality in KDE, but granted, the last version I used was the KDE4 beta... so that might've changed in later years. On my "lighter" machines, I either go full console (server) or Flux/OpenBOX.