Computers CHAT - 2021

Rednex · April 18, 2025, 03:17:31 PM

Well they just left, had a crew, replaced the wire from the pole across the street to the house and ran new wire in house, new connections new ground everything. So it wasn't the modem like the lady on the phone thought.

NT2C · April 18, 2025, 06:00:57 PM

Quote from: Rednex on April 18, 2025, 03:17:31 PMWell they just left, had a crew, replaced the wire from the pole across the street to the house and ran new wire in house, new connections new ground everything. So it wasn't the modem like the lady on the phone thought.

Still, if you're running an older modem you won't be getting as much speed as you could be with the new wiring. A DOCSIS 3.0 can hit 1GB per second D/L speeds, a DOCSIS 3.1 is rated for 10 GB per second, so 10x faster under ideal conditions. Even under less than ideal conditions it will still greatly increase your speeds.

Shopping around I see that the chip shortages have driven the prices up fourfold, but you can still find them around the $100 mark.

Here at HQ we pay for 2 GB per/sec but with the old modem we were stuck with we barely hit 1 GB. Switched out the modem as soon as we could and now we often hit above 2 GB per/sec, which makes a huge difference with streaming, Teams, etc.

Rednex · April 19, 2025, 08:41:59 AM

Added the Arris 8200 3.1 to amazon cart.

NT2C · April 19, 2025, 10:44:29 AM

Quote from: Rednex on April 19, 2025, 08:41:59 AMAdded the Arris 8200 3.1 to amazon cart.

Same one that's sitting on my desk.

NT2C · May 11, 2025, 11:37:39 AM

Annnnddd...my laptop died. This after I already promised @12_Gauge_Chimp the better of my three spares. The remaining two were just not good for much more than email and lite browsing so I told the wife that the next SS check I was buying myself a good factory refurb.

She turns around and tells me to get something better and gives me a $2k budget.

I'mma going shopping!

Edit: So I bought a thing...

MSI Raider GE68HX Gaming Laptop, 16in. FHD+ 144Hz Display, Intel 24 Core i9-14900HX(Up to 5.8 GHz), GeForce RTX 4070, 32GB DDR5 1TB SSD, Thunderbolt 4, Wi-Fi 7, RGB Keyboard, With 512GB SSD, Win11 Home

12_Gauge_Chimp · May 11, 2025, 02:24:05 PM

Dang, that's a nice laptop.

MacWa77ace · May 12, 2025, 08:10:42 AM

Quote from: NT2C on May 11, 2025, 11:37:39 AMEdit: So I bought a thing...

MSI Raider GE68HX Gaming Laptop, 16in. FHD+ 144Hz Display, Intel 24 Core i9-14900HX(Up to 5.8 GHz), GeForce RTX 4070, 32GB DDR5 1TB SSD, Thunderbolt 4, Wi-Fi 7, RGB Keyboard, With 512GB SSD, Win11 Home

And double dang, you don't leave any room for tax and shipping in your 2K budget.

NT2C · May 12, 2025, 10:25:22 AM

Quote from: MacWa77ace on May 12, 2025, 08:10:42 AM
Quote from: NT2C on May 11, 2025, 11:37:39 AMEdit: So I bought a thing...

MSI Raider GE68HX Gaming Laptop, 16in. FHD+ 144Hz Display, Intel 24 Core i9-14900HX(Up to 5.8 GHz), GeForce RTX 4070, 32GB DDR5 1TB SSD, Thunderbolt 4, Wi-Fi 7, RGB Keyboard, With 512GB SSD, Win11 Home

And double dang, you don't leave any room for tax and shipping in your 2K budget.

It was a $2k budget for just the machine itself. Shipping, accident insurance, and tax were expected to be additional.

(About $500)

Edit: Shipping was $150 to get it in enough time before I leave on my trip that I can configure it and install all the things I need on it. Added also an accident protection policy that, for three years, covers all damage to it ($270), and the Commonwealth of Virginia had to get it's share, so another $120

The accident coverage is important when you're sharing a hotel room with a chimp, right next door to Sea World. I could easily see a sea lion wanting to borrow it.

NT2C · May 12, 2025, 01:56:14 PM

Quote from: 12_Gauge_Chimp on May 11, 2025, 02:24:05 PMDang, that's a nice laptop.

When we're in our hotel room in San Antonio... you can touch it.

MacWa77ace · May 12, 2025, 02:21:41 PM

Quote from: NT2C on May 12, 2025, 01:56:14 PMWhen we're in our hotel room in San Antonio... you can touch it the new laptop.

FIFY^

NT2C · May 12, 2025, 02:32:45 PM

Quote from: MacWa77ace on May 12, 2025, 02:21:41 PM
Quote from: NT2C on May 12, 2025, 01:56:14 PMWhen we're in our hotel room in San Antonio... you can touch it the new laptop.

FIFY^

But I'm naming it, It.

NT2C · May 12, 2025, 05:31:11 PM

Well, this should prove interesting...

Newegg says the laptop shipped via UPS. UPS says a label was created but they don't have it yet, nevertheless, they insist it will be delivered to me between 15:00 and 17:00 tomorrow. It's shipping UPS Ground.

From Oregon.

Must be those new "Q-Drive" powered trucks that go interdimensional.

1ZB797B74221786324

NT2C · May 12, 2025, 09:30:29 PM

Quote from: NT2C on May 12, 2025, 05:31:11 PMWell, this should prove interesting...

Newegg says the laptop shipped via UPS. UPS says a label was created but they don't have it yet, nevertheless, they insist it will be delivered to me between 15:00 and 17:00 tomorrow. It's shipping UPS Ground.

From Oregon.

Must be those new "Q-Drive" powered trucks that go interdimensional.

1ZB797B74221786324

Edit: Evidently, someone at UPS noticed the divide by zero error in their calculations and they've decided to now wait until they actually have the package in hand before estimating a delivery date/time.

NT2C · May 13, 2025, 10:50:36 AM

Annnnddd... I canceled it. It was paid for on the 11th with an extra $149 for expedited delivery. They printed a label for it Sunday night, yesterday, Monday the 12th, they never gave it to UPS. UPS says if it does ship it's shipping ground, not air, and will take 5 days at the minimum.

Sorry but that's unacceptable. That's the same amount of time that was showing before I paid the extra $149

I want a refund and I'll buy it locally.

MacWa77ace · May 13, 2025, 11:14:50 AM

Quote from: NT2C on May 13, 2025, 10:50:36 AMAnnnnddd... I canceled it. It was paid for on the 11th with an extra $149 for expedited delivery. They printed a label for it Sunday night, yesterday, Monday the 12th, they never gave it to UPS. UPS says if it does ship it's shipping ground, not air, and will take 5 days at the minimum.

Sorry but that's unacceptable. That's the same amount of time that was showing before I paid the extra $149

I want a refund and I'll buy it locally.

NT2C · May 13, 2025, 11:44:39 AM

At the very least, refund the $149 and and give an apology

eugenenine · May 13, 2025, 01:54:58 PM

If they were shipping UPS then they would just drive past your house and mark it as "recipient not available" anyway.

NT2C · May 13, 2025, 04:57:44 PM

Quote from: eugenenine on May 13, 2025, 01:54:58 PMIf they were shipping UPS then they would just drive past your house and mark it as "recipient not available" anyway.

Our UPS driver is a ham radio buddy so he takes good care of our stuff.

12_Gauge_Chimp · May 13, 2025, 06:03:01 PM

Quote from: NT2C on May 13, 2025, 04:57:44 PM
Quote from: eugenenine on May 13, 2025, 01:54:58 PMIf they were shipping UPS then they would just drive past your house and mark it as "recipient not available" anyway.
Our UPS driver is a ham radio buddy so he takes good care of our stuff.

Wish I'd have had him when I ordered an AK part from PSA and somehow it went from being in Dallas to ending up in Commerce City, Colorado.

Like I know my AK was made in Commerce City, but it lives in Texas now.

NT2C · May 13, 2025, 06:03:44 PM

So, I stepped up my game and found the same laptop, but with twice the memory (64 GB vs 32 GB) and 4x the storage (4 TB vs 1 TB) for $50 more than the first one... on Walmart. And the topper? Got a 4-year insurance plan for half the price ($119 vs $270)

MSI Raider GE68HX Premium Gaming Laptop 16in. FHD+ IPS 144Hz Intel 24-core i9-13950HX 64GB DDR5 4TB SSD GeForce RTX 4060 8GB RGB Backlit Thunderbolt4 USB-C Dynaudio FHD Privacy Webcam Win11 Black

Edit: just noticed that the 4 TB drive bumped the machine to $2,269.00, but with the cheaper insurance plan the total isn't much more than the original ($2,514.56 vs $2,478.44 = $36.12 more) but it significantly upgrades the machine. And Walmart promises delivery on Friday.