Ask Paul: January 7 (Premium)

Happy New everyone! Here is our first Ask Paul of 2022 so we can kick off the weekend early with some great reader questions.

Too many connection attempts

sherlockholmes asks:

I have a weird problem with my Windows account on Windows 11. I got the error in the settings app “Too many connect attempts. Try again”. Any idea what could caused that? Thanks.

I’ve never seen this, but it could be concerning. So it’s probably a good idea to do a bit of troubleshooting. I’d start with trying to sign in to your Microsoft account on the Microsoft account website. Assuming that is successful, you can navigate to Security > Sign-in activity to see whether there is any suspicious activity in the recent activity list.

I assume your account is protected with two-step verification, etc. and that you have multiple verification options configured. If not, visit Security > Advanced security options and do so. It’s not a bad idea to check over these settings from time to time regardless.

Pixel 6, Tensor, and benchmarks

wright_is asks:

I posted in the forum (although it has yet to appear, so I’m guessing that is due to spam precautions and it is waiting to be cleared), that the Google Tensor SoC seems to have really bad performance, compared to its rivals (about a third slower than other Android flagships, using the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 or the Galaxy S21 Ultra, with its Exynos 2100 SoC.

Sorry about that. The post is available now.

I’m guessing in day-to-day use, that it is fast enough. But did Google make a mistake releasing the chip this early? Should they have kept it in-house for a generation, until its performance was on a par with its competitors?

For all my complaints about the Pixel 6 Pro, performance is not one of them. In fact, the performance is spectacular. Here, I’ll just fall back on my running argument against benchmarks, which is many-fold: they do not measure real-world performance, I feel that many chipset makers optimize their products for these benchmarks, and that overly-relying on benchmarks as a reviewer is lazy (how many reviews have you seen where 80 percent of them is just benchmark graphs?). What’s it really like?

Could it also be first generation teething problems with the Tensor that are causing the delays in the Android updates for the Pixel 6?

Interesting.

This is just an opinion, but I don’t believe so: I think there are many, many problems with the Pixel 6 series, and what we’ve heard about this delay is that early upgraders experienced communication issues, which is obviously job one on a smartphone. But as far as Google waiting longer, etc., it’s pretty clear in retrospect that the mid-range Pixels that it released in 2020-2021 (the Pixel 4a, 5, 4a with 5G, 5a) were cost-saving stop-gap measures so that Google could get Tensor where it wanted it. And, sure, it’s reasonable to expect big improvements in subsequent generations. But I’ve never once experienced a stutter of any kind with the Pixel 6 Pro. That wasn’t true of the Pixel 4a, 4a with 5G, or 5a.

Pixel futures

yoshi asks:

Do you think you’re done with Pixels after this latest fiasco? Or put it another way, do you think Google should be done with them at the flagship level? I feel that their A-series devices are really good for the price, but when it comes to flagships the issues are too much. And this generation seems to top them all when it comes to issues. Maybe I’m just being bitter because I really like Pixels, but I just don’t understand how a company as big as Google can’t figure this out.

I go back and forth on this all the time. It’s great being indecisive.

I like the idea of Pixel, a lot. The only thing like it in the Android world, perhaps, is OnePlus, which also offers a very clean take on Android with terrific performance. But OnePlus’ fate right now is unclear because of the Oppo merger and the problems we’ve seen with the Color OS-based Android 12 upgrade. So that leaves Samsung, which has a pretty take on Android but lots of bloatware, and Google. Which I’m not sure I can trust.

To be clear, I’ve had issues, many of them major issues, with every Pixel generation. And I’ve purchased and owned every single Pixel that Google has made aside from the Pixel 5. Why I keep buying them is unclear in retrospect, it’s like this is my blind spot. I know there are people who just buy whatever Apple makes, or whatever Microsoft makes, or … whatever. Somehow, I’ve fallen into this pit with Pixel.

I agree with you on the A-series devices. The Pixel 3a XL, Pixel 4a with 5G, and Pixel 5a are/were all fantastic devices, and great values. And, yeah, I’m curious what Google will do with a Pixel 6a. If it’s smaller than the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro, I would consider it, of course. I’m a goon like that.

But there’s a reasonable out for me here. Switching to iPhone in many ways doesn’t mean a lot because I will test more phones in the coming year, and it’s not a one-way street. OnePlus has almost gotten me with its recent handsets, especially the terrific OnePlus 9 Pro, and I am very interested in the OnePlus 10 Pro. I could also argue that I need to have modern Android and iPhone smartphones for comparison and testing purposes.

The short-term question for me is whether I keep the Pixel 6 Pro or Pixel 5a; one of them has to go. For now, I’m deferring that question because I want to see what the much-delayed December 2021 update looks like and how it improves the experience. That will likely determine which Pixel I stick with going forward. And perhaps, which phone. We’ll see.

Smart vacuums

helix2301 asks:

I know this might be more of a Stacy on IOT question but what is your thoughts on companies like Shark and Rumba with the smart vacuum robots? We recently got the Shark vacume with AI and the smart mop from Roomba with AI and I have to say they are one of those products now that we have them its like how did we live without them. Its like the Honeywell smart thermostate or smart lights once you have them your like we lived without this why? Lol

It’s funny you ask this, as I was just reading a Wirecutter article about robot mops and was for the first time seriously considering such a thing. We live in a large home with wood and tile floors and can’t really afford to pay someone to clean it all regularly, nor are we particularly interested in cleaning it ourselves. (This is just one of many factors in our desire to move soon.) But thanks largely to the pets, this is a problem.

The issue for us right now is the uncertainty on the timing of the move. I suppose if we were definitely staying here for a few more years, this kind of thing might be a good option. But right now, it seems weird to purchase something we might only use for several months. But yeah. I really like the idea of these things. (And wonder how the pets would react to it.)

On a semi-related note, when we did our home swap in Sweden a few years back, the neighbors there had a robot lawnmower that would silently travel around their yard occasionally and then dock itself back at its base by the house when needed. We thought that was really cool, and while such a thing probably works best with flat, squared-off yards, I’m surprised that’s not more of a thing here in the U.S. It still seems like a great idea to me.

Writing tools

christianwilson asks:

What do you look for in a good writing app? I know you were using MarkdownPad for a long time but use other tools, like Word, also. Mary Jo famously uses Notepad. Is the use of a “distraction free” writing experience beneficial or is that mostly just a marketing phrase. What features are most important to you?

I spend more time evaluating writing apps than I’m willing to discuss. But as I first wrote many, many years ago, Microsoft Word is in many ways overkill, even for a professional writer. I’ve used it for many decades because it’s the standard, and when turning in documents to publishing companies (or at my previous employer), that’s what was used for revisions, etc. In recent years, I moved from Word to MarkdownPad in part because I needed to use Markdown for the Windows 10 book and using two different tools for the same basic thing seemed inefficient. But I moved back to Word for non-book writing when Microsoft announced the simplified ribbon that they have since never implemented in the desktop version of the product. I keep Word in a kind of minimalist setup, however, with the ribbon collapsed. And I have memorized every single configuration change I need to make to the product, a set of changes I wish would just sync with my sign-in. It’s stupid.

To answer your question, what I need is basic formatting (a few headings, italics, bold, underline), the ability to create numbered and bulleted lists, and hyperlinks. I need the text I create to copy/paste perfectly into WordPress, which I use for Thurrott.com, with no extraneous code. That latter bit is why many Word alternatives—including the web-based version of Word, oddly—don’t work for me. Granted, this is particular to my own workflow, but what isn’t?

What I’m looking for is a minimalist user interface where I can use keyboard shortcuts to accomplish those headings, styles, and hyperlinks. Notepad does not work for this, and I’m curious why Mary Jo uses it since it doesn’t support styles or hyperlinks, two things she must add regularly to her articles. That’s what makes Markdown so appealing. The code is very clean, and it supports headings, styles, and hyperlinks. It’s the perfect mix of what I like and what I need.

The issue is finding a great editor that supports all that and works for the book. The reason I still use MarkdownPad, which is no longer supported or updated and requires two ancient developer DLLs, is that it perfectly meets the needs of Leanpub, where the book is published. I’d like to use something more recent, but it just works. So I keep looking.

Of all the Windows-based Markdown tools I’ve used, Typora comes closest to meeting my needs and likes. It’s not perfect for the book. But I could see just using that for other writing.

USB docks and hubs

jheredia asks:

Wondering if you had any recommendations on a dock/usb hub? I’ve been looking around but haven’t seen many options with a long cable to connect to PC (which I need) and multiple USB C ports. Also curious if you have any recommendations for a particular brand, if not a specific hub.

I do!

I wrote about my experiences with USB docks and hubs in my More Mobile series, and the USB hub I chose is one I can recommend, it’s the Anker PowerExpand 8-in-1 USB-C PD 10Gbps Data Hub. (This was also the Wirecutter’s top choice.) It’s a bit expensive at $89, but it has all the ports I want, plus Ethernet and 85-watt pass-through power delivery, which is key for a docked setup. (You just power the dock, and thus the laptop, with the laptop’s USB-C-based power supply.) I’ve been using this setup since October, and it’s always worked well.

And I agree with you on the length of the USB cable. The Anker, like all of the other USB docks and hubs I looked at, has a very short cable. The solution is a high-quality USB-C extension cable that won’t degrade the signal. The one I’m using is the UGREEN USB C Extension Cable, which costs about $12 for either 1.5- or 3-foot versions. No issues at all.

By the way, I’ll be adding a few more articles to that More Mobile series soon as we’re traveling to Mexico next Thursday if COVID doesn’t screw that up. The next one will likely be about dual SIMs, though I should have an update on my gaming issues as well.