polloloco51

What is the oldest PC, you got Windows 10 running and installed on?

Me

A Dell Latitude D420 with a Core 2 Duo U2500 and 1.5GB RAM, from 2006. I was actually quite surprised, it installed on this!

What was your favorite/most memorable Windows XP computer, you used back then (2000s)?

Me

It was a Compaq Evo N620c! It had a Pentium M 1.4Ghz, 512 mb of RAM, and Radeon 7500 graphics. It could actually play Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, nicely!

What smartphones does everyone here use:

Now and then (10 years ago).

Me:

Then

A LG Optimus S, with a laughable 3.2″ display, 600mhz processor, 256MB of RAM. A dinosaur by today’s standards. It played Angry Birds reasonably well then!

Now

A Google Pixel 4a 5G: An excellent phone so far, with a great camera, performance, and a rich beautiful display.

One of Valve’s Biggest, Dumbest Mistakes:

Half-Life Alyx

Valve thought, VR was the future of gaming. Much the way, a tablet tile interface on a PC was. People had the cash to buy a $60 game, and $500 VR hardware. On top, having the high end hardware necessary to power the VR experience.

This was a terrible, foolish mistake on their part!

Valve cut out, a sizable portion of their loyal HL fan base, by doing this! Fans that have been anxiously waiting well over a decade, for a 3rd iteration of Half-Life. 

Still waiting for Half-Life 3

Valve should make a traditional, non-VR version of Half-Life Alyx. Something that can be done expeditiously, with modifications in the game’s code.

Now, with most of everyone receiving, their “lucky pot” of $1,400 gold today (in the US). Here’s a quick list, of “Best Gadgets to Spend your $1,400”

Either all or a portion of it!

1. Microsoft Surface Pro. A solid choice for anyone!

2. Google Pixel 4a 5G, an excellent phone, with money left over.

3. Current, Dell XPS tower, with the 10th Gen I7 processor, GTX 1650 processor ($1,200 right now on Dell’s website). A solid choice for everything, and always upgradable

4. The, Lenovo Thinkpad T490 or earlier model. Best in class keyboard and everything!

5. A Samsung Evo SSD. Best way to significantly boost your computer, without buying a new one. Prices have gone down significantly too! 1TB is $119 on Amazon

6. Amazfit fitness watch! 1/3 price of the Apple Watch, that gives all the essentials, including built in GPS and heart rate monitoring

7. A new, TV. Prices of flat screens have gone down tremendously. There are excellent ones, with HDR that will not break the bank!

8. The Klipsch Promedia, computer speakers. Excellent sound and a good upgrade from crappy OEM desktop speakers, that come with most PCs

9. The PlayStation 4. Prices have gone down alot since the PS5 release. Right now, is a good time to scoop one up!

10. Smart lightbulbs for your home! These are great for keeping your house secure (while away), customization, and long term savings!

Does anyone here, experience this too?

After, installing a new, Radeon or GeForce graphics driver. The Windows 10 Start Menu, refuses to open?

Note:

*Restarting Windows does, always fix the issues. Or, restarting explorer.exe in task manager.

It appears, this is still an ongoing, unresolved bug, with the Windows 10 UI. Although very minor, it shouldn’t be occurring, after 6 years of feature updates!

What browsers(s), does everyone here use, in 2021?

Me:

Chrome mainly, across machines (and phone).

Also:

Trying to use Edge more, to experience it's features!

Hello,

I was wondering, what SSD/HDD setup, everyone here uses (home PCs)? I am currently looking to migrate, from a HDD to an SSD?

I am considering, a 1TB SSD (system & programs), and a 2TB HDD for photos. Or, a 2TB SSD for everything, and a 2TB for back up purposes.

Thanks!

Does anyone here, use a Google Pixel 4a, 4a 5G, or the 5?

If so, what are your thoughts? Like, the reliability, software, camera, battery, performance, durability etc.

Thanks!

What old (Windows) programs, does everyone here still use?

Me: I still use Office 2007 because, it just works! Even the online functionality, like clip art, still functions perfectly!

Windows over the years, always had several themes. Windows 7 and Vista, had Aero Glass, Aero Basic and Windows Classic themes. Windows XP had the Luna and Classic style themes as well. Windows 8 even had a (deprecated) theme, called Aero Lite, which was a variant of the main theme.

Now, with Windows 10, there is only 1 theme. That is the, flattened remnant of what was formally Aero Glass, from Vista and 7. While it is just ok. It is not very eye pleasing, like how Aero Glass was.

Microsoft needs to allow, or bring back themes! Either Microsoft, should have a theme section in the Microsoft App Store. Or, Microsoft should freely allow users to install, any 3rd party, custom theme they desire. For instance, if a user want's Windows 10 to look like Windows 98 or even Vista. They could simply download and install this theme from official Microsoft App store.

What do you think? Should Microsoft bring more themes to Windows 10?

Meanwhile with Internet Explorer.......still waiting for new features. LOL ?

Note: Image is originally from Breaking Bad.

What was everyone's, first laptop (or desktop) with Windows 7, back then?

Mine, was a very cheap, Black Friday deal, laptop with AMD Athlon processor. It had a nice vibrant display, which really made Windows 7's Aero Glass, a joy to look at it. The processor was quite sluggish. Thankfully, it was a cheap laptop, in the end! ?

With Windows 7 support set to end, tomorrow. What was everyone's first impressions of Windows 7, back in 2009?

Me:

It was clean, fresh and beautiful! It seemed similar to Vista, but not totally. I loved the superbar, as it was innovative and utilitarian!

What is everyone's favorite, 2010 tech and/or tech stories?

Me:

The Acer Iconia 6120 from 2011.

It featured, dual touch screen displays, and was quite interesting. It featured custom software, tailored for the two screens.

The PlayStation Vita (2012)

The successor to the PSP. It was solid, powerful hardware, with great games. However, the peripherals were pricey and never truly took off. It also, launched in a time, when smartphones were prevalent.

The Microsoft Surface Pro (2012)

It was a significantly, more robust, innovative, and utilitarian tablet, over the iPad. It offered, a full computer experience, in a tablet form. Unlike, an Android tablet or iPad, the Surface could run full Photoshop and games, which was a game changer!

According to Valve's official Twitter account. Valve has announced a new Half-Life game, called "Half-Life Alyx".

It is apparently, going to only be for VR.

If true to the end, this will severely limit the reach to the Half-Life fan base, and new players. Especially as, not everyone has virtual reality.

Link for more info:

https://www.ign.com/articles/2019/11/18/valve-officially-announces-half-life-alyx-vr-game-reveal-later-this-thursday?sf112711871=1

When Windows 8 came out in 2012, it was a considerably controversial Windows release. It featured the traditional desktop, with a new tablet centric UI (start). In the first iteration, it launched users to the start screen. After a year or so, Windows 8.1 came out, and fixed many of the issues, like reintroducing the start button, and boot to desktop.

Now, with Windows 10. Microsoft brought back the start menu, but completely redesigned the updates. Instead of a 10 year phase of security and bug updates. Microsoft changed it to, yearly feature updates, which has decreased the quality of Windows. *Although, there is a long term support branch of Windows 10.

Windows 8, even with it's divisive start screen. It is basically Windows 7, but much improved and faster, and modern (on the desktop). It is still supported, until 2023, and will continue to remain the same, until then. No new feature updates, just bug and security updates.

Yes, Windows 10 is still a free upgrade, to Windows 7. However, it is changing yearly (feature updates), and is not as stable and solid, as Windows 8.1 is today.

What do you think? Would you jump to Windows 8 after Windows 7? Or, just upgrade to Windows 10?

If anyone here wants to pay tribute to Windows 7, here is a thread! My Tribute: When Windows 7 was released in 2009. I was impressed by the fresh, clean appearance, faster boot time, and the new features, like super taskbar. It was a considerable improvement over Windows Vista, and especially XP. I used Windows 7, several years, across many devices. Some included an Intel Atom N455 netbook, a tablet, and more. Around 2015, I upgraded to Windows 10, on all my devices. Although Windows 10, is a vast improvement, over Windows 7, in many areas. Windows 7's simplicity, of being a traditional Windows OS, will always be it's greatest legacy! Not to forget, the reliability, of just working. Now, support comes to an end, after a long 10 year run. RIP Windows 7 You will always be missed! ?      

Is anyone here, still using Windows 8(.1) in 2019? If so, what is your experience? Especially, reliability and usability wise?

Has anyone discovered, any modern apps not working, or removed from the Windows Store?

Is anyone here, experiencing WiFi issues, after installing Windows 10 1903?

I noticed, after installing 1903 on my ThinkPad T470, and Dell XPS desktop. The WiFi just randomly disconnects.

I never experienced this, using Windows 10 1803.

When Windows 10 came out in 2015, it was supposed to be, the last version of Windows (it was not).

However, Windows 10 has been increasing in versions, from 1607, now at 1903. From my perspective, Windows 10 is just meandering, with no real goal or vision. Sure, Microsoft has included new themes, and refinements to the OS. They are also, getting rid of bloatware, and unifying the system settings. Something that was messy in Windows 8.

Windows 10 is still, fundamentally the same OS. It still has the same start menu, the same old file explorer (no tabs still), etc. At some point, people will eventually become bored or unexcited with Windows 10. Many people already are right now.

This is why I feel, Microsoft should just do a complete reboot of Windows again. Release a new Windows, called Windows 11 or something else. Release a totally new theme, or keep the light theme they have now. Additionally, make Windows 10 even further lighter and resource efficient. Most importantly, make it with less major system updates, and only with feature and app updates. Updates, that you don't have to perform an entire OS upgrade. This would entice, especially business users.

What are you thoughts?

What is your favorite, past version of Windows (before 10)?

Me: Windows 7

It pointed Windows in the right direction after Vista. Windows 7 was clean, fresh and crisp at the time. It was faster booting, more reliable, more resource efficient, more compatible with drivers, and overall a solid OS.

Windows 7 was released, nearly 10 years ago. Since then, Microsoft has released 3 operating systems, Windows 8, 8.1 and 10. Yesterday, I clean installed Windows 7 on a netbook with only 1GB of RAM and a Intel Atom N455.

Above: Screenshot of Windows 7 Starter from Google Images.

First, I had to find the Windows 7 32 Bit ISO and download it from heidoc. After downloading, because the netbook had Windows 7 starter. I had to then, strip out the Ei.CFG file. This essentially now created a universal Windows 7 ISO. Now, onto installing Windows 7. I used Rufus to burn the files onto a USB. After about 10 minutes, I stuck the USB into the netbook, and installed Windows 7. This was the easy part of everything.

After getting to the desktop, I had to install a series of servicing updates, to get Windows 7 to actually update. 40 minutes later, all the updates were installed, and then onto installing the drivers. Unlike Windows 10, that installs all the drivers automatically, I had to install each driver on the netbook, manually. This took several minutes and restarts.

Finally after getting all of this completed. I had to download and install an additional 500+ MB of updates through Windows update.

Conclusion

Although, Windows 7 was a excellent, rock solid version of Windows back then. It is honestly, not worth reinstalling now, unless you absolutely have to (older hardware, software etc). Additionally, Windows 7 extended support officially ends on January 14th 2020.

What netbook did you own back then (if you had one)?

Me:

I had a pearl white, Asus EeePC 900A. It was a great (fun) little netbook, and ran Eeebuntu Linux.

Just recently, Flickr has announced major updates to their membership. Starting on January 8th, 2019, free users will have to pay a yearly subscription for Pro, to keep unlimited photos. Free users, will have only a 1000 photo limit. On February 5th, 2019, Flickr will delete Free user’s photos, that exceed the 1000 photo limit.

Here are the details below.

Here is the fine print

The past few weeks, hearing about the quality control issues, with Windows 10 updates. I decided to try Windows 8.1 again, on an old Core 2 Duo laptop I have. Windows 8, is the modern Windows, people have generally shunned for it’s dueling UI. Windows 8 is not perfect in the UI, but definitely makes up, under the hood!

After painstakingly installing Windows 8.1, for 20 minutes, formatting the hard drive, entering the product key, and then waiting through the changing colors. I was actually pleasantly surprised, how not bad Windows 8.1 is. Sure, it has the start screen, and some of the desktop elements are dated, like the clock and the calculator. It behaves, just like Windows 10 currently does.

Windows 8.1, boots up very fast, it has built in anti-virus, it is very stable, and generally fast. The only downsides with Windows 8.1, is obviously the start screen, and missing the modern UI elements like the clock, and others.

Generally, going back to Windows 8.1, is truly not a bad experience. I actually like the start screen now, more than I did, back then. Windows 8.1 did not install the drivers, as smoothly at Windows 10 does.

Overall, it is a pretty good experience.

What are your thoughts on Windows 8.1?

What MP3 player(s), did everyone use back then?

Me:

I had the original Zune, and a cheap Philips Mp3 player. The Zune was a superb MP3 player, with so many great features. Some of the best features were the display, the modern interface, the built in FM radio, and much more!

I also currently possess the original iPod classic, Sandisk Sansa, and the Zune. Now, they unfortunately all sit in my desk. My phone has taken over all the duties now. Albeit, I do use both the Zune and the iPod Classic on occasions.

Recently, I bought used Samsung Chromebook plus, to both use as a second laptop, and also try out Chrome OS. It is a beautiful, thin and light Chromebook.

Here is a quick review

Design

The Samsung Chromebook Plus, is a Yoga style, convertible laptop. It comes with a pen. It is very thin and light. It can be held as a tablet, and on your lap as a laptop. It is about the same size as a Dell XPS 13. It features a beautiful silver, metal finish. The Samsung Chromebook Plus, is reminiscent of a Macbook, slightly.

Performance

The Chromebook Plus is very snappy! It features an Hexa-core OP1 Arm Processor, 4GB of RAM, and 32GB of storage. Apps and web content run, very nicely. The battery life is very good, and can get 8 hours (depending on use) .

Display

The Samsung Chromebook Plus, features a beautiful 3:2 2400×1600, retina like, touch display. Images and videos look beautiful, as well as web content and apps.

Ports

The Chromebook Plus features a MicroSD port, headphone port, 2 USB-C ports, and a removable pen. There is no regular, full sized USB ports.

Keyboard

The keyboard, is no Thinkpad keyboard, but it is good enough for typing a few sentences.

Trackpad

The trackpad is pretty decent and responsive. It isn’t near the level of a ThinkPad or Macbook.

Above: Notice the Macbook like notch

Software

The Samsung Chromebook Plus, runs Chrome OS with Android apps. It is not Windows or Mac. It can get alot of things done, to an extent, like word processing or light photo editing. It can play tons of different games, and run an ocean of apps. You can install, all the Microsoft apps, and turn this into a pseudo Windows device.

Overall

The Samsung Chromebook Plus, is a superb Chromebook. If you are looking for a second laptop, and don’t mind leaving Windows or Mac behind. I highly recommend this!

For anyone who uses Windows 7 still. What are your experiences in 2018, and also rationale for using it?

Me: I no longer use Windows 7, but my father does. It works pretty well for him, on his old Dell XPS 9100.

For anyone who owns and uses a Microsoft Surface 3 (not Pro). What is your experiences so far?

Me:

It is a great tablet, with a beautiful display and excellent portability. However, the experience reminds me of the Compaq Evo N620C I had. It is pretty sluggish, most of the time. I say, the processor is like a old Pentium M. This is just my experience. I may need to do a Windows reset!

Online shopping is usually a fun, safe and trustworthy experience. Except, the other day, I received an email from Newegg, that read, I had owed sales tax from 2015.

This is a result, from CT aggressively going after unpaid out of state, sales tax. Amazon, usually charges a sales tax right at check out for my state. However, Newegg charges no sales tax, as they don’t have a physical presence here. If you live in CT, you’re supposed to now, know to file a “Use Tax” with every purchase you make.

Newegg went behind my back, and handed my personal details to CT, about the purchases I made. This is a massive, betrayal of trust! If you live in CT or anywhere, buy elsewhere like Amazon. I advise, deleting your Newegg account all together!

Here is a link for more info about this:

www.courant.com/politics/hc-pol-online-sales-tax-20180214-story.html

Hello, I have a Surface 3 with 4GB of RAM. It's been a great Windows tablet, however, the performance lately has been bad. For instance, it has been choking during basic web browsing.

Are there any performance tweaks, that can be made within Windows? Such as, turning off animations or transparency? Would it be better to reinstall Windows from scratch?

A few days ago, I bought a used, Dell Latitude E7370 business ultrabook.  It is basically the sister of the Dell XPS 13, and is a gorgeous lightweight laptop.

Design

The Dell Latitude E7370 is a beautiful, slim ultrabook, and lightweight too. It came with two options, a carbon or a Macbook-esque metal finish. My model has the metal finish, and it is really nice. The body of the laptop is made of high quality materials and feels very sturdy. The laptop is a featherweight machine, and is effortless to pick up. Unlike the Dell XPS 13, this model has no fan, because of the Intel M5 chip, and makes it very lap-able.

Performance

The Dell Latitude I have features a Intel M5-6Y54 processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 128GB SSD. The performance, is very good, and seems comprabable to the Intel I5-5300 in my Thinkpad X1 carbon. I haven’t yet tried video editing or photo editing. I am sure those will be fine. All other tasks on the Intel M5, are a breeze.

The Display

My Dell Latitude E7370, has a beautiful edgeless, 1920 x 1980 display and is an IPS panel. It looks really sharp and beautiful. The E7370 also comes with a 4K display with touch also.

The keyboard

The keyboard on the E7370 is actually very nice to type on. It has very good key travel. The keyboard is slightly tight, and takes time getting used to, especially coming from a Thinkpad keyboard.

The Trackpad

The trackpad on the E7370, is really good, and precise. It is comparable to my Thinkpad X1’s trackpad. The E7370 does have physical buttons, which I appreciate highly.

Ports

The E7370 has lots of ports. It has two USB-C, one to charge the laptop. It has a regular USB port, audio, HDMI, and MicroSD slot. It doesn’t feel lacking in this department.

Portability

The Dell Latitude E7370 is very portable, and lightweight. It’s equally as light as a Thinkpad X1 carbon, weighing 2.7Lbs.

The Webcam

The E7370 has the webcam, placed on the bottom of the sceeen, and is only 720P. If you regularly use Skype, this may not be the best machine.

Audio Quality

The speakers in the E7370 sound alright, but not the best.

Battery Life

So far the battery life is pretty good. It has lasted several hours. It isn’t as good as Thinkpad X1, but is good enough for traveling, business or college work.

Overall

The Dell E7370  is an excellent business ultrabook. It is lightweight, beautiful looking, has a beautiful edgeless display. The performace is decent. If you come across a Dell Latitude E7370 under $500 used, I recommend getting one!

Question!

Could you live daily, only on your smartphone, if push came to shove? Or, you were literally stuck on an island with only it?

Me: Possibly

Web browsing it would be ok, but very frustrating. Especially, needing to pinch to zoom for many things. Also, having to use mobile friendly websites.

Videos, it would be alright, especially with my nearly 6 inch display. I could output videos to a second display through USB- C or Miracast.

Gaming: There are lot of fun, well rounded games like Fallout Shelter, Angry Birds, and even a ported Gran Theft Auto Vice City. You can use a controller to play them. However, gaming on a phone, is not nearly as great, as a laptop, desktop or console.

Word Processing, PowerPoint, and Excel: With a Bluetooth keyboard, it would be ok. It would definitely be a far cry from using my Windows laptop and desktop.

Video Editing and photo editing: There are simple photo and video editing apps, but are woefully inadequate. They are not nearly as feature rich or powerful as premiere or photoshop.

Other professional work like web design: Not possible, unless there was a powerful web design app, equalivilant to Dreamweaver.

Yesterday, I acquired an interesting little device at Savers thrift store for only $3.99. While shopping, I noticed the Android logo on the top, and an array of ports on the rear. I immediately grabbed it, and bought it.

After returning home, I plugged it in, and it worked perfectly. It has Android 4.4.2 installed on it currently. After further research, I found it also has a Quad core processor, and presumably 1-4GB of RAM? It also has 16GB of storage.

The mini Android PC has a wide variety of apps preinstalled, from Netflix, to Google’s apps, to a file browser. All the apps open up, very quickly, without any hesitation.

As for ports, it has two USBs, an optical out, AV out, ethernet, another mini USB port, and a HDMI out for TVs or a computer monitor.

Performance wise; the little computer is snappy, and fast so far. It boots fairly quick also. Apps like Fallout Shelter run smoothly, and web browsing does as well.

For the Design; the little Android PC, is pretty generic looking, with shiny black plastic and matte silver. It is also pretty lightweight too, but doesn’t feel cheap.

Overall

This Android mini computer I bought, for $4.00, is not bad at all. It can be used for either a media streaming device, or as a second mini PC! Overall, it’s an interesting little machine, with tons of potential!

What technology do you regret buying in your life?

Me: It was a cheap $200 Emachines laptop on Black Friday in 2009. It was a pretty good laptop, but had an awful single core processor. Also, the ports began failing after a couple of years.

Over the years, Apple has always been the leader in the innovation. However, lately, Apple has begun faltering in a lot things. Here are the top signs, the "Apple Ship" is sinking.

1. Root, This is a major, absurd flap by Apple, and a one of many cracks forming in their tight ship.
2. The iPhone X. The iPhone X is frankly terrible looking. It has a noticeable notch on the top, and they removed the finger print reader. The iPhone X looks like a prototype phone to be honest
3. Mac OS: Mac OS is stuck in the 2000s with it's dated UI. Many UI elements have not changed in 15 years.
4. It's product lineup. Apple has a frankly lackluster product lineup compared to others. They have the regular iMac, Macbook, iPad, and iPhone. This is the same lineup from 7 years ago. They have not made anything truly revolutionary.
5. The slowing of iPhones. This is definitely a big crack in Apple's ship. To slow down people's phones, without them knowing, is terrible. Isn't iOS a lightweight mobile OS already?
6. The Macbook Pro keyboards. The new Macbook Pro keyboards are truly awful. They offer no tactile feedback or resistance. To implement such a keyboard on a "Pro" device, is another crack in the Apple ship
7. The regular iPhone. Apple is still selling the dated looking iPhone 8, alongside the improved iPhone X with the edgless display. If Apple wants to innovate, they should go all in, and retire the old iPhone design
8. Headphone jack. There is no rationale to remove a tried and true IO port on a phone, like the headphone jack. Especially, if the USB C offers the same audio quality. Also, now users have to buy a dongle to charge their phone and listen to music, simultaneously.
9. The iPad Pro. Apple continues to tout the iPad Pro as a PC replacement. Yet, it can't do a lot of the things a Macbook or Windows PC can, like heavy duty tasks.
10. Value and competitiveness of their products. Back in 2007, the iPhone and Macbooks, were like the Mercedes of tech products. A Dell Inspiron felt like a cheap Hyundai Accent in comparison. Now in 2017, there are so many other excellent laptops and smartphones, that really give Apple's bread and butter products, a run for their money!

Over the years, we only really had two operating systems on PCs, Windows and Mac. Now, we have Chrome OS and Chromebooks, being sold. Chromebooks are pretty good, for casual users. They offer a streamlined, and safe experience, where people can't screw their computers up.

Recently, Chromebooks have begun getting Android apps, apart of the operating system. Chrome OS, originally was just a browser based operating system, with the bare necessities, and a file explorer. Now, it is inching closer to something more useful, especially with Android apps. Albeit, Android Apps are still not nearly as sophisticated as desktop Windows programs, yet.

Imagine, if Chrome OS further matured, and offered tools, that could be found in Windows? Also, imagine if you could run Adobe Premiere, Lightroom, or Photoshop. If Chrome OS, matures to a point, where it maintains it's fast speed, and also usefulness for power/advanced users. Could Chrome OS and Chromebooks, soon challenge Windows and Mac PCs?

What do you think?

10 years ago, if you were Christmas shopping for a gaming or ultra high end laptop. These are what you could get!

Here is one the top of the line, 2007 Dell gaming laptops. These had Windows Vista, that just was released. This laptop (Dell XPS M1730) also could have dual GTX 8700M graphics, which could play Crisis and Fallout 3 later on.

This model, is still selling for a pretty penny on Ebay, despite being 10 years old.

If you were looking for something, sophisticated and cool in 2007. You could get this, for $2,500. This had a detachable keyboard, a external like display, and a freaking handle, for carrying around! Imagine, bringing one of these into work, or college!

Although times have changed quite a bit since 2007. These laptops are pretty nice still!

Back in 2009, I had an Asus EeePC 900A, running Eeebuntu. It was an amazingly portable, little laptop. It wasn't a powerful laptop, by any stretch. It's portability, well made up for it. You could fit the EeePC in a glove box or a purse even.

Above the Asus EeePC 900

Many netbooks back then, were pretty awful for typing on, and many weren't good for a lot of things. Especially due to their small screens, cramped keyboards, tiny track pads, and slow atom processors.

However, there were very good netbooks, like the Thinkpad X120E, and the later Asus EeePCs, that improved upon many things.

Above: ThinkPad X120e

Now, with the new Windows on ARM laptops coming out, that offer 20 hours of battery. Also, 'always on' technology, like we have in our smartphones. Could netbooks make a successful comeback? Would you buy a modern ARM based netbook?

What do you think?

Hi Paul,

I greatly enjoy reading your articles on Thurrott.com. I noticed an uptick in premium articles recently. Will all articles in the future, be premium-tized, this frequently? Especially about noteworthy subjects like this below?

Thanks!

10 years ago, 2 or 4 GB of RAM was decent and very good. Over the years, applications have become bigger, and so has the need for more RAM. Now, 16GB is not even enough for some. People are putting 32GB or even 64GB of RAM, which is crazy!

Now, with Windows becoming less resource intensive. PC manufacturers have been shipping lower end PCs with only 2GB of RAM. This has to end, now! PC Makers should be putting a minimum of 4GB of RAM in low end PCs. 2GB of RAM just will not cut it anymore. Even with web browsing, having multiple tabs, will consume a lot of memory. Some (small) Windows tablets had a shocking 1GB of RAM, which is inexcusable. I still see some new Windows tablets, with only 1GB of RAM.

Just imagine, someone who bought a brand new laptop, last black Friday, with only 2GB of RAM, loaded with crapware. Then they try, web browsing. Then down the road, install other programs. It would be horrible experience.

Manufacturers need to stop shipping out 2GB of RAM, in low end laptops. How much does it truly cost, to add 2GB more of RAM? Many laptops have RAM soldered in, so something with so little RAM, is old right out of the gate. There is really no excuse to shortchange PC buyers with such measly RAM installed. If adding 2GB of RAM increases the price by $20, so be it..

Even though Windows now can technically run on 2GB RAM, and run acceptably for web browsing. Microsoft should increase the requirements of Windows to 4GB, to make for a pleasurable, and flawless computing experience. By increasing the requirements, it will force PC manufacturers, to stop offering 2GB of RAM in low end $200 laptops.

Laptop keyboards over the years, have always been a step or two below, a regular desktop keyboard. They all offer different, feels, layouts and responsiveness. ThinkPad keyboards for instance, are one of the best, and offer an excellent typing experience. Whilst, laptops with, cheap, flimsy chiclet keyboards, are the worst typing experience. It really all is subjective, when it comes down to it.

Recently, I went to Best Buy, to look around. I walked over to the Apple section to take a gander. I tried out one of the new Macbooks Pros. After typing on the keyboards. I was shocked, how horrendously, bad it was. It felt like, I was typing on a hard table.

The Macbook keyboard, is the worst keyboard, I have ever used. It has no key travel, no tactile feedback, nothing. You minus well, just type on a rock, for writing essays. How can Apple sell so-called, premium laptops, with such awful keyboards?

Although, laptop keyboards are all subjective. The Macbook keyboard is just objectively bad. I could not imagine owning a Macbook, and having to type anything longer than 2 sentences on it.

What is Apple thinking?

What are your thoughts about the Macbook keyboard?

With all the recent Call of Duty WWII hoopla. I decided to play, one of my favorite computer games of all time, Call of Duty 1.

Back in 2003, Call of Duty 1 came out. It was a revolution in World War 2 shooter games. It mixed an excellent story and game play together. It taught players about all various the weapons used in the war, and so much more.

In the mid 2000s, I had a fairly good Windows XP PC. It had Athlon XP 3200 processor, 512MB RAM, and a Radeon 9250. It played Half Life 2 and Call of Duty 1 and United Offense very well.

A day ago, I decided to go through the (long process) of install Call of Duty 1 on Windows 10.

1. I had to install Call of Duty, and change CDs, which is pretty old school. First I had to insert the product key of course! Installing the game took several minutes.
2. After installing, COD refused to launch, because of Secure CD. I tried compatibility mode, but still didn't work.
3. Upon some research, I found I needed to download a patched "No CD" exe and replace the original. This worked perfectly, and the game launched.
4. Then, I went into the COD folder, and opened up the config file, and changed the resolution to 1920x1080.

After all these steps. Call of Duty 1 ran perfectly, and I could relive the good old days. The game looks actually very good for 14 years old. Overall, Call of Duty plays well in Windows 10, despite needing to modify/adjust some things.

Here’s some Screenshots I took playing.