From owner-freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Sat Jun 11 20:31:44 2016 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@mailman.ysv.freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:1900:2254:206a::19:1]) by mailman.ysv.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id EC758AF0767 for ; Sat, 11 Jun 2016 20:31:44 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from galtsev@kicp.uchicago.edu) Received: from cosmo.uchicago.edu (cosmo.uchicago.edu [128.135.70.90]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id ADAF727E9 for ; Sat, 11 Jun 2016 20:31:44 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from galtsev@kicp.uchicago.edu) Received: by cosmo.uchicago.edu (Postfix, from userid 48) id 862CCCB8CAA; Sat, 11 Jun 2016 15:31:38 -0500 (CDT) Received: from 76.193.17.37 (SquirrelMail authenticated user valeri) by cosmo.uchicago.edu with HTTP; Sat, 11 Jun 2016 15:31:38 -0500 (CDT) Message-ID: <51101.76.193.17.37.1465677098.squirrel@cosmo.uchicago.edu> In-Reply-To: <2dbf8c17dedd15d1b696a92232d655e0.squirrel@webmail.harte-lyne.ca> References: <2dbf8c17dedd15d1b696a92232d655e0.squirrel@webmail.harte-lyne.ca> Date: Sat, 11 Jun 2016 15:31:38 -0500 (CDT) Subject: Re: advice for buying a laptop From: "Valeri Galtsev" To: byrnejb@harte-lyne.ca Cc: galtsev@kicp.uchicago.edu, "User Questions" Reply-To: galtsev@kicp.uchicago.edu User-Agent: SquirrelMail/1.4.8-5.el5.centos.7 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain;charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Priority: 3 (Normal) Importance: Normal X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.22 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sat, 11 Jun 2016 20:31:45 -0000 On Sat, June 11, 2016 2:48 pm, James B. Byrne via freebsd-questions wrote: > > On Fri, June 10, 2016 12:51, Valeri Galtsev wrote: >> > >> >> Indeed. I remember some 10 or 15 years ago someone said: having a >> mac is like driving ferrari. Ford or subaru will get you around >> same well, but but ferrari gives you that chic ;-) >> >> Valeri > > > More like a Benz. My MacBook pro 17" is seven years old as of > February past and still runs well. Actually, really well. Before > this I never had a laptop survive more than three years before some > critical piece of irreplaceable hardware failed. Many not even that > long (Sony Vaio ~9 months, HPQ whatever made with LCM chips only > certified to 40C [saved a fortune in costs -- ~$0.005 per unit -- over > chips certified to80C] ~13 months.) My crude way to predict laptop hardware longevity (or rather to spot the ones likely to die soon) is: I grab laptop body with two hands on opposite sides and try to flex it into propeller shape. The easier it flexes, the higher is likelyhood it will fail soon. As, when used and carried around, it will flex, which causes system board flex. (common jargon "motherboard" is used for 20+ years for system board.) The last makes copper leads of system board go to plastic deformations in some places, become brittle because of that and finally system board will develop micro cracks of some copper leads. This does not guarantee solid built laptop will be good for many years, but it is good test to rule out ultimate junk. Example of something that passes this test but is bad is (as everybody praises macs, I will mention bad for balance): MacBook Pro 15 inch manufactured around 2010 with NVIDIA chip. Soon after warranty (Apple 3 year "protection" plan) ended, newly released MacOS system, if installed on it, will crash it (cause kernel panic inside nvidia kernel module). Voila, your 3 year excellent hardware is junk. Is in my book, as the only reason for me to have macintosh is to support my macintosh users, almost all of whom are definitely upgraded to latest MacOS as their sysadmin (myself) recommended. And for that particular laptop system upgrade is a no-no... Well, sorry about rant. People seem to love Apple so much (which is confirmed by the $$ they pay), and Apple is great where it is great, but it has its share of trash (small, let's be fair). Valeri > > Unfortunately, contemporary Macs are monolithic beasts. Like the > iPhone you cannot even open them to change a battery; much less add > memory or storage. So bye-bye Apple when I finally do have to > upgrade. But the machine I have is wonderful. > > -- > *** e-Mail is NOT a SECURE channel *** > Do NOT transmit sensitive data via e-Mail > Do NOT open attachments nor follow links sent by e-Mail > > James B. Byrne mailto:ByrneJB@Harte-Lyne.ca > Harte & Lyne Limited http://www.harte-lyne.ca > 9 Brockley Drive vox: +1 905 561 1241 > Hamilton, Ontario fax: +1 905 561 0757 > Canada L8E 3C3 > > _______________________________________________ > freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list > https://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions > To unsubscribe, send any mail to > "freebsd-questions-unsubscribe@freebsd.org" > ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Valeri Galtsev Sr System Administrator Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics University of Chicago Phone: 773-702-4247 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++