Root Access

In the time between the Asus Skylake Transformer being announced and becoming available they announced like two or three Kaby Lake Zenbooks which are already on sale

Bob

@Dog Yea, Elite x2 starts at $1750.

Though now I realiase I'm probably looking at CAD

dammit currencies

Dog

@Bob Eh, there was a 700 pound model but they appear to be disappearing

Bob

waiiiiit

how am I looking at the Australian HP store

Dog

12:05 AM

Ooh looks like they've EOL'd them so I assume a replacement is coming soon

Bob

...HP. are you pulling tracking shenanigans on me?

Dog

ballicom.co.uk/hp-l5h02ea-abh-.p1231152.html

686 GBP inc. VAT for the lowest model

store.hp.com/UKStore/Merch/offer.aspx?p=b-hp-elite-x2-1012

HP site shows the general details but er... yeah, they only have one model left now instead of six

Which means Kaby Lake update arriving imminently yay!

Bob

@Dog Basically the requirements list from @bwDraco was narrowed down to business-class, 12-14", hinged and detachable keyboard, ULV-U.

And we're back to the fun part where it's possible to satisfy 3/4 of them.

Dog

@Bob Hinged as in convertible or hinged AND detachable?

@Bob Welcome to every time I want to buy anything

@Bob Lol doesn't exist

Well, except Surface Book

Bob

@Dog Yea pretty much.

I'm only aware of Surface Book and Transformer. Oh, and Toshiba had one too.

Dog

12:09 AM

<== Still waiting for Surface Book 2, hoping it comes with a 1040 or something

Bob

@Dog c'mon, a 1040? 1060 pls :P

Then again, the Surface Studio only has a 965m on the base model -_-

Dog

@Bob a 100w GPU in a 12" tablet... yeah no thanks

bwDraco

@Bob As I've said before, Surface devices are not intended for gaming workloads.

Bob

@Dog 13.5" apparently o.O

Burgi

seriously how the hell does verstappen drive like that?

Dog

12:10 AM

Whatever, same diff :-P

Burgi

do they put glue on his tyres or something?

Bob

@Burgi whowhatwhere?

Dog

Still a sub-14" tablet/convertible. I've never seen a >35w GPU in one of those and even finding a 35w is incredibly hard. So no chance in hell anyone's shoving a 100w one in

Bob

@Burgi IIRC the rubber in tyres of racing cars are effectively glue

Burgi

F1 driver

Bob

12:11 AM

pretty soft/sticky

Dog

Dell's Alienware 13" is like 1.5" thick and even that barely fits a 1060

Bob

and wears away in half a race

Dog

@Bob Well, the soft tyres are, hard ones are well... harder

Burgi

@Bob but it was in the rain!

he out drove former world champions it was insane

Dog

Underwater glue?

Bob

12:12 AM

@Dog :(

Burgi

must be

Dog

Ooh new generation Alienware 13's are available in the UK now

Bob

yea. point there though

damn laws of thermodynamics

Dog

@Bob Eh

My target machine must have thunderbolt to attach an external GPU with anyway

And frankly thermodynamics or not, a 100w GPU running on a 50Wh battery isn't going to last very long

Bob

@Dog I want my free energy :(

Burgi

12:13 AM

the brazilian grand prix is always epic

Dog

GTX 1060 in an external Thunderbolt dock, preferably something external CD-ROM sized like the Acer one, would be perfect

I'd totally pay $500 for that

(The first-gen basically-a-tech-demo Acer GPU dock houses a 960M, so a 1060 is well within reach)

Bob

@Dog @bwDraco See Toshiba Z20t: us.toshiba.com/computers-tablets/laptops/Portege/Z20t

It's Core-M though

Dog

@Bob Cannae load

Anyway, back to STO grind

Bob

@Dog :(

It's detachable with a hinged keyboard.

bwDraco

I'm looking at the Surface Pro 4, but I don't want Father to be stuck with a previous-generation device.

Bob

12:16 AM

Battery in the keyboard too.

Pen support and all.

Dog

I did notice today that my 5-year-old Sandy Bridge HD 3000 iGPU is actually mildly capable

In that I can put the graphics settings to "medium" and still get 40fps, for about two seconds before the CPU thermal throttles

Bob

12.5" screen.

bwDraco

Core m7 is probably okay.

Bob

Advertised towards businesses, but meh.

> Intel® Core™ m5-6Y57 Processor, Intel® vPro™ Technology

Could wait for new ones if you really want Kaby

bwDraco

us.toshiba.com/computers/laptops/portege/Z20t/Z20t-C2121

Dog

12:17 AM

Now a Kaby Lake 15w iGPU is supposedly 3-4x faster, so even a Kaby Lake Core M tablet should be able to run Star Trek Online at medium to high settings.

bwDraco

This is pushing the limits.

Bob

@Dog lol. I remember trying to play CoD4 on Ivy Bridge iGPU

CPU at 100 deg C

Dog

@Bob Thing is this isn't even going anywhere near the TDP limit, it's just shoddy cooling design

Bob

@bwDraco Huh. That didn't come up for me.

@Dog Yea, pretty sure that laptop was poorly cooled.

Dog

Peak power draw of 32w, CPU hits 97'c. It's a 37w TDP CPU with turbo of 45w.

Bob

12:18 AM

Then I switched to the dGPU on the laptop. Went from like 15 FPS to 16 FPS. Temps went... up?

Journeyman Geek

@Bob Hmm. PC powered Tea Boiler? ;p

Dog

(And a modern 15w will beat by a factor of two in every respect, damn that's progress)

Journeyman Geek

I don't consider laptops gaming machines ;p

bwDraco

@Dog What the heck? That's a type-H processor.

Dog

@JourneymanGeek You haven't gamed on an OLED Alienware

Bob

12:19 AM

Some shoddy AMD GPU I can't remember. Was a really crappy prev-gen re-numbered.

bwDraco

@JourneymanGeek Is it wrong for me to?

Bob

@bwDraco It's Sandy Bridge.

Did Sandy Bridge even have ULV models?

Dog

@Bob So, just about every mobile GPU until the 10xx series then

Bob

@Dog This one was particularly bad.

Like, I think the Ivy iGPU might've been better.

bwDraco

@Bob There were 17-watt Sandy Bridge chips but not dedicated type-U processors.

Bob

12:20 AM

It was slapped in just so they can say "we have a dGPU!!!"

@bwDraco Huh, 16 GB RAM. That's actually pretty nice.

And my brother actuall has a Z20t, though a lower-end one.

It's a nice little machine.

A bit thick with the keyboard attached, maybe.

The battery in the keyboard effectively doubles life.

> Tablet + Keyboard: Up to 19.12 hours

o.O

>
Do without the dongle.

Connecting, syncing and sharing are essential parts of mobile business. That's why we made sure the Portégé® Z20t Ultrabook® has the ports people need—a LAN, RGB and full-size HDMI® ports. And microSD™, Micro HDMI® plus a USB 3.1 Type-C port on the tablet; and on the keyboard base two USB 2.0 ports and a USB 3.0 port.

bwDraco

laptopmag.com/reviews/laptops/toshiba-portege-z20t

14 hours web browsing. Wow!

Bob

Meanwhile, over at Apple HQ: DONGLE ALL THE THINGS! :P

Dog

@Bob Yeah Lenovo was annoying me with that last year

"Optional next-gen Nvidia GPU" - four months later, turns out to be a 940M.

Bob

wait. wtf is an "RGB port"?

Dog

Four months even later, finally shows up in UK stores, turns out it's been downgraded to a 920M that's slower than the iGPU

Bob

12:23 AM

@Dog fail.

Wait. Z20t has a Type-C 3.1 port now?

...I want.

Burgi

so it turns out replacement PCBs are only $36

Bob

I wonder if it's Thunderbolt.

@Burgi Uhm. Don't they usually store some tuning data on the PCB?

Burgi

i have no idea

Bob

@Dog Hard to be sure, but I think that Z20t model @Burgi linked actually has a Thunderbolt port

Journeyman Geek

@bwDraco nope. Just that I need a proper keyboard, mouse, at least a 20 inch monitor....

Bob

12:25 AM

Or it could just be a third-party site misreporting again.

Burgi

i didn't link anything @Bob

bwDraco

I'm hoping to build a desktop soon but alas, I'm short on funds...

Journeyman Geek

@Bob RGB port = ~~obsolete~~ traditional VGA port

Burgi

@bwDraco we are selling our old kit at work :)

Journeyman Geek

heh. I'm debating a razer blade stealth still ._.

Burgi

12:26 AM

@Bob this one smells like burnt electronics

Journeyman Geek

On one hand, I have time now to set it up right

On the other, I've not got a confirmed, only a likely job

Burgi

where do i find star shaped screwdrivers from?

Journeyman Geek

on the gripping hand...

@Burgi pentalobe?

Burgi

um...

no they have 6 points

Journeyman Geek

google.com.sg/…

Burgi

12:28 AM

hexalobe?

Journeyman Geek

Someone posted a question as a answer...

she's had a account here for 2 years ._.

bwDraco

Torx?

Bob

@Burgi Sorry, that @bwDraco linked.

Burgi

no worries

Dog

@Bob Nice. Although the page still hasn't loaded and I'm too lazy to fix it

Fixed it. That was easy

Bob

12:30 AM

> Improve Boot Up Time to Display Logo - Specific Customer Request

lol

Burgi

@bwDraco i've heard the name but never had one

Bob

Hm. No online chat support and I'm too lazy to make a phone call.

Journeyman Geek

List of screw drives

A screw drive is a system used to turn a screw. At a minimum, it is a feature on the screw that allows torque to be applied to it. Usually, it also involves a mating tool, such as a screwdriver, that is used to turn it. The following heads are categorized based on commonality, with the less common drives being classified as "tamper-resistant". Most heads come in a range of sizes, typically distinguished by a number, such as "Phillips #00" or "Torx T5." These sizes do not necessarily describe a particular dimension of the drive shape, but are often arbitrary designations in the same sense as a ...

@Burgi most common screwdriver kits would have torx

Bob

> A screw drive is a system used to turn a screw.

...

> At a minimum, it is a feature on the screw that allows torque to be applied to it. Usually, it also involves a mating tool, such as a screwdriver, that is used to turn it.

Journeyman Geek

maplin.co.uk/p/32-piece-precision-screwdriver-set-a26qu @Burgi you want something like this

(and a fire extinguisher)

Burgi

12:34 AM

i don't think any of my "mating tools" have 6 stars...

lol

Journeyman Geek

If they did, you might need to see a ~~xenobiologist~~ doctor

Burgi

i lie, first driver out of the box is a 6 pointed star...

anyone want my old radeon?

Bob

Is it likely to catch fire?

Burgi

i don't think so...

Bob

> If you don't blow up a debug session every so often, then you're not debugging hard enough.

bwDraco

12:39 AM

Jul 17 at 1:44, by bwDraco

I actually plan to build full towers for myself, but I'd wind up with 50+ lb behemoths I can't easily carry.

Burgi

@Bob fair point

bwDraco

Building a full tower PC: Will I wind up with a system I can't move without a hand truck?

Bob

wtf are you putting in it

bricks?

Burgi

@bwDraco have you never had a desktop before?

10kg is a heavy desktop imho

bwDraco

I have not had a full tower before.

Burgi

12:42 AM

i did accidentally buy a server tower last time

but normal people will check the sizes prior to ordering

Bob

@Burgi Haven't weighed mine, but I have a whole bunch of HDDs inside and it wasn't a particularly light case. Even then, it can't be more than 20kg. Probably a lot less.

Burgi

my old rack server was 35kg

certainly carriable

@bwDraco you could go mini-atx like a shuttle

btw this is a radeon hd3850

512MB

according to the board it complies with all canadian regulations....

Bob

@JourneymanGeek reddit.com/r/tifu/comments/5crhdk/…

@Burgi Ah, so a 75 W heater.

> This is a modern graphics card capable of running all the new features in Windows Vista, including the upcoming DirectX 10.

Journeyman Geek

12:59 AM

"End of the day: I've been immortalized as a legend of the company. Nothing spilled from the ziploc bag. I clinched a 31/32 for my firing. Natural marksman :D"

Bob

@bwDraco Uhm.

LOL

In-context and assuming you're replying to @JourneymanGeek...

Burgi

it did ok for me

Bob

@JourneymanGeek Heh. How's your shooting, btw?

bwDraco

Wait a sec, he's doing National Service again?

We haven't needed conscription here in the US for a long time.

But every country is different...

Journeyman Geek

@Bob I might be eligible for a marksman badge

Bob

1:06 AM

@bwDraco Not currently, AFAIK

Journeyman Geek

Not bad

@bwDraco reservist here is also called national service

tho, this chap's probably a conscript

bleh I need to diff two files and I'm lazy

bwDraco

This is making me want to enlist in the Army...

Bob

@JourneymanGeek vscode :P

@bwDraco wat.

bwDraco

Discipline!

Burgi

LOL!

Bob

1:07 AM

*sigh*

Burgi

you do realise that joining the army means people shoot at you

5

bwDraco

Sure, I know.

But am I making myself useful by just sitting in front of my PC all day?

Burgi

this has been known to have a negative impact on your health

bwDraco

...do we need a CM here?

Bob

@bwDraco No? Why would you need one?

Ben N

1:10 AM

I don't think so?

Journeyman Geek

why?

Ben N

I'm not sure CMs can do anything more about that than we can :/

Burgi

what sort of bad thoughts?

bwDraco

Let's get back to the original discussion.

Bob

Probably time for you to step back a bit and maybe take a nap.

Or read a book.

Listen to some music.

bwDraco

1:12 AM

I think I've been much better behaved lately, though.

Ben N

I find that going for a little jog outside clears my mind

bwDraco

I'm confident I can continue normally.

Burgi

on a serious note, if you want to join the army, good luck but you need to be aware that you might be put in really dangerous locations and situations

bwDraco

In hindsight, that Army comment was rather funny and silly.

Bob

@BenN my next message was going to be "go for a run around the block", but I needed more tea :P

Burgi

1:13 AM

you've already said your mental health isn't great

bwDraco

It was nothing. Let's move on.

At least I managed to prevent it from escalating any further.

Journeyman Geek

hmm

I need a place to throw a config file on

bwDraco

lol

Journeyman Geek

(trying to answer a question. I gave him instructions on what to do and a stripped down config file...)

Bob

@JourneymanGeek I usually default to gist, if embedding into the answer isn't desired

Ben N

1:25 AM

GitHub's Gist is pretty cool

Bob

@BenN GOOMHB :P

Journeyman Geek

not really no

bwDraco

@Bob Pastebin for random text content, GitHub Gist for code.

Bob

@bwDraco Nah. I use gist for all random text.

Pastebin is pretty shoddy now.

They push their pro accounts and ads pretty hard.

Journeyman Geek

superuser.com/a/1145461/10165 there we are ;)

bwDraco

1:40 AM

Sep 9 at 23:09, by bwDraco

Does anyone know of a 24-inch IPS display that does at least 120 Hz refresh, has 1440p resolution, supports G-SYNC, and covers at least 90% of Adobe RGB?

Once again, anything?

Sep 9 at 23:10, by bwDraco

I know the "120 Hz refresh"/"G-SYNC" and "90% Adobe RGB coverage" requirements may seem mutually exclusive, but bear with me.

No price limit.

Journeyman Geek

hmm

bwDraco

The problem is that wide-gamut panels are so hard to find in a gaming monitor. I need the display to be able to do both gaming and photo editing.

Journeyman Geek

dell.com/en-us/shop/accessories/apd/210-aizs 72% colour gamut

@bwDraco the answer is two monitors

;p

bwDraco

I'd rather not have two different displays on the desktop this time.

I want two (or three) identical displays here.

Journeyman Geek

2:09 AM

somwhat NSFW for F words but funny as heck.

Harry The Scottish Man Stuck on a Roof (Funny Subtitled Version)

►

Dog

Alright fuck the tablet/hybrid/gaming machine idea, I'm buying that new Alienware

Now the question is, 13" 15" or 17"

Journeyman Geek

17" is barely mobile

Dog

@JourneymanGeek Meh, it's a desktop replacement, literally.

Journeyman Geek

yup

Dog

Bleh, only the 13" has an OLED option, guess that rules out the other two

@JourneymanGeek aka this is literally an alternative to carrying around a mini-itx desktop :-P

Journeyman Geek

2:12 AM

15" is what I consider a good compromise

Dog

So the 15 and 17 both have an option of a 1060 or 1070 but the 13 is 1060 only. Pretty much identical otherwise (i.e. CPU, RAM, etc.)

I expect the 13" will be a lot noisier under load, given it has to cool the same amount as the 17" model :-o

But that does mean I lack a properly portable machine (e.g. 12" tablet) for cramped spaces/on the move use with one hand

> 1TB PCIe SSD (Boot) + 1TB PCIe SSD (Storage) +£670.00

While that price makes my wallet hurt, +£670.00 for two 1TB PCIe SSDs is not a bad deal

Journeyman Geek

heh

Dog

The Intel 600p is the only thing that's close in terms of price per GB, everything else that's even 5% cheaper is SATA

I wonder if it supports RAID, there seems to be no option :-/

£850 for 4-year warranty, jesus

Journeyman Geek

erf

Dog

$1909 SGD seems cheap compared to what I'm looking at :-o

For once the UK isn't being totally ripped off... sure the base model in the UK is
£300 more but the accidental damage costs 3x as much on the US site, and upgrading to 2x1TB SSD costs £470 on the UK site and $1,100 on the US :-o

There goes my plan of using the price difference as an excuse to take a "free" flight to the U.S....

Yeah $1900 SGD is like £1100

Journeyman Geek

2:34 AM

ordered

Dog

:-o

:-D

Journeyman Geek

I actually have no idea what I'd do with the nabu or the mouse

Dog

"New Inspiron Gaming"
=> GTX 960M, same as last year's Inspiron

Bob

lol

Dog

I suspect NVidia has a huge stockpile of old GTX 960 chips they're trying to flog for cheap, given Microsoft's snapped up a ton for their "new" Surface machines too

Journeyman Geek

2:37 AM

this seems plausible

the 960 was somewhat delayed no?

apple would probably buy a ton too

Bob

@JourneymanGeek *cough*3months*cough*

:P

Journeyman Geek

@Bob Wanted one for longer

Bob

lol

Journeyman Geek

My brother has had one longer and I basically told him "If I was buying a general use laptop today I'd buy this"

bwDraco

@JourneymanGeek Congrats!

Journeyman Geek

2:43 AM

lol

@bwDraco for making a decision? ;p

Psycogeek

for spending every penny of profit from your job in less time than you had the job for :-)

Journeyman Geek

....

That's kinda mean

Psycogeek

perspective

Journeyman Geek

No, literally, that's kinda mean

Dog

bwDraco

2:46 AM

@Psycogeek, please don't say these kinds of things. That is flaggable content.

Dog

Homeless? Unemployed? Buy the most expensive laptop I've ever had!

Journeyman Geek

@bwDraco meh, I'll deal with it, I have my big boy pants

bwDraco

I know.

I wasn't about to flag it.

Journeyman Geek

@Psycogeek my dad's laptop is dying and he dosen't really want to get a new one. I'll be passing my old laptop, fully upgraded to him.

And considering my basic needs are met, stuff like this is, well why I work

And yeah, I tend to make hardware purchases when I'm stressed, but its never an impulse thing.

Psycogeek

it is why we all work :-)

Journeyman Geek

2:49 AM

And my parents will likely make a fuss, but meh. I'm an adult.

But considering for most of my life people have disapproved of my love of computers, this is one place I don't really need it.

Yeah, you seem to think its all cool to be cynical, but please don't comment on my hardware purchases that way.

Bob

everyone's buying laptops

*cuts up credit card*

oh wait I have paypal

Journeyman Geek

@Bob x220's hitting 5 years

She's fine post upgrades other than the battery (which I can replace) and the screen (which I can't, and it inherently sucky)

Dog

> Color Options
Epic Silver

Not just normal silver, it has to be epic silver

Bob

@JourneymanGeek yea, I've done far more impulse purchases. recently.

and of course there's @Dog

Journeyman Geek

shrug

Its a sensitive subject for me ;p

Dog

2:52 AM

@Bob Woof?

> 1 SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Type-A Port
1 SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Type-A Port with PowerShare technology
1 SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Type-C Port
1 Thunderbolt™ 3 Port (USB Type-C™ with support for SuperSpeed USB 10Gbps, 40Gbps Thunderbolt, and DisplayPort)
1 Alienware Graphics Amplifier Port

Damn that's some nice connectivity there: two USB-A ports, two USB-C ports (one with Thunderbolt), AND a graphics/dock port

Journeyman Geek

" 1 Alienware Graphics Amplifier Port"

was iz zat?

Bob

@Dog that's a lotta ports

@JourneymanGeek it makes your graphics bigger

Dog

@Bob Ya, it also has Ethernet, DisplayPort and HDMI separately

@JourneymanGeek Not heard of Alienware graphics amplifier?

Journeyman Geek

eh, no

I don't do gaming laptops ;p

Dog

It's... well it's Dell's original version of the Razer Core external graphics dock

Basically, Razer copied the Dell...

But since Razer did it a couple years later, they used a more standardized port (since Thunderbolt wasn't available at the time Dell made it up)

@Bob I'm curious if it charges over USB-C actually

Bob

2:54 AM

@Dog Alienware?

not a clue :\

Dog

The Dell XPS' with Thunderbolt do charge over USB-C but only with 20v+ USB-PD chargers.

Bob

XPS did, IIRC

jinx! :P

Dog

They didn't come with a 180w stock power brick though :-P

Journeyman Geek

ah

Bob

o.O

Dog

2:55 AM

Er... shit...

I have the feeling the touchpad comes in bright pink and only pink

Bob

LOL

Journeyman Geek

snort

Sounds like the time my brother bought a stream sight unseen

Dog

Journeyman Geek

"blue or pink?" "wait, I donno... it comes in pink?"

Dog

They say the keyboard has RGB adjustable lighting but the touchpad is bright pink in every one of the photos

Journeyman Geek

2:56 AM

@Dog looks like it syncs with the lighting...

Psycogeek

think of it as Majenta

Bob

@Dog oh, it's one of those funny screen hinges

Dog

@Bob Yeah I like it tbh

Bob

@Dog is there an advantage to it?

or just aesthetics?

Dog

Moves the screen forward a bit, which is useful for cramped airline seats (not that I've had to deal with many of those lately ^_^) and allows the bit behind to be thicker = bigger heatsinks without making the whole machine thicker

Bob

2:58 AM

ah

Journeyman Geek

I think a lot of 17" inchers do that

Dog

Journeyman Geek

My brother's asus was built like that too

Dog

It also seems to vent out upwards slightl too

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