What computing devices do you use?

[jacqueg]

MacBook Air and and iPhone 6s.

I mumble now and again about replacing the laptop with an iPad, but the fact is I wouldn't want to watch a movie on anything smaller than the Air.

 

[maki2]

I actually seem to need a lot more computing power than the average nomad. Maybe because I have my own small business I can work at on the road. I do design work in a 3D CAD program that is meant for engineering work. So I need a computer that is pretty much comparable to a good gaming computer with lots of RAM and a good graphics card. I have several laptops as I like having a backup that can keep my work going if something happens to a computer. Mostly over the years I have done my own repair work such as replacing screens, keyboards, power ports, hard drives, RAM etc. I did go to the local community college and got a basic education including how to build and repair computers as well as doing networking, basic concepts of programming, lots of software programs too. I also have some small machines that I control with a computer which is why it is nice to have more than one laptop around.

I also have several android tablets and an i-phone.

I am a bit different than the average older woman. I attended my first PC user fair put on by the Pacific Northwest Computer society in April of 1978. I bought my first PC in 1983 but I was in online forums using a friend's PC to connect to forums on the web a couple of years before I bought my own. So I am coming up on 40 years of having participated in various forums on lots of different subjects as I have a variety of interest. Years ago I was participating in a forum about architecture late at night on AOL in the early '90s when Alan Bean, one of the Apollo moon walkers, dropped in to see if he could find signs of intelligent life on AOL. He was an artist so he had gone onto AOL to try out the artist forum which was always full of idiotic chatter as he quickly found out. But we along with a couple of other forum members had a good conversation about art and his adventures. It was an honor to meet such a person online, he was a real adventure traveler to be sure and he did it in a very unique camping vehicle and computers along too

 

[travelaround]

Fascinating...

I've been computing since 1990 or thereabouts. Used to own a BBS on Fidonet. Was a webdesigner for a while.

Currently own a Dell Inspiron laptop and Samsung Galaxy Note which is what I use most of the time, including to watch movies while I'm in bed at night.

I also own a Kindle Fire 10 and Kindle Paperwhite.. both rarely used right now.. and I brought along an older but larger Dell laptop that needs repair to the OS.. it is running very slowly.

 

[badmotorscooter]

Cool history on your computing experiences maki2.

I got into computing in the late nineties. My ex had computers before that, but they were so incapable and couldn't play any games. Lol! We had one computer that could play games and it really got popular in my family. PC's were so expensive back then, I bought the parts and made a second one. And that's were it all started... Family, friends and then paying customers. All the while gaming and over clocking processors and video cards to get more performance.

Moved from Colorado Springs to Las Cruces NM to open a computer repair shop (PC Fix). Ran that business for 10 years until getting pretty burned out and sold it before the onslaught of tablets and smart phones took over.
The golden age of PC's was ending, and I saw the writing on the wall and moved on...

Funny today I don't even run a desktop or game. Just need an internet device and something to watch videos/movies and listen to music. I don't even watch TV or own a smart phone!

 

[VanLifeCrisis]

I like playing games like overwatch and paladins, so i have a decently capable acer aspire 15" laptop. It gets the job done for as cheap as I could make it. I had a higher end gaming laptop a couple years ago, but circumstances made me sell it. My phone does everything else.

If i get a few extra bucks id like to get a nice big tablet for reading again.

I also have my old hp laptop with 17" screen, it was a mid-high spec laptop for its time and had a decent graphics card, so i can even play paladins on it still. But it finally had to throw in the towel on overwatch or anything newer ?

 

[brucedevauxone]

Also an Inspiron 11 laptop with Linux Mint 19 as the only OS. $49 for the tablet and $79 for the laptop both new

badmotorscooter - using Linux is what caught my attention

i recently bought a HP-Envy and have been researching the idea of Linux for better Security! what is your thoughts?
i hate the idea of all my history being collected and sold!!!

 

[HighwayPirates]

Even though our camper is small (first-gen CR-V) we use a modified HP desktop we bought from a high school for $50, a refurbished Dell laptop I salvaged from the junk yard and an LG tablet for when we just don't want to bother with the inverter. We were going to install satellite internet to the CR-V for internet wherever we roam, but we have learned to live without the need of internet (okay, well I have, my wife never had a use for it lol).

As for operating systems we use Ubuntu with some programs I created to protect from viruses. I prefer the open-source operating systems as you can do so much more with them. They may not have the support which Microsoft or Apple has to offer, but the Linux and Ubuntu systems (as examples) have a very good community of developers who are actually helpful on forums (my experience with Microsoft is always an auto-mated message which never gives help with resolving a problem).

 

[badmotorscooter]

badmotorscooter - using Linux is what caught my attention

i recently bought a HP-Envy and have been researching the idea of Linux for better Security! what is your thoughts?
i hate the idea of all my history being collected and sold!!!

Linux is very secure, but using a browser could still generate information...

 

[Zork]

Tor browser, if you have something to hide.

 

[boutdone]

all of †his is most informing.......To be clear though, I use a Mac air for a laptop but was interested in a tablet specifically for navigation and what apps were helpful with BLM land. I want to hide. 

 

[B and C]

Start a thread and ask the question. This is badmotorscooter's thread.

 

[crofter]

This NY Times article states that our data is going through China, with attempts by the Chinese authorities to control things. What alternatives to that are there? The companies cited with large data centers in Hong Kong were Google and Amazon.
~crofter

Description: link to NY Times article.
https://nyti.ms/2O4iI92

 

[sneaks]

3 Win desktops, one RedHat desktop, one Win laptop, one MacBook, one iPad, one 'droid tablet, one iPhone. I would hate to have to try to work mobile .

 

[barleyguy]

The devices I use on a regular basis are 3 laptops (1 windows, 1 linux, and one issued by my employer), 2 tablets (1 android, 1 ipad), and an android cell phone.

That doesn't include video games. I also have a Nintendo Switch, a Sony PSP, and a Turbografx 16 mini.

I also have 3 Raspberry Pi single board computers in use. One with a large hard drive, one as part of my solar system, and one with retro video games,

That also doesn't include my "collection" that I don't use regularly. You'd probably laugh ironically if you knew how many computers and gadgets I actually have. Computer building has been a hobby of mine for about 30 years, and some of those got collected.

When I'm in my RV I only have the ones listed. The collection is at home base.

(My parents' first computer was in 1979, a TRS-80 model 1.)

 

[sneaks]

(My parents' first computer was in 1979, a TRS-80 model 1.)

Likewise, "4k of memory, you will never need more than this thing has" lol. Fiddling with the volume on the Tandy tape recorder to get it in just the right spot to read and write. When we upgraded to a Model II, my dad got a Stringy Floppy, much faster and accurate until the Model4 with a real floppy disk.
I still have two DEC 500mz quad-CPU Alphas running OS\2 in the attic, now you have me wanting to drag one down and see if it still fires up .

 

[barleyguy]

Likewise, "4k of memory, you will never need more than this thing has" lol. Fiddling with the volume on the Tandy tape recorder to get it in just the right spot to read and write. When we upgraded to a Model II, my dad got a Stringy Floppy, much faster and accurate until the Model4 with a real floppy disk.
I still have two DEC 500mz quad-CPU Alphas running OS\2 in the attic, now you have me wanting to drag one down and see if it still fires up .

Yeah, I remember the cassette tape program loading as well. Not fondly.

The company I worked for in the late 90s had a datacenter full of Alphas. They were running Unix on them though. Those were state of the art at the time.

 

[lopicma]

I'm using a Kindle fan less PC. Dual core i7, 16Gb RAM, SSD boot drive and external spinners.