litetaker

I won't be doing any gaming on my laptop, I've not done PC gaming in a long time. I play on my PS5 and Nintendo Switch. GPU acceleration in Lightroom seems to be buggy/hit-and-miss, so perhaps having the more powerful GPU may not be all that worth it, if at all. Anyway, an iGPU probably does not make much of a difference. So, given that, would it be better to buy the i5 laptop instead? Would I notice any difference at all in terms of performance using the i5 vs the i7, given its slightly lower core clocks? It looks like, for all practical purposes, the i5 is the same CPU as the i7 but at a lower core clock, and fewer iGPU execution units. So, if everyday performance is the same or difference is not noticable (or heck even better on the i5!) then perhaps I should go for the i5 instead, and save some money and also potentially get some better battery life. If so, I would consider going for the Inspiron 14 with the i5-1235U, rather than the Vostro with the P processor, as it is much cheaper and has better ports.

Would the U processor be efficient enough for the i7 to run fairly cool and quiet? Perhaps as it is a U series processor, it won't run so aggressively and so hot and loud as the i7 laptops you experienced. Also, do you have any insight into the difference between Dell's English International keyboard layout vs the UK/Irish keyboard layout? I generally prefer the enter key of the US layout which is short and wide rather than tall and narrow. But I cannot tell for sure what these keyboards look like as there is no pictures to compare them.

Thanks for the reply @Darkseth. Indeed the i5-1235U appears to be very similar to the i7-1255U, same number of cores but at a lower boost clock. However, it seems that the i7 also has more execution units in its integrated graphics, which may make a bit of a difference. I will think about it and see if it is worth saving £100 on the i5 instead of the i7.

Howdy all! I am looking forward to buying a new 12th gen Intel laptop from Dell as my current laptop from Asus is getting quite old and slow and overheating as well. I finalised my decision to two different models: (1) the new Inspiron 14" model with the i7-1255U, or (2) the Vostro 5320 (13") model with the i7-1260P processor. My use case is just a everyday laptop for browsing the web, watching some YouTube, streaming some Netflix, and occasional photo editing in Lightroom. My current laptop is an Asus Zenbook Pro with an Intel i7-6700HQ for reference. Will the Inspiron model with a lower power CPU (i7-1255U) be sufficient for my usage or should I go for the more performance oriented CPU (i7-1260P) in the Vostro instead? My requirements are a decently powerful laptop that is very light as well. In this regard, I love the Vostro as it is saying it is just 1.25kg in weight, but the downside is it has very few ports, and is also very expensive at around £1043. Whereas the Inspiron is a bit heavier at 1.55kg, but has many more ports that are very useful to me, and much cheaper at around £800. But of course, the Inspiron has the i7-1255U and the Vostro has the i7-1260P instead. Also, if I go for the Inspiron, then I can upgrade the RAM and storage by myself right? Which is why I am thinking of going for the 8 GB RAM model, so that I can upgrade the RAM for cheaper by myself rather than pay the extra £100 premium for the additional RAM which is too much! What are your thoughts? Please let me know! Thank you!

I updated the drivers and all. Perhaps there is a little improvement. What I have noticed is that when I play a 4K 60Hz HDR video on YouTube in a windowed manner it plays fairly well with minimal to no frame drops. But when I go full screen the frame drops are significant! Also, there is a great example for a 4K 60Hz HDR video on Netflix that is also available on YouTube. This is the YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1LTx4h7D_0 And here is the Netflix link for the same video: https://www.netflix.com/watch/80160991 Very interestingly, on Netflix I could play the entire video at 4K 60Hz and HDR without any hiccups, no frame drops. But on YouTube I had horrendous frame drops! So this suggests that the hardware is capable of playing 4K 60Hz HDR videos, but YouTube just sucks! So sad! I really wish there is a fix for this somehow.

This is what I see: Graphics Feature Status Canvas: Hardware accelerated Canvas out-of-process rasterization: Disabled Direct Rendering Display Compositor: Disabled Compositing: Hardware accelerated Multiple Raster Threads: Enabled Out-of-process Rasterization: Hardware accelerated OpenGL: Enabled Rasterization: Hardware accelerated Raw Draw: Disabled Skia Renderer: Enabled Video Decode: Hardware accelerated Video Encode: Hardware accelerated Vulkan: Disabled WebGL: Hardware accelerated WebGL2: Hardware accelerated Driver Bug Workarounds clear_uniforms_before_first_program_use decode_encode_srgb_for_generatemipmap disable_delayed_copy_nv12 disable_direct_composition_sw_video_overlays disable_nv12_dynamic_textures disable_vp_scaling disallow_vp9_resilient_dxva_decoding enable_webgl_timer_query_extensions exit_on_context_lost limit_d3d11_video_decoder_to_11_0 use_empty_video_hdr_metadata disabled_extension_GL_KHR_blend_equation_advanced disabled_extension_GL_KHR_blend_equation_advanced_coherent Problems Detected Some drivers are unable to reset the D3D device in the GPU process sandbox Applied Workarounds: exit_on_context_lost Clear uniforms before first program use on all platforms: 124764, 349137 Applied Workarounds: clear_uniforms_before_first_program_use Disable KHR_blend_equation_advanced until cc shaders are updated: 661715 Applied Workarounds: disable(GL_KHR_blend_equation_advanced), disable(GL_KHR_blend_equation_advanced_coherent) Decode and Encode before generateMipmap for srgb format textures on Windows: 634519 Applied Workarounds: decode_encode_srgb_for_generatemipmap Expose WebGL's disjoint_timer_query extensions on platforms with site isolation: 808744, 870491 Applied Workarounds: enable_webgl_timer_query_extensions Delayed copy NV12 causes crashes on GPU main thread when DXVA video decoder runs on another thread: 983787 Applied Workarounds: disable_delayed_copy_nv12 Don't use video processor scaling on non-Intel, non-NVIDIA GPUs.: 993233 Applied Workarounds: disable_vp_scaling dynamic textures fail to work on AMD GPUs: 1029855, 1050666 Applied Workarounds: disable_nv12_dynamic_textures Limit D3D11VideoDecoder to 11.0 due to crashes on AMD: 1012464 Applied Workarounds: limit_d3d11_video_decoder_to_11_0 Send empty video hdr metadata due to crashes on AMD: 1045586 Applied Workarounds: use_empty_video_hdr_metadata Software overlays fail to work reliably on AMD devices: 1161215, 1160217 Applied Workarounds: disable_direct_composition_sw_video_overlays VP9 resilient mode causes corruptions with AMD VCN HW decoders, using DXVA: 1087422 Applied Workarounds: disallow_vp9_resilient_dxva_decoding ANGLE Features allow_compressed_formats (Frontend workarounds): Enabled: true Allow compressed formats disable_anisotropic_filtering (Frontend workarounds): Disabled Disable support for anisotropic filtering disable_program_binary (Frontend features) anglebug:5007: Disabled Disable support for GL_OES_get_program_binary disable_program_caching_for_transform_feedback (Frontend workarounds): Disabled On some GPUs, program binaries don't contain transform feedback varyings enableCompressingPipelineCacheInThreadPool (Frontend workarounds) anglebug:4722: Disabled: false Enable compressing pipeline cache in thread pool. enableProgramBinaryForCapture (Frontend features) anglebug:5658: Disabled Even if FrameCapture is enabled, enable GL_OES_get_program_binary enable_capture_limits (Frontend features) anglebug:5750: Disabled Set the context limits like frame capturing was enabled forceInitShaderVariables (Frontend features): Disabled Force-enable shader variable initialization forceRobustResourceInit (Frontend features) anglebug:6041: Disabled Force-enable robust resource init lose_context_on_out_of_memory (Frontend workarounds): Enabled: true Some users rely on a lost context notification if a GL_OUT_OF_MEMORY error occurs scalarize_vec_and_mat_constructor_args (Frontend workarounds) 1165751: Disabled: false Always rewrite vec/mat constructors to be consistent add_mock_texture_no_render_target (D3D workarounds) anglebug:2152: Disabled: isIntel && capsVersion >= IntelDriverVersion(160000) && capsVersion < IntelDriverVersion(164815) On some drivers when rendering with no render target, two bugs lead to incorrect behavior allowES3OnFL10_0 (D3D workarounds): Disabled: false Allow ES3 on 10.0 devices allow_clear_for_robust_resource_init (D3D workarounds) 941620: Enabled: true Some drivers corrupt texture data when clearing for robust resource initialization. allow_translate_uniform_block_to_structured_buffer (D3D workarounds) anglebug:3682: Enabled: IsWin10OrGreater() There is a slow fxc compile performance issue with dynamic uniform indexing if translating a uniform block with a large array member to cbuffer. call_clear_twice (D3D workarounds) 655534: Disabled: isIntel && isSkylake && capsVersion >= IntelDriverVersion(160000) && capsVersion < IntelDriverVersion(164771) Using clear() may not take effect depth_stencil_blit_extra_copy (D3D workarounds) anglebug:1452: Disabled Bug in some drivers triggers a TDR when using CopySubresourceRegion from a staging texture to a depth/stencil disable_b5g6r5_support (D3D workarounds): Enabled: (isIntel && capsVersion >= IntelDriverVersion(150000) && capsVersion < IntelDriverVersion(154539)) || isAMD Textures with the format DXGI_FORMAT_B5G6R5_UNORM have incorrect data emulate_isnan_float (D3D workarounds) 650547: Disabled: isIntel && isSkylake && capsVersion >= IntelDriverVersion(160000) && capsVersion < IntelDriverVersion(164542) Using isnan() on highp float will get wrong answer emulate_tiny_stencil_textures (D3D workarounds): Enabled: isAMD && !(deviceCaps.featureLevel < D3D_FEATURE_LEVEL_10_1) 1x1 and 2x2 mips of depth/stencil textures aren't sampled correctly expand_integer_pow_expressions (D3D workarounds): Enabled: true The HLSL optimizer has a bug with optimizing 'pow' in certain integer-valued expressions flush_after_ending_transform_feedback (D3D workarounds): Disabled: isNvidia Some drivers sometimes write out-of-order results to StreamOut buffers when transform feedback is used to repeatedly write to the same buffer positions force_atomic_value_resolution (D3D workarounds) anglebug:3246: Disabled: isNvidia On some drivers the return value from RWByteAddressBuffer.InterlockedAdd does not resolve when used in the .yzw components of a RWByteAddressBuffer.Store operation get_dimensions_ignores_base_level (D3D workarounds): Disabled: isNvidia Some drivers do not take into account the base level of the texture in the results of the HLSL GetDimensions builtin mrt_perf_workaround (D3D workarounds): Enabled: true Some drivers have a bug where they ignore null render targets pre_add_texel_fetch_offsets (D3D workarounds): Disabled: isIntel HLSL's function texture.Load returns 0 when the parameter Location is negative, even if the sum of Offset and Location is in range rewrite_unary_minus_operator (D3D workarounds): Disabled: isIntel && (isBroadwell || isHaswell) && capsVersion >= IntelDriverVersion(150000) && capsVersion < IntelDriverVersion(154624) Evaluating unary minus operator on integer may get wrong answer in vertex shaders select_view_in_geometry_shader (D3D workarounds): Disabled: !deviceCaps.supportsVpRtIndexWriteFromVertexShader The viewport or render target slice will be selected in the geometry shader stage for the ANGLE_multiview extension set_data_faster_than_image_upload (D3D workarounds): Enabled: !(isIvyBridge || isBroadwell || isHaswell) Set data faster than image upload skip_vs_constant_register_zero (D3D workarounds): Disabled: isNvidia In specific cases the driver doesn't handle constant register zero correctly use_instanced_point_sprite_emulation (D3D workarounds): Disabled: isFeatureLevel9_3 Some D3D11 renderers do not support geometry shaders for pointsprite emulation use_system_memory_for_constant_buffers (D3D workarounds) 593024: Disabled: isIntel Copying from staging storage to constant buffer storage does not work zero_max_lod (D3D workarounds): Disabled: isFeatureLevel9_3 Missing an option to disable mipmaps on a mipmapped texture DAWN Info <Integrated GPU> D3D12 backend - AMD Radeon(TM) Graphics [Default Toggle Names] lazy_clear_resource_on_first_use: https://crbug.com/dawn/145: Clears resource to zero on first usage. This initializes the resource so that no dirty bits from recycled memory is present in the new resource. use_d3d12_resource_heap_tier2: https://crbug.com/dawn/27: Enable support for resource heap tier 2. Resource heap tier 2 allows mixing of texture and buffers in the same heap. This allows better heap re-use and reduces fragmentation. use_d3d12_render_pass: https://crbug.com/dawn/36: Use the D3D12 render pass API introduced in Windows build 1809 by default. On versions of Windows prior to build 1809, or when this toggle is turned off, Dawn will emulate a render pass. use_d3d12_residency_management: https://crbug.com/dawn/193: Enable residency management. This allows page-in and page-out of resource heaps in GPU memory. This component improves overcommitted performance by keeping the most recently used resources local to the GPU. Turning this component off can cause allocation failures when application memory exceeds physical device memory. disallow_unsafe_apis: http://crbug.com/1138528: Produces validation errors on API entry points or parameter combinations that aren't considered secure yet. [WebGPU Forced Toggles - enabled] disallow_spirv: https://crbug.com/1214923: Disallow usage of SPIR-V completely so that only WGSL is used for shader modules.This is useful to prevent a Chromium renderer process from successfully sendingSPIR-V code to be compiled in the GPU process. [Supported Features] texture-compression-bc pipeline-statistics-query timestamp-query dawn-internal-usages multiplanar-formats <CPU> D3D12 backend - Microsoft Basic Render Driver [Default Toggle Names] lazy_clear_resource_on_first_use: https://crbug.com/dawn/145: Clears resource to zero on first usage. This initializes the resource so that no dirty bits from recycled memory is present in the new resource. use_d3d12_resource_heap_tier2: https://crbug.com/dawn/27: Enable support for resource heap tier 2. Resource heap tier 2 allows mixing of texture and buffers in the same heap. This allows better heap re-use and reduces fragmentation. use_d3d12_render_pass: https://crbug.com/dawn/36: Use the D3D12 render pass API introduced in Windows build 1809 by default. On versions of Windows prior to build 1809, or when this toggle is turned off, Dawn will emulate a render pass. use_d3d12_residency_management: https://crbug.com/dawn/193: Enable residency management. This allows page-in and page-out of resource heaps in GPU memory. This component improves overcommitted performance by keeping the most recently used resources local to the GPU. Turning this component off can cause allocation failures when application memory exceeds physical device memory. disallow_unsafe_apis: http://crbug.com/1138528: Produces validation errors on API entry points or parameter combinations that aren't considered secure yet. [WebGPU Forced Toggles - enabled] disallow_spirv: https://crbug.com/1214923: Disallow usage of SPIR-V completely so that only WGSL is used for shader modules.This is useful to prevent a Chromium renderer process from successfully sendingSPIR-V code to be compiled in the GPU process. [Supported Features] texture-compression-bc pipeline-statistics-query timestamp-query dawn-internal-usages multiplanar-formats <Integrated GPU> Vulkan backend - AMD Radeon(TM) Graphics [Default Toggle Names] lazy_clear_resource_on_first_use: https://crbug.com/dawn/145: Clears resource to zero on first usage. This initializes the resource so that no dirty bits from recycled memory is present in the new resource. use_temporary_buffer_in_texture_to_texture_copy: https://crbug.com/dawn/42: Split texture-to-texture copy into two copies: copy from source texture into a temporary buffer, and copy from the temporary buffer into the destination texture when copying between compressed textures that don't have block-aligned sizes. This workaround is enabled by default on all Vulkan drivers to solve an issue in the Vulkan SPEC about the texture-to-texture copies with compressed formats. See #1005 (https://github.com/KhronosGroup/Vulkan-Docs/issues/1005) for more details. vulkan_use_d32s8: https://crbug.com/dawn/286: Vulkan mandates support of either D32_FLOAT_S8 or D24_UNORM_S8. When available the backend will use D32S8 (toggle to on) but setting the toggle to off will make ituse the D24S8 format when possible. disallow_unsafe_apis: http://crbug.com/1138528: Produces validation errors on API entry points or parameter combinations that aren't considered secure yet. [WebGPU Forced Toggles - enabled] disallow_spirv: https://crbug.com/1214923: Disallow usage of SPIR-V completely so that only WGSL is used for shader modules.This is useful to prevent a Chromium renderer process from successfully sendingSPIR-V code to be compiled in the GPU process. [Supported Features] texture-compression-bc pipeline-statistics-query timestamp-query depth-clamping dawn-internal-usages Version Information Data exported 2022-02-11T16:27:45.322Z Chrome version Chrome/98.0.4758.82 Operating system Windows NT 10.0.19042 Software rendering list URL https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src/+/7f0488e8ba0d8e019187c6325a16c29d9b7f4989/gpu/config/software_rendering_list.json Driver bug list URL https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src/+/7f0488e8ba0d8e019187c6325a16c29d9b7f4989/gpu/config/gpu_driver_bug_list.json ANGLE commit id 343b7bb57268 2D graphics backend Skia/98 a6986cd7224f104044fd5bc29cb5f80796d76f5a Command Line "C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" --flag-switches-begin --flag-switches-end

So I upgraded to a new laptop from my aging Asus Zenbook Pro that had a i7 6700HQ. It struggled playing 4K 60Hz YouTube videos even in SDR mode. And in general it was getting sluggish, and getting super hot and noisy with the fans blasting loudly. Perhaps I could have improved it by cleaning the device a bit but I was interested in an upgrade anyway. So I got myself the Lenovo IdeaPad 5 14" with a Ryzen 7 5700U processor and overall it is a huge improvement to my old laptop. It can play 4K 60Hz videos well in SDR mode. But when I enable HDR in Windows 10 the performance tanks all of a sudden! It cannot play the video without significant frame drops and stuttering. I am baffled! Why is this the case and can I fix it? Even my weak sauce Fire TV Stick 4K with a meager 4 Core ARM Cortex-A53 processor can play 4K 60Hz HDR videos flawlessly! How come a powerful laptop processor that should be miles better than an old, mid-range ARM processor struggle with the same video? Is there some driver issues? Is it Chrome being horrendous? How can I fix this? Take a look at the screenshots below: The first picture is from playing the video on my laptop. Notice how it dropped over 550 frames out of 5000. The second is the Fire TV Stick 4K. It dropped zero frames!

Yep, it is very easy to turn that off. So that is not a problem.

Here is the laptop in question: https://www.lenovo.com/gb/en/laptops/ideapad/500-series/IdeaPad-5-14ARE05/p/82LM0092UK A downside for this spec is that it has soldered 8 GB RAM and it is not upgradable. Other than that it has a Ryzen 7 5700U, 512 GB SSD, and has all the ports I need, has DisplayPort via its USB C port and can support 4K 60Hz. And it is nice and cheap (I can get it for £495 with corporate discount). I want to use this for connecting to a 4K 60Hz TV and watching high res videos, streaming 4K content, some 4K videos on Youtube, 4K 60Hz HDR videos and such. Also, I will occassionally use it for editing photos in Lightroom. Is this laptop powerful enough for these tasks? Is the cooling in this laptop decent? Are the fans too loud or relatively quiet? What is your experience using this device?

Ah I got confused because it said "*Metal version has Type-C power delivery only (no DC-in port)". I misread it and thought that it said Metal version has only power delivery and no DisplayPort in the port, rather than no DC-in charging port. So I was confused whether this had DisplayPort or not.

Also I found the Lenovo Ideapad 5 (14" AMD model) to be significantly cheaper than the Dell. It is the Lenovo 82LM0092UK (https://www.lenovo.com/gb/en/laptops/ideapad/500-series/IdeaPad-5-14ARE05/p/82LM0092UK) and with extra corporate discount I can get it for around £495. What is your opinion on that? Does it have a DisplayPort through its USB-C cable?

Unfortunately I cannot find any Zenbook UM425 having a 5700U. All I see is it has 4500U or 4700U and it is far more expensive then the Dell. If you can share a link for the laptop you are recommending available in the UK for the same price as the Dell that would be useful.

Where did you find a Zenbook for just £550? I won't be doing much with this laptop. Just using it as a home theater PC, playing YouTube videos, high Res 4K 60Hz HDR videos, streaming content and some photo editing with lightroom.

Hi all, I am really considering pulling the trigger for a new Dell Inspiron 15 5515 laptop with a Ryzen 7 5700U, 8 GB of RAM and 512 GB SSD. I figured I can upgrade the RAM for far cheaper than what Dell is demanding for the extra 8 GB of RAM (and probably 8GB total is enough anyway). On Dell's website in UK it is available for £629 but with additional corporate discount, I can get it for about £585! After looking at benchmarks extensively I feel like all the Intel CPUs in this price range significantly underperform the Ryzen 7 5700U (although I dunno if benchmarks reflect real world performance) and so I feel like a 5700U laptop is the sweet spot for price to performance. And it looks like this laptop has DisplayPort 1.4 through its USB-C port, so I should be able to take advantage of that and connect to a 4K 60Hz TV. I feel like this is the best value laptop I can find so far. But what are your opinions about this? For those of you who used this laptop, is it good, are you happy with it? Does it have any significant downsides? Please let me know. Thanks!

After a lot of research, I found this laptop: https://www.dell.com/en-uk/shop/laptops/inspiron-15/spd/inspiron-15-5515-laptop/cn51209sc11 The Dell Inspiron 15 Laptop with Ryzen 7 5700u, 8 GB RAM and 512 GB SSD. I think the Ryzen 7 5700u is the sweetspot for best bang for the buck I feel, based on its benchmarks and performance. But I currently have a laptop with 16 GB of RAM running Windows 10. Do you think 8 GB of RAM is enough for Windows 11? If I try to upgrade its RAM to 16 GB, the price of the laptop goes above my budget. Also, the specs for this laptop say it has a HDMI 1.4b port. I don't think that is capable of outputing at 4K 60Hz right? So then, if I want to output at 4K 60Hz do I need to use the USB-C port with display port? Can this laptop output at 4K 60Hz then?

Hi all, I am looking for a reasonably priced laptop to be used primarily as a HTPC (home theatre PC). I currently use my Asus Zenbook Pro UX501VW as an HTPC, connecting it to my TV to watch YouTube and other things. A few issues with this laptop is that: The fans can get TOO loud. The performance is sub-par. It can struggle to playback high bitrate content, especially 4K 60Hz Youtube videos. It is clearly showing its age. My main requirement is that the laptop should be quiet and stay cool, especially in a cramped not-so-well ventilated TV stand, does not have a very loud fan, can play high bitrate videos with ease (4K 60Hz HDR YouTube videos for example), can stream high quality 4K content with ease, something that is powerful enough to do light photo editing using Lightroom. I also prefer if it is relatively light weight so that I can use it on the sofa or bed without feeling too heavy and cumbersome, and has a decent build quality with a nice keyboard (with backlight if possible). A touch screen would be nice but is not a must have, and I am fine without it. I prefer a 14 inch or 13 inch laptop size. And my budget is around £700 at most. I hope I am not asking for too much at this price point. If this is too low a price point, I can sacrifice a little on build quality. The thing is, I am hearing some very positive reviews about the upcoming 12th Gen Intel CPUs (with the hybrid architecture). I hear that the hybrid architecture can lead to better battery life and performance. I am also seeing some excitement about upcoming mobile AMD CPUs. So, I am curious if I should wait till these new CPUs are widely available to go for those devices instead rather than buy something now. What are your thoughts?

Thanks, I will take a look at that!

Is there some simple software to keep two folders/drives in sync? It need not be some RAID setup but basically software I can periodically run to duplicate my external HDDs? I feel that may be a more manageable solution for me.

Some more thoughts: I see that Windows 10 has a option of setting up a mirrored volume. But I am thinking of doing this with two external drives that are not going to be always connected to the PC, and also with the 1 TB drive that also won't be always connected to the PC. Will it be okay to disconnect such drives from the PC and reconnect, and will they still be able to behave as mirrored drives?

So I have a Asus Zenbook Pro with a 512 GB SSD, and a Western Digital My Passport external drive with 1 TB of space. I have been using Backblaze to backup all this data for a while now, however I do not have a local backup for my data so far. Also, I take a lot of pictures with my DSLR and the raw images from the camera as well as the post processed JPEGs quickly take up a ton of space and I will soon run out of storage to space on my 512 GB SSD + 1 TB hard disk combined to put these photos. Strictly speaking I don't need to have all the raws, but I have similar data hoarding problems as LMG! In the long run I will likely delete some RAWs. So, firstly I need to get a new external HDD for additional space. And secondly I need to have a local backup solution as well, so as to quickly recover from data loss compared to having to download loads of data from Backblaze. I don't intend to do any fancy setups such as a NAS. My idea is as follows: Get two 4 TB HDDs. I will mirror the data I store on these so that they are basically a copy of each other, and one of these will be treated as a backup. I will use my current 1 TB HDD as a backup for my 512 GB SSD. Again, I plan to mirror the content of my SSD on this HDD. Given the difference in size, I could use it for some more fancy backup strategy? Like file history? I feel like a consumer grade HDD could do the trick as I don't have any requirements of super fast speeds, as long as it is reasonably reliable. My current WD HDD seems to be of good quality (fingers crossed), so I wonder if their 4 TB HDD is good quality for the money? Link > WD My Passport 4TB (£82) Do you folks think this 4 TB drive is good quality, and fair price? Please let me know if you have better suggestions for a local backup. Finally, what software should I use to achieve my goal of mirroring the data on one 4 TB drive to the other, and likewise mirroring the data on my SSD to my 1 TB drive? Whenever I connect my 4 TB drives, they should behave like 1 4TB drive and replicate data (I suppose that is RAID1) and when I connect my 1 TB drive to my laptop, it should backup the data from the laptop's SSD. This is just my idea, but perhaps a little complex. Let me know if there is a nicer way of doing this.

Hi GameMaster2030, thanks for the information! This is useful but I think a BIG CAVEAT is that most people, including me, have a ISP who gives us a dynamic IP address. As far as I can tell this causes major problems and I cannot use this setup as is. Actually my ISP uses carrier grade NAT (CGN) which plays havoc on port forwarding. SO, there seems to be no way to access the openvpn server from outside my network. Which is a shame! I am looking into DynamicDNS to do this, but I think it is important to note that typical ISP practices may make this very difficult. I feel this caveat should have been stated in your post to warn folks like me, as I ended up spending a couple of hours without success.

Excellent! Good to know!

Hi folks, I'm thinking of using the Raspberry pi zero wireless version for this project as I want to avoid hooking up my raspberry pi to the router via an ethernet cable to avoid cluttering that area of my house and give me more flexibility in placing this. However I noticed that the raspberry pi zero wireless is only capable of connecting to 2.4 GHz WiFi and not 5 GHz. I use the 5 GHz network on all my devices as it gives me more speed than the 2.4 GHz network. So if I connect to the 2.4 GHz one with the pi hole, can I still get ad blocking for the 5 GHz network? Or am I forced to use the ethernet cable?

I tried doing what you suggested me to do, which is only update the drivers as I don't have games installed and never had any malware issues to the best of my knowledge (unless something is lurking behind without any symptoms). I had to update my BIOS as it seemed to be fairly old. After the update I got a different error code: 0xc1900130. There seems to be a bit more meaningful info about this error online than the previous one I got, so I am going to try some of the suggestions provided online by clearing up more disk space. And attempting to redownload the update. Here is a screen shot (attached). UPDATE: I fixed the problem! So after the BIOS update I ran the Windows Update troubleshooter, and then I also ran an "sfc /scannow" command. But it is likely that the Windows Update troubleshooter fixed some problems. And now my laptop finally updated to 1903. It was more trouble than it should be. But hey, at least it worked eventually and it did not brick my PC beyond repair!

I believe 1809 was not rolled out to many users due to the massive issues that Microsoft had. So as far as I can tell MS rolled it out, stopped roll out due to issues, tried to fix issues and rolled it out again and then had even more issues so stopped roll out. As far as I can tell a lot of people were left on 1803 intentionally by MS themselves without giving the 1809 update. As far as your suggestions go I will check if all my drivers are up to date I do not have any games installed (not an avid gamer! Shocker for this community I know) I did not have malware anytime during my usage of this machine as far as I can tell