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What should I review next?

LinusTech
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I would love to see a review of budget/cheap, sub $20, RGB fans. I'm working on a build but don't have a $100+ budget for fans.

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19 minutes ago, Gawron10001 said:

Samsung LC49HG90DMUXEN this thing... please!

Some one has suggested that before, but I really want to see that, mabey in a triple or quadruple array

QUOTE ME TO SEE MY REPLY!:D

 

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Have Taran do a full review of the palette gear. I know he's done some videos about individual features on his personal channel, but I would love to see a full review of the product and for him to talk about how it's improved/not improved his editing workflow.

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A small group of people are still archiving VHS and BetaMax tapes to Digital Computer files. (You'll thank them for saving Doctor Who from oblivion 50 years from now.. ala The Man in the High Castle) There is some debate of the proper or best equipment to use. The DigitalFAQ forum for example heavily favors "reviving" or "re-animate-ing"  ATI Theater based All-In-Wonder or TV-Wonder cards from eBay, or handing them down from father to son, acolyte to true believer.

 

ATI (made) a series that started with the Theater 200 (12 bit ADAC), then the Theater 550 and the Theater 650.. I am not sure if the Theater 750 is a myth, or nom-de-plume. The quality was overkill, but purist revelled in the level of control DirectX 9, 10, 11 achieved, polluted by the devious obssession that some had of using them purely for consuming rather than archiving raw video at 720x480 in lossless compressed video format (AVI).. the one true Codec.

 

ATI made these cards from PCI to AGP to PCI2.0 then PCIexpress and finally USB.

 

Wikipedia has a sketchy outline of their history, but the provenance droped dead after 2006 when AMD overthrew the ATI high command. After the X1900XL history gets very murky until the rise of the HD and the PVR dedicated mutations, only to be slayed in 2010 when AMD put a stake thru the heart of the beast and killed off the ATI brand name... since then only silence.. and the dark trade in the backstreets of eBay.

 

Many things confuse me.. like the relationship Sapphire, Diamond and Visiontek had with ATI.. and why ATI seemed to release cards at the same time as these other companies released cards based on the same ATI chips.

 

Its a very interesting history lesson studying ATI and its relationship with Microsoft Windows.. legend has it Microsoft used ATI video sets to develop much of their early GDI.

 

Its also curious how ATI experimented with and developed AVIVO and other connector extension schemes through the backplane, alternately crammming VGA, DVI, HDMI and COAX F Connectors and proprietary Splitter ports and boxes. In one of the final devolutions through Visiontek they even marketed an "add-on" optional second backplane to ports on a full height backplane slot. Forgoing the AVIVO entirely, and all that was once great about the X1800XL and its bretheren.

 

The ATI Multi Media Card application for viewing TV, VCD, DVD, File and FM radio seems to have been the pinnacle of the art of digital resolution of some Ancient civilization before the dawn of 4K. I have a sense of great loss.. its like discovering the Aztecs or some long buried technological wonder.

 

The Lost Worlds of ATI would really make an interesting series.

 

ps. I must admit to collecting a number of these cards ( VE, Elite, HD, 650, 750 ) even the USB2.0n and USB600.. and (whisper) .. the dred Connexant PCI200 (queue Vader theme). Another of each will never be made again, and unlike consoles they have static software ATI MMC/Catalyst frozen in time. Many drivers will only work on Windows XP 32 bit, meaning I've had to ressurect my old LGA775 Intel 915GEV to run it. Boy.. let me tell you what its like trying to run a power hog like the X1800XL in an old ATX case from InWin.. lol.. Thanks for the review on the Corsair 400C.. I ordered one today. And thanks for the info on Water cooling versus AIO.. carefully looking at a Noctua CPU cooler.. and just Mind Blown over how to cool the X1800XL.. its a Fire Demon in Pollyanna cosplay.

 

Retro-builds on old operating systems [do] serve a very useful purpose, whether its for dedicated medical or scientific equipment, or for personal projects. In some cases its a rare artform just trying to stay activated, when Microsoft has shutdown the activation servers for XP, but not the old fashioned IVR phone lines. I wonder how many countries around the world are indebted to retro-hackers coming up with ways to keep the old systems alive. Archae.. like the rest of us methanogens still serve a useful purpose in the biosphere.

 

btw. Mold slaying and baking tapes.. archivist have an awful lot of dubious rituals and flat out ridiculous agendas.. perfect for Halloween. From the fabled AG-1980 to the disputed JVC SRV-30 they have their own Obi Wans who service light sabres too.

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What about reviewing this sweet & awesome thing

 

Ockel Sirius A:

the World's Most Versatile Mini PC
An ultra small PC with 6-inch touchscreen and battery for a full Windows 10 experience at any time.

 

 

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ockel-sirius-a-the-world-s-most-versatile-mini-pc-mobile-design--2#/

 

 

 

I have no connection with them.

But, I love to hear your thoughts about it.

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To POE, or to Not to POE?

 

Edgar would be flummoxed.

 

Stringing up Webcams around your home like Christmas Decorations can be a dubious if not expensive pursuit. But when your watching after Mom in her mountain home, or just trying to keep an eye on the grass in the Front yard in Dallas.. so you know when its time to mow the lawn. It can be a have to do chore.

 

There are some really popular cameras like the Nest Outdoor, which are defintiely not POE (Power over Ethernet) compatible.. but can be shoehorned into a Tyco POE to USB 802.af adapter into "being" a POE camera.

 

Then there are the (non-conformist) exploding Galaxy 7 versions like the Ubiquiti UVC-3 which while sorta kinda are a flavor of POE (but plug them into a nice polite 802.af switch, and.. warning you have 60 seconds until this camera self distructs).

 

Some people also don't know the Nest offers a tape recorder in the cloud and will analyze the video for movement, along with a slew of other features.. but for a monthy price.. or how to best manage that price.

 

The UVC-3 has free video recorder on premise software you can run on Linux or Windows 7 (but it must be x64.. none of that 32 bit childish-ness) and they offer an All In One video recorder box in a little black box about the size of an old VHS tape.

 

But do you really want to manage all that recorded streaming?

 

I'd rather be tossed into the thicket of Server Logs at work.

 

There are other cameras.. and concerns too.. but POE versus battery versus (wally wart central with the Nest) are the big issues for first timers.

 

If you go with a battery you have to worry about servicing it.

 

If you go with a POE, its svelt CAT6 cable has distance limitations, and your run is only as good as the Wattage of your POE switch.. the Poor switch.. pushing the voltage out that pipe.

 

If you go Nestified.. then pull out the 7/8 drill bit and be prepared to swiss cheese the outside of your home... really Google.. Really?

 

I tried the Pi-Zero Raspberry PI build it yourself route.. and really got pretty far.. it works.. sort of

 

But the engineering that goes into a self rebooting, independent webcam server on a stick.. really can't be beat.. and many of these cameras come with Intercom functions to both scare and serenade people out in the yard or on the deck.

 

Then there's the App-o-sphere.. does it come with a Webpage, Android or iOS app? Its become a right of passage to support some of these.. but quality matters.

 

A review of some of the options, and peoples various opinions and ideas about this would be very cool.. if not interesting to those Gen Nothings who have to watchout for our parents, or far flung places they care for.

 

POE switch reviews would be awesome too !

 

I'm rocking the TP-Link stuff.. but the Ubiquiti looks enticing.. just non-conforminst.. why couldn't they do 802.af ? why?

 

 

 

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Can you PING me Now?

 

Netgear just came out with LTE modems in a butter dish this year.

 

And super cheap, compared to anything that came before, like x5 cheaper.

 

The traditional modem is a thing on a single wire that you plug into your computer and it provides (Internet) for you.

 

Its like Caveman "tethering"

 

Then there is the "broadband / modem / firewall" thingy that has an in and an out connection for an Uplink to your Internet provider and a Downlink to your computer. (In between) the Netgear LB2120 (also) has an LTE modem.. that's LTE as in your cellular carrier.

 

When your normal Internet provider is up and happy, your happy.. your Netgear LB2120 gets you right on the Internet Super bandwidth highway.

 

But when your 'normal' provider isn't working.. the Netgear LB2120 automatically detects this.. and swings the connection over to your LTE provider. Automatic (backup failover).. it does this because the LB2120 is constantly Ping'ing a test IP address like 8.8.8.8 (google) or any other IP on the world wide internet you choose. When your provider fixes their problem and comes back.. the Netgear LB2120 swings the Internet connection back round to the normal provider.

 

To do this the Netgear LB2120 has a regular LTE mini-SIM slot in the bottom of the box.

 

You can buy a SIM that has a fixed amount of data, or even get a [free] data-only SIM attached to your existing Google Fi account which only bills you for data when you use it.. free SIM, free DATA (or only when you use it).

 

Sure you can tether your computer during outages.. but what if your not home, or the person your setting this up for couldn't navigate themselves out of a paper bag? let alone an Android or iOS settings menu.

 

The Netgear LB2120 is one of three models, it has the in and out ethernet ports for this failover capability, it also has a built in firewall and SMS notification capability (if) the SIM also has a Voice plan with SMS texting capability. So it can send you a text message when it fails over, so you know its eating into your data plan, and when it fails back.. and it can send a text when certain usage thresholds are crossed.

 

.. did I mention you didn't need (a separate data plan with Google Fi?) you can get up to five free data-only SIMs per account tied to the same data plan, the one you use on your existing Google Fi phone. Kudos.

 

I did this in Dallas, Texas (a big metropolis in Southern USA) and will be doing the same in Branson, Missouri ( a tiny mountain community in more Central USA) later this week. Google Fi uses the T-Mobile, Sprint and US Cellular nets for LTE.

 

The only thing I havent' licked is darn Lightning storms, twice a year they come and take out the normal broadband modem.. care to review any Lightning Rods?

 

... and not the kind that come with optional GPUs.

 

The Netgear LB2120 comes in North America, Austrailia and Eurozone models.. so be careful if your scoping out online dealers.

 

Also.. if you use Google Fi.. you do not have to.. the LB2120 is not Locked to a carrier in any way. Google Fi has an APN number. When you turn it on it will (hop) onto the nearest T-Mobile or other provider network and accept their default APN.. and connect / disconnect / connect / disconnect in kilobits per second. (That's Wrong!) you need to manually [create] and enter in the APN hg2g as the value for the APN network you want to use.. it tells the provider "..who goes there" and lets you use their network.. so Use the APN.. Luke !!

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Ick.. Backup strategies.. Cloudy with a chance of rain.

 

Have you ever (seriously) looked at your backup options?

 

Its kind of like looking at your Retirement savings account, for most people something they will think about someday.

 

The problems I've had with backup strategies are:

 

1. The weird mindset Backup software makes you think about.. Grandfather, father, son.. Timemachines? Paradoxes?

2. The speed of backups

3. What to do with all the hard drives or tapes.. you do have more than one.. don't you?

4. Cloudify or not to Cloudify

 

I like [ Back4Sure ] its 10 Euro nagware that has a very cheerful way of [ not ] making you think about anything, except:

 

a. where's the files you want backed up

b. where do you want to put them

c. do you want to just copy them or put them in a zip file

 

then you [run-it-now], or save a shortcut to [run-it-later]

 

if you want the complexity of scheduling.. that's all up to you.. windows task manager is sitting in your control panel

 

There is no restore.. just copy the files back from the destination yourself

 

For the traditional Full Power backup of the darkside, I like (queue Vaders theme) [ Comodo ] backup, its free nagware in that its setup by default to entice you to use their Cloud service with a multi day free trial of storage space

 

But its a full power traditonal backup suite, and though "hidden", it can just copy files from one place to another

 

It has full, incremental, differential and Grandfather, father, son paradoxes

 

It has a file recover tool and schedule tool

 

And it has the backup to cloud features.

 

Really though.. I'm more inclined to use Back4Sure with an eye to upgrading to Comodo.. someday.

 

Next.

 

What do you do about storage and the ark of data from that Indiana Jone's movie?

 

A fast backup (or a fast recovery) depends on a full speed connection to what your using for storage. Tape can be fast but its ickie and different and costly for the drives.. for us mere mortals.. a SATA III drive with a trayless 5.25 bay slot works wonders. Its faster than USB 2.0 and probably faster than 3.0 its certainly faster than Ethernet.

 

Trayless storage also means when you pop it out from one machine for another or need to wrap it in a storage box for SATA drives.. its all pretty generic.

 

Startech, Kingwin and others make trayless bays for something like $15 usd a piece.

 

For cases without at 5.25 bay.. consider cases like the Corsair 400C (that's not celsius) which have shrouds and a unique ability to provide tool-less access to the drives through a hand levered side door.

 

SATA unlike PATA (or as we use to call them IDE) drives, were made for many connect and disconnect cycles, so updating to using them as raw storage matter only makes a kind of elegant sense.

 

Tape would be cheaper.. but Tape (the non-sticky un-scotched kind) isn't something you are likely to find at the local grocery store.

 

For tracking your storage bricks.. consider a pre-printed barcode label from Intelliscanner Asset Tags.. and using that with something like the ScanPet application on your Android Phone. Note the barcode readable number in the Job description of your backup.. and you will have an easy way to fetch the bricks.. if you actually save more than one.

 

And on the topic of removable.. remote storage.. don't forget flinging your files far and wide might be a good idea.. its like colonizing Mars.. survives Asteroid Impacts, Gamma Ray Bursts, and its good for the species.

 

While Back4Sure does not offer Encryption of file or Zip files, Comodo does, especially for use when targeting Cloud storage.. so you have options.

 

ps. System Backup is far far different from File Backup, or as the Micromouse would say, System Restore is different from File Restore.

 

When your system is foobar'd to the Nth degree.. you really want to get it back fast.. installing from raw store bought media is a dish best reserved for your worst enemies. Not only does it require you assemble the Driver Avenger force that originally went into setting up your Marvel. But you then have to endure the treacherous Activation ordeal.

 

Instead.

 

I'd highly recommend a WinPE based recovery.. I like Macrium (also available at a freemium).

 

And using a Corsair SSD based USB device.

 

As long as your UEFI or BIOS will boot from the Corsair SSD.. which they generally will.. then Macrium can create emergency boot media complete with your current set of crucial device drivers so it can both backup and restore your 'System' to its pristine condition.

 

The Corsair SSD drives are about $100 for a good size drive, but at USB 3.0 speeds it can rip the door knobs off of most optical media. Backup and Recovery are like "minutes" not hours.. away.

 

That said.

 

You have to plan ahead and [ get it in your 'head' ] that backing up the System is different than backing up the personal data Files and backing up or restoring one or the other will not protect the other.. you have to do both.

 

But if you can only afford one.. then do the File backup and forgo the System backup.. you can always take your Files to another computer.

 

.. I know I come off lectury.. leachery?.. okay didn't mean too come off as either..

 

But I'm here to listen to opinions and see great reviews.. all my bluster is just what I do.. I'd like to be corrected.. or given even better ideas.

 

p.ps. Back4Sure lacks ShadowCopy support, but you can use ShadowSpawn to launch it and steal fire from the operating system... I mean if you 'like' Ridley Scott movies.. personally I like consistency in my files.

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I would like a food review please. 

I'm looking for a more decent slice of beef. I keep looking but when I get down to eat it seems like a misteak

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I would like to see a review or 2 on Nokia's new Android phones, especially the 6, 7 and 8 (i think they were done by HMD global)

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Drone Extenders

 

I'd like to see a review of the Xiaomi versus TP-Link 802.11 Wi-Fi extenders 2 GHZ and 5 GHz

 

Its kind of a drone safety issue, if they loose control or fly out of range its a dubious scenario at best

 

But people also use these with like the Mevo live streaming cameras in places where there is little WiFi coverage

 

There are a lot of YouTube reviews on the Xiaomi and some other bubble gum stick extenders.. like the Comfast CF-WR371AC (I took one apart and looked at its GPL code it was really a router, not an extender)

 

The problem is there isn't a lot of objective testing, people will get one and think its working and really it is not.

 

TP-Link makes some slightly more expensive all-in-one WISP routers which can do MAC address based WiFi extension by halving the bandwidth and relaying the signal using MIMO, like the older awesome TL-WR802N nano pocket router (2GHZ only), or the TL-WR902AC nano pocket router (2GHZ & 5 GHZ) but don't have TS9 or SMA connectors for external antenna.. unless you hack the boxes with a spudger.

 

Personally the TP-Link software interfaces are seductive.

 

Very consistent and very deep when you get into them, and they usually have a console SSH back door if you really need it.

 

These (pocket) WAPs are really not covered that much and I think they are very useful.

 

Occasionally I wonder if I'm wasting my money, but then I see the extra DLNA media server features, the ability to hook up external USB hard drives and power them from a USB wall adapter or a PC and I think.. well WiFi isn't all they can serve.

 

What would you prefer.. a Gumstick or a boxey Hockey Puck ?

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On 1/29/2015 at 4:24 AM, LinusTech said:

Hey guys,

Just want some community feedback on this. Most of these things are already in the queue to some degree. Just trying to prioritize...

This Camera looks kinda freaky. Something you might not see everyday so some people could be interested only because of that. On the other side it looks promising. Like, I can see how it can actually be good.

A picture of the Camera:
 

Spoiler

l16-camera-top-angle.jpg

 

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Several years ago now I purchased 2 Razor Blackwidow Mech Keyboards, one for  my son and the other for Meee. Both had key failures within days of the warranty expiring...sucks.

Anyway I would like to see a reliability test on mech kb's to show which one truly is the best value for your buck.

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With the recent trend of phones ditching the 3.5 mm headphone jack from new devices, it might be interesting to do a round-up of the top 5 and 5 worst 3.5 mm to bluetooth adapters for audiophiles...  Maybe look into some of the issues with battery life, Transmit and Receiver mode functionality, media key functions, added audio latency.  Could look at how well it broadcasts both music and audio associated with video like Youtube, Plex Media, etc...  To take it a step further, you could test out the audio quality of using an adapter vs dedicated bluetooth headsets and the expenses involved.

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On 1/28/2015 at 9:24 PM, LinusTech said:

Hey guys,

Just want some community feedback on this. Most of these things are already in the queue to some degree. Just trying to prioritize...

Hey, Linus. I went on pcpartpicker.com and looked for the worst reviewed and worst rated parts I could find. I think it would be fun to watch you build it! I call it “The Nightmare From Hell”.

Btw, yes my username on there is spelt wrong, That was my fault. Lol

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/Feltaoracle257/saved/CpPf8d

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Review an MSI 16L13 or Eurocom Tornado F5 please, thanks.

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Gtx 1070 ti

QUOTE ME TO SEE MY REPLY!:D

 

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