Experiences with non-techies

[Freakwise]

5 minutes ago, thekingofmonks said:

You can't upgrade a laptop" / "All chips in a laptop are soldered" -Every wannabe-geek born in the past decade

This one is... just beyond believe

 

[da na]

5 minutes ago, Freakwise said:

This one is... just beyond believe

 

Seems that someone hasn't seen a ThinkPad, Latitude, HP Elite.... 

[Donut417]

Got one here. 

 

A little context. My mom low key complains about her phone not working. Stuff no longer loading and issues with the screen input. Today I was helping her use the T Mobile Tuesdays BK coupon. When I was typing her credit card number in to the device, it was putting spaces in instead of the numbers. I some times was having to hit the same letter or number multiple times to get it to even register. 

 

Well I think the phone is on its way out. Anyway I told her we could try to FDR the device but she claims it has been done a few times. So we started looking at new phones. Im trying to push her to an iPhone. Why? Because me, my dad, my sister, my brother in law and my nieces and nephews all use Apple. Makes it easier when every one uses the same platform. 

 

I was trying to push her towards the iPhone SE second generation. My dad has this device and its CHEAP. BUT NO!!!!!! It doest come in the shade of purple that the iPhone 12 mini does. After looking at pricing for the device, insurance and all the accessories she would need. She was not happy with the number. 

 

I might look in to other Android devices. BUT Ive never been impressed with Android. Maybe ill look in to a Pixel or a OnePlus device. Because these cheap Android devices dont seem to last long. Any way you slice it, Im going to have to listen to her low key bitching about her phone not working until she gets a new device. 

 

Edit: Went to the T Mobile store because she was willing to buy one. The store we go to is closed as of Tomorrow due to the merger. They only had a 128 Gig Red 12 Mini in stock. So we left disappointed. She said it wasnt meant to be. So she is going to try FDRing her phone another time to see if she can get a bit more time. 

[IPD]

7 hours ago, Donut417 said:

Got one here. 

 

A little context. My mom low key complains about her phone not working. Stuff no longer loading and issues with the screen input. Today I was helping her use the T Mobile Tuesdays BK coupon. When I was typing her credit card number in to the device, it was putting spaces in instead of the numbers. I some times was having to hit the same letter or number multiple times to get it to even register. 

 

Well I think the phone is on its way out. Anyway I told her we could try to FDR the device but she claims it has been done a few times. So we started looking at new phones. Im trying to push her to an iPhone. Why? Because me, my dad, my sister, my brother in law and my nieces and nephews all use Apple. Makes it easier when every one uses the same platform. 

 

I was trying to push her towards the iPhone SE second generation. My dad has this device and its CHEAP. BUT NO!!!!!! It doest come in the shade of purple that the iPhone 12 mini does. After looking at pricing for the device, insurance and all the accessories she would need. She was not happy with the number. 

 

I might look in to other Android devices. BUT Ive never been impressed with Android. Maybe ill look in to a Pixel or a OnePlus device. Because these cheap Android devices dont seem to last long. Any way you slice it, Im going to have to listen to her low key bitching about her phone not working until she gets a new device. 

 

Edit: Went to the T Mobile store because she was willing to buy one. The store we go to is closed as of Tomorrow due to the merger. They only had a 128 Gig Red 12 Mini in stock. So we left disappointed. She said it wasnt meant to be. So she is going to try FDRing her phone another time to see if she can get a bit more time. 

pushing people to switch to Apple is like, "Tell me you hate this person, without telling me you hate this person".

 

And "EWW" on the idea of a google phone.  If planned obsolescence is a thing in smartphones, I'm 100% sure Google does it worse than anyone else.  Not sure Samsung or Apple are much better.  Sony FTMFW.

[WhitetailAni]

8 minutes ago, IPD said:

Not sure Apple is much better.

Apple’s pretty good with long-term device support. My 6S was released on iOS 9 and runs iOS 15. Some of the features are disabled due to older hardware, but it’s still a capable device.

Android, on the other hand…

Good luck getting more than one or two years of updates.

[da na]

Showed a non techie friend around my workspace where I play with trash service recycled PCs. 

"But all LEDs are RGB right?"

"Wow, this [CPU] doesn't even have needles on the bottom! Is that what's broken?" (It was an LGA)

I was explaining the differences in ram connectors, she picks up a PCI card and asks if it's DDR2 (which to be fair, not too terribly off) 

I had a box of different capacitors, she asked why they couldn't all be the same. 

I also had to explain why most of the HDDs at the desk were marked with a number and a few other words and sorted in stacks of 0-50, 50-500, 500+. (Bad sector number) and she asked why most of the 500+ were "little drives" (2.5 inch), and she then said that those were strange sizes for a HDD and that she thought they were usually 250, 500, 1000 (I assume she thought they were labeled by GB which was fair). Many contain an OS for quick testing of software/hardware that only runs on certain OSes, and she asked if those drives only worked with those Windows versions. 

Overall not too bad though. 

[da na]

4 minutes ago, FakeKGB said:

Apple’s pretty good with long-term device support. My 6S was released on iOS 9 and runs iOS 15. Some of the features are disabled due to older hardware, but it’s still a capable device.

Android, on the other hand…

Good luck getting more than one or two years of updates.

Yeah, Apple is very good about that. Definitely something they do well, and from an environmental standpoint it's just entirely better than Android. 

Same with why I prefer FirePro, Radeon Pro, Quadro, business/pro oriented cards over their gaming counterparts as they assume you're keeping the card for longer so driver support is often longer (with exceptions).

[IPD]

25 minutes ago, FakeKGB said:

Apple’s pretty good with long-term device support. My 6S was released on iOS 9 and runs iOS 15. Some of the features are disabled due to older hardware, but it’s still a capable device.

Android, on the other hand…

Good luck getting more than one or two years of updates.

You mean, besides the devices being artificially throttled by OS updates in order to simulate "planned obsolescence"?

[da na]

29 minutes ago, IPD said:

You mean, besides the devices being artificially throttled by OS updates in order to simulate "planned obsolescence"?

Simulating planned obsolescence, yes; but it's still actually usable after 5 years. Plus, not trying to defend that practice but it does improve battery life a bit. 

[Ankh Tech]

1 hour ago, FakeKGB said:

Apple’s pretty good with long-term device support. My 6S was released on iOS 9 and runs iOS 15. Some of the features are disabled due to older hardware, but it’s still a capable device.

Android, on the other hand…

Good luck getting more than one or two years of updates.

I have an Iphone 8 and my brother has a 6s too. Sure, theu are hand me downs when my parents got new ones, and battery lifa is 70 - 80%, but the support is better than you think

[thekingofmonks]

2 hours ago, FakeKGB said:

Apple’s pretty good with long-term device support. My 6S was released on iOS 9 and runs iOS 15. Some of the features are disabled due to older hardware, but it’s still a capable device.

Android, on the other hand…

Good luck getting more than one or two years of updates.

iPhones are probably what Apple has been doing best for years... Not saying the M1 Max ain't impressive, but surely iPhones are physically tougher than most phones out there and have the most suitable OS for their hardware.

 

- Most cheap Android phones are packed with tons of RAM as a marketing lie just to compensate with the weak GPU that can't even render full 60 frames on their stock homepage... Meanwhile Apple does a way better job with a good enough GPU with forced Vsync on all apps. -

[WhitetailAni]

1 hour ago, IPD said:

You mean, besides the devices being artificially throttled by OS updates in order to simulate "planned obsolescence"?

Never had problems with that, other than BatteryGate which was done for a valid reason (though it should have been a default-on toggleable setting IMO)

1 hour ago, Ankh Tech said:

I have an Iphone 8 and my brother has a 6s too. Sure, theu are hand me downs when my parents got new ones, and battery lifa is 70 - 80%, but the support is better than you think

Yea my phone’s battery was at 73% health and not great, but I paid Apple to replace it for $50, not a bad deal

[Kilrah]

5 hours ago, IPD said:

And "EWW" on the idea of a google phone.  If planned obsolescence is a thing in smartphones, I'm 100% sure Google does it worse than anyone else. 

Google are actually the best in terms of long-term OS support among android phones...

[IPD]

2 hours ago, Kilrah said:

Google are actually the best in terms of long-term OS support among android phones...

How many years/revisions after, before they cut support?

 

p.s.

No amount of after-the-sale support is going to convince me to sacrifice my life to privacy intrusion that I cannot even hope to overcome.  I already gave Google control over my OS.  I would prefer a different company who makes the phone.

[Kilrah]

2 hours ago, IPD said:

How many years/revisions after, before they cut support?

3 years

 

https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/4457705?hl=en#zippy=%2Cpixel-earlier%2Cpixel-xl-a-a-xl-xl-a-a-g-a-g

 

2 hours ago, IPD said:

No amount of after-the-sale support is going to convince me to sacrifice my life to privacy intrusion that I cannot even hope to overcome.  I already gave Google control over my OS.  I would prefer a different company who makes the phone.

I mean as long as it's Android you're not going to have less "google intrusion", you're just going to have the Samsung/whatever one on top...

[HanZie82]

20 hours ago, Mel0nMan said:

Seems that someone hasn't seen a ThinkPad, Latitude, HP Elite.... 

Ancient Acer 8930
Man i loved that thing.
Could replace everything, CPU, GPU (MXM card) Ram even had a 2nd SATA slot for dual drives.
To bad the motherboard was shite and could only support like 3CPU models and 2 GPU models and limited RAM compatability. hahahahah

 

8 minutes ago, Kilrah said:

3 years

 

https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/4457705?hl=en#zippy=%2Cpixel-earlier%2Cpixel-xl-a-a-xl-xl-a-a-g-a-g

 

I mean as long as it's Android you're not going to have less "google intrusion", you're just going to have the Samsung/whatever one on top...

 

2 hours ago, IPD said:

How many years/revisions after, before they cut support?

 

5 hours ago, Kilrah said:

Google are actually the best in terms of long-term OS support among android phones...

We do understand that Google makes Android right?!
And that has been updating since about a decade now, so you CANNOT say Google doesn't do the updating thing.

 

On the other hand they are also a phone manufacturer, they make the Pixel, with a very different way of doing things. They are NOT upgradable, they do have planned obsolescence like any other. And on top of that, they are not really willing to accommodate the right to repair thing i've heard.

These 2 are distinctively different objects. lets not confuse one with another.

[jetnoodles]

-

Edited October 31, 2021 by NOV654
wrong thread

[Donut417]

11 hours ago, IPD said:

Not sure Samsung or Apple are much better.  Sony FTMFW.

Apple supports devices for at least 5 years. Every Android device I ever had only got maybe 1 Android OS update EVER. Plus most Android devices I have owned, only lasted maybe 2 years before breaking down. 

 

When it comes to Premium phones you have Apple, Samsung and Google. I absolutely hate Samsung devices due to bad experiences with them. Ive never owned a Google Pixel but they are just as expensive as the iPhone. Plus if my mom was technical support, she needs to be on the platform I choose to use. I dont keep up with the on goings of Android since I left the ecosystem 2.5 years ago. Also my mom also has an iPod nano, so its not like she has never used an Apple device. 

 

On another note, we moved my dad from Android to Apple and guess what? 90% less questions, because its easier to fucking use. 

41 minutes ago, glxph said:

Okay, here's my two cents. Buy an LG Velvet 5G (which is 5/8 of the price of an iPhone SE and also supports 5G), but ALSO buy a purple case. You can find a case I found in the spoiler below.

She currently has an LG phone, its maybe 2 years old. Its a POS. Ive never had an Android device last longer than 2 years. My Apple device feels pretty much as good as it was the day I got it and its 2.5 years old. 

 

Ultimately its her decision. But I I believe in this 'You buy cheap, you get cheap". At the end of the day I pay for service on the device and insurance. Outside of that I dont cover the device as I dont allow financing of devices on my account. 

[Bitter]

I know you had a bad Samsung experience but my S8 Active has been rock solid, I even bought it used 'refurbished' from a rando ebay seller. Battery is large and lasts all day no problem, can get 2 days out of it if I had to and it's rugged with a metal rim around a flat screen, a metal body, and it's fully water proof.

I agree though, you can't go wrong with iPhone for 'it just works'.

[soldier_ph]

15 hours ago, Mel0nMan said:

"Wow, this [CPU] doesn't even have needles on the bottom! Is that what's broken?" (It was an LGA)

Please tell me she now thinks that that's how LGA CPUs are made. Gotta shave them pins of first.

[Bitter]

16 hours ago, Mel0nMan said:

Showed a non techie friend around my workspace where I play with trash service recycled PCs. 

"But all LEDs are RGB right?"

"Wow, this [CPU] doesn't even have needles on the bottom! Is that what's broken?" (It was an LGA)

I was explaining the differences in ram connectors, she picks up a PCI card and asks if it's DDR2 (which to be fair, not too terribly off) 

I had a box of different capacitors, she asked why they couldn't all be the same. 

I also had to explain why most of the HDDs at the desk were marked with a number and a few other words and sorted in stacks of 0-50, 50-500, 500+. (Bad sector number) and she asked why most of the 500+ were "little drives" (2.5 inch), and she then said that those were strange sizes for a HDD and that she thought they were usually 250, 500, 1000 (I assume she thought they were labeled by GB which was fair). Many contain an OS for quick testing of software/hardware that only runs on certain OSes, and she asked if those drives only worked with those Windows versions. 

Overall not too bad though. 

Please tell me you took this chance to educate and not humiliate, they were showing an interest in what you do and asking questions about it. Showing interest in things is a sign someone is interested in you and your activities. Be nice to those people.

[da na]

9 minutes ago, soldier_ph said:

Please tell me she now thinks that that's how LGA CPUs are made. Gotta shave them pins of first.

*points to i5*

"Oh no this is the one that goes in the computer."

*points to Phenom*

"This is the one that I still need to fix."

[da na]

Just now, Bitter said:

Please tell me you took this chance to educate and not humiliate, they were showing an interest in what you do and asking questions about it. Showing interest in things is a sign someone is interested in you and your activities. Be nice to those people.

Yes, I was nice and took the chance to educate. The point was to teach her about what I do for fun not humiliation about things she doesn't have a reason to know. 

[Bitter]

2 minutes ago, Mel0nMan said:

Yes, I was nice and took the chance to educate. The point was to teach her about what I do for fun not humiliation about things she doesn't have a reason to know. 

I hope it didn't go like this, because this is how I feel it always goes for me when I start explaining technical things to non technical people.

[da na]

Just now, Bitter said:

I hope it didn't go like this, because this is how I feel it always goes for me when I start explaining technical things to non technical people.

It was similar at the start but she seemed to get the hang of it eventually.