miamizsun wrote:
 

I don't think you can post/embed a pic in this forum directly from your phone or desktop. I think you have to upload the pic to a Website that lets you share the pic on RP Forum via a URL.

Best guess. Could be laughably wrong.

from an android or iphone:

how to embed/post a pic

sounds easy but it's not obvious

-blind in miami

 kurtster wrote: 
i think so see the info below and i just got it a few days ago

plugged it in at home and updated all the software

put back in the box until i can migrate some stuff from work (and pick up a larger monitor)

upgraded to the 512 SSD

Beelink U57 Mini PC with Intel Core i5-5257u Processor(up to 3.10 GHz) &Windows 10 Pro,8G DDR3/512G SSD High Performance Business Mini Computer,4K UHD,2.4G/5G Dual WiFi,BT4.2,Dual HDMI Ports

i like the idea of a mini pc (many to choose from)

one obvious challenge you may have is size and ports

this also has a small fan but still pretty quiet, but you can hear it

another thought is that the headphone/mic jack is out front

so far so good but do look around

regards

 miamizsun wrote: 
How long have you had this ?

Would this be it ?

Might have to jump on one or two even.

i've been downsizing lately (or embracing minimalism)

music, clothes, shoes, dishes, books, etc. gone

so i need a new machine at work and i look at my desk area and think too much clutter

so i bought this little bugger



very small and punchy

about the size of a sandwich

 kurtster wrote:

This is an important point.  The biggest innovation in terms of performance over the past few years for laptops and PC workstations has been the advent of SSDs.   

I reckon that lots of consumers have overbought RAM based on 99% of their requirements.  4GB is the minimum for 64-bit machines running the Windows 10.  8GB can be justified for some users.  Rarely can 16 and 32GB of RAM be justified except to show off.  

If I felt justified in using a virtual hard drive, I would get 32 or 64 GB of RAM.  Perhaps if I was doing CAD/CAM or demanding photo editing.  But I am not.  

 kurtster wrote:
 
my laptop has a 500 gb PCIe ssd, a 250 gb PCIe SSD, and a 500 gb sata ssd. The 250 is kind of superfluous, but that reminds me I should back up my photography to it.

 kurtster wrote: 

nas (at home) or cloud drive/storage

 haresfur wrote: 
That would depend on how many ports your motherboard has.  I had to buy a card to allow two more SATA ports in my XP rig.  Currently it has one SSD, 4 HDD's and two optical drives.  They are all 6 gig ports with the exception of the two opticals which run at 2 gigs..  I don't know how you can add stuff like that to a laptop.

 westslope wrote:
 
Better yet, two separate drives.

 westslope wrote: 
Actually on my XP music server, I have a 128 gig SSD split into two partitions.  One is the C drive with nothing but the OS and the other partition has all of the software on it.  The SSD is so fast there are no hiccups, ever.  Makes up for the lack of RAM with XP.  It still boots in around 15 to 30 seconds.  All's I have to do is re image the OS and all the software sits intact in the other partition.  Reimaged it a few times already.  Easy peasy.  All my files are on entirely separate 2 TB HDD's.  Totally isolated.   Back when you could buy 80 gig HDD's I have had one fully set up sitting on the shelf for my old Vaio ready to go in case of the dreaded blue screen or something similar.  Very handy and eliminates a whole lot of angst.  I now have a 500 gig SSD sitting in the drawer waiting for the time I hope that I never need it, but it is there.  I even have a USB cable sitting to plug the new SSD into should the need arise.  I'm picky about my drives.  The SSD's are Samsung's and my HDD's are WD Black.  I will accept no substitutes.

 kurtster wrote:
 

Absolutely. 

That is why I like to partition the hard drive or SSD into one partition for the OS and software and another partition for data files.   Then it is super easy to copy all the data files onto another medium while performing the clean install.

 westslope wrote:
 


“To me, a Mac means less software availability and less control over the OS and the machine“


My guess is that you’re largely right about a Mac offering less control over the OS than FreeBSD or OpenBSD, although Macs do come with a Terminal app that gives you sudo privileges. And yes, Macs lock down the hardware more than anyone else. 

I’m guessing that those restrictions are dealbreakers for you.

But Macs have far more software availability than other Unix or Unix-like OSes. The upcoming MacOS machines will use AppleSilicon chips that will let developers port their iOS and iPadOS apps to those machines with little modification necessary. They will also run Linux in emulation. I think you can still recompile open-source Unix apps to run on MacOS.

The Apple Silicon machines won’t be able to boot up Windows as the current Intel-based Macs can. But there is speculation that the new machines will be able to run Windows apps at some point. 

 westslope wrote: 
You still have to go in and preserve any files before doing a reinstall.  Just common sense.

kcar:   I remember the NeXT workstations.   The economics department at Univ. Laval in Quebec City had them but I never worked on one.

I once tried to program Open-BSD for a standalone firewall but ultimately got a networking buddy to do the heavy lifting.  I think I could have managed — several weeks later.  :-)

To me, a Mac means less software availability and less control over the OS and the machine.  

 haresfur wrote:
 
Good call haresfur.   A fresh install — easy to do with the original license number — is clearly the best way to bring the machine up to date.  

In fact, any PC workstation or laptop that has undergone several Windows OS upgrades should be treated to a fresh install.  Tedious and time consuming — yes — but well worth it.  

 kurtster wrote: 
Thanks. That looks like the solution I was hoping for.

 westslope wrote:
 


I don't know if you're willing to consider MacOS but it is a Unix OS AFAICT. 

My knowledge of Unix's history is pretty limited but I found this piece enlightening. Your knowledge may be very far ahead of mine and that of the author...

Is macOS UNIX? (and What Does That Mean?)

macOS is a UNIX 03-compliant operating system certified by The Open Group. It has been since 2007, starting with MAC OS X 10.5. The only exception was Mac OS X 10.7 Lion, but compliance was regained with OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion.

 katzendogs wrote:
 
Months are probably ok but updates can run into problems if your computer is really out of date. I ran into that issue when I installed an old windows license onto a new computer. If I recall, there was a way to give microsoft the license number and have them use it to do a fresh install. So I would make sure to grab your registration info before letting it update

 katzendogs wrote: 
Simply boot it up, offline.  The best way to make sure would be to disconnect your modem so that it cannot go online no matter how hard it tries.  Once up and running, secure the files you are worried about by transferring them to a USB thumb drive or the like. Turn off the automatic update.  Then once you have secured your files, plug your modem back in and go and ask for it to update. You can review the ones you want to use and discard those that you do not want.

For some reason that I have noticed, whenever you do update, the process seems to always turn the auto update feature back on, so you will have to look at that setting after every update.