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Patch reliability is unclear. Unless you have an immediate, pressing need to install a specific patch, don't do it. |
Youtube video here Like Amy, I use the end of the year to take stock, clean up and possibly upgrade. It’s that time of the year that I ask myself if
[See the full post at: Tasks for the weekend – December 26, 2020]
Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher
No need to change the BIOS to install an SSD. All you need is a SATA port and a 3rd party backup app. See this thread.
https://www.askwoody.com/forums/topic/advice-for-moving-to-ssd-from-sata/
Go for it, best $30 you’ll ever spend.
cheers, Paul
p.s. you may need a SATA cable if you don’t have an external HDD, then you can clone in the machine.
Actually I do not review my computer, in the sense of figuring out what hardware changes may be in order, because I am all thumbs and now I even have a Mac laptop that is hard even for a skilled and well equipped person to repair the hardware, or replace components. But aside from anything else, for the first reason I’ve mentioned (being a complete klutz) I have made a religion of really leaving my computers well alone and treating them with great respect.
I do spend as much as I can afford when buying a new one, when my current one is getting way over the hill and it shows, to make sure that I am going to have as much computer to do whatever I might conceivably need to for the foreseeable future, until the one I am buying now becomes so old and infirm that also has to be retired: plenty of RAM and HD or SSD capacity, a very fast CPU, and so on. So far, it has worked well for me: I’ve never had to take a computer to a shop to have it repaired, or to have it upgraded and, by now, I am on my fourth one, twenty two years after I bought my first PC. The first three lasted me an average of six years and change and my current one has already clocked three and a half years of service and is looking all set to last at least another three. Maybe I live a charmed life, but I am inclined to doubt that.
Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).
MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV
Computer review during christmas… no, not really. At the end of the year, prices are just a bit higher due to the holidays. Black Friday is one such example. Although it’s an US tradition, it’s introduced here in Europe as well. The only difference: in Europe, Black Friday lasts a whole week. And up to this friday-week, prices gradually go up. If compared, product X at a price of 50 euro about a month before ‘black friday’ will be 60 euro the week before black friday and at black friday, it will be 50 euro again. So the bargain’s are fake, most of the time.
At the beginning of the new year, I do make plans for that year, like which pc’s, monitors etc. have to be replaced with new stuff. For pc’s it depends for a big part if new machines will actually bring much performance improvement. On the Intel-front of processors, there’s not much to expect and the last years didn’t bring performance-jumps either. So this year I’ll be looking into AMD-based machines for the first time in my career. In the old days, AMD processors would throw a stick in the wheel every now and then. My idea was this wouldn’t happen with Intel-based machines. But things have changed and certainly, the AMD’s are on the top of performance processors charts. What complicates things a bit is the application we use most; Autodesk Revit. A very resource-hungry piece of software with it’s development stalled for years now. So much industry-analysts call it legacy software and some big architectural firms this summer wrote an open letter to Autodesk they have to pay more and more for subscription while software improvements lag way behind. For example, most times Revit uses a single processor core. So the last years, I shopped for pc’s with the highest single-core performance. Not necessarily the latest processors.
Autodesk acknowledged the pace of development is/ was too low, so it looks like they actually have plans to pick things up again. With things like multi-core support high on the list. With that in mind, I think it’s not a good idea anymore to invest in machines with the best single-core performance. On the other hand, if Autodesk delays the multi-core enhancements…..
Not yet sure what to do, but plenty of time to think it over. Summer is the time we buy new stuff….
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