General Tech News/Discussion

[TIMELESS]

Looks much better, that glossy plastic stuff really irritates me. How's SSD life?

[iNotACactus]

That looks so much better, no idea why companies are all over glossy plastic on things you put your hands all over constantly. SSD must be a huge upgrade, when I first got my laptop with flash storage being able to boot in less than a minute was shocking. Speaking of which, just realized they're doing a sale on a newer model than the one I ordered. :lol:

[Andreas¹]

Looks like a prototype or development version now. :)

Is that a good or a bad thing? :lol:

Looks much better, that glossy plastic stuff really irritates me. How's SSD life?

 

That looks so much better, no idea why companies are all over glossy plastic on things you put your hands all over constantly. SSD must be a huge upgrade, when I first got my laptop with flash storage being able to boot in less than a minute was shocking. Speaking of which, just realized they're doing a sale on a newer model than the one I ordered. :lol:

 

Yeah, especially on the palm rests. It just feels gross. The SSD made a big difference in my desktop PC but a massive one in this laptop with its much weaker specs, it's great.

 

I just timed it and it actually goes from turned off to desktop in just over 10 seconds which is even faster than my desktop. :eek:

[The Compensator]

Nice job. I love my SSD... The start up is so fast, like, dayum fast. :D

 

What model is it, Andai?

[Andreas¹]

The SSD is a Samsung 850 EVO, the 500GB version. I have the same but in 250GB flavour in my desktop and installed a 250GB one in my parents computer as well a week or so ago. They really do make a hell of a difference for the relatively small price you pay.

[iNotACactus]

Speaking of SSDs, anyone know a good external one? Or internal for a Retina Macbook Pro? Want to expand capacity because the one I'm getting only has 512gb and I want to do Windows 10 on a separate drive.

[Andreas¹]

On another drive completely? Does it even have space for two 2.5" drives? If yes I'll continue to recommend the 850 EVO as long as it's compatible and stuff *knows nothing about Apples*

[iNotACactus]

I honestly haven't had the motivation to look lol. It doesn't even have a standard HDD - just 512gb flash storage. So probably looking at externals, could potentially dock an internal drive as long as it's USB3 or Thunderbolt.

[Andreas¹]

I have no idea about any of that to be honest. :lol: Anything Apple just seems so much more complicated to work with. :p

[Camel]

The 850 Evo is one of the best about right now. :hi5: Got one in my laptop and it's blisteringly quick.

 

Just for the love of ducks do NOT install the software that comes with it. It only boosts performance in their own benchmarks and is pretty much impossible to remove from the system without it breaking stuff in Windows. :eek:

[Andreas¹]

:hi5: I've never bothered with the included software. I haven't seen the point when they work so well without it. xD

[The Compensator]

:bump:

 

I was told that in order to play online games on my POS Acer VN7 laptop, I need to buy a new wireless network card because the standard card made by Qualcomm Atheros is totally useless. I always get kicked out after several minutes of playtime no matter where I am. Not the only one who's having these problems with this laptop.

 

Now, I've done some quick first-page Google research. There are countless types of cars on Amazon and also I've found that there are USB wireless network adapters. Since I have not done any type of PC wrenching, the USB adapters seem to be the better solution for me. Do you think they would solve my problems or do I really have to buy a new card? :hmmm:

[Andreas¹]

Tbh I think the problem is more you trying to play over Wi-Fi.

 

Either way you have to use a USB Wi-Fi adapter. PCI-E expansion cards are for desktop PCs, plugging one in to a laptop is not possible.

[The Compensator]

I have no other option than WiFi sadly.

 

They sell mini wifi cards for laptops, it is possible to swap them out, but the USB adapter is the easier way. So you do think the adapter would do the job?

[Andreas¹]

Well yeah but buying a new Wi-Fi module for you laptop might require you to tear the whole laptop apart to get to it, replace it and then put the whole thing back together again. That could be a bit overwhelming if you've never "PC wrenched" before. You'd also likely void your warranty.

 

I don't know which is better from a performance stand point, I don't know much about how they work. I don't even know if you'd see a difference as playing over Wi-Fi will always have issues.

[Ryzza5]

Buy a brand name adapter, perhaps a USB3 one, not the cheapest no-name one you can find of fleabay direct from China (which probably comes with a driver for Win98)

[The Compensator]

Solved! Bought a usb adapter from Amazon.