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Messages - awraynor [ switch to compact view ]

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1
My Surface 3 is an Atom, with 4B of RAM. It does okay with browsing and Plex playback.
That is pretty much all I used it for.

I hope to use my Surface 4 as a desktop replacement. I am not a coder, gamer, nor graphic artist.
Still, given there is no way to easily upgrade I went with the i5 with 8GB of RAM as a good middle ground.
I already notice less battery life than with the Atom, the i7 just wasn't right for my new situation.

Given the prices, used at least, the i5 seems to be a good middle ground. Also in that it comes with the 8GB of RAM.

2
I have a desktop for my media management, but do not use it often. For couch surfing I have an early Win8 Acer Touchscreen model. It finally broke at the hinge and I was looking for a replacement. I already had a Surface 3 which I bought with a 50% discount!!

I looked at the Surface Pro 4, SurfaceBook and a 13" Dell notebook. Given my rare use I couldn't justify the price of any high-end notebooks, the rest just felt too cheap. I was down to the Surface Book and the Surface Pro 4. Although nice, the SB just wasn't worth the extra money to me.

I trolled E-Bay for a short period as well as Swappa. Ultimately a seller had 3 SP4 auctions up for sale. I lost the first auction and went to bed bidding on the second one. When I awoke in the morning I was shocked I won. I bought a SP4, pen, arc mouse, keyboard and original model dock for $750.

The extra screen real estate over the Surface 3 is great. The Surface Book offers even a little more. I also much prefer the more natural feeling keyboard that comes with the Pro 4 over the Surface 3. The charging cable was a little frayed and this wasn't mentioned and I need to replace the batteries in the pen. For the price I won't complain.

Given I mostly do browsing and multimedia consumption it's great. It is a quality machine unlike many of the middle of the line notebooks I looked at. It also has a more flexible hinge than the Surface 3. This helps make up for some of the deficiencies it has as a lapable machine.

Rumors of course have the new Surface Book coming out this Fall and the SP5 next year. It looks like people know this and are trying to sell their current units before the new ones come out. I should be able to sell my Surface 3 with keyboard and pen for around $300 so hopefully only around $450 out of pocket for my new setup.

Not bad.

3
Living Room / Re: HTPC - Revisited - Input requested
« on: April 03, 2012, 08:40 PM »
I was using a Dell Zino with Win7 and my WHS for storage across my homes ethernet.  Now setting up a jailbroken Apple TV2 and XBMC to stream media from my WHS.
It is quite full featured for such a small box, instant on doesn't hurt either.

4
General Software Discussion / Re: Google Docs Sync
« on: May 08, 2011, 07:49 PM »
I synced a folder full of scanned pdfs/docs to google docs with syncdocs.  It did create a backup copy
of the entire folder, so if you have a low quota for dropbox, etc. be aware of this.  I am giving google
docs a try, as I like the ability to access my docs through google and don't want a big bloated
software suite on my desktop that I use rarely, although I do have Office 2010. 
I am trying the beta of Office 365, although it is a bit more labor intensive and really more than
I need.  Maybe using Office locally with google docs for remote access is the best plan for me?

5
General Software Discussion / Re: Google Docs Sync
« on: May 06, 2011, 07:29 PM »
I saw this recently on Lifehacker, but ignored it because it said syncs one folder.
I assumed that meant no subfolders, so you know what happens when you ASSUME  :wallbash:
Thank you for looking at this in more depth, it appears to be just what I need!

With the google docs app for my Droid X, this really helps me keep my docs
available all the time. 

Does anyone pay for personal use of the business version?  I don't see where I need the
extra features, although it doesn't do a good job of explaining the Outlook interoperabilty.

Thanks again paulobrabo

6
General Software Discussion / Re: Google Docs Sync
« on: May 06, 2011, 02:47 PM »
40hz.  Yes, documents I create in Office, I would like to sync to gdocs.  I tried gladinet, but found
it to have a very awkward interface and not completely reliable.  I create my docs and sync via
dropbox to other machines, but would also like to have them stored in gdocs.  So basically, a dropbox
like program that can recursively search existing documents and sync to gdocs is what I am looking for.

7
General Software Discussion / Google Docs Sync
« on: May 05, 2011, 08:22 PM »
I like a lot of the products by Google, but they fall short in major features for many of them.
This includes an inability to sync folders with google docs.  I have searched and haven't
found a good overall product for this feature.  Is it there and I don't see it, am I the only
one that needs this feature, please help me out?

8
Lifehacker.com has done a couple of Hive Five (polls) of favorite Movie Organization programs.  Check out the member posts for lots of recommendations.

9
General Software Discussion / Re: need help sorting my photos
« on: July 05, 2009, 09:59 AM »
I have used Directory Opus or NoClone 2007 for exact duplicates.  I also use Visual Similarity Duplicate Image Finder from mindgems.com and the similar Image Comparer from BolideSoftware.com.  The last two will let you search by percentage of similarity and many other values.  With my backups and syncing across computers I end up with many duplicates and it requires all of them in my case.

10
General Software Discussion / Simple Photo Correction Software
« on: July 05, 2009, 09:54 AM »
I am an avid digital photo hobbyist, somewhere around 15K photos.  I was using a program named PhotoBot that would automatically do simple corrections such as red eye correction, auto contrast, etc.  It has worked well for over 2 years, but for some reason (Win7?) it now wants to process the photos over and over again.  This of course ruins them with the multiple corrections.  It would run in the background and correct the designated folders/photos automatically without any input on my behalf.  It also lets you keep the originals or delete them after a designated time period. Does anyone know of a comparable product?  I'm not looking for professional results, just simple corrections.

Thanks,
Tony

11
Living Room / Re: Media Extenders (SageTV)
« on: November 14, 2008, 09:26 AM »
MythTV is a very powerful and free PVR solution.  I have heard a lot of positive reviews on Mythbuntu which is merely Ubuntu with MythTV included.  As always you can try them from the live CD.  Another free option is MediaPortal, but if you want to simply share media try Orb at orb.com.  It may be audio only, but simplifymedia.com also works.

12
General Software Discussion / Re: Critical vulnerability in Windows
« on: November 05, 2008, 11:23 AM »
Major problem on my Dell Latitude 620 with Vista Ultimate installed.  After installing and then rebooting it was stuck on the boot screen.  Unable to repair with Windows Repair Disk, and no luck with System Restore.  I eventually had to restore from an image on my Windows Home Server.  I tried to apply it a second time with the same results, so I have ignored the update for now.

13
General Software Discussion / Re: Carbonite Online Backup
« on: August 15, 2008, 08:45 PM »
I read a post that said that Carbonite will filter "not backup" your .exe and maybe .iso files, a dealbreaker for me.  I have Mozy and it is flawless.  I also used SugarSync which is great and I love my Windows Home Server.

14
General Software Discussion / Re: Software for use with scanner?
« on: August 15, 2008, 08:43 PM »
Docsvault at Docsvault.com is the closest thing to PaperPort I have found and at half the price.

15
General Software Discussion / Re: Your most used SPECIAL programs
« on: August 15, 2008, 08:29 PM »
Directory Opus just gets more useful all the time.

16
I have AllMySoftware from Bolide Software, scans for your programs and has a nice interface.  At Lifehacker.com they recently did a poll on media managers, some which do software cataloging, overall a nice list of great software.

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