need new development PCs

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Original post by capn_midnight I can't stand for a wifi adapter that decides to just shit itself and refuse to recognize that access points that other people are happily connected to even exist.

For that specific problem I seriously suggest to try out a WiFi panel, in case you haven't already. Even a cheap directional 6dB panel feels a completely different world compared to standard omni antenna (5dB in my case). My quality of computing definitely improved when I switched.

The build quality of the MacBook Pro is impeccable and the trackpad is second to none. I have to say though, I'm not a big fan of OSX. I am now to the point where I do any work on mine using Windows 7. I do like the aesthetic of OSX slightly more than Windows 7, but I find it to be not at all as usable. Yes, I said that OSX is not as user friendly as Windows 7, Apple Fanbois. Plus I can't get over the mouse acceleration curve. It's flat and that drives me nuts.

If you don't need or care to use OSX, then I would not personally buy a MacBook Pro. You can get more bang for your buck buying a laptop designed to run Windows.

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Original post by Krohm For that specific problem I seriously suggest to try out a WiFi panel, in case you haven't already. Even a cheap directional 6dB panel feels a completely different world compared to standard omni antenna (5dB in my case). My quality of computing definitely improved when I switched.

It's not a signal quality issue, it's an actual hardware or firmware or driver error (though my drivers are completely up to date, and the machine is at least 3 years old). The radio will be on, it will be fine for a while, and then I will notice that I can't get anywhere on the intarwebs. I'll check the wifi connection and it will not recognize any access points, even if they are across the room. Other times, it will see them, but not be able to authenticate, even though I know the credentials are right (because I'm in a room full of people who are connected fine, and I was the one to set them all up). I really think it's just wonky hardware.

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Original post by smr The build quality of the MacBook Pro is impeccable and the trackpad is second to none. I have to say though, I'm not a big fan of OSX. I am now to the point where I do any work on mine using Windows 7. I do like the aesthetic of OSX slightly more than Windows 7, but I find it to be not at all as usable. Yes, I said that OSX is not as user friendly as Windows 7, Apple Fanbois. Plus I can't get over the mouse acceleration curve. It's flat and that drives me nuts. If you don't need or care to use OSX, then I would not personally buy a MacBook Pro. You can get more bang for your buck buying a laptop designed to run Windows.

Yeah, if I got a MacBook I would definitely dump OSX. I have a Mac Mini that I ostensibly bought to do iPhone dev, but it sits unused on my bookshelf. It was my main computer for a while, but only because of the issues I've had with my other computers. OSX never felt like I actually lived there.

Moved to Hardware Discussion.

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Original post by capn_midnight My desktop needs to be screamingly powerful. I have no patience for waiting on a system to respond when I'm in full-on, hyper caffeinated dev mode.

Three letters: S S D.

My experience is that the drive has a vastly bigger effect on day to day real life use than practically anything else. The best pick right now is probably a Sandforce based OCZ Vertex 2 or Agility 2. Conveniently, the prices on these recently crashed so you're looking at probably about $140 for 60 GB if you're patient. And yes, these are better than the current Intel offerings.

Second, memory. Lots of memory. 4 GB is a minimum. 8 is wonderful.

If you're looking at daily user experience, it is a good idea to spend more money on those two parts of the system than pretty much anything else. Processor is a distant third (I recommend the LGA 1156 based i5/i7 or the AMD Phenom II X4) and graphics depends on whether you're playing games and what features you need. Make sure to get a motherboard with USB 3 at this point, and my stance is that you should run aftermarket CPU cooling regardless of intent to overclock.

As for laptops, my experience with the MacBook Pro is that it is a fabulous machine, sold for disturbing prices. My experience with the Vaio (~6 months) is entirely positive, except that they are all glossy screened garbage. The Mac can be ordered with a matte screen for an extra $50, which makes it a poor choice to stick with the stock screen.

Thanks Promit, very very helpful.

If you have the stomach to do it, build your desktop yourself. I have been burned too many times by pre-built desktops, in subtle (but expensive) ways. Like having zero PCI slots. Or a slightly too-small power supply. And so on.

For laptops, I've only gotten Dells, but my next will come from somewhere else. I've just had too many problems.

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Original post by BeanDog If you have the stomach to do it, build your desktop yourself. I have been burned too many times by pre-built desktops, in subtle (but expensive) ways. Like having zero PCI slots. Or a slightly too-small power supply. And so on. For laptops, I've only gotten Dells, but my next will come from somewhere else. I've just had too many problems.

I used to build all my desktops. Something happened between the 2nd to last one and this last one that things got a lot harder. Matching memory to my mother board and matching the right processor (what happened to the days of "if it fits in the socket..."?) turned out to be a complete pain in the aaaaaaass. I'm so pissed at this machine, it has never ran reliably.

I have to come in here and endorse Promit's SSD endorsement 100%. It's exactly like he said; no other component upgrade has a bigger impact on your daily use than running your OS off an SSD. I built my own system from newegg parts (pretty easy to do, if you were hesitant), and I got an Intel Core 2 Duo 3.16, 4 gig RAM, Nvidia GTX 260, a good mother board and quality PSU for < $1000. I already had monitors and harddrives.

One of the harddrives kicked out after a year, so I decided to buy Windows 7 and a 160 GB intel SSD to install it on. (this bumps me way over 1000) Dude the performance improvements are amazing. It boots up in like 1 minute, if that. I usually sleep it rather than fully shutting down, so I hit the power button, yawn, then start using it. That's the beauty of SSD, the read/write operations are so ridiculously faster than a spinning disc. When your OS first starts up there's a lot of read/write stuff going on, so usually the computer is a little sluggish to use at first. With SSD, you turn it on and can open Photoshop, 3D studio, and start a large compile in Visual Studio immediately. The only time I ever wait on my computer any more is when I access something on my secondary drive, which is still a platter for now.

I completely agree with the SSD, I have an OCZ (older model) that was cheap and certainly much better than anything non-SSD
if you spend the money on a good one I'm sure you'll notice the difference.

And then on the other note, about building your own pc, It's the only way to go. You can give priority to the parts you want, instead of a pre-built when someone maybe decided that 4 gigabytes was enough, but you needed a 2TB hard disk.

I visit 4chan a lot, the technolo/g/y section, and there used to be a sticky with what hardware to buy (for a gaming pc though)

http://www.tinyurl.com/falconguide
or here
http://www.tinyurl.c...lconguidesimple

They are always up to date (updated monthly) on those urls.