Post by Newyana2| > Doesn't this really depend on what you need/want? And what's
| > it got to do with Linux? This is a Win11 device for playing high end
| > video games at Starbucks.
|
| No, it's a laptop capable in principle of running any OS, and two of my
| laptops dual-boot into Linux & Windows. You may not like Linux,
It's not about liking Linux. What I'm questioning is
whether you need a powerful laptop for whaty you're
doing. If you boot to Linux then the answer is no. If
you want to play GTA then maybe the answer is yes.
You askid this in Linux and Win7, yet it's a Win11 laptop.
| Now you're seeming to want to start a flame war between adherents of
| desktops and laptops.
You're a bit touchy. All I'm saying is that people want and need
different things, and you're asking about whether a particular device
is a good deal without any indication of what you expect to use
it for. You could ask whether a Lexus is a good car. Well, that depends.
Do you have that much money to spare? Do you rarely drive more
than 30 miles? Do you need to haul lumber? (And no, I'm not trying
to start an EV "flame war".)
| FWIW, my last attempt, over a decade ago after
| having done it successfully for many years previously, at building my
| own desktop encountered a myriad of unexpected problems, including but
| by no means confined to ...
| - A motherboard that fried itself when a fan stopped working [*];
| - Mismatched memory [*]
| - The only locally available make of modern PSU with enough grunt
| for the new motherboard having leads too short for my tower case;
| - Others I have long since forgotten
| ... and, even all those years ago, as I recall the cost of that mess was
| considerably more than your $400.
It can be risky. I once had a problem where either the MB or
CPU was faulty, and Microcenter refused to accept a return.
I suspect that quality control is not great with these things.
So you just have to hope you don't get lemons. In that respect,
something like a Dell is a safer bet. But I enjoy building them,
and in the long run they're cheaper.
But the Dell came from a factory too.
You're probably thinking that Sparkle Ponies live
in a Dell factory.
Sadly, all factories are the same.
Dell is unlikely to run its own PCB factory. Like
HP, they would get a motherboard from Trigem or
Pegasus or Mitac or Compal or some other ODM.
Anandtech had a video once, of the Asus motherboard
"two minute functional test". This is the test before
the motherboard is put in the ESD bag. It covers the
main slots, the CPU socket, some memory slot. Most
of the two minutes, is the time needed to plug in the
test items. The actual test runtime is pretty short.
The reason the test is short, is it takes 2 minutes :-)
Times the 3 million to 5 million motherboards per month
receiving the same test. The result is five hundred tables
with a person at each table, plugging in shit and testing.
It is labor intensive. If any part of the process slows
down... it result in a "need for more tables" :-) I think
you can see the dynamic tension involved in the topic.
If they plugged in all the USB ports, they would need
a thousand tables. That's why we have the joke about
the test time being short because it's short. Because it's short.
Naturally, the overall production loop, includes statistical
product inspection, which is outside of our little functional
test table fiasco. Every one of N items are pulled aside for
thorough examination. If there's a problem, it could mean
pulling pallets of stuff back from the production area, for
rework or correction of systematic mistakes.
But ultimately, for "fatal" errors, the pile of material
to be shredded and put in the dumpsters out back, that's
huge. Most of the product 99 44/100 percent of it, *must*
go out the door, or the tipping fee and wasted materials
take all the fun out of it.
At some point, things defy logic. If a motherboard retails
for $40 (which might be a clearance price for all I know),
there isn't money for test. There should be some price point,
where only statistical process control ensures product quality.
This calls for six sigma ICs. Jelly bean TTL logic of years
ago, that wasn't being tested (only statistical test, if that).
That's well before someone thought the word "sigma" should
be involved.
While we have expectations of a test strategy, remember that
every factory is a dirty grubby place filled with morons.
You can have 99 employees of normal intelligence, and the
moron running the facility, spoils it for everyone else :-)
Every plant has a weakest link. Plants have unions. Etc.
Paul
