The Vent and Rant Thread

[WT Sharpe]

If you made an extra payment before the latest statement date, it wouldn't be credited to the new cycle, so even though by your accounting you didn't miss any payments, the bank would have a different opinion.

[Cinisajoy]

It showed on the new statement.
That is why I am upset.
We shall see on Friday what they say.
If they still insist, we will pay the late fee.
Already planning on cancelling the card. Just cancelling 10 months earlier than we had planned.

[cromag]

In addition to anything else you do, write out a complaint to your state's banking regulators. And send a copy to Wells Fargo.

[Katsunami]

Damn. Another change in my shrinking. I'll have to keep the laptop's docking station as well, as it's impossible for me to work for longer periods of time on only the laptop itself.

First, the keyboard doesn't have a standard layout (*WHICH IS A COMPLETE RANT IN ITSELF*) with regard to the ins/del/home/end/pgup/pgdn block; both Dell and Lenovo abandoned the standard layout on even their workstation laptops.

Second, my eyesight isn't good enough. The laptop has a 1920x1080 screen at 15.6 inch. When set to 125%, the resolution effectively is 1536x864 pixels, which feels cramped for today's programs already. While I can obviously use it, it's not possible to use it for extended periods of time. I would need to set the size to 150%, which would yield a 1280x720 effective working space... that's unworkable for today's versions of the programs I use. (It's the reason why I finally replaced my 19 inch monitor over two years ago.)

Worse: I'll even have to get a new monitor. The current one is a hardware calibrated Eizo, which I bought for use as a photo-editing monitor... except I never took up photography again. The monitor has a 1920x1200 resolution, which is different from the laptop's 1920x1080. Programs that need a predefined resolution (games, and some other software I use) either reset to their defaults when the resolution is suddenly smaller than the one they were setup for, or they blatantly crash. I need a monitor that has the same resolution as the laptop to avoid these hassles, as I want the laptop to be my only computer. (I'm tired of moving data around and syncing between a laptop and desktop, and a NAS is not an option. I can't take that with me if I take the laptop out.)

Pity. Because of the space savings, I had hoped to be able to use a laptop only, but it just isn't possible. Also, gaming on a 15.6 inch screen is not THAT fun to be honest. I did play games on 14 and 15 inch screens, but that was in the 1990's... even though I sometimes play older games, I'm not THAT nostalgic.

So, keep the docking station, replace the monitor... now, how do I set up that docking station in such a way that there won't be another cable mess? Somehow, it should be possible.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

Damn. Another change in my shrinking. I'll have to keep the laptop's docking station as well, as it's impossible for me to work for longer periods of time on only the laptop itself.

First, the keyboard doesn't have a standard layout (*WHICH IS A COMPLETE RANT IN ITSELF*) with regard to the ins/del/home/end/pgup/pgdn block; both Dell and Lenovo abandoned the standard layout on even their workstation laptops.

Second, my eyesight isn't good enough. The laptop has a 1920x1080 screen at 15.6 inch. When set to 125%, the resolution effectively is 1536x864 pixels, which feels cramped for today's programs already. While I can obviously use it, it's not possible to use it for extended periods of time. I would need to set the size to 150%, which would yield a 1280x720 effective working space... that's unworkable for today's versions of the programs I use. (It's the reason why I finally replaced my 19 inch monitor over two years ago.)

Worse: I'll even have to get a new monitor. The current one is a hardware calibrated Eizo, which I bought for use as a photo-editing monitor... except I never took up photography again. The monitor has a 1920x1200 resolution, which is different from the laptop's 1920x1080. Programs that need a predefined resolution (games, and some other software I use) either reset to their defaults when the resolution is suddenly smaller than the one they were setup for, or they blatantly crash. I need a monitor that has the same resolution as the laptop to avoid these hassles, as I want the laptop to be my only computer. (I'm tired of moving data around and syncing between a laptop and desktop, and a NAS is not an option. I can't take that with me if I take the laptop out.)

Pity. Because of the space savings, I had hoped to be able to use a laptop only, but it just isn't possible. Also, gaming on a 15.6 inch screen is not THAT fun to be honest. I did play games on 14 and 15 inch screens, but that was in the 1990's... even though I sometimes play older games, I'm not THAT nostalgic.

So, keep the docking station, replace the monitor... now, how do I set up that docking station in such a way that there won't be another cable mess? Somehow, it should be possible.

What is the docking station? I don't think I have ever seen a laptop docking station. (Looked this up.)

Now let's see.
Laptop to monitor cable, power cords for both laptop and monitor,
Mouse and keyboard (wired or wireless)???
Ethernet cable or wireless?
Did I miss anything?

[Cinisajoy]

Could you use something like this for the monitor?
https://www.amazon.com/Pyle-PSWLB61-...n%3A6787461011

And this monitor?
https://www.amazon.com/ViewSonic-VA2...+monitor&psc=1

Here are cable ties:
https://www.amazon.com/GB-Electrical...rds=cable+ties

Or for the laptop and monitor how about something like this?
https://www.atgstores.com/tv-stands/...160815215350:s

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

Damn. Another change in my shrinking. I'll have to keep the laptop's docking station as well, as it's impossible for me to work for longer periods of time on only the laptop itself.

<...>

Speaking personally, I'd have a slightly different approach.

We have several laptops. My SO has one, there's a shared travel laptop, and a netbook.

My main system, and the one I'm on at the moment, is a desktop. It's a refurb Dell Small Form Factor machine with a quad core Xeon CPU and 8GB RAM (the max the Intel chipset used supports.) I dual boot Windows and Ubuntu Linux off a solid state drive, with the original HD for data. It also got a low profile ATI-AMD GFX card with a GB of video RAM to provide better 3D performance than the onboard Intel graphics it came with.

My monitor is a 23" AOC unit doing 1920x1080 resolution, and I use a Logitech USB keyboard and mouse. (I'd like higher screen resolution, and it exists, but will cost several times what the current monitor does.)

It's a low end machine by current standards, but adequate for what I do. (I am not a gamer or doing heavy development on it, so I don't need a lot of power.)

One requirement here was screen real estate. I do occasional DTP, and one goal was a screen that could display side-by-side 8.25x11 pages in full size, since I design in terms of two page spreads. The AOC can almost do it. I've used dual monitors before and like them, but there simply isn't space for another AOC of the current size.

Another was KB layout. I learned a long time ago that it was critical. I always take a productivity hit when I change keyboards, because muscle memory is wrong, and I am constantly hitting the wrong keys because they aren't where my fingers expect them to be. If I have to replace the current keyboard, the replacement will be same make and model.

I have used laptops with a docking station, and with an external monitor and USB keyboard, but it's an inconvenient setup.

I do rather different things when traveling than when at home, so beyond having the same basic set of programs installed, there's no particular reason for me to care about what's on what machine. I make increasing use of Google Drive to hold files I might need to access from anywhere, and a USB thumb drive holds a copy of the master Calibre library on the desktop HD, which gets synced by an open source utility called Free File Sync after the desktop copy is updated.

Relax your notion of one machine for everything, and things become easier. Desktops are cheap and getting cheaper, and you can likely find a compact unit that won't take up lots of space.
______
Dennis

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

What is the docking station? I don't think I have ever seen a laptop docking station. (Looked this up.)

A docking station is a module to which you connect all external devices: monitor, mouse, keyboard, USB-devices (printers, hard disks, etc), network, power, and so on. As soon as you 'dock' the laptop, it picks up all the external devices. This is convenient, as you don't need to connect all devices one by one. You may not even be able to do that, actually. The docking station can have connections that the laptop itself doesn't have. The problem is, of course, that the dock + laptop combination is quite big to put onto a desk.

Now let's see.
Laptop to monitor cable, power cords for both laptop and monitor,
Mouse and keyboard (wired or wireless)???
Ethernet cable or wireless?
Did I miss anything?

You almost got it

Power cable for the docking station
Power cable for the monitor
Display cable from dock to monitor
Network cable from dock to switch
USB-cable from dock to monitor (the one I chose has 4 USB-ports)
Mouse: wireless, bluetooth
Keyboard: connected to one of the monitor USB ports using a 25cm cable. (I don't want a wireless keyboard because they are often problematic to use for getting into a computer's BIOS/Setup program)

Because the audio out of the docking station hums when connected directly to the speakers, I'm going to get a bluetooth audio receiver, which I can velcro behind the desk's back or the inside of one of its legs, to which I can then connect the speakers. I'll see if that works better.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

Could you use something like this for the monitor?
https://www.amazon.com/Pyle-PSWLB61-...n%3A6787461011

And this monitor?
https://www.amazon.com/ViewSonic-VA2...+monitor&psc=1

I've chosen the Dell U2414H monitor. One of the things I do NOT want, is a monitor that has full Adobe RGB colors. Those monitors highly oversature colors in environments that are not color managed. (Read: everywhere, except specialized graphics software; for which those monitors are actually designed.) I want a monitor that has the normal, old-fashioned sRGB color space. (I have not checked which the Viewsonic you posted actually has.)

I can't mount a monitor against the wall. It's too far away. The monitor has to be no farther away than 30cm or so, because of my poor eyesight.

Here are cable ties:
https://www.amazon.com/GB-Electrical...rds=cable+ties

I have so many cable ties that I could tie up anything (or anyone ) I wish and still have enough to immobilize a small elephant

Admit it. Whatever you try, after you're done, cabling is always a mess. Even if it isn't, it will be the first time after you must change something

[Cinisajoy]

That docking station sounds cool.
My laptop has a mouse and keyboard. It is connected to a 25 inch monitor. I also have it connected to a surround sound.
Hubby has one laptop with a 25 foot HDMI cord to connect to the TV. He also uses wired internet.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

I have so many cable ties that I could tie up anything (or anyone ) I wish and still have enough to immobilize a small elephant

Admit it. Whatever you try, after you're done, cabling is always a mess. Even if it isn't, it will be the first time after you must change something

Oh didn't you know that cables mate at night. It doesn't matter if they are tied up or not.
So yes, I know about cable mess.
Even just a tv, blu-ray player and an antenna tangles in less than 2 days.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

Relax your notion of one machine for everything, and things become easier. Desktops are cheap and getting cheaper, and you can likely find a compact unit that won't take up lots of space.

Until two days ago, I basically worked the same way as you do. However, I *do* do the same things on both my main system and laptop, and I need the data to be available on both. That means I'll have to transfer and sync data all the time, which is a bigger hassle than a docking station.

I've actually splurged on this laptop; it has a Quadro M2000M (which is the professional version of the GTX 960M/965M, and it falls right between them in terms of speed), and the one thing I use it for is the occasional, mostly older game. The only new game that's going to run on this notebook will be the Witcher 3 (which isn't new anymore, already), and probably, Tides of Numenera after it is released (and patched for at least 6 months to a year...)

This laptop has the most powerful CPU and graphics card available in a 15.6 inch model at the time of purchase, and has 32GB RAM and 2TB of storage. It's slated to go along for at least 5 years, which is the term of warranty for this thing. After that, it'll run until I either replace it, or it breaks.

It predecessor, chosen on basically the same criteria minus the gaming, ran for 8 years until I finally decided to replace it. It still is fast enough for the occasional low to mid-power tasks, so it can serve as a backup in case it is really needed. It probably isn't, because the new laptop, just as the old one before it, has next business day warranty. Still, I *have* seen 'unfixable' problems for which Dell had to take the laptop and it was gone for 5 days or so.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

That docking station sounds cool.

It can be, if you have multiple external devices, or things such as two monitors.

However, there's always a problem: a docking station is often only available for business laptops. Those laptops are built with different specifications than normal consumer laptops. Mostly, they trade pure speed (which means, they are slower) for things like:

- 5 year next day fix-on-the-spot warranty
- *much* better housing
- Often a much wider range of connectivity
- Easy upgrades, maintenance and fixes without having to disassemble half the system
- Availability of parts for at least 5 years (or more...)
- As said, docking capability and thus being able to use many external devices

If you want a business laptop that can hold its own in speed against a high-end consumer model, you'll often pay twice as much... or more, especially if you want that power to be in the graphics card. If a business notebook requires a very powerful graphics card, it's often a mobile workstation, and used for work. Thus, it contains professional graphics cards such as nVidia Quadro's or AMD FirePro's. You'll rarely see a business notebook outfitted with a gaming card such as an nVidia GeForce or AMD Radeon.

Thus... if you want to be able to have docking options *and* be able to play some games (on medium settings), a high-end business notebook is often the only option.

To be honest, I quite resent that, because I don't *need* a certified and ultra-tested Quadro card for my work. A Geforce would have been enough, and a LOT cheaper.

The one difference with the consumer laptop is that the store and manufacturer will drop you like a brick as soon as the warranty runs out after one year. Extending the warranty up to two or three years often costs a quarter to half of the price of the notebook itself. Even then, if the laptop breaks after that warranty period, parts are often impossible to find, or it becomes prohibitively expensive to have the laptop fixed by the manufacturer. I can still fix my Dell business laptop from 2008 if it should break; the only thing that will be uneconomical to fix is when the mainboard dies (and maybe, the screen).

[wodin]

If you have two monitors, and a docking station, and you take your laptop off to use standalone the screen res has to change to single monitor, and all the icons you used to have on the secondary monitor get crammed into the primary one. Trouble is when you plug your dock back in, they don't go back the way they were. If you have a lot of icons on your desktop it can become a real PITA.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

It can be, if you have multiple external devices, or things such as two monitors.

However, there's always a problem: a docking station is often only available for business laptops. Those laptops are built with different specifications than normal consumer laptops. Mostly, they trade pure speed (which means, they are slower) for things like:

- 5 year next day fix-on-the-spot warranty
- *much* better housing
- Often a much wider range of connectivity
- Easy upgrades, maintenance and fixes without having to disassemble half the system
- Availability of parts for at least 5 years (or more...)
- As said, docking capability and thus being able to use many external devices

If you want a business laptop that can hold its own in speed against a high-end consumer model, you'll often pay twice as much... or more, especially if you want that power to be in the graphics card. If a business notebook requires a very powerful graphics card, it's often a mobile workstation, and used for work. Thus, it contains professional graphics cards such as nVidia Quadro's or AMD FirePro's. You'll rarely see a business notebook outfitted with a gaming card such as an nVidia GeForce or AMD Radeon.

Thus... if you want to be able to have docking options *and* be able to play some games (on medium settings), a high-end business notebook is often the only option.

To be honest, I quite resent that, because I don't *need* a certified and ultra-tested Quadro card for my work. A Geforce would have been enough, and a LOT cheaper.

The one difference with the consumer laptop is that the store and manufacturer will drop you like a brick as soon as the warranty runs out after one year. Extending the warranty up to two or three years often costs a quarter to half of the price of the notebook itself. Even then, if the laptop breaks after that warranty period, parts are often impossible to find, or it becomes prohibitively expensive to have the laptop fixed by the manufacturer. I can still fix my Dell business laptop from 2008 if it should break; the only thing that will be uneconomical to fix is when the mainboard dies (and maybe, the screen).

I think I will stick to a 4 port USB hub.