Any PC Builders Out There?

Buy and wire an access point or just buy a prosumer mesh setup. The extenders are pooh IMHO.

 

I have the Eero Pros (mesh) which have been great. Not cheap, but they work well and have been reliable.

 

I know it's not a typical PC. Upgraded the display to an FHD IPS display, and upgraded the trackpad to the 3-button pad. Only had to remove a couple dozen screws.

 

You should look into Framework laptops

 

I've been hearing some things about them, but haven't really looked into it yet.

 

I have Eero works great

 

Just started to look into that - looks very promising. I miss the days when laptops used to be somewhat upgradeable. I recently replaced a friend's keyboard (failed 1 month past warranty) for an HP Spectre - it was a PITA. The thing was built like an oversized Iphone.

 

That's why I like the older ThinkPads. Can swap/upgrade almost anything. The newer flagship models not so much. I was looking at an X1 Carbon Gen 9, and all but storage is soldered to the board.

 

I have a Framework. Love it so far.

 

I checked out the Framework laptop. Doesn't seem like a bad deal. Could use more display options. I think the coolest things is the expansion cards. It's also cool you can just pop in a new MB/CPU combo in the future.

Seems like a huge jump in price for the CPU options. Unless you really need vPro, I wouldn't spend the money for the 1185G7. In many cases it doesn't perform much better, if at all, over the 1165G7. And that's if they haven't limited the wattage the chip runs at.

 

why would that be 229 reg price?

 

More display options are coming. The board is compatible with touch screens and uses the eDP format so they can go up to 4K/60 at least. The goal was to get the laptop shipped though and the first screen is beyond HD, 16:10, and 400 nits with accurate sRGB colour. That's pretty good to start.

There is no difference except on paper performance wise between the two i7s. The vPro certification requires a different motherboard configuration which is why it's so much money. Funny story, the i5 and i7 are also nearly identical performance wise. It's the iGPU on the i7 that's much better.

 

Just old MSRP. Its normally like ~115-130 range these days.

 

The 1145G7 would probably be a good option for those who need vPro but not concerned about the iGPU.

I laugh when I read reviews where someone bought a laptop with "a fake i7" expecting it to be like the desktop counterpart.

 

those prices seem a little high still. . . for what it is (based off the specs). Too rich for my blood (at reg price)

 

LOL. TBF Tigerlake is 10 nm and quite a bit better IPC wise than the desktop processors. It's hopefully a preview of what Alderlake will bring to desktops.

 

Windows 11 Beta is available in the mainstream Windows Insider program if anyone is interested. This is basically the build that will roll out on the 5th. I wouldn't put it on a desktop gaming or workstation but I threw it on my Mainframe without any issues. Actually I really like it. Snappy and the options actually seem to make more sense.

 

I tried Win 11 a few months ago when everyone complained it wouldn't install on older machines. It installed for me no problem. I barely use Windows these days, and couldn't tell you if it's any better than Win 10.