Bought any computing stuff today?

[DaveJ]

From cpubenchmark.net

Pentium G620 = 2267             single thread rating = 1310       two cores
i3 3240           = 4321             single thread rating = 1815        two cores, four threads
i7 920             = 4995             single thread rating = 1159        four cores, eight threads

and a modern i7

i7 4790K        = 11,246           single thread rating = 2533

Dave

[tiermat]

From cpubenchmark.net

Pentium G620 = 2267             single thread rating = 1310       two cores
i3 3240           = 4321             single thread rating = 1815        two cores, four threads
i7 920             = 4995             single thread rating = 1159        four cores, eight threads

and a modern i7

i7 4790K        = 11,246           single thread rating = 2533

Dave

Interesting, so the i& I just bought for Mrs T has a similar score to the Dell E6330 with Core i5 that I have been using for a while! But way below (less than half) of the score of my current laptop, which is a 4G i7.

[Dibdib]

I wandered into town this morning to look at getting a new phone - probably Android, I'd thought - to replace my iPhone 5.

Instead, I seem to have come home with a 4G-enabled iPad Air. Oops!

In my defence, it was a good deal and matches my usage well. I hardly ever make voice calls, but like having access to more texts and data than I'm likely to need. So rather than shell out £lots per month for a fancy handset, I've dropped my existing phone onto a cheap sim-only tariff with just a little bit of minutes and texts, and used the difference to get 15 gigs/month of data on a shiny new iPad.

[Mr Larrington]

A Netgear GS105 network switch plus a couple of bits of Anbaric String.  Now the lapdancer is more like a Real Babbage-Engine than ever as it is surrounded by String: on the left external HDD, mains voles & HDMI, on the right network, keyboard, external CD/DVD & trackball.  And it talks a fair bit faster to the NAS an' all.

Edit: the switch is going to have to move somewhere out of sight though coz the blinkenlights will make me homicidal once night has fallen.  Also, what kind of cabbage puts the ports on the front of a thing like that

[Pickled Onion]

Edit: the switch is going to have to move somewhere out of sight though coz the blinkenlights will make me homicidal once night has fallen.  Also, what kind of cabbage puts the ports on the front of a thing like that

I was wondering just yesterday why the ports on the switch upstairs were on the back but the lights on the front?

[Kim]

I've wondered about that sort of thing myself.

The usual data on the front / power on the back arrangement makes sense for things that are likely to be rackmounted.

With small 'desktop' switches, you certainly want all the cables on one side, and the blinkenlights either on the same, or the opposite side depending on how you're planning to install it.  Domestic kit would benefit from  a more advanced blinkenlight management solution than blutac.  Obviously an LDR or push-to-illuminate-blinkenlights-for-half-an-hour button would add cost, but is the sort of feature that customers who don't understand router specs could find appealing.

Favourite bugbear:  Single channel PoE injectors and the like, with one data socket on each end and the power cable coming out the side.  Makes perfect semantic sense, and looks pretty enough if your anbaric gubbins installation consists of ....a single PoE injector.   

[perpetual dan]

Edit: the switch is going to have to move somewhere out of sight though coz the blinkenlights will make me homicidal once night has fallen.  Also, what kind of cabbage puts the ports on the front of a thing like that

I have external drives that would drive me nuts if not in a cupboard. There's one that might as well be branded "Fenix".

[Mr Larrington]

I just bought a new desktop machine to replace the ancient Acer which hasn't been switched on since September 2011, plus some bits to make it MOAR useful.

AMD A8-7600 Quad Core APU 8GB  Ram & 1TB HDD
120 GB SSD
8GB extra memory
Win 8.1 retail version
A couple of USB 3.0 hubs
A long piece of anbaric string to plug it into the network

Expect plaintive criews for help in the "Fettled any Babbage-Stuffs" thread next week...

[Bledlow]

Enough RAM to take my cheap Acer desktop up to its maximum capacity. Performance has declined, despite it being cleaned, pointless programmes deleted, etc.

[tiermat]

2* Jawbone UP and a Samsung Gear Fit

I ordered them today, at much below retail, via Curry's Ebay store, expecting them to be delivered next week.  Have just had a text to say they will be here tomorrow!

[Wowbagger]

I ventured into the underworld that is LikeSade this evening and bought a Mac Mini to replace my geriatric Macbook Pro, which, on occasions, takes minutes to reply to a mouse click. The files are currently being copied across, but it isn't so much fun as Laplink.

[Wowbagger]

And now I have bought a monitor and an appropriate cable so that I can get back to the two monitors to which I am accustomed. They will arrive in about a week, though.

[Dibdib]

In another step on the road to becoming a fully-fledged Fruit Addict, this afternoon I cycled the mile and a half over to John Lewis and returned with an Apple TV. A bit spendy, compared to a Chromecast, but it seems to play very nicely - especially with my existing iStuff. Like all iThings the main joy is the UI, which is much more enjoyable to use than my previous attempts with Raspberry Pi, MiniATX boxes and teeny little wireless keyboards.

At this point I'm becoming increasingly sure that true to Cupertino's plans my next PC will be running OSX (no way am I going to Windows 8  ). Most likely an iMac, or perhaps a Mini if my monitor is still going strong when I upgrade.

The only problem is that pushing my music library through the TV has only highlighted how poor the inbuilt speakers are. Sadly my decrepit stereo amp isn't up to the job (no optical in, no remote) so an expensive trip to Richer Sounds for an AV receiver might be on the cards one day...

[Mr Larrington]

The monitor attached to my desktop box appears to be approaching DETH if the wibbly horizontal lines across the screen are indicative of its general health.  Bah!

[Afasoas]

In another step on the road to becoming a fully-fledged Fruit Addict, this afternoon I cycled the mile and a half over to John Lewis and returned with an Apple TV. A bit spendy, compared to a Chromecast, but it seems to play very nicely - especially with my existing iStuff. Like all iThings the main joy is the UI, which is much more enjoyable to use than my previous attempts with Raspberry Pi, MiniATX boxes and teeny little wireless keyboards.

At this point I'm becoming increasingly sure that true to Cupertino's plans my next PC will be running OSX (no way am I going to Windows 8  ). Most likely an iMac, or perhaps a Mini if my monitor is still going strong when I upgrade.

The only problem is that pushing my music library through the TV has only highlighted how poor the inbuilt speakers are. Sadly my decrepit stereo amp isn't up to the job (no optical in, no remote) so an expensive trip to Richer Sounds for an AV receiver might be on the cards one day...

I wish I shared some of your views. I'm getting some exposure to fruity things and I'm not loving it.

[Mr Larrington]

The only problem is that pushing my music library through the TV has only highlighted how poor the inbuilt speakers are. Sadly my decrepit stereo amp isn't up to the job (no optical in, no remote) so an expensive trip to Richer Sounds for an AV receiver might be on the cards one day...

Then double the budget for new and/or extra squeakers, string to attach them to your new Shiny Thing and Strong Drink to recover from the inevitable rolling on the floor with a torch gripped between your teeth plugging everything into everything else.

DAMHIKT

[Dibdib]

The only problem is that pushing my music library through the TV has only highlighted how poor the inbuilt speakers are. Sadly my decrepit stereo amp isn't up to the job (no optical in, no remote) so an expensive trip to Richer Sounds for an AV receiver might be on the cards one day...

Then double the budget for new and/or extra squeakers, string to attach them to your new Shiny Thing and Strong Drink to recover from the inevitable rolling on the floor with a torch gripped between your teeth plugging everything into everything else.

DAMHIKT

I have plenty of Strong Drink, and a pre-prepared head torch for the floor show. The budget and extra cables/speaker issue is definitely a factor, especially as I have very limited resistance to Shiny...

[Mr Larrington]

I would appear to have been mugged by a passing horriblemarket and escaped with another 1TB USB 3.0 HDD.  Woe!

[tiermat]

Today, a wireless keyboard and mouse combo (Logitech something or other, the mouse is nice, but not quite a MX) and a SwissGear laptop bag, my Howies messenger bag has seen better days and it has a habit of rubbing badly against my hip, making it hurt.

[Mr Larrington]

Another network switch, and some String to connect it to things, or things to it, and a new chair to sit on while playing with my desktop machine.

[phantasmagoriana]

A floppy disk drive.

[Morat]

 A rather sexy network switch. One of these http://hp-procurve.co.uk/hp-2910-48g-poe-al-switch
not that I paid that much for it, of course.
I'm a bit partial to procurves 

[Canardly]

Intel 4590 motherboard bundle with 8gb ram and new 500w PSU from Novatech.

[Morat]

new UPS, Procurve 2915-8G-POE switch (cute!), new EPOS till, new bundle of Ubiqiti Wifi Pro wifi bridges.
The UPS shrugged off the lightning surges but not the flooding

[epa611]

• Garmin Forerunner 220 GPS Running Watch with Colour Display and Heart Rate Monitor
  
• TP-LINK TL-PA8030P KIT AV1200 3-Port Gigabit Passthrough Powerline Adapter Starter Kit
• TP-LINK AC750 Wi-Fi Range Extender

Some nice new ethernet cable also to be ordered. 

Is it worth the extra money for CAT 6 or 7 or normal 5e ok? 

I'm in a fairly new house so getting 1.0Gbps via the powerline and Speedtst gives me a connection of 104.39Mb/s from Virgin 152Mb cable service.