Technology catch-all thread

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

Is it rated for that much?

 

It's rated at like 26 hours of talk time and like 34 days of standby or something?

[Jake]

Speaking of weird things...

 

My MacBook Pro, which has been sitting in a drawer for a long time (a year and a half, at least)...works? I quit using it because it had been f***ing up. I had an issue with the screen where it was turning off randomly due to some kind of hardware issue - though I think I resolved that one. When I brought the laptop in to the Apple Store to get that issue resolved, I mentioned that and another thing: it was getting so hot near the charger that the charging cord was starting to melt and my battery performance was horrible. They "serviced" it - by that I mean, they looked at it and told me it would cost a bunch to fix and wasn't covered by warranty. They said they couldn't replicate the screen issue and afterwards, I couldn't either. However, the battery was rotten when I got it back. Apple told me the charger problem had essentially roasted my battery.

 

They weren't joking. The laptop wouldn't even power on without being plugged in. I would leave it plugged in and it would say it wasn't getting a charge. I left it on to watch a Sox game while watching a Bears game on my other laptop (don't ask) and despite being plugged in for about 5 innings, I nudged the charger off of the slot and it turned off immediately. Hence, worthless laptop (to me).

 

I decided I should just sell it to someone who wants the many functioning parts so I started snapping pics for eBay. I also updated to Mavericks to make it sound cooler and just because I was interested in the improvements. This took quite a while and, therefore, it was plugged in for quite a while. I noticed that the battery status indicator was actually showing that it was taking a charge, which seemed weird. I decided to do an experiment and pull out the cord.

 

and...

 

it's still on. As a matter of fact, I've been using it to surf the web for about 80 minutes and it still has 62% life. The computer itself shows a healthy battery: 4700 mAh out of original 5700 mAh capacity after 836 cycles. I ran a third party battery health app and it basically saw the same thing. Apple says the battery in this unit should have about 80% capacity after 1000 cycles, so we're not far off from normal here.

 

I just don't get it. Why did it start working now? Can I sell it as a working computer now as opposed to one with a faulty battery? Why did I just buy another computer?

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

It has now used 16% in the last 3 hours, which is closer to normal. I'm at 59 hours on battery with an estimated 3 hours remaining. I'm down to 18%.

 

Ok. I'm going to give in and charge the thing finally. I will end up with the phone running on 67 hours of battery with an estimated 2 hours left at 11% battery, although with the way it's been going so far, I'm sure I could reach the 75 hour mark if I let it run overnight. That's pretty incredible. The only thing I've done differently this battery cycle is that I turned my WiFi off, because even though I am on the campus WiFi here at my apartment, when I walk on to campus my phone constantly loses and is searching for a connection. I knew that drained battery, but I didn't think it would make a 50 hour difference. I guess I'll leave my WiFi off again, and then tomorrow when I take it off the charger I will watch the battery again. If I can pump 70 hours of of this phone everytime, that would be very impressive, at least to me.

[bmags]

Speaking of weird things...

 

My MacBook Pro, which has been sitting in a drawer for a long time (a year and a half, at least)...works? I quit using it because it had been f***ing up. I had an issue with the screen where it was turning off randomly due to some kind of hardware issue - though I think I resolved that one. When I brought the laptop in to the Apple Store to get that issue resolved, I mentioned that and another thing: it was getting so hot near the charger that the charging cord was starting to melt and my battery performance was horrible. They "serviced" it - by that I mean, they looked at it and told me it would cost a bunch to fix and wasn't covered by warranty. They said they couldn't replicate the screen issue and afterwards, I couldn't either. However, the battery was rotten when I got it back. Apple told me the charger problem had essentially roasted my battery.

 

They weren't joking. The laptop wouldn't even power on without being plugged in. I would leave it plugged in and it would say it wasn't getting a charge. I left it on to watch a Sox game while watching a Bears game on my other laptop (don't ask) and despite being plugged in for about 5 innings, I nudged the charger off of the slot and it turned off immediately. Hence, worthless laptop (to me).

 

I decided I should just sell it to someone who wants the many functioning parts so I started snapping pics for eBay. I also updated to Mavericks to make it sound cooler and just because I was interested in the improvements. This took quite a while and, therefore, it was plugged in for quite a while. I noticed that the battery status indicator was actually showing that it was taking a charge, which seemed weird. I decided to do an experiment and pull out the cord.

 

and...

 

it's still on. As a matter of fact, I've been using it to surf the web for about 80 minutes and it still has 62% life. The computer itself shows a healthy battery: 4700 mAh out of original 5700 mAh capacity after 836 cycles. I ran a third party battery health app and it basically saw the same thing. Apple says the battery in this unit should have about 80% capacity after 1000 cycles, so we're not far off from normal here.

 

I just don't get it. Why did it start working now? Can I sell it as a working computer now as opposed to one with a faulty battery? Why did I just buy another computer?

 

Maybe that drawer is like the indian in the cupboard.

[Jake]

The only thing that makes any sense is that perhaps by charging it again, I recalibrated the battery. I just don't know why it would have been at a point where it was completely useless and suddenly, magically, gotten all of its juice back.

[RockRaines]

The only thing that makes any sense is that perhaps by charging it again, I recalibrated the battery. I just don't know why it would have been at a point where it was completely useless and suddenly, magically, gotten all of its juice back.

Maybe. If you hold option and click on the battery does it say its fine?

[Jake]

Maybe. If you hold option and click on the battery does it say its fine?

 

"Condition:Normal"

 

[RockRaines]

"Condition:Normal"

Hmm, maybe it was a software issue.

[Jake]

OS X Mavericks has magical powers

[chw42]

Motorola just announced a toned-down version of the Moto X for $179 off-contract. 4.5" 720P screen, Snapdragon 400 Quad Core processor, 1 GB of RAM, and what they deem as "all-day" battery life.

 

Very decent phone for the price.

[Jake]

My dad has has gone from iPhone 3G -> iPhone 4 -> iPhone 5, but is really interested in switching to Android. He isn't necessarily going to do it right away, but I tell him about my phone and the phones I've looked at and he's intrigued. His best friend from far away came to visit and had a Galaxy Note 2 and he's been envious ever since. I wonder what the best phone for him would be? Maybe it's the Note - he can see pretty well, but it wouldn't hurt. I think he'd have to have an earpiece or else he would be embarrassed by the size up against his face, lol

[Y2HH]

My dad has has gone from iPhone 3G -> iPhone 4 -> iPhone 5, but is really interested in switching to Android. He isn't necessarily going to do it right away, but I tell him about my phone and the phones I've looked at and he's intrigued. His best friend from far away came to visit and had a Galaxy Note 2 and he's been envious ever since. I wonder what the best phone for him would be? Maybe it's the Note - he can see pretty well, but it wouldn't hurt. I think he'd have to have an earpiece or else he would be embarrassed by the size up against his face, lol

 

When it comes to parents, and non tech savvy people alike, I don't care how envious they act, give them an iPhone and save yourself the headaches.

 

As the solitary "IT guy" in my entire family, anyone I've switched to Apple has ceased calling me for help. Every last Android user/Windows user calls constantly with some "issue" that isn't even an issue, or it's something they caused and "don't know what they did".

 

Android if fine for tech savvy people or people I don't have to help.

[Balta1701]

When it comes to parents, and non tech savvy people alike, I don't care how envious they act, give them an iPhone and save yourself the headaches.

 

As the solitary "IT guy" in my entire family, anyone I've switched to Apple has ceased calling me for help. Every last Android user/Windows user calls constantly with some "issue" that isn't even an issue, or it's something they caused and "don't know what they did".

 

Android if fine for tech savvy people or people I don't have to help.

This sums up my feelings on this entire thread incredibly well.

[RockRaines]

Launced AxVoice VOIP, pretty good, now just need to invest in cordless phones with cellular forwarding.

[chw42]

My dad has has gone from iPhone 3G -> iPhone 4 -> iPhone 5, but is really interested in switching to Android. He isn't necessarily going to do it right away, but I tell him about my phone and the phones I've looked at and he's intrigued. His best friend from far away came to visit and had a Galaxy Note 2 and he's been envious ever since. I wonder what the best phone for him would be? Maybe it's the Note - he can see pretty well, but it wouldn't hurt. I think he'd have to have an earpiece or else he would be embarrassed by the size up against his face, lol

 

The Note does a bunch of cool stuff that other phones don't offer (multi-window, S Pen features, etc.), but Samsung's software really sucks compared to stock Android or even HTC Sense.

[Jake]

The Note does a bunch of cool stuff that other phones don't offer (multi-window, S Pen features, etc.), but Samsung's software really sucks compared to stock Android or even HTC Sense.

 

Yep, which is part of the reason I don't know what to recommend. Oh well, he's complacent for now.

[Jake]

Yeah, that U310 has WiFi issues. My friend has one of those, he said the WiFi issues were pretty awful.

 

 

We'll see. In the worst case, I'll just get a USB adapter methinks

 

There are a few suggested fixes out there: driver update, turning off the card's power saver settings, reinstallation of Windows (this actually works for some reason), and it seems there is one that has worked for everyone who has claimed to have tried it...something with adjusting some foil within the laptop. I haven't looked into that one too much.

 

Update: 37 mbps

 

I think we're clear!

[Jake]

I have to say, I'm really enjoying Windows 8.1. It's not perfect, but I think this is this is the way of the future. I used the original W8 for a little bit while I downloaded the ginormous 8.1 update and I can definitely say that the relatively small changes in 8.1 go a very long way. It is interesting how Microsoft is approaching the update process, as so many apps have feedback features made fairly prominent.

 

The touch gestures are quite nice, especially on a laptop. They make sense and didn't take long to learn.

 

Their app store still needs development, but that's what I expected. There are things like my inability to integrate Google Calendar the way I want to that are a bit annoying. It's also weird to me that Office 2013 can't work in Metro. Overall, I think I'm going to enjoy this OS.

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

I think my G2 is safely setting in around 40 hours per charge. I've reached 70 with little use, I've reached 25 hours or so with heavy use, but with normal use the past couple days, I've been around 40 or more. I like that.

[SleepyWhiteSox]

Lovin' my Nexus 5. Soo smooth and nice and clear. Got a battery pack charger for heavy use days.

 

Also have a Nokia wireless charger that I use for both the Nexus 5 and Nexus 7

 

 

Should I be a google fanboy and get a chromecast too? I think it's still $30 for those that signed up for the Best Buy student program. Worth it? I dunno, though. I know it won't be as good as my Roku...

[RockRaines]

Lovin' my Nexus 5. Soo smooth and nice and clear. Got a battery pack charger for heavy use days.

 

Also have a Nokia wireless charger that I use for both the Nexus 5 and Nexus 7

 

 

Should I be a google fanboy and get a chromecast too? I think it's still $30 for those that signed up for the Best Buy student program. Worth it? I dunno, though. I know it won't be as good as my Roku...

Its not as good but its awesome for what it is. I bring it everywhere on business trips.

[Jake]

Chromecast is cool but not really a Roku replacement

[Jenksismyhero]

I'm still upset about the lack up chromecast updates. Right now it's basically a google centered device with Netflix and Hulu. Where's my HBOGo? Where's my chrome browser casting ability for phones/tablets?

[RockRaines]

I'm still upset about the lack up chromecast updates. Right now it's basically a google centered device with Netflix and Hulu. Where's my HBOGo? Where's my chrome browser casting ability for phones/tablets?

To me it seems like "netflix on the go" and nothing else. Which is pretty cool.

[bigruss]

To me it seems like "netflix on the go" and nothing else. Which is pretty cool.

For the cost it's not bad, but I agree with Jenks, there's too much potential for it to only be Netflix and youtube. Any cloud music player should be able to use it (especially apps like Amazon Cloud Player) and more video players should be available.