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Durability: Mac Pro vs air vs thinkpad vs xps

For your use case, even the Macbook should survive with no trouble. Just remember that it's far, far more fragile than your x230 and don't treat it like a Thinkpad. In my company we have divisions with Thinkpads (X, T, and W series) and others with Macbooks (13" and 15" rMBPs), and the...
- McWatt
- Post #6
- Nov 5, 2015
- Forum: Laptops
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Did you know that Google keeps your voice searches?

You can turn off ("pause") tracking of various activities through the history.google.com settings, or at least make them invisible to you. Google probably maintains a copy. Unfortunately, these controls sometimes fail. My YouTube viewing history is tracked even though the control is set to...
- McWatt
- Post #4
- Oct 21, 2015
- Forum: Mobile Devices
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Microsoft Office 2016 Final Released

Clippy came back last year, but somehow less useful than in his old Office incarnation:
- McWatt
- Post #31
- Sep 25, 2015
- Forum: Windows
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How to sell new 20 mm f/1.8 Nikkor lens?

I have a nice new duplicate lens in an unopened box, received as a gift that I don't want to return because I can't do so without the giver knowing. It was sold through an authorized Nikon USA dealer and when I say unopened box I really mean it - it's plastic wrapped in its original packaging...
- McWatt
- Thread
- Sep 14, 2015
- Replies: 2
- Forum: Digital Cameras and Video
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$30 device defeats almost any keyless car or garage door

Apparently most of you didn't read the article. I'll quote:
- McWatt
- Post #9
- Aug 11, 2015
- Forum: Security
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Upgrading Windows 8.1 Tablets to Windows 10 Discussion

Beware. I updated my Surface Pro 1 and spent awhile fixing the bugs (a microphone issue, a serious CPU burning issue fixed by turning off Windows tips in the notifications settings), then quickly realized that the loss of touchscreen UI functionality isn't worth the benefits in other areas...
- McWatt
- Post #13
- Aug 6, 2015
- Forum: Mobile Devices
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Ditching iPad for Macbook Air

If this is a replacement for an iPad, I think that whether or not you realize it now, you're going to miss the touch interface. I recommend sticking with a tablet of some sort or using a light laptop with a multitouch display. Even ignoring the touch requirement, Apple has no hardware on par...
- McWatt
- Post #19
- May 10, 2015
- Forum: Mobile Devices
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The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

I disagree. YouTube quality on a 1080p movie trailer looks much lower than the same scenes on even a DVD due to extreme artifacting caused by overaggressive compression. I suspect that the movie studios are uploading high fidelity source material, and I know I am, but when I share 1080p videos...
- McWatt
- Post #762
- Apr 28, 2015
- Forum: PC Games
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BloodBorne - Might be the game that make me buy a PS4

The load times on death are the ones that improve the most. They were cut roughly in half. In the tests on Eurogamer load times went, roughly (from memory because I'm at work): -from 45 seconds on load of a new area to 35-40 seconds -from 45 seconds on death to 20-25 seconds -from 11...
- McWatt
- Post #265
- Apr 24, 2015
- Forum: Console Gaming
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Nikon FX DSLRs: D610 or D800?

This thread and the information about prices at Canadian shops made me buy my first new SLR since the D70, which I still used happily until last week. The D750 is a pretty big upgrade.
- McWatt
- Post #27
- Apr 17, 2015
- Forum: Digital Cameras and Video
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Passed two Nissan GTRs on my way into SF...

Recently I was driving away from the Bay Area and after being stuck in crawling traffic for an hour I passed the scene of the accident causing the slowdown. About a minute later, once the general flow of traffic was up to about 65 mph but still dense, two performance cars driven by people who...
- McWatt
- Post #76
- Apr 17, 2015
- Forum: The Garage
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PSA: AMD games with Gold coupon expire!

If you're in California, the expiration may not be valid. In my experience, the gift card expiration laws cover a lot of things that aren't what I'd usually think of as a gift card, perhaps including the promotion you referenced. Here's a starting point for further research...
- McWatt
- Post #12
- Feb 24, 2015
- Forum: PC Games
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Why I like Apple: My macbook failed 3 repairs

This is the policy at the Microsoft Store, too. If you bring in a laptop with the MS equivalent to AppleCare and there's any need for out of store repair, they skip straight to giving you a new equivalent laptop or giving you whatever you originally paid as a credit toward something else...
- McWatt
- Post #20
- Feb 19, 2015
- Forum: Apple
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How long would it take you to use up 1GB of mobile internet data?

Just about 6 minutes when I use my phone as an ISP-replacement.
- McWatt
- Post #22
- Feb 6, 2015
- Forum: Mobile Devices
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Android Phone with Camera as good as iPhone 6 (autofocus speed, shutter speed, etc.)

Agreed, my S5's camera can't even compete with my old iPhone 5, or honestly even my wife's iPhone 4. The Note 4 on the other hand looks pretty comparable to the iPhone 6. I tend to phone cameras holistically based on the fraction of shots that I like, meaning that low light, handheld...
- McWatt
- Post #13
- Jan 22, 2015
- Forum: Mobile Devices
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Does Skype really suck as much as I think it does now? Edit: Fixed.

Video quality is noticeably lower and lag is noticeably higher on Google Hangouts, in my experience, especially in trans-Atlantic connections.
- McWatt
- Post #8
- Jan 19, 2015
- Forum: Mobile Devices
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2014 Turbotax - 5% or 10% Amazon refund is back

I did this last year and never received the Amazon gift card code. It took a lot of time on the phone to recover my refund.
- McWatt
- Post #2
- Jan 16, 2015
- Forum: Hot Deals and Giveaways
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Getting out of Verizon Contract

You could do it for $77 here: https://www.cellbreaker.com/pricing But likely there's been a recent terms change to get you out now for free. I don't pay attention to Verizon so I can't give more specific help.
- McWatt
- Post #2
- Dec 5, 2014
- Forum: Mobile Devices
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Friend bought used 2010 laptop for $275 since new laptops are now junk ?!

The best thing I see on the Studio 17 is a trackpad with two discrete buttons. That's pretty rare today, and if you use a laptop to do precision pointing away from an external mouse it's necessary. Even the Apple's best in class clickpads are terrible when you need to click without any chance...
- McWatt
- Post #72
- Oct 29, 2014
- Forum: Laptops
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New Mexico Police Stunned by 'Ghost Video'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell%27s_teapot
- McWatt
- Post #125
- Oct 2, 2014
- Forum: OT Discussion Club
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Galaxy S5 work phone need a plus

16 hours of screen time is no problem with one of the big zero lemons. Also, the thicker case makes the phone easier to hold by the edge, making it less likely to drop out of your hand and dramatically reducing the frequency with which you accidentally touch the screen.
- McWatt
- Post #10
- Oct 2, 2014
- Forum: Mobile Devices
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Tax2PDF needed

I imagine you can get old Turbotax versions online, maybe in some sort of site like TheBrigandCove or some variation on that. I don't think anyone's going to complain if you do so, especially since you own the program and used it when you first generated that tax return.
- McWatt
- Post #8
- Oct 2, 2014
- Forum: Windows
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Note 4 vs Iphone 6+ Camera Shootout

Are the ISO, shutter speed, and aperture in the EXIF in the source photos? If the difference is due to the Note 4 having a longer exposure time, I'm not impressed - in the real world phone shots in low light are fighting blur due to long exposure times more than anything. I think the iPhone...
- McWatt
- Post #13
- Sep 28, 2014
- Forum: Mobile Devices
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Microsoft Office.....buy it? Old version + compatibility pack?? Anything BUT???

I assume "get back into the workforce" means work for an employer and the interest in Office is to regain familiarity with applicable software. That putative employer uses MS Office, as do all that employer's customers and suppliers. If she's planning to write papers for mostly personal use or...
- McWatt
- Post #5
- Sep 17, 2014
- Forum: Windows
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Ubisoft promises Far Cry 4 on PS4, Xbox One is equal to high-end PC

No one ever mentions the weird tree graphics in FC3. If you hang glide at a decent altitude and look down, every tree is a single polygon that rotates to always face the player. Every tree rotates more and more quickly as you approach it, and then in a the blink of an eye it rotates nearly 180...
- McWatt
- Post #47
- Jun 25, 2014
- Forum: Console Gaming
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Ye Olde First Person shooters

Ha, I voted for stealth, tactics, and conserving ammo thinking I was picking my favorite aspects of long lost shooters, not voting against them. Maybe stealth wasn't a big part of it, but tactics and conserving ammo played a much bigger role in Doom 2 and Quake than they do in Call of Duty.
- McWatt
- Post #41
- Jun 19, 2014
- Forum: PC Games
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Best Video Games

Starflight King's Quest 3 Ultima 7 Master of Magic Tie Fighter Civilization 2 Baldur's Gate 2 Quake System Shock 2 Alpha Centauri Half Life 2 Morrowind Mass Effect Dark Souls Skyrim Bioshock Infinite
- McWatt
- Post #9
- Jun 15, 2014
- Forum: PC Games
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What exactly is WP missing now?

Is there a way to get free tethering on WP yet?
- McWatt
- Post #12
- Apr 30, 2014
- Forum: Mobile Devices
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Dark Souls 2 for consoles is a month away. What do we know about the PC version?

It depends on your stats. I'd just go with whichever you like the most based on its moveset. Keep in mind that actual damage done scales nonlinearly with the damage stat on your sheet. Look up the modeling people did from DkS1, where it was shown that it's almost always better to have 300...
- McWatt
- Post #95
- Apr 30, 2014
- Forum: PC Games
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Right forum to discuss Smart Thermostats?

From the experiences of friends who have Nests in their homes, the result is 10x more time spent messing with a thermostat locally or remotely, 10x more time spent unhappy with the temperature while at home, and plenty of time spent dealing with defective units in 2 of 4 cases. I also have a...
- McWatt
- Post #11
- Apr 15, 2014
- Forum: Mobile Devices
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Advice on new phone

I tried iPhone again with the 5, didn't like it (and returned to GS4/Note 3), but if camera quality is a concern I'd definitely recommend it over Samsung GS4 or a Note 3. In bright sunlight the Samsung sensors take nice photos, but even outside on a cloudy day they fall far behind the iPhone...
- McWatt
- Post #26
- Mar 17, 2014
- Forum: Mobile Devices
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The Official PS4 Thread

1) Is there a way to turn off the notification that my controller has automatically turned off due to its 10 minute timeout? I have all notifications turned off in the Settings>Notifications menu but I still get this popup. When watching Netflix/Amazon/etc. it means that 10 minutes into...
- McWatt
- Post #6,000
- Feb 12, 2014
- Forum: Console Gaming
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Finding a signal in a dead zone

Offline maps don't show you where you can make a cell phone call. For a more complete description than mine, read this: http://www.fastcolabs.com/3026060/meet-the-magician-who-can-fix-your-crappy-no-bars-cell-signal#comments I get terrible reception in my house (like -103 dB half the time) -...
- McWatt
- Post #9
- Feb 5, 2014
- Forum: Mobile Devices
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Finding a signal in a dead zone

There was a Dateline episode last night about a couple that got stranded in Burnside Lake in a snowstorm. One of them survived, the other died, basically because they couldn't make a phone call and the guy didn't have a crystal ball to tell him which way to walk to find cell service. Since no...
- McWatt
- Thread
- Feb 3, 2014
- Replies: 9
- Forum: Mobile Devices
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I don't get Dark Souls...

I'm not suggesting you personally play anymore, but since you brought up the 30 fps cap I thought I'd comment. In the DSFix ini file you can change that cap to 60 fps. Once I played at 60, going back to 30 is incredibly painful - the game feels so much better and more responsive when the...
- McWatt
- Post #89
- Jan 27, 2014
- Forum: PC Games
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The end of the windshield wiper?

As another poster mentioned, hydrophobic isn't good enough: you also need to repel oil and dirt. There's such a thing as an omniphobic surface, but a commercially viable transparent omniphobic surface that can actually survive weathering is still waiting to be developed.
- McWatt
- Post #18
- Dec 16, 2013
- Forum: The Garage
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Bought a Keurig, makes terrible coffee. Suggest replacement

I'm echoing already expressed ideas but I'll try to add a little more information. As a very easy, cheap way to make a very good large batch of coffee, a French press is a great bet. Grind your coffee coarsely and when you're done brewing pour the coffee into a clean container and you can't...
- McWatt
- Post #69
- Dec 12, 2013
- Forum: OT Discussion Club
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10k oil changes?

For reference, "shear" doesn't mean damage or degradation. "Shear" in this context is short for shear flow, which simply means the flow of the oil caused by a force gradient. The property degradation some of you are describing is induced by shear flow, but the damage itself is not "shear,"...
- McWatt
- Post #53
- Dec 12, 2013
- Forum: The Garage
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I don't get Dark Souls...

Rather than getting involved in the over the top argument here, I'll list a few things that might help you to enjoy or succeed at Dark Souls. If they sound appealing, maybe try them and see whether you enjoy the game more. 1) When you kill a boss, it's dead. Don't worry about saving...
- McWatt
- Post #27
- Dec 7, 2013
- Forum: PC Games
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Since Xbox runs a stripped down Win8, can it be hacked?

I'd also argue that $500 isn't cheaper than building a similar machine yourself. Even if you managed to write drivers to get all the hardware working to run your PC games I doubt the One would keep up with your custom $500 box. $250 MB and CPU that's dramatically more powerful than what you...
- McWatt
- Post #7
- Nov 25, 2013
- Forum: Console Gaming

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