Computer Died (Rant Alert)

[MurphCID]

Well there is always Tuxedo computers. Same basic chassis, but they also have a monster AMD build with a 90+ watt/hour battery. AND they ship to the US.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Well there is always Tuxedo computers. Same basic chassis, but they also have a monster AMD build with a 90+ watt/hour battery. AND they ship to the US.

That monster you mentioned has the I/O connectivity I need but all but one USB port are in the wrong places. At least my POS has two Type A ports (both USB 3.1 Gen 1 although they probably share the same 5Gbps buss and power) and two type C (one is USB 3.1 Gen 2 and the other is Thunderbolt or USB 3.1 Gen 2) on the left side of the machine toward the front where they are out of the way of my mouse. They are handy for connecting up my four external backup drives (I have the four in a stand I made that holds the four of the vertically on their sides so the eat up far less desk real estate). I have two USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports on the left side toward the rear (definitely sharing the same buss and power) so I can have a mouse dongle plugged in and a cable running to a small hub that I have my speaker system's USB DAC and my two scanners plugged into, again out of the way of my mouse.

The product description is unclear if it actually can take four SSDs (all m.2 although it's unclear how many are SATA or NVMe; the configurator has conflicts in it) or only three (the description and the configurator conflict on the number). I also can't find a manual so I can take a really good look at the innards.

One other concern is, even though it has a two year warranty, Since Tuxedo is German, how would I get the warranty honored if I ever needed it? There is this rather large pond inconveniently located between here and there.

Sad to say, my current POS meets all my needs except one; it still doesn't work correctly.

[MurphCID]

Well there is always Tuxedo computers. Same basic chassis, but they also have a monster AMD build with a 90+ watt/hour battery. AND they ship to the US.

That monster you mentioned has the I/O connectivity I need but all but one USB port are in the wrong places. At least my POS has two Type A ports (both USB 3.1 Gen 1 although they probably share the same 5Gbps buss and power) and two type C (one is USB 3.1 Gen 2 and the other is Thunderbolt or USB 3.1 Gen 2) on the left side of the machine toward the front where they are out of the way of my mouse. They are handy for connecting up my four external backup drives (I have the four in a stand I made that holds the four of the vertically on their sides so the eat up far less desk real estate). I have two USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports on the left side toward the rear (definitely sharing the same buss and power) so I can have a mouse dongle plugged in and a cable running to a small hub that I have my speaker system's USB DAC and my two scanners plugged into, again out of the way of my mouse.

The product description is unclear if it actually can take four SSDs (all m.2 although it's unclear how many are SATA or NVMe; the configurator has conflicts in it) or only three (the description and the configurator conflict on the number). I also can't find a manual so I can take a really good look at the innards.

One other concern is, even though it has a two year warranty, Since Tuxedo is German, how would I get the warranty honored if I ever needed it? There is this rather large pond inconveniently located between here and there.

Sad to say, my current POS meets all my needs except one; it still doesn't work correctly.

Well It was worth a look. Not sure how their warranty would go, but they have been getting good reviews here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mm-vr1nC3PY and here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RizvGLIVGQQ

[Lady Fitzgerald]

...Well It was worth a look. Not sure how their warranty would go, but they have been getting good reviews here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mm-vr1nC3PY and here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RizvGLIVGQQ

I agree it was worth a look and thanks for the suggestion.

[MurphCID]

...Well It was worth a look. Not sure how their warranty would go, but they have been getting good reviews here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mm-vr1nC3PY and here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RizvGLIVGQQ

I agree it was worth a look and thanks for the suggestion.

Anytime.

[tuxedocomputers]

Well there is always Tuxedo computers. Same basic chassis, but they also have a monster AMD build with a 90+ watt/hour battery. AND they ship to the US.

That monster you mentioned has the I/O connectivity I need but all but one USB port are in the wrong places. At least my POS has two Type A ports (both USB 3.1 Gen 1 although they probably share the same 5Gbps buss and power) and two type C (one is USB 3.1 Gen 2 and the other is Thunderbolt or USB 3.1 Gen 2) on the left side of the machine toward the front where they are out of the way of my mouse. They are handy for connecting up my four external backup drives (I have the four in a stand I made that holds the four of the vertically on their sides so the eat up far less desk real estate). I have two USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports on the left side toward the rear (definitely sharing the same buss and power) so I can have a mouse dongle plugged in and a cable running to a small hub that I have my speaker system's USB DAC and my two scanners plugged into, again out of the way of my mouse.

The product description is unclear if it actually can take four SSDs (all m.2 although it's unclear how many are SATA or NVMe; the configurator has conflicts in it) or only three (the description and the configurator conflict on the number). I also can't find a manual so I can take a really good look at the innards.

One other concern is, even though it has a two year warranty, Since Tuxedo is German, how would I get the warranty honored if I ever needed it? There is this rather large pond inconveniently located between here and there.

Sad to say, my current POS meets all my needs except one; it still doesn't work correctly.

Hi Lady Fitzgerald,

Because of your warranty question, I have a few links for you here:

https://www.tuxedocomputers.com/en/Info ... rt-.tuxedo#
https://www.tuxedocomputers.com/en/Info ... ow-.tuxedo#

You can also contact our support and get advice if and which device would be useful for you. https://www.tuxedocomputers.com/en/Contact.tuxedo

Many regards, Annika | TUXEDO Computers

[MurphCID]

Well there is always Tuxedo computers. Same basic chassis, but they also have a monster AMD build with a 90+ watt/hour battery. AND they ship to the US.

That monster you mentioned has the I/O connectivity I need but all but one USB port are in the wrong places. At least my POS has two Type A ports (both USB 3.1 Gen 1 although they probably share the same 5Gbps buss and power) and two type C (one is USB 3.1 Gen 2 and the other is Thunderbolt or USB 3.1 Gen 2) on the left side of the machine toward the front where they are out of the way of my mouse. They are handy for connecting up my four external backup drives (I have the four in a stand I made that holds the four of the vertically on their sides so the eat up far less desk real estate). I have two USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports on the left side toward the rear (definitely sharing the same buss and power) so I can have a mouse dongle plugged in and a cable running to a small hub that I have my speaker system's USB DAC and my two scanners plugged into, again out of the way of my mouse.

The product description is unclear if it actually can take four SSDs (all m.2 although it's unclear how many are SATA or NVMe; the configurator has conflicts in it) or only three (the description and the configurator conflict on the number). I also can't find a manual so I can take a really good look at the innards.

One other concern is, even though it has a two year warranty, Since Tuxedo is German, how would I get the warranty honored if I ever needed it? There is this rather large pond inconveniently located between here and there.

Sad to say, my current POS meets all my needs except one; it still doesn't work correctly.

Hi Lady Fitzgerald,

Because of your warranty question, I have a few links for you here:

https://www.tuxedocomputers.com/en/Info ... rt-.tuxedo#
https://www.tuxedocomputers.com/en/Info ... ow-.tuxedo#

You can also contact our support and get advice if and which device would be useful for you. https://www.tuxedocomputers.com/en/Contact.tuxedo

Many regards, Annika | TUXEDO Computers

I AM impressed. I am now leaning towards a Tuxedo to replace my Darter Pro.

[AZgl1800]

I will have to investigate the Tuxedo myself.

But, most of us Humans are right handed, and ALL USB ports should be on the left side of our tablets/laptops of choice.
My ASUS FX705GM has 3 on the left, and none on the right.

for me, that is not enough, I should have done a better job researching what is available when I bought mine.

what I concentrated on was the SCREEN, it had to be Non-Reflective and bright, and no Burn-in issues.
So far, so good with that, it is now two years old.

and I wanted lots of RAM and a fast CPU, I am not a fan of Nvidia, but that is what it has in it.
In fact, I have the Nvidia GPU turned off because it was going through my battery in about 90 minutes, instead of the 7-8 hours the advertisement promised.

as I don't play games, the Intel video driver is "just as fast" as the Nvidia GPU for what I need.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

That monster you mentioned has the I/O connectivity I need but all but one USB port are in the wrong places. At least my POS has two Type A ports (both USB 3.1 Gen 1 although they probably share the same 5Gbps buss and power) and two type C (one is USB 3.1 Gen 2 and the other is Thunderbolt or USB 3.1 Gen 2) on the left side of the machine toward the front where they are out of the way of my mouse. They are handy for connecting up my four external backup drives (I have the four in a stand I made that holds the four of the vertically on their sides so the eat up far less desk real estate). I have two USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports on the left side toward the rear (definitely sharing the same buss and power) so I can have a mouse dongle plugged in and a cable running to a small hub that I have my speaker system's USB DAC and my two scanners plugged into, again out of the way of my mouse.

The product description is unclear if it actually can take four SSDs (all m.2 although it's unclear how many are SATA or NVMe; the configurator has conflicts in it) or only three (the description and the configurator conflict on the number). I also can't find a manual so I can take a really good look at the innards.

One other concern is, even though it has a two year warranty, Since Tuxedo is German, how would I get the warranty honored if I ever needed it? There is this rather large pond inconveniently located between here and there.

Sad to say, my current POS meets all my needs except one; it still doesn't work correctly.

Hi Lady Fitzgerald,

Because of your warranty question, I have a few links for you here:

https://www.tuxedocomputers.com/en/Info ... rt-.tuxedo#
https://www.tuxedocomputers.com/en/Info ... ow-.tuxedo#

You can also contact our support and get advice if and which device would be useful for you. https://www.tuxedocomputers.com/en/Contact.tuxedo

Many regards, Annika | TUXEDO Computers

I AM impressed. I am now leaning towards a Tuxedo to replace my Darter Pro.

What I'm wondering is how did Tuxedo get wind of this thread?

One question they did answer that warranty repairs have to go to Germany. They cover the cost but shipping out of country takes longer.

They also use DHL which, although they may reliable in Europe, has been very unreliable here in the SSA. My experience with them has been frequent, lost and misrouted packages, delaying receipt significantly, and their refusal to respond to any messages sent to them regarding delayed or lost shipments, etc. I've had so much trouble with DHL, I have been refusing to do business with vendors who insist on using DHL.

My most recent experience was a couple of months ago, I saw a DHL driver using a handicapped parking space during a delivery at my mail service. When I called him on it, he became extremely verbally abusive, cursing and telling me to mind my own business ( I was in my truck at the time and he either was too blind or stupid to see the handicapped placard hanging in plain view 24" from my head or he just didn't care). Rather than file a complaint via their website (based on their lack of response in the past), I called them to lodge the complaint (I would have called the police, but the driver would have been gone by the time they arrived and it would have been my word against the driver's). The person I spoke to apologized and said they would get back with me after the spoke to the driver; they never did.

[rene]

They also use DHL which, although they may reliable in Europe [ ... ]

Nope. It's a small world...

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I will have to investigate the Tuxedo myself.

But, most of us Humans are right handed, and ALL USB ports should be on the left side of our tablets/laptops of choice.
My ASUS FX705GM has 3 on the left, and none on the right.

for me, that is not enough, I should have done a better job researching what is available when I bought mine.

what I concentrated on was the SCREEN, it had to be Non-Reflective and bright, and no Burn-in issues.
So far, so good with that, it is now two years old.

and I wanted lots of RAM and a fast CPU, I am not a fan of Nvidia, but that is what it has in it.
In fact, I have the Nvidia GPU turned off because it was going through my battery in about 90 minutes, instead of the 7-8 hours the advertisement promised.

as I don't play games, the Intel video driver is "just as fast" as the Nvidia GPU for what I need.

I have similar USB needs. I need four USB 3.0 ports (I need at least one type A and can use type A or C for the rest) on the left side of the machine. My System 76 machine has a Thunderbolt port on the left that also works as a type C USB 3.1 Gen 2 port. It also has two USB 3.0 type A ports on the left side (probably sharing the same USB bandwidth and power like the two on the right side

I need an additional USB 3.0 port where I can connect a hub for my USB DAC, scanners, and mouse dongle (I would also need a Bluetooth dongle if the laptop didn't have one built in) at home or mouse (and Bluetooth, if the computer doesn't have it built in) dongles and an external speaker. A rear location would be ideal but one on the right side of the machine is also usable since I can use a right angle adapter to keep it out of the way of my mouse. My System 76 machine has two USB 3.0 Type A ports but they share the same bandwidth and power.

The location of the Ethernet and power ports are also critical. The rear of the machine is best but I can use ones on the left as long as they are rearward of the USB ports on the left. The Ethernet port is on the left side of my System 76 machine toward the rear of the machine and I use an Ethernet cable at home that has a right angle adapter on the end so the cable will stay tucked in close to the side of the machine (when away from home, I use WiFi). The power port is on the rear of the machine, out of the way.

My two cameras use SD cards (the cameras are old but why replace perfectly working cameras with newer ones?). My System 76 machine has an SD card reader in a convenient location on the left side. Most other newer machines have dropped the SD card reader in favor of a microSD reader. I can always use an SD to microSD adapter in an AD card reader that will not take up any more room than an SD card. With a machine that has a microSD card reader, I would need a USB to SD card adapter, which takes up more room and ties up a precious USB port when in use.

A Thunderbolt port on the rear would be capable of replacing some of the USB ports and be out of the way if I could find a Thunderbolt hub that had four USB ports down one side. It could even serve as an SD card reader. I have yet to find one like that, however. The ones I find have ports out the wazoo but they are never the right ones in the right places.

One of the reasons I got my System 76 machine is it has room for two 2.5" drives and two M.2 NVMe drives. Back when I was on Win 7, I could use my Carbonite cloud backup account when on the road to access data I didn't have room for on the portable machine. Since there are no affordable cloud backup services (not just cloud storage; cloud storage and cloud backup services are not the same) available for Linux, with the machine I have, I can get around that problem by keep all my desktop data on both machines. I'm using two 2.5" 4TB SSDs (Samsung 860 Pros MLC) and one NVMe 8TB SSD (Sabrent Rocket QLC) with two 4TB partitions (the desktop data storage is four Samsung 86o Pro 4TB SSDs). I need at least one drive to be MLC to handle the more frequent writes and deletions that drive would get. The drives with my movies can be QLC since, once written to, they will be almost entirely read only. The boot drive is a 512GB Samsung 970 Pro MLC (overkill sizewise but it was the smallest one Samsung makes). My need for 16TB of total storage (of which 4TB needs to be MLC) and still have room for a separate boot drive has made it difficult to find a machine that also meets my other needs.

I also need at least one HDMI port so I can mirror my display on my TV. A rear port, like the one my machine has, is best since it is out of the way.

I also do not like NVIDIA graphics cards (with the same intensity Linus Torvalds does) but machines that even come close to my needs always have the misbegotten things in them.

[AZgl1800]

One of the reasons I got my System 76 machine is it has room for two 2.5" drives and two M.2 NVMe drives. Back when I was on Win 7, I could use my Carbonite cloud backup account when on the road to access data I didn't have room for on the portable machine. Since there are no affordable cloud backup services (not just cloud storage; cloud storage and cloud backup services are not the same) available for Linux, with the machine I have, I can get around that problem by keep all my desktop data on both machines.

If your backup requirement is not too large, you can have FREE cloud backup with https://mega.nz/

I have about 3.5 gB on there for free, you can recommend someone subscribe and get a new chunk of free storage, I now have 50gB available....
I like that it can either be Auto-Start, or just on demand when I want it.... I prefer the latter actually.

the only thing I have on Mega is motorcycle files I want to share to my friends.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

One of the reasons I got my System 76 machine is it has room for two 2.5" drives and two M.2 NVMe drives. Back when I was on Win 7, I could use my Carbonite cloud backup account when on the road to access data I didn't have room for on the portable machine. Since there are no affordable cloud backup services (not just cloud storage; cloud storage and cloud backup services are not the same) available for Linux, with the machine I have, I can get around that problem by keep all my desktop data on both machines.

If your backup requirement is not too large, you can have FREE cloud backup with https://mega.nz/

I have about 3.5 gB on there for free, you can recommend someone subscribe and get a new chunk of free storage, I now have 50gB available....
I like that it can either be Auto-Start, or just on demand when I want it.... I prefer the latter actually.


MegaCloud.png


the only thing I have on Mega is motorcycle files I want to share to my friends.

I trust Mega as far as I can spit upwind in a class 5 hurricane. My one experience with Mega was their customer "service" was pathetic and their programmers incompetent.

Mega has had a very checkered history with the SSA actually shutting them down once due to illegal activity on the site and with it changing owners and names several times. The original owner, Kim Dotcom (seriously, the guy changed his name to that) claimed a Chinese national wanted by the Chinese Government for fraud did a hostile takeover and now the New Zealand Government has seized control of mega.nz, which, this year, was changed to mega.io (going to mega.nz will trigger a redirect to mega.io).

I do not trust cloud data storage sites. They rarely are secure (despite their claims), especially the free ones. The free ones are notorious for disappearing with inadequate to no warning. Reputable cloud backup sites (not the same as storage sites), however, are far more secure but can be expensive.

CrashPlan will work with Linux but they dropped their reliable personal plan and replaced with a far less reliable Small Business plan that cost twice as much, It was plagued with slow and erratic upload speeds (which often shut down for days at a time), had frequent updates that often failed and were forced on users at inconvenient times (much like Win 10 yuck), and their tech "help" and customer service was useless when I tried them on Win 7 a couple of years ago. User reviews I've seen since then, including recently, have shown they have not gotten any better.

I was leary of Backblaze's business model when they first started up but, over time, they have been proven to be extremely reliable and customer friendly. Their unlimited plans for Windblows and Mac are very affordable. However, for Linux, one of Backblaze's commercial services (which needs a separate client) is needed and it charges by the amount of data and traffic, which can get expensive if one has very much data. I've briefly explored options for uploading and maintaining only data that I haven't backed up offsite yet to keep costs down but I have a lot more "cogitating" to do before attempting that and it's a low priority for me right now.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I got tired of playing one-sided phone tag with System 76 and told them to send the machine back to me (the only options were to do that or wipe the disk and do a fresh installation; like what could go wrong with that, right?). If I'm unable to do a fresh installation on a new drive (and restore a Timeshift or Aptik snapshot to it), I'll take it to a reputable "local"repair shop (they operate in Socal, AZ, and parts of FL) and see if they can fix it (I would have nothing to lose since they guarantee to fix or no change).

[MurphCID]

No idea how Tuxedo knew but I’m still impressed.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

No idea how Tuxedo knew but I’m still impressed.

I wouldn't mind if someone who read my post ratted me out but if they are tracking me from when I went to their website, now that would be disturbing (actually, infuriating).

[RollyShed]

I trust Mega as far as I can spit upwind in a class 5 hurricane. My one experience with Mega was their customer "service" was pathetic and their programmers incompetent.

Not needed customer service so I don't know.

New Zealand Government has seized control of mega.nz, which, this year, was changed to mega.io (going to mega.nz will trigger a redirect to mega.io).

Going to Mega.nz still shows Mega.nz.

I do not trust cloud data storage sites. They rarely are secure (despite their claims), especially the free ones. The free ones are notorious for disappearing with inadequate to no warning. Reputable cloud backup sites (not the same as storage sites), however, are far more secure but can be expensive.

Our Men's Shed uses it as it is a good way to have member's list, pictures and constitution accessible by all those who have the password. The data is also on various committee member's computers and a Shed computer so there are backups. too.

The Shed runs Linux Mint as do some of the committee.

A few more bits -

The website and service was launched on 19 January 2013, by Kim Dotcom, who had founded the now-defunct service Megaupload. However, in 2015 Kim Dotcom disassociated himself from the service and stated that the New Zealand government had seized the shares of a Chinese investor and has control of the site.

In 2020, it reached a user-base of 195 million users.This was also its first year turning a profit.

In 2021, Mega changed its domain name from Mega.nz to Mega.io.

Mega has labelled as defamatory comments made by Kim Dotcom in an interview on Slashdot, where he stated that the company has fallen victim to a hostile takeover.

The company also said that Dotcom has not been a director at Mega since October 2013, and that it disagrees with a number of his public statements.
https://www.zdnet.com/article/mega-deni ... f-company/

https://mega.nz/Mega_Transparency_Report_202009.pdf
Mega’s service is governed by New Zealand law and users submit exclusively to the resolution of any disputes by arbitration under New Zealand law.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

...Going to Mega.nz still shows Mega.nz...

...In 2021, Mega changed its domain name from Mega.nz to Mega.io...

Curious; you seem to have contradicted yourself.

I went to mega.nz before I posted my previous post and was redirected to mega.io. After reading your post, I went to mega.nz again and, again, was redirected to mega.io. I'm not saying that you are wrong; mayhap a difference in our locations may have made a difference in what we see.

I still don't trust a site that has had so much controversy in it's history.

[RollyShed]

...Going to Mega.nz still shows Mega.nz...
...In 2021, Mega changed its domain name from Mega.nz to Mega.io...

Curious; you seem to have contradicted yourself.
I went to mega.nz before I posted my previous post and was redirected to mega.io. After reading your post, I went to mega.nz again and, again, was redirected to mega.io. I'm not saying that you are wrong; mayhap a difference in our locations may have made a difference in what we see.

Well yes and no... sort-of...

If you have an account before 2021 and your computer knows about it it will show mega.nz. If your computer hasn't registered an account and you go looking at the mega.nz site it will change to mega.io

I did a check with two different computers, one using mega and one not having used it.

Just to confuse things the following explains it, or some of it.

So, what is .io?

This site explains it -
https://www.lightercapital.com/blog/wha ... io-domain/

Some islands to the south of India... hmmm....
"This TLD is assigned to the British Indian Ocean Territory, the seven atolls of the Chagos Archipelago, which is south of India, and notably contains the Diego Garcia atoll, home to a U.S. military base."

"Using a TLD as part of your brand -
You may want to become creative and try to find a brand name where you can use an existing TLD as part of the word. For example, Sta.sh is DeviantArt’s personalized publishing platform for all members to upload and “stash” all of their images, writings, animations, and other creative works in progress."

However that link above is worth reading to see how various firms are badging their addresses.

[AZgl1800]

...Going to Mega.nz still shows Mega.nz...
...In 2021, Mega changed its domain name from Mega.nz to Mega.io...

Curious; you seem to have contradicted yourself.
I went to mega.nz before I posted my previous post and was redirected to mega.io. After reading your post, I went to mega.nz again and, again, was redirected to mega.io. I'm not saying that you are wrong; mayhap a difference in our locations may have made a difference in what we see.

Well yes and no... sort-of...

If you have an account before 2021 and your computer knows about it it will show mega.nz. If your computer hasn't registered an account and you go looking at the mega.nz site it will change to mega.io

I did a check with two different computers, one using mega and one not having used it.

Just to confuse things the following explains it, or some of it.

So, what is .io?

This site explains it -
https://www.lightercapital.com/blog/wha ... io-domain/

Some islands to the south of India... hmmm....
"This TLD is assigned to the British Indian Ocean Territory, the seven atolls of the Chagos Archipelago, which is south of India, and notably contains the Diego Garcia atoll, home to a U.S. military base."

"Using a TLD as part of your brand -
You may want to become creative and try to find a brand name where you can use an existing TLD as part of the word. For example, Sta.sh is DeviantArt’s personalized publishing platform for all members to upload and “stash” all of their images, writings, animations, and other creative works in progress."

However that link above is worth reading to see how various firms are badging their addresses.

I don't recall when I started using https://mega.nz/ but that link is directly copied from my browser, and it works exactly like they describe it to work.

I just this week, quit paying for my Server Host "Hightail.com / Spaces.com " as their prices just keep going up, and I can't afford them, nor do they offer the duplication of my file folders like Mega does...

I don't give two hoots in hell about that DOTcom guy, he is old history, and since he has been gone since 2013, who cares?
not me.