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1. murph :amiga: (murph@hackers.town)'s status on Monday, 08-Jan-2024 01:30:04 JST murph :amiga:

   in reply to

   • Ernie Smith

   @ernie Laptops designed to work with Windows will usually work better in Windows, at least until the community adjusts to accommodate it.

   • Ernie Smith (ernie@writing.exchange)'s status on Monday, 08-Jan-2024 01:30:05 JST Ernie Smith

     in reply to

     Have been using it on Windows this morning. A much better Windows experience than a Linux one—and I haven’t heard a peep from the fan. Only real issue seems to be some awkwardness with Thunderbolt.

   • Ernie Smith (ernie@writing.exchange)'s status on Monday, 08-Jan-2024 01:30:06 JST Ernie Smith

     in reply to

     The key thing mixed with the dGPU thing may not make it the best choice for me, especially given that it already has a knock against it given the sound issues.

     It’s too bad. It’s a very usable and upgradeable laptop, and the 120HZ makes it a lot of fun to use.

   • Ernie Smith (ernie@writing.exchange)'s status on Monday, 08-Jan-2024 01:30:07 JST Ernie Smith

     in reply to

     Update on the HP Envy journey. I am noticing in Linux that the fan stays on all the time, and I’ve determined it’s because of the Arc GPU, which there seems to be no way to turn off.

     To put it another way, the battery life gets hosed in Linux because there’s a dGPU on even when not in use. There appears to be no way to turn off the Arc GPU.

     Performance is fine given what it is. I ran Doom (2016) at 1440p and got 40+ FPS, which is pretty good. But that’s a bit of a bummer.

   • Ernie Smith (ernie@writing.exchange)'s status on Monday, 08-Jan-2024 01:30:08 JST Ernie Smith

     in reply to

     One downside I noticed of this laptop: My thunderbolt dock, while it works right away, does not charge it. I have a plug nearby, so it's not the end of the world, but it would be much nicer if it did.

   • Ernie Smith (ernie@writing.exchange)'s status on Monday, 08-Jan-2024 01:30:09 JST Ernie Smith

     in reply to

     Having spent a bit setting it up, I gotta say: Wow, this is nice. Is it perfect? No, but I sort of feel like I was missing out by not using Fedora.

     Zero setup required on devices that were sometimes finicky on Debian, like my Wacom touchpad.

     And while the speakers don’t work, everything else does. Even got facial recognition working.

   • Ernie Smith (ernie@writing.exchange)'s status on Monday, 08-Jan-2024 01:30:10 JST Ernie Smith

     in reply to

     I’m using the Nobara Linux community build of Fedora, which comes with a bunch of stuff preloaded. (If you know Glorious Eggroll’s work with Proton, same person.) https://nobaraproject.org

     One of those things is not sound, alas.

   • Ernie Smith (ernie@writing.exchange)'s status on Monday, 08-Jan-2024 01:30:11 JST Ernie Smith

     in reply to

     After trying PopOS for a bit, moved back to Fedora. My problem with Pop at this juncture is that they’re moving away from GNOME, which I really like, and as a result GNOME works a lot worse than it has in the past.

     Fedora just feels more polished these days.

   • Ernie Smith (ernie@writing.exchange)'s status on Monday, 08-Jan-2024 01:30:12 JST Ernie Smith

     in reply to

     It's absurd that this laptop would actually be a lot better if they didn't make this weird design decision

   • Ernie Smith (ernie@writing.exchange)'s status on Monday, 08-Jan-2024 01:30:13 JST Ernie Smith

     in reply to

     Like who designs keyboards like this? People who fear contrast?

   • Ernie Smith (ernie@writing.exchange)'s status on Monday, 08-Jan-2024 01:30:14 JST Ernie Smith

     in reply to

     Keeping the backlight on in daylight, even accidentally, is a real problem. It makes the keys invisible.

     Also don't love the shadow the monitor leaves on the keyboard deck. Hm.

     This may not be the one for me.

   • Ernie Smith (ernie@writing.exchange)'s status on Monday, 08-Jan-2024 01:30:15 JST Ernie Smith

     in reply to

     I don’t love the keys not being black, but the layout is great and very comfortable. The monitor’s resolution is less of an issue than I thought it would be (the Spectre was 4K, so a little bit of a resolution dip).

   • Ernie Smith (ernie@writing.exchange)'s status on Monday, 08-Jan-2024 01:30:16 JST Ernie Smith

     in reply to

     The sound seems fixable but I’m having trouble getting it to work. Going to keep at it. Far as I can tell, the only thing not working is the speakers, which can be worked around by simply using headphones. Even the mic appears to work.

     Need to test the graphics, but I did throw a second SSD in the machine.

   • Ernie Smith (ernie@writing.exchange)'s status on Monday, 08-Jan-2024 01:30:17 JST Ernie Smith

     in reply to

     Nice machine but it appears to have one meh feature in Linux: no sound support, at least with the built-in speakers.

   • Ernie Smith (ernie@writing.exchange)'s status on Monday, 08-Jan-2024 01:30:18 JST Ernie Smith

     in reply to

     It weighs more but is dimensionally similar to my 2017 Spectre, which only has a 15 inch screen (and full disclosure, I paid a few hundred bucks more for pre-inflation)

   • Ernie Smith (ernie@writing.exchange)'s status on Monday, 08-Jan-2024 01:30:19 JST Ernie Smith

     in reply to

     The gray on gray is a little weird. Keys are comfortable though

   • Ernie Smith (ernie@writing.exchange)'s status on Monday, 08-Jan-2024 01:30:20 JST Ernie Smith

     in reply to

     I did get a weird “fan isn’t working” error which I’m going to keep an eye on.

   • Ernie Smith (ernie@writing.exchange)'s status on Monday, 08-Jan-2024 01:30:21 JST Ernie Smith

     in reply to

     Just got the Envy in, it’s actually quite nice. My previous PC was a Spectre so it feels like a freshened-up version of that.

   • Ernie Smith (ernie@writing.exchange)'s status on Monday, 08-Jan-2024 01:30:22 JST Ernie Smith

     in reply to

     A 16-inch M1 was in the mix, but I was trying to keep things cost-effective this time out. Paying the Apple tax to get non-upgradable storage just feels like a ripoff.

   • Ernie Smith (ernie@writing.exchange)'s status on Monday, 08-Jan-2024 01:30:23 JST Ernie Smith

     in reply to

     Upgradeability was a big factor. I looked at models from Acer, Asus, Lenovo, and LG, and it was the one that hit all the boxes, including price.

     Not enough machines come with two SSDs, upgradeable RAM, and upgradeable WiFi in 2023.

     The one knock on it is that it uses the Intel Arc GPU. If I find the GPU sucks, I’ll return it.

     I plan on running it with Linux full-time and keeping the M1 Air as a secondary machine.

   • Ernie Smith (ernie@writing.exchange)'s status on Monday, 08-Jan-2024 01:30:24 JST Ernie Smith

     in reply to

     (For those wondering: HP Envy 12th gen; CPU performance seemed very similar to 13th gen, and my previous Windows PC was a Spectre.

     I had considered a Thinkpad Z16 but I couldn’t find any models on my preferred shopping sites with a nice enough screen.)

   • Ernie Smith (ernie@writing.exchange)'s status on Monday, 08-Jan-2024 01:30:25 JST Ernie Smith

     I bought a laptop today. I tried to make it as cost-effective as possible. Went with Intel, though I almost went team AMD.