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The Icon Bar: The Playpen: I'm interested in which machines...
 
  I'm interested in which machines...
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John Hoare Message #79510, posted by moss at 02:55, 30/8/2006, in reply to message #79417

Posts: 9348
MacBook Pro 17"
:drool:
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richard cheng Message #79523, posted by richcheng at 12:08, 30/8/2006, in reply to message #79510

Posts: 655
Work:
Dell Dimension 3000 (3GHz P4, 1GB RAM, XP Pro SP2 - All those specs, and yet it's still the slowest computer on this list for day-to-day usage. Arrgh!)
PowerMac (867MHz PowerPC G4, 640MB RAM, OS X 10.4.7)

Home, Mine:
Iyonix (Mini tower version, more RAM than I've ever got close to using, RISC OS 5.10, needs the resistor hardware upgrade doing as I currently can't use Geminus :(. I also really need to sort out my MDF.)
FreeBSD box (couple of Pentium 2s? God know what other specs.)

Home, Girl's: (She hates my Iyonix)
12" iBook (800MHz PowerPC G4, 640 RAM, OS X 10.3.?)
Mac mini (1.66GHz Intel Core Duo, 512 RAM (needs upgrading badly :o), OS X 10.4.?)

On the road! \o/
Psion 5mx (37MHz ARM710T, 32MB memory, 16MB Compact Flash but could do with a bigger one. If this had Wifi and a colour screen I'd die happy.)

Funfun:
PS2 - Don't play this much, though.
NDS - I need a PassME, or somesuch.

Gathering Dust:
RiscPC (StrongARM, more RAM than I ever used, RISC OS 3.7)
GBA

Gathering Dust at Parents':
Innumerable archies, A-whatnots, and RiscPCs
BBC B! <- The hotness!


[Edited by richcheng at 13:13, 30/8/2006]
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John Hoare Message #79530, posted by moss at 13:24, 30/8/2006, in reply to message #79523

Posts: 9348
Mac mini (1.66GHz Intel Core Duo, 512 RAM (needs upgrading badly :o), OS X 10.4.?)
Oh, doesn't it just?

I've got *exactly* the same setup - and when you've got more than a couple of apps open at once, it bloody drags. I bitterly regret not getting 1GB when I ordered it, but I'm used to RISC OS and didn't think it'd need that much memory :|

As it is, it's very expensive for me to upgrade. As I just don't trust myself not to bugger the machine up if I attempt to do it myself...
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Phil Mellor Message #79531, posted by monkeyson2 at 13:33, 30/8/2006, in reply to message #79530
monkeyson2Please don't let them make me be a monkey butler

Posts: 12380
Mac mini (1.66GHz Intel Core Duo, 512 RAM (needs upgrading badly :o), OS X 10.4.?)
Oh, doesn't it just?

I've got *exactly* the same setup - and when you've got more than a couple of apps open at once, it bloody drags. I bitterly regret not getting 1GB when I ordered it, but I'm used to RISC OS and didn't think it'd need that much memory :|

As it is, it's very expensive for me to upgrade. As I just don't trust myself not to bugger the machine up if I attempt to do it myself...
<aol>Me too!</aol>

I'm fairly sure it's Safari that causes the problems, especially if you leave it running with (ahem) private web browsing turned on. I've seen it hogging more than 2GB of virtual memory and with a slow laptop hard drive that's a lot to swap in and out.

Somebody needs to port Netsurf to OS X :)
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Andrew Poole Message #79532, posted by andypoole at 13:34, 30/8/2006, in reply to message #79530
andypoole
Mouse enthusiast
Web
Twitter

Posts: 5558
Mac mini (1.66GHz Intel Core Duo, 512 RAM (needs upgrading badly :o), OS X 10.4.?)
Oh, doesn't it just?

I've got *exactly* the same setup - and when you've got more than a couple of apps open at once, it bloody drags. I bitterly regret not getting 1GB when I ordered it, but I'm used to RISC OS and didn't think it'd need that much memory :|

As it is, it's very expensive for me to upgrade. As I just don't trust myself not to bugger the machine up if I attempt to do it myself...
^This.

I've exactly the same gripe about mine. I was playing with a MacBook in the Apple Store yesterday and it quite annoying that it outperformed the mac mini by a very long way.. As a test, I loaded a few apps, then loaded iMovie (which takes an age on my mac mini).. on the macbook it loaded instantly.. as did pages, keynote and many other large apps (all at the same time).. And dashboard didn't take a short while to appear, either.

I don't think it helps that the RAM is also used for the graphics :|
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Phil Mellor Message #79533, posted by monkeyson2 at 13:38, 30/8/2006, in reply to message #79532
monkeyson2Please don't let them make me be a monkey butler

Posts: 12380
I don't think it helps that the RAM is also used for the graphics :|
My G4 Mini has a graphics card with it's own memory; it still takes a while swapping between apps when there's lots going on.

Google for the beachball of death, and you'll see lots of examples, especially with Safari, even on high spec machines.

What do you have loaded?

Typically I have several Finder windows, Safari (lotsa tabs, lotsa windows), iTunes, mPlayer, then a mix of iPhoto, Preview, Terminal and XCode depending on what I'm doing.

[Edited by monkeyson2 at 14:41, 30/8/2006]
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John Hoare Message #79534, posted by moss at 13:40, 30/8/2006, in reply to message #79533

Posts: 9348
Hmmm. I'll try swapping to Firefox, and see if it helps things...
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Phil Mellor Message #79535, posted by monkeyson2 at 13:41, 30/8/2006, in reply to message #79534
monkeyson2Please don't let them make me be a monkey butler

Posts: 12380
Hmmm. I'll try swapping to Firefox, and see if it helps things...
Another application noted for its minimal memory use! :P

Try Opera. :)
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John Hoare Message #79536, posted by moss at 13:44, 30/8/2006, in reply to message #79535

Posts: 9348
Try Opera. :)
Good idea!

I need to start testing my websites in Opera anyway...
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John Hoare Message #79537, posted by moss at 13:54, 30/8/2006, in reply to message #79536

Posts: 9348
Right. I've got rid of Safari, and am now using Opera exclusively.

Let's see how it goes :)
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Andrew Poole Message #79539, posted by andypoole at 14:33, 30/8/2006, in reply to message #79533
andypoole
Mouse enthusiast
Web
Twitter

Posts: 5558
What do you have loaded?
Typically, my mac has Adium, Safari, Terminal (with two screen sessions running tf and irssi) and a few Finder windows. I also use VLC for playing videos etc, iTunes, Transmit for FTP, Smultron for editing and Preview pokes its head in every now and then. I did have mail.app running too, but now all that is on my laptop ready for going to Florida next weekend.
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richard cheng Message #79540, posted by richcheng at 14:48, 30/8/2006, in reply to message #79531

Posts: 655
Mac mini (1.66GHz Intel Core Duo, 512 RAM (needs upgrading badly :o), OS X 10.4.?)
Oh, doesn't it just?

I've got *exactly* the same setup - and when you've got more than a couple of apps open at once, it bloody drags. I bitterly regret not getting 1GB when I ordered it, but I'm used to RISC OS and didn't think it'd need that much memory :|

As it is, it's very expensive for me to upgrade. As I just don't trust myself not to bugger the machine up if I attempt to do it myself...
We didn't get the memory when we bought it because of the overpricedness. But I've not upgraded it since because I'm too scared of breaking it! :)

<aol>Me too!</aol>

I'm fairly sure it's Safari that causes the problems
Don't think it's Safari; I never use it. Our mini's memory seems to be permanently full, regardless of what's running.

Somebody needs to port Netsurf to OS X :)
That would be sweet.
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Andrew Poole Message #79545, posted by andypoole at 15:35, 30/8/2006, in reply to message #79537
andypoole
Mouse enthusiast
Web
Twitter

Posts: 5558
Right. I've got rid of Safari, and am now using Opera exclusively.

Let's see how it goes :)
Same here. Lets see what happens...
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Andrew Message #80021, posted by andrew at 12:47, 10/9/2006, in reply to message #79324
HandbagHandbag Boi
Posts: 3439
I did write a Mode 4 version of !Lander - trees, moving landscape (with water), spinning ship. Just was outline graphics rather than filled in.
So it is more than a legend. Do you mind if I inform Stairway.. about this?
I didn't think I'd ever mentioned it to anyone! No, I don't mind.


Unfortunately, I lost the source (and the source to a lot of other code) when I left my bag on the train.
Potentially someone somewhere has it. Tragic! ;)
And my Olivetti JP-101 printer. To me, the most important bit of code I lost was my disassembler - which was able to cope with self-modifying code (to a certain degree).
Anyway, shortly afterwards I got my A420/1...

The front page says he's included a mention of your Lander Jason but I can't find it on the L&F page. Maybe he's updating it...
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Jason Tribbeck Message #80027, posted by tribbles at 14:23, 10/9/2006, in reply to message #80021
tribbles
Captain Helix

Posts: 929
The front page says he's included a mention of your Lander Jason but I can't find it on the L&F page. Maybe he's updating it...
I couldn'd find it either!
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Phil Mellor Message #81005, posted by monkeyson2 at 23:06, 9/10/2006, in reply to message #79537
monkeyson2Please don't let them make me be a monkey butler

Posts: 12380
Right. I've got rid of Safari, and am now using Opera exclusively.

Let's see how it goes :)
How did it go?
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John Hoare Message #81006, posted by moss at 04:36, 10/10/2006, in reply to message #81005

Posts: 9348
Right. I've got rid of Safari, and am now using Opera exclusively.

Let's see how it goes :)
How did it go?
I gave up because I didn't like Opera :|
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Matthew Somerville Message #81067, posted by Matthew at 00:02, 11/10/2006, in reply to message #81006
Matthew

Posts: 520
I gave up because I didn't like Opera :|
Ah, but that's because you're wrong. :) Although Opera9 is so far proving more annoying than 8 in a couple of niggly ways; thankfully they let you redefine keyboard shortcuts to fix their stupid changing of Ctrl-N from new tab to new window.
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John Hoare Message #81068, posted by moss at 05:18, 11/10/2006, in reply to message #81067

Posts: 9348
I gave up because I didn't like Opera :|
Ah, but that's because you're wrong. :) Although Opera9 is so far proving more annoying than 8 in a couple of niggly ways; thankfully they let you redefine keyboard shortcuts to fix their stupid changing of Ctrl-N from new tab to new window.
To be fair, I don't think I gave it a proper chance. It's just I'm so used to Safari now...
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Paul Vigay Message #81077, posted by pvigay at 16:31, 11/10/2006, in reply to message #81068

Posts: 200
Work:
Iyonix (ROS 5.11 Aria Cube) + SA RPC (ROS 4.39)

Home:
Iyonix (ROS 5.12 Panther)
SA RPC (ROS 4.03)
RPC 700 (ROS 4.37)
Apple Powerbook G4 (Mac OS Tiger)
HP Series 9000 mini computer (in full rack!)
Sun Sparc Ultra 2 (all Sun's running Aurora linux)
Sun Sparc 20 (x6)
Sun Sparc 5 (x12)
Silicon Graphics Indy workstation (Irix)
BBC B
BBC Master
Electron
Acorn Atom
Acorn Mk1
Psion Netbook

Gathering dust:
A5000s, A420s, A440s, BBC Bs, Commodore Pet 2002 series, Sinclair Spectrum+ZX81+QL, Commodore Amiga 500, boxes of miscellaneous junk.....
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John Message #81186, posted by mr-mac at 21:42, 14/10/2006, in reply to message #81077
Member
Posts: 148
Work: Some HP P4 junk running NT

Home:

Athlon PC with WinXP/Linux
Risc PC 600 - Just died...
Psion 5mx

Gathering Dust:
Nothing much - got rid of most old stuff, Still got a 10Mb miniscribe HDD and matching large flopy disk and old processors etc. And am building a PC for multi-track recording out of some older bits I have lying about.
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richard cheng Message #81773, posted by richcheng at 15:06, 26/10/2006, in reply to message #79540

Posts: 655
Mac mini (1.66GHz Intel Core Duo, 512 RAM (needs upgrading badly :o), OS X 10.4.?)
Oh, doesn't it just?

I've got *exactly* the same setup - and when you've got more than a couple of apps open at once, it bloody drags. I bitterly regret not getting 1GB when I ordered it, but I'm used to RISC OS and didn't think it'd need that much memory :|

As it is, it's very expensive for me to upgrade. As I just don't trust myself not to bugger the machine up if I attempt to do it myself...
We didn't get the memory when we bought it because of the overpricedness. But I've not upgraded it since because I'm too scared of breaking it! :)
So this weekend I decided to just sod it and pony up the cash to max out the RAM. I phoned up the Regent St. Apple store and asked them if I needed an appointment to get it installed (no) and whether they had the RAM in stock (yes).

"Okay, oh, and how much will it be?"

"£420."

For 2 1GB sticks of RAM?! I realise they're going to install it for me too, but still... yikes!

So instead I popped over to Crucial and ordered their guaranteed compatible mac mini 2GB RAM "kit", which is under £200.

And which arrived on Tuesday. Crucial are crucial. (In the late 80s sense of the word.)

It has made a fairly profound difference. Basically, prior to the upgrade, there was essentially *never* any free RAM in the system. Now, it has over a gig free when under general use.

Also, with more than a couple of apps open, switching between them, quitting them, and sometimes just general use was appalingly sluggish.

Now, even running PhotoShop, iTunes, Firefox *and* Safari, you can hop around with almost no irritating delays at all.

I recommend it most heartily.

Notes if you're tempted to follow my example:
  1. Make sure you find instructions for how to upgrade an Intel McMini. It has considerably more steps than the powerpc version. (It's still fairly straightforward, though).
  2. It's really pretty easy to open the case, much as various people on the internet make it sound scary.
  3. Ram the RAM in hard till it go 'click'. I had a terrifying half hour last night where the mini wouldn't boot with the new RAM or the old RAM.
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Jeffrey Lee Message #81774, posted by Phlamethrower at 15:17, 26/10/2006, in reply to message #81773
PhlamethrowerHot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot stuff

Posts: 15100
Now, even running PhotoShop, iTunes, Firefox *and* Safari, you can hop around with almost no irritating delays at all.
2GB of RAM almost allows you to run 4 programs at once?

And I thought Windows was bloated.

RISC OS ftw.
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richard cheng Message #81775, posted by richcheng at 15:37, 26/10/2006, in reply to message #81774

Posts: 655
Now, even running PhotoShop, iTunes, Firefox *and* Safari, you can hop around with almost no irritating delays at all.
2GB of RAM almost allows you to run 4 programs at once?

And I thought Windows was bloated.

RISC OS ftw.
It is a constant source of amazement (read: irritation) to me that, despite what you might imagine from a cooperative multitasking enviroment, RISC OS is still so much more responsive than any of the various other environments I have used. Windows, FreeBSD, Linux and OS X all have periods of time where the computer, although technically preemptively multitasking, is effectively not receiving input, and I have to hang around waiting for it to get back to me.

Oregano 2 being the exception that proves the rule.

Apparently BeOS was good at this?

Anyway. Mac defectors: buy more RAM.

[edit: removed tautology]

[Edited by richcheng at 16:39, 26/10/2006]
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Jeffrey Lee Message #81776, posted by Phlamethrower at 15:44, 26/10/2006, in reply to message #81775
PhlamethrowerHot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot stuff

Posts: 15100
Anyway. Mac defectors: buy more ARM.
I've corrected your spelling for you :)
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Phil Mellor Message #81777, posted by monkeyson2 at 15:48, 26/10/2006, in reply to message #81776
monkeyson2Please don't let them make me be a monkey butler

Posts: 12380
Anyway. Mac defecators: buy more ARM.
I've corrected your spelling for you :)
:o
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Jason Togneri Message #81778, posted by filecore at 17:12, 26/10/2006, in reply to message #79492

Posts: 3867
Collectively, around the home,

Windows (mostly XP) machines:
P4 2.8GHz/1GB/N6600 graphics card, Antec P180 case :-) passively cooled processor
P4 1.7GHz/256MB
AMD Athlon 2800/1GB
AMD XP2500+/512MB
Dell laptop, 500MHz/256MB
Compaq laptop, 500MHz/128MB
Some other random laptop, ~78MHz/64MB

RiscPC 700, StrongARM/64MB, 2MB VRAM, RO3.7
RiscPC 700, ARM710/16MB, 1MB VRAM, RO3.6 (although this is the one I'm experimenting with Acorn32/BSD on)

The laptops, incidentally, are all secondhand and I only bought the Dell one (100 euros); the rest were given by other people upgrading. The batteries are thoroughly dead in all of them and expensive to replace. I have my own Windows computer (first one), ostensibly for work but mostly for games, and one of the others is my wife's. Others are built from spare parts. The P4 1.7 is an FTP server (under an armchair), as is the Compaq laptop (under the sofa).

I used to have an A5000 with RO3.11 but it's been gone for a while now. Ummm I think that's all. I sold my Psion Revo :-(

EDIT: Oh, and I nearly forgot the Amstrad 1512DD. Two floppy drives and a broken hard disk, which is twice the size of any HDD I've seen for a long time! But if you like, I'll take a photo of my slightly impressive, slightly disturbing, and slightly pathetic spare parts collection :-/ I like collecting stuff and building spares out of bits. I have a whole bundle of spare processors, chips, memory and things for RISC OS machines too. No network cards though.

Oh, sorry for the image sizes. I am lazy. Incidentally, they are all fairly old - you can't see the two RPCs stacked one on top of the other, with the printer on top of both. That setup has changed round quite a bit, although it's still pretty messy. My monitor's a damn sight bigger these days, too, it's a 19" LG 900B. No TFT for me, colour quality isn't as good :-(

[Edited by filecore at 18:27, 26/10/2006]
IMG_2467.JPG 2272x1704 2.1MB
IMG_2467.JPG
2272x1704
2.1MB
IMG_2449.JPG 1704x2272 1.6MB
IMG_2449.JPG
1704x2272
1.6MB
IMG_4957.JPG 1600x1200 599.7KB
IMG_4957.JPG
1600x1200
599.7KB

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van Engelen Thomas Message #81798, posted by highlandcattle at 09:44, 27/10/2006, in reply to message #79417
Member
Posts: 78
Home/personal:

MSM7500 (400MHz ARM11, 200MHz ARM 9, ATI graphics; it's a phone prototype, but looks like a computer
ROOS ltd.

@home
PowermacG5( owned by my dad)
Powerbook G4 (Owned by my dad

Acorn A7000 (hopefully one day replaced with more powerfull RO Hardware)

Powermac G4 Cube (currently stolen by my gf and placed at here student dorm.)

Psion 7 used for class and stuff. The only computer I actually use for serious stuff.

[Edited by highlandcattle at 10:53, 27/10/2006]
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Simon Challands Message #81799, posted by SimonC at 11:23, 27/10/2006, in reply to message #81798
Elite
Right on, Commander!

Posts: 398
Home:
Iyonix (128MB, ordinary case)
HP laptop
SA RiscPC sitting in a cupboard doing nothing (and is harddiscless).

Work: One Dell Windows thing, one IMB Windows thing, and one Dell Linux one, none of which I can remember the specs of.
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van Engelen Thomas Message #81800, posted by highlandcattle at 12:26, 27/10/2006, in reply to message #81799
Member
Posts: 78

SA RiscPC sitting in a cupboard doing nothing (and is harddiscless).
.
Give it to me (or sell super cheaply):E
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The Icon Bar: The Playpen: I'm interested in which machines...