Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by spicybright 1506 days ago
It really is impressive how much a cheap computer can do with the right software now a days. Cheapest I see glancing at amazon right now is $75. Chump change in the first world.

Probably even the cheapest part of schooling equipment too now. Never seen a textbook go for less than $100, at least in my experience.
1 comments
pjmlp 1506 days ago
Still using my 300 euro Asus 1215B from 2009.
link
spicybright 1506 days ago
I still really miss my dell mini laptop. It fit my small hands well and was easily lighter than a book.

I used to throw it into one of those mini fashion backpacks and bike to the park to write a bit of code on nice days.

Not much fear of breaking it because it was so cheap. Had external batteries too which I sometimes brought an extra of to swap out (which actually sounds crazy compared to how most laptops are now a days)

link
pjmlp 1505 days ago
It still does the job quite well, naturally I took advantage of being able to expand it to 8 GB and replacing the HDD with a SSD one.

And despite my Linux vs Windows posts, it is actually Linux based, and was bought that way, also a proof that even that didn't help when regarding some common Linux Desktop themes.

Anyway, it has served me well during my travels, like you I am used to take it everywhere.

When it finally dies, it is going to be quite hard to find a good replacement that takes over similar responsibility.

link
agumonkey 1506 days ago
That's some serious frugal :)
link
pjmlp 1505 days ago
Yep, the time that we had to replace computers every two years is well behind us, and that is what brings fear into OEM hearts.

When not doing docker or microservices everything, there is hardly any need to keep buying hardware.

WebGL 2.0 is based on OpenGL ES 3.0, so for that kind of graphics, any GPU after 2011 will spend most of their cores sleeping.

For compiled languages, even C++ (if using binary dependencies via package manager), the workflow is fast enough.

I am the opinion, even something like an Amiga 3000 would be more than enough for what most people do with their computers. :)

link
agumonkey 1505 days ago
preaching the choir my dear, whenever I see "new big web project" all I see is people sending a few bits of text .. sure it's coated with useless 4k vids and high res banners, but the cruft of the protocol is still a little bit of text. And considering the average brain speed of the population, a fast minitel would suffice :cough:.. hell, the human / system impedance might even improve.
link