Interesting Links for 25-10-2013

[andrewducker]

• MEPs vote to suspend data sharing with US
  (tags: politics uk europe surveillance privacy )
• What's really happening at Grangemouth and what it tells us
  (tags: politics scotland )
• The PC is not dead, we just don't need new ones
  This is pretty much exactly how I feel. Why would I buy a new computer when the old one does everything I need?
  (tags:

Comments

[ggreig]

I might still want a big box PC for some purposes, but I'm experimenting with switching to having my Surface Pro be my one device that does everything (in conjunction with a dual video dock). It's on a par with or more powerful than my 2008 vintage machine in every way except disk space, and portable enough as a tablet to carry everywhere. Docking or undocking requires two leads - USB3 to the dock on one side, power lead to the wall on the other.

I started switching over last week, and deciding what needs to transfer to the device and what can go onto the server for occasional access will take a while. If I were buying today rather than back in May, even that wouldn't be a concern - shame I didn't wait a few months more!

The only real issue I've had is connecting "too many" USB devices results in some not being recognised. I'm not sure what's to blame for this at the moment - it could be the Surface, the dock, or one of the USB hubs and I've not done enough to isolate it yet. It's most likely a cheap hub, as moving devices around a bit seemed to help.

Before actually getting the Surface Pro, I would have said the desktop PC had a good future. Less sure now.

[andrewducker]

The Surface Pro is definitely more of a PC than a pure tablet - particularly as it's generally used with a keyboard. It's basically a small laptop with detachable keyboard.

[ggreig]

Yep. There are a few things about it that would be disappointing to an existing tablet user - it's a bit heavier, it runs hotter, you can't plug in a SIM card (yet) and battery life isn't as amazing (though the Surface Pro 2 is reportedly much better). But the PCness of it makes those trade-offs worthwhile - for me, anyway. These things are always subjective.