I am contemplating to give up on laptops at all. I have monitors in 3 different rooms in my house; Obviously I have a monitor in the office, and I have access to monitor in the local library. So, I almost always use a external monitor. I don’t really need a laptop; I need a portable computer, keyboard and a mouse, all fit in my backpack. There are large selections of small form factor PCs out there.
The downside is that they are not powered in my backpack. However, all I use are browsers and terminals these days, and they have good support to save sessions across boot. So I don’t see it is a big problem.
If it’s old the battery could need replacing, if it’s not, could be some background task draining battery. I’d check activity monitor for anything consuming high cpu…
I’ve found that maxing out the RAM on MacBooks is a fantastic way to get many happy years out of them, never having to worry about juggling open apps/tabs etc.
My last MacBook was a 2013 Retina with 16GB RAM, and it was a good 5-6 years before anything started taxing it, and another 3-4 before I really felt I had to replace it.
Not being reliant on external monitors, keyboards etc has forced me to learn to make the most of the system and app features so I’m equally productive whether I’m in my office or on a train. Battery life on MacBooks is so good, I just don’t tend to think about it any more.
The extra unified memory is also very handy when it comes to running local LLMs. Sure, it’s not always as fast as CUDA, but good luck getting 96GB of VRAM from Nvidia without taking out a second mortgage!
Maybe a bit offtopic, but I am getting annoyed recently a lot by the fan noise of my desktop when I want to focus in peace. Obviously you can get a setup with passive cooling, but that would hurt the performance a lot.
The alternative I’ve seen is to place your tower in another room and use something like hdmi over ethernet, which seems like something that would be not hard to pull off. Has someone managed to do that successfully?
There is a wide range of noise levels with fans. You might have several in your desktop that would need to be swapped to make it “quiet”, but there are some good options you can buy that I would consider unobtrusive even in a quiet room.
I’d at least look into that if your machine still does everything you need it to. Unless you need to replace quite a few fans, in which case it might be smarter to put that money towards something different.
I’ve setup remote PCs for control rooms before. I believe we used a long HDMI cable for that one as it was in the next room. Used a hardware KVM for peripherals.
Linux remote desktop (VNC) works well over LAN and also over WAN using Zerotier or equivalent.
My VNC client is Remmina. Here’s a script to start the VNC server:
#!/usr/bin/env bash
# start_vnc - start VNC server
#
# requires vnc server: `sudo apt install x11vnc -y`
#
# to set password: `x11vnc -storepasswd`
#
# Add it to startup applications:
#
# - Open "Session and Startup" from the Xubuntu menu.
# - Go to the "Application Autostart" tab.
# - Click "+ Add", name it (eg "VNC Server"), set cmd `$HOME/.bin/start_vnc`.
x11vnc -forever -usepw -display :0
15 years of Ubuntu Linux, either on assembled PCs or Clevos (laptops assembled with the components I want).
Since 2023, Macbook pro M1 Max : ram: 32Go, DD: 1To + external NVMe 2 To.
I’m really happy with it.
A sit/stand desk. Ideal for adjusting to the exact height desired, then occasionally standing up (20 or 30 minutes).
A second 27-inch screen, placed on an articulated arm so I can place it wherever I want.
An ergonomic chair (HOLLUDLE). Very good for the back and the neck.
This has its importance for the DX:
OrbStack for Docker on Mac, much faster than Docker desktop.
VS code, Zed (very fast for quick editing), a little bit of Neovim with Astronvim.
ZSH (OhMyZSH) with iTerm2, Warp (intelligent terminal) from time to time.
When I researched them previously they were widely regarded as the best TB4 enclosures (I’ve got the one with the fan but have not needed to turn it on). I am running macOS off it and it’s been excellent - and more than good enough for working with videos directly stored on it. I’d recommend looking at a Samsung 990 Pro to go in it or a Crucial.
For anyone interested in running macOS off an external drive, some advantages:
You can bolt it on to a wall or under your desk and if there is a break in chances are a petty thief will be more interested in nicking your Mac than a hard drive that they won’t be able to easily/quickly remove.
They are a lot cheaper than paying Apple for large drive upgrades, a 4TB drive in a new Mac costs £1200 here, whereas an external NVMe costs about £250, with £85 for the enclosure - that’s a massive saving (you can also buy cheaper drives as well as enclosures).
You can take the drive with you to your next Mac so end up losing less on resale of a Mac with a larger HD.
Only negative I can think of is it takes longer to boot/restart - but that’s probably being done on purpose by Apple (can’t see why once set in the bios it shouldn’t just take as long as an internal drive). The only concern is a Mac disconnecting it randomly and corrupting data… but I’ve not heard of such reports. (Can anyone think of any other cons/negatives?)
SSD not included.
For much less money I have Amazon.co.uk
It dissipates heat better than another one I paid €90 for. And it’s reinforced with silicone (shock absorbing).
I have one with a Samsung Pro 980. Another with a Crucial P3 Plus SSD 2To PCIe Gen4 NVMe M.2 SSD ( CT2000P3PSSD801). 120 € / 2 To
The only concern is a Mac disconnecting it randomly and corrupting data… but I’ve not heard of such reports.
For that, I have a drive that shuts down cleanly (it remains self-powered for a few seconds to write the last bytes).
This drive takes a few seconds to boot up because it’s waiting for the capacitors to charge (for self-power). It also takes a few seconds to shut down (5 or 10 seconds, the time to empty the self-power). https://www.amazon.co.uk/DockCase-Visual-Enclosure-Protection-Support/dp/B09Z6P91M9/
I use the very same model and I am happy with it too. Although my usage is like a bigger pendrive so nothing heavy but been using it for a while and no issues.
Keep in mind the one I linked to is Thunderbolt 4 (40Gbps vs 10Gbps of the drive you linked to). If you are just using a drive for storage (and not for running the OS/video/intensive work straight off it) then USB 3.2 should be fine
I haven’t watched it but this person mentions your drive in the first few seconds and why he went to TB4 (and then goes on to compare the UGREEN TB4 drive to the ACASIS):
What’s the advantage of a laptop if it requires a boot drive bolted to the wall? Doesn’t that greatly reduce the portability of having a laptop in the first place instead of a normal machine? I like a laptop because I can take it all with me and work on the same project from another location. This would seem to defeat that. Or, am I missing something?
I don’t think I’d buy a MBP again either - mine stayed connected to my monitor 99% of the time because it is just too heavy/cumbersome (at least to use as I did my MBA, which was very light, very evenly weight distributed etc). If I need a break from the desk I just pick up the iPad and do whatever I can on that (so catch up on reading, or looking over the forums, or sketching something out etc) and just leave everything else to when I am back at the desk. You also end up saving a lot too - a Mac Studio the same spec as an upgraded MBP is about £1500 cheaper here, meaning you can either save the money or upgrade the Studio beyond what you would have a MBP.
Part of the reason I got a Mini was:
Because I needed a replacement urgently as my MBP had just become unusable and I had a lot to catch up with at the start of this year (and none of it involved resource intensive work like graphical programs - I only really need a machine for that when working on a new project or a major refresh).
I was curious how well a base M4 and an external drive would work given the advantages outlined above. (It’s now what I would recommend to anyone who doesn’t need a Mac for a specific resource intensive use-case.)
I am beginning to resent supporting Apple because I feel they need to be more ethical and pay a fairer price for essential minerals from places like DR Congo. They are the richest company in the world with the largest profit margins, yet the atrocities they are complicit in do not sit well with me. They need to do better and like everyone else I can vote with my purchase choices.
I am planning on going travelling (I need a break!) so a cheap and low power consumption machine I can leave on while travelling would be ideal (so I can dial into it when need be - rather than take my data with me and risk it being stolen or accessed/copied at airports etc)
So there are a lot of positives, and you reminded me, I think we need a thread for Digital Nomads!
