Hardware Discussion

#21

Can any of you knowledgeable types help me out with a specific Mac spec. question?

“Labyrinth” arrives on the Steam store tomorrow in Early Access; I would like to buy it but I have a very un-gamey 2010 Macbook, hence this pause for thought.

The game’s graphic requirements ask for:
** nVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 256mb or ATI Radeon HD 5670 256mb or Intel HD Graphics 4600 **

but my machine has this:
** NVIDIA GeForce 9400M 256 MB **

I have looked around on hardware comparison sites but they only seem to tell me that ‘newer is better’ (duh); so I was hoping someone here might be able to say definitively whether or not I’ll be able to run it. I mean, graphics cards? I’m not asking it to run Call of Duty or anything, just cards floating around a screen. Or perhaps it isn’t that cut and dried. I don’t know anymore.

What do you reckon?

#22

A bit of googling suggests that the 9400M is a good bit slower than those other chips, eg I found this:

https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/geforce-gtx-260.c217

which puts the GeForce 9400 GT at 13% the speed of the GTX 260. So my guess is it’s not gonna work very well, unless the game’s requirements are way overstated.

#23

Thanks TGL. Looking on the Steam site, refunds are offered for games played for under two hours, so I’ll take the plunge with fingers crossed. And a lesson learned!

#24

Looking at buying a new iPad Pro 11".

Anyone have the Magic Keyboard? With it doubling as a case (I think) I was considering it and some reviews I saw were positive. I don’t usually think “I wish I had a keyboard” for my ipad (which is my primary iOS device, not my phone) but I was thinking that if I had one, maybe I would use it a lot?

#25

I have the Pro 12.9 (2020) and purchased the magic keyboard for it. I kept the keyboard on for a while, but honestly found it too bulky and cumbersome, plus I rarely used it. I also have a Macbook Pro, so if I’m doing a lot of typing I’ll use that.

I mostly use my iPad for gaming (obv) and watching movies, tv, etc so YMMV depending on your needs.

That all being said, the Magic Keyboard is well made, looks great, held up well, and was decent to type on. I think it all depends on what other devices you have and how much typing you do / plan to do on your iPad.

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#26

This is helpful and what I was guessing, in that I mostly use it for gaming, and have a MBP for work.

What kind of case/cover do you use normally on it? Or just none?

#27

I treated myself to the Nomad full case - love their stuff and the leather is awesome. It’s held up well and protected the iPad as well. It was pricey but well worth it - link to the brown 11 inch below.

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#28

I have a 2018 11” in the Otterbox case with a leather cover, and the leather at the hinge and around the edges is looking pretty ratty.

#29

There are classy ways to carry your iPad, but I personally just use Apple’s Smart Cover and some rubbery straight-from-China back cover. I like uniformity - probably a little too much - so each of the 4 iPads in my house has a Smart Cover, just in different colors. They’ve worked well.

#30

Just upgraded my Eero mesh wifi system to the latest gen, the Eero Pro 6 with three pro routers. My house is a 2100 sq ft split level with some dead zones and I could’ve gotten away with a beacons instead of full routers, but a) go big or go home, and, b) I didn’t feel like hearing my wife question what those “things” plugged in are and why we need them.

This is my third iteration of the Eero; obviously I’m a huge fan. They work seamlessly, eliminate dead spots, are easy to setup and manage, and have a good app. I’m not a network engineer and don’t need to delve deeply into my settings, which is one of the main complaints regarding the Eeros. I just want something easy and fast.

I was getting around 900 up / down on my gigabit service before with the Eero gen 2 pro model, but have had my eye on the Pro 6 for a bit. A sale combined with an Amazon gift card and a $100 trade in on my gen 2 made the otherwise $500 price palatable. I should mention that if I hadn’t had Eero’s the $500 entry point would be a no brainer, but for a moderate upgrade was a bit too much to swallow. With my discounts and credits I was about $150 out of pocket, which was ok for a new toy to play with.

The 6 are bigger than the gen 2 - noticeably so. Larger footprint and higher as well, but still pretty unobtrusive and more or less the same rounded off square design as before. They redesigned the plug slightly and it still uses usb-c; two ethernet ports on each router and the main one obviously requires the use of one for the modem. Setup was simple and fast using the app, which tells you if you have good placement of the routers around the house; I left my network name and password alone so as to avoid having to reprogram all 8 million devices in the house.

Speeds increased slightly to about 950 up / down, but what’s most noticeable is how quickly websites load. On wifi 6 it’s nearly instantaneous, which is pretty cool. Overall I’m happy with the upgrade; if you’re on gen 1 eero you’ll definitely notice a difference and it’s a worthwhile upgrade. Gen 2, if you can get a deal or sale and have cash to burn, go for it. If you don’t have a mesh network and have dead spots or extenders running, I’d definitely recommend the eero 6.

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#31

This will be of interest to several of you who’ve mentioned using these kinds of things. Apparently the new generation may be worth paying attention to.Although they reviewed one of them this week and it did not pass muster.

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#32

Very belated follow-up question - how stable is the Eero network? I’m using Orbi with 3 satellites to cover our house and it is not solid despite everything being patched up.

I have a similar area over 3 floors in a very solid house (high density blocks and concrete…thank you German domestic engineering) and the main router is in a far corner of the lowest floor for whatever reason. When the network works it’s reasonably good, and you can see the satellite interconnections change, but sometimes one or two of the satellites fall off the network. Fortunately the least unreliable link is to the Apple TV otherwise Mrs StC would be more unhappy…

#33

Super solid, have never had an issue with any of the eero stuff, and I’ve had all three generations

ETA: the app is very well done and their customer support is fantastic

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#34

While I’m pretty happy with the Eero, I have had a couple issues (which may or may not be due to configuration of the Eeros in the house). Occasionally network connections have been lost when a device tries to switch from one Eero to another. This has happened less since I’ve reconfigured the system, and added a 4th unit (3000sqft house plus basement).

Also, Apple devices have a tendency to keep a connection to the Eero they have been connected to, and I’ve had a weak connection to a basement Eero when I’ve moved upstairs. Eero has claimed this is an Apple issue, and they can’t do anything about it.

Both of these issue have improved though, and I’m pretty happy with the current state of Eero.

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#35

Thanks @js619 and @Hardco.

Got home and one of the Orbi satellites was merrily glowing pink again, showing it had dropped off the network and hadn’t reconnected in 2 days, according to Mrs StC. Disappointed in Netgear tbh, I used to like their stuff but life with Orbi has rather put me off.

#36

As a coda to this post, I’ve just had one of those technology wtf? moments. To check whether the chronically off-line satellite was badly positioned or actually faulty, I swapped it with with the most distant satellite, which has been stable albeit with a mediocre signal.

Fault-finding 101, eh?

The result is that both satellites are now working perfectly, and the previously unreliable satellite now has a better connection to the base station than the one I swapped it with. Seriously, there is no logical reason for this outcome. Anyway, not questioning it, just backing away slowly with fingers crossed.

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#37

I don’t understand the networking stuff. I keep reading this thread and try to figure out if this will solve my problem of my router being in the basement office and trying to get a better connection to my wife’s office two stories up.

Right now I have my old Airport Base Station/Time Capsule relaying to an Airport Express on the 2nd floor. My wife gets decent connection from that, but it can be spotty. I keep thinking I should be getting rid of the Apple base station and express and replace them with one of these mesh networks you are talking about.

#38

Yeah. I definitely think the mesh systems would work well for you. But don’t ask me why I think that.

ETA: Incidentally, the eero pro system is on sale right now for like $150 off

#39

this one, right? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B085VNCZHZ?ref=ods_ucc_vicc_eden_rc_nd_ucc

#40

Yup. Just upgraded to it from the second gen and I’m very happy with it.

Also don’t forget Amazon will take back some of your old stuff as trade ins, save you a small amount of money

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