Old Laptops. What to do with them?

Discuss music production with Ableton Live.
distaudio
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Re: Old Laptops. What to do with them?

Post by distaudio » Thu Jan 03, 2013 2:57 am

H20nly wrote: + 1 for donating. there are a lot of programs that take used electronics to 3rd world countries and/or other situations where the devices still have value... school children etc.
I like the idea of this. If anyone knows of any worthy causes please let me know.

distaudio
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Re: Old Laptops. What to do with them?

Post by distaudio » Thu Jan 03, 2013 4:43 am

H20nly wrote: good luck with that. Applecare just means that you call in and an Apple tech walks you through a bunch of stuff and then blames your router or some other piece of non-Apple gear for (at least) the first 2 or 3 phone calls. could be faster to fix it yourself if/when you use 'time = money' type mathematics.

having Apple care ultimately just means that they can't say "well if you had Applecare...." and that they have to press on instead. the pain/time factor is the same as it is with any large company. the only other benefit is if, after half a dozen phone calls, you can get them to admit the issue is [Apple] hardware related you get a replacement. you can get the same from any number of manufacturers.
Obviously your experience with Applecare as been alot different to my own.
I generally ask them to escalate me to a senior tech within the first 5 minutes if I determine that my technical knowledge is higher than the person on the other end of the phone or when they try to walk me through things that I have already told them I have done.

Machinesworking
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Re: Old Laptops. What to do with them?

Post by Machinesworking » Thu Jan 03, 2013 5:17 am

distaudio wrote: I generally ask them to escalate me to a senior tech within the first 5 minutes
One minute is about my limit, unless I know it's something simple. The first person on the other end of the line is just there to prevent customers from asking dumb questions of the tech people. Generally second tier knows fuck all about anything either, but they give up quicker and get you to the specialists.

distaudio
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Re: Old Laptops. What to do with them?

Post by distaudio » Thu Jan 03, 2013 5:25 am

Machinesworking wrote: One minute is about my limit, unless I know it's something simple. The first person on the other end of the line is just there to prevent customers from asking dumb questions of the tech people. Generally second tier knows fuck all about anything either, but they give up quicker and get you to the specialists.
The key to getting customer service. Wear them down.

Anyway, I like the idea of creating a dedicated music device using an old notebook but my soldering is so bad it will look like it is glued together with Pigeon shit.

ian_halsall
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Re: Old Laptops. What to do with them?

Post by ian_halsall » Thu Jan 03, 2013 11:05 am

I give them to my kids - they are fine for browsing, games, learning how to use computers....

distaudio
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Re: Old Laptops. What to do with them?

Post by distaudio » Thu Jan 03, 2013 12:08 pm

ian_halsall wrote:I give them to my kids - they are fine for browsing, games, learning how to use computers....
I dont have kids. That is why I have the luxury of calling a i5 laptop 'old'.

justjohn_jj
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Re: Old Laptops. What to do with them?

Post by justjohn_jj » Thu Jan 03, 2013 12:34 pm

If you're giving 'em away, while I know there are many more deserving recipients, I'd also be happy to relieve you of your burden.

I would install Linux and use it/them for Blender animation renders and maybe for Pd insanity.
* Radio Free Entropy: http://just-john.com/jjMusic

H20nly
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Re: Old Laptops. What to do with them?

Post by H20nly » Thu Jan 03, 2013 4:14 pm

distaudio wrote:
H20nly wrote: + 1 for donating. there are a lot of programs that take used electronics to 3rd world countries and/or other situations where the devices still have value... school children etc.
I like the idea of this. If anyone knows of any worthy causes please let me know.
i'm not sure where you're located. below is an example of such a place here in the East Bay:
http://www.crc.org/

H20nly
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Re: Old Laptops. What to do with them?

Post by H20nly » Thu Jan 03, 2013 4:25 pm

distaudio wrote:
Machinesworking wrote: One minute is about my limit, unless I know it's something simple. The first person on the other end of the line is just there to prevent customers from asking dumb questions of the tech people. Generally second tier knows fuck all about anything either, but they give up quicker and get you to the specialists.
The key to getting customer service. Wear them down.

Anyway, I like the idea of creating a dedicated music device using an old notebook but my soldering is so bad it will look like it is glued together with Pigeon shit.
agreed.

but... that backs up my original post. what makes Apple care different from any other company's shit lower tier, blame placing, runaround support? nothing accept that they work for Apple.

ian_halsall
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Re: Old Laptops. What to do with them?

Post by ian_halsall » Thu Jan 03, 2013 5:42 pm

distaudio wrote:
ian_halsall wrote:I give them to my kids - they are fine for browsing, games, learning how to use computers....
I dont have kids. That is why I have the luxury of calling a i5 laptop 'old'.
Get some kids then - or are you impotent?

distaudio
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Re: Old Laptops. What to do with them?

Post by distaudio » Fri Jan 04, 2013 8:05 am

ian_halsall wrote:
Get some kids then - or are you impotent?
Do kids come with Ableton Suite 9?

ian_halsall
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Re: Old Laptops. What to do with them?

Post by ian_halsall » Fri Jan 04, 2013 8:50 am

distaudio wrote:
ian_halsall wrote:
Get some kids then - or are you impotent?
Do kids come with Ableton Suite 9?
Yep - Ableton are getting far more penetration with L9 than L8 apparently.

artpunk
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Re: Old Laptops. What to do with them?

Post by artpunk » Fri Jan 04, 2013 9:09 am

Could you please just send your i5 to me? I will definitely use it for good not evil. BTW I sent you a P.M.
:D

“... it was just to make an average listener go: ‘What the fuck is this?’ That’s a real inspiration for me and something that I will explore more on upcoming recordings.”
- Wally De Backer (Gotye) quoting Ween's intention behind making records

nathannn
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Re: Old Laptops. What to do with them?

Post by nathannn » Fri Jan 04, 2013 10:43 am

I say send the I5 to artpunk, what will it hurt?
You will be donating it to some one who needs it and will probably make more use of it than just playing games.
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polymer
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Re: Old Laptops. What to do with them?

Post by polymer » Fri Jan 04, 2013 12:02 pm

Use your old laptop to scan SETI data(SETI@home), who knows it could find an alien signal.
http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/

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