Wow. Secret menu? Didn’t even think to look for that. What does it slow you to do?

Humm. How long has it been disconnected? I wouldn’t reconnect just in case it starts a timer back over or something.

You have to disconnect the internet for a while. Think a month or two.

Don’t over complicate it. 3 copies: backup, main, and offsite; 2 different media: hdd and data center; 1 offsite. I like blackblaze but anything from google to Amazon will work.

Not true at all. Yes you do have to do an initial setup connected to the internet (and making a roku account), but after that you can disconnect it from the internet completely. It even looses its initial ad after a certain time.

I really dig my tcl roku tv. Ultra cheap and has plex/jellyfin. Has 1 ad on the main screen that can be easily blocked but can also be setup to insta launch an app on boot. These tvs also have decent latency in game mode too (my most important requirement).

I was able to adapt my ups to use lithium ion batteries. I bought 2 giant ones that are used for rv solar systems. I tried using the other batteries and even when sitting by idle they loose their effectiveness.

That’s not a server that’s a gaming pc. Seriously what do you want to run? I use a raspberry pi for a server and it works just fine.

This is what you want to get surround sound to work in windows again.

https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/aaf-optimus-dch-audio-modded-driver-for-windows-10-11-for-all-hdaudio-enumerator-chips.292621/

This driver will work with both hdmi and toslink (optical) and possibly other connections.

Evidently Microsoft used to include a Dolby digital driver back in the day but has removed it due to licensing.

Oh and this will also enable surround sound in games too.

Htpc for YouTube and gaming and native tv app plex streaming content from my plex/nas media server (pi4). Works great. Power is crazy high in California right now at over 49c /kwh so I need to boot up the htpc as little as possible.

And the beginning being the ending…chef’s kiss.

This. Yeah CBD is probably the way to go for these people. All the fun and flavor with less of the compound that gets you “high.”

The cannabis arms race to the most potent strains are a step in the wrong direction imo. Coming from the industry the only way to sell your product was if it tested at 27%thc or higher.

Before getting all crazy and changing the setup why don’t you try Wi-Fi. Yes Wi-Fi. Your cable might only be 100mbit and your WiFi may be faster.

Wi-Fi 5 can theoretically transmit data at speeds of up to 3.5 Gbps. And obviously WiFi 6 and 7 are even faster.

I now realize you are trying to buy a laptop on a budget. I’d definitely go for the X1 gen 7 or 8, 16gb of ram minimum. The 1080p screen will give you better battery life but the 4k screen has Dolby vision and will make watching movies a better experience.

What are the apps that you will be using? I’m really excited by these new Qualcomm laptops coming out. LTT is doing an experiment and having 3 of its employees switch full time to see if they are viable. If you can wait another week I’d see what their conclusions are.

I (American) spent about a month in the Philippines and traveled around a bunch by scooter on the main island. I don’t recall having to use something special to recharge my phone or my battery bank.

It’s an amazing country with amazing people. You are in for a treat. The language is kind of complex for me but luckily a lot speak really good English and I had no problems communicating. Finding vegetarian food was the most difficult part during my stay.

Reach out if you have any questions or want to know more!

I think it’s kind of the same. Once you get technique down a master can see with the cheep-o machine and get amazing results.

I say go get yourself a used machine and just play around with it. I made Halloween costumes out of stuffed animals and old clothes for my first project and it turned out really good.

Why don’t you just emulate it. I can run ps2 games on a potato.

Yeah this was such a bait and switch tactic on Sonys part. I remember a few years after they stopped producing backwards compatible models getting in arguments with people who still thought the ps3 could play ps2 games. Yes the first model (and maybe more) could but then they took the chips out to do it in order to save money. Really lame Sony. I had a friend even buy one without realizing this till he was trying to play his old games

Hey, that’s ex-redditor to you.