Photos Latest Purchases Thread: v2.0

Say what you want about Schiit, they have catchy names!

Anyone got experience of the Modi and Magni? Thinking about a mild upgrade for my current setup.

 

Bloody epic value for money! Not really much that can beat them in that price range.

And docodine, I didn't even know they did stuff in black. That Valhalla is utterly gorgeous!

 

Not much else other than the O2+ODAC at that price, I suppose you could pick up a Little dot model if you're into tubes or the Aune T1.

 

Logitech C920 Webcam.

Such a great, well recommended webcam

 

Very nice!

They don't...the company that anodizes their cases accidentally power coated a run in black. Limited edition peeps!
http://www.head-fi.org/t/690198/black-schiit-or-our-suppliers-mistake-is-your-um-benefit

 

what do you have now?

 

Sorry for the late reply on this – I was in school rushed off my feet from 5AM – 9PM yesterday and couldn’t get a minute to sit down and write this

I'll help in any way I can! As far as the screen goes, I have had no problems with the X230 because I used a 12.5" (Acer Ferrari 1000) ultraportable for 3 years before the dire battery life got to me and I changed to the HP, resigning to keep the Acer plugged in at all times in the workshop as an iTunes player. So, I'm well used to only having 1366x768 of real estate to use and not having multiple monitors etc. when I'm on the go. That being said, I do sometimes find myself missing a larger screen or my triple screen setup for things like SolidWorks, PS and Premiere - large multiple monitor setups and large laptops are handy for having folders, browsers etc. open on secondary screens and your main task window front and center or side by side in the case of 15"+ laptops, but I have learned to just work with what I've got and window-switch effectively. Obviously the 12.5" screen is really too small to have anything other than two Explorer windows side by side at one time for things like file copies and transfers. For anything else there just isn't space to work in two half-size windows side by side. In my opinion, the lack of screen real estate is more than made up for by the rest of the features it offers and even more so by the ultra-portability.

The keyboard is a joy to type on. I don't care how nice the classic ThinkPad board was (and yes, I'll admit, it was nice!) but I could type on the Island style board of the X230 for hours at a time! The only slight niggle I have is the Fn key being in the same position as the Ctrl key on my desktop's Choc Mini - that's caused quite a high frequency of typos on both machines because I can't get used to touch typing on the two different boards, but I think it'll cease to be an issue when I eventually delve into the X230's BIOS and swap those two keys. AFAIK It has that function.

As you know, I changed the stock keyboard for a backlit one this week, and I immediately noticed that the surface of the keys feels slightly different to the non-backlit version. On the non-backlit version, they have a slightly textured feel which is grippy and nice to type on. The backlit version has very smooth caps which I assume are coated then laser etched to allow the backlight to shine through. I can’t comment on whether it’s better or worse, I just know that I can still type very comfortably on it and that the backlight is a great addition to the feature list.

All things considered, I can’t see very many people buying an X230 and being disappointed. If you’re a diehard ThinkPad fan or a complete stickler for fit and finish, there are issues which might bother you (look for YouTube user “disposedtrolley” who did a number of videos on unboxing, first impression, build quality issues and follow up to warranty return etc) but I’m a self-confessed perfectionist and I’m satisfied that it is built to a high enough standard to ensure it won’t fall apart from day to day use as can and often does happen with consumer laptops.

 

Thanks very much for your reply, Unicorn, that's a very helpful post. Good to hear that the keyboard isn't a problem for you, and interesting to hear that there's a bit of a difference between the backlit and non-backlit versions. I'd read some comments about the Fn and Ctrl keys being the "wrong" way around, but that you could swap them in the BIOS, so that shouldn't be a problem.

I've been having a look at the user guide and hardware maintenance manual online and have been impressed with how many components are user-swappable - it makes a nice change from some laptop chassis where almost nothing is replacable by the end user! Candidates for upgrading from the base spec are the keyboard, an SSD and some more RAM, and like you, I'd be minded to swap the TN panel for an IPS variant at some point - how are you finding the TN screen so far, as I heard that it's not brilliant?

In terms of screen real estate, I think that I'll just have to get used to a smaller screen, but that shouldn't be a deal-breaker given the X230's other advantages. To be honest, I'd probably think about getting a docking station a bit further down the line and hooking up a bigger monitor for those occasions where I'm at home and need some more space (given that this is probably going to end up replacing my home PC).

Thanks again for your post (and to gagaga for his) - I'm looking to pull the trigger on one of these in the New Year, so it's reassuring to hear from some satisfied users! +Rep to you, good sirs

 

Can't comment on post-Lenovo Thinkpads as I'm yet to use one long-term, but the ease of disassembly/maintenance is what keeps me coming back. I had a Sony Vaio ultra-portable come to me for a few tweaks the other day, and I was shocked at how flimsy it felt and how tricky it was to even get to the RAM! Terrible design.

 

Western Digital TV Live.

We have been using the older model for a couple of years to stream stuff from the microserver upstairs to the TV and it has been awesome. My wife decided that she wanted to sign up to Netflix but unfortunately the older models don't work with that. Should be able to control this through my Asus Transformer as well as they will both be on the same network.

Looked at getting the WD TV hub with the 1TB hard drive in but with the server and 2 other drives upstairs it wasn't really worth it.

 

I have an older WDTV, but I've been looking at the Live version as an upgrade, let us know what you think!

 

Ordered this morning and already dispatched;

 

I've had one for over a year now and i think it is absolutely brilliant and in the last few days they've released V2 of the firmware which has fixed all the issues i was having with linking my iphone to play its youtube videos on the wdtv. Definately worth the money. Just wish the would get a few more on demand services like itv player and such.

 

for granddads xmas present

 

running low on space in my windows home server / hp microserver.

so got one of these:



and 4 of these:
(2tb 2.5" HDD)

 

Awesome! All that has me excited now though, is the Schiit Vali!

 

1L neutral VG base
300ml 52mg nicotine base (this strength is actually really dangerous if spilled on skin)
5x flavor concentrates

I'll order more next week. Cant have enough liquid stored for a bad day.

 

Got it installed and set up last night. Had some trouble getting log in credentials added via the remote control but plugging in a usb keyboard sorted that out easily enough, going to be looking at getting a small wireless keyboard for it at some point soon.

It connected through our 200Mb/s home plug system to the rest of the network very quickly and plays stuff just fine. Need to have a bit more of a play around with HD and multi channel sound but so far suitably impressed.

 

I bought some Chinese LED strips for my PC. I've bought them before in orange and was very pleased



Quick test..



Braided and fitted. The case has a channel around the board that they went into lovely



Yay



I got them here. Delivery took about ten days.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0052JD9H0/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Semester over, and all courses passed!