We actually have a mix of laptops, desktops, tablets and smartphones. One desktop is dedicated to the APRS gateway/digipeater, one is exclusively used for finances, one is exclusively for our weather station, another is for our security cameras (functioning as an NVR) and we repurpose iPads that go obsolete as security camera monitors. Kathy usually hangs on an iPad Mini and I use a Dell laptop most.
1.) Is your “daily driver” computer a laptop, or a desktop, or do you just use your phone?
Dell laptop.
2.) If your main box is a desktop computer, is it a commercially branded machine, (ie, Dell, HP, Sony, eMachines etc.) or is it a home built system?
N/A
3.) If it is a home built system, was it a matter of expedience and parts availability, or was it a well researched and designed build?
N/A
4.) Was it designed for a specific purpose? (ie. running a business, graphics, video production, ham shack ops center or just a surfing/email utility box?)
N/A
5.) If your daily driver is a laptop, is it the latest and greatest, or is it getting kinda long in the tooth? (more than 7 years old)
Dell XPS 13 9310 – 11th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-1195G7 @ 2.90GHz – Installed RAM 32.0 GB – 2TB SSD – One year old. Replaced an earlier version of the same machine that had a cracked motherboard (hazard of travel).
6.) If you have more than one computer at home, do you use it/them networked on a Local Area Network (LAN)?
Yes
7.) Which operating system(s) do you run?
Windows 10/11, iOS (current, patched and updated)
8.) Which operating system – and version – is your favorite … and why?
In my view for many years every other Microsoft offering was pretty good and then the next one was awful. Microsoft no longer supports anything older than Windows 8.1 or older so I believe if you go online with one of those you are in some peril of picking up something you do not want… Of the most current versions Windows 10/11 both are about the same. Some older cameras are hard to look at with the phase out of Internet Explorer, but these two are both very stable and do a nice job. I hate their automatic updates because I cannot tell you the number of times I have been getting ready to walk out the hotel room door or the house headed for an early trip and the computer says nope, I have an update that must be installed right now. Highly annoying… I find using a mouse on a PC to be much easier to perform some tasks than similar touchscreen actions on a tablet, but both have their place in our environment.
Phillip
