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… I’m curious.
Most of us have a go-to Daily Driver computer, and being hams, it is quite likely we have more than one. So, I have some questions in that regard:
1.) Is your “daily driver” computer a laptop, or a desktop, or do you just use your phone?
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?
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?
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?)
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)
6.) If you have more than one computer at home, do you use it/them networked on a Local Area Network (LAN)?
7.) Which operating system(s) do you run?
8.) Which operating system – and version – is your favorite … and why?
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
1.) Is your “daily driver” computer a laptop, or a desktop, or do you just use your phone?
Dell DeskTop.
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?
CLX Basically a mid range Gamming computer (Better Graphics Card, Solid state Hard drives (2 of them)
I do zero gaming but Wanted extra horse power in my Ham Shack
I use Flex Radios and there are no front display panels on my rigs
Control of the Flex Radios (2 of them) is by way of computersI also almost always have a MacBook Pro in the Shack (Mostly I use it for Section Manager work) Building presentations etc.
As well as a Windows NUC from Geekom it is always connected to One of the Flex 6600’s
All computers in the shack and one in our house are LAN connected, as well as the two Flex rigs and the Flex accessories
All machines with exception of the MacBook are using Windows 11 Software for the Operating system3.) 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)
OLX as mentioned above
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 11 and The Mac Latest software
8.) Which operating system – and version – is your favorite … and why?
Windows because Most Ham Radio software supports Windows
Which is why on my MacBook I also have and use Parallels Desktop Software to be able to use Windows Tools
When I am on the Road at Ham Radio Clubs and Ham Fest I only carry The MacBook Pro
even though I still have a Win Lap Top as well as a spare in the shack.By the way my Main CPU in the shack the OLX Gamming one has Four Monitors connected to it
As well as Eight Com USB Com ports used for Remote control of Antenna Rotors and other Ham Radio Equipment
All The Flex Radio Gear and accessories is LAN connected
Therefore I have a large LAN Switch (18 Ports)It was not on your list,
However, I am also using a tool from Elgato Called Stream DeckOH! I almost forgot I use a Raspberry Pi which is used as a server for a software tool called Node Red
Basically helps me control all my peripherals (equipment) from One dedicated Monitor
Two Antenna Rotors, Flex Amplifier, Antenna Switches, Antenna Tuner as well as steer heading of the Shared Apex Loop Receiving arrayMy station is Totally remote controllable, I usually use AnyDesk for that on the MacBook
when away from the station, I allowed a buddy of mine in Louisiana to work Bouvet Island 3y0B
while I was there visiting him the first week that Bouvet was on the air
I worked them the following week while here in the station.There is almost always at least one Op connected remotely to my station,
Both of them have helped me with Hardware and other Infrastructure of my station
and they both know I have priority in use of the station and can occasionally bump them off.I think I got a bit long winded and covered more than you asked for Dan,
but there it is.Cheers!
Steve
KG5VK1.) Is your “daily driver” computer a laptop, or a desktop, or do you just use your phone?
My personal main computer at home is a Lenovo touchpad with the attachable keypad. It is used with a USB-C docking station as if it were a desktop, with a separate monitor, keyboard & mouse. It is an i7 with a SSD and lots of RAM.
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, see above.
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?)
No.
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)
4 years old, pretty fast, see #1 above.
6.) If you have more than one computer at home, do you use it/them networked on a Local Area Network (LAN)?
Yes, 5 that I can think of, on a LAN.
7.) Which operating system(s) do you run?
Windows 7, 10 & 11. Also have a Raspberry Pi on a Linux Allstar node.
8.) Which operating system – and version – is your favorite … and why?
I have had no problems with Windows 10 and 11. Of course for Win 11 they had to move some menu items around, that’s irritating.
You asked lots of questions but didn’t tell us what you are using!
73,
CharlesWA5VHU
Well … it seemed polite to let others have a go at it, first. Besides … after reading Phil and Steve’s posts, I feel sorta like a poor relation country bumpkin.
1.) My “daily driver” computer is a custom desktop. (ASUS M5A99X mobo / AMD FX-8300 “Bulldozer” / 16G RAM / 8 1T SSDs / GeForce GT 740)
2.) It is a home-built system specifically researched and designed for creative endeavors such as writing, generating graphics and general photography use. Oddly enough, unless you are going to do video editing, it doesn’t take a whole lot of horsepower for those tasks. It does, however, require a decent graphics card and a large color corrected monitor.
3.) All of my desktop systems are custom purpose built. They were also built with slow aging processes in mind.
That is a trap, though. Just like rent control or over-valuing equity, sooner or later you get caught. When you can no longer get parts for older gear, the expense of the full techno-re-investment cycle hurts like a cactus covered seat cushion.
4.) The key elements for graphics work are the video card and the monitor. Ergo, each machine only has one monitor. However, as bad as my eyes are these days, the smallest is a 42 inch running @ 1080p, and the largest 50 inches running @ 4K.
5.) All of my machines are over ten years old, including my 2 laptops. The desktops are all AMD powered, and the laptops are Intels. The i5s are better for battery longevity.
6.) I do run a LAN, and machines are connected to it on an as-needed basis. When you get down to brass tacks, few defense plans beat air-gap security. That said, the LAN here is buttoned up tighter than a bull’s bumpkus in fly season. It only takes one good solid scare to make a smart man more than a little paranoid.
7.) The operating system in use depends on when you ask. Typically, I run a RedHat based Linux product, but there may be Fedora, RHEL6~8, Debian, Mint, Bohdi, Open Indiana (OpenSolaris), FreeBSD, or a derivative of any of the afore mentioned. Much to my chagrin, I also have one laptop which dual-boots F-29 and Windows 7. The Windows is there strictly to emergency back-up my KOBO book collection and account, and to program radios. Generally I use a linux box to just pull a disk image of my KOBO reader card twice annually, but some redundancy is a good idea.
8.) Which operating system is my favorite? Well … that kinda depends on what I need to use it for, but the daily driver runs a dual boot of Fedora 29/MATE-Compiz/E16, and Fedora 36/MATE-Compiz/E16. That being said, by preference, there aren’t *any* versions of Windows in that favorites list. Nor are there any Mac versions there. I maintain a legacy Mac OS-10 partition in the MacBook Pro Iinherited from my brother, but I can count the times I’ve booted into it in the last five years on the fingers of one hand.
9.) My phone? Meh. It’s just for calendar function, texting and phone calls. Although I do maintain (as current as I can get) a working copy (pdf) of the NAERG, and a current version of QRZ and ham-tools.
P.S. The cooling solution in *any* computer is the vital key consideration for longevity. In that regard, you could call me a certifiable Noctua fan. The only time I’ve ever seen CPU temps reach as high as 100F, was on a particularly hot day last summer whilst running all 8 cores (at 95~99%) transcoding a 3 hour video.
1.) Is your “daily driver” computer a laptop, or a desktop, or do you just use your phone?
Desktop at home.
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?
HP.
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?) It is a step above a surfing box, but has ran all ham radio programs so far.
5.) If your daily driver is a laptop, is it the latest and greatest, or is it getting kinda long in the tooth?
Fair to Midland. Work laptop us to be for games, but is starting to slow down a bit.
6.) If you have more than one computer at home, do you use it/them networked on a Local Area Network (LAN)?
7.) Which operating system(s) do you run? – Windows 11
8.) Which operating system – and version – is your favorite … and why? Windows 11…I know how to use it. PS. I have a PJC degree in computer information systems. You should see the things I can do to Windows 98.
Ah, yes. Win 98.
I almost remember that. Not particularly fondly, but I do remember it. Do you perchance remember the “Calmira” interface for Win 3.1(1) designed to make it look and feel like Win 95/98? I think I may still have that on a floppy in a dusty box in the shed.
For me, Win 95/98 turned what was once a general and lackadaisical awareness of the wisdom of regular whole-disk backups … into a near-fanatical religion.
Then came Win Me, Ohmigawd, what a mess!
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