What has been the biggest game changer in your non gaming computing experience?

What has been the biggest game changer in your non gaming computing experience?

Something that the average user like me could probably experience today and assuming he doesn't have an ancient computer and is not listed?

Examples of what I mean:

- onenote and a digitizer -> hardly use paper notebooks now
- pocket sized external hard drive -> don't have to find the laptop that has that movie
- core i3 -> core i7, and I don't think I would ever buy an i3 again
- external monitors -> don't want to go to single screen ever again

I am asking because I am just looking for the next exciting thing that will make my own computing experience more enjoyable.

 

SSD?

10char

 

I'll second that... if you haven't already done it, get an SSD.

It's the only upgrade that's ever made a difference for me (and I only do the usual boring stuff like office and Internet).

Before SSDs, computers were slow. After SSDs, they were fast.

 

High-resolution display. Before buying my W520, I was stuck with garbage 768p and 900p displays when using laptops and desktops. Now? It better be 1080p or I'm not using it for serious work.

After that, SSDs were also a big change.

After that, the TrackPoint. Now I dislike touchpads greatly and would rather use a mouse if I didn't have a TrackPoint-equipped laptop.

 

I went from a 5400 rpm hard drive to an SSD. DEFINITELY worth it.

I love the keyboard layout of my m6600, the arrow keys are lower than the rest of the keys so I can just glide my fingers beneath the space bar to find it.

Pg up and pg down is right there with the arrow keys.

 

So let's say I go to device manager and find that my disk drive is a

Samsung MZ7TD256HAFV-000L9

Is that enough information to tell me that it is an ssd?

This ebay link gives a product with the same name or does the name "Samsung MZ7TD256HAFV-000L9" have nothing to do with SSD's? Maybe I should not even look at the disk drive? Am I even looking at the right thing?
Samsung 256 GB Internal MZ7TD256HAFV 000L9 SSD Solid State Drive | eBay

I have a thinkpad yoga core i7 if that helps at all.

The other thing that I have wondered is if the internet speed that I get via ethernet is different if I plug directly into a laptop vs with a USB plugable dock. I am doing the latter and am wondering if I will get faster internet if I plug directly into the laptop.

My thinkpad yoga doesn't have an ethernet port.

 

+1 and add IPS into the mix.

Agreed...it's pretty hard to go back to a spinner as a boot drive after years of playing with these things.

To me, TrackPoint would go along with a hi-res panel, if not before it...so it's either #1 or a tie, in my book.

 

I'd say that you are...and both Samsung and Google agree...

SSD Product Catalogue | Samsung Semiconductor Global Website

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=Samsung+MZ7TD256HAFV-000L9

 

I don't even look at computer prices without factoring in like a 240-512 GB SSD.

 

Going from a desktop to a laptop was the biggest change in computing I ever experienced. I wish I could go back to a desktop as my primary computer with a laptop as backup, but unfortunately my living situation doesn't allow it.

 

Mine was going from a single-core Pentium 4 to a dual-core Athlon 64 X2 almost a decade ago. That was, by far, the single biggest computer upgrade I have ever experienced. Everything from games to Web browsing to opening/closing programs to boot/shutdown times were much, much faster. And for the first time, I could truly multi-task without experiencing slowdowns.

 

Biggest change? From a single core AMD mobile CPU (Turion64 ML-30) to a Nehalem quad core (i7-740QM). The difference was night and day; on a relative scale the improvement even surpassed going from a dying 5400rpm spinner to an SSD lol

 

In recent years the biggest boost has been given by putting in an SSD (~4 years ago).

However, overall, getting a Toshiba T4400 at the end of 1992 with a decent (for the time) colour screen must be one of the big milestones along my notebook road.

John

 

Another vote for SSD. It's one of those things that you truly are amazed by how much it changes your general PC experience. It's like going from a Cessna to a Lear jet.

 

Not in any particular order but...

-SSDs
-1080p (or higher) IPS displays
-backlit keyboards
-docking stations (extended features)
-multiple external displays
-business-class laptops (warranty, support, build quality)
-quad core CPUs in all my PCs
-8-16 GB RAM minimum
-built-in Bluetooth for wireless mice and KB (no need to use up a valuable USB port for a dongle)
-low operating temperature, low heat, cool operation
-improved battery life (not great, but better)
-USB/Bluetooth tethering to smartphone for internet service and internet sharing
-thinner, lighter, and greater portability

Sent from my XT1049 using Tapatalk

 

Scripting. Automate stuff. I automate downloading manga, restarting processes, mouse and keyboard shortcuts, folder backups. Yes, I jumped on the ssd bandwagon, but if I have to think about it, the user of bat, python autoit and cygwin had been a bigger deal for me.

 

I'd say the advent of widespread powerful tablets is the one that changed my computing habits the most, as I now do most of my low-level computer usage on the tablet, and use my notebook for productivity, gaming, and more resource-intensive use.

Solid state storage made the most difference in computing user experience.

 

^*nods*

1. Linux.
2. Multiple virtual desktops.
3. Bigger computers/PC setups that rely on passive cooling, or run fans with magnetic ballbearings. SSD. Since it allows completely silent operation.
4. Lithium polymer/synthetic electrolyte batteries.

...so that's basically up to 2001.

After that it's:
1. iPhone.
2. iPhone.
3. iPhone.
4. Microsoft.
5. iPhone.

Because when the iPhone came out, it spelled the end for smartphones with touchscreens in the way I was used to. Namely small computer devices that could be used as actual tools rather than toys. The relative success of the iPhone also made sure that proprietary content portals - after many, many years of abysmally failed attempts by any number of manufacturers - finally succeeded. And the manufacturing process Apple has perfected - take completely ordinary PC hardware, lock it down, and create a shiny surface on it, while charging double for the product - finally took off to such an extent that no one will ever attempt to make a quality product that was actually worth the effort and price, ever again. Not only won't anyone buy it, no they want to buy the product with simpler and more simplified - sorry, I mean "structured and user-friendly" - user interfaces and function set.

Microsoft gets an honorable mention for being directly involved in screwing over a pitch I made to a manufacturer for choosing a platform independent deployment channel for software of various kinds across all the devices the manufacturer had. Over ten years later, after screwing themselves over twice, they have ended up approaching that solution after all. Neither Microsoft or anyone else cares, of course. They're earning money anyway.

 

For me It was getting a good OTA antenna, HD homerun dual tuner and turning 2 laptops into replacements for my aged VCR. I like the flexibility to also watch TV on a 3 aged Dell D610.

 

I'd say going from a slow hard drive to an SSD.. What a leap it was...

 

Invented in 1971. ;p "Market forces" finally fought against and lost against mass-market production of low-cost, high density, programmable ram, in 2010. Woo! *cough*

 

Battery. The Haswell-Maxwell CPU-GPU combo gave gaming laptops up to 6 hours of light use off the charger.

Sent from my MI 3W using Tapatalk

 

Too many 'game changers' over the years:

Dual Monitor+ setups - thanks Matrox from the '90's!

Real, dual core and of course, quad core cpu's - Intel is unstoppable for almost the last decade.

An O/S that supported as much RAM as you could stuff in a platform - thanks Vista x64.

Disruptive software like Adobe Lightroom - changed my workflow and productivity almost overnight.

SSD's - not so much for specifically increased productivity in most of my workflows...

But for greatly improving the daily/monthly maintenance computers need exponentially. In essence, they have allowed the O/S to achieve one greater level of invisibility/transparency (by letting me keep the system(s) updated and secured, but still be immediately ready for what I need them to do, instead of waiting for them to finish any background/internal processes). That is the biggest advance SSD's offer me. But yeah; fast boot up times are nice too.

Latest Atom cpu (and possibly the newest Core M, we'll see) - enabled great battery power with a great O/S (Win8.1) and great performance too for a price that is almost unbelievable.

Haswell (and soon Broadwell/Skylake) platforms that enable high performance mobile solutions with maximum possible battery life too.


When all of the above are combined into a mobile platform with a QC i7, 16/32GB+ RAM, on a fully SSD based and Win8.1x64 powered platform with the right software - I'm able to do more, faster without needing to drive/fly back to my desktop based production setups before I can give clients results.


The real game changer here is not all the individual improvements over the years, rather the synergy of the O/S, the platform/hardware capabilities and the software coming together to make for a whole greater than the sum of the parts.



But if I had to pick just one?

Yeah, it's the O/S that ties all these things together for me. MS may not be the favorite choice for many: but without the world standard Windows platform, computing as we know it would not exist. And that would not be a good thing. By a long shot.

(And yeah; over the years I've seen and played with the other O/S attempts and they fail miserably when productivity, efficiency and usability is taken into account for any stable/business oriented workflow).

 

SSD to HDD, then back to SSD.

768p glossy screen to 1080p matte with better color/contrast

 

(2009) desktop -> laptop - will hardly ever use non-portable as a main machine again
(2014) phone -> smartphone -> decent smartphone - don't read printed books or comics, write on paper anymore... that is only because

 

It is interesting to see different viewpoints.

If the category here was the biggest negative game changer; the slow, useless slow - did I mention slow 'smart phones' would be at the top of my list (starting with the iPhone...).

 

Limited dial-up to unlimited DSL in 2006. Huge difference having the whole Internet available versus hardly any of it before. Before that, I rarely used a web browser. Now, Opera's my most-used program, and Firefox is definitely in the running for second.

If we're just talking hardware upgrades, probably going from a late-2002 era Pentium 4 to a 2007-era Core 2 Duo in mid-2007. Norton 2006 was likely a significant factor in why the leap felt so great. But it still felt like a bigger leap than previous 4-year-upgrade cycle upgrades, despite the apparent hardware difference being as big or more so previously.

The upgrade from the Core 2 Duo to my desktop with an SSD was not actually a game changer outside of gaming. I can still use the 2007 Core 2 Duo laptop and have it perform perfectly well for a high percentage non-gaming tasks.

 

Broadband Internet, multi-core processors, mobile computing, and SSD's were all paradigm shifts. I'm not surprised they've been listed so often in this thread.

 

For me, going to Windows 2000/XP was major, Along with the Intel Core2 Duo. This gave me fast, stable, and reliable laptops for the first time usable at home without a domain controller. And from there, they only improved.

 

Changed from desktop to a Laptop than to an Ultrabook. But the SSD upgrade is also a huge step forward. Planning on doing it again...

 

My main change was usability.

It was that simple I got something for the first time that had decent I/O interfaces couple with that an ssd.

I don't use and like mouses anymore unless for specific tasks like gaming.

 

Biggest change was probably going from 56k dialup to 64k idsl back in the 90's. From minute/hour based charge to always online.

Fun fact: price of my connection has always stayed roughly the same. Going up from 64k to 512k, then 2Mbit, 8Mbit, 24mbit and now 100/10 including online dvr service. Roughly 40eur/month. From 64k->8Mbit I had same operator, they just brought in new tech and upgraded my connection for free along the way

 

Strange you should say that. In my case, laptops have become so powerful that only extreme rendering and/or the need to be continuously on (workstation) would necessitate my need to return to a desktop. As it stands, my present laptop makes all of my previous desktops obsolete. None of them can even do 3D.

As for my biggest non gaming change? Funny, but that would still have to be my GPU. There are a lot of others previously mentioned that would be very close seconds (ram), but without the GPU, none of them would be usable.

And even though they're still 60% that of equivalent desktop gpus, they're still more than potent enough to get the job done. Even for demanding 3D.

 

Not having to use punched cards to enter data. Awesome lol

 

You're old.

 

I bet transitioning from FORTRAN III (1958) to Fortran 2008, Python or C++ has been a real shocker.

 

..but, well, if it comes to that, a lot of professional programmers nowadays do swear by imperative, function-oriented, direct reference, linear lookup and active locked algorithm logic.

..pretty sure if some of the programmers who invented the more convenient programming languages would be pretty disappointed.