Andrius: Let's write about working together to meet our tech needs so that we can work together even better. This is for our needs that we are willing to trouble others regarding and would be grateful for help to overcome our limitations. Solutions include getting free equipment as gifts, perhaps used equipment, or shopping for inexpensive new or use equipment.
Our Tech Needs
What technology do we currently have? And what do we want or need? For example, what kind of laptops do we have and need?
Hardware
- Have: 4G smart phone ; Hp Envy laptop
- Need: 5G smart phone ; more up-to-date laptop ; Scanner (though I can use the library one for free) ; headset / camera for webinars / decent microphone ; spare charger is useful for phone ; battery packs are useful for phone and laptops ; I have no television - do I need one? ; I have no DVD nor CD player nor vinyl record player - sometimes I need these
Software
Often there are free software which is very good. Often this software is better than commercial software, but sometimes there is a standard which is needed. e.g. for editing Adobe might be needed.
- Have:
- Need:
Social science software
Qualitative data analysis software https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer-assisted_qualitative_data_analysis_software top 3 are:
- Atlas TI https://atlasti.com/
- MAXQDA https://www.maxqda.com/
- nVivo https://lumivero.com/products/nvivo/
Others have less features or are not so reliable in terms of community and support. Though some quirky software can be ideal e.g.
- Ethos https://ethosapp.com/
is a software where you could code 3 minds visually for example.
Discussion
Marcus: To expand - why do we need these things? For example gaming and game development or image editing require a good machine. These are called gaming machines in many cases. However, some software requires a good machine and later versions of windows.
Andrius: I have clarified above that here the needs that are relevant are so that we can work together better. For example, the difference between 4G and 5G could be relevant if it made a significant difference in our collaboration. In my case, my old laptop died yesterday and I need a new one in that it was my hot spot for wifi internet for my laptop. In buying a new one, I should get 5G because I am already paying for a 5G signal, it is available in my village, and I think it will improve the reliability of my zoom meetings. It will greatly speed up the upload times for my videos, which currently can take an hour or two. I am thinking I also want to have a tablet that comes with a stylus so that I could write math or philosophy during zoom meetings or in making videos, and I could draw art which is relevant for my work as well. I currently have money for this so they aren't really needs as far as our group is concerned. I could choose between a very cheap 5G tablet for 150 euros, or a mid range one for 350 euros, but I will likely buy one for up to 600 euros, quite possibly this Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE because this is for my work, it is important to have good tools, especially if we use them every day, and I think it will serve me well.
Andrius: Marcus, do you have a model number for your current laptop? Can you write more about the limitations of your current equipment? And write more precisely about the specifications of the equipment that you think would make a difference?
Marcus computer issues
- crashes sometimes running Windows 11, battery runs out, screen is cracked, poor quality microphone, poor quality camera, some programs (like Second Life) don't render fast
Marcus: I am currently using an HP Envy. WHEN I run this free software https://www.systemrequirementslab.com/my-computer-details/ it tells me my specs are:
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-8250U CPU @ 1.60GHz Number of Cores 8 Speed 3.4 GHz Stepping A Family 06 Model 8E CPU ID BFEBFBFF000806EA
Memory
RAM 8.0 GB
Video Card
Video Card NVIDIA GeForce MX150 Chipset NVIDIA GeForce MX150 Manufacturer Nvidia Hardware T&L Yes Total Memory 6.0 GB Dedicated Memory 2.0 GB Driver Version 30.0.15.1278 Vertex Shader Version 5.1 Pixel Shader Version 5.1 Plug and Play ID VEN_10DE&DEV_1D10&SUBSYS_8485103C&REV_A1 Device 1D10 Vendor ID 10DE
Video Card #2
Video Card Intel(R) UHD Graphics 620 Chipset Intel(R) UHD Graphics 620 Manufacturer Intel Hardware T&L Yes Total Memory 4.0 GB Dedicated Memory 128 MB Driver Version 25.20.100.6446 Vertex Shader Version 6.0 Pixel Shader Version 6.0 Plug and Play ID VEN_8086&DEV_5917&SUBSYS_8485103C&REV_07 Device 5917 Vendor ID 8086
Operating System
Size 64-bit Operating System Windows 11 Version 10.0.22621 Locale 2000
BIOS
BIOS F.29 Manufacturer Insyde
Sound Audio 1
Sound Device Intel(R) Display Audio
Audio 2
Sound Device Microsoft Streaming Service Proxy
Audio 3
Sound Device NVIDIA Virtual Audio Device (Wave Extensible) (WDM)
Audio 4
Sound Device Realtek(R) Audio Driver 6.0.8656.2
Audio 5
Sound Device VB-Audio VoiceMeeter VAIO
Drives
Free Memory 12 GB Free Memory 8.6 GB
Software
DirectX 11.0 .NET 4.8 Internet Explorer 11.1.22621.0 Chrome 131.0.6778.140
Limitations - the machine mostly is OK. However, it can be sluggish with some apps, it crashes when trying to do some editing tasks. Some limitations are not major e.g. screen size could be bigger or smaller depending on the task. Battery is flat / broken. Things have moved on so some software struggles to run on it e.g. SecondLife. Microphone needs replacing and maybe a new camera for webconferencing.