Jarhead

In the Raleigh area, so it's great to see a store finally opening up here in North Carolina. Previously, the closest stores to us would be the mentioned Atlanta locations or the one near DC.

Found an album I've been looking for for *forever*. Mayu no Oto by SEDO Sounder. Shipping from Japan, should be here in a few weeks.

1) What is your budget? Around $1400. 2) What size notebook would you prefer? 12"-14" 3) In which country will you buying this notebook? US 4) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like? Generally fine with any of the big names or reputable smaller shops, though want to avoid Razor, MSI, HP. 5) Would you consider laptops that are refurbished/redistributed? OEM-refurbished, yes. 6) What are the primary tasks you will be performing with this notebook? Office work, light dev work (web, scripting, that sort of thing), media consumption, maybe some light gaming (eg nothing really new, AAA, blah; probably the most intensive thing I might play would be something like Factorio). 7) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places, leaving it on your desk or both? Home use, will also be my road trip machine. 😎 Will you be playing games on your notebook? (If so, please state which games or types of games?) Not planning on it as I'm primarily looking at macOS, but if I am playing games then they'll be on the lighter side of things. 9) How many hours of battery life do you need? Looking for 10hr+; battery life will be a primary concern. 10) Would you prefer to see the notebook you're considering before purchasing it or buying a notebook on-line without seeing it is OK? Not concerned about seeing it first. 11) What OS do you prefer? Windows, Mac OS, Linux, Chrome OS, etc. 12) What ports do you require on your laptop? (ex. MiniDisplayPort or HDMI? Displayport or USB-C w/ DP?) Not too picky about ports as I rarely use them currently Screen Specifics 13) What screen resolution(s) would you prefer? See further below for explanations. More the merrier, but bare minimum of 1920x1080. Ideally would like a taller ratio than 16:9. 14) Do you want a glossy/reflective screen or a matte/non-glossy screen? See further below for explanations. Not too concerned about this, though preferably matte. Build Quality and Design 15) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you? Fashion isn't the most important thing, though I do want to avoid the "gamer" look. Notebook Components 16) How much storage space do you need? Don't need too much since I plan on using external storage / NAS storage. Timing, Warranty and Longevity 17) When do you consider purchasing this laptop? Sometime around April/May 2024. 18) How long do you expect to use this laptop? 5+ years. My previous laptops have so far lasted 13+ years and 6+ years. 19) How long could you afford to do without your laptop if it were to fail? Would not be an issue at all since I have multiple systems to use. 20) Would you be willing to pay significantly extra for on-site warranty, or would it be acceptable to you to have to ship the laptop to the vendor for repair with perhaps a week or more outage? Don't need NBD, though I can get a 4yr depot warranty from Costco so I have a slight lean towards purchasing from them unless a huge discount can be found elsewhere (eg OEM refurb). ------------------------------- Currently using my desktop and a Dell 7577 as my daily drivers and am currently looking at the M2 MBP 14 refurb or a potential M3 MBA 13 (or a discounted M2 version) this March. Mainly looking to dip my feet into macOS again but outside of that I'm looking to find a "premium" laptop with emphasis on battery life and QoL stuff like a decent keyboard / firm hinges / build quality stuff. I'm aware of stuff like the Framework laptops, though I'm not too happy with the hinges on those and things of that nature. Haven't looked at the laptop market in a while so I'm not sure what's really out there right now, but would like to know what my MBA/M?BP alternates would be.

Personally if I had a cup of coffee getting a bit cold, I'd just microwave it instead.

Nostalgia time

Ryobi outlet is having a sale, so I picked up a battery set, circular saw and sander for an upcoming project

Mainly the upfront costs, TCO with things like battery durability/replacement, lack of any meaningful infrastructure (current efforts just care about the subsidies and don't maintain the chargers well), etc. PHEV isn't much better given what I've read about reliability of hybrid v EV v PHEV vehicles.

Would like to buy an EV, but well... how things have been going with them I might just go for a hybrid instead once I eventually get a new car.

Steam sale shenanigans: Sky Haven Cold Waters Summer Pockets Shenzhen I/O

Dirty Harry & Magnum Force. Pretty decent stuff. Also tried watching Boondock Saints. Literally fell asleep halfway through.

Turbo Killer - Carpenter Brut

Restocked the home bar with some gin, rum, and liqueur

New fridge. Woke up this morning to my current one being dead and the insides warmed up.

John Wick 4. Well worth the watch.

Impulse-bought a kitchen faucet that was on clearance

Hoover Pro Clean Pet for something like 30% off MSRP. Really nice living near an OEM outlet store.

Bike chain lube and a torex screwdriver set to fix a squeaky mouse wheel.

Recent meal:

Nah, have the room for it and probably will stay here for a while. Just a question of "why bother?".

Sort of getting back into reading after not doing much fiction reading since high school. Last 2-3 years I've been reading the Overlord light novels as they come out and are translated, currently reading volume 14 (pictured). Also just finished In the Land of Leadale volume 1 (pictured) and probably going to start on the Spice & Wolf and Youjo Senki light novels once I'm finished with the Leadale series. Current bookshelf is full of physical books I currently own and figured that instead of having to buy/build a bigger bookshelf and continue buying physical books, I'll switch over to ebooks. Have set up my home server with a Calibre container and recently bought an ebook reader (see Last Purchase thread) to this end.

Kobo Clara 2E with an orange cover