[NA] Pseudo workstation options these days?

[catmandu]

I used to build myself a desktop computer every few years using the MySuperPC.com website as a guide. But then I found myself frequenting two homes, so I bought two identical laptops, mirrored the hard drives with Macrium, and used OneDrive to sync folders between the two homes.

I've got an 80-something Uncle who was an IBM Mainframe guy back in the day, so he considers himself a computer guy. He built himself desktop computers 20-10 years ago. But now they are getting a bit long in the tooth, and need updating. He has three places he has stand alone computers (home desk, home hobby shop desk, and a second home desk).

I would like to simplify his computing life. Should I drive him to the same mirrored laptop synced by OneDrive solution, or is there some better way?

 

[DaleB]

I used to build myself a desktop computer every few years using the MySuperPC.com website as a guide. But then I found myself frequenting two homes, so I bought two identical laptops, mirrored the hard drives with Macrium, and used OneDrive to sync folders between the two homes.

I've got an 80-something Uncle who was an IBM Mainframe guy back in the day, so he considers himself a computer guy. He built himself desktop computers 20-10 years ago. But now they are getting a bit long in the tooth, and need updating. He has three places he has stand alone computers (home desk, home hobby shop desk, and a second home desk).

I would like to simplify his computing life. Should I drive him to the same mirrored laptop synced by OneDrive solution, or is there some better way?

A Windows PC properly set up with OneDrive is nice in that, when it dies, a new one can replace it without the loss of user data. Still a PITA to reinstall applications, but a lot less so than trying to restore from a backup that probably isn't current. As for the laptop question, unless he plans to travel with it I'd go with one of the many little NUC sized mini PCs available. At 80-something, I suspect he's not running heavyweight apps that require the latest processor. I have my wife's 80-something parents on a little mini PC with a Celeron of some flavor. It's more than capable of anything they do with it.

iCloud is even better, if the device is a Mac.

 

[Brad W]

I suppose that like a lot of things, it depends on the mission.
I'm a fan of Chromebooks. It basically does all of that out of the box, unless you're running specialized software

 

[tspear]

We setup my grandmother (at 107) with two pre-positioned Chromebooks, she browses the web a little and mostly does Zoom calls with kids, grandkids and the great grandkids.
My mom has switched almost completely to her phone (Samsung something), a tablet running Android, and Windows laptop. All her data (spreadsheets, documents and photos mostly) is synced by OneDrive between the devices, uses email through a web interface... Works like a charm.
My dad has never gotten on the smartphone bandwagon to do everything. So using OneDrive and a web interface for email, he keeps his two desktops and two laptops (one for moving around the house, and one very lite Surface for travel) all running Windows in sync. It works well.

Tim

 

[Stewartb]

Why duplicate? I have 4 primary desks in my life and travel a bit away from those. I use a Surface Pro and have docks and monitors at each desk. Carry the tablet, plug it in wherever I am that day. I keep a Sidetrac Swivel monitor in my computer bag for a 2nd monitor at airports, traveling in the Sprinter, etc.

 

[mark.staggs]

That's what I'd do, too--single device (lighter laptop) with docks and monitors at each place. That allows for the most flexibility since you can use it as a laptop or desktop wherever you see fit.

I'd still use OneDrive or iCloud because having all your user data backed up to the cloud is nice--especially if it's just photos, spreadsheets, text docs, etc. If the device dies, these type of lightweight laptops are relatively cheap to replace now. Get one with USB-C docking capability and a cheap USB-C doc and you're in business.

 

[Brad W]

I'm not overly familiar with the Surface...it's been a bunch of years since I've seen anyone with one....

but yes, docking stations! I remember way back when, they would be these proprietary things that would only work with a particular brand or model of laptop, but the thing would plug in as the name suggests, like a dock. Was a great idea. Made for a neat and tidy desktop
Now days the only thing I've seen like it is more like a USB dongle...sloppy looking mess of wires

 

[TCABM]

….Now days the only thing I've seen like it is more like a USB dongle...sloppy looking mess of wires

We just upgraded to a 34” curved monitor with an integrated dock. One USB-C cable to the monitor; wireless keyboard & mouse. It’s not unlike the original slide-in docks if you do your cable management correctly.

 

[Ed Haywood]

Docking was the thing 20 years ago. Nowadays, just as easy to replicate environments and data in the cloud. Get up from one desk, sit down at another desk halfway across the country, jiggle the mouse and everything is the same. Nothing to carry.

Every time someone uses OneDrive, a puppy dies. IMO Google Drive for Desktop is better, especially when signed in on Chrome at all locations.

Apple works too, if computers frighten you and you like bedazzled phone cases.

::ducks::

 

[Albany Tom]

I don't know what the answer is, but the answer is dependent on the mission. If he's surfing the web and using cloud based resources, then I'd go chromebook. Reliable, cheap, and did I say reliable? But...if he's doing CAD or has other desktop software, then unless he wants to learn something new I'd stick with the same platform. If he's using the same versions, then I'd get whatever you can that's small and reliable. Because in my head the computer he had when he retired 20 years ago is fast to do just about anything, even though software does get worse and slower every year. I take that back if he's doing animation, movie editing, or other real time graphical things like games.

 

[Dana]

I used to build my own desktop PCs, too, but nowadays mid level laptops are "good enough" for most purposes, even for the CAD work I do (though a workstation class machine is needed for large files). I usually go for whatever they're calling an "entertainment laptop" as that usually means decent specs and graphics.

But to the OP, it depends on what your uncle needs to use a computer for. The need for CAD and some other software keeps me in the Windows ecosystem, but for many people a Chromebook will be perfectly adequate.

 

[Randomskylane]

Do you all back up your one drive /google drive/apple drive to a local computer/hard drive from time to time?

I’m confident that the day after I trust the cloud the cloud will die

 

[Ed Haywood]

Do you all back up your one drive /google drive/apple drive to a local computer/hard drive from time to time?

I’m confident that the day after I trust the cloud the cloud will die

You can set up most cloud services to mirror your hard drive, so each backs up the other.

Also, the big guys (G, M, A) spend massive resources on multiple data redundancy, to the extent of mirroring data centers on different continents.

 

[kayoh190]

Do you all back up your one drive /google drive/apple drive to a local computer/hard drive from time to time?

I’m confident that the day after I trust the cloud the cloud will die

I still backup all my really important stuff locally, but it's a trivial amount of data (a couple GB) and easy to do. I'm not terribly worried about the cloud losing my data, but it feels good to have a local copy nonetheless.