Re: [lp-ca-on] Respects Your Freedom hardware, has anyone bought some?

[Sergio Durigan Junior]

On Thursday, January 07 2016, Blaise Alleyne wrote:

> On 07/01/16 06:59 PM, Sergio Durigan Junior wrote:
>> On Thursday, January 07 2016, Blaise Alleyne wrote:
>> 
>>> On 07/01/16 05:18 PM, Matt Lee wrote:
>>>> [...] I'm also considering using an X200 and moving to a desktop for my 
>>>> daily driver
>>>> so I can have a free BIOS but the performance of a modern computer. [...]
>>>>
>>>
>>> That touches on two questions that I've been wondering over the past few 
>>> weeks:
>>>
>>> 2. How much of a noticeable difference does a modern i3/i5/i7 CPU make 
>>> compared
>>> to the X200's Core 2 Duo P8400 2.26GHz processor? (Or, for what kinds of 
>>> usage
>>> would you actually notice the difference?)
>> 
>> Heh, I've had a Core 2 Duo notebook (T400 or something?) from 2010 to
>> mid-2014.  I still remember how I felt when I switched to an i7...  Not
>> that my Emacs became faster (although it *starts* faster), but now I
>> manage to compile GDB *much* faster, and that made a difference to my
>> workflow (just because I compile stuff many times a day).  Things start
>> faster, and some of them run faster as well, but that's also because my
>> RAM has improved too.
>> 
>
> I wonder how much of that was attributable to CPU?
>
> I've done slight RAM upgrades in the past (from 1 GB to 4 GB) and noticed a 
> good
> difference. But when I moved my X60 to an SSD... the difference was sooo huge
> that I couldn't bare to use my T61 with an SSD anymore.

It's hard to measure how much was attributable to CPU, and this new
machine also has SSD (the old one didn't), so there are indeed many
variables at play here.  Nevertheless, compiling a program is CPU
intensive and I've noticed quite an improvement, so the new processor is
responsible for a good chunk of my "good feeling".

>> Maybe the best option would be to flash libreboot yourself on the machine.
>> Actually, we could do the flashing together...  I would totally want to
>> participate/help in this.  I just don't have the machine (yet)...
>> 
>
> I think I will definitely do this, even if my X60 doesn't remain my primary
> machine. I'm still tempted by the installation service though, because they
> cover the wireless card replacement also, etc. But maybe we could do that
> together too? haha

Oh, sorry, when you said "installation service" somehow I thought you
meant "I'm gonna do it myself".  Well, if you feel more comfortable
using the installation service, then by all means go ahead!  But if you
want the DYI route, I'm certainly interested :-).

> The ancient CPU (and already owning an X60) is the one thing that's stopped me
> from buying the X200 in the past week... but the Libreboot attractiveness is 
> the
> one thing that has me still seriously considering the idea over ThinkPenguin 
> or
> Purism options...

You know what, after this very useful thread I feel much more inclined
to buying the Libreboot one.

Cheers,

-- 
Sergio
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