How (and why) to Ramble on your goat sideways
Boost Pope
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While I recognize that it's become trendy of late to hate Dell, I must admit that I've had nothing but uniformly positive experiences with both their desktop and laptop machines over the past 10+ years. I've had around 8 (rough guess) Dell laptops (mostly Latitudes) at work, and liked them so much that I had no problem at all buying my own personal Latitude E4200 when it came time to replace my aged Sony Vaio TX-N.
It's easy to build a laptop that feels great for the first few years. It's tough to build one that still feels great when it's 5+ years old and isn't falling apart despite having been dismantled several times for routine repairs like keyboard and power-supply-connector* replacement.
* = protip: you can tell that Dell gives a **** about their machines' durability since the power supply connector, at least on the Latitudes, is a modular and easily-replaceable part which is separate from the motherboard. Yes, I know that Apple's magnetic connector is far superior, totally indestructible, etc., but we can't all be that awesome. Apple is well-known for standardizing on a single connector and making it universally-supported across all product lines, meaning that users are not commonly driven to buy entirely new systems due to forced obsolescence (eg: due to a broken power supply which is no longer made by Apple and which cannot be produced by third-party vendors due to Patent issues.)
It's easy to build a laptop that feels great for the first few years. It's tough to build one that still feels great when it's 5+ years old and isn't falling apart despite having been dismantled several times for routine repairs like keyboard and power-supply-connector* replacement.
* = protip: you can tell that Dell gives a **** about their machines' durability since the power supply connector, at least on the Latitudes, is a modular and easily-replaceable part which is separate from the motherboard. Yes, I know that Apple's magnetic connector is far superior, totally indestructible, etc., but we can't all be that awesome. Apple is well-known for standardizing on a single connector and making it universally-supported across all product lines, meaning that users are not commonly driven to buy entirely new systems due to forced obsolescence (eg: due to a broken power supply which is no longer made by Apple and which cannot be produced by third-party vendors due to Patent issues.)
That's why, My wife went through 3 dell laptops in 4 years of college. our classmates had similar experiences. When she was a senior, they gave her a latitude in exchange for canceling the lifetime warranty she paid for on the initial one. Other than the battery, that thing still runs fine to this day.
Stuff like this makes me want to stab a crying baby jesus MX-5 Owners NL • Toon onderwerp - LosCreepers
The pics speak a thousand words, which is good since you probably can't understand the actual words there
The pics speak a thousand words, which is good since you probably can't understand the actual words there
Elite Member
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I watched that a lot when it first started airing and I always felt like I was missing something while watching it, like acid. Still kinda fun though.
Of all the new stuff thats our right now, Rick and Morty is more my style. Give it a couple episodes and it'll grow on ya.
Of all the new stuff thats our right now, Rick and Morty is more my style. Give it a couple episodes and it'll grow on ya.
Replaced (or rather, installed*) the cabin air filters for my 2004 Mazda 3 this afternoon. Good grief what a pain. For the most part I'm fairly pleased with the design and engineering of this car but there's no way that replacing the cabin air filter should be an hour-long job.
Also, I smacked the back of my hand against a bracket when a bolt suddenly came loose. Burst a blood vessel. It feels GREAT.
*I thought I would be replacing old nasty filters; instead, I discovered that I had no filters at all. The cavity where the filters go were empty apart from a few leaves and bits of dirt. Apparently in 2004-2005 Mazda made the cabin air filter an option rather than standard equipment.
Also, I smacked the back of my hand against a bracket when a bolt suddenly came loose. Burst a blood vessel. It feels GREAT.
*I thought I would be replacing old nasty filters; instead, I discovered that I had no filters at all. The cavity where the filters go were empty apart from a few leaves and bits of dirt. Apparently in 2004-2005 Mazda made the cabin air filter an option rather than standard equipment.
mkturbo.com
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Location: Charleston SC
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Replaced (or rather, installed*) the cabin air filters for my 2004 Mazda 3 this afternoon. Good grief what a pain. For the most part I'm fairly pleased with the design and engineering of this car but there's no way that replacing the cabin air filter should be an hour-long job.
Also, I smacked the back of my hand against a bracket when a bolt suddenly came loose. Burst a blood vessel. It feels GREAT.
*I thought I would be replacing old nasty filters; instead, I discovered that I had no filters at all. The cavity where the filters go were empty apart from a few leaves and bits of dirt. Apparently in 2004-2005 Mazda made the cabin air filter an option rather than standard equipment.
Also, I smacked the back of my hand against a bracket when a bolt suddenly came loose. Burst a blood vessel. It feels GREAT.
*I thought I would be replacing old nasty filters; instead, I discovered that I had no filters at all. The cavity where the filters go were empty apart from a few leaves and bits of dirt. Apparently in 2004-2005 Mazda made the cabin air filter an option rather than standard equipment.
I can't remember this recommendation, but what part of the Miata are you suppose to spray paint an outline of its position before removing for easy reinstallation? Was it the PPF?
Seriously, I had not heard of doing of doing it anyplace, but it would make sense to do it where the ppf and transmission meet.
There is also a specification for the position working off the support rails to keep the universals as straight as possible, but it is difficult to do accurately if the rails are damaged or covered.
Boost Pope
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That's kind of surprisingly, actually. Over the years, I've probably traveled with my hard-sided Pelican toolbox as checked luggage on at least 200 flights, and although I've gotten quite a lot of the little "Your luggage was opened for inspection" postcards, I've never once found a tool missing from it. That covers the gamut of everything from screwdrivers and pliers to expensive Fluke multimeters to even expensiver audio test equipment.
Karma's a bitch, though. Start scanning tsatheif.net for a thread entitled "cut the **** outta my hand with this knife I picked up last week."
Karma's a bitch, though. Start scanning tsatheif.net for a thread entitled "cut the **** outta my hand with this knife I picked up last week."
mkturbo.com
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Join Date: May 2006
Location: Charleston SC
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That's kind of surprisingly, actually. Over the years, I've probably traveled with my hard-sided Pelican toolbox as checked luggage on at least 200 flights, and although I've gotten quite a lot of the little "Your luggage was opened for inspection" postcards, I've never once found a tool missing from it. That covers the gamut of everything from screwdrivers and pliers to expensive Fluke multimeters to even expensiver audio test equipment.
Karma's a bitch, though. Start scanning tsatheif.net for a thread entitled "cut the **** outta my hand with this knife I picked up last week."
Karma's a bitch, though. Start scanning tsatheif.net for a thread entitled "cut the **** outta my hand with this knife I picked up last week."
It was by no means a fancy knife, in all honesty it was a $7 box cutter from home depot. I had just some how managed to keep that same box cutter on me nearly every day for the past 7 years without fail. It had been in checked luggage for a dozen of other flights with no problem. So I am just sad to see a good friend go.