Do you need an old monitor?

[Alistair MacDonald]

In Maker Space we have more computer monitors than we need. Quite a few more in fact, and we are going to be getting rid of a large number of them.

We are going to keep the better ones as we do use them, but there are many with just VGA or that have a lower resolution than the others so they never get used. We agreed to crop them down a few years ago (for the second time) but obviously a few things have happened since then and we appear to have instead acquired more.

If you are interested in any then let me know what kind of thing you are after. We can have a testing session one evening and try to allocate the monitores so everyone is happy. You don't need to be a Maker Space member. We have enough for all.

Also going forward I am going to suggest we extend the one-in-one-out policy we already have for PCs to monitors. We currently have five large boxes and a few others. We probably need half a dozen. This is perhaps a tomorrow problem though.

All the best,

  Alistair

[Alistair MacDonald]

A quick update that we went through the monitors on Wednesday evening and have set aside six monitors to keep. they have been returned to the goldfish bowl. Do not steal these monitors.

The remaining ones are on the coffee table in front of the fridge. We may need one for the machine room (see other email), but other than that they are all available if you want one. They are of varying quality but have all been checked and PAT tested. allare 4x3 aspect ratio but there is a variety of resolutions, sizes, and inputs (yes several have DVID that can be used with HDMI).

I suggest we wait until 8pm(ish) Wednesday so we know what we need for the machine room and for others to check if I have the allocation right, then we can give them away. Priority given to those who have asked for one beforehand.

FYI currently 4 monitors will be permanently installed in the goldfish bowl (one desk gets two smaller screens), and 2 to be flying monitors to be used on the other desks). Not that the permanently installed ones can not be temporarily used for other things. PC wise I was thinking we reinstate the two good PCs and we do a one-in-one-out for the cad machine. We then get rid of the other machines (two dead CAD machines and one other). I also suggest we reformat all the laptops and put more consistent OSes on (some Windows and the rest a well supported LTS linux version) but that is a discussion for another day.

All the best,

  Alistair

[Jon Davies]

Hi All,

> PC wise I was thinking we reinstate the two good PCs

> I also suggest we reformat all the laptops and put more consistent OSes on (some Windows and the rest a well supported LTS linux version)

I think Pop!OS is a good candidate for older machines, since it seems to be a good drop-in replacement for Windows (imho), and has good support.  The usual Windows keyboard hotkeys (that people are familiar with) are configured, the GUI is very much like Ubuntu's, and you can alter that if you wish.  It's pretty lightweight (I use it on my £120 netbook) too, so the older computers should get a decent second life without sacrificing on the GUI elements that people like.

I only mention all this because Microsoft announced there will be an end of support for Windows 10 by the 14th of October, 2025.  Additionally, Windows 11 has requirements that might rule out our older computers that don't have TPM and don't have one of these AMD or Intel CPUs.

Cheers,

Jon.

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "North East Makers" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to north-east-mak...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/north-east-makers/CA%2BA%2BpoJ8rkbKkKy0qor1NpCF7pedYWYMuDhM12rWxUbZj3kfxQ%40mail.gmail.com.

[Glen Beestone]

define *
"good machines"

because if we are talking about using pop OS to keep them going then that's not a good machine to my mind.

Let me know what we currently have and I'll see what I can donate if we need better. to my mind there's no reason we shouldn't be able to have a number of machines that can run windows 10 or the latest Version of Ubuntu or Mint for general workstations, and some smaller machines or older laptops for running the CNC, Laser, Mill Etc.

Glen.







--
Sent from my Android phone with mail.com Mail. Please excuse my brevity.

To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/north-east-makers/CANNRDgxbfRD-YcsuU7YaAPfnnxrjzvNXhN4QmynD75btb3vK7Q%40mail.gmail.com.

[Jon Davies]

"Good machines that should run Pop!OS"

Definition: Actually fast ~5 year old machines, but trash in the eyes of Windows 11.

I closed off my email with:

>> I only mention all this because Microsoft announced there will be an end of support for Windows 10 by the 14th of October, 2025.  Additionally, Windows 11 has requirements that might rule out our older computers that don't have TPM and don't have one of these AMD or Intel CPUs.

Maybe I am jumping the gun a bit, maybe not?  Three years might seem far away, but time is sneaky :)

HOWEVER...

If you can source better spec machines to refresh/update our suite to something much better, then I would welcome those newer faster machines (aside from the Win11/Pop!OS thing) as long as the one-in-one-out rule is adhered to.  I suspect both you and I would have to volunteer to adhere to the one-out part, since we're party to the one-in bit.

To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/north-east-makers/trinity-22e1832c-bade-46d5-abcf-a1be68623e3a-1659702705427%40msvc-mesg-gmxus002.

[Alistair MacDonald]

I think this is a discussion for anther time and place. My main focus is to get the mess sorted so the space is usable, hence wanting to get the surplus monitors shifted.

The PCs will be the same ones that were set up for MS2. Fully in favour of one-in-one-outing them for better machines. The ones we have are okay, but only have 3GB RAM and no SSD. The lack of an SSD could be a problem with recent Win10 builds, but that is a tomorrow problem in my head. My decade old machine runs Win10 (and unofficially a Win11 preview that did not need a TPM) fine with an SSD but runs like snail when using a spinning platter.

As these machines will probably be replaced before Win10 support ends so this feels a mute point.

As for Linux or Windows, we get plenty of offers to install Linux but that is more of a political and less practical thing. The machines that are used first are always the Windows ones. And the users using those machines want to use Windows, not something that looks like Windows. If you have a need for something else yourself then lets work out what that is and make it available. If your main aim is to stop something (in this case commercial software) being available to someone else because you do not believe in it then that is not really what Maker Space is about.

Also for reference, an LTS Ubuntu is a yes from me, Mint is an absolute no because of it's pour upgrade path, and I agree Pop is worth looking at but I still favour the more mainstream distros. Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, perhaps with the Mate desktop on machines with only a few GB or RAM, gates my vote.

Anyway this was supposed to be a discussion offering monitors. Please take a monitor! Please take several! What about you can install a Linux distro if you take home three motors? :-)

All the best,

  Alistair