Upgrading is not possible, repair is a problem, or why computers become “disposable”

    Hi% username%! At a time when the market is ruled by "substitutes that are identical to natural", it is no longer enough strength to be surprised at the lack of technology. And yet we will try to figure out why computers strive to make it more primitive, and consoles, on the contrary, are being pulled in the direction of the PC. Is it worth it to blame the iron, the conspiracy of marketers, or just the collective nonsense of manufacturers?



    Every manufacturer of equipment is interested in the fact that buyers do not make “sharp movements” with it. Just so that clients do not distract business people from running a business (and a painless influx of money) with their own stupidity / sharpness / attempts to jump higher than their heads. Hence, the notorious "as is" and "disclaim all responsibility" in the operating conditions of technology.

    There is a reason for this if we are talking about safety, or if the part / device is so complicated that it can only be changed for the worse in the home. But instead of reasonable reinsurance, solutions from the category “now we will make you worse, but earn more money” under the most varied “sauces” are increasingly sneaking into devices. We will analyze the main cases, find exceptions (sudden changes for the better) and try to understand whether the equipment is to blame for all this confusion.

    Hardware and software systems and the operating system in the load


    The classic “citizen, do not descend and do not tear yourself away from the collective!” Is perpetuated not only in Soviet jokes , but also in the tradition of selling computers in democratic countries. Suddenly it turns out that even in computers assembled from banal components, the pre-installed operating system and hardware are the same, like the party and the people, like Mikhail Boyarsky's salad and a hat, and so on. Disconnecting these two entities in the case of a PC comes in a painful and comical way, on humiliating conditions and with penny compensation for the OS itself.

    Habralyam not take courage, so not so long ago, we watched as they fought for theirrights, and even in years of legislation unprepared for such a procedure, they managed to return the Windows license to the manufacturer and receive appropriate compensation. All this - under the smirks of colleagues and the accusations "we know you - immediately install pirated Windows". But the water wears away the stone, so, if you remember, the FAS became interested in the case, and now the procedure is much less painful than in the era of Vista.


    Single whole, speak?

    Demonize Windows on level ground is still not necessary, but computer users appearedRestored the ability to choose, and this is a priori good. Perhaps, we will live to see the possibility of loading an alternative OS in Windows tablets - now you can’t easily get such a trick, even if the device itself does not prevent the installation of third-party systems. However, some tablets are already able to work in GNU / Linux - at least it can be used “in the air” from a fast boot disk. We are armed with Kingston's OTG-drive - and we work our work, if a full-fledged PC is far away. and the situation is urgent. You will need a 64-bit UEFI, which, by the way, is gradually being introduced into tablets with a large amount of RAM.


    Kingston OTG flash drives are a great option to jump to the GNU / Linux LiveCD on Win-Tablet

    In general, in matters of merging hardware and software, Apple most honestly looks like it lives on the principle “my devices are my rules”. The policy is tough, but it is known in advance.

    “What they have sold, then use it, don't go anywhere”


    But Apple should be scolded for another reason: the Cupertins, like hooligans in a children's team, infect others with their behavior. Get at least mobile computers, which, with the filing of Apple today are difficult to upgrade.
    About the notorious iPhone with 8 GB of memory has already been said and done a lot, but the problem lies in the fact that because of the success of Apple smartphones, manufacturers, under false pretenses, no-no, and refuse from memory cards in their devices. Then get "cuffs" from angry customers - and return the slot in the design of the smartphone. They return it only in order to lay low and “do badly” some other time. The situation turns out as in bad superhero films, where the anti-hero necessarily reports, they say, “this is not the end yet! I'll be back!".


    An error has occurred. Try to buy a more expensive iPhone.

    The situation looks all the more ridiculous, considering that modern memory cards cannot be called slow - full-size SDXC can “digest” video stream up to 90 MB / s , and soon such technological advances will go into micro-options, the usual us on smartphones. In the end, even the “civilian” versions of Kingston microSDXC are very, very fast , so the amputation of the memory card slot hardly has a technical, and not a marketing background.


    Daring, sharp, like a bullet fast Kingston memory card. And do not stutter that its capabilities are not enough for a modern smartphone.

    With laptops, the situation is somewhat different: in conditions where manufacturers are fighting for every millimeter of the thickness of a mobile PC, it is always easier to “nail down” components with components than to make them removable. This is where laptops come from a soldered-on RAM motherboard, a battery installed “for ever and ever” and incredibly troublesome access to the drive at home.
    “Look, Kingston is worried about his business and is campaigning,” other readers of this topic will consider, and they will not be completely right. Because Kingston will not remain without work: if the industry completely switches to the primitive design of mobile PCs without the possibility of an upgrade, the company will produce the same high-quality memory, only already, so to speak, on a turnkey basis, using the notorious BGA.


    A simple way to upgrade Apple MacBook Pro. Soon it will become even "easier".

    But now users of computers with planned obsolescence will have to get used to the only possible choice - a significant overpayment for computers with a decent amount of RAM and storage. And in the case when the manufacturer has saved on components (many brands order RAM for the budget models and SSDs) - poor performance or troublesome expensive reballing due to poor-quality “factory” soldering of microcircuits will be a sentence for customers. In other laptops, due to the massive malfunction of the decoupled RAM, there are even modified BIOS options in which a defective chip is deliberately disabled. And laughter, and sin.


    Soldered on the motherboard is not always high-quality RAM, alas, it becomes a tradition

    However, today dancing with malfunctions of BGA connections is pursued only by discrete graphics in individual laptops, and in the case of memory and storage the insanity has not yet reached critical proportions. And as long as the memory is removable, there is always the opportunity to buy cool, fast modules for even the most sophisticated systems, so to speak. Because Kingston does not just release “DDR3 / DDR4 spherical in a vacuum,” but purposefully prepares modules for the most exotic versions of desktops and laptops. In general, self-assembly - universal quality modules, buyers of pedigree cars - special attention and brand memory . Do not pass by :)

    Let them think that it is not reliable.


    “Pathologists” in service centers agree that the SSD often has a “stroke” (the controller goes crazy) than “fractures” in the form of a defect in the SATA connector, or, especially, SATA Express. Not because SATA is an absolute flawless connector, just its margin of safety is higher than the number of reconnections until the moment of obsolescence of the drive. And according to a study by the joint independent analytical agency Kingston-Geektimes, RAM under proper operating conditions (excuse me, lovers of diving with the desktop in hand) by the authorship of a reputable manufacturer works for a very long time. That is, horror storiesaccording to the method of Hugo Barr, “everything around is so unreliable, so unreliable, that we thought and decided not to leave to buyers any choice in accessories” regarding RAM and SSD are most often groundless.

    But the SD format, of course, cannot be called constructively flawless: a ridiculous jumper on the left side of negligent manufacturers will sooner or later leave the building within the SD enclosure. And then the old scotch comes into play, which in the same way helped us to make records on tapes in a video recorder with a broken fixator. And with the "snotty" contacts of the memory card can not be helped. Therefore, gentlemen, be guided not by considerations “memory is about the same” (this is also not true), but pay attention to the solidity of the brand and the culture of drive production. Kingston has some memories, evon, fly on airplanes and work in combat conditions, and household SD cards with the less formidable task of “working in several gadgets for many years” will cope without problems.


    Secure Digital cards are structurally flawed, so it’s best to purchase models from proven manufacturers.

    Consoles: life between "let them work for me" to "I want to become a computer"


    Game consoles, oh, sorry, gaming consoles historically did not have to upgrade - such devices initially buy, so that everything "just worked." Do not consider the drive (memory cards), dirty hacks (PS Vita and launching games from memory cards) or upgrade of the manufacturer’s initial mistakes (drives for consoles, which recklessly came out with the support of cartridges in the CD boom era) upgrade? Modding with an increase in the amount of RAM in the new consoles is theoretically possible, but games will still not use the newly-minted RAM and the benefits of this upgrade tend to zero.


    Steam Machines - computer console, the likely future is constantly lagging behind in technical terms gaming consoles

    But on the other hand, modern consoles already allow you to change the drive from the "tarakhtelki" to SSD. Given the painful high speed in loading levels, impatient gamers can at least partially improve, to put the marketer, “user experience”. The drive does not have to be expensive (this is not a muscular PC with its heavyweight Windows), so a moderately priced Kingston UV300 / UV400 will be enough for such an initiative.

    But such an upgrade option was predictable and possible in the last generation of consoles. Another thing is important - gaming machines are systematically following the ideology of the PC. That is, there is another extreme when consoles are transformed from a “thin client” - the defunct streaming service of cool games to non-cool gadgets, OnLive, was reborn as a brainchild of Sony - PlayStation Nowand yes - he is more alive than dead. But it was computers that encouraged console developers to take on improved versions of PS4 and Xbox One, and somehow "blurred" the concept of nextgen, which was previously decided to be equal. Microsoft and does fluctuate between fines for flashing consoles and combining Xbox with computers open to experiments. But you still should not discount the powerful computer-like Steam Machines. When was the console market so much for any enthusiasts, pray tell? Therefore, gentlemen geeks - the time is short when we get a mixture of PC-abundance of iron and console charisma in new gaming devices. Get rid of your shoulder! Swipe HyperX!

    Good devices will win bad and brutally rebuke them


    Even out of the irony of the situation with iron there is a way out - from “voting with a wallet” to technical progress, which slaps the well-fed faces of marketers and makes them release what buyers crave. Everything will be cool, we promise!
    And we are damn, incredibly happy to communicate with like-minded people in our blog and intend to give high-quality Kingston hardware to our subscribers. At the end of June, we will give 11 subscribers of our blog 1 HyperX Savage SSD-drive at 120GB and 10 DTSE9 flash drives at 8GB , and we will not stop at this (between the first and second ...), but raise the degree of gift-iron steepness, so that readers can see for themselves Kingston is good.

    Thank you for your attention and stay with Kingston on Hiktatimes!

    For more information about Kingston and HyperX products, visit the company's official website . In choosing your kit HyperX help page with visual aids .

    Also popular now: