The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?
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@Minion-Queen said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
The only Ports on the surface are :
full-size USB 3.0
microSD
card reader
Surface Connect
Headset jack
Mini DisplayPortUSB 3 gives you basically anything.
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@Francesco-Provino said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@Minion-Queen said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@Francesco-Provino said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@wirestyle22 Oh, and there's something related to the hardware of the iPad, also… of course I cannot connect anything ethernet or serial, and this is a BIG downside when some support is required. Neither I can use an USB drive the right way: lack of support for filesystem, I cannot burn an iso etc.
Way too inflexible for what I need. With a standard laptop I can install or virtualize any os and use at least standard usb, video output and ethernet.You can't do Ethernet without the dock on the Surface either.
Uhm? What about a 10€ usb-to-ethernet adapter?
Yeah I have tried those and they do not work great. And again as mentioned above the USB port doesn't work reliably on the Surface anyway .
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@wirestyle22 said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@Francesco-Provino said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@Minion-Queen said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@Francesco-Provino said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@wirestyle22 Oh, and there's something related to the hardware of the iPad, also… of course I cannot connect anything ethernet or serial, and this is a BIG downside when some support is required. Neither I can use an USB drive the right way: lack of support for filesystem, I cannot burn an iso etc.
Way too inflexible for what I need. With a standard laptop I can install or virtualize any os and use at least standard usb, video output and ethernet.You can't do Ethernet without the dock on the Surface either.
Uhm? What about a 10€ usb-to-ethernet adapter?
Outside of attaching a USB device to a VM I can't think of why I'd ever want to do this. If you need that you should have a laptop with an actual NIC IMO.
Laptop without a real NIC are huge compared to the ultrabook standard of today. I can live with an ethernet adapter.
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Serial console for iPad...
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@Francesco-Provino said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@wirestyle22 said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@Francesco-Provino said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@Minion-Queen said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@Francesco-Provino said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@wirestyle22 Oh, and there's something related to the hardware of the iPad, also… of course I cannot connect anything ethernet or serial, and this is a BIG downside when some support is required. Neither I can use an USB drive the right way: lack of support for filesystem, I cannot burn an iso etc.
Way too inflexible for what I need. With a standard laptop I can install or virtualize any os and use at least standard usb, video output and ethernet.You can't do Ethernet without the dock on the Surface either.
Uhm? What about a 10€ usb-to-ethernet adapter?
Outside of attaching a USB device to a VM I can't think of why I'd ever want to do this. If you need that you should have a laptop with an actual NIC IMO.
Laptop without a real NIC are huge compared to the ultrabook standard of today. I can live with an ethernet adapter.
Are they? Even my older ultrabooks have a real NIC and are tiny. How small are ultrabooks today?
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Now the Ethernet for my Ipad has worked fine for me.
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@Minion-Queen said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@Francesco-Provino said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@Minion-Queen said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@Francesco-Provino said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@wirestyle22 Oh, and there's something related to the hardware of the iPad, also… of course I cannot connect anything ethernet or serial, and this is a BIG downside when some support is required. Neither I can use an USB drive the right way: lack of support for filesystem, I cannot burn an iso etc.
Way too inflexible for what I need. With a standard laptop I can install or virtualize any os and use at least standard usb, video output and ethernet.You can't do Ethernet without the dock on the Surface either.
Uhm? What about a 10€ usb-to-ethernet adapter?
Yeah I have tried those and they do not work great. And again as mentioned above the USB port doesn't work reliably on the Surface anyway .
Right the fact that none of it actually works is the core issue.
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@scottalanmiller said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
Serial console for iPad...
I knew about it, it's sort of an hack :D.
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@Francesco-Provino said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@scottalanmiller said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
Serial console for iPad...
I knew about it, it's sort of an hack :D.
So is the entire Surface, though. By that standard, you rule it out.
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@Francesco-Provino said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@scottalanmiller said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
Serial console for iPad...
I knew about it, it's sort of an hack :D.
You'd need a USB-SERIAL converter for your laptop / ultrabook anyway.
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@dafyre said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@Francesco-Provino said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@scottalanmiller said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
Serial console for iPad...
I knew about it, it's sort of an hack :D.
You'd need a USB-SERIAL converter for your laptop / ultrabook anyway.
Only for most. It wasn't long ago that you didn't.
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The Thunderbolt Gigabit Ethernet adapter for the iPad is actually pretty fast too. Relatively speaking.
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@scottalanmiller said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@Francesco-Provino said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@wirestyle22 said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@Francesco-Provino said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@Minion-Queen said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@Francesco-Provino said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@wirestyle22 Oh, and there's something related to the hardware of the iPad, also… of course I cannot connect anything ethernet or serial, and this is a BIG downside when some support is required. Neither I can use an USB drive the right way: lack of support for filesystem, I cannot burn an iso etc.
Way too inflexible for what I need. With a standard laptop I can install or virtualize any os and use at least standard usb, video output and ethernet.You can't do Ethernet without the dock on the Surface either.
Uhm? What about a 10€ usb-to-ethernet adapter?
Outside of attaching a USB device to a VM I can't think of why I'd ever want to do this. If you need that you should have a laptop with an actual NIC IMO.
Laptop without a real NIC are huge compared to the ultrabook standard of today. I can live with an ethernet adapter.
Are they? Even my older ultrabooks have a real NIC and are tiny. How small are ultrabooks today?
Just look at XPS 13 or the new MacBook and you will see how a NIC cannot fit them :D.
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@Francesco-Provino said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@scottalanmiller said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@Francesco-Provino said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@wirestyle22 said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@Francesco-Provino said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@Minion-Queen said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@Francesco-Provino said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@wirestyle22 Oh, and there's something related to the hardware of the iPad, also… of course I cannot connect anything ethernet or serial, and this is a BIG downside when some support is required. Neither I can use an USB drive the right way: lack of support for filesystem, I cannot burn an iso etc.
Way too inflexible for what I need. With a standard laptop I can install or virtualize any os and use at least standard usb, video output and ethernet.You can't do Ethernet without the dock on the Surface either.
Uhm? What about a 10€ usb-to-ethernet adapter?
Outside of attaching a USB device to a VM I can't think of why I'd ever want to do this. If you need that you should have a laptop with an actual NIC IMO.
Laptop without a real NIC are huge compared to the ultrabook standard of today. I can live with an ethernet adapter.
Are they? Even my older ultrabooks have a real NIC and are tiny. How small are ultrabooks today?
Just look at XPS 13 or the new MacBook and you will see how a NIC cannot fit them :D.
MacBook can easily fit it, they just choose not to for their own reasons. That's their own animal. XPS 13 is a normal one, but lots do come with NICs. Mine is tiny, as small as an Air for sure, and has one.
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@scottalanmiller said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@Francesco-Provino said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@scottalanmiller said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@Francesco-Provino said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@wirestyle22 said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@Francesco-Provino said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@Minion-Queen said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@Francesco-Provino said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@wirestyle22 Oh, and there's something related to the hardware of the iPad, also… of course I cannot connect anything ethernet or serial, and this is a BIG downside when some support is required. Neither I can use an USB drive the right way: lack of support for filesystem, I cannot burn an iso etc.
Way too inflexible for what I need. With a standard laptop I can install or virtualize any os and use at least standard usb, video output and ethernet.You can't do Ethernet without the dock on the Surface either.
Uhm? What about a 10€ usb-to-ethernet adapter?
Outside of attaching a USB device to a VM I can't think of why I'd ever want to do this. If you need that you should have a laptop with an actual NIC IMO.
Laptop without a real NIC are huge compared to the ultrabook standard of today. I can live with an ethernet adapter.
Are they? Even my older ultrabooks have a real NIC and are tiny. How small are ultrabooks today?
Just look at XPS 13 or the new MacBook and you will see how a NIC cannot fit them :D.
MacBook can easily fit it, they just choose not to for their own reasons. That's their own animal. XPS 13 is a normal one, but lots do come with NICs. Mine is tiny, as small as an Air for sure, and has one.
I wouldn't get a laptop / ultrabook without ethernet. Even if I can get a USB one for it.
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@scottalanmiller said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@Francesco-Provino said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@scottalanmiller said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@Francesco-Provino said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@wirestyle22 said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@Francesco-Provino said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@Minion-Queen said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@Francesco-Provino said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@wirestyle22 Oh, and there's something related to the hardware of the iPad, also… of course I cannot connect anything ethernet or serial, and this is a BIG downside when some support is required. Neither I can use an USB drive the right way: lack of support for filesystem, I cannot burn an iso etc.
Way too inflexible for what I need. With a standard laptop I can install or virtualize any os and use at least standard usb, video output and ethernet.You can't do Ethernet without the dock on the Surface either.
Uhm? What about a 10€ usb-to-ethernet adapter?
Outside of attaching a USB device to a VM I can't think of why I'd ever want to do this. If you need that you should have a laptop with an actual NIC IMO.
Laptop without a real NIC are huge compared to the ultrabook standard of today. I can live with an ethernet adapter.
Are they? Even my older ultrabooks have a real NIC and are tiny. How small are ultrabooks today?
Just look at XPS 13 or the new MacBook and you will see how a NIC cannot fit them :D.
MacBook can easily fit it, they just choose not to for their own reasons. That's their own animal. XPS 13 is a normal one, but lots do come with NICs. Mine is tiny, as small as an Air for sure, and has one.
So, what is your laptop precisely?
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@Francesco-Provino said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@scottalanmiller said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@Francesco-Provino said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@scottalanmiller said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@Francesco-Provino said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@wirestyle22 said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@Francesco-Provino said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@Minion-Queen said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@Francesco-Provino said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@wirestyle22 Oh, and there's something related to the hardware of the iPad, also… of course I cannot connect anything ethernet or serial, and this is a BIG downside when some support is required. Neither I can use an USB drive the right way: lack of support for filesystem, I cannot burn an iso etc.
Way too inflexible for what I need. With a standard laptop I can install or virtualize any os and use at least standard usb, video output and ethernet.You can't do Ethernet without the dock on the Surface either.
Uhm? What about a 10€ usb-to-ethernet adapter?
Outside of attaching a USB device to a VM I can't think of why I'd ever want to do this. If you need that you should have a laptop with an actual NIC IMO.
Laptop without a real NIC are huge compared to the ultrabook standard of today. I can live with an ethernet adapter.
Are they? Even my older ultrabooks have a real NIC and are tiny. How small are ultrabooks today?
Just look at XPS 13 or the new MacBook and you will see how a NIC cannot fit them :D.
MacBook can easily fit it, they just choose not to for their own reasons. That's their own animal. XPS 13 is a normal one, but lots do come with NICs. Mine is tiny, as small as an Air for sure, and has one.
So, what is your laptop precisely?
I use an HP Folio. Well did until I moved to a bigger Asus RoG just recently. I run Ubuntu on it and have loads of power. I put up with not having an ultrabook any longer for all of the power since I do so much on it now. But the ultrabook I used for forever and it was great.
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@scottalanmiller said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@Francesco-Provino said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@scottalanmiller said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@Francesco-Provino said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@scottalanmiller said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@Francesco-Provino said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@wirestyle22 said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@Francesco-Provino said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@Minion-Queen said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@Francesco-Provino said in The Sysadmin / CTO machine - A Surface + Cloud to rule them all?:
@wirestyle22 Oh, and there's something related to the hardware of the iPad, also… of course I cannot connect anything ethernet or serial, and this is a BIG downside when some support is required. Neither I can use an USB drive the right way: lack of support for filesystem, I cannot burn an iso etc.
Way too inflexible for what I need. With a standard laptop I can install or virtualize any os and use at least standard usb, video output and ethernet.You can't do Ethernet without the dock on the Surface either.
Uhm? What about a 10€ usb-to-ethernet adapter?
Outside of attaching a USB device to a VM I can't think of why I'd ever want to do this. If you need that you should have a laptop with an actual NIC IMO.
Laptop without a real NIC are huge compared to the ultrabook standard of today. I can live with an ethernet adapter.
Are they? Even my older ultrabooks have a real NIC and are tiny. How small are ultrabooks today?
Just look at XPS 13 or the new MacBook and you will see how a NIC cannot fit them :D.
MacBook can easily fit it, they just choose not to for their own reasons. That's their own animal. XPS 13 is a normal one, but lots do come with NICs. Mine is tiny, as small as an Air for sure, and has one.
So, what is your laptop precisely?
I use an HP Folio. Well did until I moved to a bigger Asus RoG just recently. I run Ubuntu on it and have loads of power. I put up with not having an ultrabook any longer for all of the power since I do so much on it now. But the ultrabook I used for forever and it was great.
Mmmh, the latest folio don't carry an ethernet but just two usbc :D.
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So, after all, seems that the Macbook 12 would be a better fit for my needs… overpriced, but at least it's a unix machine (I prefer it to win if I can choose) with good battery life. Every other ultrabook I've considered has some quirks, and/or is similar in price.
I will give a chance to the Surface, and if I won't be satisfied I will wait for the next iteration of Macbook… I hope with a better keyboard and Kaby Lake.Thanks everybody for the hints!
