Garage PC Setups

[KillerPM]

Pete -

How cold is too cold for an LCD monitor? I can't find specs, but I'm sure the CFL backlit type don't take kindly to it. Are the LED backlit ones more tolerant? The rest of the system really won't care AFAIK unless you're using a spinning platter hard drive, and who does that these days with SSDs becoming so affordable?

Jeremy

They seem to get slow at freezing (32f) and go downhill from there. The CFL on some monitors dont seem to fire or are very dim at 15F. My E39 that had the navigation wouldn't light up when it was cold. When the cabin warmed up it would work fine but thats a screen that is designed to "work" in the cold. The screen on my VW seems to do better in the cold. I suspect its an LCD backlit one.

The problem is computer monitors were not designed to operate outside of 0-30C (32 to 86F). The power supplies in them dont regulate properly (according to tech specs at least) outside that temperature. While I know I operate a bunch of them at work in areas much hotter then 86, I just dont trust them to survive the cold.

I guess its probably not such a big deal in the southern States as it would be up here.

The only other consideration with having equipment in the heat / cold is condensation. That's more of a factor though when you take your cold device into a warm room.

[stuartinmn]

Pete -

How cold is too cold for an LCD monitor? I can't find specs, but I'm sure the CFL backlit type don't take kindly to it. Are the LED backlit ones more tolerant?

Jeremy

The temperature specifications are usually buried somewhere in the owner's manual. I looked at a couple random monitors online; a Samsung had a minimum operating temp of 10 degrees C, a Dell had a minimum operating temp of 0 degrees C. That doesn't necessarily mean they won't work in colder temps, just that they aren't certified for them. I've used small flatscreen monitors in control panels located outdoors, and when it gets down well below freezing they do get flaky.

[KillerPM]

Pete -

How cold is too cold for an LCD monitor? I can't find specs, but I'm sure the CFL backlit type don't take kindly to it. Are the LED backlit ones more tolerant?

Jeremy

The temperature specifications are usually buried somewhere in the owner's manual. I looked at a couple random monitors online; a Samsung had a minimum operating temp of 10 degrees C, a Dell had a minimum operating temp of 0 degrees C. That doesn't necessarily mean they won't work in colder temps, just that they aren't certified for them. I've used small flatscreen monitors in control panels located outdoors, and when it gets down well below freezing they do get flaky.

That being said, you can get rugged outdoor rated monitors that work in cold temperatures. Realistically though we are talking about a garage here. It just gets so dam cold here that the thing would be useless for 4 months of the year. Portable is the way to go in Canada, just make sure it stays warm

[JackBay_e28]

We had an old Gateway laptop sitting around that no one was using and after I saw this thread I decided a PC in the garage seemed perfect. The laptop was painfully slow so I did a factory reinstall of Windows Vista and it ran like new (with a 1.7GHz processor and only 3gb ram "like new" isn't saying much though). It can handle running Chrome just fine but slows down when I have too many tabs open. Other than that it's perfect for looking up RealOEM diagrams without tracking oil and grease inside and on the Mac. I am starting to worry about the cold now but it only gets below freezing for 2-3 months here. And that's only at night. Still wish I had one like that though

[Jeremy]

For old laptops that just need to browse the web, Linux is truly king. You might be shocked at how much better it runs compared to Windows on hardware like that. It can't do everything Windows can, but for basic web tasks it's great.

[bkbimmer]

I still think computers are stupid which is funny because it shows how dumb I am for having one in front of my face currently! When I search for things in my shed google or the like has no involvement not that there's anything wrong with that. can you spare a square? What's that? Two Seinfeld references in one post, impossible!

[Karl Grau]

I added a refrigerator. I keep a Samsung Galaxy tablet inside so I can check my email while I'm deciding what to drink.

[davintosh]

I added a refrigerator. I keep a Samsung Galaxy tablet inside so I can check my email while I'm deciding what to drink.

Now you're just showing off again.

[Karl Grau]

]Now you're just showing off again.

That's just the same old fridge that used to be next to the tiki bar (you ran power to it last St. Paddy's). It never gets used there so I just repurposed it.

[adrian in florida]

Nice selection but no little sumpin??

[tig]

The other essential garage tool: A washer & dryer. We plumbed the garage for one when we built the house, but it wasn't until about 5 years in when we replaced this unit with another one in our mud room. Apparently these Maytag Neptune units have a problem with water sitting in them and smelling. So I bought my wife a Bosch unit for her birthday (kidding!) and took this one to the garage. We both won: she got a nicer W/D, she no longer has to put up with dirty, smelly, rags in her W/D, and I got one in my garage.



Back on topic, here's the NUC from behind. I'm really enamored with this PC. My son has decided he's taking one to college instead of his monster gaming machine. For the games he plays (Mincraft, Kerbel Space) the GPU has more than enough power.



I had an old (NIB) MS keyboard/mouse combo in a cabinet. Completely forgot it was there. Put in on yesterday replacing the old, beat up Logitech unit y'all saw in the previous photos. I had also previously cleaned up all the wiring. Normally the NUC is tucked back into the corner, but I pulled it out to take this pic.



I've renamed this thread to encourage others to post their Garage PC setups.

[carnutdallas]

What happened to the wireless sound card on wall next to monitor. That was pretty slick!

[tig]

What happened to the wireless sound card on wall next to monitor. That was pretty slick!

Replaced it with the Amazon Basics Bluetooth Audio receiver and a tiny USB BT transmitter. Works tons better.

[Eta power]

Seriously considering resurrecting my old laptop after reading this thread. I always hate having to clean up to come inside to look up wiring diagrams, etc. Then again, that fucker is ~ten years old, so maybe I should buy a new(er) one...

[Jeremy]

Seriously considering resurrecting my old laptop after reading this thread. I always hate having to clean up to come inside to look up wiring diagrams, etc. Then again, that fucker is ~ten years old, so maybe I should buy a new(er) one...

Try Linux on it. I bet it browses the web and plays music (which is all you'd really use it for) pretty ok. Ask if you need help. There are some distributions with really light hardware requirements that run great on old hardware like that. It won't be fancy, but it'll work.

[Karl Grau]

I solved another HUGH problem.
I have these Klipsch KG-1.5 bookshelf speakers that are great if you're futzing around at the workbench but if you're sitting at the computer, they're not so good placement-wise.



I had these a/d/s/ speakers lying around so now they're dedicated desk speakers.



I upgraded the DAC too.

[davintosh]

Hey, nice calendar. Where'd you get it?

[Karl Grau]

I have connections in high places.

[JohnH]

Try Linux on it. I bet it browses the web and plays music (which is all you'd really use it for) pretty ok.

This may be true, but only because you did a clean OS install. I bet if you reformatted the HD (to get rid of all the bloatware and crap) and just reinstalled Windows (any version) it would run just as quick.

I tried running Linux Puppy booting from a CD and the HD still loaded with crap, and wasnt impressed by it speed wise.

(Just honest discussion. Not looking for any attitude or abuse (which with a couple of exceptions is what I perceive I usually get)).

[Jeremy]

Comparing any operating system running off an optical drive to any operating system running off a hard drive is not going to yield particularly useful results. I've never tried Puppy Linux, but I think you would have had a different experience if you had actually installed it.

[davintosh]

Try Linux on it. I bet it browses the web and plays music (which is all you'd really use it for) pretty ok.

This may be true, but only because you did a clean OS install. I bet if you reformatted the HD (to get rid of all the bloatware and crap) and just reinstalled Windows (any version) it would run just as quick, at least until it gets crapped up again.

There; FIFY.

As for Linux, I'd second Jeremy's recommendation; install & try it before you dismiss it. I've installed Ubuntu on some ancient hardware with minimal memory installed and it was far snappier than XP on much newer hardware with 4x the memory. Unfortunately we moved to a new software platform at work that uses a client application for data collection, and I had to retire all the Ubuntu machines; Windows only.

[oldskool]

So, at the end if the day and for all intents and purposes, Kendall or Kylie?

[Jeremy]

it would run just as quick, at least until it gets crapped up again.

There; FIFY.

Pretty much, yea. How many rounds of update does it take to get XP or even W7 to current status from a clean install these days? The last time I did an install it took a whole afternoon and a little bit of the next morning. Windows systems seem to slow down a lot once MS Office is installed, too. I try to avoid it when possible, but that's not always in the cards.

Course, my primary system at the moment is W8.1. Depsite the bad reputation, IMHO it's great. Stable, quicker than W7, and just about everything "just works". I'm having some trouble with an old printer over the in-house network, but that's a little understandable.

[Coldswede]

Course, my primary system at the moment is W8.1. Despite the bad reputation, IMHO it's great.

I have a hard time believing YOU actually said this Jeremy! My opinion of Win 8.1 is: The only Windows version worse was the unholy Millennium Edition.
Just last week went to a lot of trouble buying a new HP laptop with Win 7 Pro on it. Each to his own I guess.

[oldskool]

So that's a vote for Kylie, Coldswede?
Excellent.

[Jeremy]

I have a hard time believing YOU actually said this Jeremy! My opinion of Win 8.1 is: The only Windows version worse was the unholy Millennium Edition.
Just last week went to a lot of trouble buying a new HP laptop with Win 7 Pro on it. Each to his own I guess.

The lack of a proper "Start Menu" is easily remedied. The underlying kernel is fantastic by Windows standards, better than even W7. A couple of UI tweaks and you're golden on W8. That's my opinion, the opinion of others can and does very often vary. I also used Vista without hating it, but I got on that after SP1 when a large portion of the bugs had finally been ironed out. If you want to talk "major Microsoft OS failures" we can talk Windows 2-286 (which I have actually used) or Microsoft Bob (which I've never personally experienced).

[Coldswede]

So that's a vote for Kylie, Coldswede?
Excellent.

What is "Kylie"?

[Coldswede]

I am not even sure Windows has a kernel Jeremy, I think it uses some kind of Registry scheme.

Any way I have an middle aged iMac with Mountain Lion on it for the Garage ... Well, when I get a garage again anyway.

[davintosh]

I can't wait for Windows 10 to come out... We're just now getting around to deploying Win7 on the data collection machines at work, and that's only because the MIS app we're using hates XP.

BTW, the reason it's Windows 10 and not Windows 9 is because there are all kinds of programs and websites in use that check for the host's operating system, and many aren't able to differentiate between Windows 9 and Windows 95 or 98.

[Jeremy]

BTW, the reason it's Windows 10 and not Windows 9 is because there are all kinds of programs and websites in use that check for the host's operating system, and many aren't able to differentiate between Windows 9 and Windows 95 or 98.

You'd think they'd have learned not to truncate so hard after the whole two-digit year Y2K fiasco, lol. You'd think. It's true though, and the added bonus of putting more distance between W10 and W8 for marketing reasons is just an added bonus. I hope the new Start Menu is good, W10 could be to W8 as W7 was to Vista if they do it right. Fingers crossed. Now that they've stopped allowing TechNet subscribers to get keys for OSes and software though, I might not be using it anytime soon.

I am not even sure Windows has a kernel Jeremy, I think it uses some kind of Registry scheme.

Any way I have an middle aged iMac with Mountain Lion on it for the Garage ... Well, when I get a garage again anyway.

It totally has a kernel. Windows NT kernel IIRC. The registry serves a different purpose. We all use what works best for us. I'm constantly offended by Apple's refusal to let me change things much. They offend my inner tinkerer. Their products certainly do seem to work well for the people that like them though.