2016 Holiday Gift Ideas For Linux Enthusiasts, Gamers

[phoronix]

Phoronix: 2016 Holiday Gift Ideas For Linux Enthusiasts, Gamers

If you are looking for any gift ideas this 2016 holiday season for a Linux gamer/enthusiast or just a casual user looking for some friendly PC hardware, here are my favorites for this holiday season...

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=2016-Linux-Gift-Holiday-Ideas

[cRaZy-bisCuiT]

Well done, reflinks successfully placed!

PS: Nowadays most authors have a disclaimer when using reflinks.

[bridgman]

here are some non-tech-specific recommendations I got from my wife that she would endorse this holiday season... She's a big fan of the Roku streaming stick, the most durable dog toys she has ever encountered have been from GoDog as a brand less known but quality compared to say Kong,

Read this too quickly... thought "Roku streaming stick sounds like a funny name for a dog toy" but I guess it is about the right shape and size to have been a dog toy around here.

[Adarion]

HDMI Audio:
The audio jack does exist and that is good. It is there for a reason. It's compatible, offers good quality and a plethora of devices to attach.
No serious person would set up a gaming or HTPC system with those squeaky monitor speakers. Even a mediocre gaming headset is already better than these tiny cheapo speakers.
Yes, the monitor speakers are useful if you switch machines often (as Michael probably does) and don't want to mess around with extra sets of external speakers. It maybe be 100% fine for office computers. Or for notebooks in case the speakers are attached via HDMI audio.
But other than that I wouldn't label that as a showstopper. (Even on my former at-work setup with a Geode LX800 I attached some real speakers.)

Furthermore who would actually set up an HPTC computer with a RX 480? The RX 480 is quite mighty for a mere video player. Maybe the RX 460 with its advanced (Polaris 11 arch) power gating would be okay. But actually one could use e.g. a Kabini setup for that. Or something else from that class (anything low power with a recent UVD).
I'd rather consider the RX 480 to be an allround and gaming card.

Since I sadly still lack job and money I'll have to wait - but at least I might jump on the Zen / Vega combination then...

[GreatEmerald]

Well, I'm for one am in a market for a good input device.

For a bit of history: since 2009 I have used a Razer DeathAdder mouse, and it was pretty nice. Until last year, when its scrollwheel started skipping. I disassembled it and tried to fix the problem, and it did work temporarily, but the problem returned. And the screws on that thing are really bad, so one broke. Now it has that problem and a missing screw, so I can't really use it properly any more.

Then last year I was looking for a solution that would be good enough to use on both my PC and laptop (I'm only ever using one or the other, so why have redundant mice). So I got a Zalman gaming mouse, which worked fine for like half a year. Then the wheel started to make pitched noises, and now clicking it does nothing. Unless I click it very hard, in which case it clicks like 5 times, which is worse.

So now I'm looking for something again. Preferably something that is wired, has at least one side button, and a durable mouse wheel. And I don't think that having a single mouse for both devices worked all that well in the end, since it's real annoying to reconnect them every time I switch devices, plus the cable is rather long for use with a laptop.

The vertical mice sound like an interesting idea, but they are rather expensive and not very portable. I'm also hearing good things about Roccat, though they're also somewhat pricy. But then it might be worth the investment...

[Guest]

Lots of really good laptop deals this time. Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Carbon was $760 on Friday!

[jagoly]

Well, I'm for one am in a market for a good input device.

For a bit of history: since 2009 I have used a Razer DeathAdder mouse, and it was pretty nice. Until last year, when its scrollwheel started skipping. I disassembled it and tried to fix the problem, and it did work temporarily, but the problem returned. And the screws on that thing are really bad, so one broke. Now it has that problem and a missing screw, so I can't really use it properly any more.

Then last year I was looking for a solution that would be good enough to use on both my PC and laptop (I'm only ever using one or the other, so why have redundant mice). So I got a Zalman gaming mouse, which worked fine for like half a year. Then the wheel started to make pitched noises, and now clicking it does nothing. Unless I click it very hard, in which case it clicks like 5 times, which is worse.

So now I'm looking for something again. Preferably something that is wired, has at least one side button, and a durable mouse wheel. And I don't think that having a single mouse for both devices worked all that well in the end, since it's real annoying to reconnect them every time I switch devices, plus the cable is rather long for use with a laptop.

The vertical mice sound like an interesting idea, but they are rather expensive and not very portable. I'm also hearing good things about Roccat, though they're also somewhat pricy. But then it might be worth the investment...

I previously owned a razer deathadder, followed by a steelseries sensei raw. The scroll wheel buggered up on both. For the last few months I've been using a Roccat Kiro - and it's absolutely fantastic. Scroll wheel works great, and the linux configuration tool is excellent. Super easy to rebind the extra buttons however you want.

[Azpegath]

Well, I'm for one am in a market for a good input device.

For a bit of history: since 2009 I have used a Razer DeathAdder mouse, and it was pretty nice. Until last year, when its scrollwheel started skipping. I disassembled it and tried to fix the problem, and it did work temporarily, but the problem returned. And the screws on that thing are really bad, so one broke. Now it has that problem and a missing screw, so I can't really use it properly any more.

Then last year I was looking for a solution that would be good enough to use on both my PC and laptop (I'm only ever using one or the other, so why have redundant mice). So I got a Zalman gaming mouse, which worked fine for like half a year. Then the wheel started to make pitched noises, and now clicking it does nothing. Unless I click it very hard, in which case it clicks like 5 times, which is worse.

So now I'm looking for something again. Preferably something that is wired, has at least one side button, and a durable mouse wheel. And I don't think that having a single mouse for both devices worked all that well in the end, since it's real annoying to reconnect them every time I switch devices, plus the cable is rather long for use with a laptop.

The vertical mice sound like an interesting idea, but they are rather expensive and not very portable. I'm also hearing good things about Roccat, though they're also somewhat pricy. But then it might be worth the investment...

I bought a Roccat Kone XTD this year and I'm very happy with it. Good FOSS Linux support and Roccat supports the guy writing the Linux utilities as well. I definitely recommend it. My previous mouse is a Logitech mx 518, which my girlfriend stole from me when we started playing L4D2...

[cyberwizzard]

It's a pity the Steam Link is not being sold here (Norway) - Steam keeps mailing me that an item on my wishlist is on sale but once you click the link nothing can be bought...

[coder]

Popcorners are some healthy (compared to conventional chips) popcorn-based chips she enjoys

Better to avoid any kind of starchy snack food. Fruit + nuts (or seeds) makes the perfect snack. Lately, the Go Raw brand of sprouted seeds seems to be quite popular.

These are good, and have no added salt: https://www.amazon.com/Go-Raw-Freela...dp/B0027YVVX2/

For a more exotic option, that's almost like candy, try White Mulberries (I like them with pecans): https://www.amazon.com/Navitas-Natur...dp/B0014ZCCCO/

Finally, I don't have a favorite brand to recommend, but even non-tea drinkers might like white tea (it's sweet).