What would an inveterate geek ask for Santa Claus for the New Year? The most secret desires, the most secret dreams of geeks under the cut. Not to look nervous.
Always a good gift – a keyboard
There is an opinion that geeks should have any device or component with a sub-screw, with additional ports for connecting peripherals and other illumination. To some extent this is true, but this does not apply to the keyboard at all. Moreover, the keyboard should be as simple as possible, without any appendages in the form of USB hubs, backlights and vibrations. All these additional devices often make it impossible for the keyboard to work in B IOS / UEFi-modes, which is critical when installing operating systems and other tinkering with computers, phones and tablets. The keyboard is vulnerable and tends to be flooded with tea, coffee and other drinks, which leads to its failure. Based on this, it is logical to assume that a keyboard for a geek is a consumable and it is always appropriate to give it for the New Year. And for the keyboard to last longer, it is highly recommended to opt for spill-resistant options.
The cheapest waterproof keyboard from a well-known brand on sale in the Russian Federation is the Logitech Keyboard K120. The keyboard is classic, the reviews are positive, and the price is from 418 rubles. will not burden the giver's wallet at all.
It's a shame to carry a DVD drive in a laptop in 2018
Yes, friends, that's right. It is a shame to carry a laptop in which a useful place is occupied by an absolutely useless thing. All DVD drives in laptops are connected to the motherboard via a miniSATA connector. This clearly hints that a second hard drive would be a good idea to replace the DVD. To solve this problem, the company Espada, widely known in narrow geek circles, produces various 2.5 “adapter cases.
The laptop geek will be delighted with such a gift. The person will get great pleasure from the following actions:
– First remove the old DVD drive from the laptop and remove the beautiful front plate from it;
– Then place the SDD / HDD into the new Espada adapter case and attach the front plate from the old DVD to it (the mount is usually standard);
– Place the new HDD / SSD in the Espada case into the laptop;
– Enjoy formatting a new drive on your laptop.
Most geeks will be happy with this gift. The adapter case is a much more useful thing in the household than a set of toilet soaps or slippers with ears, in their opinion. Moreover, such adapters cost around 1,000 rubles. The only thing is that you won't be able to make a pleasant surprise, because all optical notebook drives have different heights, and you will have to select an adapter together with a boom.
Heaped up external hard drive
For the average electronics enthusiast, an external DVD drive or flash drive acts as a tool for installing operating systems. Both options do not correspond to the status of a real geek, who spits every time if the computer being repaired does not support booting from USB drives or at the moment of looking at scratches on the installation DVD. This problem is perfectly solved by a box for hard drives from a well-known manufacturer of computer peripherals Zalman ZM-VE500 series (and earlier). A formatted hard disk (of any type) of a laptop size 2.5 ″ is inserted into the box, all the necessary tools, an Acronis image, operating systems in .ISO, .TIB archives and so on are loaded into its memory. When connecting such a disc to a PC, it is enough to set the CD-MODE mode and get a full-fledged optical drive. No more messing with boot sectors, GRUB4DOS and compatibility issues.
A geek of any age will be happy with such a gift, because it completely unties his hands and lightens the bag when going to friends to solve their problems! An important point is also a pleasant appearance, and the password access system will hide the contents of the disk from prying eyes.
Basis for a very small X86 computer
BVM as a manufacturer of components is not represented at all on the Russian market. And to buy the latest LS-579 motherboard, you have to write off the manufacturer. Why such difficulties and is it worth the candle? Of course it is, because this is a full-fledged motherboard with socket LG A1151 'Skylake' / 'Kaby Lake', which is made in a 5.25 ″ form factor and supports the entire range of processors of these two generations, including Xeon. In addition, the board is equipped with two full-fledged DDR4 memory slots (up to 2133 MHz, up to 32 GB), a regular power connector and a bunch of ports for all occasions. Due to the small size of the board, it seems that the entire board is stuck with these very ports.
What can the geek be unhappy with? Only the absence of laser illumination. Due to the fact that the board has just appeared, it will not be available for individuals this year, but better LS-579 in February than a set of shampoos on December 31!
Throne for the computer overlord
Many geeks are obese. This is due to the fact that they constantly improve their level by reading numerous articles from the monitor screen. They participate in forums and share wisdom with dummies after having mocked them to their hearts content. Heavy mental processes instantly flush precious calories from the ever-growing body, for which the geek must constantly eat to replenish. Is it any wonder that the weight of many of them has long exceeded 100 kg? Inevitably, the question arises, which chair / chair to choose so that it can withstand such a colossus? Almost all office chairs and armchairs are designed for a user's weight not exceeding 80 kg and cannot be considered as an option. Numerous NoName alternatives are also not trusted. In the bottom line – only the products of the well-known among geeks company AeroCool, which offers a choice of three models of computer chairs, starting with the basic one, designed for weight up to 130 kg.
These chairs cost from 11,000 rubles, which is a lot, and, most likely, you will have to buy such an expensive gift for yourself. But this is an excellent answer to the question of what a good chair should be – structurally simple, made of high-quality materials and reliable, like a three-line.
P.S. In the new 2018, there will be a lot of new devices and ideas, adapters and hubs, amazing features in chipsets and breakthrough technologies. We will plunge into this sea together, and until then, remember that a gift is not the main thing, the main thing is that you already have everything if you celebrate the New Year with your family and close friends.